Hayley Young, our SEN Schools Project Officer has begun a one-year project for the RHS funded by a legacy fund .
Hayley will be working with pupils with a wide range of Special Educational Needs (SEN) and their teachers in six special needs schools in Sussex. The pupils range from reception level (age 4) up to Year 10 (age 15), with a wide range of Special Educational Needs including autism, aspergers, behavioural difficulties, celebral palsy, profound deafness.
Hayley will be setting up and delivering practical gardening skills for these pupils and their teachers so they can learn and experience the therapeutic nature of horticulture.
At present there is a gap in the Campaign for School Gardening and Growing Schools resources on information and advice tailored specifically for special educational needs. As part of the project we are going to produce a range of materials on gardening with SEN pupils that can be widely distributed to all schools next year. These materials will be posted on the C4SG website in conjunction with the Department for Children, Schools and Families.
Hayley will be keeping a blog on the RHS website so please follow her progress there. She will aim to keep you up-to date with the gardens as they develop in these six schools, give an insight into horticultural lessons that work well with SEN pupils and advise when new resources will be available from the RHS. We will also keep you posted on her progress on the intranet...
Read her blog.