Chellow Heights Special School use now>press>play to create teaching that inspires and excites their SEND pupils. By immersing them in our audio adventures, the school supports their children’s social and emotional development, as well as embedding key literacy and maths skills.
Sparking our SEND pupils’ imaginations with now>press>play
We decided to use now>press>play to support the development of our children’s imagination and joint attention. Children with special educational needs may sometimes need a little extra support in these areas, and now>press>play is really helping to bridge that gap.
We have also seen an increase in willingness to participate, which can be a real barrier for lots of our children. Turn-taking skills are also developing, which is a huge target for lots of our children. Children’s communication skills, both speaking and listening, have also been impacted positively: children are able to engage in full sessions as now>press>play really piques their interest and keeps them engaged. They are also using some of the language they hear in their daily conversations with each other and with adults.
How now>press>play supports social and emotional development
As well as imagination and joint attention, we have also seen friendships beginning to blossom since we began using now>press>play. Children who don’t normally readily socialise with others are developing social skills.
Initially, these children began to tolerate children joining in around them, and as time has gone on, they are fully engaging and having fun with new friends. It’s great to hear children’s conversations after a now>press>play session, especially those who wouldn’t normally interact with their peers.
Children who don’t usually participate in whole group sessions are now keen to join in with now>press>play! These particular children generally sit away from the group and work 1:1 most of the time, so it has been great to see them so excited to join the group.
How we use now>press>play in our SEND teaching
We mostly use the EYFS resources for whole-group sessions as abilities and understanding range quite widely. However, we have begun to use the KS1 resources for small-group interventions. These have been particularly useful in developing directional skills and also maths and literacy skills.
The whole-group sessions are seen by the children as a treat, which works really well and has had a positive impact on behaviour. The small-group sessions are used as both hooks and to consolidate learning.
We also love the now>press>play app! It’s so easy to use. It’s had a positive impact on lesson planning as all the sessions are easy to see and the short clips make it easy to choose an appropriate session.
Staff and student reactions
The headphones initially piqued the children’s interest, the majority couldn’t wait to put them on! Now children ask daily if we can do now>press>play and are excited to help choose which one we will do.
The children are loving the sessions, they don’t recognise it as “work” but are very clearly learning lots.
Both staff and children are really enjoying now>press>play. The children are always so excited when they know we’re going to do a session. They all want to help get the equipment out and give out the pink headphones!
We’re very happy that we decided to use now>press>play. It’s so much fun, even for the staff — some staff (mainly me) are more excited about it than the children, which is extremely difficult as the children love it!
We’re very happy that we decided to use now>press>play. It’s so much fun, even for the staff — some staff (mainly me) are more excited about it than the children, which is extremely difficult as the children love it!
Many thanks to Chellow Heights for providing us with this case study. We’re thrilled to be able to provide an inclusive, accessible resource to help support the school in its SEND teaching.
