This week we celebrated Neurodiversity Week in school through class discussions, activities and in our assemblies. In recent years we have focused on dyslexia, ADHD and autism. This year we shone a light on dyspraxia. This less well known neurodivergence makes it more difficult for the brain and body to plan and organise movements. This sometimes means that learning new physical skills takes more practice, the body doesn’t always do what the brain planned and tasks with lots of tasks can become confusing.
During Monday, Wednesday and Friday, Prep pupils have enjoyed a Games Club. Learning through play about the different ways our brains can approach tasks and process information.
In our Tuesday senior school assembly, one of our pupils with a dypraxia diagnosis, spoke to his peers about what this means for him day to day.
On Wednesday, we welcomed parents into school for a coffee morning with Talat and Emma, which gave valuable feedback on our provision and communication thereof.
On Thursday, we welcomed Saskia from Champ Paediatric Therapy. One of the Champ OTs works weekly with some of our pupils in school. Saskia, who is herself dyspraxic, described how it can feel, the difficulties it can cause at school and also highlighted how many dyspraxic individuals have great strengths such as creativity, resilience and imagination. A key part of the talk focused on kindness and inclusion, noting that we often can’t understand the reason why an individual might find something difficult so it’s important to be patient, include others in games even if they have different ways of playing, consider having ‘trial runs’ to enable friends to practice new skills without pressure and to celebrate effort, not just winning.
As ever, if you have any questions regarding neurodiversity, please do contact our SENCo Talat or Emma.
