Birch Wood School Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire celebrates the opening of its new multi-sensory room.

Schools catering for children with severe learning and physical difficulties, sensory impairment and autism have found that regular access to a sensory room or sensory equipment can have significant improvements on a child’s emotional health.

Local special school, Birch Wood School in Melton Mowbray recently celebrated the opening of a purpose built sensory room funded by the Lord’s Taverners and supported in partnership with BT. With bubble tubes, fibre optic light sources, LED projector, an interactive floor system, safe mirrors, Head teacher Nina Watts said that “the room will, without a doubt, benefit numerous pupils here at Birch Wood and has already been a great success.” The application to The Lord’s Taverners for the grant was made by retired staff member Mrs Debbie Peet assisted by her son, Rob Peet, a teacher at the school.

The sensory room at Birch Wood, and similar ones funded and installed at other schools across the UK, have been proven to benefit the special needs pupils as they can both calm overactive children or stimulate subdued pupils. Ricjard Grudgings and Kate Rengger, Leicestershire committee members, recently visited Birch Wood School and saw first-hand how grateful the staff and pupils are for the facility with the Lord’s Taverners grant enabled them to install. Whilst they were present, some pupils demonstrated activities using the equipment in the sensory room and it was abundantly clear that immense benefit and enjoyment was gained by the children from the activities provided.