Treetops School - Learning through fun.

What is the Treetops School project?

Treetops is a school which specialises in Autistic development but cares for children with a wide range of conditions. RM SpaceKraft enjoyed a great relationship with Treetops during the development of two Softplay Rooms and two Multi-Sensory Rooms.

With Treetops caring for children between 2-19 years of age, it was essential to develop separate bespoke multi-sensory environments that would be suitable for the specific needs of both teenagers and toddlers alike. Sometimes age segregation is a very practical necessity!

What did SpaceKraft provide?

Two Softplay Rooms which encourage mobility and expression, are now established as a vital and extremely popular resource at the school and used for a variety of functions; "We use the rooms as a way of teaching children to communicate," says Lesley Love, Deputy Headteacher. "The rooms are highly motivating for the children and they're particularly encouraged to ask for the things in the rooms that they like. It really helps develop their communication skills."

The positive impact SpaceKraft had for Teachers

The Softplay and Multi-Sensory rooms provide the school's teachers with an ideal starting-off point in which to develop and expand on the school's 'Learning Through Fun' philosophy. In putting this philosophy into action, the rooms have been placed at the very core of Treetops' developmental activities.

Although all parts of the rooms are used by the staff and children, Lesley herself singles out the Multi-Sensory Room's 'Bubble Tube' as an especially indispensable resource, claiming this innovative piece of equipment has even spurred some children into their first attempts at speech.

The positive impact SpaceKraft had for Learners

The Softplay Rooms provide a safe environment for children with physical disabilities to perform mobility exercises and are used extensively in the one-to-one communication development of Autistic children. It's this flexible, multi-functional ability that is at the heart of the project's ongoing success at the school.

Although older classes might enjoy more group work with the Multi-Sensory Room's UV lamp and frequently use the mirage projector: the rooms still function in a similar way for all ages; "The general aim is to get the children, whatever their age, to communicate better and to develop better relationships with other children. If older children have similar needs to the younger children, they use the equipment in a similar way; learning to have fun with people and learning to ask for things is key".

With SpaceKraft always keen to work closely with customers, Lesley is already looking at developing the Multi-Sensory rooms further; "I'd like to look at hanging things from the ceiling for vestibular work - swings for example - that's definitely a future project".