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Children with complex needs are enjoying a growing range of extra-curricular activities, including dance, music and art.
Chatten Free School opened in Witham in 2021 to provide a highly specialist day school for children who cannot access education in any other SEND settings.
All students have an autism diagnosis and associated complex needs – and many were previously out of the education system or facing no alternative but to live in care.
The school is on a mission to give its young people as many of the same experiences as their peers in mainstream schools as possible.
Each year, students have the opportunity to go on a residential trip, attend their own music festival, complete work experience and celebrate with a leavers’ day in the summer.
Now, the school is removing yet more barriers by offering pupils a range of extra-curricular activities.
Bobby Roache, assistant headteacher, said: “Our extracurricular calendar has grown over time. When we think back to our first year, it would have been really hard for our children to access extracurricular activities.
“It would not have happened, but now some of that same cohort of children are accessing these activities. We are even more open-minded now about what our children can do.”
The Royal Academy of Dance provides its Step into Dance inclusive dance programme to the school’s secondary-aged students, as well as one-to-one sessions for primary-aged pupils.
They take part in a range of dance classes, depending on their abilities and tolerances, including sensory-based dance and group dances during the weekly session.
Millie Backhouse, assistant headteacher, said: “For some of our children, being able to tolerate someone new in the room with them is a challenge, and so to see them taking part and enjoying dance is wonderful. They may start with one-to-one sessions, but gradually they build up to work with two or three others and then take part as a group.
“It has become a real passion for some of our children. When we look at our older learners, being able to access and join in at youth clubs or adult social care in the future is an important skill for them to have.
“For our younger children, dance is helping them to follow instructions and communicate with new people. To see the pure joy dance is bringing to our children is amazing.”
Suffolk Music Therapy Services is helping children to find new ways of accessing learning each week.
Vic Beattie, assistant headteacher, said: “Some of our children are extremely sensory-based and need the input music therapy offers them. It works really well in getting those children to tune in and gets their attention.
“For some who can’t access much of the curriculum, we are finding they are so tuned in to music, and it is something they can do wherever they are. We can then use some of those techniques to support them in other areas.
“One of our children has discovered he loves music and singing so much that his parents have bought him musical instruments to widen his interests at home. It is giving them something to be passionate about.”
Weekly art therapy sessions are helping children to express themselves by talking about the artwork they have created.
By developing the length of time the children can sit and engage in the activity, they are building self-esteem while also building up tolerance of change by transitioning from one part of the school to another for the lesson.
For Daisy, her art sessions are a way for her to regulate her emotions.
The nine-year-old from Chelmsford joined Chatten Free School in 2023 after mainstream school failed to meet her needs.
Erin Purnell, Daisy’s mum, said: “Daisy has always loved art and gets a lot of joy from creating pieces of work. It regulates Daisy and keeps her happy.
“Daisy does art every day at home, so I’m very grateful that she’s had the opportunity to have a professional art therapist work with her at school.”
Ashleigh Cambridge, deputy head of school, said: “These are all new experiences for our children that they might not have had the opportunity to try before. While these are extracurricular activities, when we find a child has a particular passion, we can use that to link back to the curriculum.
“It could also be a hobby or a job they go on to enjoy into adulthood – it could be they love art and go on to sell their own paintings when they are older. It is about finding interests that can help to shape their lives.
“It is making us engage more with activities that go on in the community, as well. Our parents are so excited that their children are getting these new experiences.”
Written by Kelly Clark
Location: Witham in Essex
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