Getting Away From It All
Freemantles School in Chertsey (formerly located in Windlesham) is a primary day school for up to 50 children with special educational needs. The children may have autism or serious communication difficulties and may display emotional or behavioural difficulties that are related to their particular situation.
Two of the aims of the school are to help the children to develop towards taking as full a part in the community as possible and to develop social awareness and appropriate social behaviour. One way in which these aims have been helped is by taking small groups of children on outings and overnight stays away from home.
The Children With Special Needs Foundation sponsored an extremely successful trip taken last year. 16 children and five staff members went to the Christian Sailing Centre in Bosham where they slept for two nights in a renovated mine sweeper. Children and helpers learned to enjoy the water and the assault course during the day, and cooked together at night. At night as the tide came in the sweeper was surrounded by water. "Quite a frightening experience for some children," explained Headteacher Ruth Buchan. " But they learned that they were safe there.
The school has made a video of the weekend away to show parents how beneficial the experience was for their children. "The positive aspects of the trip have stayed with the children," said Ruth. Donations from the charity are being used for a variety of projects within the school. A sensory garden is being cultivated and specialised play-ground equipment bought. "We try and buy things that can be used by two or more children and so help them to interact and learn co-operation, " Ruth explained.
A trip to Italy for six children is being planned. A high staff ratio to children is necessary but the lessons to be learned from such a trip make it very worthwhile.
Three mini-buses have been purchased to help with school outings as well as being used for picking up and dropping off children to and from school.
Camping trips to Woodlands are planned as an annual event. A specially designed camp-site has been constructed and run there by four handicapped people.
"The money has made such a big difference to us," said Ruth. "We have so many needs. We'd like to video the children's activities so that staff, parents and the children can see and learn from them, we'd like to take the children out to the Lookout in Bracknell, we'd like to have interactive music and dance sessions to aid social skills, and we desperately need computers and back up help to run them. "We try to provide our pupils with experiences and situations in which they can reach their optimum development, and the Children With Special Needs Foundation has helped us to do that."
