Some of the first pieces of work that I did at PAMIS was looking into multi-sensory stories. I knew that I was going to be creating one later in my placement so I wanted to understand why multi-sensory stories were created.

Multi-sensory stories are short stories of just a few lines that are brought to life through a selection of meaningful sensory experiences. They are extremely beneficial for students with Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD, profound and multiple learning difficulties (PMLD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other special educational needs (SEN). These stories open new ways of communication for these children as well as introduce new ways to learn (Grace,2015). Sensory stories help children with profound disabilities cope with sensitive issues that may crop up in their lives (Young et al, 2011). The stories that PAMIS have range from experiences like transitioning from primary to secondary or going to the dentist. However, some of the stories are just stories that can be told for fun such as fairytales. These stories can bring families together as the other siblings can perform the stories to the child with a disability. This means that it gives all the children something to do and brings everyone together.

A big part of my time at PAMIS was focusing on one child and her transition to secondary school. To aid in this transition PAMIS wanted to create a multi-sensory story to help explain this transition and to have something that the primary, secondary and family could perform to the child.

The first step of creating the story was attending meetings to find out what the best ideas would be for the story. When I started my placement at PAMIS, I was shown videos of multi-sensory stories being performed and I looked through some of the many stories that PAMIS have in their library. These stories are available for anyone to borrow and use that needs them.

The first stages of creating the story was attending meetings with the high school and then the primary school to find out what each school would like the story to be about and what they would like from the story. After we had spoken to both schools we had to start thinking about what sounds and sensory items we wanted in the story. At the high school one of theteachers had said that his signifier to K was going to be his beard. If we could find a good replication of a beard we wanted to re-create this for the story. After visiting both schools and meeting K we went back to the high school to record some sounds that K would encounter that were different from what she hears in her typical school day currently.

One of the main concerns that the primary school had was that the noise of the other children in the school would bother K. The department that K would be in for most of her day was relatively quiet as we had had a tour of it when we had been there previously. However, we took their concerns on board and recorded the sounds of the children at the nosiest part of the school. Other different sounds that K would never have heard before is the sound of the school bell at the secondary school; the sound of another child’s electronic wheelchair; the sound of the electronic doors that K would come into the school through and the voices of each teacher that would be working with K. We recorded several sounds so that when it came to writing the
story we had more than enough different sounds to incorporate into it. Recording these  sounds looks a while as we had to wait for the correct moment to record some of them as well as go around the school to get each teacher that would be working with K.

We used talking tiles to record the different sounds. These were little switches that K can press herself to hear the sound in the story.

After we had of the sounds recorded, the next stage was to write the story. When we had discussed the story with the primary and secondary school we had been asked if we could incorporate a song/jingle as K loves music and she really tunes into songs and

music when she hears them. K also enjoys shaking bells or a maraca so we wanted to have a part of the song that K could do this. As well as this it was also suggested to have a repetitive line throughout the story. Writing the story was not too difficult as we knew that it was going to follow what K would do on the days that she going to the secondary school. Writing the song was a little trickier but Max came up with some catchy limerick style songs that worked well with the story.

The next stage was to buy tor create the different sensory items that we had written into the story. Finding some of the items was a lot more difficult than I first anticipated it to be. It took a lot of searching online, asking friends and family and going around several different shops to find everything that we needed. For a couple of the items we needed to make the item. The most difficult item to re-create was the teacher’s beard. It took a few discussions with different people to conclude what we were going to use.

The final step was to print the story up in an A3 size and attach all the items to wipeable boards and number each one so that whoever is performing the story knows which order the boards should be in and what stage of the story each one goes along with. 

Each of the boards are numbered as pages to correlate with each line of the story.         

All of the sensory items I bought for the story (we used the paintbrush bristles to recreate the teacher’s beard).

We used a torch and green tissue paper to re-create the green flashing light in the secondary school.

Velcro pads are used to attach each item to the boards so that they can be attached and unattached easily. 

K has different signifiers for different rooms and places that she goes throughout her school day. we incorporated some of these into the story. The astro turf is given to K when she goes outside and the pom pom signifies the sensory room.

References

Grace, J. (2015) Sensory Stories for Children and Teens with Special Educational Needs. London and Philadelphia: Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Young, H., Fenwick, M., Lambe, L. and Hogg, J. (2011). Multi‐sensory storytelling as an aid to assisting people with profound intellectual disabilities to cope with sensitive issues: a multiple research methods analysis of engagement and outcomes. European Journal of Special Needs Education, [online] 26(2), pp.127-142. Available at: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/citedby/10.1080/08856257.2011.563603?scroll=top&needAccess=true (Accessed 20 Apr. 2017).

There are several different forms of communication that different disabled children use. K uses Canaan Barrie on body signing.

Canaan Barrie was pioneered by a principal teacher of Edinburgh’s Royal Blind School. Mary Lee and her colleague Lindi MacWilliam devised this new “language” for children who have multiple disabilities as well as being visually impaired. This approach is unique as it comes from the point of view of the child who is visually impaired (Scotsman, 2010)

This communication approach has three main sections which includes movement interaction, personal gestures and an adapted sign vocabulary. Underlying this approach is the belief that everyone can and dos communicate and it is therefore up to those who are supporting people with complex support needs to tune into them and try and see the world from their point of view (Lee and MacWilliam, 2001).

This approach centres around touch. Touch plays a major role in allowing communication partners to make contact and build understanding between them. Touch enables them to exchange their thoughts and feelings, a process that is normally supported largely by eye contact and the visual channel (Lee and MacWilliam, 2001). Since K is registered blind and can only see slight light changes she cannot communicate through visual cues. This means that when somebody enters a room, she cannot see them. A new person entering a room where K is should first approach her and shake her right hand and say “hello”. This introduces you to K and lets her know that you are in the room.

Canaan Barrie signs are developed as a relationship between an adult and child develops. This means that each child’s Canaan Barrie signs are slightly different as they are unique to them. There are universal Canaan Barrie signs but not every child will need every single one of these. Canaan Barrie signs mean that children who are visually impaired can still communicate and be communicated with using their sense of touch. Most of the signs have a specific reference point on the body. All of the signs involve touching – on the body or using hands – or movements close to the child. “The aim is to work out a vocabulary of movement, gesture and touch that reflects the everyday routines, needs and interests of the child.” (Scotsman, 2010).

A few of the Canaan Barrie signs.

References

Lee, M. and MacWilliam, L. (2001). Learning together: A creative approach to learning for children with multiple disabilities and a visual impairment. 2nd ed. London: Royal National Institute for the Blind.

Scotsman. (2010). Teacher who devised signing system for blind up for award. [online] Available at: http://www.scotsman.com/news/teacher-who-devised-signing-system-for-blind-up-for-award-1-803411 [Accessed 18 Apr. 2017]

I can’t believe that I only have one week left here!

This week has been pretty busy as we had to finish the multi-sensory story this week as K goes back to school on Tuesday. At first, I thought this would be easy as all we had to do was buy the sensory items for the story. However, it was a lot harder than I expected it to be. Finding the items that we needed for the story was difficult. When we wrote the story, we did not really think about where we would get the items we wanted. The most difficult item to create was the signifier for one of the teachers at the high school. He had told us that he was going to use his beard as his signifier for K. We had to create something that felt like his beard. What do we use for that? We had thought of several ideas but none seemed quite right. I had thought that creating this sensory story was going to be relatively easy but even creating the boards was proving to be a small challenge. We eventually found the best we could to re-create the beard which turned out to be a paintbrush bristles cut off the paintbrush and stuck together. This needed me to use skills that I never thought this placement would require me to use as well as we need to think outside the box to create the something that was the most realistic in touch to a real beard. Some of the other steps of the story created smaller challenges like making sure the voice recording clips were clear and loud on the talking tiles and creating a green flashing light with tissue paper and a torch. Using these creative skills to make this story was not the kind of skills that I thought I would develop at this placement. How to create the items that K would come across in real life was challenging and required me to think outside the box and away from how I would normally create something. These skills will also be transferable to a classroom for arts and crafts lessons or for creating things for around my classroom. Being able to think of different ways to make items or to replicate items will be good to show children and will be a fun learning opportunity for my future pupils.

I also had a meeting with K’s mum today. We were hoping that K would be there but she had unfortunately taken ill during the night so it was just her mum and sisters. As it was still the school holidays we were meeting at Dundee Science Centre so that the other girls would have something to do while we were there. All PAMIS families have access to Dundee Science Centre for free as part of the PAMIS Golden Ticket which means that they and their family members can get in for free. This means that families with children with PMLD have somewhere that they can go that helps to get the child with PLMD out of the house. The science centre has lots for a disabled child to do as well as being relatively wheelchair friendly is that is needed. As well as this, the siblings also have a place that they can run around and explore that is not solely for the disabled child.

We were meeting the child’s mum to speak to her about K’s digital passport. We took a printed copy of the passport with us so that she could see what was already in it as well as what was not. We had only briefly met the mum before so it was a good chance to speak to her about the passport and the story. She loved all the pictures that were in the passport and it was good to learn some context about some of the pictures. We were hoping to incorporate some videos into the passport as well as some information on K’s typical school day. Her mum also wanted us to add in information on her movements and information and x-rays from a recent surgery she had. As the digital passports are for the family it is important that it has the information that the families want people to know. We also showed her the sensory story and checked that the steps were correct. She asked us to change the first line of the story as we had that there would be the smell of toast in the morning and she said that there was not but there was coffee. Something coffee smelling was easier to get a hold of than something toast smelling so this made creating the story a lot easier. Getting to spend time with the family helped me to get to know them a lot more. I think that getting to know them more will help us to finish the story and passport as I will know more about them and K. 

Working on the digital passport this week has been quite challenging. Most of the passport is already done which means that adding in slides so that they flow smoothly with what is already there is a little challenging. I do not have the best computer knowledge so keeping everything the same was difficult. The most difficult bit was adding in pictures as all of the pictures in the passport have a double border plus writing so moving and adding new pictures took a lot of fidgety work. Previously, I did not know how to add links and I had to figure out how to do this for the passport. I did not expect to learn how to improve my computer skills during this placement but working on the passport has required me to.

This week has been a relatively quiet but busy week. I can’t believe that I have been at PAMIS for three weeks now! 

The office has been very quiet this week as it is the first week of the school holidays. As it is the school holiday I had no meetings this week but lots to do in the office. When we were at the high school last week we told them that we would have the multi-sensory story finished for the schools going back as this is when the transition starts. This means that we had this week and next week to write and create the story. This week Max and I wrote the story as well as a small “song” to be sung to K at the start and end of the song. This was one of the suggestions from the primary school. As K loves songs and listening to music we thought this would be a great way to grab her attention. She also loves shaking a maraca or bells along to music so we thought she could do this along with the song. Creating her story was relatively simple as we were just writing what she would be doing on the day that she goes to the high school. We decided to include something that would happen in the morning at her house which we thought might be that her sisters have toast so K would smell toast. We also decided to incorporate some of the activities along with their signifiers that she does at her primary school so that she realises there will not be too much different. The story took a few different drafts as we checked it with Maureen from PAMIS as she knows the family well as well as made sure that we had enough different sensory items in the story for K to touch, smell and hear. The task of creating the story has shown me that it is not easy to create these stories. For ours we have had to make sure that everything is accurate to how K’s daily routine would be so as not to confuse her. As well as create the song and a line at each step of the story that can be sung.

The rest of this week has mostly been working autonomously on different smaller tasks that Jenny emailed to us. These were a variety of things including look at who I would call upon as a teacher if I had a child who challenged me with their behaviour or if a child had a specific physical disability. Being at PAMIS has opened my eyes to what support and help is out there. Previously, I had never heard of PAMIS and having a child in my classroom with a condition I did not understand or know about scared me. This has helped me to see some of the support that is in place for families of children with disabilities but the support, facilities and programmes are also available to teacher is so needed. I will carry this knowledge onto my future placements as well as into my teaching career. This will be very useful for me as I will be able to help children with learning and physical disabilities as well as let their families know where they can go for support if they do not already.

Another of the tasks that Jenny had suggested was to look for a community hub school and identify the important aspects of one. I find community hub schools interesting as they are a school, community centre and other facilities all in one building. These are great for communities as they become the centre of the community and make it easy for people to find what they need and access help and support. There is not a community hub school in Dundee at the moment so we could not visit one to see how the different facilities work together. There is one in Dunfermline that I am hoping to visit as my Dad lives close to it but I am not sure if I will be able to. I think it will be fascinating to see how these different places work together to create a community feeling with a lot of people under one roof. From a teaching perspective, I would also like to know what teaching in this school is like. I think it would be really useful to have access to lots of different facilities on your doorstep to help your children with any problems. 

This week has been mostly learning how to work through tasks on my own without needing constant guidance. This is an important skill to have for my future years at university as well as when I am qualified. Being able to work autonomously means that I can work on what is needing to be done when I am on placement and in practice without having to be told what to do.

The PAMIS organisation feels like one big family. In the Tayside office, they are not loads of staff members but everyone comes together and helps with what they can, when they can. The layout of the PAMIS building is several smallish offices over two floors. There is only one bigger office that a few people share. Usually this closed off type of layout can mean that staff members are all very secluded. Not at PAMIS! Unless there is a meeting going on, all office doors are left wide open, even Jenny’s. This creates a very open and friendly atmosphere where everyone is very approachable. This feeling carries right through the whole organisation. This has been helpful throughout my entire placement but especially at the beginning as I was unsure where everything was. I felt that I could ask anyone to help. 

What helps to create the family feeling that is throughout this organisation is the twice daily coffee breaks. When I first started my placement here I never went along when asked for a coffee as I do not drink tea or coffee. After a few days of wondering why the office was so quiet for twenty/thirty minutes every day, twice a day, I went along. When I did, I discovered the heart of this organisation. Everyday kettles of coffee are made and taken along to the tea room. Once the coffee is made a small bell in rung to let everyone know that the coffee is ready. Everyone then goes along to the tea room which is where the magic happens. The coffee breaks are not just a time for having a coffee and a chat. During coffee breaks current projects that staff are working on are discussed, ideas are bounced back and forth and different options and solutions are thought of. It is also a time to catch up on what is needing to be done for certain projects without having to be behind email all of the time. For me, this was useful for catching up and talking to members of staff that you may not have seen or known whether they were in or not. It also was a time that other ideas or meetings could be proposed or discussed relating to what I was working on. I found the coffee breaks at PAMIS really fascinating as not only did everyone member of staff that was in go along at the same time but they also all shared ideas and opinions with each other. I think this is a big part of what helps to create the family-like feel that surrounds everyone at PAMIS.

I’m sure that this family feeling extends out to the families that PAMIS work with. PAMIS go above and beyond to help families and give them all the support that they can. I have seen how highly that K’s family regard them and her mum said to me that she would do anything for PAMIS. As this probably echo’s several family’s sentiments towards the charity it shows the importance of the work that PAMIS do.

I hope to carry this kind of attitude on to my future placements and in my career as I think this collaboration for working together and discussing projects creates a good work environment. It also help everyone to know what is going on within the organisation even if it is not a project that you are working on personally.

PAMIS are involved in several different campaigns. One of these campaigns is the Changing Places toilets. PAMIS are currently involved in a big campaign to bring more Changing Places toilets to the UK. Standard accessible toilets meet the needs of some disabled people. However, 230,000 people living in the UK need personal assistance to use the toilet or change continence pads. They and their families or carers need Changing Places toilets to be able to take part in their communities. Many cannot leave their homes as the places that they want to go do not meet their basic needs. A Changing Places toilet provides the right equipment – a height adjustable changing bench and a tracking hoist system or mobile hoist; enough space – adequate space in the changing area for the disabled person and up to two carers, a centrally placed toilet with room wither side for the carers and a screen or curtain to allow the disabled person and carer some privacy; a safe and clean environment – wide tear off paper roll to cover the bench, a large waste bin for disposable pads and a non-slip floor.

Changing Places toilets should be installed in as many venues and locations as possible so that disabled people, elderly people and anyone else who needs access to a Changing Places toilet can go to the places that they enjoy and still have their basic needs met. Currently, these people need to either be changed on dirty bathroom floors or cannot leave their homes. This is not fair for people to have to live their lives this way.

PAMIS are campaigning for more Changing Places toilets around Scotland as well as a mobile one. If there was a mobile Changing Places toilet then venues would be able to hire this toilet like they do normal toilets when they put events on. This would mean that people that need these toilets would be able to go to more events across the country.

In February 2009, Changing Places toilets were included in the British Standards BS8300, this means that they should be included in all new larger buildings and complexes such as large railway stations and airports, sports and leisure facilities, shopping centres and health facilities such as hospitals. This is great for all building that have been built since this time but there still needs to be more done to get these toilets into older buildings and places. Currently, there is only ten Changing Places toilets in Dundee. Even though this may not seem a lot when you compare this to the number of toilets in Scotland’s other big cities it is very good. Glasgow has the same number of Changing Places toilets as Dundee but Edinburgh and Aberdeen have nine and seven respectfully. Since these cities are much bigger than Dundee they should have several more since even the amount in Dundee is not enough.

Big venues such as Murrayfield Rugby Stadium and Blair Drummond Safari Park have Changing Places toilets. This means that events and days out can be enjoyed by entire families because the basic needs of a disabled family member has been met. There needs to be more Changing Places toilets across the whole of the UK so that families can go wherever they want to go without worrying that the correct facilities will not be available to them.

Several organisations (including PAMIS) under the name the Changing Places Consortium are still campaigning for more Changing Places toilets so that the basic needs of disabled and elderly people are met.

This is an example of a Changing Places toilet.

References

Changing Places Consortium (no date) Changing places, changing lives. [Leaflet obtained from PAMIS Dundee], Date obtained: 30th March 2017.

PAMIS (no date) A Directory of Changing Places Toilets in Scotland. [Leaflet obtained from PAMIS Dundee], Date obtained: 30th March 2017.

Promoting a More Inclusive Society (PAMIS) is a charity organisation that works solely with children and adults with profound and multiple mental disabilities (PMLD) and their families. PAMIS is a charity that started 25 years ago by two members of staff. Now, PAMIS have several offices all over Scotland and over twenty members of staff. PAMIS have always had a vision of having people with profound and multiple learning disabilities at the heart of their organisation. Their commitment is to help people with PMLD feel that they are valued members of society; that individuals receive all of the help and support that they need to take part in everyday life; choices, abilities and needs underlay all provisions and policy that affects their lives; and the knowledge and experience that family carers have is recognised. To achieve this PAMIS offers several different services including practical help, advice, information and training; individual support as well as contact with other families so that each family does not feel alone; assistance to gain better access to community resources; and the opportunity to influence policies and services.

PAMIS are involved in several different projects that are all associated with helping disabled people. One of the projects that PAMIS is involved in are Digital Passports. Digital Passport is an online e-book that contains information about an individual. This digital resource bridges communication problems between professionals who could all be working with the same child. This means that all of the information about one individual would be in one place that anyone who works with this individual can access. Having these digital passport also encourages partnership working between family carers, paid carers, healthcare and educational workers.

PAMIS have also created Multi-Sensory Storytelling. This is where a story is created to help an individual facilitate change, support learning and development, access mainstream education and connect communities and cultures to those who are visually impaired. These stories can be created to help someone overcome a big change in their life or they could just be to tell a well-known fairytale or folktale.

References

PAMIS (no date) Promoting a more inclusive society. [online] Available at: http://pamis.org.uk/ [Accessed 23 Mar. 2017].

(written on 18th March)

My first week at the Brae was fascinating. I really enjoyed learning all about the horses and the organisation. My first week flew in as we were given lots to do and every minute of the day there was a task needing to be done.
Even though I have always liked horses and horse riding I did not have any experience of working alongside horses. My week started by having a quick training session on some basic necessities that you need to know at The Brae including putting a head collar on a horse. Once I knew the basics for keeping myself and a horse safe I got stuck in to the typical Brae life. On a Monday morning there are no lessons at the Brae so this time is about exercising and grooming the horses as well as do any other cleaning and maintenance jobs that need completed. After lunch this is when the first lessons of the week are. I found the lessons to be really fascinating. Seeing how a horse can help someone as well as seeing the enjoyment that the rider has on the horse was amazing. I took part in two lessons that afternoon and the riders were very different. One rider was an adult who could control the horse herself without any lead reigns and thoroughly enjoyed the sound of the horse. This week she enjoyed it even more as she was out on the track around the school. She said that she felt like she was really horse riding as she could hear the sounds, that many people associate with horses, of the horses’ hooves on the road. My second lesson that day was with a child on a smaller pony. This child had the same look of enjoyment on her face when she was on the horse. The little girl needed a lot more support at the side of the horse than the previous lesson had. In spite of this, she showed me how important The Brae is for developing a child’s communication skills. She knew how to tell the horse to move “walk on” and stop “woah” and would be able to say these things to the horse and then enjoyed when the horse responded to her commands.
The Brae has letters and pictures all around the perimeter of their indoor and outdoor school. They also have obstacles. This means that the riders are not just walking round in circles when they are in the schools but they are moving around comes, objects and stepping over poles. As well as this the instructor of the lesson will tell the rider to look for the king, apple, horse picture or a certain letter. This means that the child is looking for the picture or letter and they know where the horse will be going. The young girl loved looking around her and talking to me and the other side helper. She had to be reminded to look ahead a lot. This just showed how much she was enjoying herself and how comfortable she was with communicating with everyone at The Brae. Not all of the riders were able to communicate with words but some would tell the horse to move forward by showing that they were looking straight ahead or using a hand signal. This meant that the riders were still learning new communication skills but ones that were suited to them.
After this first day I took part in several different tasks within Brae. A lot of my day was taken up by shadowing a leader in lessons (so that I could see how to lead on my own) or side supporting riders while they were on the horse. Side helping could be quite challenging as your sole responsibility was the rider. I found this role to be quite pressurised and stressful as one of the lessons I was involved in the rider had had a seizure the night before. This meant that she could fall asleep on the horse at any time. My role, alongside another volunteer, was to make sure that the rider stayed awake and sitting up straight on the horse throughout her lesson.
Outside of lessons my day was spent doing the necessary things for the horses. Whether that was getting them ready for lessons, taking their tack off after lessons, grooming, putting on their rugs, filling up their hay bags, bringing them in from the field and taking them out to the field every morning and evening.
My first week at The Brae was very interesting and I learned a lot. Unfortunately, I developed an allergy to something within the indoor and outdoor schools during my first week and I had a severe reaction. I have learned so much in a short period of time with The Brae and I know that I will take this on with me. I was looking forward to continuing my role at Brae for many reasons. One of these reasons was that no two days would be the same. There were different volunteers, different riders and different tasks to focus on every day. Another reason was that I am sure I would have learned even more about horses and what they can do for disabled people. I am really sad that I have had to leave this placement but hopefully I will find something that I can use the skills I have learned here.

Communication is vital to the everyday running’s of the Brae. Since there are different volunteers and staff members everyday there has to be a way for all of the information for the riders and horses to be kept in once place. There are only 5/6 members of staff at The Brae with  over one hundred volunteers. Some volunteers work half days, others full days. This means that     there could be many different volunteers a day taking part in the lessons and looking after the horses and riders. Some riders only need one volunteer with them leading the horse, while others also need one or two side-helping. This means that their responsibility is the rider, making sure they are straight on the horse and occasionally holding the riders leg and/or ankle to keep then straight on the horse.

In the stables there are a couple of noticeboards that all have different communication messages that equate to the smooth running of the school every day. The first noticeboard focuses on the lessons of the day and information on the riders. Everyday there is a timetable pinned up with information on the lessons of the day. This sheet is vital as it contains all of the important details about each rider. These sheets have different number ratings for whether the rider has seizures and how severe that they are (there is a corresponding key also on this noticeboard so that the number beside each rider can be understood as to what it means). This makes it easy for everyone to understand what the different seizure ratings mean. There is also a similar rating for how the rider can communicate but this rating is done in order of letter so as not to be confused with the seizure one. These two pieces of information mean that staff and volunteers working with the riders know how they need to communicate and what you need to look out for when side-helping. As well as this, these sheets also have the time of each lesson, the riders name, which horse their lesson is on, the rider’s hat size and their stirrup length. At the side of each lesson time it also says how many volunteers are needed for each lesson. This means that the horses that are required can be tacked up ready with the stirrups at the correct length before the riders get there. There is also a small whiteboard in this area where each volunteer writes their name when they come in. This means that the supervisor knows how many volunteers they have that day and can assign the correct amount of volunteers to each rider.

On a second noticeboard these is a sheet, which is changed each day, that lists the daily tasks that need to be completed to make sure that the school and the horses are taken care of. This noticeboard also has different training sheets that are changed occasionally. These sheets go over training that all of the volunteers have had and they are put there as a reminder of how to complete certain tasks and jobs.

Without all of these different communication methods and sheets it would be very difficult for everyone to know this information. This shows how important communication at the Brae is and why they need this system in place to ensure that all of the volunteers know what they need to.

(written on 16th March)

There are ten horses at The Brae and they all serve a different purpose or have a different priority. There are horses of all different heights and weights so that they can take different heights and weights of children and adults. A horse can not carry more than its own weight. This is very important as it means that each rider has to be weighed so that the correct horse can be selected for them. This is most important for children as they might be on the small Shetland pony but as they grow they may become too big for him. The horses range from a small Shetland pony right up to the biggest horse Prince. Through the summer months the Brae also do carriage driving lessons so that children and adults that are confined to a wheelchair can still experience the feeling of riding a horse.

Paddy

Paddy is the newest horse to the Brae as he only arrived in September last year. It can take a horse 9 months to fully settle in to
somewhere new so he has not fully settled into the riding school yet. Paddy is 10 years old and his main job is to pull the carriage as he has recently passed his carriage driving test. He also has to take
part in lessons which he had not had much experience of but is getting more and more comfortable. Paddy is a lovely horse with a very calm personalty (as all of the horses need to have). My experience with Paddy was that he was a cheeky chap who had a great personality. Paddy would always help by lowering his head when putting his head collar on as well as check your pockets to see if you had any treats for him.

Boris

Boris is the smallest horse at the Brae as well as one of the oldest horses. Even though he is the smallest horse he is still a very strong pony. Boris gives rides to several smaller children. Boris has a great temperment and would often have his head over
the door of his stable so that he could be petted by people walking by. He was a very easy horse to work alongside and groom. Boris can often be seen relaxing in the small side field at the Brae when he is not working

Duey

Duey is one of the bigger horses at the Brae. He has been at the Brae since October 2014 which means he is well settled into his life there. Duey enjoys taking part in many lessons with some of the older children and adults. He is a very big and strong horse but is actually a gentle giant and can be a little bit of a wimp sometimes.

Prince

Prince is the tallest and one of the oldest horses at the Brae. Even though Prince is very tall he is  a ‘gentle giant’ who can give lessons different ages and abilities. Prince can also adapt from lead rein lessons to jumping lessons without a problem. Prince is very easy to work alongside and gives riders and volunteers confidence in the work that they are doing. As Prince is older he will probably be retiring soon. However, as Prince is such a hard working horse who does several different types of lessons, he cannot retire until the Brae find a replacement for him.

Gismo

Gismo has been at the Brae for five years and is one of the smaller horses. Gismo works well with children of all abilities even those who need to be hoisted on to his back. Gismo is happy for new volunteers to learn their new skills of tacking up and grooming with him.

Dusty

Dusty is an 11 year old Dapple Grey who has been at the Brae for three years and he enjoys taking part in lessons with smaller riders. Dusty is a very cheeky horse who can be a pain on lessons if he does not feel like doing certain tasks. He is an ideal height for many children but my own experience with Dusty is that he can be a bit of a pain at times. Dusty can occasionally take a nibble at volunteers when being groomed or on a lead rope during lessons. This means that he can be difficult to keep on track during lessons and will sometimes refuse to go from walking to trotting.

Mickey

Mickey is a very calm black Gypsy Cob horse. He has several jobs so he is a very busy horse. Just like all of the other Brae horses Mickey takes part in several lessons a week. Mickey is also one of the Brae’s carriage driving horses. Mickey is a very laid back, quiet horse which means that he is ideal for new volunteers to learn how to tack up, groom and clean his feet. In my experience of working with Mickey, he would lower his head into his head collar to help me as he was quite tall and I am not! I was amazed when he did this as he realised that I was struggling and helped me. I was told when I was at the Brae that horses can sense human feelings a lot more than we can which means that you need to show the horses that you are confident even if underneath you are not.

As well as this Mickey can also step in for Romany in back riding lessons and he has also had training in vaulting lessons which are a new kind of lesson to the Brae.

Misty

Misty is a 13 year old grey Fell pony. Misty takes part in a lot of lessons as he is an ideal height for a variety of children and adults. He has been at the Brae for three years and in that time has doubled the amount of lessons that he does.

Rolley

Rolley is an 18 year old grey mare and she is the only female horse at the Brae. Rolley takes part in several lessons and is slowly building her confidence for doing more. Rolley enjoys giving several children lessons. Rolley also has a very calm personality so she is good for new volunteers to practice tacking up and grooming. Helping new volunteers gain new skills is Rolley’s main role at the Brae at the moment but she is building up how many lessons that she does.

Romany

Romany has been at the Brae for four years. Romany helps to deliver a unique type of lesson, alongside the Brae physio, called Hippo therapy which is physiotherapy on horseback. Romany has been taking part in these lessons for a while now and they have managed to double the amount of lessons that they do. All of the children that have these lessons gain physically and mentally in strength and confidence.

Even though I was only at The Brae a week I had already started to see the different personalities that each horse had and I was enjoying getting to know each one. I felt like i had already started to develop a bond with some of the horses, however, I did not get to work closely with all of the horses in this short time. This meant that I got to know some better than others.

References

The Brae Riding for the Disabled. (no date). The Brae Riding for the Disabled. [online] Available at: http://www.brae.org.uk [Accessed 16 Mar. 2017].

The Brae Riding School is a charity that is associated with the Riding for the Disabled. They are an independent charity. The Brae works with disabled children and adults ranging from 3-90. The Brae has only six members of staff and relies hugely on volunteers to run the school. There are over one hundred and fifty volunteers that work at The Brae.

Using horses can help disabled people in several different ways. The first is communication as it teaches them new phrases and words that when said will get a reaction from the horse or even just communicating with the volunteers. The second is that it might be the only time that the child or adult is ever taller than everyone else. This alone is a new experience for the riders. Being on a horse is can also improve the posture of a person and how they hold themselves as well as work on concentrating as they need to concentrate to control the horse. Lastly, since the riders enjoy horse riding so much they do not realise that they are putting their body through physiotherapy. The physiotherapist at The Brae also does some one-to-one Hippo therapy (physiotherapy on horseback) lessons. The Brae was the first riding school in Scotland to offer this kind of therapy.

In this placement I will have the same role as all of the other volunteers which includes a multitude of tasks. These tasks include mucking out, grooming, feeding and any other care needed to look after the horses. As well as the care of the horses I will also be taking part in the riding lessons with adults and children. At first I will be working with a buddy to help train me on how to lead a horse and how to side support a rider. After my training time I will be doing these activities on my own. As my placement continues I may be given other tasks as well.

I chose to complete my Learning from Life placement here for many reasons. The first reason was that I have always enjoyed working with horses and animal in general. I had horse riding lessons when I was a child and I always wanted to learn more about horses and work more with them. The second reason was the I wanted to see the work that RDA did and how the horses help disabled people. A friend of my gran was disabled and my gran would take her to the Riding for the Disabled so I wanted to see the work that this fantastic organisation did. Lastly, I did not have any experience of working with disabled children and adults and I wanted to gain some.

Originally, I was doing my Learning from Life placement in a very hands-on environment where I would be spending my time outdoors working with animals. My plan had always been to be creative and present my portfolio as a scrapbook as we had been told we could present it in any way we wanted. Unfortunately, during my first week at my placement I developed a severe allergy to something there and I was advised by my doctor and a specialist asthma nurse to leave as this allergy was affecting my asthma. This was incredibly disappointing as I had been planning to go to this place for placement for a long time and I was really looking forward to working with them. I had to make the decision to put my health first and leave my placement.

I remember when we had some of our first lectures about the Learning from Life placement my lecturer mentioned what you would need to do if your placement fell through last minute or something happened during your placement. I remember thinking at the time “I hope nothing like that happens to me”. Famous last words! As I now found myself in the situation where I had to email my university and let them know the unfortunate situation I was in. At this time I was really concerned. What if I had to go somewhere else for a placement I do not enjoy as much? What if I do not find a placement and will not be able to progress to third year? There were several “What if’s” going around in my head!

Luckily, only a couple of days later I received an email from my lecturer telling me she had found me a placement. I was delighted as well as slightly nervous. Once I had found out more about this placement I became really interested and I got in touch with the Chief Director of the organisation. I had found another placement that sounded fascinating and I couldn’t wait to start.

Since the nature of my placement has changed I have decided to present my portfolio on here rather than a scrapbook. Because of this I have several posts that I will be posting close together as I already had some information waiting to go into my scrapbook.

(written 22nd February)

In the box below please write a short placement proposal statement explaining:

• What the placement is
• Why you have chosen this setting
• What you think the benefits of the placement will be
• What you think you would be able to bring to the placement

(500 words maximum)

This is my audit of skills and how I planned and prepared my placement. I have updated this since moving placements.

Audit of skills, knowledge and personal attributes
 
Rate yourself (1=Not very well developed; 3=very well developed)

Knowledge:

I know a lot of the work that The Brae and Riding for the Disabled do, however, I do not know the daily ins and outs of the running of the riding school. I also did not know that there was a Riding for the Disabled School in Dundee but I had had contact with the one in Forfar previously. I am looking forward to discovering everything that goes on at this organisation.

Personal Attributes:

I would say that I am someone who is approachable and friendly. I am very organized with my work and university life and I hate to be late for anything. I find these attributes to be key for becoming a teacher but I will also transfer them over to my time at the Brae as I think they will be useful characteristics there as well.

Reflection on experiences to date

Since my fourth year work experience I have taken every opportunity that I can to work with children in a primary school setting. These experiences helped me to work on my teamwork and professionalism skills quickly and helped me to see the school environment.

Since starting university I have continued to improve these skills as well as gain new skills. My MA1 placement helped me to work on my teamwork skills as there is so many different people involved with the daily and overall running’s of a successful classroom. Last year, I also got to work my professionalism as there were several different people in the classroom that I was working in and throughout the school. This will help me at the Brae as I will need to be professional with any riders and carer that come into the school. As well as this I will also need to be professional with the other staff that I will be working with.

I am a very punctual person as well as highly organized. During my first year placement these skills were highly important as I was always at the school early as well as it helped me to run my class on time throughout the day. Being organized is highly important when you are a teacher as you have paperwork for your children’s safety as well as lessons to plan and work to make. These organization skills helped me to keep on top of all of the work and planning that I needed to do. In my learning from life placement these skills will also help me as they will make sure that I am organized and ready before lessons.

Identification of skills and knowledge to be developed

Self-confidence: self-confidence is something that I have but I do not have it in bucket loads. During this placement I want to be able to improve this. I am going to try and improve this skill by meeting and working alongside many people that I will not be familiar with and possibly helping to present fundraising ideas.

Confidence in sharing my opinion: I am never very confident about sharing my ideas and opinions when in a meeting of several people. This is mostly because I can see that these people are more experienced than me. I want to improve this and have the confidence to speak up if I have a helpful idea or opinion.

Identification of learning opportunities

The Brae

• At The Brae a main learning opportunity that I will have is to learn more about horses, what work they do for disabled riders and how to take care of them.
• I will also learn more about how to communicate with disabled children and adults and t
  he different ways that each individual prefers. This relates to the SPR for social justice and being able to be fair to all learners and being able to communicate with disabled children is part of that.
• Brae is one of few that offer Hippo therapy (physio therapy on horseback). Being able to see how this type of therapy can help disabled riders will be a learning opportunity.

PAMIS

• A learning opportunity at PAMIS will be taking part in meetings where there will be several organisations in one meeting. This will give me the opportunity of seeing several professional bodies in one meeting. This related to the SPR as a student teacher needs to have professional commitment for Engaging with all aspects of professional practice and working collegiately with all members of our educational communities with enthusiasm, adaptability and constructive criticality.
• I will also have the opportunity to learn more about disabled children and what different communication methods that they use.
• A learning opportunity will be to improve my computer skills. I will be working with different computer programs than what I am use to for creating Digital Passports and Multi-Sensory Stories.

Record of planning and organisation

 For this placement I had several problems when planning my placement. I was not sure where I wanted to go until Susan spoke about where previous year students had gone for placement. One jumped out at me – Guide Dogs for the Blind. It incorporated a huge love of mine, animals, and a goal I wanted to achieve in this placement – working with disabled children. I started to research the organisation and contacted them about a possible placement there. The organisation were very interested in offering me a placement and put me in contact with the person who organizes volunteers. I then never heard from anyone for the Guide Dogs again. I contacted then again but I did not get a response.

After this happened, I did not know where I wanted to go or what I could do as well as it was not long until we needed to start our placement. In a panic I started to think of different places that I could go for placement. The Brae, Riding for the Disabled was one of the places that I thought of as it still incorporated my animal love and my main goal I had for this placement. I contacted them and got a very quick response saying they would be delighted to have me. I organized a meeting with the volunteer coordinator to discuss what my placement would consist of, what my main tasks would be and to have a tour of the school.