Helicopter Stories For Children With Special Needs

MakeBelieve Arts were funded by Havering Borough Council to explore how the child-centred, holistic educational approach of Helicopter Stories could work at a school for children with additional needs, and specifically Profound Multiple Learning Difficulties (PMLD) and Severe Learning Difficulties (SLD).

At Dycorts School in Havering, class teacher Nadine Jones immediately saw the potential of Helicopter Stories and how it would work for the children in her Reception and Key Stage 1 class. Nadine has 10 children aged 4 to 7 years old in her class.

Our role as practitioners was to ensure that all children could access Helicopter Stories. Children told their stories through whichever medium they chose, speech, sign, pointing to pictures and objects, facial expressions, and with toys. The focus was always on what the children could do, rather than on what they couldn’t do, and this philosophy made all the difference.

The children quickly latched onto the masking tape roll as their identifier for Helicopter Stories and whenever Nadine had the roll of tape on her wrist, they would immediately go to the carpet area to act out their stories.

To find out how Helicopter Stories could work for your setting, please CONTACT US or check out our list of UPCOMING TRAINING AND EVENTS.