Sensory Diets at Kingsbury
All children who attend our school receive regular sensory input in some form. Sensory input supports our children to stay regulated, ready to learn and reach their full potential. Where a child has sensory processing difficulties, they will have an individual sensory diet plan, which is delivered through the school day during teaching sessions and as a one to one intervention.
We are part of a Sensory Network Group that is led by an experienced specialist therapist and attended by schools with expert knowledge and understanding of sensory processing. Through this group, case studies are developed, and expertise is shared, enabling our school to stay up to date with the most current research and strategies to provide the best for our children. All teachers and teaching assistants have a sound understanding of delivering sensory input and are proactive in meeting the children’s sensory needs. At Kingsbury, the sensory diets are based on theories of sensory processing and sensory integration. Each diet programme consists of vestibular, proprioceptive, and deep pressure input, delivered through a process of alerting, organising and calming activities.
Alerting activities provide vestibular stimulation within a controlled environment. This prepares the brain for learning and the demands of the school day. Organising activities provide proprioceptive input which help the children to organise their body, likely to result in an increase in focus and attention span. Calming activities often involve deep pressure input, which calms the body and supports the child to be ready to learn.