A special needs classroom setup is different from that of a separate sensory room. Which is why it’s vital to begin by assessing not just your needs, but also your students’. Talk to a specialist to understand what the right solution is, as well as what will be best for the space and budget available. For example, what do you want your school’s sensory room environment to achieve? Should it be calming, stimulating, support learning or be flexible, offering a mix of these?

So, your school sensory environment is up and running. Everyone loves it. What next? Well, it will need regular maintenance and safety checks to ensure it’s working at its best. It’s also a good idea to get feedback from teachers and pupils. You can then use what you learn to make ongoing refinements and improvements.

We’re proud to have worked closely with many schools since we started over 30 years ago. Here are just a few of our success stories:

Abbey Hill Academy & College, Stoke-on-Trent

A forward-thinking school, Abbey Hill Academy & College prides itself on providing quality education, support and care for all its pupils, of which over 40% have autistic apectrum conditions. They came to us when they wanted to develop a new range of sensory rooms to meet the needs of students aged from 3 to 19 years old. Working with the school, we created a space that could be used for therapy, sensory stimulation & play, and intensive interaction. 

Julie Cartwright, Deputy Head Teacher said, “Pupils enjoy using the sensory rooms and find them a pleasurable experience and are therefore in a more relaxed state which is conducive to learning.”

Treetops School, Grays, Essex

When the school relocated to a new site, they had a clear idea of what they wanted, asking us to develop two softplay rooms and two multi-sensory rooms. With Treetops caring for children between 2 to 19 years old, we developed separate multi-sensory environments that catered to different ages.

"We use the rooms as a way of teaching children to communicate," explained Deputy Headteacher, Lesley Love. "The rooms are highly motivating for the children and they're particularly encouraged to ask for the things in the rooms that they like. It really helps develop their communication skills."

Ty Gwyn School, Cardiff

This is our largest project so far, culminating in the creation of award-winning multi-sensory rooms for this local authority day school for children and young people with profound and multiple learning difficulties. Councillor Freda Salway said, "Ty Gwyn is a magnificent facility that truly is second to none.’ We can’t help but agree, with our work including the creation of 14 calming rooms (featuring softplay walls and sensory lighting), eight withdrawal rooms (with softplay walls and soothing music) adjoining the classrooms, a splash pool and a multi-sensory hydrotherapy pool.

We hope you’ve found our insight into the creation of school sensory rooms of interest and it has inspired you to have one. Especially as it can be used as a flexible way to aid learning with pupils across a range of special educational needs. 

Remember to start by assessing your school’s requirements, then talk to an expert and plan what’s required to meet them, taking into consideration not just your pupils, but also space and budget. Armed with this information, a sensory room design can then be produced that ticks every box, followed by a professional installation. 

At SpaceKraft, we’ve had the pleasure of creating over 5000 sensory rooms over the last 30 years. What we’ve learnt is that no two are the same. Using our in-depth knowledge of sensory integration in schools, we’re here to help yours benefit from a flexible sensory room. Call us if you’d like to discuss a project or simply want advice on what’s possible.