Learning out of the Classroom

At Carronhill we are very lucky to have some fantastic facilities and opportunities to help our pupils get the most out of their school experience.

Exploring outdoors whilst being at school

Our outside area provides a safe environment for the pupils to explore, learn and have fun. Our hobbit house and log cabinallow the pupils the opportunity to explore the outside undercover.

In our outside area we have areas to help develop Sensory Education-with a basket swing, outdoor sand pit, safe areas to climb for heights and a large grass area to explore smell, sight, running and the physical sense of feeling (bare feet on grass or between fingers).

The Friends of Carronhill bought specially adapted bikes for our pupils to use and these have proved to be immensely popular. Our pupils enjoy pushing bikes and watching how the wheels spin, exploring the brakes, exercising around our purpose built cycle track and feeling the change in their bodies when they cycle up and down the mounds.

With a softplay and lifeskills flat, our pupils can explore their sensory world as well as learning independent tasks such as tidying a room, cleaning a bathroom and vacuuming.

Hydrotherapy and Water Awareness

We have a hydrotherapy/swimming pool in our school which the primary classes use for weekly swimming lessons. In addition, with the lead from Physiotherapy, some pupils access the pool for hydrotherapy sessions, helping to maintain or build their muscles.

Pupils in our secondary department use the pool at Stonehaven Leisure Centre for water awareness sessions. Important life skills we look at entering and exiting water safely, the safe behaviours around a pool, holding on to the side of the pool and traversing and basic self preservation skills.

Sensory Education

A big part of learning at Carronhill School involves how our senses control where we are, how we feel and what we do. Sensory Learning is far more than the 5 common senses of, touch, taste, hearing, smell and sight but also include our physical movement in the world (Vestibular) and body awareness (Proprioception).

Sensory learning happens in all corners of the school and at all times but we also have a sensory room thati ncludes:

UV lights and a carpet which glows when the UV lights are on

A colour-changing hurricane tube – pupils can use buttons to change colours and mix colours, plus can interact with it to start and stop the air flow
Sound system – this also has a bean bag which can be attached so the pupil can feel the vibrations of music through the seat
Infinity tunnel and ladder lights – these are both sound activated and can be used with or without a microphone

A projector – including effect wheels which can be changed
An LED wall-wash – coloured lights which can be changed by rolling a large, coloured cube

Interactive wall – this has a large variety of different activities and games for pupils to interact with, including popping bubbles, catching stars and moving leaves. It also features a mirror effect so an image of the pupils can appear on the wall so they can see their movements as they interact.

Learning in the community

Learning in the community is a very important part of our curriculum. Each class accesses the local community on a weekly basis to help put their learning into context, and to develop skills for the world around them. whether helping grow fruit and vegetables in our Poly tunnel, a shopping list and money to buy ingredients for their snacks, the use of their NEC bus pass and contactless debit card, visiting the local library or experiencing social occasions in the community.

This is made possible by the Friends of Carronhill who provided our blue wheelchair-accessible minibus and the Aberdeen Drilling School who have gifted us our white minibus.

Music

Carronhill pupils are very lucky to have access to two forms of musical input during the school week. They have weekly Kodaly lessons with Mrs. Okumu and music lessons with Abi from Drake Music Scotland.

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