Abbey School, in Rotherham South Yorkshire, was awarded nasen's (National Association of Special Educational Needs) Excellent practice in Early Years award, sponsored by Nursery World.
The school was presented the award at a ceremony held at the Waldorf Hilton Hotel in London last month.
The Ofsted outstanding school was nominated for its early years programme, Young Athletes, Play Unified, a sport and play programme for children with and without intellectual disabilities aged two to seven years-old, which is part of the GB Special Olympics programme.
Abbey School is one of charity, Youth Sport Trust’s Lead Inclusion Schools selected for their recognised expertise in engaging young people with SEND to participate, compete and lead through PE and school sport.
Victoria Wells from Youth Sport Trust said that after receiving ‘bespoke training’ at the school, 30 students aged between 9 and 10 years from Abbey School were chosen to become peer leaders and ‘work directly with children with and without SEND’ at two early years settings.
She added, ‘The programme introduces basic sports skills such as running, kicking and throwing, and offers families, teachers and others in the community the opportunity to share the joy of sport with all children. The aim was to develop relationships and support the Reception children of the future - and gain trust with families - around learning of foundational movement skills and to meet their recommended physical activity levels.’
Jill Newbolt, assistant headteacher at Abbey School, said, ‘It’s great to see our young leaders being allowed to use their imagination to create interesting lessons for younger children. The leaders enjoyed being able to use real life experiences as a starter to get others more active and by the end of the training they had the confidence to create lessons for their peers, which adults would not have dreamed of doing.’
All 149 pupils aged between 5 and 19 years who attend the school have an Education, Health and Care (EHC) plan for moderate and severe learning difficulties. Some have other associated difficulties such as autism or social, emotional and mental health needs.