Mavisbank School
Religious observance in a special school
Mavisbank School shows how RO experiences can be created for pupils with additional support needs.
Mavisbank caters for children and young people between the ages of 2 and 18 years of age with multiple disabilities, sometimes called Complex Learning Difficulties (CLD). The school has a high level of expertise in making provision for children and young people who are blind or have an identified visual impairment.
The present school roll is 26 although the school has a capacity of 40. There are seven teaching staff, six instructors, three physiotherapists, three speech and language therapists, three occupational therapists, four medical staff, a psychologist and 16 non-teaching staff.
Religious observance and religious and moral education
In Mavisbank the religious and moral education (RME) lessons and RO overlap. What is important is the received experience of the pupils.
The aims of the RME policy are to enable pupils to:
- participate in multisensory experiences based on different religions
- develop body awareness and a sense of self
- develop an awareness of others
- experience quietness and stillness
- experience a feeling of happiness or wellbeing.
Structure
Sheila Harkness, the headteacher at Mavisbank, has set out the basic structure for these events, which happen fortnightly.
- In order to ensure that RME lessons have a different 'feel' and atmosphere, the GP room is set up in advance, for example shutters closed/lights dimmed; scented candles/fragrance not used at any other time, for example vanilla; and music not used at any other time playing.
- Music used could have religious connotations or a calming aspect with different pieces of music at the beginning and end of the lesson, for example:
- The Walk to the Paradise Garden (Delius)
- Mass for Peace (Karl Jenkins)
- The Lark Ascending (Vaughan-Williams)
- Meditations (Massenet)
- The Beyondness of Things (John Barry)
- The Chichester Psalms (Leonard Bernstein).
- A table could be used in the centre of the room as a focal point. The table should not be cluttered and should be set up to meet visually impaired requirements.
- Each pupil could be called individually to come to the table, thus making it more of an occasion - a special welcome. The welcome may in fact be in the form of a song, for example 'Shalom, Michelle' etc.
- Everyone could join hands when all the children have been welcomed, to sing 'Shalom, everyone.'
- The lesson then proceeds with whatever focus has been drawn up in the lesson plan.
- The concluding music is an opportunity to sit quietly, in silence, listening to the music.
- Pupils should return to class in a calm and unhurried manner.
- All activities and procedures during RME lessons should be conducted in a dignified and respectful manner, with a minimum amount of conversation; touch can be used as a substitute for conversation.
Spiritual needs at Mavisbank
The context of a special school sharpens the spiritual issues the school community has to deal with. Some pupils find it difficult to respond to stimuli; some pupils are fed by PEG tubes or are incontinent. There have been 15 bereavements in three years.
The RME/RO experiences provide for the spiritual needs of pupils by providing a regular time when they may experience a sense of life beyond and of themselves in a multisensory atmosphere of positive care.