Penn's Primary School

The Sensory project at Penn’s Primary School, Sutton Coldfield proved once more that there is no end to the ingenuity of customers in their pursuit of a Multi-Sensory room where, seemingly, a room doesn’t exist. Zoe White at Penn’s Primary was just such a customer.

Zoe and her colleagues had obviously afforded their quest to implement a new sensory environment a great deal of thought. Standing somewhat bemused in a large conservatory with uncovered concrete floor earlier this year Zoe, alongside the Headteacher and the Caretaker, pointed to a chalk mark on the floor outlining a small rectangular area.

This was to be the exterior dimensions of their Sensory shed, something I’ve since grown to refer to as the Sensory Playhouse. They had a vision of a wooden structure, pre-prepared with electrical sockets and partially fitted with wall padding and shelving to allow them to bring children in for one-to-one time or in small groups for stories.

The final structure was largely designed and built by our most experienced installers, Steve and Darren, who drew great pride in the first Sensory ‘shed’ they’d ever seen in 25 years of working on Sensory environments. Though they also believe installing it within a large conservatory on the hottest day of the year was also their most challenging assignment to date!

All the electrical points were built into the walls to minimise surface trunking and to help permit each individual socket to be “switchable” from one control point on the outside of the structure. Zoe and her team were overjoyed with the finished article commenting on the first afternoon “Its all installed and looks fab, the kids have had a quick look and absolutely love it!”

Painted inside and out, with pre-fitted carpet and a small selection of Sensory tools including a bubble tube, mood light and projector, the space offers Zoe scope to add and alter the environment to suit her needs. It doesn’t impose on the school’s other uses of the conservatory and, it would seem, exceeded her expectations.

It proved simple and delightfully effective.

This is just one example of the bespoke projects SensoryPlus has embarked on. We are more than delighted to discuss your ideas and bring them into reality.