Taking a leap

Jacob sat back in his wheelchair and raised his smiling face to the ceiling as a blizzard of bubbles fell gently around him. His friend, Arjan, ‘swishy swashed’ through chiffon scarves as he joined the hunt for a bear. 

Meanwhile Agnieska and her daughter, Petra, were relaxing in a ‘bath of sound’ in a room next door, where a practitioner worked his magic with gongs and singing bowls. It was the first time, Agnieska later admitted, they’d been able to do an activity together without both or one of them feeling ‘stressed.’

This was the power of SENDiVERSE, a festival specifically aimed at those with special educational needs and their carers in Bradford.

The festival was mooted by The Leap in Bradford- an organisation that provides financial and practical support to local artist and communities hoping to create new projects and events. 

They came to Bradford Libraries and asked if we could be involved – could they use our space? Could we put events on of our own?

We jumped at the chance. 
 

Planning

The first thing we had to do was to think hard about what we could offer. 

Our libraries are well equipped with sensory storytelling packs and suitable facilities, but what else could we bring?

We thought long and hard and consulted with parents of SEND children. We researched existing SEND events in our area. 

We discovered that the Canal and River Trust did SEND walks along Shipley Canal. 

We contacted them and they immediately jumped into action. They sourced books and walked a route to see if we could feasibly offer a walk from the library to the canal. This also allowed usto find out which route was the most accessible. 

We contacted a local dance group that does SEND sessions to ask whether they would like to be involved.

We thought about parents/carers and their needs and contacted a Sound Bath practitioner. Could we do a parent/carer/child/adult session in the library?

We also discovered a wonderful organisation called But I Can’t Read Music, set up by a musical librarian called Andy Wright. His sessions looked incredible, offering participants the chance to ‘make music’ by cutting up piece of manuscript to form a landscape then using everyday materials to create the story and sound of that landscape. You can learn more about his work here. 

It turned out to be perfect for SEND children. There was no pressure, just fun making sounds!

On top of that we had a wonderful session, courtesy of Story Bees, where children could create their own imaginary world out of boxes, material, and anything else we could get our hands on. Our libraries were filled with exciting new places to explore – houses, zoos, even the moon!

We added a ‘dot making’ workshop courtesy of The Paper Mixologist, where participants worked with colourful dots to make something wonderful. The results were incredible. A ‘rainbow’ of dots which we displayed at Manningham Library for several weeks after the festival.

One of our libraries, Eccleshill, offered a fantastic sensory play date with sand, water, trucks and scarves.
 

Delivery

An important aspect of delivering our workshops was to ensure that the whole family could be safely involved and engaged. 

Parents told us that often they took their children to regular events at festivals elsewhere but had to leave after half an hour because the needs and requirements of SEND children are often missed out when it comes to summer fairs or events. 

We needed to ensure that the entire family was comfortable and had fun – and they did. We had just over 100 participants over the week and everyone joined in. 

Our libraries are well set up for events like this,with quieter spots available for those dealing with overwhelm. 

The response to the festival was inspiring. We offered emoji stickers to those taking part rather than insist on laborious form-filling. A simple emoji can convey a thousand words!

We used BSL website to ‘sign’ our events and printed off BSL word searches and activities. 

This was just a start. We had only a month or so to prepare for this project which followed closely on the tails of our Summer Reading Challenge. You can imagine how hard we worked to pull it off!

Next time we aim to build on this. 
 

Making our events neuro-affirming

Prior to and at the start of our sessions, clear information was given out about what the session would look like, when breaks would occur, where quiet spots were in our libraries. 

Plain language was used in all communications.

We used soft lighting and low background noise. In our sound bath, participants were allowed to explore the sound by themselves.

We used soft scents like lavender in our sound bath.

We signed some of our events and handed out BSL word searches, using BSL to signpost events and using a Makaton signer and BSL signer at our sensory story time. 

We offered optional participation, provided seating choices, soft cushions, chairs, floor cushions, standing. 

We had written instructions as well as oral and used visual aids in our workshops, which was kept simple yet fun.

We used emojis for feedback to allow participants to tell us how they felt about the events without having to write lots.

The ‘Big Bang’

Our events were just part of a much wider debut festival. There was live music, crafts, sport and much more on offer thanks to The Leap, who offered mini commissions to artists of up to £250 to those wishing to put on events. 

At the end of the week, they held a ‘Big Bang’ event, with a whole feast of activities on offer for free to families. 

We joined in. The main event was busy and fun packed with falconry, outdoor sports and activities, balloon making, music and more in the main hall.

We were tucked in to a quieter corner near a sensory room at The Life Centre in Bradford – a fantastic venue, just right for the event. 

We offered a sensory story telling session using our kits. ‘Going on A Bear Hunt’ was our story. We had a Makaton signer and a BSL signer who worked with us to convey the story. 

It was wonderful to see families come in and relax, to see children and adults interact with our sensory materials and join in with their favourite story.
 

Creating a SEND legacy

Like all libraries, here at Bradford, we always strive for excellence using bold, balanced and brilliant initiatives in line with the Council’s strategy. 

We want to make sure we meet the needs of all in our community and work hard to ensure our libraries are hives of reading and as well as places for people from all backgrounds to meet, come together, share and develop. 

During SENDiVERSE, we saw friendships formed between carers and SEND participants. We saw laughter, communications, relaxation, and community. We saw togetherness.

We made new contacts and invited a local group of neurodiverse youngsters, known as Bradstarz, to take part in our events for National Storytelling Week in February. 

This lively group of young people shared recordings of their excellent poems written about their experiences on MP3s, which we  placed in our libraries alongside posters of their work. 

One of them, Carrie, attended an Open Mic for the first time and read her work. She has since gone on to attend other open mics, gaining confidence in performance. We see that as a fantastic result.

We are now in discussion with The Leap, parents and carers and other organisations about what we will provide next year and more to the point, year round to ensure our libraries meet the needs of everyone in our community. 

Taking part has encouraged us to widen our thinking on events and activities, to expand our resources and reading lists. We are striving, we are communicating, we are welcoming, we are growing. We are a library – a place for all to visit, use and have fun.

Names in this piece have been changed to protect identities.