Deepening Engagement and Inclusion

Challenge

Grangetown Primary School in Middlesborough serves one of the most disadvantaged communities in the country; it ranks in the top three percent of English schools in terms of the number of pupils requiring free school meals. In addition, around a third of its students have been identified as needing SEND support. The school uses now>press>play to provide inclusive sensory learning that extends life experiences for all pupils.

“We carefully plan lessons to be as sensory and as hands-on practical as we can so that our SEND children are able to still achieve the objectives, but in a different way. So, it's thinking outside the box really, which is where now>press play really does fit in for us.” —Daniel Bowman, Year 1 teacher, Grangetown Primary School

Solution

“now>press>play is often used to introduce a new topic, hooking in children to drive engagement: So, it hooks them in and it makes them more likely to engage in future lessons. Once you've given them that hook, the children are really stimulated to go and find out more about the topic.” — Daniel Bowman, Year 1 teacher, Grangetown Primary School

Mr Bowman explains that children from disadvantaged backgrounds often lack much experience of the wider world around them, and consequently do not have the starting vocabulary needed to confidently broach a new topic.

“A lot of our children don't have a bank of knowledge about the wider world. Their life opportunities can be quite limited and we use now>press>play in order to be able to give them something that in the past they might not have had experience of."

“We've used it for a couple of years now and children still get excited for each lesson. When we say we're doing now> press>play their faces light up and they're literally so engaged, it's a breath of fresh air really. I find that behaviour management is minimal because they're all engaged and just happy. The SEND children are getting as much out of it as the children at a higher level, so across the board they're all engaged, they're doing their tasks, they're following the instructions.” — Daniel Bowman, Year 1 teacher, Grangetown Primary School

Impact

• 99% of teachers say that now>press>play includes all the children in their class

• 97% of teachers say that their pupils are highly engaged during now>press>play

• 96% of teachers say that there is a high standard of behaviour during now>press>play

Grangetown Primary School experienced how now>press>play sparks engagement, builds confidence, and makes learning truly inclusive. Discover more success stories and see the impact for yourself.

This case study was kindly provided by Grangetown Primary School. The statistics are from our recent teacher evaluation, which anonymously surveyed 190 educators.