SEN Equipment Taken Seriously
SEN Bathroom and Classroom Equipment
Almost a fifth of children in Britain are identified as having special educational needs (SEN). It is estimated that around 7 per cent of children are disabled and a significant number of children have both SEN and a disability. Most children with SEN and disabilities are educated in mainstream schools. Around one per cent of the total school population is educated in special schools.
Part of OpeMed’s SEN Patient Handling Equipment offering is our ability to listen and adapt to what our SEN customers really need. We have completed multiple SEN projects across the country, working closely with the architect, main contractor and school. Requiring both adaptations of existing facilities (classrooms, assisted bathrooms and sensory rooms etc.) and the creation of Hoisting and Changing solutions for new build additions.
OpeMed works closely with the clients, builders and architects to understand how best to create a space that is functionally useful but also fits around the users needs.
Design Director; Philip Watson of Atkins comments; “It is not until you‚ have negotiated your way around a school with mazy corridors and stepped thresholds (with a blindfold on) and tried to navigate across a playground that you can appreciate how important even the smallest details can be to students with mobility or sight difficulties.”
Philip Watson’s comments further illustrate the importance of having detailed conversations with our clients to ‘step into the shoes’ of our user and get a professional perspective on the best moving and handling solutions for each School.
Published by the government you can download a Building Bulletin 102 on “Designing for disabled children and children with special educational needs“. This publication outlines guidance and advice for both mainstream and special schools. The bulletin outlines and suggests use of a Ceiling Hoist for physiotherapy rooms, sensory rooms, medical rooms and hygiene rooms. The Bulletin also talks about use of a Ceiling Hoist for hydrotherapy pools as a effective way to gently hoist a child into water whilst ensuring they are suitably safe and secure.
To read more on OpeMed’s latest SEN installations, click here to go to our Case Study page.
If you would like to discuss a SEN project with an OpeMed Product Specialist, click here
