We are seeing increasing numbers of children bringing fidget tools into school. We appreciate that these can be a valuable support for children with sensory needs, but they also come with some caveats about their effectiveness and knock-on effects. We’d encourage them only as a genuine support to help children focus and learn.
With this in mind, we have put together a briefing paper for staff and families. This is attached below.
We have also created a generic set of rules (a contract, if you will) which teachers will use in their classrooms. These may be adapted for individuals in consultation with parents/carers and the Senco.
We would like to politely request that if parents/carers, having considered the briefing document, want their child to have access to a fidget tool in school that they email the SENCo, Alex Taylor to propose this. If this is already a strategy agreed with the school to support your child, there is no need to go through this again. Conversely, if teachers or support staff feel that a child would benefit from a fidget tool, they will raise this with the Senco and parents/carers.