The Power of Play
More info coming soon!
‘recognising that learners with different learning needs demand and deserve a different approach to teaching’
(Imray, Kossyvaki and Sissons, 2024)
The Power of Play
Drawing from our own professional experiences and inspired by the success stories of other OFSTED Outstanding SEN schools, Imperial Oak School embraces a play-based learning approach to support teaching and learning across all key stages.
Play is a key approach in developing agency, enabling children to take on an active role and ownership in their experiences, as well as helping them to be capable, autonomous, and agents of their own learning.
The Power of Play – Waller, J. (2024)
Social / Cognitive Play Stages – Waller, 2024
How is Play implemented at Imperial Oak School
Sherratt & Peter (2002) and Parten (1932) on Waller, J. (2024) define pupils’ social and cognitive stages of play.
Imperial Oak School utilises a blend of both models to describe social and cognitive stages of Play.
Play constitutes the underlying pedagogy for all pathways, although to a lesser extent via timetabling in the Formal Pathway. The way it is adapted and applied across each of the pathways, however, is different.
In our Pathway Finder process, we use play as a key indicator to identify the most appropriate pathway for each child.