The British School in The Netherlands: Students’ Sensory Needs

We are all sensory beings. We process the world through our senses, and everyone is unique in how they experience it every day.

Most people are familiar with the senses—sight, touch, hearing, taste, and smell—but we are also learning more about other senses in education and how they impact wellbeing.

Some children are sensory-seeking. For example, the child who loves to spin around and around or swing faster and faster is seeking vestibular stimulation. We all know the children (and adults!) who won’t eat certain types of food, who get car sick, or who find bright lights or noises upsetting; they are showing signs of being overwhelmed by their senses.

School environments can be busy places—alive with activity. As part of the wellbeing curriculum at The British School, children are taught different techniques to be aware of how they are feeling and equipped with tools and strategies to navigate them.

The BSN has calm corners in its Junior School classrooms and Healthy Minds Ambassadors, and they teach the children how to self-regulate with different breathing techniques or soothing strategies.

Recently, a Sensory Room was created at Junior School Leidschenveen campus to provide additional support to students who need it. For this, the school was awarded the Global Inclusion Award from the International Forums of Inclusion Practitioners (IFIP).

Children who are focused on processing all the sensory information their brains are receiving cannot concentrate fully on their learning. They may be feeling hungry, they may find the noise of the classroom too much, or they may feel like they need to move and can’t sit in their chairs comfortably.

Children at The British School can use the Sensory Room with a member of staff for a sensory break, a reset moment, which allows them to feel more settled, calm, and ready to learn. The Sensory Room has been a fantastic addition to the BSN’s inclusive school environment.

“The health and wellbeing of all of our students is a vital part of what we do at The BSN. Put simply, unless children feel happy and safe, they cannot learn. We are seeing the benefits of having the Sensory Room with our learners. By supporting children’s sensory needs and creating sensory spaces, we can enable students to access, and engage with, the curriculum.” – Rebecca Van Homan, Sensory Room Initiator & AEN Teacher

Want to learn more about international education in the Netherlands? Please click here.