9.00 am Admission and virtual tea/coffee to start the session!

9.05 am Welcome and a warm-up to get everyone thinking about how we take learning outside the classroom walls.

9.15 am Session 1: Where to start?

We introduce the key elements for taking your teaching and learning outdoors. Carol considers how to build on the learning in the classroom and understand why the outdoors offers a powerful space for sensory, physical, and emotional learning for learners with severe or complex needs.

This session will cover:

why the classroom is the starting point, not the limit, of learning

how outdoor spaces offer real opportunities for consolidation and generalisation

why movement, space, and sensory variety can support curiosity, engagement, regulation and confidence

how to begin evaluating and planning for outdoor learning in your setting

how to observe learning in different ways outside

9.45 am Breakout room chat: What have you done beyond the classroom?

10.00 am Session 2: Creating outdoor sensory spaces

We swap our traditional sensory room focus in this session with an outdoor sensory lens. Sensory gardens can be small, simple, and powerful – and this session shows how to get started or re-energise one.

This session will cover:

key sensory elements for gardens (texture, scent, sound, colour, movement)

easy ways to create sensory-rich experiences with budget-friendly resources

how to involve learners in planning, planting, and maintaining the space

using the outside for calm regulation as well as active exploration

linking garden experiences to classroom targets and curriculum areas

tips for adapting small or shared spaces into sensory corners or trails

10.30 am Session 3: Playtime – Indoors, Outdoors and In Between

Play is vital, but it’s not always straightforward in special education. This session offers practical support and clarity on purposeful play – from planned sessions to open-ended opportunities.

This session will cover:

getting the balance right between structured and free play – and when each is best

indoor options for play when access to outdoor space is limited

how to build play skills gradually through consistent routines

play as a form of assessment – observing what children show us through their play

10.45 am COFFEE

11.00 am Session 4: Technology in Outdoor Spaces

Don’t leave your technology at the classroom door! It can add another layer to outdoor learning – offering ways to engage, assess, and include all learners. This session gives you clear, manageable ways to take tech outside and use it meaningfully, even when working with a limited kit.

This session will cover:

how to use iPads and tablets outside for communication, photography, and storytelling

free or low-cost apps to support sensory exploration outdoors (sound, visuals, recording)

using switches, Bluetooth speakers, recordable buttons and vibration devices in the outdoor environment

creating sound maps with recording apps

using QR codes around outdoor spaces to guide exploration or give instructions

how to create interactive trails or scavenger hunts with minimal setup

practical advice on managing kit safely outside – protection, battery life, and access

11.30 am Session 5: The Wider Community

Learning doesn’t stop at the school gate. This session explores how to make the most of community links – real and virtual – to enhance your sensory learning offer.

This session will cover:

how to explore and use your local community creatively

ideas for accessible enterprise projects with community ties

how to use social media to share, connect, and learn

how to celebrate your learners’ achievements online in safe and appropriate ways

11.45 am Q & A

12 noon Plenary, thank you and goodbye!

This course will be appropriate for classroom practitioners from special schools and colleges, mainstream settings with specialist SEN provision and early years settings, and working with pupils with severe/complex learning needs and autism, or both.

Richard Hirstwood is passionate about enabling educators/practitioners to maximise the impact of delivering sensory learning opportunities, in a sensory room or other learning environments, with the available resources. His extensive experience is based on practical knowledge, giving him insight into what works and what doesn’t in multi sensory practice. Regular sessions with children and adults with autism and all additional needs in a variety of multi sensory and classroom settings enable him to maintain this excellent practice.

Carol Allen is an education advisor for ICT and Inclusion, currently offering specialised support to Local Authorities, schools, parents and carers and a wide range of educators worldwide. She has taught since 1980 in both mainstream schools – primary and high, and schools for students with severe, profound and multiple learning difficulties. As an English specialist, she recognises that communication lies at the heart of all effective teaching. Accordingly, most of her work has centred on technology’s creative and engaging use to support communication in its broadest sense.

The cost is £135 plus VAT per delegate.  You can select multiple places on the booking form.

You can pay by credit card for this booking or request an invoice on the booking form.

The recording of this event will be in your account at online.hirstwood.com. You will access this using the email address on the booking form and your password (instructions for creating your password are in the joining information).

Here you will find:

a digital recording of the event
a transcript of the Zoom chat

These will be available for 10 days after the event.

NEW for 2025!

We will suggest practical reflective practice for this event to support you in implementing your key takeaways from this session in the classroom.

We’ll also offer a toolkit of additional resources to help, which may include further documentation, videos or links to valuable resources/websites.

Please join our Facebook Group, Sensory Support Spaghetti, to connect with us and other like-minded professionals – for everything sensory!

NEW FOR 2025!