Our use of Virtual Reality to allow our
young people to enjoy new experiences
and accustom themselves to real world
situations without leaving the comfort
of their classroom or home has just
missed out on receiving a national
award.
Prior's Court was shortlisted in the Innovator of
the Year category in the 2021 Bett Awards for work
being done across site with Virtual Reality over the
past two years.
The award was presented to SchoolCloud, a supplier
of software for schools, at a ceremony in London on
Thursday, 22 July attended by hundreds of experts
from the EdTech sector.
The Virtual Reality work, led by Computing Teacher
Nuno Guerreiro, has involved collaboration between
Education, Residential and multi-disciplinary teams
to use Virtual Reality headsets as a complimentary
resource to existing approaches.
The technology has been used to provide our young
people with access to relaxing sensory experiences,
desensitisation around scenarios such as being on
a bus or medical environments, and enjoying new
experiences
such as
skiing.
One
success, at
the start
of 2020,
involved
supporting
one young
person to board
a plane to go on
an overseas family
holiday for the fi rst
time in nine years, while
the technology has also been
used to complement the work of
our on-site therapy team with phobia treatment
(particularly around animals) and desensitisation
around medical settings.
Sue Piper, our Director of Young People's Learning,
said: "Being shortlisted endorses how we continue
to innovate with the use of new technology which
we are delighted with, as it links us back to our
founding patron Dame Stephanie Shirley, who
was herself a pioneer in the fi eld of information
technology."
Rainbow colours lit up a grey, rainy Monday
morning as young people and staff
celebrated Pride month and put on another
healthiness-based activity.
The fi rst ever Prior's Court Pride Colour Run featured
young people and staff dashing around our Track
while also getting covered in powder paint of all the
colours of the rainbow.
This event was part of our ongoing Healthy You
programme to support young
people and staff to live
healthier lives. But it was
also a great opportunity
for our young people
to learn about LGBTQ+
communities, acceptance,
equality and celebration, to
complement learning which
has also been taking place in
the classroom.
A month after the Pride
Colour Run was held,
the second Annual
Challenge from
Healthy You was
staged (pictured
right) with scores of
young people and
staff completing a
5k run, jog or walk
around the site on
the last day of the
2020/21 school year.
Colourful celebration of pride
Virtual Reality work edged
out in national awards