This year’s focus for the SSLP Student Voice is neurodiversity. Following a launch conference in November where students heard from guest speakers to develop their own understanding around neurodiversity, they have been working collaboratively on a series of projects. We were delighted to host the launch event for these project on 8th May. It was a bright, vibrant atmosphere where one guest commented, ‘there was great energy and support!’
The first group presented a project that shared ways to support the transition from Primary to Secondary school. Students from Westminster City School, Alleyn’s and St Saviour’s and St Olave’s shared their findings following research, interviews with SENCOs and Heads of Year 7s, and the creation of a supportive video that they filmed and edited. Following feedback from a questionnaire completed by current Years 7s in the SSLP schools, the group presented some suggestions to support transition to secondary school. These included: a buddy system to support a highlighted challenge of social integration; inclusive lessons that cover the different learning styles of audio, kinaesthetic, visual, and written; accessible maps of the school to support with getting used to new surroundings; and introduction to the Pastoral and SENCO teams. They also shared examples of beautiful, hand-made lanyards and suggested that these could be used in schools to make it visible to neurodiverse students the members of their school community that they could reach out to if they needed support.
The second group – a collaboration between James Allen’s Girls’ School (JAGS) and Harris Boys’ Academy East Dulwich – presented a project that invited students to empathise with and explore the experiences of neurodiversity through creative writing. Students used their web design skills to create a bespoke website for the project: https://neurodiverse-writing.com/ Through a poster and promotional material, they shared a writing competition across the SSLP schools, receiving 26 entries including poems, short stories, and discursive writing. Together, they created a shortlist of 12 entries and from this, with the support of the SENCOs in their schools, they selected four winning entries across the categories of most creative, most informative, most inspirational, and most relatable. The group also shared some extracts from the winning entries.
From ‘A Tight Grip’: And don’t worry about being different. Be thankful for it! There is no one on this planet like you, who thinks like you, who completely understands you. Our brains all work in unique, and amazing ways.
From ‘Meep’: Thirteen and diagnosed with autism. It’s one of those odd ages where most teenagers are becoming familiar with a version of themselves that they know. But I felt different, and I began to see the world with a perspective that changed me.
From ‘Still in Bloom’: Awareness of differences dawns, a shared sight,
We’re all blooms in life’s ongoing fight,
Rising from stems, into the light,
Together, in bloom, our futures bright.
The group shared a booklet containing the 12 shortlisted entries. They hope that this booklet, along with the neurodiversity creative writing competition perhaps being adopted as an annual competition, will be shared with students across the SSLP schools.
The third group, with students from St Thomas the Apostle and Dulwich College, focused on fundraising. They chose to support the local charity Down’s South London. They were commended by members of the audience for shining a light on Down’s Syndrome, an aspect of neurodiversity that is not always widely focused on. As well as showing and promoting their fundraising merchandise of a tote bag with the SSLP and Down’s South London’s logos on it, they also shared clips from their excellent interview with two of the trustees from the charity, Gün Akyuz and Lívia Campello Lang. In response to a question asking what the general public can do to support people with Down’s Syndrome, Gün shared, ‘it’s about being kind. It’s about being aware. If you see someone that needs a little bit more help than you, that you are able to do that [for them].’ She went on to say, ‘don’t limit opportunities for people with Down’s Syndrome. If you give them opportunities to do things, they can do them. Don’t assume that they can’t.’ The students hope to go on to share the recording of the interview more widely through assemblies in the schools. They also continue to promote and sell the tote bags at school and SSLP events to support the on-going fundraising focus of their project.
Finally, the fourth group explored expressions of neurodiversity through art. Students from Kingsdale Foundation School, The Charter School East Dulwich, and The Charter School Bermondsey decided to run an art competition with entries open to all schools in the SSLP. To get the competition started, Kingsdale Foundation School ran some workshops with Key Stage 3 and Sixth Form enrichment groups. The workshop focused on synaesthesia where the students listened to music and painted what they could hear. Tina Hunter, a dyslexia specialist from Bell House – a volunteer-led charity in South London championing creative education and lifelong learning for all with a particular focus on neurodiversity, learning support and wellbeing – adjudicated the competition. Here are the winning and runner up entries with Tina’s comments:
Winner: Year 7, St Michael’s Catholic College.
‘I love the bold images and strong colours of this image. The flow between senses is so powerful and important in the learning journey and this image demonstrates the link perfectly.’
Runner Up: Year 12, Kingsdale Foundation School
‘Wow!! Love the way the head opens up the thoughts, dreams, and tunes of the mind. It is so joyful….as is neurodiversity!’
Runner Up: Year 12, The Charter School East Dulwich
‘The stance of the character here is very strong; like a conqueror. The space location represents what it can feel like looking at others from a different perspective. The protective mask of the space figure keeps them safe in a, sometimes, alien location. Wonderful story telling.’
Runner Up: Year 7, The Charter School East Dulwich
‘This is such a simple but impactful image and statement; it shows wonder of all things around us and it made my heart sing.’
The winning work will be made into posters and displayed at Bell House, Dulwich to inspire and inform others. The students shared that they hoped that the art works created through the competition will get people thinking about neurodiversity. They also shared that one of the legacies for their project will be for the competition and use of the synaesthesia lesson resource to be run and shared every year to continue to raise awareness.
The project launch part of the day was concluded with closing comments by Marcia Brissett-Bailey. Marcia is recognised in the Top 5o Influential Neurodivergent Women in the UK, is a Dyslexia advocate and Co-founder of the British Dyslexia Association’s Cultural Perspective Committee, and author of Black, Brilliant and Dyslexic. She said, ‘it is such a privilege to be invited to the SSLP Student Voice Neurodiversity Projects Launch event. I am absolutely blown away by the young people sharing their work on their projects. Let’s continue to change the narrative [around neurodiversity].’
In the afternoon the students were able to celebrate their wonderful achievements with a silent disco. A student from St Saviour’s and St Olave’s said, ‘I’ve been to a silent disco before but nowhere near as good as this! It is good being with friends from different schools too. I think the silent disco is a good celebration for recognising neurodiversity. The headphones and music help you to be in your own world so there is no need to feel pressured or judged by others.’
The day demonstrated the strength of the collaborations across schools, both in terms of the projects that they had produced and what they had been able to learn and share more widely about neurodiversity, and also the links and friendships created. One student from Westminster City School said ‘I thoroughly enjoyed this entire project, and I can tell you for certain that I am not the only one who hopes to do something like this again. Everything was organised perfectly in my opinion, and I really feel accomplished having completed this programme. Thanks to everyone who contributed, and it makes me a bit sad that it’s over.’
We now look forward to a follow-up meeting to make effective plans and actions to ensure that each of these projects creates a legacy for the further support for and awareness of neurodiversity for the partnership of schools across Southwark.
