Our Clowndoctors started visiting The Royal Blind School in Edinburgh in 2010 and we currently visit six schools across central Scotland.. Some schools have us all year round, and some have us for a term at a time. Being with the children and young people over a long period of time help builds a good, long-lasting relationship with the Clowndoctors. All the schools tell us that being with the Clowndoctors has been beneficial for their learners, both as part of the Curriculum for Excellence, and as part of their emotional health and wellbeing work.
The teachers of children with complex needs have desired outcomes for their learners that can include;
- Increased engagement
- Improved communication
- Improved participation
- Improved mental health and emotional wellbeing
- Increased confidence and self-esteem
- Reduced anxiety
- Improved social interactions with others
The Clowndoctors have built great relationships with many children and young people over the last fourteen years. Some of them we have been seeing for all fourteen years!
This is how it works
At the beginning of a new term, our teachers let us know which children our Clowndoctors will be seeing over the term and tell us the reasons why we are seeing them. We work closely with all the staff in the school, working towards the outcomes set for each child or class.
For example, in one of our schools, four children, Aaron, Billy, Chloe and Dee (we’ve changed their names) are a class of PMLD learners (Profound and Multiple Learning Disabilities). The Clowndoctors visited this class online in 2021 and the start of 2022, returning in person during February 2022, and continuing to visit them in 2024.
The teacher’s desired outcome was to increase the levels of engagement with these four pupils aged 10-13, telling us that it often takes time to build up relationships and to engage them as they have loss of vision and are hard of hearing.
The sessions with the Clowndoctors included tickly chickens (for anticipation), buzzy bees (for tracking noise and movement), sound signifiers for every pupil (for recognition), high pitched noises with instruments (for surprise and anticipation), a train journey (for relaxation and following movements with eyes and head), slapstick (for surprising the pupils) and the ‘Are You Ready’ song (for turn taking).
Their class teacher said from the online visits; “They were interested and focussed on the fact that the Clowndoctors were colourful and lively and noisy too. They were often able to recognise their names being called out from the promethium board – this was huge and meant they were very focussed during our weekly slot. The emotional wellbeing of the pupils is very important, and they were all happy and relaxed throughout each session. It was lovely to hear some of them laugh. In addition, it gave staff a really good opportunity to gain an understanding of different approaches in order to engage with pupils.”
The teacher also told us; “I feel the pupils are really benefitting from the sessions and we are seeing some lovely levels of engagement and interaction from our lovely class. We have noticed that there is a certain amount of anticipation now when we enter the room, this is huge for us to see! I come away with a tear in my eye every week from your sessions.”
“It has been lovely to hear Aaron respond through vocalisation (this doesn’t happen very often), Billy has reached out a couple of times to explore instruments, this shows he is engaged and wants more, and Chloe is anticipating her turn by moving her head from side to side”
