Dysart School in Kingston, Surrey, exchanged a conventionally-lit school hall for a multi-sensory environment, installed by Clarity in Sound Light & Vision Ltd. Dysart’s school hall is now able to provide a varied functionality – from multi-sensory sessions featuring touch, smell, light, sound and visual aspects, to cinema sessions and even a Friday afternoon disco.
"For the children - with profound and multiple learning difficulties, autism and multi-sensory impairment – the ability to affect their environment through the equipment has had a really positive effect," says head teacher, Steph James.
“We have an end of day relaxation session and we have introduced a gentle colour change from the LED lighting around the room, to bring a very effective calm with the wash of colours.”
“A lot of our children’s work is about experiencing the world and learning to accommodate what is going on around them. The new hall gives us so many different options and Clarity has been so important to this. They met with us again and again and again, until they felt they’d got what we wanted right in terms of the whole specification. They came back to demonstrate how the full system worked, until we were happy that we knew it.
She continues, “We consulted a couple of other companies, but realised quite early that we wanted to work with Clarity because they were immediately listening to what we wanted to do. They were the only company who asked ‘what do you want it to be able to do?’ and then designed a system from what we wanted.”
After some intensive consultation Clarity custom built a number of elements of the system including a mobile trolley of LED light cubes, capable of producing infinite colour combinations and controlled by eight large, brightly-coloured switches, responsive to adjustable pressure.
Each of the control buttons on the LED lighting trolley instigates a preset sequence of operation through the six light cubes. These preset sequences can be programmed to incorporate any imaginable colour and sequence combination. This design provides a vital tool for teaching sensory learners how they can and do affect change outside of themselves.
LED is an emerging technology that lends itself to principles held dear within the school environment. LED fixtures emit virtually no heat when running and therefore provide a very safe light source. They also require a very low level of maintenance across the long span of their life.
‘This makes LED units the ultimate eco-aware light solution with running costs as low as their energy consumption’ said Stuart Graham, managing director for Clarity.
In addition to the LED lighting trolley, Clarity also introduced a high-power LED colour-changing floodlight system into the assembly hall space via a series of eight LED floodlights and four LED wall panels directed towards the ceiling and walls. This system is used to create a complete room colour wash that bathes the entire hall in beautiful colour, either as a static single colour or as an ever changing colour sequence from the endless LED colour palette.
Additional high power lighting effect projectors – capable of panoramic rotation to project anywhere within the hall – and sound-controlled disco lighting effects can add to each created mood. A theatrical lighting system with 12 independently dimmable channels completes the lighting for the hall.
A high power audio-visual projector and electric screen was also installed and is used daily, which includes being used as part of the school production to display images of the children at work as a backdrop to the performance. A sound system complete with radio microphones was also supplied. All of the systems in the school hall are controlled from a single, convenient position. The dining area also benefitted from a sound system with a multi-change CD player.
Steph James added “To be absolutely honest: I’m a teacher. I don’t want to think about sound and lighting! And so the system installed by Clarity has really helped us as it is so easy to use and we use it daily.”
Please see our video blog page for some video clips of some of the effects lighting at Dysart - http://www.clarityslv.co.uk/newsdetail.aspx?id=13
If you are a school with special educational needs pupils and would like further information please contact the sales team by calling 0845 678 0725 or by emailing sales@clarityslv.co.uk.