Birtenshaw Hall - Learning Station

UPDATE: This equipment was delivered in 2008.

Birtenshaw Hall is a registered children’s charity providing educational and residential services to children with profound disabilities. Based in Bolton, the school accepts children from the local area, as well as regionally and nationally, most often as residential placements but also for short term respite care and day services. The school works with the Primary Care Trust to provide a holistic approach to learning, medical care and physiotherapy.

We have been asked to provide an Acheeva Learning Station to help the most severely disabled children take an active part in lessons alongside their peers. Some children with very complex disabilities need to lay down, either on their front, back or side, because they are unable to sit upright. The Acheeva Learning Station is a specialist item which provides positioning with full support to the child. Without this equipment, these children must lay on the floor, or on flat beds, and it is difficult for them to take part in lessons and interact with staff and other pupils.

The Acheeva Learning Station is compact and easily moveable within the classroom, so the child can be easily included in class activities. The height and angle can be adjusted to allow children to make eye contact and to communicate. Being at a raised height ensures that they can easily see what is being shown to other pupils, and they are on a level with staff and their classmates who are in wheelchairs.

This equipment is designed to alleviate some of the consequences of having to lie flat – it improves breathing, digestion, body alignment and muscle tone, and reduces the risk of skin damage.

We have already raised £770 towards this item, so we are seeking a further £2,330.00.