Daisy
Daisy is a chatty and bright sixteen-year-old, who has a diagnosis of ADHD and Autism. CENMAC has supported Daisy’s learning since March 2020. Daisy is now in Burlington House – 6th Form after enjoying her time at Limpsfield Grange School. In this case study we interviewed Daisy’s father, Kevin and her SENCO, Mrs Grace. Our student ambassador Khamani also recorded a video interview with Daisy.
CENMAC: Tell us a litte bit about Daisy
Kevin (Daisy’s father): Daisy is sixteen years old, she recently completed Year 11 at Limpsfield Grange School a special school for girls with autism.
CENMAC: Why did you choose Limpsfield Grange School?
Kevin: Daisy has had an EHCP since early Primary School (Year 2/3). Daisy experienced difficulties with her learning throughout Primary School and was falling behind – she struggled to read and understand words. We realised that Daisy required extra support to assist her learning and began to look for a suitable secondary school. This process was not straightforward, and it took more than a year to find a school that met Daisy’s needs. We were very relieved when we managed to get a place for her at Limpsfield Grange School.
“I mostly used my laptop especially in English for writing and taking notes. I also used my Reading Pen sometimes when I need to learn hard words.” Daisy
CENMAC: What subjects did Daisy do?
At Limpsfield Grange Daisy enjoyed a combination of academic and vocational subjects including English, Maths, Geography, ICT, Catering, Animal Husbandry and Land Studies.
CENMAC: What are Daisy’s favourite subjects?
Kevin: Daisy is very creative. She really enjoys drama and art. She loves creating Powerpoint presentations and video editing. She also worked closely with the other students in her class making up comic book stories together.
In her spare time Daisy also loves photography. This beautiful image of a deer was taken by Daisy “I like how it kind of captures the moment.”
CENMAC: Did Daisy enjoy boarding at Limpsfield?
Kevin: For a part of Daisy’s time at Limpsfield she was a boarder. She was a bit worried about boarding at first but grew to love it. Boarding really helped Daisy to increase her independence and make friends with girls her own age. She also did work experience in a shop which was also a big step as it meant travelling on a bus by herself for the first time.
CENMAC: How does CENMAC support Daisy?
Kevin: In early 2020 prior to lockdown CENMAC provided Daisy with a Microsoft Surface Pro Laptop, an iPad, a Pen Reader and headphones so that she could “type” by using her voice rather than using the keyboard. She uses apps such as The Scribe App for help with English and WordQ which she uses a lot.
CENMAC: How did the COVID pandemic affect Daisy’s learning?
Kevin: During lockdown Daisy thrived. She’s quite verbal and enjoyed the sound and video aspect of online learning. She engaged with the teachers and loved zoom lessons. Some children preferred to have their cameras off, but Daisy preferred to have hers on. She enjoyed having a timetable and the structure suited her. It gave Daisy the opportunity to come to the front. She’s very talkative and loved English and learning about Shakespeare. It was great for us as her parents to see her interests and she learnt a lot during lockdown.
CENMAC: Were the ongoing reviews helpful?
Kevin: The school as well as CENMAC conducted ongoing reviews to see if Daisy was having any issues. For example, she was having trouble telling time and did not seem to understand the concept of time so, her Advisory Teacher, Mary put a time app onto her iPad. Daisy was finding maths difficult so a maths programme was also added. She had a great maths teacher and totally engaged with maths during lockdown. There is a times tables app called Times Tables Rockstars where classes can compete with each other – Daisy loved the competitive aspect of trying to increase her score.
CENMAC: What are Daisy’s aspirations for the future?
Kevin: Daisy is currently very interested in fashion design as well as floristry. Daisy also recently returned to Limpsfield to be interviewed by BBC TV presenter, Chris Packham, for a new BBC series called “Inside the Autistic Mind” which she found quite exciting. We are looking forward to watching the series when it is broadcast.
CENMAC: How did Daisy find Transitioning to Year 12?
Kevin: Daisy completed Year 11 at Limpsfield Grange School and transitioned to Burlington House – 6th Form in Hammersmith. She has been to a few “taster” days at her new school where she was able to try different things such as photography and drama. She is excited about her new school and refers to it as “college” not school!
CENMAC: Would you recommend CENMAC to other parents?
Kevin: Yes, without a doubt! I want to thank CENMAC’s support for Daisy, at Limpsfield Grange, it made such a difference and helped her enormously… just as it will at her new school…thanks from all of us.
Video Interview: Student ambassador Khamani spoke to Daisy
Student ambassador Khamani recently interviewed Daisy to find out more about her time at Limpsfield Grange School and how she feels about transitioning to Burlington House – 6th Form.
Watch student ambassador Khamani’s interview with Daisy.
Interview with Daisy’s SENCO, Mrs Grace, at Limpsfield Grange
CENMAC: How did CENMAC support Daisy?
Mrs Grace: Limpsfield Grange as well as Daisy and her parents were very well supported by CENMAC and the equipment loaned to Daisy was of great benefit to her when Daisy joined our school mid-term she already had a laptop, iPad and reading pen in place from CENMAC.
CENMAC: What assistive technology did Daisy use at school?
Mrs Grace: Daisy tended to bring the Microsoft Surface into school to use alongside her reading pen and kept the iPad at home to use. The Microsoft Surface was used in her lessons and had useful apps installed on it such as WordQ and SpeakQ.
CENMAC: How did CENMAC Advisory Teacher, Mary Long, support Daisy?
Mrs Grace: Mary Long, one of the advisory teachers at CENMAC, came into school termly to meet with Daisy and I. She would run through the apps with Daisy and would show her the different things they were able to do. Mary also attended Daisy’s annual review meetings (EHCP) and set her some targets to achieve.
During Covid when our school was closed to visitors Mary would meet with Daisy on I via Teams. Daisy was able to update Mary on how the technology supported her in her lessons and we were also given tutorials on how to use the apps that had been installed for Daisy.
Without the technology, Daisy would have found it much more difficult to access the written parts of her lessons and she became much more confident in using the technology loaned to her as time went on. Daisy’s parents were also brilliant in supporting Daisy and always gave me clear and honest feedback. I shared everything we learned at the meetings with Mary, with parents, enabling them to support Daisy at home during lockdown.
CENMAC: How do you feel about Daisy’s achievements at school?
We are all very proud of the achievements Daisy has made and how confident she has become. I know that she will do well at Burlington House – 6th Form and she is fully supported by her parents who are encouraging her independence.
CENMAC: Did you attend any of our free assistive technology training sessions?
I did attend a CENMAC online training session on reading pens which I found very informative.
Mary was always very helpful and gave clear instructions when we were unfamiliar with some of the programmes. She was a gem of information and worked really hard in fully supporting Daisy at school.
CENMAC: Would you recommend the CENMAC service to other schools and parents/carers?
Daisy was very fortunate in having the opportunity of having the help from CENMAC and I hope that we have the opportunity of working with CENMAC again in the near future.
