This week we have been celebrating Neurodiversity Week celebrating our differences and how amazing each of us is as individuals.
We are all different – we have different eyes, hair, skin, abilities and beliefs. Last week we taught our children about how our brains can be different too. Research has shown that 1 in 5 people are neurodiverse – that equates to roughly 6 children in an average class. Knowing more about our differences helps us to be more understanding. This year Siena Castellon, a 16-year-old young lady with autism, decided that Neurodiversity should be highlighted and celebrated in the UK. From her inspiration came the first ever Neurodiversity Week. Schools and businesses were encouraged to celebrate the unique differences and strengths that Neurodiverse people have.
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What a fabulous week we had at Overchurch. Monday saw a brightly coloured assembly with a wonderful song (It’s good to be me, it’s good to know you, it’s great to be different but together…) followed by the children creating their own unique mini me’s. We learnt about a range of famous successful people who are neurodiverse, including Steven Spielberg, Emma Watson, Daniel Radcliffe, Ed Sheeran, Jim Carrey and even Albert Einstein!
On Tuesday and Wednesday, the children created posters about diversity, which were shared with parents and grandparents at a well-attended coffee morning. Staff, children parents and school governors have been invited to write on brightly coloured umbrellas – the remit was to write something amazing about themselves. The umbrellas will now be used to create an amazing art installation in the school hall and at the front of the school. They will represent the fact that we are all different but all special and that no matter how our brains function, we are all under the same umbrella at Overchurch.
Our OIS celebrations have been praised by the ADHD Foundation and even Siena Castellon herself! The school community has been amazing in its response and we can’t wait to see all 25 umbrellas on display!
