Background

• Age group: 12 to 14, ASD Class
• Group size: 8 students (whole class)
• Session leader: Meighan Curren, class teacher
• Date: Summer 2017
• Setting: School setting
• Activity: 40-minute Physical Education and Motor Skills lesson

“Cosmo is fantastic! I can’t say enough positive things about it. It’s really helping the students to develop their turn-taking skills, to work together, and to have the opportunity to give directions to the rest of the class.”

Meighan Curren—Teacher, Cricket Green School

Activity

Cricket Green is a forward-thinking SEN school in South London that has been using Cosmo to focus on the individualised learning experiences of many of its students.

Meighan used Cosmo to facilitate a long-term movement and teamwork activity with her class, all of whom are on the autistic spectrum. Meighan collected student’s scores from Cosmo activities over a whole term, displaying them on a scoreboard, and adding a fun competitive aspect to the weekly sessions.

What happened?

How was Cosmo Used?

Meighan wanted to introduce a whole-class activity that increased her class’s movement, spatial awareness, and scanning skills, as well as nurturing skills such as joint attention and collaboration.

She used two Cosmo activities (Exercise & Showdown) during regular 40-minute lessons, over a whole term. The cosmoids were spread around the class and students had to find and press as many as they could in the allotted time. Students then wrote their scores on a large scoreboard that the class had created together. Students also split into teams and played Showdown together, which involved each team being allocated a colour and then finding as many of their coloured cosmoids as possible, in the allotted time.

How did pupils respond?

The students picked up the concept of each activity surprisingly quickly and were really motivated by the exciting colours and sounds that the cosmoids made.  Meighan mentioned that some students moved far more than usual and stayed engaged in the activity for an impressive length of time.

What worked best?

Having the Cosmo Teacher’s Guide was really handy as there are lots of tips on how to incorporate Cosmo into daily school activities. We started with the cosmoids close to the students and then gradually moved them further away, which encouraged more movement and scanning. It made the activity more challenging but in a fun way.

Showdown also worked really well for encouraging teamwork between the students. We could split them into an Orange team and a Green team and get them to work together, and also competitively.

What was challenging?

Initially, the biggest challenge was getting each student to wait for their turn to play. Introducing the team element meant that students didn’t have to wait as long, and it’s great that you can change the length of the activity in case you feel it’s too short or too long for the students you work with.

Would you recommend Cosmo to another school or teacher?

Absolutely. It would be an excellent addition to the toolkit for any Special education needs classroom.