{"id":83087,"date":"2026-03-17T11:23:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T11:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/?p=83087"},"modified":"2026-03-20T11:39:06","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T11:39:06","slug":"teacher-liz-hodges-on-sense-family-days","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/blog\/teacher-liz-hodges-on-sense-family-days\/","title":{"rendered":"I go home exhausted but satisfied: teacher Liz Hodges on Sense Family Days"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Hi, I’m Liz Hodges, a qualified teacher of deafblind children. I have been working in the field for almost 40 years.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this time I’ve worked with deafblind people from almost birth to young adults, and as a class teacher, an advisory teacher and a teacher trainer. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ve supported families as they understand their child\u2019s needs, as they seek appropriate education, as they consider their adult lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Liz,
MSI (multi-sensory impairment) teacher Liz Hodges<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Sense Family Days<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

I love to welcome children and young people to Sense’s Family Days. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We hold a variety of different days to appeal to the wide range of our families; some are active such as climbing or dancing, others are creative such as craft or paint, and some are focused on specific age groups such as storytelling or spa day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leo and his mum, Simona<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Leo and his mum Simona<\/a> have come to a few of our Family Days at our centre in Barnet. Leo feels at home in the centre and likes to scoot around the building finding things to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He does have a go at most of our special areas, such as the sensory room and art room. He likes to explore different things. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Leo loved sharing in a range of sensory activities, especially ‘Sensory Storytime’.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We included things we knew would be attractive and would work for children who are deaf and have vision impairment. This way he extended his attention, and engaged with what was going on, which was great for him.<\/p>\nLiz on Sensory Storytime<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Let’s Have a Ball!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It was great at our ball party (‘Let’s Have a Ball’ Family Day) that Leo played alongside some other children. He also sat at our dining table and ate lunch with all of us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s important for children that they see themselves as part of the community, and sometimes disabled children with complex needs can feel on the outside of the activities or picked out.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leo loved sharing in a range of sensory activities, especially ‘Sensory Storytime’, which was carefully designed to make sure that our children with sensory impairments were fully part of the activity. He used his eyes and listening because we used things we knew would be attractive and would work for children who are deaf and have vision impairment. This way he extended his attention, and engaged with what was going on, which was great for him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Leo
Leo with his mum Simona at the ‘Let’s Have a Ball’ Family Day at Sense in Barnet<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Feeling included<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

At Sense Family Days, children will always feel included.  And that includes the siblings. We include siblings in the experiences, they get to use arts and crafts, to join in the dancing, to have a go at the spa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Franklyn
Franklyn at a Climbing Challenge Family Day having his harness secured by Houe<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s essential that these are family activities, and that families build relationships and have such a positive experience together \u2013 something which isn\u2019t always available to them. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When in-house (some of our activities are outside, such as farm visits, library visits or sailing) we always provide a friendly and comfortable environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This includes simple but vital things like making sure we have coffee and tea, and the good biscuits! And when we can, we the staff make the coffee. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parents are often so busy with their disabled child that they never get time to take for themselves. If we make the coffee, it gives them permission to relax, while their child is engaged in activity, and have time for themselves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A place for families to come together<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Family Days are also so important for the casual conversations with both parents and professionals. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parents feel relaxed as their child is not judged or examined by other families and in that atmosphere, they can share things together, perhaps tips for managing sleep, or managing allowances, while enjoying the atmosphere and activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They may also talk to the Sense staff about things they are thinking about, such as worries at school, or about how a child is communicating. While we can\u2019t do that in detail on the day \u2013 we\u2019re too busy! \u2013 we can follow that up at a later date, something they might not have contacted us about initially.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI go home exhausted but satisfied\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

At the end of the day, I\u2019m busy. Once the day is over, I like to send the families an individual letter with photographs of the things they have enjoyed, or a voice note, if the child can\u2019t see, celebrating what they have done. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leo\u2019s letter had photographs of him, for example in the ball pool, playing with the drum and eating cake. It\u2019s important to send these the same day or the next day at the latest, so the child might be able to remember more about what they did. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Children can also share the photos with their school to show what they\u2019ve been doing. It helps them to build good memories and understand more about their world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But \u2013 it is always a great feeling to have seen children and their families having a good time together and I go home exhausted but very satisfied!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n

Will you give a gift to support a child like Leo to have a ball on a Sense Family Day?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Just \u00a340 could buy a set of specialist sensory balls in different sizes, colours and textures \u2013 just like the ones Leo had so much fun with on his Sense Family Day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
Donate today<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi, I’m Liz Hodges, a qualified teacher of deafblind children. I have been working in the field for almost 40 years. In this time I’ve worked with deafblind people from almost birth to young adults, and as a class teacher, an advisory teacher and a teacher trainer.  I’ve supported families as they understand their child\u2019s needs, as they seek appropriate education, as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2875,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"display_author":[1402],"class_list":["post-83087","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","display_author-liz-hodges"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83087","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2875"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=83087"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/83087\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=83087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=83087"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=83087"},{"taxonomy":"display_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/display_author?post=83087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}