What is the MOVE Programme?

The MOVE Programme is for children who find sitting, standing or walking challenging, with the aim of making the world around them more accessible and a place where they have opportunities to make choices. The programme is not a therapy technique and as such, gives equal worth to every person involved in working with the children. We have been using MOVE at Cherry Garden since 2012, and we currently have two trainers in school, Simon and Kelly. A high proportion of the staff team are trained to a ‘Senior Practitioner’ level.

How does it work?

The programme is built around creating goals which can be working on collaboratively between home, school and anyone else who has a regular involvement in the children’s life. At Cherry Garden, all of the children who use the programme have a MOVE goal incorporated into their Individual Education Plan (IEP). We then break this goal down into three smaller goals, which the class team can work on throughout the school day and can also be practiced at home.

When can you use MOVE?

MOVE is intended to be a regular part of the child’s day and not an add-on or an extra subject. At Cherry Garden, we try to ensure the children are working towards their MOVE goals as often as is possible. For example, a child who has a goal to sit on a conventional chair could practice this at lunchtime, sitting with their peers at the table, as well as joining in with small group work such as a Music lesson or playing in a water tray outside.

Below is a video tracking one of our MOVE users, Ibrahim, through his first year at Cherry Garden and the progress he made towards his goal of being able to walk with two sticks in order to play more freely with his peers.

For more information go to: https://www.enhamtrust.org.uk/what-is-move.