The MOVE Partnership awards a Quality Mark and names a new Centre of Excellence

Two London schools - Tuke School in Lewisham and Willow Dene in Greenwich – have been awarded the MOVE Quality Mark and named Centre of Excellence status respectively. 

Willow Dene School has been awarded Centre of Excellence status – making them just one of 17 centres across Europe. MOVE Centres of Excellence demonstrate best practice in the MOVE Programme and provide long term continuity for the programme on a local and national level. They allow interested parties to visit their site as a recommendation of what can be achieved through the programme and they provide support to all MOVE users in their region.

Tuke School has been awarded Quality Mark status.  The MOVE Quality Mark measures the quality or provision by an organisation currently using the MOVE Programme, to help pupils increase their level of independent mobility. This Quality Mark is a special award that acts as an external validation and recognises best practice and progress in the MOVE Programme principles. The school was judged as excellent against the best practice principles of the MOVE Programme, notably, excellent team work between educationalists, therapists and parents in meeting the children’s needs and their outstanding processes for raising standards and expectations for children with complex needs.

The MOVE Partnership is a small UK based charity aiming to provide severely disabled children with the opportunity of independent movement. The MOVE Programme is an activity based programme which combines the knowledge of family, education and therapy to help children to become active participants in their own lives, by teaching them the skills of sitting, standing, walking and transferring to the very best of their ability. Each child works towards their own personalised goals, whether it be to lift their head independently for 30 seconds, or to walk a short distance, with only their hand held for support so they can join their friends to play.

The MOVE Partnership’s Chief Executive Nigel Carter comments, “The children, teachers, therapists and parents at Willow Dene School and Tuke School have all worked extremely hard with the MOVE Programme so it’s great to celebrate their efforts and accomplishments. The MOVE Programme aims to get children moving around in different ways, thereby reducing health problems, including a potential decrease in the need for surgery, and improving quality of life. Improvements are also seen in communication and social skills as the children gain the ability to interact with the world around them.”

Willow Dene is a primary special school. It caters for children between the ages of 3 and 11 years with a wide range of learning disabilities – complex, severe, profound/multiple learning difficulties; complex physical and medical disabilities; Down's Syndrome and children with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD).

Tuke is a special school that meets the needs of students aged 11 years - 19 years with severe, profound and complex learning and physical disabilities. 

For further information on the MOVE Programme please see www.themovepartnership.org.uk or contact move@themovepartnership.org.uk

It costs the MOVE Partnership just £252pa to allow a child to access the MOVE Programme and its benefits for a year. To help children like those at Willow Dene and Tuke to live the healthiest and happiest lives possible by accessing the MOVE Programme, please donate to the charity at -www.justgiving.com/donate  

Photos available on request.

For further information please contact Daniel Charcharos at The MOVE Partnership on: 020 7403 6382, email: daniel@themovepartnership.org.uk

The MOVE Partnership is a small UK based national charity working with schools/centres, teachers, therapists and parents to provide the most severely disabled children and adults throughout the UK with increased mobility by teaching the skills necessary for independent sitting, standing, walking and transferring.  As a result, the MOVE Programme can help to develop the child or adult’s cognitive and communication skills, can improve health and social inclusion whilst also providing opportunities to gain greater independence and to make choices for themselves.

MOVE provides a best practice framework for parents and professionals working with disabled children and adults. It seeks to bring services together and to encourage collaborative working at all levels, placing a structure around work that is already taking place, and its health and social benefits are supported by academic research.

Over 5,000 children have already benefitted from the MOVE Programme. There are over 500 schools, centres and PCT departments using the MOVE Programme across the country.

For further details, please see www.themovepartnership.org.uk

Publication Date: 24/07/2012