Our new Sensory Room

Ascot Vale Heights School – AVHS, (formerly Ascot Vale Special School) is a state government school that provides high quality education to students with mild intellectual disabilities. We teach students between 5 and 18 years to develop a wide range of life skills that enable them to participate fully in life's daily activities.

The world is full of sensory input, from what we see and hear, to how the things we eat taste and feel in our mouths and the smells of our environment. We also get information from our bodies about being hot or cold, hungry, or tired, whether we are standing upright or falling and where our bodies are in space.

For some of the students at our school, these messages from the world and their bodies can be dialled up too loud or too soft, which affects the way our students interact with their classrooms, learning and peers.

Imagine every noise feeling like a shout or feeling like you are unsure of where your body ends, and world begins.

A sensory room is a designated space in our school that provides the students of AVHS with multisensory input to support their ability to engage in the school day.

AVHS has received input from Wilkins International and our school-based occupational therapist to draft up plans to create a calming and regulating space for our students to visit during their school day. The sensory room is designed to support students to gain the sensory feedback in a controlled and planned way to help them engage and participate in their classroom learning by helping their brain and bodies enter the optimal zone of regulation.

The sensory room will be used to build positive emotions and relationships in the school context in line with the students’ educational goals. The use of the sensory room is guided by the school occupational therapist and facilitated by educators to support our students to access this space for a set period to support their learning and engagement.

Your support to help make this space a reality will benefit the students of AVHS and support our educators in making our school a comfortable and responsive environment for our learning and their needs.

The total cost of this project is $51,000. To date we have managed to raise $26,000, and are now seeking additional support to make this amazing project a reality for our students.

For more information regarding our school, please refer to our website at:

http://ascotvalehs.vic.edu.au/