Heaton news - WB 12th Jan

Date: 16th Jan 2026 @ 2:27pm

Another busy week at Heaton School!

Omni music support the school to deliver music lessons to year 7-11. This week Amalias students actively engaged in music composition and Intensive Interaction. 

Another key aspect of our students learning is for students to know and appreciate how to be healthy - something essential when preparing for Adulthood. Colins class have been working on keeping themselves healthy by working on the outdoor gym in school at the start of this term. 

New Hydrotherapy initiative 

Currently at Heaton School, hydrotherapy sessions are running as ‘warm water’ sessions within the preformal department (and within other pathways too). We rely heavily on the knowledge and experience of the individual teaching staff running the sessions. The benefits of warm water sessions are well known and researched. This along with the increasing complexities of our students at Heaton School led us to look into different training developments for our warm water sessions. We are excited to announce that we are partnering with Liquid listening to further develop the learning that takes place within our hydrotherapy sessions.A specialist grant has been given to Heaton School and, this highly specialist training course, along with the specialist speaker system, will be taking place over the week of the 20th-23rd January. 

Liquid Listening was launched in 2010 by sound artist and composer Joel Cahen and Adele Drake. Adele had made connections between the properties of underwater sound perception and its potential benefits to children with special and complex needs. For more than a decade, this small charity has been working with a range of teachers and practitioners in SEN schools across the UK and demonstrating the real impact Musical Hydrotherapy can help children with PMLD to experience deep relaxation, increased motor and sensory skills, increased vocalisations, improved well-being- and sheer joy! 

The process of musical hydrotherapy involves placing speakers underwater within a hydrotherapy pool so that sound is heard through them when any part of the head is placed in the water. The vibrations travel through the water and stimulate the inner ear directly, and so the listener perceives the sounds as if they are heard from inside their head.  The result is an all-body experience of sound that is incredibly detailed and immediate: despite being in a public space, the listener feels as though they are inhabiting a very private space, an almost womb-like environment. The vibrations can also be felt inside the body when it is in close proximity to the speakers. When this is experienced alongside WATSU-based body therapy, the participants enter a deep state of relaxation.

We are really excited about this new specialist training and equipment, and looking forward to sharing more in the future!