Music Therapy

Bridge Road School is visited by our music therapist Danny Ammar every Tuesday. Numerous studies have shown music therapy has a powerful effect on helping students with low mood, emotional regulation difficulties, impulsivity and communication challenges (Cori L. Pelletier 2004, The Effect of Music Therapy on Decreasing Arousal Due to Stress: A Meta-Analysis). The Bridge Road School program focuses on areas such as listening to others, reciprocity, coordinating movements with another person, being present in the body and mindful, sustaining attention, developing perseverance, and building self-esteem. Students have access to an electronic drum kit, bass, guitars, keyboard and a microphone. Song writing can be explored to express emotions, and Danny frequently creates short videos with the students which are uploaded to a private YouTube channel.

Delta Dogs

Delta Therapy Dogs is a national non-profit organisation that helps animals and people bring joy to each other. They believe ‘that the human-animal bond improves our quality of life and leaves lasting paw prints on our hearts’. There is a special kinship shared between dogs and people of all ages. Attention from a dog can brighten your day, make you feel loved and, as has been scientifically proven, to improve overall health and well-being. They visit sick children in hospitals, the elderly in nursing homes, and support special schools and students with a disability. They are an extremely worthwhile charity doing amazing things. We are lucky enough to be visited by one of their dogs every Friday at Bridge Road School.

Nature Connectivity Program

There is a growing body of research around the mental health benefits for young people, as well as adults, in engaging with the wonder of nature, and immersing themselves in the natural environment. Furthermore, with the proliferation of devices such as iPads and mobile phones, more and more students are entering kindergarten unable to focus their attention or regulate when upset. The effect is powerful, with a population survey finding the strength of a person’s sense of connection to nature was four times more important than socio-economic status in explaining their sense that life is worthwhile (Martin, L., White, M. P., Hunt, A., Richardson, M., Pahl, S., & Burt, J. (2020).

At Bridge Road School all students once a week participate in the Nature Connectivity, Outdoor Education program, as part of release from face to face teaching (RFF). A number of highly engaging activities take place, including the use a trail camera, which has been set up at night in areas of the school and captures movement. As a result, students have been able to view footage of a resident possum and its baby moving around the school of an evening. Students have made videos of this footage with an accompanying soundtrack. The school has purchased a number of small portable microscopes attached to iPads, and students have investigated insects and other microscopic creatures from the playground and forest. Other school-wide initiatives have included the purchase of a large ‘spotting telescope’ to locate animals high up in trees, a class set of high-quality binoculars, as well as the purchase of a metal detector to scan the school for objects deposited on the grounds over the many years a school has been on this site. During RFF, students also use the large number of bicycles the school has purchased, with bike maintenance and ‘learn to ride’ lessons occurring regularly in the forest area on a purpose-built track.