Category: Blog

July 29, 2014July 30, 2014

Immersive learning just got more affordable

4D is built upon the principle that your school deserves the best quality products at the very best prices. Our design team work hard to ensure that everything that goes into making an immersive space is the highest quality yet still affordable.

We know your budgets are always stretched which is why over the last few months we’ve looked at how our installations are carried out.

Through working harder and smarter, we’re pleased to say we’ve managed to dramatically reduce the costs of fitting an immersive space at your school.

Full installation costs are now reduced by 10% whilst our mobile immersive spaces are now available with a 5% discount.

Best quality…just more affordable.

Our projectors will still be top quality industry standard, our lighting still bright, powerful and engaging whilst crystal clear surround sound will immerse your pupils in new experiences. Our best quality principle also includes taking pride in the finer details. From interactive floors and iPads to bespoke designed furniture and vinyl artwork, the finishing touches are what takes an immersive space to the next level.

This is a space to inspire pupils and enable creativity which is why we’ll always go the extra mile in designing your immersive space.

Next steps.

If you’ve had a quote from us previously then feel free to get in touch and ask how we can make an immersive space happen at your school. A 10% discount is the minimum we can offer. This price is guaranteed till October 10th 2014 when our new pricing scheme will be fully launched.

If you’re new to 4D then it’s quick and simple for us to draw up a no obligation quote. You may have a space in mind or you may just need more details, either way, we would love to explain further about how immersive learning could positively impact your school.

T: 0844 414 2595 | E: louise@4dcreative.co.uk

Or spread the cost over 3 years?

Leasing with 4D creative means you can spread the cost of an immersive space over a number of years. We’ve partnered with Funding 4 Education who work exclusively with the education sector and specialise in helping schools get the very best for their pupils.

If you have 10 pupils entitled to pupil premium, these funds could create an immersive space at your school to help bridge the gap and give young people new experiences.

To find out more, just contact Louise in our office who will be happy to share our pricing guidelines with you.

T: 0844 414 2595 | E: louise@4dcreative.co.uk

July 25, 2014

Multi sensory environments and dementia care research

Our recent project looking at the impact of immersive experiences on people with dementia has been a huge success and it’s an area we are continuing to research and explore.

The power of the spaces 4D have worked on is that you can create unique atmospheres and settings to inspire conversation and make care person centred for each individual. Come and read more over at our case study page.

Research into dementia treatment and prevention is a rapidly developing area and we’re going to use the 4D blog to cover interesting studies and the latest news.

First up is a piece of research from Kingston University looking at multi sensory spaces in dementia care.

This immediately jumped out at us as it has some similarities with our immersive experiences though there are key differences too.

“The project investigates the current design and application of Multi sensory environments including aesthetic qualities and functional parameters, within a care home context. Because little documented design guidance for MSEs for older people with dementia exists, the overall purpose of the research is to establish new knowledge from which coherent, user-centred design solutions can be developed. In this respect, the research outcomes will potentially contribute towards improved care services for those living with dementia”

Good design is key to any space but it’s also fascinating to see how it can impact positively on well being. The project’s research involved creating new sensory rooms for those people with dementia and seeing how the design of these spaces could make a difference. Explore the blog on the project here.

We’re looking forward to hearing more about the research in October as the University are holding an exhibition to mark the end of the first stage of the research. There will also be much discussion on designing spaces for people with dementia which we look forward to contributing to.

July 23, 2014August 4, 2014

Multimedia content creation with Z-arts part 2

Our collaboration with the Sat‘dy Allsorts at Z-arts in Manchester came to a close recently. We had a fantastic time working with the young people as they became content developers learning how to create their own immersive experiences. Read the first part of this journey here.

The content which the young people at Sat’dy Allsorts created was excellent, they’d really embraced the brief and had researched images online using filtered searches to find Creative Commons licensed photos and worked in groups to create some instrumental music to go with them. As the ‘IMMERSE’ project came to a close, we went back to the centre to see and hear the finished results and to show the parents what the young people had achieved.

Our portable immersive space, ‘4D Pop Up’ was set up and guests gathered inside as each group introduced their work and gave some information on how they had created the new immersive themes. There was a huge range of themes such as Underwater, Shakespeare, Electricity, Alliteration, Poverty, and Urban life that it made for a really varied event to share with the parents and public Some groups chose to perform their pieces of music live alongside the images and videos they had created whilst other groups had produced and recorded their tracks to play through the 4D Pop Up built in sound system.

All of the music that was created was of such a high quality it would fit into any 4D space and the images that were used in each theme really helped to tell a story – we could easily see how teachers could potentially base a lesson around the themes that were created.

The whole project has been a huge success and 4D creative have thoroughly enjoyed working with all the young people on the project over the 8 weeks. Massive thanks must go to Tosin and Saskia at Z-arts and all the young people for working with us to create a really valuable experience for the young musicians and content developers.

July 21, 2014July 23, 2014

SEND reforms – are you ready? Free guidance pack to download.

As discussed in our previous blog, the SEND reforms could have an impact on practice at your school. From September 1st, schools will be expected to have clear systems for identification, assessment, monitoring and securing appropriate support for children with special educational needs. Today we have received new information from the Pathfinder Champion Support Team to help implement these reforms and inform staff of changes.

The document explains:

“The SEND reforms require a whole school approach to SEND. It is essential that the whole school community, governors, teaching and non-teaching staff, young people and parents, understand what the reforms mean for them.

This attached slide pack has been designed to help school leaders in mainstream schools engage the wider school community in the culture change. The aim is for school leaders to use selected slides from the pack to engage governors and staff in the reforms. It is not designed to be used in its entirety.

The slides have been developed in partnership with the Joint Professional Association SEND Forum, comprising representatives from ASCL, ATL, NAHT, NASUWT, NUT and Voice; as well as Achievement for All, London Leadership Strategy and organisations representing disabled children and their families.”

The school leaders slide pack, which you can download here, contains key information to help headteachers introduce new practices to staff and governors. There is also guidance notes which you can download here.

For full information visit the new Pathfinder website. The Pathfinder Champion Support Team have asked for these new resources to be passed on so everyone can benefit from the new advice so feel free to share.

What can 4D creative offer you to support the implementation of this legislation?

Within the 4D team, there are a range of skills and knowledge from across the disability agenda. Our operations manager, Colette Gollcher also works on behalf of the Council for Disabled Children supporting local authorities in their preparation for these reforms.

We have a range of workshops that can support you and your school:

A full briefing session to understand the upcoming reforms to enable you to support your children, young people, their families, your staff and governors.
A workshop explaining how to utilise an immersive space for person centred annual reviews
A day of live planning for a group of young people and their families who may be starting the journey in education health and case plans
Learn how to develop immersive content relevant to preparing children and young people for adulthood
A bespoke workshop designed around your ideas and intended outcomes. Just get in touch to find out more.

Next steps.

If you’d like to find out more about an immersive space being installed at your school contact Louise on louise@4dcreative.co.uk

Alternatively, to discuss a workshop on the SEND reforms, please call on 0844 414 2595 or email: hello@4dcreative.co.uk

Finally keep up to date with all our news by following us on Twitter and signing up to our newsletter below.

July 18, 2014

From tired sensory room to inspirational immersive space with Willoughby School

We’ve been hearing lots of great feedback on our recent installation at Willoughby School in Lincolnshire. We first met the school for pupils with a wide variety of additional needs in 2011. Since then, we’ve kept in touch with the always welcoming school as they have raised funds for their immersive space.

The new immersive space replaces the schools old sensory room and features large scale corner projection, LED lighting, surround sound and an interactive floor. The aim of the space is to give young people new experiences in a multi sensory and engaging environment. So pupils are able to travel to new places, explore new cultures and learn about the world around them all from the safety of their school.

Headteacher, Adam Booker explains: “Our immersive space is fabulous, unique and will enhance the learning opportunities available to our pupils. We saw a similar space some years ago and have worked hard with our partners at the Cummins Foundation to have it created in the last two weeks. The reactions so far have all been similar , ‘WOW’ being the most frequent!”

The school have kindly shared some videos of their pupils enjoying the new space for the first time which you can watch below.

The local press have also been reporting on the exciting new space at the school which you can read all about here.

What next?

If you’d like 4D creative’s design team to give your sensory room a new lease of life, just get in touch.A non obligation quote is quick and simple for us to draw up. You can call us on 0844 414 2595 or send an email to hello@4dcreative.co.uk.

First reactions to the immersive space at Willoughby School from 4d creative on Vimeo.

Interactive floor at Willoughby School from 4d creative on Vimeo.

Interactive Floor at Willoughby School from 4d creative on Vimeo.

July 8, 2014July 9, 2014

The Children and Families Act and immersive learning

We are fast approaching the end of term and a period of rest and relaxation. However, on the 1st of September, the Children and Families Act comes into force which could potentially have an impact on practice across your school.

An immersive space could be a key tool to support your school as you prepare for this new legislation:

The key highlights of the legislations:

1. Local authorities to publish a clear, transparent ‘local offer’ of services.

As a school you may have been asked to produce your ‘local offer’. Your immersive space enables you to promote your provision as a unique selling point. The space offers a creative, inclusive and holistic approach to meeting individual needs as well as facilitating positive outcomes.

It’s a space to relax and inspire whilst giving new and fresh experiences through light, sound and projection. Travel to new places, enjoy the calm of a giant aquarium or be inspired by a trip to the London Olympics, all with this unique tool.

2. A more streamlined assessment process and a single Education Healthcare Plan

An immersive space is an ideal place to support observations and assessment of both individuals and groups. Annual Reviews could take place within an immersive space and bring the young person and their family into the heart of the process.

3. A stronger focus on preparing for adulthood, including new powers for local authorities to provide children’s services to young people over 18 to improve their transition to adult services

The development and promotion of aspirations and life skills is fundamental to achieving positive outcomes. An immersive space gives you the ability to upload content that will facilitate this approach. Give young people a greater understanding of the world around them or inspire them to create their own images and videos to express themselves. The space could also bring involvement from the community, local colleges employees as a partnership approach to supporting the children and young people in your care.

What can 4D creative offer you to support the implementation of this legislation?

We have a range of workshops that can support you and your school:

A full briefing session to understand the upcoming reforms to enable you to support your children, young people, their families, your staff and governors.
A workshop explaining how to utilise an immersive space for person centred annual reviews
A day of live planning for a group of young people and their families who may be starting the journey in education health and case plans
Learn how to develop immersive content relevant to preparing children and young people for adulthood
A bespoke workshop designed around your ideas and intended outcomes. Just get in touch to find out more.

Next steps.

If you’d like to find out more about an immersive space being installed at your school contact Louise on louise@4dcreative.co.uk

Alternatively, to discuss a workshop on the Children and Families Act, please call on 0844 414 2595 or email: hello@4dcreative.co.uk

Finally keep up to date with all our news by following us on Twitter and signing up to our newsletter below.

July 1, 2014July 1, 2014

Writing about memorable experiences creates remarkable improvements in literacy

A programme that enables pupils to create memorable experiences and improve literacy through visiting new places has been praised by the Education Endowment Foundation.

As the Independent reports:

Schools which have adopted a programme tried out in the United States in the 1990s that focuses on getting children to write about memorable experiences in their lives have seen a remarkable improvement in literacy standards, it adds.

A survey of more than 800 primary and secondary school pupils showed it improved their writing standards by nine months on average – and 18 months for disadvantaged pupils on free school meals

The children were also told how to mark their own work, with teachers explaining how marks would be awarded.

In subsequent exercises – with the pupils knowing what was expected of them – their performance improved.

Blending a creative curriculum and an immersive approach

At 4D, we’re passionate about using immersive spaces to create engaging and inspirational environments and to give young people new experiences. Your pupils could visit the zoo in the morning, travel to a street in Delhi in the afternoon and the next day be in outer space all from one room. Each setting will have the sights and sounds to fully immerse your pupils to improve their writing.

An immersive, experiential approach has been shown to have clear impact on pupils especially in literacy. To hear from the teachers working in our immersive spaces, watch the video below or explore our case studies page.

What now?

A member of our team would love to explain how we could support immersive approaches to be in your school by September 2014.

Just drop us a line and we will arrange a time to come and see you or to give you a call. Or just leave a comment in the box below and we’ll be in touch.

T: 0844 414 2595 | E: hello@4dcreative.co.uk | Tw: @4dcreative

June 27, 2014

Multimedia Content Creation with Z-arts

The power of an image or video with sound and lighting is what creates each unique immersive experience. This could be a primary school learning about The Great Fire of London or used in a reminiscence session for people with dementia, the key is always great content!

4D creative have recently been commissioned by Z-arts in Manchester to work on a content creation project which we will be following on our blog. Our content developer Lauren and training coordinator Inés take up the story….

Z-arts content creation project

The Sat’dy Allsorts are an urban music collective based at Z-arts who write, record and perform their own music. This year, as part of a grant from Youth Music, Sat’dy Allsorts have been working on different musical projects throughout the year such as writing for silent films, working with the Bridgewater Hall, and now with 4D creative!

The performers are 11-19 years old and range from grime MCs to soul singers. They meet every Saturday morning 11-1pm to work on their tracks and all of them write lyrics and songs in their own time.

Day 1

Using the 4D Pop Up space we have asked the Sat’dy Allsorts to create some immersive content to add to our demo library here at MediaCityUK.

On the first day of the eight week project, we inflated the 4D Pop Up then asked the young people what they thought it was. We got a some great answers such as, ‘an inflatable disco’ and ‘a spaceship’. The great thing about all the answers, is that they could all be right!

After introducing the group to what 4D creative is all about and the spaces we create, we took the group into the 4D Pop Up and asked them to close their eyes and listen to the sounds we played. This was all to get our new content creators to start thinking about the importance of sound in making you feel immersed within the space.

Inés took the group on a journey through our content library, starting with 4D Time Tunnel then drifting through space until they arrived on earth, and journeyed from city to forests and onto more abstract themes to show the range of content. This also gave plenty of examples of images, videos, music and soundscapes to give a better idea of what the brief would be for the next eight weeks.

Lauren then went on to explain the content development process which happens internally at 4D creative. Together the group discussed how to source images, the importance of finding non copyright material and finding creative commons content, and then explained some editing techniques as all of these ideas are important learning for those wishing to work within a creative industry.

Having created some theme brief mood boards back at 4D HQ, Lauren then asked the groups to choose which theme they were going to concentrate on for their own content. These included Poverty, fairytale, conflict, urban culture, electricity, Shakespeare, alliteration, Manchester and emotions.

Mood boards were then created with magazines and internet searching helping to generate a huge range of ideas for each new theme.

It was a great start to a wonderful project with the Sat’dy Allsorts and Z-arts. The young people seemed enthusiastic and eager to start their content by finding the best images and creating original music for the immersive environment.

We look forward to the next session in a few weeks!

To find out more about Z-arts and the Sat’day Allsorts visit: http://www.z-arts.org/take-part/satdy-all-sorts/

June 23, 2014May 13, 2017

Bridging the gap with immersive learning

All schools are looking to give young people the chance to experience the world around them and develop all the skills to be successful in the future.

Your pupil premium has been introduced to help achieve better outcomes and at 4D, we believe our immersive spaces are a tool that will support better outcomes for your pupils

Experiential learning
An immersive space allows you to transport your pupils from their usual classroom to new cultures, worlds and experiences giving a fresh context to learning. This may be a trip to a museum or another country or be about a more abstract experience such as visiting other planets.

“The purpose of the room is that it blows the kids away and takes them to places they never thought possible. You can show them a picture on a board but it is not the same, it’s not the same at all. There are no boundaries in a room like this.”
Wendy Austin, Harwood Meadows School, Bolton

Communication and language skills
The power of giving a class a real stimulus that they’ve seen, felt, heard and experienced has been shown to improve writing and inspire young people particularly for those who English is their second language.

Pupils can be transported to read and write war poetry from a muddy trench or taken deep into the heart of a spooky wood and asked to imagine what is around the corner. Set imaginations and pens wild!

“By using the Dream Room, St Christopher’s has seen a marked improvement in the speaking and listening skills of its students. Teachers are taking greater accountability for creativity in their teaching and learning as the immersive space is proving to be a useful tool for this.”
Colette Denby, Headteacher, St Christopher’s Primary School.

Peer led learning and collaboration
Task young people to research and source images or videos and then present them back to their class. This is real life learning, developing an understanding of partnership working, creating suitable resources and then sharing this with their cohorts. The immersive space is a stage that brings the best out of everyone who works in there.

“The impact that we have seen on the pupils has been very impressive. The level of interaction and connection with subjects and topic areas has been outstanding.”
Dominic Annable, Head Of Languages. Wade Deacon High School, Widnes

Training with Education professionals.
An immersive space is a tool to facilitate experiences. All our spaces come with a full range of training with former teachers and for those interested, our team can create a whole school approach for your staff and pupils putting creativity at the heart of your curriculum.

“Teachers need support and time to learn to use new technology effectively. This involves more than just learning how to use the technology; it should include support to understand how it can be used for learning” – EEF guidelines

Find out more

Learn more about the impact of immersive learning at Harwood Meadows School with our case study video:

What now?
A member of our team would love to explain how immersive approaches could be in your school.

Just drop us a line and we will arrange a time to come and see you or to give you a call.

T: 01706 248112 | E: hello@4dimmersive.com | Tw: @4dimmersive

June 9, 2014

4D referral scheme

4D is a company built on word of mouth and we believe it’s the best way of meeting new schools looking for an immersive space.

As a supporter of 4D, we want to say thanks every time you mention what we do to a colleague or friend. Our new referral scheme, open to businesses, schools or individuals, pays commission for every new lead that converts to a sale.

Do you know a school looking for a new sensory room?
Are your friends innovative, creative practitioners always looking for new engaging ways to wow pupils?
Is your local school being rebuilt?

All you need to do is explain what 4D do and send us an introduction. This could be on our mobile range of immersive products or a full installation and with our new leasing options, the costs of a space can be spread over a number of years.

Fancy finding out more and joining our scheme? Just give the office a call on 0844 414 2595 or send Louise an email to louise@4dcreative.co.uk