Immersive echo rooms at Alder Hey Hospital

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4D creative are proud to announce the opening of two immersive spaces at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool. The spaces have been inspired by the life of Joseph Mitchell and have been funded by a generous grant from Thomas Cooke Children’s Charity.

Joseph was looked after by Alder Hey but sadly lost his fight in 2012 at the age of 2 and a half. Since he passed away his parents have set up a charity to help other bereaved parents.

Joseph’s mother Lisa explains: “Joseph was such a brave little boy and never moaned about his illness or about being in hospital. He lived in Alder Hey for a year and the care he received was second to none. While I was there I realised how lucky we were to have Alder Hey on our doorstep.

“We became close to the cardiac team and all the staff on K2 and I wanted to thank them for everything they had done for Joseph. My bosses at Thomas Cooke told me they wanted to do something in memory of Joseph so I met with his clinician Ian Peart and Gill McBurney, cardiac nurse specialist, who was there on every step of Joseph’s journey. They suggested that we helped the hospital in getting this exciting equipment for the ECHO rooms.”

The spaces feature large scale projection, LED lighting and surround sound all controlled from an iPad featuring a full range of immersive content. Whilst a young person is having their heart scanned, they can be immersed in a setting of their choice to help relax and entertain.

Gill McBurney a cardiac nurse specialist at the hospital sees the new spaces as a huge opportunity for improving well being in a person centred approach: “This equipment is fantastic and will make a real difference to our patients. The room will feel less scary for our patients and they will feel that their scan takes no time at all! The likelihood of repeat scans due to the children moving during the procedure because they are restless or anxious will also be reduced.”

At 4D we are hugely proud to have been involved in this project and delighted that the immersive spaces can be moved into the new Alder Hey building when it’s complete.

Find out more by visiting an immersive space. Get in touch with the 4D team here.

SEND reforms – latest news and support documents

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As we have been covering on the 4D Blog, the upcoming SEND reforms could have an impact on practice in 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.

The latest news is that as of yesterday, these reforms have now been approved by the House of Lords. Following this, the House of Commons has today voted to ratify the Committee’s decision. The SEND Code of Practice is therefore now approved by Parliament.

Information to download and understand
With lots to consider, we have compiled some key documents below which you can download. Just follow the relevant links. These resources are hosted elsewhere so if the links have been moved please let us know by sending Pete in our team a quick email. 

  • The new SEND Code of Practice can be downloaded from the government website here.
  • Whilst a school leaders slide pack is available here and contains key information to help headteachers introduce new practices to staff and governors.
  • There is also guidance notes which you can download here.

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 variety of workshops for you to consider:

  • 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.

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.

 

Writing about memorable experiences creates remarkable improvements in literacy

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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

BBC News Report: 4D Immersive Space at Sedgemoor Care Home, Liverpool.

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Our new space at Sedgemoor Care Home has been featured by the BBC today.

This inspirational space will embrace an immersive approach to dementia care and be used to support the improvement of the quality of life for service users.

The aim of creating this immersive experience is to enhance communication, increase a sense of personal identity, have an enjoyable activity in the company of others, to improve mood and well-being, to stimulate memories and to increase the individualisation of care.

Immersive content for the spaces will be developed together with service users and carers to build a collective voice and resilience. The content could facilitate a trip to the seaside or the remembrance of a service users wedding day through using personal photos, video recordings or music. This is a reflective, safe space to inspire memories and engage service users.

This is a fresh and exciting approach to treatment that is centered around the wellbeing of service users and their carers.

Full photos of the space, coming soon!

2013 so far – brilliant installations, new products and much more…

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The start of 2013 has seen lots of developments for us at 4D. In four short months we have…

Installed 8 permanent immersive spaces including our first in a healthcare setting.

And our diary is already filling up for the coming months. The photo above is from the superb new hall space at Worsbrough Common Primary School in Barnsley.

Developed the 4D Pop Up and the first orders are already coming in.

The first Pop Ups will be delivered in July. Get in touch to find out more about our portable immersive spaces.

Moved offices to our fantastic new space at the heart of MediaCityUK.

Come and see us at our base, we have a full immersive space, the 4D Pop Up to see and we’ll buy you lunch!

Expanded our team including new content creators, .Net developers and more.

We’ve already moved into extra space in our new offices as the team has grown so much. Flattering photos of the new staff will be on the website soon!

What’s next.

Whilst schools take a well earned break over the summer, our installations team get even busier with July and August  looking packed already.

4D Pop Up will be going on tour around the country soon. There will be lots of chances to explore and experience this new space – we’re so excited to show you.

Our software is going from strength to strength with a new tablet version soon and the launch of our online resource centre – download new immersive content direct to your system!

As ever, we’d love to hear from you. Get in touch or find us at Twitter and Facebook.

Education Investor Awards Winners!

Last night 4D creative won an Education Investor award. Another trophy for our awards shelf!

The awards were set up in 2010 to promote excellence and recognise innovation in education. This year the gala dinner was held at the Hilton, Park Lane and Ben and Cathy attended on behalf of 4D.

The judges for the event came from a cross section of the education sector including the Department for Education, BESA and Partnerships for Schools. We are delighted to say we fought off tough competition to be announced as overall winners in the Use of Educational Technology category.

The award comes as great reward for all our efforts in 2012. With our first London space, new products and new features for our software ahead, 2013 looks like being even more exciting!

If you’d like to see one of our multi award winning spaces, just get in touch and we will do the rest.

4D shortlisted for the MEN Business Awards 2012!

We’re delighted to announce 4D has been nominated in the MEN Business Of the Year Awards 2012.

The shortlist, released today, nominates twenty companies from across the Greater Manchester region and covers a diverse range of sectors and turnovers. As a company less than 3 years old, 4D are in the Young Business Of The Year category.

We recently welcomed judges from the awards to our offices at Hope Mill and showed them how our spaces are impacting on teaching and learning across the UK.

The awards night is hosted at Manchester Town Hall in November where we will find out if there will be another award to add to our trophy shelf!

The full list of nominees can be read here.

 

Enterprise Vision Awards 2012

 

Cathy, our creative director, has been nominated for an Enterprise Vision Award and we need your help.

The overall winners are being chosen by a combination of public votes and an experienced judging panel. This is where we need you. To vote for Cathy, follow this link, pop in your email and hit ‘vote’. It’ll take thirty seconds and your help would be much appreciated. Every vote counts!

The awards have been set up to celebrate ladies of the north west who are championing entrepreneurial growth. Cathy’s been nominated in the creative industries category for her work in co-founding and developing 4D over the last 3 years.

The results will be announced on September 14th.

 

4D nominated for Education Investor awards

Some great news hit the 4D office last Friday as the leading education business magazine, Education Investor, announced the nominations in their 2012 awards. We’re delighted to say we are down to the final five in the ‘Use of educational technology’ catagory and will find out if we have another trophy for the office in November at a swanky ceremony at the Hilton Park Lane.

The list of nominees is a varied and high quality selection so it’s great that we have been recognised alongside these companies. The full nominations can be found here.

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