“Mayfield School are an outstanding example of MOVE Programme best practice” MOVE Europe, 2025"
For over 20 years, we have successfully embedded the MOVE Programme into our curriculum, empowering pupils to develop greater independence, mobility and participation in everyday activities. Our commitment to high-quality practice was recognised in 2016 when we achieved MOVE Centre of Excellence status, reflecting our dedication to providing exceptional opportunities and outcomes for our pupils. We were re-accredited for this in 2025.
Parents and Carers are involved in this process from the beginning. An initial assessment is carried out and parents and carers are invited into school to meet with staff and other health professionals, such as physio to discuss their child’s needs now and what you/they would like to achieve in the future, setting purposeful goals which are meaningful and motivates them to learn.
Click here to see they journey of one of our pupils and her family.
We have 3 MOVE co-ordinators, 14 senior practitioners and 22 practitioners and an internal delivery of training.
At Mayfield, we believe every child can make meaningful progress, and we work closely with families and professionals to ensure that each pupil is supported to reach their full potential. We hold a collective MOVEgroup for all pupils on the MOVE programme once per week in our school hall and pupils take these skills back to their classrooms to ensure they have the opportunities to generalise them across environments.
Move is an inspiring and motivating programme which can significantly impact our student’s and their family’s lives. It is a student-centered approach that develops independent functional mobility through a six step programme which teaches the skills of sitting, standing, walking and transferring.
These are the 6 steps that will be documented in a students individual ‘Move Passport.’
- Assessment – Where is the individual now?
- Goal Setting – Where does he/she want to get to?
- Task Analysis – What skills are needed to get there?
- Prompt Measurement – What support is currently required?
- Prompt Adjustment – What support will be needed to achieve the goal?
- Teaching the Skills – How do you ensure the individual reaches their goal?
Move
We have 4 MOVE co-ordinators who run the programme, setting the targets and keeping up-to-date records of achievement. Alongside this there are a number of MOVE practitioners working in the classrooms to support the children and young people, focusing on integrating the targets into their learning on a daily basis.
The MOVE Team
Alison Harper
Alison has been a Senior Teaching Assistant at Mayfield for 25 years. She became interested in the MOVE Programme after being involved in one of the first MOVE groups at Mayfield School. She firstly became a Senior MOVE Practitioner, then recently took over the role of MOVE Co-ordinator after attending a MOVE Trainer course in 2018. She feels privileged to see the determination and achievements of all the students on the MOVE programme. Even the smallest achievement makes her so proud to be part of it.
Siobhan McGrady
Siobhan began her career at Mayfield as a midday supervisor in 2005 and went on to become a teaching assistant in 2007. She has had a keen interest in the MOVE programme and firstly became a Senior MOVE Practitioner then took over the role of MOVE Coordinator in 2018 after attending the MOVE Trainer course. She runs a weekly MOVE group where the students practice skills they have learnt and she helps them acquire new skills. she loves to see the progress the students make whether big or small steps and is proud to be involved in their achievements.
Vicky Cowan
Vicky has been a Teaching Assistant for 18 years, the past 9 years being at Mayfield School. She became really interested in the MOVE Programme after completing the Senior MOVE Practitioner course. This gave her an insight as to why the programme is so important which led her to become the MOVE Coordinator for KS2.
Ellie Curwen
Ellie has been a teacher at Mayfield for 3 years and this year has a class in which 4 children are on the MOVE Programme. She became passionate about MOVE after seeing the impact it has on the children's independence in all aspects of their lives, for example, empowering them to make choices of what activity they want to go to in lessons by being able to take themselves over to what they are interested in. She became a MOVE practitioner in 2019 and looks forward to working with pupils across the school, nothing makes her happier than seeing their determination pay off around the school corridors as they achieve new milestones.