Additional information
| Kit type | standard kit, plus My School Kit stickers |
|---|
I Know What To Expect At School Kit
£22.00 – £25.00
Tom worried about starting school.
He worried about what was going to be happening during the school day and how he was meant to behave.
A worried brain is a distracted brain. We were concerned that his stress and anxiety at school would affect his concentration and ability to learn and potentially lead to challenging behaviour.
We already used a visual schedule at home to help him know what to expect during his day resulting in less anxiety and improvements in his behaviour. We therefore made Tom a visual timetable for school.
At school, Tom carried his individual timetable around with him so he could see at a glance, the structure of his day; his lessons, break time, lunch time and more importantly, when home time was. This helped him get through the school day without him having to constantly ask what he was supposed to be doing next.
Knowing what was happening during the school day lead to a calmer and happier Tom as he was less stressed and better able to concentrate and learn. Being able to manage his own timetable boosted his self esteem as he was proud of himself for being independent.
With the At School kit, you can create portable and discrete personalised visual timetables, prompts and reminders to help your child understand what’s happening at school.
For busy teachers and support staff this kit gives them the tools they need to develop their pupil’s memory, organisation and independence skills so like Tom, all children can say, ‘I know what to expect at school’ too!
Key benefits
- Creating structure and routine results in predictability which reduces a child’s anxiety and helps concentration
- Showing a child what they need to do helps to reinforce verbal instructions
- Encouraging independent working and learning by giving a child responsibility for manging their own timetable
- Supporting transitions and encouraging the completion of less-preferred activities using simple First/Then/Next prompts helps reduce a child’s negative behaviour
- Communicating behavioural and social expectations helps a child understand and remember how to behave in the classroom
- Quickly and easily adapt a child’s timetable when something different is going to happen
- Time saving for busy educational staff as everything is ready with no printing, laminating or Velcro required!
- Strong and durable water-resistant stickers means a child’s timetable can easily be kept clean
Kit contents
- 6 TomTag Button Holders
- 40 blank buttons to give you the flexibility to create multiple timetables and prompts
- 1 attachment loop to fasten TomTag to a hook, belt or bag
- Easy to follow instruction sheet to assemble your TomTag
- School Timetable sticker pack which contains
84 different symbol stickers (2 copies of each) for
-
- Lesson time:literacy, numeracy, geography, history, science, French, German, Spanish, PSHE, drama, music, art, RE, spellings, writing, reading, ICT, DT/craft, sewing, cooking
- In the classroom:register, brain gym, mental maths, assembly, story, lesson, role-play, computer time, story time, work time, show & tell, circle time, group work, test, singing
- Around school:swimming, gymnastics, dance, sport, football, netball, PE, snack time, lunchtime, packed lunch, play time, buddy time, forest school, library, play date, school club, field trip, concert, bus, home
- Rules & behaviour: listen, ask, stop, help, good work, put hand up, be quiet, sit down, cross legs, line up, put away, reward star, now, next, first, then
- 12 blank round stickers for personalisation
- 8 blank rectangular stickers to label your TomTag Button Holders
Discounted offer
- add the My school kit sticker pack for £3 ( use the drop down box below to select this option)
Click the gallery to view the symbol images
Dimensions
- TomTag Button Holder:18cm x 3cm
- Buttons: 2cm diameter
The TomTag I Know What To Expect Range
The TomTag I Know What To Expect range was originally designed by a mum to help her autistic son, Tom. With this range, it’s quick and easy to make personalised visual timelines, schedules and reminders which can be used anywhere in the home, at school, in care settings or when out and about.
TomTag visual supports can provide structure and guidance to the day or week ahead, helping to lessen anxieties and mange expectations about what is going to happen. This can lead to improvements in behaviour, communication and encourage personal responsibility and independence.
These are truly versatile visual supports. Use the tags singly to highlight sections of the day or particular tasks. Work towards using just one tag to cover a whole routine or time of day.
TomTag is easy to clean and keep hygienic. TomTag’s plastic button holders and blank buttons can be washed in warm water and a little hand soap should they become dirty and dried with a soft cloth. The stickers are highly water resistant. Simply wipe over with a wet cloth or anti-bacterial wipe.
How does TomTag work?
TomTag uses symbols to show a series of separate tasks or steps involved in a task that are part of a routine, a sequence of events in a timeline or they can be used as a list to teach a new skill by breaking down a single activity into smaller steps.
Many children with autism and other additional needs have strong visual skills. They are more likely to remember and understand what they have seen rather than what they hear. Using a visual support like TomTag to present information visually and in a step-by-step manner allows visual thinkers and learners to take in information at their own pace. Visuals can also act as a reminder when children forget what’s been said or become distracted, TomTag helps to bring their attention back to the task or current situation.
Our customers say
“A great idea! The main benefit being the time saving aspect. Everything is ready and no faffy laminating and Velcro! Really impressed.”
“They allow my 7 year old to create, then to carry his visual timetable with him at school. It is the only visual he will use for school.”
“I’m able to wear the tag on my lanyard which is easily accessible in class and outside whilst enabling my children with autism to comprehend what they need to do.”
“TomTag saves busy education staff time, while also providing a practical yet likely desirable tool towards independence for children.” Alison Wilcox, Head of Education, NASEN
“A visual timetable of the day ahead tells me what to expect and in what order it will happen. When my day is predictable, it stops me getting anxious and I can concentrate better on my work. I can add or replace the symbols in my TomTag schedule really quickly and easily which helps me to know when there will be changes to my normal routine.”
“Tomtag officially recognised as a supporting strategy in an official Ed Pych report today”
WARNING: Please note – TomTag is not a toy. Not suitable for children under 36 months due to small parts.
