Places features

A time capsule was buried in Old Hall School’s sensory garden in a ceremony attended by members of the local community, parents, teachers, and the Mayor of Walsall, Councillor Tom Ansell.

Pupils at the school in Willenhall, who all have severe learning difficulties or profound and multiple learning difficulties, helped to compile CDs and DVDs of their happiest times at the school, their interests, hobbies and memories.

A child helps bury the time capsule

These were sealed in a time capsule along with special objects, like cuddly toys, chosen by each of the twelve classes as a symbol for the future. The children took part in the ceremony by helping cover the capsule with soil.

A special occasion

The capsule marks the school’s 33rd anniversary, and its transition to a primary school next year. Several staff, with a combined experience of over 100 years, will therefore be leaving Old Hall, so the ceremony was an opportunity to thank them for their hard work.

Deputy Head John Wiggin

The capsule is designed to tell future generations something about the children’s lives, and what is significant to them. Most importantly, however, the burial ceremony was preceded by a special assembly, in which the children shared with each other their choice of object for the capsule.

The assembly was interpreted in Makaton- a language that uses a combination of graphic symbols, manual signs and gestures to help people with communication difficulties develop language skills, and interact in everyday situations.

Each moment is precious

Verbal interaction is an ability that many of us take for granted, but languages like Makaton play a crucial role in including those who have difficulty responding to their surroundings, and expressing themselves.

Children help bury the time capsule

With the help of carers, teachers, friends and family, the children at Old Hall School lead happy and stimulating lives, and their involvement in the time capsule ceremony will help them remember this. Some of the children have regressive conditions, making each moment of their lives even more precious.

Colourful creatures

The capsule itself is buried in the school’s new sensory garden, which was built with a grant from a local business. As its name suggests, the garden is designed to stimulate all the senses, featuring a range of tactile plants from feathery grasses to glossy, green leaved shrubs, and aromatic herbs like rosemary and lavender.

Grasses in the sensory garden

The garden is dinosaur themed, painted with brightly coloured murals and footprints, and centres around a volcano shaped playground. Funds are currently being raised for dinosaur sculptures and specially adapted swings and roundabouts to cater for the pupils’ wide range of disabilities.  

Deputy Head John Wiggin hopes this event will stick in the children’s minds. When they visit the garden in future, the plaque marking the capsule, with translations in Makaton and Braille, will remind them of the sunny day of the ceremony, the soil they threw onto the capsule, and by extension the happy times recorded inside.