Meet one of Dover Court International School’s Special Educational Needs (SEN) teachers, Morven Mackintosh, a dedicated Pathway 3 Secondary teacher who is passionate about understanding the different neurodiverse needs of her students. This year marks her fourth year at our diverse and fully inclusive school. She feels very lucky to be supported and surrounded by a great team of knowledgeable and passionate colleagues.
Read more to find out about her career and her passion for both teaching and musical theatre.
Q: Hi Morven, please tell us a bit about your background!
A: I’m from Scotland and trained at Sterling University to be a Geography and Politics Teacher. I taught that for a few years which I really enjoyed. When I was at university, I volunteered at an Additional Support Needs (ASN) school for students with learning support needs and I found that really rewarding, so I always knew that was something I wanted to try someday. When I lived in Scotland, I transitioned into working with students with additional needs.
I've always known that I wanted to work abroad, and I wasn’t that fussy about where. I was looking for a different job and there were not many international schools that support students with additional support needs across the entire world. Dover Court is very special and I'm so lucky to get a job here!
Q: What do you enjoy most about working with children with additional needs?
A: I just love that there are so many different elements to it!
Q: What’s the best part about working at Dover Court?
A: It’s the students! A few days ago I was busy printing resources, and sorting things out when a smiling face appeared at my window, there was another teacher with me and we burst into huge smiles and everyone, including the student, started laughing because they were pulling a face at the window. That start to the day can't be compared to anything else! It brings so much positivity. Our students work so hard and are so lovely to chat with so that gets me out of bed every day.
Q: Tell us what it is like to be teaching in Pathway 3.
A: When I started working at Dover Court 4 years ago, Pathway 3 functioned very much like Primary school; we were class teachers and we taught the students most subjects, such as Maths, English, and Life-skills. We are fortunate to now have four classes in Secondary Pathway 3, and we are able to do a teacher rotation. I teach all four classes English and I see all four classes several times a week, which is really lovely because it means that all the teachers get to know all the students within our department very well. This helps us work collaboratively together because we are all aware of the class dynamics. When we find things that work well in a class, we can share that within our team, and having that wider support team around our students works really well.
Q: Tell us a bit more about how Pathway 3 is structured. How do you work with the wider therapist team to meet the needs of the students?
A: We’re incredibly lucky to have a brilliant team at Dover Court, led by our Lead Therapist, Ms Fatima. The additional support contains many different elements, and several of our students access individual therapy sessions. The teaching team is liaising with the therapist team and we work closely with the parents to find out what is best for their child. If we see students that we think will benefit from physiotherapy, occupational, or speech and language therapy, we can put in a referral for them. We look at each child both individually and for our WCT (Whole Class Therapy) sessions.
Each class in Secondary Pathway 3 gets three speech and language therapy sessions a week and one occupational therapy session a week. The teachers and the therapists work out the programme together, for example, the Secondary classes are doing a lot of different work about feelings and emotions at the moment, which is also reflected in the therapy sessions. The holistic view of teaching and learning is very much at centre of all we do.
We use a technique across the school called The Zones of Regulations and the different emotions associated with feelings. It is a great way to teach self-regulation and emotional control. I would consider myself a Neurotypical person and many of our Pathway 3 students are Neurodiverse, so sometimes we see the world differently and this is a great tool.
The Pathway 3 team is working very hard to expand both our own knowledge about Neurodiversity and to share tools with teachers within the other pathways, so we can best support our students, not only within our provision but across the whole school. It's not about changing our students to get them to fit into a set frame, but it's about how we can remove barriers for them to be able to access their learning.
We have a really safe space here, so if our students need time to regulate their emotions, we have fidget toys and mini trampolines that they can jump on. If they are struggling to concentrate, they can go for a walk for 3 mins with their timer. It really helps that our learning spaces are so nice, safe, and comfy, with bean bags and blankets. Within our new purpose-built building, we also have a sensory room and two movement rooms that everyone can use throughout the day.
Q: Now something completely different! We know that you are passionate about musical theatre. What sparked your passion for that?
A: All members of my family are huge fans of musicals. When my dad was younger, he performed in a lot of amateur musicals and put on theater shows. He still loves performing and is currently in rehearsals for a show called ‘Me and My Girl’. He has always performed in shows and I have always been lucky to see my dad perform in our closest city, Aberdeen.
I’ve also been privileged and lucky to travel to London and New York to see lots of different shows on Broadway. It brings me so much joy! When I walk to Dover Court every day I listen to songs from different musicals. It gets me into a great mood and now that the restrictions have eased, live musicals are finally starting to come back! I’ve already gotten my tickets for Frozen and have been to a few local musical productions here.
Q: We know that you are able to combine your passion for teaching and your passion for theatre at Dover Court. Could you share with us how the preparations for the Secondary Alice in Wonderland school production are going?
A: I love being part of the work behind school productions. We have several students within our Pathway 3 who are involved. They rehearse after school with the whole cast to prepare for the performances in March. It’s fantastic to see students from all Pathways at DCIS having the opportunity to collaborate and work together. Our students enjoy both performing, watching, and developing their acting skills by observing others. It is a fun atmosphere, and the staff and students are all very supportive of each other. The DCIS community is in for a treat in March!
Q: What’s your favourite Dover Court memory?
A: In my first year here, Bella, our Head of Expressive Arts set up a little Christmas show that some of the Secondary staff took part in it. I remember walking on stage to say my two lines and my students were so excited to see me do that. Seeing me in a slightly different setting, being a bit silly, was a big treat for them. Their joy is such a nice memory. Our students are always so supportive of both each other and of all staff!
Q: Can you share a fun fact about DCIS with us?
A: I love hornbills and we do get some visits from them around the campus! One day, there was a hornbill about one metre away from our classroom window, near the tree in the Primary canteen and it stayed there for about an hour, clearly appreciating the attention!
