OLIVER JOHN VELLA, DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS, KING’S COLLEGE SCHOOL, WIMBLEDON, UK
Introduction
During unstructured moments in the school day, mainly at break and lunch, my classroom naturally becomes a calm, familiar refuge for several neurodivergent students. It wasn’t planned that way. It began as a small weekly chess club, with one or two students wandering in at break to play a quick game. Over time, more students joined, and what started as a casual chess session quietly evolved into a daily decompression space. I realised that they weren’t just ‘hanging out’; they were settling themselves. One student often comes in after a stressful, busy morning lesson, sits for a few minutes without saying much, and then heads off to his next class, visibly calmer. This wasn’t a space that I deliberately created as an intervention or labelled a ‘safe space’. It grew out of cordiality, predictable communication and simply being available. Gradually, its purpose became cle
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