News & Stars and loads of sport and outdoor activities from John & the PHS Team Friday 3rd May

Hi everyone

Thanks for all your kind messages in the past few weeks, and I hope you are all good. We’re good here. It feels like spring is finally in the air and we can enjoy ourselves a bit more outside on trips and outings

The calendar has had quite a few additions, so please do check on that for events and things that are coming up

We’re very grateful to the FoPHS for all of their support and input, and to all of you who voted for a parent governor – I’ll let you know the results when they all get sorted

Otherwise, have a lovely long weekend, and fingers crossed for great weather! We’ll see you on Tuesday and crack on with the rest of this lovely Summer 1 half term. Thanks again for all the support, especially with some difficult things, and very best wishes to you all

J

😊 from John & the PHS Team 😊

School Photos

This is from Beth and Hannah and they were really lovely last year

It’s that time of year again – school photos!  Building on the success of last year’s fundraiser for FoPHS, we are offering this lovely event again.  Photographs will be taken and edited by one of our talented teachers, Beth Edwards

Based on feedback from last year, we are now streamlining the process, and will be taking the photos on set days, so children can look their very best! A letter has been sent/emailed home today with more information. Please follow the link on the letter to sign your child up.  The deadline is 26^th April, and we will not be able to accept responses after that. 

Dates for photographs are

13^th May – Engagement

20^th May – Accreditation

Any queries, please contact Eileen Robinson on e.robinson@percyhedley.org.uk

First, let’s hear from our three Super Steering Groups which deliver our Key Drivers through the curriculum

Literacy

Let’s hear from Becky, our Literacy Lead! It’s always good stuff!

Letters have gone home this week with a log on to Pickatale, an e-book library which aims to develop a Love of Reading. 

As you may remember, we are trialling this platform and are providing feedback to the developers as to how to ensure it is as accessible as possible for our students – and we’d love to include parent feedback too! 

Please do take time to have a look at the books available, many books have additional features such as animation in the illustrations or options for the text to be read out loud. You can search by topic or title, and have the option of filtering based on reading level – please get in touch with your class team if you would like any support with choosing the right level for your child.

You can access Pickatale by downloading the app or via a web browser, and here is a short (2 minute) overview video for parents which you may find helpful.

For any students accessing ELS (our phonics programme), access to Pickatale will be in addition to their phonics book. Phonics books (whether online or physical) are matched to the sounds the student is learning, whereas Pickatale books can be chosen by reading ability but can also be free choice by the student.

Personal Development

One of the best things about our school! Let’s hear from Jo and the team! This week’s focus is Wellbeing. Sounds good!

Wellbeing

2BE have been enjoying their weekly trips out and about this term as part of their theme ‘Outdoors’. So far we have been to Jesmond Dene and The Rising Sun Country Park.

Being outdoors, and playing outdoors not only provides constant learning opportunities but also has marked benefits on wellbeing. Evidence shows that experiencing nature contributes to mental health, stimulates creativity and imagination, improves behaviour and promotes social wellbeing. Being outdoors in a natural environment can also aid recovery from stress or trauma and help restore the ability to focus and maintain attention. Playing outdoors, in natural places, supports and develops a child’s sense of awareness. They recognise their independence and connection with nature and the outside world. Generally children are presented with more spontaneous and riskier challenges, when learning outdoors which contributes to their holistic development. Several studies suggest that time spent in nature when young can have lasting impact on children’s attitudes to the natural environment throughout their lives. As you can see in our photos, we LOVE being outdoors: we are happy and engaged and learning about the world around us. Charlie and Masie are looking for interesting natural items, Nat enjoyed the sun on his face, JoJo loved exploring under the bridge whilst listening to the river, Danny loved playing in the den, Masie is so happy to be playing outside!

International Dance Day

At various points on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday in 4AJ watched videos on:

They also coloured in a mindfulness dance poster, learnt about Hand-Jive and tried doing it along with ‘Willie & The Hand Jive’ by Johnny Otis and completed a word search about dance.

Physical Development

And of course everything that is fabulous in the world of Physical Development too! Steph’s going to update us

You may recall in the Autumn term we gave an insight into the water based approaches we use in school to support our children with their swimming and therapeutic needs. The physio team have some exciting training coming up to ensure they’re all upskilled in the Halliwick approach, and this will be taking place in school from the 14^th to the 17^th of May. Unfortunately this means that the pool will not be accessible to our children between these dates, but please be reassured that your child will continue to have access to the appropriate postural changes and movements required to support their needs. We are confident that as a result of the training, it will have a positive impact on not only the children’s physical development, but also upon their health and wellbeing whilst accessing hydrotherapy. We are always striving to improve our services and ensure the highest quality of care within our therapeutic practice, so we thank you for your understanding with this short term interruption

Here’s a reminder of how hydrotherapy, swimming and the Halliwick approach can support our children’s physical development:

Hydrotherapy

Some students at PHS access swimming and / or Hydrotherapy as part of their physically active curriculum, and this is essential in promoting a healthy lifestyle. We are very lucky to have a well-equipped hydrotherapy pool onsite and many of our students who have hydrotherapy in their EHC plan can access this on a regular basis to support their physical development.  Other students access the local swimming pool at the Lakeside Centre, and this is led by external swimming instructors.

What is Hydrotherapy?

Hydrotherapy is a type of physical therapy which utilises water to create a therapeutic environment, and at PHS it is delivered by physiotherapists. Some of our students have neurological conditions that affect their movement and coordination and present with physical difficulties such as tight muscles, joint pain, reduced strength and altered posture. The warmth of the water promotes relaxation and alleviates pain whilst facilitating freedom of movement within a sensory rich environment. It can also be used as part of a rehabilitation programme following an injury or surgery.

Halliwick Swimming:

PHS also utilise the Halliwick approach where appropriate to support skill development in the water. We follow a 10-point programme which include aspects such as submersion, gliding, buoyancy and rotation to promote swimming techniques. Through this, students can improve their breathing, balance, movement, and independence whilst also becoming more confident and safer within the water.

Physiotherapy Intervention:

Some Physiotherapists use the Halliwick structure through water confidence games, activities, stories and music. Attention to areas such as movement, strength, respiratory capacity and oral control are incorporated into the sessions, with the emphasis on enjoyment and use of the group process to motivate and promote achievement. Social skills, communication, learning ability, psychological wellbeing and self-esteem are also developed through Halliwick sessions, especially when working in groups.

Not all students will use the Halliwick method. Some will be working on a sensory -based programme to aid relaxation and promote active movement. They will experience moving in water with assistance of an adult and be working on developing control and balance of their body in the water. Developing these skills in water will promote better control on land and enhance ability to access the curriculum.

What are the benefits?

• The buoyancy of the water reduces the effects of gravity, allowing students to exercise with more freedom in water than they can on land.
• The buoyancy of water creates an environment that reduces the level of impact on students’ joints, providing a gentle environment for those with unstable joints to exercise safely
• The warmth of the water promotes relaxation, improves movement and reduces pain.
• Water can also be used as a resistive medium for improving strength and body control.
• Breathing control can be developed by blowing bubbles, submersion and through higher intensity exercise.
• It promotes water awareness and safety
• Great psychological value! Improved independence promotes a sense of achievement, enhancing self-esteem. Learning to swim also gives children the skills to participate in sport, play with their friends and family, and provides a means of keeping fit.

Lesson of the Week – John Muir Award with Natalie

Let’s hear from Nat about this lovely project in a lovely area which I particularly like because it’s near where I live! Cheers Nat and the team! Did you find Shrek’s hut?

This week, our John Muir students went back to Plessey Woods to continue their work in the park. Francis helped Lee refresh some of the signs in the park and did a fantastic job, making sure to paint super neat! Now the visitors can see where they’re going! The rest of our students helped clear out the drains using spades so that the water can run properly and there will be less flooding. We even had time to go and look for Shrek’s summer hut and had some refreshments at the café!

Lots of fab students doing fab things there. If you’d like to know more about the John Muir Award, which is great, you can read about it here

Lesson of the Week – Outdoor Learning!

Let’s hear from Hannah T!

New Paths

After the wettest winter since Forest School/Outdoor learning began back at Percy Hedley School, our paths have taken a battering over the best couple of months. This has caused some areas to become inaccessible to some of our learners and for others it has caused some very muddy shoes and clothing. This week we had a lovely volunteer group in from Barret Homes come in and place some black rubber matting and relay some woodchips (Financed by our lovely FoPHS) over the damaged path and over some of the higher use areas around the site. Please have a look at the before and after pictures and I’m sure you’ll agree that the area is looking now tidier and hopefully once the woodchips have bedded down slightly this will make the area accessible to all again!

Drama Lesson of the Week – Goldilocks and the Three Bears from Chris

1HW were doing drama on a Thursday – Goldilocks and the Three Bears. This is a little look at what we are doing – let’s see some of the lovely pictures they tool

What fantastic pictures – I feel like I was there and can hear the whole story!

Music Session of the Week! Logan!

Logan really enjoyed making this drum then using both hands spent the rest of the lesson playing his drums

Roundabout Session of the Week!

Kingfishers (Hannah F’s Class) enjoyed a go on the roundabout yesterday.  It was lots of fun to go round and round, feeling the wind in our hair!  Our theme this half term is ‘Parks and Gardens’.  We have already been out and about to some of our local parks, and hope to get further afield when the weather improves.  After our roundabout adventures, we enjoyed a sensory story about what we might see, hear, touch and feel on a day in the park.  We had lots of fun ‘whooshing’ when we pretended to be on the swings, and liked feeling the buzz of bees by activating vibrating cushions with our switches.

Excellent PE Event of the Week – from Richard!

PE is really cooking with gas!

Just want to mention how proud again Richard and Nathan and all of us are with all the students we have going out participating in the sports event taking place as part of Percy Hedley Team.

This week was the start of the Boys Football after a few months’ break – but what a comeback! They showed great team spirit, communicating and working together to show how much they have progressed. Well done in particular to Josh and Owen; showing good sportsmanship to the opposite teams who were there.  

Two of our primary class teams took part in the multi-skills Panathalon event, competing against other schools at Percy Hedley. Well done to all those who took part and were very proud of their medals and certificates! Next week we will see how the older students got on at their event

Well done everyone – great stuff!

Finally…it’s that time again – our Third Prom! Next Week I’ll show the very cool posters!

This is from Rebecca!

This years Prom invitations should now be with all of our Upper School Students.  Please help us to know the numbers for the Prom by sending in your RSVP to the details on the invitations.  It is helpful if you let us know how many people will be staying, if any, with the pupils, to make sure we have enough chairs etc.

It is going to be an amazing night, and judging from the buzz that has already started in school, our students are excited about it!

Prom will be on the evening of the 12^th July, 6pm till 8pm

There’s an amazing invite that looks fantastic – I’ll start putting it in from next week!

…..from John & the Team here at PHS

Fantastic sporting achievements – well done one and all!