Family Information and FOPHS News Friday 9th June 2023

Welcome back: I hope everyone had as good a half term as possible given the glorious weather. Did you do anything special, especially anything that you’d like to share with other families? If so, please share on our Facebook page. The long summer holidays are fast approaching, and I have parents/carers asking for suggestions of places which are suitable and accessible for days out. Again, share the information with me or on the Facebook page.

My office is situated next to the dining hall, a real multipurpose area where assemblies, training, coffee events take place as well as student meal breaks. I often refer to the True Colours events, which currently brighten my Thursdays. This week I witnessed an engagement staff meeting, where they were preparing for an assembly. The assembly itself was truly moving, seeing students so interactive. Photo hints of content below

A couple of dates for your diaries:

Enterprise Summer fayre. Thursday 13^th July 14:00-15:00

Our Key Stage 4 and Post 16 students are holding an enterprise fair to raise funds to support their Prom. Key Stage 3, 4 and Post 16 parents/carers are invited to attend. They would welcome donations of gift sets for a Tombola, but mostly your support of the fayre.

FoPHS

Next meeting will be on Tuesday 20^th June 9.30-11.00. Details under the FoPHS section.

Social Coffee Morning.

On Wednesday 5^th July I will host the final social coffee morning of this academic year. This will be from 9.30-11.00 and you are welcome to arrive and depart as suits you between these times. At the end, I would love to show you the MOVE Fest which is taking place over 2 days. This is an opportunity to see it in action and last year when we did the same parents/carers really enjoyed it.

Autumn Fayre

Saturday September 30^th 10-14.00.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to those of you who have made contact and offered your support. Do send back the reply slips on the letter you received this week with the pretty commemorative bookmarks and I will be in contact nearer the time. We will delightedly accept donations of chocolate, bottles (alcoholic/non-alcoholic), gift sets, new toys and raffle prizes for out tombola and raffle stalls.

E-Safety.

This week’s E-Safety blog is on Cyberbullying and can be found at the end of the information section. It is dated 08/06/2023. E-Safety information is on the school website under the heading “Parents and Carers” and subheading “E-Safety. Maria does excellent work keeping our information current and responsive to student/family needs.

Information:

Home to School Transport.

Following discussions with a parent this week, regarding Post 16 transport I wanted to pass on the following link. SENTAS is Special Educational Needs Transport Advocacy Service.

Have a look at the “Transport Myths” section.

Consultation for parents/carers and young people with complex needs and challenging behaviour

We have been approached by Children Northeast who have been asked by NHS practitioners to conduct a consultation with children, young people and families of children with complex needs, who have behaviours which are challenging. The consultation will seek to explore the challenges families face in supporting these young people.

They want this done by July, so are seeking parents/carers and young people.

Pease see attached information:

Personal Assistant (P.A) Training

Angie Stewart from Disability North offers free online training for anyone interested in taking on PA roles. This may be of interest to families seeking to employ a PA. She wrote:

“I am pleased to be able to invite you to two PA Training sessions this month. The first on 22^nd June at Newcastle College and the second on 29^th June at Disability North.

Previous events have sold out fast, so grab a place if you can. The links to sign up are below: –

Angie Stewart (She / Her)

Personalisation and Inclusion Trainer

Disability North The Dene Centre, Castle Farm Road, Gosforth, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE3 1PH

Office:  0191 2840480 (I am currently working remotely)”

Junior/Mini Great North Run and Mini50

For the first time ever, we have our own places up for grabs for the Mini and Junior GNR. 

When: Saturday 9th September 2023 

Where: Newcastle Quayside 

How Much: Our entry is only £20, with a fundraising target of £100 

Mini’s aged 3-8 take on a daring 1.2km dash, while Juniors aged 9-16 tackle a 4km supercharged sprint. There’s nothing quite like the amazing sight of thousands of happy, smiling, active kids taking part for fun, for charity, for a challenge and earning a very special medal for their efforts.  

Or anyone who can’t compete those distances can sign up to the Mini 50, which is a 50m short course to the finish line. To book a Mini 50 space and fundraise for Percy Hedley, email events@percyhedley.org.uk. 

Activities:

Tyneside Cinema.

Relaxed screenings are back. Here’s some more information from them:

All screenings will feature:

• Tickets priced at £6, with Companions going free.
• A mixture of new release films and highlights from our classic film seasons, e.g., our screening on 4 June of Fantastic Mr. Fox. Films will be aimed at a range of ages.
• Doors opening at 11am, with the film starting at 11.30am as advertised.
• A short introduction from our friendly team, who will welcome everyone and let them know what to expect.
• There will be no advertisements or trailers.
• During the film, lights will be lowered slightly, and sound will play at a slightly lower level.
• Guests are free to move around during the film, and to make use of the breakout spaces we will have available.
• Wherever possible, screenings will feature descriptive subtitles.
• After booking a ticket, we will email a Social Story document to every booker to outline what to expect at the screening, including information about the film, our building, and timings of the screening.
• Screenings will always take place in the same screen (in the Roxy, on the third floor of the cinema), on the first Sunday of each month.

Our next two relaxed screenings are:

Indiana Jones & The Dial of Destiny (12A)
2 Jul, 11:30am

Barbie (TBC)
6 Aug, 11:30am

I do hope this information is of interest, and if you have any thoughts or questions do let me know. We would enormously appreciate any advice on who else we might reach out to about these screenings, and if you might be interested in facilitating a group visit to the cinema for one of these screenings do let me know. As I say, we could potentially offer some free tickets to our first screening if there was some interest here.

For more detail contact details are below:

Smile Through Sport:

We are a North East based disability sport charity

SMILE Through Sport was founded by Paralympian Stephen Miller MBE to create increased awareness, opportunity and enjoyment in disability sport throughout the North East of England.

We provide a range of services for organisations, individuals and families.

Please email us at info@smilethroughsport.com

Smile Through Sport is a registered charity existing to benefit the North East community.

Our primary objectives are:-

• To promote the health of disabled people
• Create opportunities for disabled people to participate in sport and physical activity
• To support all providers of sport and physical activity to include disabled people

Just to add, for any families new to PHS, Stephen Miller MBE is a former Percy Hedley School Student. I often share their information and found this one below on adapted cycling.

You can find full information on their activities on the website:

Please note that all children attending Smile through Sport events must be accompanied; they do not provide individual support. I’ve been in contact with Jenni Wade-Ruddin, operations manager and below is what is currently on offer. The website will be updated soon as there are other plans:

• Monday 3.45pm-5pm – Boccia Session at Percy Hedley (poster below)
• Monday 4.30pm-5.30pm – Adapted Cycling Session at Richardson Dees Park, Wallsend, NE28 8RH (booking is necessary for this session via the following link – Adapted Cycling Registration Form (office.com) (further detail below)
• Wednesday 5.30pm-6.30pm – Sports and Activities Session at Nelson Village, Cramlington, NE23 1HG
• Thursday 6pm-7pm – Sports and Activities Session at Brockwell Centre, Pelton Fell, DH2 2NH

Adapted Cycle sessions

What a lovely evening for a cycle!! Lots of smiles and laps in the sun at the adapted cycling session.

Join us and Active North Tyneside weekly at Richardson Dees Park on a

Monday: 4.30–5.30pm

Thursday: 2–3pm

To register for these sessions please use the online booking form below

Boccia.

As this club is held here on a Monday after school, I thought I would share the poster. They could really do with some more members.

Community Boccia Day.

Sunday 16th July 10-2pm, Tees Valley Tigers Boccia Club are holding a community day here at Queen’s. The day will consist of learning more about the sport Boccia, fun games, a chance to see some of the Boccia performance athletes in action and much moreee….

This event is fully inclusive and we welcome people of all ages and abilities to join in on the fun. Please feel free to contact Peri on peri.anderson@durham.ac.uk for more information.

Don’t forget our Queen’s Community Boccia session starts again Thursday 15th June 1-2pm with coach Amy!

Beach Access North East: BANE.

As the warmer weather is finally here, I thought I would share this information. Beach accessible wheelchairs are available to hire free of charge.

BANE promotes social inclusion, independence and choice for disabled & elderly people across the North East of England.

We provide FREE loan of specialised equipment at beaches across our region.

We currently operate at several beaches throughout the North East, with more new beaches coming soon. Check out our Locations pages for the latest list.

Holidays!

A parent asked about accessible holidays so here are a few links. With thanks to a parent who linked a couple on our Facebook page. If other parents/carers or staff know of others please let me know and I can add more next week.

Accessible Holidays and Day Trips

A closed facebook group. You will need to answer questions before joining

As the last group name suggests, this group is specific to those on the Autistic Spectrum

FoPHS News:

You should have or will receive a memento for each student commemorating the Coronation of King Charles. As it is also the 70^th anniversary of Percy Hedley Foundation, we added a nod to it too. We hope you like it.

The committee is currently working to update information relating to our group. We look forward to the MOVE Fest, due to take place over 2 days in July. On one of those days, Wednesday 5^th July you can join us after a social coffee morning to see it. The committee is unanimously proud of our links with and support of these events, held most half terms.

We are looking forward to the Autumn Fayre and would greatly appreciate help from anyone willing and able to do so. Please get in touch.

Our next meeting will be on Tuesday 20^th June from 9.30-11.00. Join in person or online via the link below:

Facebook page:

This is a closed group for family and friends of Percy Hedley School, where you can share news and updates about school life. It is not for external professionals who may be working with families. To join, you need to answer the question stating your link with school.

Please note: this group is for sharing news and updates about school life and is not intended to discuss any issues around individual students, and as such all comments are moderated. If you have a particular issue or concern, please contact school directly on 0191 216 1811.

Did you know that this week is National Carers week, acknowledging the huge contribution unpaid carers make to society? The focus is on recognising and supporting carers in the community. It’s hard, isn’t it and as a carer myself I know just how much of a roller coaster life can be. I thought, instead of an inspirational quote I would, instead share and Irish proverb. It resonated as I know we rarely get both.

“A good laugh and a long sleep are the two best cures for anything.”

– Irish proverb

My contact details are below. Have a good weekend; good weather is ALWAYS a bonus.

Contact details

Eileen Robinson: Family Liaison Officer

Email: e.robinson@percyhedley.org.uk

Telephone: 0191 2161811 ext. 3260.