News, Messages & Stars from John & the PHS Team Friday 5th May

Hi everyone,

We’re having a special lunch for the coronation today! I tend to have to post this blog in the mornings so I’ll put some pictures of it up another time. But it is a lovely thing to do, and I’m particularly concerned to make sure that our pupils do what everyone else in the country is doing. Our catering team are great with these sorts of events, and it’s always a lovely atmosphere in the school, and in a “schooly” sense, it’s about celebrating British Values as well

IT ALL LOOKS FABULOUS!

Elsewhere in the blog there are some nice pieces that show some STARS!!!, some lovely lessons & trips and a few pieces of news – there are also four Coffee & Catch-up mornings in May, so it would be great if you could make any one of those – have a check of the dates. Our second prom isn’t far away, and some of the guys have been to the Alan Shearer Centre!

Have another lovely long weekend – two in a row! – and I hope that the weather holds out for you. It’s funny having these short weeks but heyho! All the best and Happy Coronation!

Oh, and get on over to Maria’s online safety blog – some great stuff in there – and Eileen’s family liaison blog too for all of Eileen’s content too. And the Foundation one if you still haven’t had enough! Lots to read!

Cheers!

J

😊 …from John & the PHS Team 😊

LPPA

This is really important so I wanted to put it in again. Some great work here which is going to make things better all round I feel. Please do get in touch with Tracy and the team

Hello from The Leading Parent Partnership Award (LPPA) team

Thank you to everyone who completed the communication questionnaire either online or hard copy.  Here is what you have told us

• You value regular progress updates and communication from all professionals who work with your child
• You have let us know how you would like us to communicate with you
• You find the school & PTA blogs a useful source of information
• You have also given us some great points on how we can further develop the way in which we communicate with you and we will be working on this during this term
• We are also going to provide you with a yearly calendar of events for the new academic year

Thank you in advance for your support.  We will keep you updated of any developments

Tracy and the LPPA team t.smithson@percyhedley.org.uk

Excellent! Thanks to the LPPA Team – this is really important stuff

Also I wanted to thank every single one of you who has responded to our questionnaires about Key Drivers and various questions. The results were really quite overwhelming. An amazing 90% of you fed back. And in all the key areas you gave us very clear feedback on how happy and safe you feel your children are; how you feel complaints are responded to; and if you feel your child is making progress. We have a long way to go, of course, and we have a lot to learn and improve still – I’m pretty sure we always will – but it is very special to have such feedback from so many of you. Thanks again

Attendance

We will be making a few tweaks to our draft policy on the website in the next few days, and I’ll be writing to everyone about termtime holidays soon too

In short, huge thanks for working with us on this – the situation has improved, although we still have work to do in some areas, such as term-time holidays, as I’ll mention in that letter

The most important thing in all of this is that we just try and have our pupils in as much as the can sensibly and appropriately be, and when they are that we do good work with them, and help them to be happy, safe and make progress

Again, thanks for your on-going overwhelming support for what can be a sensitive area, and I’m sure we can continue to work on this going forward.

Reading & Literacy

The fabulous Literacy Squad have been working very hard on all sorts of Reading, and it’s great to see that love of reading being promoted. Impressive stuff! This is from them

The beginning of the Summer Term sees our pathways all across school reading around their new topics and themes

We love to see pupils’ learning being supported by reading all sorts of texts. The Appropriate Accreditation Pathway has kicked off their English lessons by learning about ‘Adventure Stories’, and using these stories to help them with their reading, writing, and communicating. Looking into the lessons, it’s fantastic to see the likes of ‘Cogheart’ (by Peter Bunzi), ‘The Hobbit’ (by J.R.R. Tolkien) and ‘Life of Pi’ (by Yann Martel) being discovered

In the ELTBA Pathway, pupils are thinking about ‘Space Stories’ and the ‘Science Fiction’ genre! Looking at some wonderful stories like ‘The Dinosaur that Pooped a Planet!’ (by Tom Fletcher & Dougie Poynter) and ‘Man on the Moon: A day in the life of Bob’ (by Simon Bartram)

As ever, the Engagement Pathway are doing some amazing work, with each class looking at different topics, depending on what suits them best. The sensory stories linked to the ‘Beach & Holidays’ topic look fantastic

(They even have some wonderful sensory props, where pupils can run their hands across the raised edges of a giant postage stamp and the crown of England, all in preparation for the coronation)

Well done everyone!

The Literacy Squad

We have a great team working on literacy of all kinds, one that will only go from strength to strength, so it’s great to see them doing all they can to promote reading in all its forms. Inspiring!

Trip of the Week – Excellent trip with the Albatrosses!

This is from Lauren

The Albatrosses visited the Alan Shearer Centre as part of their ‘Gardens and Parks’ theme, as we have an amazing accessible outdoor play area. We had so much fun on the roundabout, and walking through the woodland walk. They can’t wait to go back and go on the new accessible swing! We also had the chance to go into their sensory rooms, where we explored music, lights, smells and even had a go on the water bed! It was so much fun!

You just know we have pictures, so take a look at these! And why don’t I get invited to the Alan Shearer centre! Sounds awesome! 😊

Some great faces here – loving the mirrors and the lights too! Good old Alan Shearer! And good old Albatrosses!

Lesson of the Week – Football on walkers!  With the Pufflings!

In free play session this week with the Pufflings, Amelie and Alex spent time in their walkers playing football together. They had lots of fun! 😊

This should be a new sport! That must be the most fun lesson ever!

Another Fab Lesson of the Week! Kingfishers!

Hannah seems to have had a great tie this week – this is from her and her fabulous Kingfishers!

In this historic week, we have been finding out about the Coronation using our senses. We used touch to explore the sensory resources from Living Paintings.  While we touched the pictures, we listened to an audio description which helped us understand more about what is happening this weekend.  We felt King Charles’s face on a stamp, St Edward’s Crown and the different national flowers – daffodils, roses, thistles and shamrocks.  Then we chose some jewels and shiny material to decorate crowns.  We had a mini coronation – very formal! Some of us enjoyed exploring and matching symbols relating to the coronation – crown, king, queen, throne, party and flag

This just sounds like the best, and they took some pictures too

Stars of the Week!

That reflect our School Values!

The ELTBA star of the week goes to …

……Taylor in Blackbirds.  Taylor has shown a great deal of resilience and perseverance with his reading and has not given up, despite it not being his most favourite thing to do – as that is obviously baking!

Well done Taylor!

(By the way everyone, Taylor is an excellent baker too! I have lots of proof of this. Delighted Taylor is STAR of the week!)

KS4 STARS OF THE WEEK!!!!!!!!!

An inspiring and interesting read here!

Resilience

Michael

In his swimming sessions he is able to confidently swim across the pool, using float aids without support. He shows great confidence and fantastic resilience

Callum, Logan and Harrison

For completing their entry level English assessments this week

Respect

Dominic

He has shown fantastic respect this week, working towards his new targets and smashing them

Owen

For being able to handle the changes and challenges of the week confidently

Teamwork

Joseph, Aidan and Francis

For working really hard in their math revision sessions, and supporting each other with their work

Kristian

Has responded really well to feedback with his English work and listened really well. He has produced a fantastic piece of work

POST-16 STARS!!! OF THE WEEK!!!!!

Here they are…….and it’s a quality list full of complete STAAAAAAARS!!!!!!!!!!!

Teamwork

Finny and Harvey

For working so well together researching prices in Wilkinsons

Resilience

Eve

For just getting on with her work and generally being a superstar

Resilience and Respect

George

For being a `Ray of Sunshine` being kind and just getting on with things

Respect

James

For his sunny, polite and respectful attitude to everyone

THERAPY STAR of the Week!

Here is a lovely thing about Finlay trialling the innowalk

Here is Finlay participating in a trial of the innowalk, he walked 600m in 20 minutes and loved it. He described it as ‘awesome’ and responded with ‘wow’ when he was told how far he had walked

Finlay, what a STAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Makaton Signs of the Week

Well, it just had to be the coronation, didn’t it?

Signs for the Coronation: King, crown, celebrate, party, King Charles III

There is no specific sign for ‘coronation’ but Makaton have suggested combining the signs ‘give’ and ‘crown’ to support the spoken word