News, Messages & Stars from John & the PHS Team! Friday 7th July
Percy Hedley School whole school blog on Friday 7th July 2023.
Hi all, Happy Friday!
Well, there’s been a lot happening this week! Lots of fabulous trips, lots of preparation for next year, and lots of lovely events! First there was MOVE Fest on Wednesday and Thursday, which was brilliant, and then there was our third “This Is Me” festival – a marvellous occasion for expression, equality and creativity! There was also a residential Duke of Edinburgh trip where they slept over on the school site! Great effort from the students and staff and lots of good things happening there too.
I’ll have some more information on those lovely things next week, but I really do think that most of the pupils have had a lovely time this week with these things, their trips out and all the things that have been happening. It’s been a tiring but lovely week
Only two weeks to go of the term, and there are some things to do before it ends. Some information is coming out around Class Lists, and other arrangements for next year
Otherwise have a lovely weekend doing whatever you want to and can! Take care! J😊
😊 from John & the PHS Team 😊
Herons Garden Area
Christian and the Herons wanted to show us an update on their garden area, so here it is. Nice one you guys!
Italian Day in the Kitchen!
Lovely Italian food in the kitchen on one of the special menu days. The next one was American food!
Trip of the Week – Albatross in Blyth!
The fab Albatrosses went to Blyth this week – here’s Lauren to talk about it!
The Albatross’ went to Blyth beach for their Friday trip, to experience the sea and sand! We used the beach accessible wheelchairs (which are free to use with a membership!) and were able to get all the way down to the sea. Amelia, David and Louis all decided the sea was too cold so enjoyed some time on the sand, whereas Joseph thought the sea was brilliant and loved the waves splashing against his chair! We then all played with a beach ball before visiting the café for our lunch, and a ice cream treat!
Another lovely trip!
And now Hannah is going us a little report on her class’ trip! You’ve got to love the summer with these lovely trips out! Have a read and then look at the nice pictures they took!
My class had a fabulous time at the seaside! The students had so much fun exploring the sand and feeling it on their feet. Some of the children chose to splash in the water using symbol boards and were able to tell staff how they felt about being at the seaside. We had lunch, then enjoyed spending time at the amusements listening to the sound of the machines, looking at the bright lights and collecting tickets to get a prize!
And yet another really good trip out! RE
Claire was doing some work on RE and multicultural Britain. Let’s hear what happened and see some of the pictures again
This week 4Cha visited Gurdwara sri guru singh sabha as part of their work on living in a multicultural Britain. We had to cover our heads and remove our shoes as a sign of respect. We want to say a big thank you to the people in the Gurdwara who explained all about the Sikhi religion and their special place of worship
After we had finished our tour we went to the langar (communal kitchen) and shared a meal. Aaron thought the food was amazing. To say thank you for our food the students helped wash the dishes. This was an amazing visit and as Faith said “we found out we are all different but we are all the same”
MOVE Fest
MOVE Fest was amazing! And we’ll have some more stuff about it next week! But in the meantime have a look at what Rock Ptarmigans have done…..
Rock Ptarmigans enjoyed their turn on the activities offered as part of MOVE Fest. Here is some remarks about it from the students:
Logan said, “It was entertaining and I enjoyed the time out of the classroom.”
Rosie stated, “There were lots of fun activities.”
Dylan commented, “It helped us get some extra steps for the day.”
Check out the new FoPHS logo!!!!!
The Friends are always looking for volunteers for events! If you can offer any support, please contact Eileen at e.robinson@percyhedley.org.uk
Go FoPHS!
And here is more from Hannah on the FoPHS
We are excited to be moving forward with our school photographs and have had an overwhelming response – thank you! Photographs will be taken over the course of next week and order form proofs sent out as soon as possible. If you like the photographs, please return the form with the information required and your chosen donation (Pay as You Feel) to Friends of Percy Hedley School (FoPHS) which will be used to fund enrichment activities and resources for our students. We aim to get the photos to you as soon as possible, and certainly before the end of term, via email. Please be patient with us, as this is a new initiative, and we are learning as we go! For those who have already sent a donation, thank you so much for your generosity. It is very much appreciated, and we will be able to fund some fantastic events from the proceeds
There are some absolutely beautiful photos up in school at the moment, really classy black and white ones taken by Beth and chosen and put up by some of the team. Have a look at them next time you’re in. Cheers on this everyone, and definitely – Go FoPHS!
New FoPHS Logo
Check out the new FoPHS logo!!!!! The Friends are always looking for volunteers for events! If you can offer any support, please contact Eileen at e.robinson@percyhedley.org.uk
LPPA - Leading Parent Partnership Award (LPPA)
Contact t.smithson@percyhedley.org.uk and the Team for anything about this – it’s good!
Attendance
Thanks to everyone for all the support and feedback on the Attendance Policy. This is on the website, and just states what I’ve been saying in the blog for months now, just in a bit more detail. The simple fact is that we want to have the pupils in the school as much as is sensibly possible so that we can do as much good work with them as we possibly can. Thanks for working with us on this. Here again is the letter I sent out a while ago
Requests for leave of absence during term time
As you may be aware, amendments to The Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006 make it clear that Headteachers may not grant any leave of absence during term time unless there are exceptional circumstances, and that Headteachers should determine the number of days a child can be away from school if the leave is granted. Some circumstances are of course exceptional, and we are happy to support these in whichever way we can.
Thank you for working with us on this matter; the attendance situation at our school has slightly improved but we need to continue to try and address some areas of concern moving forwards.
We are currently receiving a significant number of holiday requests that do not fit the definition of exceptional circumstances; these will continue to be unauthorised going forward, as they have been recently. However, despite the fact that these requests not being authorised, we are still seeing a significant number of pupils being taken out of school.
Exceptional circumstances are, for example, weddings, family graduations, significant one-off events, bereavements, religious observances, some forces leave, respite on occasions, or unexpected family crises – for just a day or two. Leave is at the Headteacher’s discretion.
We want our students to maximise the time that they are in school to best prepare them for their next steps and adulthood. We also have a duty to support the placements of students in school in relation to our agreements with local authorities who support their places here. We know that pupils make more progress when they are in school and it is therefore important that they attend whenever they possibly can.
The government document, ‘Working Together to Improve School Attendance’, to which our policy refers, has been in place since September 2022. This guidance is very clear about persistent and severe absence, and the routes available to schools to address concerns, including legal intervention.
Because of this I’m letting you know that from September 2023 we will seriously consider using more means available to us than we are using now for unauthorised holidays in term time. Up until now, in conjunction with the local authority, we have mainly been using supportive methods. However, if the situation persists then we will consider, in certain cases everything, up to and including fines and further legal action, as per the national guidance.
I appreciate this letter may cause concern amongst some of you and may require you to reconsider plans moving forward. We have tried to be sensitive to the needs of the families of our students and have taken a gradual approach to this issue. I have referred to it many times and written about it here in the school blog.
We are committed to improving attendance to ensure that more of our students make the best possible progress. As I said at the start, thank you for the support of an overwhelming number of you – it means a great deal – and I do appreciate how difficult this issue is for some. I hope we can continue to work together constructively on this for everyone’s benefit
Engagement Star of the Week – Resilience
Charlie from Pufflings
POST-16 STARS OF THE WEEK
Resilience
Shannon for building the strongest bridge in Steam. Very well done. STAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Teamwork
Eve and Grace HB for raising £56.00 in Chocolate Tombola. What a result. STARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Resilience and Teamwork
The Whole of 6NC for sitting their Maths exams and being so supportive on one another. Wonderful. STARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rising Sun Trip
And this is from Kerry!
The Doves visited the rising sun country park. We had lots of fun exploring the great outdoors. Harry did some great map reading, navigating where we were too go. We collected flowers to make our flower crowns. We saw lots of animals. We had the opportunity to see the birds of pray practicing. Overall it was a fun but tiring morning
Our Second Prom!
We are drawing ever closer to the Prom!
Our second prom, following last year’s inaugural one, will be a combined celebration of our 70th birthday celebrations as well as celebrating our leavers and achievers. It will be a great night, and anyone who attended last year’s Prom will agree how much fun the students had!
Any questions please contact Rebecca at r.fletcher@percyhedley.org.uk
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There is also going to be a Junior Prom! And it’s on the same day as well!
Goodness me, last year’s prom was our first ever and we’re having junior ones as well! The Team at that end of the school are organising this, so this should be one to look out for – sounds great!
Makaton Signs of the week
Pride/ This is Me Festival Signs in order: LGBTQ+, rainbow, flag, this is me, love, kind, family, friends
School Governors
Another chance to see our new Governors’ Poster and those, ahem, gorgeous pictures! And finally….. On a serious note, it is really good to know who the governors are, and we’re very grateful for the time and input that they give. Go on, have another look! Some are much nicer in real life than in their pictures, I promise (especially that top row)!
All the very best to all of you at home, from all of us here at the school – we’re pushing on now with the second half of the school year, with the weather getting a bit better as well, and hopefully seeing you here some time at Consultation Evenings, Coffee & Catch-up afternoons, or other funky events
Respect…Teamwork…Resilience
from John & the Team here at PHS