News, STARS, and a Special “Therapy Star of the Week” Edition from John & the PHS Team! Friday 29th November

Hi everyone,

Natalie organises a lot of events in the school – she’s great – and was at the forefront of all the Children In Need stuff too, so I’m going to hand you over to her for this. Cheers all!

For Children in Need 2024, we were off timetable and had a fantastic time doing lots of different activities. We had a sensory station set up where students could explore different textures, like jelly and custard and… shaving foam? (The students were very brave and despite a few scrunched-up faces, participated in the activity, well done!) We also had a photobooth set up where students could pick different props, sunglasses and hats and express themselves, this was super fun and the students loved rocking the craziest set of sunnies they could find! Each department had relaxed and lighthearted activities for the students to take part in throughout the day, and there were lots of smiling faces. Thank you to everyone who supported and helped bring everything together!

And in the midst of all the fun, look at how much we raised! Big well done and a massive thank you to everyone who donated!

Great stuff, and a lovely time in school, all these things are very important for us to do. All the best everyone

John S

😊 from John & the PHS Team 😊

We have 3 Super-Steering Groups which deliver our Key Drivers through our curriculum. The Key Drivers are Communication, Wellbeing and Independence. The Groups are Literacy, Physical Development and Personal Development

Literacy

Becky, our Literacy Lead, leads a team that improve all aspects of literacy, including this year a lot of handwriting and oracy (it’s OK, she’ll be going into explain all of that) as well as reading, phonics, books and all sorts!

This week Becky is still able to talk about Non-Fiction November, and loads of really interesting stuff!

As you’ll already know if you’ve seen the last few blogs, this week we celebrated Non-Fiction November! We’ve been lucky enough to invest in some fantastic Non-Fiction books over the past few years so at the very least it was a fantastic excuse to highlight these and expose students to a range of books they might not have seen before

Many students have already been focusing on Non-Fiction texts this half term so had a good head start, but it was great to see some of the work produced. We were lucky enough to get some examples from 3TW and 3HB in ELTBA to share with you

Frankie Rae from 3HB created a fab poster on the ‘Non-Fiction November’ theme of ‘Why don’t you?’, telling us about her love of Bubble Tea and why she thinks you should try it. See if she can convince you!

Also in 3HB, the class have been studying biographies and have focused on Ussain Bolt and Eugenie Clark (Shark Lady). See Cayden’s brilliant piece of work about Eugenie Clark which he completed independently. I know I definitely learnt something new!

In 3TW students have been using their computing skills to show off their writing skills, creating Non-Fiction presentations on topics which interest them. They’ve worked hard to learn how to add a hyperlink, which Joe shows off in his presentation about the Titanic, and he has kindly agreed to share his fab work.

A big thank you to everyone who got involved in Non-Fiction November and we hope you were able to learn something new, or perhaps you were convinced to try something new!

Happy Reading, and ‘Why don’t you…..’

Physical Development

Everything that is fabulous in the world of Physical Development! This includes physio, hydro, MOVE, PE, HI, VI, a lot of OT and all sorts of key areas for us, including all of the Outdoor Learning, John Muir Award and many other aspects. Steph oversees this and will ensure that an aspect is shared in the blog each week

There are three Therapy Stars of the Week this week, and they fit into the world of Physical Development very well, so please do scroll down and enjoy those! They’re great!

Personal Development

One of the best things about the school and one of the most important for our pupils, PD covers PSHE, Wellbeing, Careers, Social Moral Spiritual & Cultural, Online Safety, Behaviour and similar areas. Jo pulls it all together. Let’s see what Jo and the team have in store for us this week – quite a lot as usual I think!

Let’s about UK Parliament Week!

UK Parliament Week

Last week was UK Parliament Week. UK Parliament Week (UKPW) is an annual event, spreading the word about what Parliament is, what it does and how you can get involved. It’s a great way to find out new things about UK Parliament or be reminded of things you might’ve forgotten!

See some of the work from 3HB!

Wellbeing!

Let’s get the latest from Andy on this great project to start off this half term

Let’s hear from Andy and the Wellbeing Team about the latest in their Connect Challenge series

Hello again everyone!

This week’s Connect Challenge focused on “positive noticing”. This could have involved noticing something positive about yourself, others, our school or the environment – we chose this one to highlight how regularly recognising and appreciating positive moments can lead to improved mood and emotional resilience.

Here are a couple of highlights from this week!

Hannah’s outdoor learners have been noticing the ice and frost this week and the impact the weather has on our wildlife. Check out these cool photos they sent in of a hedgehog using the hedgehog house! Amazing!

And one student in 3TW, who asked not to be named, told us that they’ve noticed how well they’re doing in school at the moment, recognising a positive change in themselves over the past 4 weeks. Lovely stuff!

Next week’s challenge is “Connect with your mind – mindfulness “. We would encourage every class to take part in at least one guided mindfulness session and recommend this 5 Minute Body Scan Meditation  by “Medistate Mind” on YouTube. It’s a great way to check in with yourself at any point during the day, but especially if you’re feeling a bit stressed or overwhelmed. You might even like to try this one at home!

Please send any photos or comments to Andy at a.dawson@percyhedley.org.uk Let’s keep the fun going!

Behaviour for Learning (BfL)

Behaviour for Learning (BfL) is a new team, and their work overlaps at times with Safeguarding, Wellbeing and Mental Health. BfL is an approach to understanding & developing children’s behaviour that focuses on their relationship with their self, others and the curriculum, and promotes readiness for education. The BfL team support staff and pupils. The BfL approach is consistent with our values and compatible with systems such as PBS and NAPPI, that we also use.

Therapy Star of the Week – love Therapy Star of the Week, especially when it’s Aimee!!!!!

Let’s hear from Abbie!

The therapy star of the week is Aimee Wake. She has worked very hard developing her balance and co-ordination using the bikes. Keep up the great work! 😊

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And when it’s Vivie and Alex!

Nina would also love to put Vivie and Alex forward for Therapy Star of the Week! Vivie did amazingly in her walker this week – it was her first time for ages! She was so happy to step to see her friends and have a sing-song along the corridor with lots of lovely smiles. Alex did some incredible walking too, and also helped his friends with their stepping as well!

Well done Vivie and Alex!

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…and when it’s Sadie!

Therapy star of the week. Sadie Hall!

Let’s hear what Beth has to say about Sadie!

Sadie has been working very hard in her Speech and Language therapy sessions to practise asking for help. Sadie has chosen important phrases that will best help her in lessons and has been working very hard to use these more independently.

Here she is using her ‘Sadie’s helpful words’ poster. Well done Sadie!

Sporting Story of the Week!

Nathan has been getting football going again this week. Let’s hear his take on it!

Over the last few months the start of the Girls/Boys Wanderers Football league and this week Participation league started. What a comeback! The students have contributed well so far, they showed great team spirit, communicating and working together to show how much they have progressed.

I am looking forward to seeing how the students can continue to progress over this season

Excellent Wanderers Football!

Lesson & Club of the Week! Science – Dissection Club! Yes, Dissection!

Wow, this sounds a bit different and exciting. Here’s Oscar, with news of something new for PHS in the world of science. Excellent!

To promote and encourage engagement within the Sciences, upper school has opened a new lunchtime club to students – ‘Dissection Club’!

The aim of the club is to nurture scientific enquiry skills within students and utilise their natural curiosity to give them a deeper understanding of the world around them. Over the course of the half-term, students will learn about the important organs within the body and why their function is important.

This week in Dissection Club students investigated the inner workings of a lamb’s heart and practiced using different dissection tools. Students first explored the different chambers of the heart with their fingers, describing what they could feel to each other. Then, students practiced using scalpels to cut the heart into cross-sections so they could visualise the internal structure of the heart.

Welcome to Early Years!

How have the ducklings been doing? Kerry will give us an update. Let’s hear from her and see some of the great pictures that they always send in….

Another lovely week in Early Years doing lots of exciting things

The children have enjoyed exploring the cold weather box on a morning during our daily routine. This involved exploring ice, hats, scarfs alongside the winter pictures and words

Our focus story this week one story has been “One winter day a little hedgehog’s home is blown away in a winter wind. He decides to stay with his friend badger until the storm is over. On his journey to badger’s home, he helps several friends in need. Will his friends return his kindness?”

We have made homes for hedgehogs. In outdoor learning we braved the cold elements to explore the woodland area like the little hedgehog and his friends. As it is approaching the 1^st December we have started a few Christmas activities this week – we wrote letters to Santa Claus as our literacy activity. Physical development is a prime area in Early Years and we enjoyed our daily visits to the Sensory Motor Suite with lots of bouncing, climbing and spinning. We have also had the opportunity to have a weekly session on the bikes, and this has been great fun

We have also welcomed a new friend into class this week, they have settled in really well and we have all made him feel included and welcome to Early Years.

Resilience, Respect, Teamwork at their finest – well done ducklings

The Fab Ducklings – now 5 of them!

School Lunches

Our new Winter menus are now online:  School Meals – Percy Hedley School

I’d like to also mention ipay accounts and the increase in costs

Unless your child is in receipt of Free School Meals or Bursary, you should ensure your iPay account is topped up before meals are taken

Please also note that from 6th January 2025, the cost of a two-course school meal will increase to £2.75. Thank you for your understanding and continued support in helping us to provide good quality and nutritious meals for our children and young people

If you have any questions or need support with your iPay account, please don’t hesitate to contact the school office

Bonus – Nice Music Lesson this week with Anthony!

Have a look at all of this! Awesome!

…..from John & the Team here at PHS

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Our Key Drivers:

Communication, Wellbeing, Independence