News, STARS and Early Years! – from John & the PHS Team! Friday 13th September 2024
Welcome to Percy Hedley School's Whole School Blog!
Hi everyone,
Happy Friday 13th! Well, I hope it’s happy for you anyway! How have the first few days of term been for you and your son or daughter? Good I hope. I do hope that they’ve settled in now, and you and they have gotten sorted with any new classes, staff and arrangements. It can be a hard time of year, but hopefully and usually it turns around well after the first couple of weeks – so about now! It can feel like a long year ahead, but I always find that it whizzes past very quickly!
Please do talk to the class team if there is anything at all that you are unsure about or need to discuss on any level
And do check out Eileen’s blog and the rest of the website, or Joel’s Online Safety blog if that’s your thing. In this blog, take a peek at the Early Years news from our newest class! 😊 Or maybe our Mexican Menu for next Tuesday if that’s more your thing!
And all the very best! Have a lovely weekend when it arrives for you!
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, the Book Fair!
We’ve had a lovely start to the academic year with the return of the much-loved Scholastic Book Fair! I got excited just seeing the trolleys arrive into school, and I know many of the staff were the same, remembering book fairs in their own school days. Students have been enjoying exploring what is on offer, and we’re pleased that it is around next week too! The Scholastic Book Fair’s last day with us will be Friday 20th September if you’d like to take advantage of it
Can we also take the opportunity to remind you (and welcome you if you’re new!) to the Parent/Carer Resource Area on our school website where we have lots of literacy related resources.
There will also be reminders coming out next week for any parents of students accessing ELS about where to access anything you need, and information packs for new parents – but if you do have any questions before then please speak to your team!
Happy Reading! The Literacy Team
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. This week, an overview, as it’s the start of the year and it’s good to explain the whole concept
An overview of what Physical Development is in our school
Physical Development is one of our Super Steering Groups and is aligned with our Key Drivers and School Values. Physical Development includes all the things that we do that come under this heading, such as PE, Physiotherapy, Pilates, Rebound, Sports development, Outdoor Learning, MOVE, Occupational Therapy and much more!
Promoting physical development is nothing new to PHS, it’s something we have historically been, and continue to be proud of! Our integrated transdisciplinary approach ensures that we prioritise and optimise opportunities for pupils to enhance their physical health and wellbeing throughout the school day
What are our Physical Development Goals?
- To promote a healthy and active lifestyle
- To optimise engagement in learning
- To improve access to learning
- To ensure the physical health and wellbeing of pupils is optimised
Why is Physical Development important?
Apart from the obvious benefits such as improving fitness, health, mobility and independence, there is strong evidence to support the benefits of physical activity on an individual’s cognitive function such as academic progress. Engaging in frequent physical activity also has a positive impact on individuals’ ability to develop positive social networks, resulting in camaraderie, teamwork & friendships. In addition to all these benefits, it can further improve mental health and wellbeing through enhanced self-esteem, improved sleep and reduced anxiety. Many of our pupils face significantly greater challenges than most, therefore improving their physical development becomes even more of a priority for us to ensure they reach their full potential and remain as healthy as possible
How can we achieve this?
We have an array of skilled therapists, therapy assistants, teachers, support staff and health practitioners who work at PHS. Some of which include our fabulous Physiotherapists who love all things physical such as PE, Rebound therapy, Hydrotherapy, MOVE, Respiratory and Postural health (and much more!). We have skilled Occupational Therapists who are dedicated and creative in their approach to ensure pupils’ access to the curriculum and community is not bound by their physical limitation. We also have a Qualified Teacher of children with Visual impairment (QTVI) and outsource a Qualified Teacher of Deaf Children and Young People (QToDs). Their job is to ensure our staff have appropriate knowledge and skills to work effectively with children with visual and hearing impairments, and to ensure pupils access to learning is optimised
Look out for our weekly blog updates on what we have been doing to support our children’s physical development, we can’t wait to share these with you!
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. A different aspect will be covered in the blog each week
Here’s Jo with an intro now
It’s been a wonderful start to the new academic year and the team here at Percy Hedley School are looking forward to supporting the personal development of all of our students
How we help our students
PSHE
Within PSHE this half term we will be covering the topic of “Self-Awareness” across the school. Use of the PSHE Association SEND Framework will allow the age-appropriate content to be delivered at the correct developmental for the child or young person
- KS2 – Playing and Working Together/Getting on with others
- KS3 – Personal Strengths
- KS4 – Managing Pressure
- Post-16 – Managing Pressure
More information will be available when you receive your curriculum newsletter and I will be available at all curriculum pathway coffee afternoons to show you our PSHE curriculum and the resources we use, feel free to catch me for a chat. In the meantime, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate in emailing me at j.ferguson@percyhedley.org.uk
Therapy Star of the Week
Love Therapy Star of the Week! Especially when it’s about Joseph!
Joseph from Andy’s class! Joseph’s been working on his physiotherapy goal, with his walker.
Joseph working hard in the sports hall with staff and utilising those skills to complete the 50m dash at the Great North Run over the weekend
Welcome to Early Years!
This year we have opened an Early Years class, run by a great team. We already have four youngsters in it, and it’s just so lovely to walk past and see what’s going on. Kerry is giving us an update and a peek into what is happening. Here’s Kerry
We thought we would just give everyone a little peek at the lovely area the children have the opportunity to learn in. We have had lots of fun this week, including an afternoon in the outdoor learning area – looking for bears!
We have a soft play session everyday which has been great fun
Our new outdoor learning area directly off the classroom has been used to its full potential come rain or shine
Some of the children have enjoyed a snooze in our lovely sensory room, while others have chilled
Messy time has been fun most of us going home covered in paint most nights
Overall an amazing start to our term
The Early Years Team
Safeguarding Updates - training, and have your say
Aylisha is our Safeguarding Officer, Rebecca is the DSL, and Tracy, Corin round out a great DSL Team; other colleagues look at other aspects too. For the blog, they give us weekly updates, which cover a range of topics – some of them pretty heavy sometimes!
Online Safety
And you can click over to the Online Safety blog for any more info too. This week Joel’s talking about Fake Text Messages
Attendance Matters!
A Government update to permissions this week!
Updated Code of Conduct
Here’s a link to our Code of Conduct, which is also on the website in the Parent and Carers Area - Percy Hedley School’. Most schools have these now, so please do have a read – they aren’t used very often
Friends of PHS – the FoPHS!
I’m really excited by all the things that our fabulous FoPHS are talking about and planning A huge thanks to all of them for their time, commitment and support, with projects, ideas and all sorts. They’re also talking about the Outdoor Learning area – my favourite part of the school! It could be called the FoPHS Outdoor Learning Zone or anything! Great to have you guys on board, thanks again
Lunch and Lunch Accounts
Just a reminder please if your account is in arrears significantly to please move to reconcile that with us. There are just a couple so thanks to the vast majority for doing all of that!
Leading Parent Partnership Award (LPPA)
Please get in touch with Tracy via the email below and she will be happy to respond to any queries, suggestions about the LPPA and other issues for parents From Tracy and the LPPA team Contact t.smithson@percyhedley.org.uk
Stars of the Week
That reflect our School Values!
Makaton Signs of the Week
Every Sunday Julie prepares a message for all classes on Makaton signs that are current and relevant to the time of year. I generally reproduce them here so those at home can do the same thing if you want to and if it works for you – or just for you to learn a few signs each week. Hope it works for you!
Finally
It’s Mexican Independence Day on 17th September! (There’s other food available too)
Loving the new Pilates Studio and seeing it in use this week too!
…..from John & the Team here at PHS
Our Key Drivers:
Communication, Wellbeing, Independence