News, STARS and International Days! – from John & the PHS Team!

Firstly, a big thank you for the responses we’ve had so far from last week’s letter about preferences for decodable reading books at home – we really welcome your replies. If your child or young person is accessing Essential Letters & Sounds (our phonics programme) you should have received a letter last week asking how you would prefer to access reading activities at home, or the option to chat to your class team if this is tricky to manage. We know the idea of ‘homework’ can be challenging so we’ve got some ideas of how we can work around this and still get the progress we hope to see in reading!  If you haven’t submitted yet but would prefer to access the form electronically please find it below.

There’s been a big focus on poetry this week thanks to our Wellbeing Team and their challenge to ‘connect through literature’, as you’ll read about further down in the blog.  It’s been the perfect timing to think about all things poetry as we will be celebrating National Poetry Day on Thursday 3^rd October (yes, October is next week!). As well as enjoying sharing poetry and possibly writing their own poems, classes will have the opportunity to contribute to a shared, whole school collaborative poem – but more on that next blog!

In the mean time we wanted to share some lovely poetry and story ‘word wave’ videos, as an opportunity to ‘connect through literature’ at home too – There’s some fab stuff below.

Happy Reading!

Becky & The Literacy Team

Pilates suite in action!

We promised you some pictures of our new Pilates suite in action… well here it is! 3KH have enjoyed developing their core strength, balance and body control using our therapy balls with one of our physios, Lauren! It’s great to see them all having fun whilst developing their skills, this is a fab example of how we are able to engage the children in exercise to support their physical development as part of their therapy sessions

Why do we mark International Days?

International days and weeks are occasions to educate the publi on issues of concern, to mobilize political will and resources to address global problems, and to celebrate and reinforce achievements of humanity.

International Day of Sign Languages 2024

The International Day of Sign Languages is a unique opportunity to support and protect the linguistic identity and cultural diversity of all deaf people and other sign language users. During the 2024 celebration, the world will once again highlight the unity generated by sign languages.

According to the World Federation of the Deaf, there are more than 70 million deaf people worldwide. More than 80% of them live in developing countries. Collectively, they use more than 300 different sign languages.

https://youtu.be/_qO-ybCQQFI

European day of language

In 4JFHT & 4RR , students enjoyed sharing their knowledge of words they know in different languages. Everyone learned to say “hello” in multiple different languages including Spanish, Hungarian, French and Greek!

Students in Post 16 Culture options group have been exploring cultures from different countries around the world. Some lovely research was carried out and fantastic pieces of work were produced linked to food from around the world. Thank you, Clicker 8, for helping us to pronounce some of the amazing foods from all over the world!

Swimming in Lizzie’s Class!

Lovely stuff here from Lizzie about her great her new lovely class has been in the pool

Students in 2LL showed some amazing resilience this week at swimming! We had never been to the Lakeside Centre for our swimming lesson before, but all students were very brave in trying something new. All the students managed to get into the water and have a fantastic lesson. We are super proud of all of you! 😊 😊 😊

Special mentions go out to Jay, Faith, Daniel, Kristian and Leighton.

Let’s have a look at what they’ve been up to.

Amy wrote a poem for Helen which she has been proudly showing off. Helen said, “It is without doubt, the greatest gift I have ever received!”

Oscar’s class have been sharing their favourite poems during morning registration – they said, “one of our favourites was Half-Caste by John Agard.”

Chris McBeth has been spotted ‘connecting with literature’ in the staff room. He’s been using his lunch break to catch up on his book

This brilliant book was spotted in the school library! It looks like we have some budding authors in school – if you notice it, we recommend giving it a read. Well-done Jay, Faith, Daniel, Kristian and Leighton.

Thanks for connecting with literature this week!

Next week’s challenge is, “Share something about yourself that other people don’t know”

Please do send any photos or comments through to Andy at a.dawson@percyhedley.org.uk

So Autumn arrived this week, and we have been exploring lots of lovely Autumn activities. We joined mammy bear in the woods to make some yummy porridge. (It smelt delicious). We planted some flowers in our planters. The tuff trays came alive with Autum colours as we explored leaves, pinecone and conkers. After making our own playdough we made some lovely creations.  We washed the dolls some of us washed ourselves. We had great fun putting  on our waterproofs and splashed in the puddles. Once again we have had a fun week in Early Years

This autumn, our Learning Skills Through Engagement Pathway kicked off a series of sensory assemblies. Our first two assemblies focused on the theme “All About Me,” emphasizing the joy of being together, exploring lights and colours. One of the most special moments of our assemblies is the recognition of our Star Student of the Week. These first two assemblies set the tone for a vibrant autumn season filled with exploration, connection, and celebration. We look forward to more sensory experiences that support our students’ learning and strengthen their friendships and sense of belonging

Stay tuned for more updates as we continue to celebrate our wonderful students and the unique qualities they bring to our school community!

Thank you to Kasia and the LSTE Team – those assemblies really are great, and I’m pretty sure that the children love them!

Well done to the 6 KS4 runners who took part in the Wanderers Cross country event. The students all completed the 1.5-mile course and manged to win a medal, we were very proud of the students and the sportsmanship they showed. Students also showed great resilience to persevere when they round the race extremely challenging. WELL DONE!

Michael really enjoys attending his motor sensory session with his physio Mary, he has been an absolute star this week, undertaking all the activities with a big smile on his face! Here Michael is completing some throwing tasks. Well done, Michael! particularly works well on the swing and trampoline, here he is completes some throwing tasks! Well done Michael!

This week the safeguarding team have been visiting the assemblies within school.  Part of the work that we do is ensuring that the pupils know who they can talk to if they do not feel safe or are worried about themselves or a friend.

The team talked to the pupils about what safeguarding means, how we do it in school and who is school pupils can talk to.  We talked about keeping the building safe and secure, health and safety, and ensuring that there is always someone to talk to if they need someone.  We also introduced them to the wellbeing team and the behaviour for learning team, and talked about how all of our work is interweaved with each other, to help the pupils to stay safe.

We also asked the pupils to be involved in a project to review our pupils-friendly policies that we have in school such as the safeguarding policy and the bullying policy.  This is something we will be doing over the next few weeks to ensure that our pupils friendly policies are appropriate and give the information that the pupils need.

We will be sharing these with you once they are complete

If you would like some more information about this please contact the team, or access the online safety page on our school website where you can find lots of information about staying safe online, parental guides and our policies

Please click the link below which shows our acceptable use policy.  The student friendly versions are in the appendix should you wish to ICT-and-Acceptable-Use-Policy-2024.pdf (percyhedley.org.uk)

We’ve issued a questionnaire to all parent/carers via a link to Teams. This is your opportunity to request training from the Safeguarding Team any safeguarding topic. We are here to support parents/carers by enhancing your knowledge in everything safeguarding!

Please see the below QR code and link for you to let the safeguarding team know if there are any training or information needs about safeguarding topics that would support you and your family.  Please let us know what kind of training works for you in the questionnaire, and if you have any individual queries, please use the box at the bottom to contact us directly

Many thanks

Feel free to get in touch with us if there is anything you wish to discuss

Everyone and anyone is always very welcome and actively encouraged to contact Aylisha at  aylisha.holland@percyhedley.org.uk or Rebecca at R.Fletcher@percyhedley.org.uk or any of the DSL Team

And you can click over to the Online Safety blog for any more info too. This week Lizzie’s got a guide to helping children stay safe online – it’s a guide for parents, so hopefully very useful. Please do tell us what you feel would be helpful in the Online Safety blog

It was indeed a busy year regarding registrations, entries, forms to be filled in, deadlines to meet and the actual run of all exams on the exam days for varies qualifications

All students worked so hard and results on results day proofed that this hard work paid off

We had all ‘passes’ and exceeded estimated grades! We are very proud of all past and current students who achieved such good results

Now we are focusing on collating new details and updating documents and policies – which soon will be also up to date on our school website

All new JCQ Regulations must be read, and additions must be implemented to our run of exams to adhere to JCQ Regulations and Inspections

We look forward to working with you this year. All best wishes

Kat

We’re committed to promoting high attendance among our students which was a key focus highlighted in our latest Ofsted report. I’ve put an extract from that below 

Ofsted has emphasised nationally across all schools whether mainstream or SEND the importance consistent attendance plays in academic success and overall student wellbeing

As all our parents and carers will know, we have over the last year through our new attendance policy and our weekly blog, highlighted our commitment to improving attendance. 

We thank you for your continued support

Update: Just to make everyone aware of an update when requesting leave for a student. From September 2024 when leave is requested for any medical appointments that an appointment letter/message must be seen either physically or via email alongside the Absence Request Form. This comes as an update Under the Keeping Children Safe in Education Act – September 2024. Leave cannot be granted without this evidence

It is also available in the Parents and Carers Area, linked below.

Most schools have these now, so please do have a read – they aren’t used very often

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

Oh, and why don’t you join them! The Fabulous Friends are always looking for volunteers for events!  If you can offer any support, please contact Eileen at e.robinson@percyhedley.org.uk

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

That reflect our School Values!

ENGAGEMENT!

Teamwork

Our star of the pathway this week is Michael! Michael has been a real star this week. He has engaged in lots of activities and interacted with his classmates! STAR!!!

KS4!

Respect

Noah R for his confidence and respectful of others

Resilience

Daniel Gr for accessing all of lessons

Teamwork

Shaye W for being helpful and supportive of peers

TREDS

Daniel Gi for demonstrating top TREDS and being supportive of his teammates!

THE ALL-NEW POST-16 GROUP!!!

Resilience

Kian for coping well with so many changes and being most excellent.  Very well done Kian – STAR!!!

Charlie for having a great first week in his new class.  Wonderful!! STAR!!!

Respect and Resilience

Shannon for being so kind, helpful and independent at home and at school.   What a STAR!!!

Francis the plant man for just being himself and cheering everyone up.  Great stuff!! STAR!!!

All 3 – Respect, Resilience and Teamwork

Dominic for being really kind, helpful and working so well with others.  He also demonstrated good manners and incredible self-awareness. Fantastic Dominic, well done, STAR!!!

WH Questions signs: who where what why when which

We ask our students a lot of questions! Supporting the spoken word with a sign can positively impact on their understanding of what they are being asked

More question signs next week!

Keeeeeeeeeeeep signing!