News & Stars and Lots of Great Sport from John & the PHS Team Friday 21st June 2024

Hi everyone,

It’s been a great week, partly because of Science Week, but I’ll say more about that next time and everyone is still doing it right now! IT’s also been a bit warmer so there have been some really nice educational trips out to lots of different places. The school feels great at these times, with groups going to the Centre for Life, or the Hydropool, or off to do some sport or other! It all contributes to a super atmosphere

It’s four weeks until the end of the school year, so people are starting to plan for that – writing reports, thinking about classes for September and end of term activities like Transition Day, This Is Me and the leavers’ assembly, and so we’ll hopefully either be seeing you or contacting you about these in some way. We do understand that the end of the year can cause anxieties in some and will do all we can to be mindful and aware of this and reduce it wherever we can

Here’s to a lovely weekend – in the sun I hope – and the last month of the school year. Hope it’s a good one for you, and thank you as ever for all of your support

With very best wishes

J

😊 from John & the PHS Team 😊

Let’s hear from our three Super Steering Groups which deliver our Key Drivers through the curriculum –

Communication, Wellbeing and Independence

Literacy

Becky, our Literacy Lead, is going to get us going! It’s always good stuff! This week – working more closely with parents in partnership!

We have mentioned parent training sessions a few times in the blog recently, but we’re pleased to let you know that the first training sessions have been recorded and uploaded to our new ‘Parent and Carer Resource Area’ on the  school website. 

You will find our Introduction to Reading at Percy Hedley, which explains the 5 Cohorts of Reading and is applicable to all students and parents, and also our Introduction to Phonics and Essential Letters & Sounds. There are further phonics resources for parents of students accessing ELS as well, which are referenced in the training. 

We will be adding more content to this area over the next few weeks and if you have requested copies of training videos we will let you know when they are uploaded.

In other news, we are planning a ‘Summer Booknic’ celebration in the last week of term; to celebrate all of our favourite books from the year and all the progress students have made in their reading this year! Each of our pathways will celebrate in their own way and more information will be coming shortly. Happy Reading!

Personal Development

Another one of the best things about our school! Let’s hear from Jo and the team about one of my favourite days of the year – the This Is Me festival, which shows what we’re all about. Read about it below! And cheers, Jo!

Thank you to everyone who responded to the Personal Development Parent Consultation! I will pull together a little overview of the results to share with you next week.

RSHE National Guidance Consultation

The Government want your views on proposed changes to the statutory guidance on teaching:

• relationships education
• relationships and sex education
• health education

These subjects are collectively known as RSHE.

Your views are important to help ensure that this guidance supports schools to provide high-quality RSHE which meets the needs of children and young people.

This Is Me Festival

As part of “National School Diversity Week” and “Pride Month”, we have been working hard to prepare for this year’s event. The festival will be on Friday the 5^th of July, it is a celebration of the protected characteristics and will include workshops, activities and entertainment all day. Hopefully you all received a letter earlier in the week.

Here are few photographs to remember the wonderful time students have had in the previous years, fingers crossed for a sunny day third year in a row!

PSHE

We will be working with Northumbria Police to deliver “Pol-Ed” (Police Education) during appropriate PSHE lessons in the future. These are lessons, resources and assemblies created by the police to support in the areas of relationships, keeping safe and understanding the law, with aim of preventing committing crime later in life. We will have the opportunity for local police officers to come in and support the curriculum, making these services visible for our often-vulnerable young people

Physical Development

And of course everything that is fabulous in the world of Physical Development too! 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…

Let’s start by looking at 2KH in MOVE on their bikes

Science Week from Joel!

Percy Hedley School Science Week

Science Week is a special event dedicated to celebrating and promoting science. It’s a chance for everyone to dive into fascinating topics, conduct experiments, and understand the incredible ways science shapes our world. Whether you’re passionate about biology, chemistry, physics, or technology, there’s something for everyone!

As part of science week students got the chance to go orienteering around our local community, the students really enjoyed reading a map and deciding the correct way to get to our Killingworth landmarks. The students were particularly impressed to find wild hippos in our local area!!! Have a look at our students finding some of the local sites

More Science! From Joel! About Science Week!

Science! Let’s talk Science…

This week has been a busy week for all of our students as we have had a big focus on Science and other subjects that complement Science such as Mathematics and Engineering.

Throughout the week, students have been able to take part in various activities ranging from Forensics, Maths puzzles, Exploring sound, Investigating and dissecting plants along with some Art activities. Although we have named it Science week, we have incorporated many subjects from STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics).

Students have had the opportunity to get out and about in the local community to investigate bugs, insects and animals, take part in a walk that is linked to the historical figure George Stephenson. The students have enjoyed making sculptures and orienteering.

Students of Percy Hedley have had a chance to go visit the Centre for Life and experience their science centre where they have watched a few demonstrations and shows while exploring different areas of the centre like the space zone, brain zone and the WOW zone.

Fishing Trip of the Week

This week students went to Kielder water for the Jack Charlton fishing competition. Well done the students that went for the perseverance and patience that they showed, we even managed to catch some fish!!!

Finally…it’s that time again – our Third Prom!

This is from Rebecca!

Just a reminder that our Upper School Prom is coming up on Friday 12^th July.  All our students within our Upper School should have received their invite with the details of the evening

Please ensure that you have sent us your reply in to allow for us to arrange with our suppliers for numbers.  Please also let us know if you plan to stay with your child.  Any children needing personal care or support with feeding will need to have a carer with them to support with this

RSVPs can come to either percyhedleyschooladminteam@percyhedley.org.uk, or your class teacher, or by ringing the school office on 01912161811

…..from John & the Team here at PHS

And a reminder of this great news that came from a lot of hard work! Well done, guys!

Our Latest Award – the PQSM!

Huge congratulations to everyone who has worked on us getting the PSQM Award. The team got the highest version of the award at the first attempt. It’s a really good sign that we’re improving all the time at maths, as we are in all the STEAM subjects. The assessors said really nice things about the school and the work that we do