News, Stars & Poppies from John & the PHS Team! – 10th November 2023

The Literacy Squad are always working on something, and for November that’s going to be Non-Fiction! Excellent! Some people prefer that to fiction, but we just want everyone to read, whatever they’re reading. Here are the guys with a bit of news anyway

Welcome to Non-Fiction November, the theme for this year’s National Non-Fiction November is ‘Wonderful Water’

During November, our students will have further opportunities to explore and learn about the world around us as well as their own individual interests

Here are some of examples of our favourite types of non-fiction

• Fact books
• Newspaper and magazine articles
• Autobiographies / Biographies
• Travel writing
• Recipes
• Advertisements
• Diaries / journals
• Letters

Watch out for all our Fantastic Fun Facts over the coming weeks!

Percy Hedley School will be involved in Anti-Bullying Week next week and the theme this year is: Make a Noise About Bullying

On Monday 13th November we will be joining in with ‘Odd Socks’ Day. Students are requested to come into school wearing odd socks. If your child or young person wears tights, maybe they could wear their socks on top of their tights

We look forward to seeing a lot of odd socks on Monday!

Also, the theme for Beating the Odds and the collapsible day will be – Basics. We will be focusing on the importance of sleep and exploring where people sleep around the world. It would be lovely if students and pupils could come in wearing their PJ’s on the collapsible day, the 17^th Nov. Woohoo!

Staff and students can come to school in their Pyjamas for a donation of £1.  All money raised will go to Children in Need

Did you know that Percy Hedley School provides sensory services? This includes support for children with a visual impairment, hearing impairment or those who are multi-sensory impaired.

Let’s take a look at what our hearing services look like

Deaf children and young people are entitled to support from a specialist teacher known as a QToD (Qualified Teacher of Deaf Children and Young People).

Being able to hear sounds clearly helps to connect us to the people and world around us in many essential ways, including communication with others, personal safety and experiencing sounds for enjoyment. It is therefore paramount that children and young people are given the right support to ensure that they can fully access learning, social and therapy-based activities and of course meet their outcomes. If your child is diagnosed with a hearing impairment, they will be allocated support in school from a QToD.

What does the QToD do?

• Assess children and young people’s functional hearing levels, as well as their development and learning, identifying needs, outcomes, and provision as part of their EHCP
• Provide advice and training to staff working directly with children and young people to ensure they are fully aware of the implications of the individuals hearing levels upon their learning
• To support staff to understand reasonable adjustments required to improve access to education and therapy delivered in school
• Liaise with Audiology services to ensure school has up to date information about a child or young person’s hearing levels and listening aids required
• Work alongside therapy teams within school to ensure that students can fully access therapy-based activities and achieve therapy goals
• Work directly with children and young people to develop their understanding of deafness at an appropriate level
• Work directly with children and young people to develop their independence skills in managing their own hearing technology at an appropriate level to their needs

If you have concerns around your Childs hearing, please get in contact with either their class team or myself directly r.smith@percyhedley.org.uk

Rachel Smith, QToD Percy Hedley School

Really interesting stuff there, and similar to the VI from the other week. Well, the writing is good, but let’s see a few pupils as well!

This week is National Occupational Therapy week 2023!

OT Week 2023 is all about celebrating the amazing impact our Occupational Therapists (OTs) have on students at Percy Hedley School, raising the profile of the profession and explaining what occupations are in the context of occupational therapy and why they matter

In the context of occupational therapy, an occupation is any activity that we need, want or like to do to live and to look after our physical and mental health, and our emotional wellbeing. Occupations are the daily activities and tasks that make up our lives. These can include everything from brushing your teeth and going to school, to pursuing hobbies and engaging in social interactions

Occupations are the building blocks of life. But why do they matter? Occupation is deeply intertwined with a person’s identity, purpose and belonging. It’s the things we do, big or small, that give our lives meaning, and are essential to living.

For our students here at Percy Hedley School who face physical, cognitive, or emotional challenges, occupational therapy plays a vital role in enhancing health, promoting independence and quality of life

Our Occupational Therapists aim to work collaboratively with the students and you, their parents and/or carers. They aim to empower not only the student but also the family by providing strategies and tools to support the student’s growth and development. Working collaboratively with you helps to ensure that interventions extend beyond therapy sessions, enhancing the student’s ability to thrive in their daily life

Occupational Therapists see beyond diagnoses and limitations to hopes and aspirations. They look at relationships between the student’s occupations, the challenges they face and their environment. Occupational therapy is not just about therapy sessions; it’s about equipping students with the skills they need to navigate/experience the world around them. It’s about celebrating their uniqueness, fostering their growth, and, most importantly, allowing them to be children and young adults. The power of occupation in occupational therapy lies in recognizing that every activity a child or young person engages in is an opportunity for growth, development, and enjoyment

If you have a question about occupation, or want to know more, speak to your child’s therapists or visit rcot.co.uk/occupation

Great stuff from Zara, and a huge thank you to Sam and all the OT team at PHS. This has really helped make some things about OT clear – excellent!

PfA is a really important part of our work here, and a crucial part of our mission is to do whatever we can in all areas to prepare our pupils and students for the world outside, whatever that means for them. Hannah F is leading on this now, and will be updating us about what’s going on with PfA for all ages of pupil in the school. It’s good stuff

Rebecca is the DSL and has a great team working with her. They give us weekly updates, which cover a range of topics, for us all to get up-to-date on. This is from Rebecca

This week our post-16 parents had the opportunity to attend a training session run by our Family Laison Officer Eileen, working on the use of the bursary payments.  Staff in school recently had the same training to ensure that we are supporting pupils using these payments to develop their safety in the community, their version of independent travel and to ensure that we are working to make sure that we do not allow any pupils to become a victim of financial abuse.   Part of this work also it covers our mission around ‘Poverty Proofing’ in school, ensuring that our pupils have equal opportunities as their peers, especially within community challenges and transition work.

If you could not make the training it was recorded, pop over to Eileen’s blog for the link.

A reminder also to give us your views on the training you might want around online safety.  These training bitesize videos will begin this half term and we really want to ensure we are covering the themes that you would like us to cover.  You can get to it on the following link: https://forms.office.com/e/g4aYCnV3rH

As always please get in touch if you have any questions or queries through email or our website anonymous link https://forms.office.com/e/QTWAtZJhFE

From Rebecca  r.fletcher@percyhedley.org.uk and the DSL Team

And from Maria:

The Online Safety blog this week is about  Ofcom’s response to the social media companies in line with the new online safety bill.

Here’s the link: Online Safety blogs – Percy Hedley School

There has been a slight delay with this and it will now be rolled out in the New Year. As promised we will still introduce the charges gradually, so hopefully reducing the financial impact on you.  We will be sure to provide you with more details as soon as they’re available and we’ll of course contact parents of our young people who require an IDDSI meal prepared at levels 1 – 5 separately

If you think you’re eligible for Free School Meals and haven’t yet applied for this then please contact Eileen e.robinson@percyhedley.org.uk our Family Liaison Officer who can send you the form and support with the process

Our new Winter Menu is on our website here: Parent and Carers Area – Percy Hedley School  The catering team are also planning for the next themed day which will be on St Andrews Day, the 30^th November – we’re already looking forward to it!

Attendance was the only thing that arose from the inspection as an Action For Improvement. This is what was in the report

Too many pupils are frequently absent. This limits their learning and has an impact on their academic progress. The school should strengthen its attendance systems and attendance strategy to promote regular pupil attendance. The school should provide challenge and support for parents to help them to overcome any barriers that may prevent their child from attending school regularly

So it’s good that we have Mark now, and that we are working with Local Authorities and, most importantly, you about this. It’s one of those issues I think that is all about partnership. As I say, it really is an issue right across the country! Thanks for your support with this

We sent out a message recently about our updated Code of Conduct, which is on the website. I will like it below. I hope you have time to have a read. In my experience these things don’t come into play very often but it’s important that they are there. Most schools have them now.

STOP PRESS! Next Meeting: Thursday, 16^th November, 9.30 – 11.00

Please come along! It’s full of very nice people!

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

We sent out a questionnaire to gather information from our families to find out if there has been an improvement in the quality of communication between school and home since we started working towards achieving the LPPA in November 2022.  Your opinion is such an important part of the process we have been following and therefore any contribution is welcome.  This should only take ten minutes to complete.  We have created a hard copy and an electronic format, which will be sent out today

Please complete and return the questionnaire to school by Friday 10^th November – today!

Just to remind your that the date for our final verification visit is Tuesday 12^th December 2023

As always, please don’t hesitate to contact the team on the email below, we welcome your thoughts and ideas

Thank you in advance for your contributions

Tracy and the LPPA team Contact t.smithson@percyhedley.org.uk

Thank you to Tracy and the team, and all parents supporting us! We know that there is always lots to do, but we are interested in working as hard as we can to create the best kind of partnerships we can with you at home

Team Doves have been amazing this week. They have all shown great resilience especially in swimming. This week they were all given individual tasks to work on in the pool. Some doing things they find difficult but still gave it a go, and this was only the first week, excited to see the progression this term. Well done to all those Doves! STAR DOVES!!!

is William!

William showed amazing resilience when switching to say, “Hello, I’m William!” which he found hilarious! Well done William! STAR!!!!!

What a STAR!!!

Respect

Charlie – has been caring and considerate of both his friends and the topics covered this week

Daniel – changed his wall display so students from lower school and engagement could read his information more easily

Both STARS!!!

Resilience

Daniel – Trying different coping strategies when feeling disregulated – STAR!!!

Noah – For simply being a STAR!!!

Teamwork

Matthew – leading and engaging in art week activities with his peers

Ryley- Supporting his friends

Teamwork, Resilience, Enjoyment, Discipline and Sportsmanship

This week the students have nominated Kristian for his improved Teamwork and Sportsmanship.  He is getting better at in being able to pass the ball to teammates rather than simply going for the goal himself

Kristian – TREDS STAR!!!!!!!!!

Resilience

Katie for communicating her feelings so well.  What a STAR!!!

Ruari for fully participating in Arts week.  Well done!

Robyn for independently remembering to ask Mum for extra supplies. Fantastic!!

Respect

George for being polite and kind at Ouseburn Farm.  Amazing!!