News, Stars & Some Great PE from John & the PHS Team 24th November 2023

PfA is a really important part of our work, and a crucial part of our mission is to do whatever we can in all areas to prepare our pupils for the world outside. Hannah F is leading on this and will be updating us about what’s going on with PfA. Here’s Hannah now below

As John mentioned in the blog last week, PfA is a really important part of our work at Percy Hedley School and we want to work with you and your children to prepare them in the best way possible for adulthood.  Although PfA starts more formally as our students enter Post 16, it is essential to start thinking about how we support them in preparing for the future as soon as they enter school.   It can seem a daunting time, but the work we do across departments with teachers, support staff and therapists goes a really long way to support this big transition.  However, the work that you do as parents, family members and carers is just as, if not more crucial.  That is why it is so important for us to hear your views on how you feel your child is doing at school, in terms of the key drivers:  independence; communication; wellbeing.  Over the next couple of weeks you will be invited to meet with teachers to reflect on your child’s progress, and to discuss what will be important to them in the term to come.  This information really helps us to understand what your child’s aspirations are and develop a curriculum that meets their very individual needs.  We’re really looking forward to having these conversations with you, now and as your child progresses through school.  Thanks for your support!

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 Rebecca’s latest

This week our staff attended a training on our recording system that we use in school to record any incidents, accidents, meetings or communications.  All staff in school use this system for our record-keeping and to ensure that all staff are aware of communications that are happening with parents and pupils.  Our system is called CPOMS (Child Protection Online Management System).  Our staff attended a refresher training to ensure that we are using the system consistently and accurately.  When Ofsted come into school it is one of the systems that they check to look at our recording and how this is sued to safeguard our children. It is also checked when Local Authorities come in to do their inspections.

In school we find it a very useful tool to support us in our work – you may hear us refer to it in meetings.  

This week we also had a visit from our Safeguarding Governor Paul Cook; you can learn more about Paul on the Governors page on our website.  Paul came in to chat to the team, look at the safeguarding figures for this term and to talk about the work we have been doing around self-harm in school to upskill our staff and support our pupils.  Paul will update the Governing Board next week about our work to ensure all of our governors have an understanding of safeguarding in the school

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

Online Safety

And we also have this from Maria:

Link below for blog, this week on Tik Tok as requested by our parents’ survey

You may remember in the summer term that we wrote to you explaining we are in the unfortunate position where due to increasing costs, we plan to begin charging for standard school meals.  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 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 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 is a big focus right across the country, and it’s been a focus of ours for a while now. It will almost certainly need to be for a while. Mark our Attendance Officer has been very active so far, and some of you may have been in contact with him

Attendance was the only thing that arose from the September 23 Ofsted 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 LAs 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

We sent out a message recently about our updated Code of Conduct, which is on the website. Here’s a link  Parent and Carers Area – Percy Hedley School’. 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

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

This is from Tracy

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

That reflect our School Values!

ELTBA STARS OF THE WEEK!

…is…

Isaac! 

Resilience

This week’s ELTBA star is Isaac from 2RC the Doves. Isaac is doing amazingly in the hydropool. He also demonstrated incredible bravery this week by promptly seeking the nurse when needed. Overcoming fears and showing exceptional courage – he is a star. Showing true resilience. Well done Isaac! STAR STAR STAR!!!

ENGAGEMENT STAR!!! of the Week!

…is… Jack!

Resilience

Jack has had a bit of a tough time recently, but he has bounced back with a great enthusiasm and resilience to engage in all lessons. He is always first to say hello in the good morning session! Well done Jack, we are all proud of you!

KS4 STARS!!! Of The Week

And TREDS!

Teamwork

Joseph for supporting another student in maths

Robyn for being inclusive

Lots of people trying our new cricket club

Respect

Kayden for explaining his needs to staff calmly

Resilience

Shaye for getting involved more after a tricky time

Drae for keeping on trying with his STEAM project

TREDS

Teamwork, Resilience, Enjoyment, Discipline and Sportsmanship

Bradan for passing the ball and Andrew T for good goal keeping

 – TREDS STAR!!!!!!!!!

• this award is chosen by the students

POST-16 STARS!!! Of The Week

Loving post-16 this year! Great atmosphere!

Respect

Logan for being so kind to our new member of staff.  He was really polite and showing her round the school.  What a Star!!!

Resilience

Aidan for coping so well with so many changes.  Well done!

Danny for getting on with the school day.   Fantastic!

Keeeeeeep Signing everyone!