The SENAD Community Friday Club have been having a great time since we last saw them… Last Friday was Bingo day and today they’ve been decorating their own cakes to take home to their friends and family… or for themselves to enjoy!!!
Congratulations to Paul Burrows, Deputy Headteacher at Alderwasley Hall School and Sixth Form who was awarded Fellowship status at the Chartered College of Teaching in December 2019. The Chartered College of Teaching, is the recognised professional body for the teaching profession.
Of the half a million or so teachers currently registered in the UK and eligible to become members of the Chartered College, there are less than 750 who have been awarded Fellowship status.
The charter states “We want to recognise the commitment and achievements of the teaching profession. Fellowship (FCCT) of the Chartered College of Teaching is an accolade held by some of the most committed teachers and leaders who have shown a significant and sustained contribution to the teaching profession and their own professional development. As the highest and most prestigious category of membership at the Chartered College, it is a mark of your achievements, skills and expertise as a teaching professional. Additionally, it is a formal recognition and celebration of your ongoing contribution to the profession, and comes with a range of benefits. As a Fellow, you will be encouraged to support members and other teachers to engage with and promote the use of evidence.”
Paul is the first teacher within the SENAD Group to hold this accolade. Paul said:
“It all started with a tweet!
Dame Alison Peacock messaged me in May 2019 liking my Twitter descriptor and saying that she “embraces my positivity about teaching”. Since then I have applied for and become a Fellow of the Chartered College of Teaching. The values of the Chartered College are ones which I firmly uphold, namely: to improve the quality of education for children and young people by supporting teachers, championing great teaching and raising the status of the profession.”
Building work at Maple View School is now well underway. The work is due to be completed in February 2020. The adaptations to the building have been done in consultation with our expert team of staff to ensure that they meet the specific needs of the children who will attend the school.
Maple View is a new inspirational specialist school for children with moderate to severe learning difficulties, aged 7 to 16 years. Located in Mackworth, a suburb of Derby, the school is a short distance from the City Centre.
The School is purpose built with light, airy and flexible education spaces as well as quiet spaces and classroom break out rooms. The residential facilities are modern, spacious and homely. The school has a large secure garden and play area, all making Maple View a fantastic place to live and learn.
For more information visit https://senadgroup.com/mapleview/
Residents at Orchard End decided to brighten up their Saturday night by using their cookery skills to have a pizza making night. Each resident made their pizza from scratch, choosing the toppings they wanted. Of course the best bit of pizza making is Pizza eating!
Staff, residents and parents/carers have enjoyed a November and December full of fabulous Christmas activities.
At the end of November they were invited to support St Peter’s tree appeal at the local church by decorating their own tree as part of a display of over 60 trees. Our tree was named ‘Santa Clause’ the Festival took part over the first weekend in December and at the end we took our tree back to decorate reception so everyone had the opportunity to enjoy it. Special thanks go to David Symons, Art Facilitator and the residents of Winslow Court and Cedar Lodge for their time and effort in creating some truly beautiful tree decorations.
In December the third West Midlands Learning Campus Christmas Fayre took place. The Mayor and Mayoress of Bromyard joined Parents, Residents, locals and Santa for a fabulous morning. Thank you to the learning support staff who helped young people to make the items for sale. Thank you to Donna and Chloe in the kitchen for producing fabulous turkey cobs and to Dave and Amber for serving during the morning. Special thanks for Neil and Connor for their help with Santa!
The festivities continued with a Christmas meal for residents of adult homes and their families. Thank you to everyone who helped transform the rugby club. Thank you to Kamilla, Trudi, Leah, Julia and Martin for serving the meal. A truly lovely evening.
Parents of a resident sent an email to Martin Carter, Head of Rowden House and the Herefordshire Adult Homes, with the following message….” We wanted to email you to thank all the staff for a marvellous Christmas dinner at Bromyard Rugby Club. The atmosphere was really Christmassy! It was a great venue for it and nice to see all the houses together. We had a wonderful time, we were some of the last to leave! Debbie, Julia and Trudi worked very hard to make the evening memorable. Again, many thanks to you all for a wonderful time. I hope you will keep using this venue. Happy Christmas!”
Residents and staff at Orchard End recently welcomed friends from Winslow Court, Fairfield House and Park House for a curry night, celebrating the best of Indian cuisine and contemporary culture.
We are keen to learn about other cultures and what better way to do it than through a sociable evening with friends where we tried mouth-watering homemade curries and authentic side dishes including naan bread, poppadum’s, raita, chutneys and Bombay potatoes. We played traditional music through the evening and watched two Indian films. Guests also did some illustrations from Indian art and popular culture.
We hope this will be the first of many events as it was a really great evening. Sincere thanks to everyone who travelled to us for the evening. We hope to see you all back at Orchard End very soon.
Fairfield House had a fireworks and bonfire party on the 4th November 2019. We had lots of lovely guests from Winslow, Park House, and Orchard End.
Everyone had lots of food, there was a choice between homemade five bean chilli con carne and chicken curry. There were also chips and rice as well as luxury hot chocolates with cream and marshmallows! The chefs had been busy in the kitchen since Saturday preparing for Monday night. Everyone seemed to enjoy their food and the kitchen soon ran out of curry!
All the guests were asked to make a Guy Fawkes to go on the bonfire and there was a competition to judge the best. Fairfield and Park House came joint 1st! Prizes included lollipops and sweeties for the residents.
After the competition, the bonfire had several Guy Fawkes on the top to keep the maintenance team busy. Once everyone had eaten their dinner and the Guy Fawkes competition had ended the fireworks began! It was a super display lasting half an hour. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed it!
Thank you to everyone that attended our party and all the staff for their hard work in making it such a success.We hope to see you next year.
The importance of Occupational Therapy (OT) was highlighted at Pegasus schools OT open day. Staff, students and parents were invited to the day. The day was organised by the schools OT, Wilbur.
During the day Wilbur demonstrated a sensory diet. An effective sensory diet is made up of activities that improve focus, and help the young person feel OK (regulated) through the day. It helps the nervous system to feel better organised. This enables them to tolerate situations and sensations that they would otherwise not be able to cope with.
This term, at Alderwasley Hall School we have been developing life skills to use facilities and shops within our local community. At the start of the academic year, students found it difficult to complete shopping tasks and required lots of additional support to use a shopping list, search for items and use a check out manned by a cashier.
Re visiting a selection of shops and coaching the students to use cash, a shopping list and use the cashiers, rather than self- service check outs is now something that all of the students can complete confidently, calmly and accurately. This may seem to onlookers, a simple task, but for our class there is a range of complex needs that must be met in order to teach the students how to complete daily living tasks that they will need for their life outside of Alderwasley and without one to one support.
Watching the students develop these skills has been awarding and a self-esteem building moment for the students. As their tutor I have seen how they are able to regulate themselves within a range of environments and how much they have enjoyed completing mathematical challenges outside of the classroom. It is something they look forward to and ask about within the class.
The shopping task has not only been a living skill task, the shopping list has involved shopping for items to use for the weekly bake sale that the class have completed together. They have raised over £50 this term, which has paid for a trip to the National Civil War Museum- a recommendation from a student in the class!
The museum was ASD friendly and was able to provide weighted rucksacks and ear defenders for students, and also have a quiet sensory room for the students to use throughout their visit.
We would strongly recommend this as a class visit- an insight into a somewhat quiet market town, with lots of interesting items for students to engage in…. costumes, weapons , videos and a fake news interactive tasks. The volunteers at the museum were informative, engaging and patient with our students and it was a pleasure to see them enjoying themselves with their friends in a place that was new to most of them.
During Remembrance week, Pegasus students engaged in activities to begin to learn about Remembrance Day; why, what and how we remember. In preparation the students learned that the poppy is a symbol of Remembrance and began to understand the reasons why the poppy is used in this way. One Student made a wreath using cardboard, string, paint and used fabric to make the poppies. One Student used cardboard to make the wreath shape. He used white, green and red fabric to cover the circular shape. One Student collected spruce from the woods to make her wreath. Using a wreath ring she wound the spruce through the frame and attached material poppies to it. Students made poppies for and students to wear as a symbol of remembrance to wear during Remembrance Week. At 11am on Monday 11th November students held a minutes silence to remember those who have given their lives in conflicts. A wreath was laid on the turning circle, as students watched, in an act of remembrance.
Students visited The National Memorial Arboretum. Students placed either a Remembrance Cross or Wreath at a Memorial of their choice as a mark of respect and remembrance.
