We were pleased to welcome Sarah Say, Clinical Nurse Specialist for the complications of excess weight service at Birmingham Childrens Hospital visited Bladon House School to discuss how the school and childrens home, work effectivity with young people with Prader Willi Syndrome. The hospital is setting up an early help and intervention service to support families managing children that have a Prader-Willi Syndrome diagnoses.
Emma Deloughery- Strategic Behaviour Support, Bladon House School
Sarah Say – Clinical Nurse Specialist, Birmingham Childrens Hospital
Heidi Crockford- Deputy Head of Care, Bladon House School
For several years, Gardening sessions and work experience opportunities for our young people at Aran Hall School have been a feature of timetables and weekly activity plans. Following the building of a purpose-built Gardening classroom, it has positively bloomed!
The new classroom provides an ideal space for young people and staff to pot plants, share ideas, store materials and learn interesting and useful facts about the natural world and local environment.
Our young people have always shown a keen interest in the nature on their door-step – and aren’t we lucky that it literally is right here on our door-step? Now they have the facilities to take their grand-scale ideas to the next level: chicken coops are planned and ready for building; fruit trees are planted; the poly-tunnel is bursting with plants and crops. It’s an exciting time for the young people and teacher Ewen Silcock, responsible for the Gardening projects.
Something that wasn’t quite so exciting was the inside of the Gardening classroom: although practical and ideal for purpose, it somehow seemed a bit dull compared with the promising plans being made. Cue Art teacher, Richard Morgan, who has been working with the young people on a variety of projects since 2019, and his equally grand imagination and creativity.
A transformation has taken place and when you step inside the classroom, it’s no longer like walking into any garden shed; it’s like being plunged into the middle of the rainforest! The walls boast an explosion of colourful plans and wildlife – it’s a truly magical vision. And what makes it even more special and inspirational is that it’s the work of our very own young people; everyone has contributed. Their mission – and, yes, they chose to accept it with the most impressive grace – has been a huge success and a wonderful way of blending the practicalities of gardening with the creativity of art: an impressive space where the imaginations of our youngsters can be cultivated with ease and flair.
Congratulations to our young people, Richard and Ewen, and thank you for sharing your talent with this transformation!
We are well underway with this half term book, ‘Happy- a children’s book of mindfulness’. We are exploring senses and feelings, constellations (including making our own!) as well as learning about new growth with some garlic bulbs! At Maple View we love a whole school text to explore a wider curriculum!
Thank you to the scary skeletons, wonderful witches & wizards, magnificent mummies & poisonous pirates. Thank you to everyone who took part in our Halloween Ball. Absolutely fabulous costumes and make up. Well done everyone
WOW! …what a week of Halloween activities we’ve had here at Pegasus. We’ve had Halloween book club, themed colouring, themed jigsaws, movie nights where the young people have all chose which one they wanted to watch … the most votes won! and a Halloween disco! The young people have used their communication aids and made choices for themselves.
Check back soon to look for our offsite activities and firework week.
This season we are pleased to sponsor the kit for Spondon Dynamo’s Spitfires. James Hurst, a member of the Bladon House School maintenance team has recently taken over as coach for the team. Last season they played five a side and have now moved to playing 7 a side and have a number of tournaments comuing up. James has grown the team, which now has 14 players.
Spondon Dynamos is a large club, with a lot of teams at various levels and various ages and supports inclusion and opportunities for all.
Thank you to colleagues Katy Brentnall, Head of Creative Arts at Alderwasley Hall School and Sixth Form and Dr Steve Grant, Clinical Psychologist and Head of Therapies at Bladon House School for sharing their expertise in the Autumn edition of Autism Eye Magazine. The article explores how the arts are not only fun, but done therapeutically they have a host of benefits including improving self esteem, well-being and even job prospects.
“Leaders and staff know every pupil inside and out” is the opening line of the inspection report for Rowden House School. The school was graded as overall Good with two Outstanding judgements, following an Ofsted Inspection at the end of June.
The report emphasises the success of the school in re-engaging pupils with a love of learning and the multi-disciplinary team approach and the attention of staff to thoroughly understand pupils starting points when they join the school, often after long periods out of education.
Inspector’s also praised the high level of care and nurture given to pupils and the exceptional skill levels of staff in supporting pupils to self-manage their behaviours.
In addition, the school received very high praise for its focus on pupils’ personal development including the development of communication and language skills, their involvement in the local community and having a choice of work experience settings, all of which helps pupils prepare for adulthood and life after school.
Ruth Nolan, Head of Learning said ‘We are delighted that the report reflects the hard work and dedication of staff to provide students at Rowden with a personalised and meaningful education which prepares them for their future.
To have outstanding grades for ‘Behaviour and Attitudes’ and ‘Personal development’ celebrates the way in which each individual is supported throughout their time at Rowden focusing on developing self-regulation, communication and life skills, which are the key areas of our curriculum.’
“Pupils thrive at this school” is the opening line of the inspection report for Alderwasley Hall School. The school was recently graded as outstanding in all areas following an inspection by Ofsted in mid-July.
Inspector’s praised the curriculum for its ambition, the staff for their seamless team work, the schools’ wide range of expert therapeutic support and the extensive range of enrichment experiences it offers, all of which they identified as reasons why children and young people placed at the school thrive in the way that they do.
The report not only emphasises the success of the school in re-engaging students who may have previously struggled in other settings back into learning, but also the skill of the teachers in closing the gaps in their learning, thus ensuring they fulfil their academic potential. In addition, the school received very high praise for its focus on the development of social and life skills in order to students prepare for adulthood.
Sara Forsyth, Headteacher said ‘I was absolutely thrilled to receive the judgement at the end of the inspection process. This is the first time that our school has been graded as outstanding in it’s 30-year history and I couldn’t be more proud to lead it. The findings of the inspectors are testament to the incredible work that our staff do in our school every day of the week. It’s hugely gratifying to receive recognition and acknowledgement of the passion, expertise and commitment of our staff who ensure that outcomes for our students are consistently outstanding. I have known for some considerable time what an exceptional school Alderwasley Hall School is and this report confirms that.’
