Rowden House School staff and students have the opportunity to learn archery with Richard from Really Rural, a local company specialising in countryside activities. Richard has a grant from the sport council and approached the school a few months ago. It has been great to see both adults and students experiencing a new skill together.
News Archive
Bromyard Scarecrow Festival 2017
Bromyard Scarecrow Festival took place on Friday 9th June. Everyone from the West Midlands Learning Campus played a part in making this year’s entry and we were not disappointed. The Scarecrow theme this year was ‘Weather’ and our entry was Yellow Submarine/Rain by the Beatles.
Well done to all the residents at Winslow Court for your fantastic creation.
We congregated at St Peters Churchyard just before 7.30pm to witness an extraordinary array of scarecrows who were taking part in the grand parade through the town.
We were joined by Peder Nielsen, Bromyard Town Crier and current Champion Crier of Europe and the fantastic Tenbury Town Band and our new Mayor and escort. They lead the procession as it made its way along Church Street through Market Square, along Broad Street and High Street and into Cruxwell Street ending up on the Town Green for a BBQ and entertainment.
The young men of Winslow Court were supported by staff to help parade our entry through the town, they enjoyed waving to all the people who came out to line the streets and encourage everyone along the way.
Whilst we were congregating in the churchyard and parading through the town the judges were looking to award prize money totalling almost £100 to the best entourage accompanying their scarecrow entry, a little later in the evening the winners would be announced and presented with their prizes.
Once we had paraded through the town, we ended up on the town green for judging and although we did not win this year, everyone had a great evening and we all decided we cannot wait to do it all again next year!
Rowden House School Summer Fair 2017
Our Summer Fun Day and Open day took place on Saturday 17th June and I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who worked so hard to make this year’s day such a wonderful success.
We all enjoyed ourselves, the sun shone, Graham, Matt and Floyd of the ‘Floyd Earl band’ played all afternoon, It was lovely to welcome all guests for the day to our campus; it was lovely to see so many familiar faces during the afternoon.
This year we had lots going on, sweet treats were served from the decking area on the top lawn and Legges of Bromyard, served up their delicious hog roast, complete with apple sauce and stuffing. Our bar tenders were truly on form and managed to sell out of all beverages this year. Ice creams were definitely in order and went down extremely well during the afternoon.
We had local store holders on campus selling an array of delights for everyone. Back for a third year was Emma from Creature Class Animal Encounter, giving everyone the opportunity to hold and look at her animals.
For the first time this year, we held a time-trial challenge, which took place on the main lawn. It was a huge success and I am sure it will be returning next year. Thank you to David for running this throughout the day, along with more traditional activities, such a wellie wanging.
Joe and Gus ran the coconut shy which was enjoyed by all who had a go and the stocks made a comeback this year; I think it was a relief getting wet on such a hot day! To close the day we had a traditional Punch and Judy show.
We had had some truly amazing donations for prizes this year, from Dudley Zoo tickets, Weston’s Cider tour to a big box of delights kindly donated by Tyrrells crisps. So many local businesses have been very generous and we will be very busy writing thank you cards next week!
The reaction when people look around our beautiful grounds is always so positive, everyone is amazed by how much space we have and how tranquil and inviting our woods are, especially when the sun shines!
On behalf of everyone at West Midlands Learning Campus, thank you for spending the day with us.
Summer BBQ with Work Experience Colleagues for Rowden Student
Rowden House School post sixteen student J attended an annual summer BBQ and party hosted by his work experience placement, Prometheus Medical. J took his father along had a great evening along with other work colleagues and clients of the very successful company in Hope under Dinmore, Leominster.
Sporting Communities. Bringing Communities Together through Sport
The Sporting Communities Team have been busy raising awareness of their work in the local community. They provided games and sports activities at the annual Chaddesden Park, Big 1 event, which took place at the beginning of June.
The Sporting Communities’ information bus enabled them to showcase their work with local families, finding out what activities they would be interested in Sporting Communities delivering in the local area.
The SENAD Group have recently sponsored Sporting Communities, providing funding to run their project for 20 weeks. The project is being championed by Chaddesden Ward Councillor, Jonathan Smale.
Pictured is David Walsh, Sporting Communities Community Development Officer
Join us at the West Mildands Learning Campus for some Summer Fun!
Thank you to all our Catering Teams
On a weekly basis our school kitchens cook and serve over 3000 meals, with over 60 individual diet plans or special diets. The catering team produces meals based on a school by school bespoke menu – no one school has the same menu as any other. Where possible the menus are created with the help of the young people who will ultimately be enjoying them.
Meals are produced using fresh ingredients – frozen or readily prepared food forms less than 10% of the ingredients.
Having said all this working on a fixed 3 week menu cycle can be monotonous for the young people and ourselves – it is for this reason that we fully embrace working with the schools to deliver relevant theme days, for example curriculum linked events, specific school focuses, diary events such as “World Book Day”.
Here are a few theme events we have worked on in the last few months:
· Japanese Day – A school cultural day, we produced a Japanese themed menu and decorated the dining room.
· French Themed Tea
· National Pie Week – The young people helped to create the menu and even helped make some of the pies and fillings.
· Comic Relief
· Easter Lunch
When creating the menus we try to source authentic recipes and ingredients, we then encourage the young people to try new flavours and textures.
SENAD Sponsor Community Sports Group
The SENAD Group have sponsored a community initiative for young people living the Chaddesden area of Derby. Sporting Communities helps young people to engage with sports and through this helps tackle anti social behaviour. They use public buildings and open park spaces to provide activities for young people to enjoy, engage and network with each other. Doing this helps to create a more prosperous, cohesive and integrated community.
Also working in partnership with SENAD and Sporting Communities are Pattonair Logistics, based in the City. The funding received from SENAD and Pattonair will enable Sporting Communities to run their project for 20 weeks. The project is being championed by Chaddesden Ward Councillor, Jonathan Smale.
Pictured left to right are representatives from Pattonair, the Sporting Communities Team, Councillor Jonathan Smale and Jenny Fearn Group Marketing Manager and Richard Atkinson Financial Director from the SENAD Group.
For more information about Sporting Communities visit: www.sportingcommunitiescic.org
Chief Executive Officer Addresses Delegates at International Conductive Education Conference
Brian Jones, Chief Executive Officer of the SENAD Group joined delegates at the Conductive Education Professional Education Group (CEPEG) 12th annual conference which took place at the Curve Theatre on March 11th. The conference, titled Conductive Education is our Superpower! was hosted by Leicestershire’s conductive education centre Steps and attracted 150 delegates from across the UK.
CEPEG is a professional group that supports the development and practice of conductive Education throughout the UK. Conductive education, which derives from the Peto Institute in Hungary, is a non- medical based developmental aid, which promotes independence for those with conditions like cerebral palsy and is not routinely offered by the NHS. Cerebral Palsy is the most common form of childhood disability affecting 30,000 children in the UK. Conductive Education is one of the few developmental opportunities available, but is not widely known about within the medical profession and society as a whole. There are around 13 Conductive Education centres in the UK, including Steps.
Brian delivered round table discussion titled ‘The acceptance of Conductive Education in the wider world.’ the discussion explored why conductive education remains relatively unknown despite being present in the UK since the 1960’s.
The Right worshipful Lord Mayor of Leicester Councillor Stephen Corrall opened the conference Steps Patron Rosemary Conley CBE gave the welcome speech.
For more information visit –www.stepscentre.org or www.cepeg.org.uk
Work Experience Making the Difference to Students Development
Susie Bateman, Work Experience Coordinator at Rowden House School has developed an excellent work experience programme. She has made strong links with local businesses and farms to create a broad portfolio of placement options for the students to choose from.
Susie works closely with the students supporting their choices and facilitating each work experience placement.
The work experience gives students an opportunity to transfer their learning into the wider community, making a positive contribution to the area in which they live. It also enables members of the local community to learn more about Rowden House School and see how positively the students can react to a stimulating and enjoyable activity.
