91首发

Friday 21^st March 2025

Hi everyone,

Gosh it鈥檚 been busy here 鈥� but good busy, with lots of positive things happening, as well as the weather getting a bit better too! Read about some of the things below, or on Eileen鈥檚 Family Liaison blog, Joel鈥檚 Online Safety one, or the rest of the PHS and Foundation websites. There鈥檚 also some governor information lower down which might interest you

There鈥檚 some really good stuff today and happening this week: it鈥檚 Red Nose Day so everyone is wearing red or something fun 鈥� a pamphlet of jokes is going to be coming out soon! There are some lovely articles on trips out, assemblies, audiobooks and Early Years, alongside some serious stuff on SNUS, and staying safe online. Something for everyone hopefully 鈥� and if not, just enjoy the STARS!

I hope the weather stays good over the weekend for you 鈥� all the best and thanks for your support

Take care

John S

馃槉 from John & the PHS Team 馃槉

We have 3 Super-Steering Groups which deliver our Key Drivers through our curriculum. The Key Drivers are Communication, Wellbeing and Independence. The Groups are Literacy, Physical Development and Personal Development

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Literacy

Becky, our Literacy Specialist Lead, leads a team that improve all aspects of literacy, including this year a lot of handwriting and oracy (it鈥檚 OK, she鈥檒l be going into explain all of that) as well as reading, phonics, books and all sorts!

Audiobooks!

We wanted to focus a little bit on some of the fab audiobook resources out there this week, and the positives that can come from listening to stories. Research from the National Literacy Trust has found that listening to audiobooks can support children and young people’s reading development, however it’s not all just about reading – see some of the other positives below!

Audiobooks can reduce the pressure some students may feel when asked to read, and still allows for many of the same positives.

This article from the National Literacy Trust’s Word for Life programme highlights further benefits and some excellent places to find an audio book to suit you and your family.

You may also want to have a look at some of these free audiobook sites:听,听听or听. It’s always good to remember as well that the online Reading for Pleasure Library that we have access to, Picktatale, has the read along function in many of its stories.

Next week we’ll be able to go into a bit more detail about ‘Love of Writing’ or ‘Writing for Pleasure’ and why this is something else we included in our School Action Plan this year.

Happy Listening!

HarperCollins Children’s Books. 鈥淥kay Google, open StoryCastle!鈥� HarperCollins Children鈥檚 Books UK is proud to present StoryCastle: a children鈥檚 audiobooks, voice-activated app on the Google Assistant.

Tips on where to discover a world of new audiobooks. If you鈥檙e now sold on listening to audiobooks as a family, but you鈥檙e not sure how or where to access them 鈥� we鈥檝e got you covered.

Becky

Happy Reading & Listening!

Physical Development

Everything that is fabulous in the world of Physical Development! This includes physio, hydro, MOVE, PE, HI, VI, a lot of OT and all sorts of key areas for us, including all of the Outdoor Learning, John Muir Award and many other aspects. Steph oversees this and will ensure that an aspect is shared in the blog each week

FOREST SCHOOL

2HR have had a great time in Forest School this week! Everybody loved exploring the area, especially in the nice weather. We had so much fun acting out the story of the Gruffalo using the props!

Enjoying Forest School!

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Personal Development

One of the best things about the school and one of the most important for our pupils, PD covers PSHE, Wellbeing, Careers, Social Moral Spiritual & Cultural, Online Safety, Behaviour and similar areas. Jo pulls it all together. Let鈥檚 see what Jo and the team have in store for us this week! The inspectors really loved all of the PD we do!

Healthy Schools Award

We gained the Healthy Schools Award! I just got the certificate this morning. Thanks to everyone who works hard at all of this kind of thing, for PSHE, PE, Eating, Wellbeing and loads of other aspects of it all

It鈥檚 good to be involved in this kind of thing, connecting to people in our community and making sure that we are thinking about the whole young person when we are caring for them. It鈥檚 good to seek awards when they are real and meaningful, and help you to do a better job. This is one of those!

Wellbeing

Here are Andy and the Wellbeing Team about what鈥檚 happening this year in their brilliant Connect Challenge series! Go Andy!

Connect Challenge: Unity and Resilience

This week鈥檚 Connect Challenge was inspired by Newcastle United’s League Cup victory. It was a celebration of unity and resilience that resonated throughout the school community and the wider city, and it was clear how intertwined these values are with our collective wellbeing.

This week, we witnessed an inspiring example of community spirit in Terry鈥檚 class. During a thoughtful therapy session focused on kindness, the students in 3TW reflected on the positive impact that other people have had on their lives. The class showed their appreciation as they organised a surprise coffee morning treat for their teacher, Terry, complete with a handmade card and special biscuits 鈥� Terry was over the moon with their thoughtful gesture saying, 鈥淚t really has made my day!鈥�, and the pupils felt good about it too. Olivia said, 鈥淚t made me feel really happy!鈥�, demonstrating how being a part of a caring community can have a positive influence on your own wellbeing.

Finally, it was great to see another example of community spirit as Newcastle and Sunderland supporters came together after the cup final, putting their differences aside, suggesting that the real winner this week was connection and friendship

Therapy Star of the Week 鈥� love Therapy Star of the Week, especially when it鈥檚 some cool post-16 students!

Rebecca has been working with some folk in post-16, and here are her thoughts!

Some P16 students have been attending a weekly transdisciplinary therapy led social games group.听Initial sessions focused on rapport building with one another through playing games, therapists facilitated positive interactions by encouraging the students to select games they were familiar with and modelling positive social communication.听The students were encouraged to explore and trial unfamiliar games alongside each other, with us explaining the rules and providing encouragement & praise throughout to aid motivation & engagement

Some students were motivated to purchase games from a local charity shop to explore and share with their peers within these sessions.听The students were able to work on their road safety, money and functional communication skills when purchasing the games.听A small group of students also enjoyed engaging in individual games eg. completing jigsaws, in a shared space alongside those who are playing group games.

In addition, some students continued their success of learning how to play pool at residential by accessing a local facility to play pool, helping the students to explore what being social means across different contexts.听Well done everyone听馃槉

Trip of the Week 鈥� Christian鈥檚 Class going to the Sikh Gurdwara Temple in Newcastle!

Christian鈥檚 class go to the gurdwara! Fab! Let鈥檚 hear about it!

Christian鈥檚 class visit to Newcastle Sikh Gurdwara Temple.

Jay invited his friends to come and visit the Gurdwara, or Temple where his family go.

We had a wonderful morning and learned lots about the Gurdwara and the Sikh religion. 鈥楾he name 鈥楪urdwara鈥� means 鈥榩lace or home of the Guru鈥�. Inside was beautifully decorated with gold and other bright colours.

We listened to a demonstration of some musical instruments, a drum called a Tabla; a harmonium keyboard; and our favourite was the stringed instrument called a Dilruba, the name 鈥楧ilruba鈥� translated into English means 鈥榚nchanter of hearts鈥�. We even had the chance to play the instruments ourselves and learned that they are used during meditation. All the staff and students certainly felt relaxed as we listened.

We then got to watch a sword dance which was very acrobatic and incredibly exciting!

Jay and Christian even got the chance to have a turban fitting. We all think that Jay looked very grown up with his turban on.

We went into the community kitchen and were offered some 鈥楲angar鈥� to try. Langar is food which is available to the whole community 24 hours a day. Those who could tried the gorgeous food which is all vegetarian and those who could not eat the food were able to take in the beautiful smell that came from the kitchen and the food on offer.

Jay鈥檚 family accompanied us on the visit and Jay鈥檚 Grandad arranged for a priest to say a private prayer for Jay鈥檚 birthday.

What a brilliant morning!

Thank you to Jay, his family and everyone at Newcastle Gurdwara.

Behaviour for Learning (BfL)

Aylisha and Corin have developed the BfL Group and are developing it all the time

The BfL team are supporting staff with progress ratings for each individual student around their progress in Behaviour for Learning ahead of half-term.听 The BfL team have continue to support our class teams with ratings for each individual student, agreeing and implementing interventions for our students such as individualised risk assessment, behaviour support plans, individualised timetables and supporting class teams with different strategies that can be used to support our students with their behaviour challenges.

As always, we continue to work with our parents and carers to best support our students.听 We work to ensure there are individualised support and approaches in place to best support students here in school.

Exams with Kat!

Hello!

I hope all students are in good spirits and enjoying being back in school after the half term break, seeing their friends and learning new things at 91首发 School every day

The exams entry deadline for qualifications that run on the GCSE annual summer cycle and NEA Coursework has now passed and all entries were submitted on time

Next steps after the entries now are

• Establish the room set ups 鈥� who can be accommodated with who in an exams room
• Access Arrangements
• Invigilator assignments for those entered
• Prepare for this summer series
• NEA Mark Submission deadline in May – there is plenty of paperwork to be completed, collated and to be checked before the submission of marks to the awarding bodies by mid may, prior to posting the paperwork off to the awarding bodies

Here is to a positive next term with Easter to look forward to soon听馃槉

Kind regards, Kat

Early Years 鈥� The Ducklings!

Let鈥檚 get the latest update from what鈥檚 been happening down in the fabulous Early Years

Another busy week in Early Years!

We have had lots of fun outdoors again exploring our own continuous provision. We have made mud pies in the mud kitchen, we dug up the carrots that had been growing and chopped them into the pans. We bounced in the sun, and played in the water

This term has been full of celebrations and this week we celebrated St Patricks Day, making green rice. We had an Irish relaxation sensory session and story. We had objects to explore relating to St Patricks Day

We explored paint on a large scale which was really messy

Some children enjoyed using the story symbol boards to accompany the stories they were reading

UNICEF Award update with Rebecca

Since we gained the Bronze level of this award, Rebecca & the teams are already working on the next level. We particularly like this one because it puts the voice of the child at its centre. Let鈥檚 hear what鈥檚 been happening

This week as part of the work we are doing for the UNICEF Rights Respecting School Award, we are focusing our work on Article 9 of the UN Rights of the Child.

Article 9 states that ‘I have a right to live with my family if they can keep me safe’

This means that Governments should only separate children from their parents if it鈥檚 the best thing for them, and that Governments should make sure children can have contact with their parents if they don鈥檛 live with them.听 In discussions around separation, children should be given a chance for their views to be taken into account when decisions are made.

A child or young person may be separated from a parent in a way that respects Article 9 if:

• that parent isn鈥檛 able to take care of them,
• that parent is acting in a way that鈥檚 not in that child or young person鈥檚听,听or
• that parent is unable to keep that child safe and happy.

Knowing both parents

Children and young people have the right to keep in contact with their parents. If the State is responsible for them being separated from a parent 鈥� as would be the case if that parent were in prison or deported 鈥� then it should be able to tell them where that parent is.

Children and young people who have lost contact with their parents should be able to be reunited with their families if they wish.

Today is Comic Relief and as part of that we are doing some work in our Life Skills Lessons and PSHE around the rights of others.

As always if you want any further information about the UN Rights of the Child, or the UNICEF Rights Respecting Schools Award, you can find information at听 where you can find lots of information for parents and training in this area.

Beth鈥檚 Assemblies!

Beth is doing the LSTE Department鈥檚 assemblies this half term 鈥� and they鈥檝e all been so good. It鈥檚 great to hear about them 鈥� let鈥檚 have a bit more now!

The LSTE department are still enjoying our story about the arrival of Spring. The days are getting warmer (although the mornings have been very wintery this week!) so it truly feels like Spring is upon us.

We always start our assembly with our song, 鈥楥ome to Assembly鈥� then we sing a 鈥榟ello鈥� song

Our story starts in Winter when there is snow and ice around so we explore ice first. The rabbit in the story does not like Winter so he buries back in his den. The next time he checks, the snow is gone and he thinks Spring might have arrived so he goes to check.

We listen to audio of birds singing, look at flowers, add some blossom to our tree, smell the flowers, look at the sun in the sky (torches) and feel heat packs to reflect the sun鈥檚 warmth.

We end by looking at our cress. Christian鈥檚 class have kindly been looking after our cress and watering it for us, they鈥檝e grown so much we have sent them home and will plant something else on Monday. How exciting!

Parent Governor

Parent Governor Vacancy

The term for one of our current parent governors is coming to an end.听They have expressed their willingness to continue in the role, and we highly value their ongoing contribution. However, in line with our process, applications are open to any parents who may wish to join the governing body.听Parent Governors are elected by and from the parents of children currently attending our school and serve a three year term of office. If interested please complete and submit the form by 4pm on Friday 28^th听March 2025

Many thanks to all our governors for giving up their time!

And finally鈥�..

Football-related visits! Santi coming to Hannah鈥檚 class to see Vivie-Sienna!

Santi comes to visit class every lunch time when the students in 2HL are having social time. This week was extra special, as Santi talked to Vivie-Sienna all about the fantastic news that Newcastle had won their first trophy in 70 years. Vivie loved hearing the chants, playing with a ball and Santi also shared his scarf with Vivie and she enjoyed looking at herself in the mirror wearing it!

鈥�..from John & the Team here at PHS

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Our Key Drivers

Communication, Wellbeing, Independence