Newsletter - BeyondAutism Schools · Newsletter July 2014 Leavers Prom We held our first leavers...
Transcript of Newsletter - BeyondAutism Schools · Newsletter July 2014 Leavers Prom We held our first leavers...
Newsletter
July 2014
Leavers Prom
We held our first leavers Prom for the Year 11’s this
year. This began with a special assembly for the leavers
with their parents to celebrate their amazing
achievements and best moments at Rainbow School.
The leavers, who were Diji, Furat and Adam, then got
their Prom clothes on (whilst we had a celebratory drink)
and had a special photo shoot before heading off to
Covent Garden for a 3 course meal at Maxwell’s. We
even had mocktails to celebrate! The final treat was to
go to see the musical Mamma Mia in the West End.
They all absolutely loved it, and sat enthralled by the performance. At the end we all got up and had a
dance. It was one of the most special nights I have ever had, and a memory I will treasure forever, seeing
everyone having such a wonderful time.
Lesley Love
Head Teacher
Tenerife 2014
Our first ever trip abroad this year was to Tenerife. We took the
older pupils and it was a huge success! We enjoyed trips to the
Loro Park, the Medieval Castle, two water parks, the beach and
the pool. It was so much fun and the pupils learnt so many new
things. One pupil learnt to go to bed without his iPod; one learnt
to use the toilet when out and about; one to try new foods; one to
wash himself; one to cross a road; and many pupils learnt to get
their own food from the server, and just be generally more
independent! WOW!!! We are hoping that this can be a yearly
event from now on, and we are looking forward to taking some
different pupils next year.
Newsletter
Tram House Oily Cart visit
The Oily Cart came to visit us in the
Bradbury Hall for two days. They covered up
the doors and windows so no-one could
peek inside and we were all very intrigued!
They put on a wonderful interactive show
which the Tram House children thoroughly
enjoyed. Singing, dancing, bouncing and
swinging in suspended chairs, it was a great
sensory experience. Their show was called
“Tube” and consisted of tubes filled with
sound, tubes glistening with kaleidoscopic
colours and tubes that puff out gentle
breezes and the scents of the natural world.
Spencer Park Police Horse visit
On Friday 30th May we were delighted to be visited at our secondary school by PC Aly Whitaker and
PC Neil Davis and their wonderful Police Horses Gladstone and Lorcan from West Hampstead
Police Station. The visit was kindly organised by Neil and Frank Brennan, a retired Police Officer who
used to lead our local Safer Neighbourhood Team, who is now one of our School Governors.
It was the most wonderful experience for our students and such a great learning opportunity too. It
was amazing to see how the children interacted with Gladstone and Lorcan. While some were
content just to watch, there were also so many magic moments as individuals overcame their initial
wariness and slowly but surely built up from stroking the horses to getting into the saddle.
We were lucky to have our photographer at school that day and he captured some really fantastic
photos – lots of very happy faces! We are very grateful to West Hampstead Police Station for the
visit and delighted to have the opportunity to make new links into the community.
Newsletter
Other special events
It was great to see so many of you at our special
Mother’s Day and Father’s Day assemblies this year.
Both assemblies were so special. The Mums were all in
tears as they received their daffodils, and the Dads
were ‘Supermen’, dancing around in their spotty socks.
Both were a fantastic opportunity to meet together and
celebrate our Rainbow School family.
Coffee mornings
It has been good to see you at our coffee
mornings throughout the year. These are such
valuable times to have a chat outside of any
official meetings. Next school year we are
going to attach training to the coffee mornings.
The coffee will start at 9.30am and the training
will start at 10.30am-12pm. We are alternating
between school topics and other training. The
timetable for next year is as follows:
17.9.14 Read, Write Inc and Cued
Articulation
(Bennie Lesch and new SALT)
4.11.14 EHC Plans/Transition Reviews
(Andy Lusk)
14.1.15 Dealing with Problem Behaviour
(Lesley Love)
5.3.15 E-safety
(Carolyn Eyre)
16.4.15 School topic
(TBA)
24.6.15 Autism and sleep disorders
(Luci Wiggs)
Autism Show
It was wonderful to meet a wide variety of parents, professionals and
individuals from the autism community across the two days of The Autism
Show in June. This year, in addition to promoting Rainbow School and ABA,
we launched our programme of outreach, training and consultancy services -
an exciting range of services which utilise the knowledge and experience of
our highly skilled, trained and motivated staff. BeyondAutism offers tailored
training and consultancy services for parents, carers, professionals and
schools, and is certified by the Behaviour Analyst Certification Board (BACB)
as an Approved Continuing Education (ACE) provider. Using the latest
research into VB/ABA, our team deliver life changing outcomes for children
and young people with severe autism. Information on our outreach and
training services can be found on our website: www.beyondautism.org.uk/who-we-are/our-future
Open Days
Thank you so much for joining us on our Open Days
this year. Both days were a complete success, and
definitely worth doing again in the future! Please let
us have any feedback you feel will help us improve it
for next time. Any positive comments will also be
gratefully received.
Newsletter
Cricket 4 Change
Through fundraising by the Thomas’s School
Foundation (TSF) the pupils have enjoyed coaching from
The Change Foundation. There have been ten sessions
of cricket, through which the pupils have worked on and
improved both their sports skills, (especially their hand
eye coordination through batting and fielding) and also
their social interaction skills (eye contact, following
instructions from unknown people and waiting skills). We
thank both TSF and The Change Foundation for this
opportunity and hope we can continue working together
in the new school year.
Read Write Inc
As you are all aware, English is now being taught across the whole school and Read Write Inc (RWI) is our
current phonic scheme that we follow. There are 3 areas in RWI, Phonics, Reading and Writing and we are
currently focussing on Phonics. We’ve trained staff on the Phonics teaching aspect of RWI and this is now
being delivered by Class Leaders throughout the school. This ensures that we all teach and deliver high quality
lessons on the Phonics aspect (seen as the key area to make the teaching and learning process towards
Reading and Writing successful). Basic phonics writing and reading are part of the Phonics scheme. The next 2
stages will follow in September 2014. More information will follow on this as we have planned a Parent training
morning on RWI and we are looking forward to see you all there!
Buildings and grounds
It has been wonderful having the Bradbury Hall this
year. It has enabled us to use it for indoor PE and
Yoga, as well as assemblies and snack/lunch times.
The main room at Tram House has been painted for
us this year by HSBC bank volunteers. It looks lovely
and has really brightened the place up. We are
hoping to move onto two new projects in the coming
year: an Interactive Communication Suite and a Soft
Play and Sensory Interactive Suite.
Website
We are in the developing stages of designing our new
Rainbow School website. Our initial plan is to launch the
website in September 2014. The new website will be a
work in progress as we are striving to create a user
friendly site that will contain up-to-date and relevant
information about our school. Watch this space!
‘Outstanding’ & ‘Most Improved’ Pupils
Tram House
Most Outstanding Pupil
Parisi
Runner Up
Toby
Most Improved Pupil
Mia
Runner Up
Veronica
Nominees
Oliver, Kofi, Jan, Toby and Kenny
Spencer Park
Most Outstanding Pupil
Adam
Runners Up
Reuben, Nathan and Leo
Most Improved Pupils
Geerthan, Jonah and Niaz
Runners Up
Cassie and Aaron
Nominees
James, Zaak, Furat, Harry, Olivia, Ciaran, and Sid
Term dates 2014/2015
We have adjusted the school dates next year,
so please have a careful look at them. We have
had to align them to the mainstream school
holidays in line with the Government’s
recommendations to not allow Head Teachers
to agree to holidays outside of school holiday
times. We have also increased the holiday by a
week as we were finding it difficult to recruit
quality staff and to get maintenance work done.
There were also a number of other deciding
factors that were very carefully thought about
before presenting the dates to Governors earlier
in the year.
Autumn 2014
Term starts: Mon 8th September (INSET days: 4th and 5th September. These will be focused on School Vision, Performance Management, Government Changes and Team Building)
Half term: Mon 27th - Fri 31st October
Term ends: Fri 19th December at 12.30pm
Spring 2015
Term starts: Wed 7th January (INSET days: 5th and 6th January)
Half term: Mon 16th - Fri 20th February
Term ends: Fri 27th March at 12.30pm
Summer 2015
Term starts: Tues 14th April (Inset day: 13th April)
Bank Holiday: Mon 4th May
Bank Holiday: Mon 25th May
Half term: Mon 25th - Fri 29th May
Term ends: Thurs 24th July at 12.30pm
Newsletter
Uniform
Next year we are having a crack down on uniform, to
see how smart we can get. We are going to consult
with you regarding some changes to the uniform in
the new school year, so if you are buying new things
this year, I have highlighted in BOLD on the uniform
list (attached to this newsletter) what to buy, as
these are items which are likely to remain. If your
child would like to join ‘Song Club’ (Rainbow School
Choir) in the new school year, then they will need a
white polo shirt with the school logo on. More
information to follow on this. Please ensure that your
sons and daughters wear school uniform daily and
do not wear any jewellery in school. Please label all
clothing with your son/daughter’s name.
EHCP plans
From September 14, the Government are bringing in
a number of changes to the law for children and
young people with special educational needs and
disabilities. This should mean a better family centred
approach, with improved rights for parents and
young people right up until they are 25 years old.
Statements are being replaced with EHC Plans. This
will encompass all of your child’s Education Health
and Care, encouraging joint working and bringing all
the people together who are involved in your child’s
life. Parents will also get personal budgets to
accompany the plan, so they can have more control
over what their child receives. Every Local Authority
now has a duty to publish a ‘Local Offer’ detailing
everything that they have to offer children and young
adults in their authority. The Government have
issued a new Code of Practice 0-25 which details
everything in it (this has still not been finalised, but
you can see the draft if you follow this link: https://
www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/
attachment_data/file/304534/
Code_of_Practice_Draft.pdf).
Gifts and hospitality
At this time of year we realise that parents often like to thank staff for their work during the year. Whilst in no way
wishing to either encourage or prevent such lovely gestures we would like to remind parents that BeyondAutism
has a staff gift policy. Staff can accept gifts and other gestures of gratitude or hospitality so long as the value is
not over £40. If a member of staff were to receive a gift or hospitality of a higher value they have to disclose it to
the Head Teacher or COO so that it can be recorded and a decision taken whether it can be accepted.
Class changes
In September we are renaming all of the
classes using the colours of the rainbow. There
are only going to be two classes at Tram
House (Red and Orange) this is to make better
use of the space and staffing.
The other colours will go up in age groups
starting at Spencer Park with Yellow, then
Green, Blue, Indigo and Violet. The 6th Form
are going to be called the 6th Form for next
year! You will soon receive letters informing
you of your child’s class, supervisor, class
leader and tutor for next term.
6th Form
We are excited to be opening our first 6th Form
class in September, with pupils Furat, Diji and
Adam as our trail blazers, and under the
leadership of Emma Frew and Rich LeRoy.
Their new curriculum will involve Vocational
Studies, Work Experience, Asdan, Enterprise,
Community Visits and Sports and Leisure. Of
course they will still do English, Maths and ICT
and individual target work too. A busy week for
the students, I’m sure you’ll agree. They can
now abandon their school uniform too as they
get to wear their own clothes next year!
Newsletter
Pupil numbers
We currently have 51 pupils on roll, and are
looking forward to having 54 in September 2014
with 4 new pupils joining us. We were sad to
say ‘Goodbye’ to Henry this term, who has
moved away with his family to Milton Keynes.
We wish him all the best in his new school, and
hope he makes lots of new friends. Taiwo,
Kenny and Oliver are moving from Tram House
to Spencer Park in September. We know they
will continue to do well!
We still have so many families wishing to visit
the school, and many families hoping to get
their children into the school.
Staff news
We are pleased to welcome Emma Frew, our
new Head of 6th Form, to the school in
September. We have also already welcomed
Yllka Rexhepi as an ABA Supervisor at Tram
House. Yllka previously worked as a
Supervisor in Kosovo.
Holly Walter and Amy Sarrasin were promoted
to Senior Tutors in the year, and recently they
were joined by Russell Irving, Matt Le Blanc
and Lucrecia Arroyo. Sarah Larner is also
taking up her old position as Class Leader as of
September.
We also have a new Speech and Language
Therapist starting in September, Chloe
Watkins. She is an experienced SALT with
great ABA experience, as well as NHS
experience. We are excited about Chloe
joining us.
We are sad to be losing Sam Hoskin at the end
of this year. Her contribution to Rainbow
School as a Teacher has been outstanding,
and we wish her all the best in her new job.
We are also sad to be saying ‘Goodbye’ to
Cressida, our SALT. Wow, what an impact she
has made in a year. Cressida is off to broaden
her horizons, but we hope she will return to
Rainbow School one day. We were also sad to
see Melissa our OT leave to go home to
Australia. We are currently recruiting for a new
OT.
Lucy Ranson (Admin) has also recently left
Rainbow School for a promotion. Jacqui
McLoughlin (Admin) will be moving to Tram
House in September.
Congratulations are also in order as Tracy
Cooper has just passed her BCBA exam, and
Rich his Middle Management Course, entitled
‘Developing Leaders.’
Seal Class
We have had a busy and fun summer term in Seal Class. We welcomed Max, who made the transition from
Dolphin Class. He has settled in really well, which is great to see!
This term we were fortunate enough to watch a performance by Oily Cart Theatre. Everyone loved it! Jan didn’t
take his eyes off the actors and Parisi loved hiding behind his umbrella while they squirted him with water.
As the weather has been so great, we have been taking our Messy Play outside. Kenny and Taiwo loved
painting their feet and running across big pieces of paper, they also enjoyed playing with frozen shaving foam
and feeling it melt between their fingers.
We brought our shredded paper pit out into the playground and everyone loved it! Oliver particularly enjoyed
throwing the paper in the air and watching it fall around him. The playground (and some of Garratt Lane) was full
of shredded paper and it was a big tidy up mission afterwards!
Dolphin Class
Summer term is always a busy one and it’s been no exception this year! There have been a few changes this
half term as Max has moved to join Seal Class and Mia has moved from Penguin Class to Dolphin Class; she’s
settled in really well.
Our Food Fun and Messy Play groups have been popular this term with much fun had and mess made! We’ve
made the most of the warmer weather and tried to hold Messy Play outside…particularly useful for the foot
painting session. All of the children got involved and enjoyed slipping and sliding along the paper with slimy red
feet, Idris particularly enjoyed it! We have also created clown faces with fruit and ketchup, and made
marshmallow caterpillars with honey and coconut which left us all with sticky fingers.
Alexander has made great progress with initiating greetings, and likes to say ‘hiya’ to everyone when he comes
in to school. William has been working hard on his vocals and can now ask for ‘foam’ and ‘water’. This term we
also got to experience the Oily Cart production in the hall at Spencer Park which was amazing. All of Dolphin
Class enjoyed it, and Max in particular was incredibly calm and relaxed throughout. The Father’s Day assembly
went down a treat, I think Veronica particularly enjoyed seeing her Dad taking part in the Superman song; she
wanted to go and dance with him! Here’s to another great term after the summer holidays.
Newsletter
Highlights of the term at Garratt Lane
Penguin Class
This summer term has been a very busy one in Penguins. Several changes happened this half term and we were
very sad to say goodbye to Mia as she moved to Dolphins. However we welcomed Roshan and Yusuf and they
have settled in really well into Penguin Class.
As a class we have particularly enjoyed our yoga, messy play and food fun sessions this term. We did many
indoor and outdoor fun activities and got very messy at times. We really enjoyed playing with cooked spaghetti,
frozen foam, coloured ice cubes and making foot prints outside on paper. This term Sebastian and Zachary in
particular have made excellent progress with touching and feeling different materials and textures.
Toby has also made great progress with making eye contact when requesting. Adam and Kofi have been doing
really well in Yoga sessions and taking group instructions.
This term we also went to see the Oily Cart production which was a lot of fun. All of Penguin Class found it very
calming and relaxing. Adam in particular really enjoyed it and had a lot of fun.
We also had the Father’s day - it was very funny seeing all of the Dads taking part in the Superman song.
Zachary was very excited to see his Dad and was jumping up and down. We wish every one a great summer
holiday and looking forward to another great term in September.
Newsletter
Photo highlights of the term at Garratt Lane
Newsletter
Highlights of the term at Spencer Park
Class A
Class A has had a very eventful term with the addition of two new pupils -
Leo and Qatada. They have both settled in very well at school and we look
forward to their progress and learning in the new academic year. We have
had a lot of birthdays this term and we do love a party! Leo loves animals
and was excited when the police horses came in for a visit. Miya thoroughly
enjoyed our trip to Clapham Junction Station for Autism Awareness day;
she especially liked holding the money bucket and giving out stickers.
Olivia has made excellent progress with her walking around school;
she is now speeding up and down the stairs. We have enjoyed
hearing her voice as she has been very chatty recently. Sincoln has
had a fantastic term listening very well during his group work
sessions. We are also pleased with how much Sincoln is tolerating
change in the classroom specifically the toy shelf. We are extremely
pleased with the clarity of Johnny’s manding, he has been working
hard on his pronunciation of words he finds difficult to say. Johnny loved
musical chairs at the party! Cassandra has had a wonderful term, she has
been working hard on saying some vocals when manding ‘huh’ for hug and
‘buh buh puh puh’ for bubble paper, one of her favourite items! We are
thrilled that Harry is now able to vocalise when manding, he says ‘puh puh’
for paper and ‘sss’ for crisps. Zain has made excellent progress with his
sharing attention and focus in group work; he will now wait beautifully and
work hard when asked to do a task.
Class I
Adam, Diji and Furat are graduating from
Year 11 and Class I. It has been a pleasure
to have them in the class and they have all
made excellent progress since September.
Adam, Furat, Ciaran, James and Gabriel all
had a fabulous time in Tenerife. They all
tried new things and adapted to new
routines. They all enjoyed the activities, in
particular the water parks. Everyone was
very good with being away from home and loved every minute
of the holiday. Diji tried very hard this year at trying to get over
his fear of planes. He enjoyed visiting Brooklands museum and
made a huge step forward to conquering his fear. Diji also really
enjoyed looking at the racing car exhibitions. Sacha has done
really well when attending his medical appointments and
practising to have a blood test. Sacha has also been doing
really well with shopping for and cooking his lunch. He has become more
confident in the kitchen and really enjoys cooking. Sidhant continues to do
excellently with his SALT programme, his vocals are becoming very clear
and he is speaking a lot more. Sidhant has also enjoyed participating in the
various sporting activities we have done in school, especially Yoga - he
is very good at the poses!.
Newsletter
Highlights of the term at Spencer Park
Class O
This has been a great term for Class O. We have all worked very hard and
we have had lots of fun. Nathan, Reuben and Diogo all enjoyed going on
holiday to Tenerife with school. They had a great time and enjoyed going
to the Beach and trying the different food. Diogo particularly enjoyed going
to the wave pool, Nathan loved watching the seal show and Reuben really
liked dancing in the Disco every night.
Geerthan has had a fantastic first year at Rainbow School. He has settled
in to his class really nicely and is a lot of fun to be around. He has learnt
many skills this year and also loves singing in assembly. Niaz has made great
progress with his work this year. He has been working on his imitation skills and
following receptive instructions. He is very happy to be in school and has enjoyed
going to Yoga lessons! Hamza is doing very well with his self help skills.
He is very good at brushing his teeth and has been spreading butter
onto his toast.
We are all sad in Class O as this will be Henry’s last year with us. He
has made great progress since being at Rainbow School and we are all
going to miss him very much. We all hope that he has fun in his new
school and we hope to hear from him soon! I hope that everyone has a
good summer and look forward to seeing everyone again in September!
Class N
Class N have had a wonderful term this summer! We have really been pushing our
student’s abilities with the new assessment tools that were put in place earlier this
year. We have all really enjoyed cooking some delicious foods. Class N have
gained some understanding about cooking safely in the kitchen especially
around hot cookers and with food hygiene. The students are all aware that they
need to wash their hands and put on cooking aprons before cooking can begin
which is fantastic! Most of the students in Class N have also been attending
curriculum groups of Maths and English three times a week. They are making
fantastic progress, learning about letter sounds in English and number patterns
and prepositions in Maths. Individually, the students have also had
an excellent term. Jonah has been learning to use sign and has
mastered a few already! Jack has recently learnt to tie his shoe
laces which is amazing as he found it really difficult - perseverance
is key! Kofi has mastered some amazing Maths skills including
carrying during addition and Ben has been sitting at the table for
longer periods of time and therefore has learnt so much including
functions of items and labelling letter sounds. Zaak has had a
fantastic term, learning about sorting identical and non identical
items and Lola has shone in all the groups she attends, responding to the lead teacher.
Bushi has mastered learning sight words in the community and Natanya has worked really hard on labelling
common items found in the household. All the students in Class N have worked so hard and achieved so much in
such a short space of time and we look forward to their continued success and achievement in the coming year.
Newsletter
Rainbow School
48 North Side Wandsworth Common
London SW18 2SL
Tel: 020 3031 9700
beyondautism.org.uk
A word from the charity
Current fundraising projects
We are currently aiming to raise £52,000 for the equipment we need to convert
the old lunchroom at Spencer Park into a Soft Play and Sensory Interaction
Suite, and £15,000 to kit out an Interactive Language and Communication Suite
in one of our recently redeveloped outbuildings.
Soft Play rooms encourage mobility and expression and are an extremely
beneficial resource which can be used for a variety of functions. They also
provide a safe environment for children with physical disabilities to perform
mobility exercises, and this room will be used extensively for Occupational
Therapy. The sensory room will be designed to be a highly stimulatory
environment. It will be kitted out with a range of equipment including Bubble Tubes, fibre optics and a
projector; and children will be able to change the colours, sounds and ‘mood’ of the room. Staff will be able to
use both rooms as a way of teaching children to communicate, as the spaces will be highly motivating and
reinforcing.
The Interactive Language and Communication Suite will house a library, interactive listening programmes
and space for Speech and Language therapy or quiet one to one work. Resources will include computers,
headphones and iPads. The Suite will be a place where our children with communication difficulties can
learn to develop a love of books, and an interest in them. It will have interactive equipment so that children
who respond well to computer technology, rather than books, can learn to enjoy interactive stories in a calm
environment. The interactive suite will also be a calm, quiet space where they can learn to communicate, and
work with the speech and language therapist to develop their listening and communication skills (including
requesting for their favourite things, and developing clarity in their speech.) It will house our reading schemes
which have been carefully thought through to develop the children’s ability to learn to read, and also favourite
books that all children enjoy (such as ‘The Hungry Caterpillar’). The space itself is a beautiful Victorian
summer house, ideally suited to being a perfect space where children can be calm and encouraged to love
books and reading. We plan to have headphones on the walls so children can hear people telling stories too.
Fundraising highlights:
Beatrix Potter: Our thanks go to Rainbow School parents who ran their annual stall in aid of
BeyondAutism at the Beatrix Potter Summer Fair on Saturday 14th June. The theme of the stall this year
was dressing up and the stall did a roaring trade earning £362.58. We’d also like to thank anyone who
donated items to the stall.
David Checkley and Family: We were touched to learn that David Checkley (Harry’s Grandpa) had
requested donations to BeyondAutism in lieu of gifts at his 70th birthday lunch earlier this year, and we
are very grateful. The generosity of his friends and family raised a total of £395 (£477.50 with Gift Aid) for
the charity.
Sainsbury’s Partnership: Our local charity partnership with the St John’s Hill Sainsbury’s Local is going
really well. The store has raised over £100 in the collection buckets on their tills and we’d like to thank the
staff for their involvement in promoting World Autism Awareness Day.
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