91首发

Hi everyone,

Happy Friday 13^th! Well, I hope it鈥檚 happy for you anyway! How have the first few days of term been for you and your son or daughter? Good I hope. I do hope that they鈥檝e settled in now, and you and they have gotten sorted with any new classes, staff and arrangements. It can be a hard time of year, but hopefully and usually it turns around well after the first couple of weeks 鈥� so about now! It can feel like a long year ahead, but I always find that it whizzes past very quickly!

Please do talk to the class team if there is anything at all that you are unsure about or need to discuss on any level

And do check out Eileen鈥檚 blog and the rest of the website, or Joel鈥檚 Online Safety blog if that鈥檚 your thing. In this blog, take a peek at the Early Years news from our newest class! 馃槉 Or maybe our Mexican Menu for next Tuesday if that鈥檚 more your thing!

And all the very best! Have a lovely weekend when it arrives for you!

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 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!

This week, the Book Fair!

We’ve had a lovely start to the academic year with the return of the much-loved Scholastic Book Fair! I got excited just seeing the trolleys arrive into school, and I know many of the staff were the same, remembering book fairs in their own school days. Students have been enjoying exploring what is on offer, and we’re pleased that it is around next week too! The Scholastic Book Fair’s last day with us will be Friday 20^th听September if you’d like to take advantage of it

Can we also take the opportunity to remind you (and welcome you if you鈥檙e new!) to the Parent/Carer Resource Area on our school website where we have lots of literacy related resources.

There will also be reminders coming out next week for any parents of students accessing ELS about where to access anything you need, and information packs for new parents – but if you do have any questions before then please speak to your team!

Happy Reading! The Literacy Team听

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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. This week, an overview, as it鈥檚 the start of the year and it鈥檚 good to explain the whole concept

An overview of what Physical Development is in our school

Physical Development is one of our Super Steering Groups and is aligned with our Key Drivers and School Values. Physical Development includes all the things that we do that come under this heading, such as PE, Physiotherapy, Pilates, Rebound, Sports development, Outdoor Learning, MOVE, Occupational Therapy and much more!

Promoting physical development is nothing new to PHS, it鈥檚 something we have historically been, and continue to be proud of! Our integrated transdisciplinary approach ensures that we prioritise and optimise opportunities for pupils to enhance their physical health and wellbeing throughout the school day

What are our Physical Development Goals?听

• To promote a听healthy听and听active lifestyle
• To optimise听engagement听in听learning
• To improve听access听to听learning
• To ensure the听physical health听and听wellbeing听of pupils is optimised

Why is Physical Development important?听

Apart from the obvious benefits such as improving fitness, health, mobility and independence, there is strong evidence to support the benefits of physical activity on an individual鈥檚 cognitive function such as academic progress. Engaging in frequent physical activity also has a positive impact on individuals鈥� ability to develop positive social networks, resulting in camaraderie, teamwork & friendships. In addition to all these benefits, it can further improve mental health and wellbeing through enhanced self-esteem, improved sleep and reduced anxiety. Many of our pupils face significantly greater challenges than most, therefore improving their physical development becomes even more of a priority for us to ensure they reach their full potential and remain as healthy as possible

How can we achieve this?

We have an array of skilled therapists, therapy assistants, teachers, support staff and health practitioners who work at PHS. Some of which include our fabulous Physiotherapists who love all things physical such as PE, Rebound therapy, Hydrotherapy, MOVE, Respiratory and Postural health (and much more!). We have skilled Occupational Therapists who are dedicated and creative in their approach to ensure pupils鈥� access to the curriculum and community is not bound by their physical limitation.听We also have a Qualified Teacher of children with Visual impairment (QTVI) and outsource a Qualified Teacher of Deaf Children and Young People (QToDs). Their job is to ensure听our staff have appropriate knowledge and skills to work effectively with children with visual and hearing impairments, and to ensure pupils access to learning is optimised

Look out for our weekly blog updates on what we have been doing to support our children鈥檚 physical development, we can鈥檛 wait to share these with you!

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. A different aspect will be covered in the blog each week

Here’s Jo with an intro now

It鈥檚 been a wonderful start to the new academic year and the team here at 91首发 School are looking forward to supporting the personal development of all of our students

How we help our students

PSHE

Within PSHE this half term we will be covering the topic of 鈥淪elf-Awareness鈥� across the school. Use of the PSHE Association SEND Framework will allow the age-appropriate content to be delivered at the correct developmental for the child or young person

• KS2 鈥� Playing and Working Together/Getting on with others
• KS3 鈥� Personal Strengths
• KS4 鈥� Managing Pressure
• Post-16 鈥� Managing Pressure

More information will be available when you receive your curriculum newsletter and I will be available at all curriculum pathway coffee afternoons to show you our PSHE curriculum and the resources we use, feel free to catch me for a chat. In the meantime, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate in emailing me at j.ferguson@percyhedley.org.uk

Therapy Star of the Week

Love Therapy Star of the Week! Especially when it鈥檚 about Joseph!

Joseph from Andy鈥檚 class! Joseph鈥檚 been working on his physiotherapy goal, with his walker.

Joseph working hard in the sports hall with staff and utilising those skills to complete the 50m dash at the Great North Run over the weekend

Welcome to Early Years!

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This year we have opened an Early Years class, run by a great team. We already have four youngsters in it, and it鈥檚 just so lovely to walk past and see what鈥檚 going on. Kerry is giving us an update and a peek into what is happening. Here鈥檚 Kerry

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We thought we would just give everyone a little peek at the lovely area the children have the opportunity to learn in. We have had lots of fun this week, including an afternoon in the outdoor learning area – looking for bears!

We have a soft play session everyday which has been great fun

Our new outdoor learning area directly off the classroom has been used to its full potential come rain or shine

Some of the children have enjoyed a snooze in our lovely sensory room, while others have chilled

Messy time has been fun most of us going home covered in paint most nights

Overall an amazing start to our term

The Early Years Team

Finally

It鈥檚 Mexican Independence Day on 17^th September! (There鈥檚 other food available too)

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听 听 听 听 听 听 听

Loving the new Pilates Studio and seeing it in use this week too!

听听听 鈥�..from John & the Team here at PHS

Our Key Drivers:

Communication, Wellbeing, Independence