网红黑料社

Hi everyone,

Well, we鈥檝e been back for four weeks now and it鈥檚 great! The term is in full swing, all sorts of events, meetings and processes are underway, and the school feels like a good place to be. I hope that life is good with you, and that the autumn is being nice where you are

I hope you enjoy this week鈥檚 blogs from Eileen and from me: there is some good stuff about PfA to consider, and some serious safeguarding-type & behaviour things, and a message from South Tyneside if you鈥檙e from there. There are some excellent articles just under this one, and then some awesome stars and class activities! Something for everyone, I hope! And there鈥檚 always the rest of the school website and company pages too. And even, apparently some Christmas Cards 鈥� wow!

All the best, have a great weekend, we鈥檒l see your son or daughter on Monday, and thanks for your support

John S

馃槉 from John & the PHS Team 馃槉

How it works

• 3 Super-Steering Groups deliver our Key Drivers through our curriculum

• The Key Drivers are Communication, Wellbeing and Independence

• The Groups are Literacy, Physical Development & Personal Development

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• Literacy

Becky, our Literacy Specialist Lead, leads a team that improve all aspects of literacy, including writing, oracy, reading, phonics, books & the library! Here Becky is giving us an update on writing

NATIONAL POETRY DAY

We’re gearing up for National Poetry Day, as it takes place next week on Thursday 2^nd听October

The theme this year is ‘play’, which we’re excited to explore! Students across school will be able to listen to, read, create or share poems – including the poem which was written last year through contributions from the whole school! Students were asked to think of words to do with our school, which then turned into our very own poem – have a look!

Research from the National Literacy Trust (2024) found that听‘Children and young people who read, watch or listen to poetry identified significant benefits for their wellbeing, confidence, aptitude for learning and empathy’,听something we feel is definitely worth celebrating!

We’ll share more next week about what we get up to, but in case you have 5 minutes and want to share some poetry with your young person, here’s some places worth looking:

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• Poetry videos to watch/ read (arranged by age, videos of poets reciting):听

• Word Waves (a Literacy Team favourite, listen to poems or short stories with simple mesmerising illustration and optional key words):听听

• Michael Rosen’s youtube site:听

Happy Reading, Listening or Watching!听

Becky

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• Physical Development

Everything that is in the world of Physical Development, including physio, hydro, MOVE, PE, HI, VI, OT and other key areas for us, including Outdoor Learning, the John Muir Award & many other aspects. Steph oversees this

IMPROVING CHEST HEALTH

As you know from the听many听blog entries over the past couple of years, we are passionate about ensuring we create the right environment and opportunities to optimise our children鈥檚 physical development. This of course remains an ongoing priority. However, what we want to further develop this year is our commitment to supporting health promotion for all, including our children in school, their families and all our staff too!

We thought it was important to revisit chest (or respiratory) health, given that it is usually around this time of year when unfortunately respiratory illnesses can start to become more prevalent following the summer months. Chest health refers to how well someone can breathe, cough, and clear their lungs. Children with for example, cerebral palsy are at higher risk of chest health problems like noisy breathing, a weak cough, difficulty swallowing or clearing mucus. This often leads to repeated chest infections and is the main reason children with cerebral palsy need antibiotics and hospital stays.

Within healthcare, chest health treatments are tested to see how well they work. To do this, researchers look at the effects of a treatment. These are called ‘outcomes’. Outcomes may include changes to a person’s health, like breathing, or other important things like the frequency of time off school and hospital visits. Right now, researchers use different outcomes, and there’s no agreement on the best way to measure chest health. However, there is a nationwide study that aims to agree the most important outcomes to measure in chest health for children with cerebral palsy.

You might recall a blog entry last year regarding this same study inviting children and young people with cerebral palsy, their parent/carers, and professionals in health and school, to share their views on chest health. The CHESTI study remains ongoing and aims to improve chest health for children with cerebral palsy. To do this, they need to know what is most important to measure for chest health, both in research and in daily care – your voice matters, and it is our opportunity to help shape the future of cerebral palsy care by completing the CHESTI-study survey and sharing what matters most for better chest health. This will help researchers to test treatments in similar ways, and to help decide which treatments work best to improve chest health and prevent illnesses.

They are still keen to hear from people who know a lot about cerebral palsy and chest health. This includes:

• People aged 8-25 years old, with cerebral palsy and lived experience of a chest health problem, and their parents who support and care for them
• Professionals providing care for children with cerebral palsy for over 18 months, like health, social care, or education professionals
• Researchers or academics with an interest in cerebral palsy and/or chest health
• You are also welcome to share the study invitation with other relevant professionals or people with lived experience that may be interested in taking part

For more information go to:听听or watch their informative video听

You can complete the CHESTI survey by either scanning the QR code in the leaflet or following the below link:听

• 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 & similar areas. Jo pulls it all together

PSHE – Relationships

In 2LT/SH we have been spending time sharing news about ourselves. Our new topic is 鈥楳y family鈥�. The pupils are enjoying looking at pictures of their family members, identifying who they are and sharing these with their peers. Pupils are also enjoying sharing their weekend news exploring what they have been getting up to with their families as part of sensory news session.

My Family 鈥� great topic!

International Day of Sign Language

Each year on 23 September people celebrate the International Day of Sign Languages, to recognise the importance of sign languages around the world.

The aim of the special day is to remind big companies, worldwide organisations and global governments of the importance and significance of听.

According to the World Federation of the Deaf, there are approximately 72 million deaf people worldwide.

There are over 300 different sign languages and over 70,000 deaf people in the UK have British Sign Language as their first language.

EYFS – Celebrating International Day of Sign Languages: Learning Through Stories and Signs

In Ducklings Class, we’ve been exploring the story ‘Who Lives Here?’ 鈥� a mysterious book that invites us to think and predict who might live behind each door. As part of our learning, the children were exposed to the Makaton sign for 鈥榳ho鈥�. Each page of the story brought a new surprise, and we used our predicting skills to guess who might live in each house. Along the way, we discovered a busy cook making something delicious, a bold pirate, a spooky ghost, a brave knight ready for adventure, and finally, a boy called Dan, who had a surprise of his own!

Appropriate Accreditation Upper School 鈥� 4KR

Students in 4KR talked about the many different languages they know. To recognise the importance of signing as a language, the students shared some signs they were familiar with from their time in school and some students were familiar with signing Makaton. To learn some new Makaton signs, 4KR joined in with Singing Hands UK on YouTube to sing and sign, ‘A Sky Full of Stars’ by Coldplay.

Here is the link if you would like to try it yourself:

Chris Carr鈥檚 Cool Class!

So we another lovely update from Chris鈥� new class have been doing 鈥� love these! Let鈥檚 have a look-see

The lesson: I can make predictions

馃煝鉁� The Case of the Mysterious Green Slime 鉁�鹧挞

Something very unusual happened in our classroom while we were out. When we came back, we discovered cold, sticky, green slime spread across the tables, the chairs, and even the windows!

Of course, we immediately began to investigate. What kind of creature could leave behind such a slimy mess? Was it a giant slug sliding its way across the room? Could it have been an alien visitor testing out our classroom? Or was it actually a mischievous turtle who got carried away with its pranks?

Whoever (or whatever) left the slime behind, it certainly gave us a lot to talk about! One thing is for sure: our classroom mystery isn鈥檛 solved yet鈥� 馃暤锔忊�嶁檧锔�

Excellent stuff, thanks and well done to that lovely class!

PE with Nathan!

Nathan has started the term off at a great pace already and has set up all the clubs that will be running for now. It鈥檚 great to have these clubs so that everyone can find the thing that they really like. Let鈥檚 hear what everyone is going to be working on鈥�

In PE this term we will be looking at football, students will work on developing their teamwork, resilience, enjoyment, discipline听and sportsmanship alongside learning specific football skills including passing, moving into space, shooting, dribbling, attacking听and defending. Students will aim to develop their skills to participate听in a competitive football related activity听or game.

So far students have show great development in their communication skills and continue to show high levels of teamwork.

Excellent stuff鈥�..as is Andrew here showing off his footie skills…

Lauren鈥檚 Class!

We鈥檝e heard from Lauren鈥檚 new class already this term, so I鈥檓 delighted that we鈥檙e checking back in with them 鈥� and in the pool, a lot of students鈥� favourite thing!

2LT/SH had a great hydrotherapy lesson this week! Amelie thought it was so much fun getting into the pool herself! She also managed to float for 2 minutes without any adult support! Well done, Amelie! Vivie also worked incredibly hard at looking around the pool for things. The girls then made a train and both worked hard at keeping their head up and holding onto the person in front. There was lots of laughs and smiles as they travelled round the pool in their train!

Terrific stuff there in the hydro with Lauren鈥檚 class 鈥� nice one guys!

Andy鈥檚 Class!

Andy has some exciting news! To be honest, Andy鈥檚 classes are always exciting, especially when it comes to music!

Movers and Shakers Hit the Market!

We are pupils on the听Learning Skills Through Engagement Pathway听in 5AH, and this week we did something exciting!

Together, we set up an outdoor market in the Quad Garden 鈥� but instead of food, our market was full of听musical instruments. We looked around the stalls, scanned the barcodes, and used money to buy the instruments we wanted

After our shopping trip, we went back to the classroom with everything we had chosen. This was all in preparation for our brand-new class band:听Movers and Shakers

Next, we鈥檒l be rehearsing with our instruments鈥� so watch this space for updates on how our band is getting on!

Behaviour for Learning (BfL)

Aylisha and Corin have developed the BfL Team and are working on supporting our pupils all the time, in all situations. They鈥檝e been joined by Nicola and Nat, Sarah and Andrea this year to make a really important team for the school. Let鈥檚 hear from Corin now about what they鈥檝e been doing this week

This week the Behaviour for Learning (BFL) team has been busy developing a new training schedule to help staff support pupils with effective behavioural strategies. Starting later this term, all staff will receive regular half-termly training, including refresher sessions on NAPPI interventions and psychological approaches. We’re committed to ensuring our team is confident and well-equipped to meet the needs of every child.

We’re also excited to be planning our next听Resilience Day. The BFL team is working closely with staff to design a variety of activities that will help pupils explore and strengthen their own coping strategies in a fun and supportive environment.

In addition, the BFL team continues to work with individual pupils across the school, helping them to safely and appropriately access key areas such as the soft play area and hydrotherapy pool. Supporting pupils to engage meaningfully with their curriculum is at the heart of what we do, and it’s something we take great pride in.

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If you have any questions or queries please do not hesitate to contact the BfL Team

• holland@percyhedley.org.uk
• orr@percyhedley.org.uk
• 馃摓Call us:0191 216 1811

Early Years 鈥� The Ducklings!

Well, our Ducklings have entered their second year as a class in the school, and they seem to be going from strength to strength. It鈥檚 great to get these updates and pictures. Let鈥檚 hear from Kerry and the team about their week鈥�..

The new term in now in full swing and we have had some amazing achievements this week

Hayden showed some great maths skills ordering numbers from 1-10

Alli sat independently on the swing with minimal support from an adult

Aimee subitized and matched the numeral to the amount correctly

Rowan used the sand to make marks following the patten on the card

George made some lovely colours by mixing paints together with his hands, naming all the different colours he made

The children all enjoyed our story 鈥渨ho lives here鈥�

鈥淥ne little boy is very excited when he receives an invitation to go and play at his friend Dan’s house. But there’s just one problem, he doesn’t know which house on South Street Dan lives in. Along the way he meets some very interesting neighbours, including a cook, a pirate and ghost. But which door does Dan live behind? A wonderful game of dressing-up awaits. Will he ever be able to find the right house?鈥�

The children enjoyed looking behind the flaps and guessing who it was

We have filled the rest of the week with outdoor play, soft play and painting and building train tracks. Some of the children have enjoyed showing the others their 鈥渕y special people book鈥� this is a lovely way to get the know families and people who are special to them

Therapy Star of the Week!

Joshua!

Communication!

Joshua has started the term brilliantly; he has engaged really well in individual and group therapy sessions and has completed some lovely work with his Speech and Language Therapist. Joshua has been working hard on answering 鈥榳hy鈥� questions to support his comprehension skills and has demonstrated a good understanding of different question types and is working hard to give a reason for his response too 鈥� well done Joshua!

Preparation for Adulthood with Hannah

PfA is a key part of the School Improvement Plan. Let鈥檚 hear below what Hannah & the PfA Team have been working on 鈥� PfA is one of our very biggest priorities!

(Stolen from Darlington!)

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Your Voice and Why it Matters

As part of our new reporting system, we have revamped our Parental Contribution form.听You will receive this with the paperwork which is sent out in advance of your child鈥檚 annual review.听We have made these changes to give you the chance to let us know what your priorities are for your child as they take their next steps, and from Year 9 onwards, approach adulthood

As mentioned in last week鈥檚 blog, Preparation for Adulthood comes under four main headings:听Work and Education; Community Inclusion; Living Independently; Remaining Healthy.听It may feel as though it is too early to start thinking about these topics, but we would encourage you to start your research early, thinking about what is important for your child now and in the next few years and what your child鈥檚 goals might be in the future.听It鈥檚 a good opportunity to start having conversations and gathering information. A great place to start is on our school website!听 You can find the link听here听

Rest assured, we understand that needs, goals and aspirations may change over time, and there is flexibility to discuss and reflect on this at the Parent Visit and, later, at Annual Review.听It really helps us if you complete this form and return it to school, so that we can discuss it at the Parent Visit.听This is where we shape and propose outcomes to meet the identified need and can be taken to Annual Review.听The more information you can give us, the better the EHCP will be!听As ever, we really appreciate your input 鈥� it makes all the difference in the world!

If you would like to speak to someone about something PfA-related, please feel free to contact

• Hannah Fuller – PfA Lead
• Eileen Robinson – Family Liaison Officer
• Louise Finlay – Careers Lead

We look forward to meeting and planning with you over the coming year

And finally鈥�

We had a message from South Tyneside, for those of you from there

For the attention of South Tyneside students

All Year 11 pupils must complete the Post 16 placement preference online form no later than听30^th听January 2026听to indicate where they want to study from September 2026:听听.听Please ensure parents list听at least听2 preferences, as we cannot guarantee a place at the first preference and it is best to have a backup especially if the first preference is for a specialist setting e.g. specialist 6^th听form (Including 网红黑料社 School) or a specialist post 16 institution.

鈥�..from John & the Team here at PHS

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Our Key Drivers

Communication, Wellbeing, Independence