News, STARS, Beebots & New Topics from John & the PHS Team! Friday 2nd May 2025
Welcome to Percy 51勛圖 Schools Whole School Blog!
Hi everyone,
Happy Summer Term! Hope you had a lovely easter and that the weather was what you wanted it to be! Its great to see the children again although this is a very strange half term and only a few weeks long! The second half of the summer term is a more normal length, but it will be funny as this one is so short
Anyway, the summer term is always great! Theres so much to look forward to in terms of trips and events and sometimes its too hot! but in the main its just nice to be able to spend more time outside. Therell be the Prom, and This Is Me and all sorts in the calendar later too, including transition days to prepare for September, and organising next steps for all our pupils
Enjoy the blog today theres a lot of things for the first week back, and a nice mixture of fun and serious pieces. All the best and were very pleased that your son or daughter is back with us this term. Cheers!
John S
from John & the PHS Team
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 (its OK, shell be going into explain all of that) as well as reading, phonics, books and all sorts!
NEW TOPICS!
The start of new terms tends to mean the start of new topics, and this week we wanted to share some of the different reading experiences happening around school in classes
In the Learning Skills Through Engagement Pathway, students were introduced to a new sensory story about the Beach this week. Staff and students will be exploring all things seaside, in preparation for visiting the coast later in the term
In Early Years students started focusing on ‘Dear Zoo’, with lots of opportunities to explore language and concepts in lots of different ways – a classic book for a very good reason!
In Appropriate Accreditation many students were completing accreditations or doing final practises, however all students will be focusing on ‘non-fiction reporting’ this term. In Russell’s class this started with speaking and listening activities based on reporting things around school, whereas Kat’s class started by exploring features of newspapers
In ELTBA students are exploring ‘space stories’, with many classes introducing their themed class book this week. Have a look at some of the different books that have been chosen.
We’ll look forward to finding out how students get on with all of this later in the term!
Happy Reading!
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
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. Lets see what Jo and the team have in store for us this week! The inspectors really loved all of the PD we do!
CHANGING & GROWING
This half term the school will deliver the overall topic of Changing and Growing. Please see below to find out which sub-topic your child or young person will be accessing:
KS2 Different Types of Relationships
KS3 Friendships
KS4 Long Term Relationships and Parenting
P16 Intimate Relationships, Consent and Contraception
We use learning outcomes from the PSHE Association SEND Framework to allow for us to deliver age-appropriate content at the correct assessed developmental stage.
Please see information below taken from our RSHE Policy which complies with the Department for Education statutory guidance.
Parents have the right to request that their child be withdrawn from some or all of sex education delivered as part of statutory RSE. Before granting any such request, the head teacher will discuss the request with parents and, as appropriate, with the child to ensure that their wishes are understood and to clarify the nature and purpose of the curriculum. The head teacher will discuss with parents the benefits of receiving this important education and any detrimental effects that withdrawal might have on the child. This could include any social and emotional effects of being excluded, as well as the likelihood of the child hearing their peers’ version of what was said in the classes, rather than what was directly said by the teacher.
Once those discussions have taken place, except in exceptional circumstances, the school will respect the parents’ request to withdraw the child, up to and until three terms before the child turns 16. After that point, if the child wishes to receive sex education rather than be withdrawn, the school is required to decide to provide the child with sex education during one of those terms
There is no right to withdraw from Relationships Education or Health Education
Please do not hesitate in contacting me if you have questions regarding this, my email is j.ferguson@percyhedley.org.uk. Ill be present at coffee afternoons to share the curriculum and resources in more detail.
Wellbeing
Here are Andy and the Wellbeing Team about whats happening this year in their brilliant Connect Challenge series! Go Andy!
Connect Challenge
This week, our school Connect Challenge focused on connecting with nature by inviting students to grow their own sunflowers in a friendly competition!
Connecting with nature offers numerous benefits for our wellbeing. Spending time outdoors can reduce stress and enhance mood, while nurturing a plant and watching it grow encourages mindfulness and builds resilience
As we cheer each other on in this sunflower-growing competition, and as the weather continues to improve, lets remember to continue connecting with nature! Watch this space for updates throughout the summer term, good luck to all taking part, happy growing and may the best sunflower win!
And below, Daniel has been working hard to prepare several planters in the outdoor learning area where he is growing potatoes, radishes and beetroot. He is also growing strawberries in the quad garden
Therapy Star of the Week
Love Therapy Star of the Week, especially when its Nikhit!
Elliot has been really impressed with Nikhit all year, and was keen to nominate him today. I also saw Nikhit do a great maths challenge this week too so a great student we have on our hands. Elliot says
Nikhit has been hard working and motivated the for the entire school year, always wanting to push himself and try his hardest at every therapy task he does
He is always eager to learn new exercises and develop his strength and is an inspiring young man
Sports News with Nathan & Richard!
Lots happening in PE, sports teams, and physical activity these days! Lets hear from Nathan
This week in PE we took some of the students post 16 to walker dome to attend the panathlon competition, they all had a lot of fun and came away with a certificate and medal each
What is panathlon?
Panathlon sport offers programmes which provide multi-skills pathway across the Key Stages across pathway
Panathlon activities include multisport, swimming, boccia, football, ten-pin bowling, and cricket
Here some pictures from the day:
Fabulous stuff sport!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Behaviour for Learning (BfL)
Aylisha and Corin have developed the BfL Group and are working on supporting our pupils all the time on the best way to be in all situations. Heres Aylisha now
BfL
Here in school, we continue to regularly assess the progress of our students across many different areas.泭 All of the areas we asses form part of our assessment wheel, this has been communicated to you by John over the years.
The BfL team continue to support class teams with interventions that may be required.泭 Staff are trained to dynamically risk assess and support with behaviours of concern.
Interventions are implemented and managed by the BfL team.泭 The interventions we can offer in school are tailored to best support out students and staff.泭
We can offer a range of interventions here in school and the BfL team work collaboratively with the class teams and therapists in school in addition to external agencies such as CYPS, Early Help and Childrens Services etc.
If you would like any further information or support with anything relating to BfL, please contact the BfL team
If anyone has any queries or would like more information about this, please feel free to get in touch with the BFL team
- holland@percyhedley.org.uk
- orr@percyhedley.org.uk
Early Years The Ducklings!
Lets get the latest update from whats been happening down in the fabulous Early Years, hear from Kerry, and then see some lovely pictures which show what sort of a week theyve had and what theyve been up to
Welcome back after the Easter break. We have been straight back into a busy week and all the better for the nice weather
This week we started our new theme Amazing animals. We have been walking through the jungle, swimming in the seas, squelching in the mud down at the farm.
On Monday during outdoor learning we looked for bugs. Rowen found a new friend a little slug who he carried everywhere with him – it played on a leaf, it sat on a stone and it visited the den. Keziah read a story around the campfire meanwhile George climbed mountains, Hayden watched the birds flying in the trees and Amiee picked her own story from the story shed and sat down to read it
We have all explored the sunny box this week, feeling the sparkly material, talking about the pictures and what we could see, some of the children showed some great literacy skills reading the words without the pictures
We had our own hair salon/barbers within class yesterday – the children played so nicely together. (Im sure we may have some budding barbers of the future here)
Last but by no means least the Ducklings have some new additions to our outdoor continuous provision. We have been growing strawberry plants and will keep you updated on how they are coming along, and hopefully by 泭the end of term we can have a strawberry tea party!!
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 scheme because it puts the voice of the child at its centre. Lets hear what theyre up to with this at the point. Heres Rebecca
This week as part of our UNICEF Rights Respecting School Award we are focusing on Article 11
Article 11 states that ‘I have the right not to be taken out of the country illegally’
This means that:
Governments should do all they can to stop children being taken out of their own country illegally
Governments should work with other governments to make sure this doesnt happen
Article 11泭of the UNCRC says children and young people shouldnt be taken from their home country against their will. If this does happen, the government of their home country should make sure they can return
The Article also makes it clear that nobody should take a child or young person from their home country for personal gain. They shouldnt be abducted by anyone, including their parents. Countries should have agreements in place to make sure abducted children and young people can get home.
Work in school
This week in school we have been preparing for our visit from the UNICEF Rights Respecting School team in July, hopefully we will be awarded our silver certificate as part of this visit
Our student council met to think about our theme for this month and some of the work that we will be doing in our resilience day this month as part of the award.泭 The council are also visiting assemblies this week as part of Earth Day to talk about the work
..from John & the Team here at PHS
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Our Key Drivers
Communication, Wellbeing, Independence