Oaklands School Newsletter

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Miles Cooper
7 years ago
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1 Newsletter May 2014 Volume 3 - Issue 23 Contents Head Teacher s News 1 Forthcoming Events 1 Sixth Form 2 ASD Go Fishing 3 S2: News 4 Grease is the word 4 S3: Gardening Report 5 Class A1 6 Useful information for Parents & Carers 7 Family Information Service 7 Planning for the Future Events 8 Dates for your Diary (See website for details) May Friday 23rd Last day of Term June - Monday 2 nd Pupils return to school April Wednesday 23 th St George s Assembly 2.30pm May Friday 2 nd Heads Drop In 10.00am May Monday 5th May Day closure May Friday 16 th Parents Workshop AM (details to follow) May Friday 16th Heads Drop-In 2.30pm June Thursday 26 th Grease Production by Students all parents welcome pm. July Tuesday 1 st Parents Evening: 3.30pm to 6.30pm. Website: Headteacher s News Dear parents, families and friends Once again we have had a busy and successful term. I was delighted to receive the news that Oaklands has been awarded National Autistic Society Accreditation. Staff and pupils have all worked hard to reach the standards for this award. The award will be formally presented at a special assembly on Monday 2 nd June at 3pm. You are most welcome to attend if you wish and to join us for tea and cake in the staffroom afterwards. I found it very useful this half term to attend the Naidex exhibition at the NEC in Birmingham. This is an annual event at which all sorts of products for people with disabilities are displayed. Our favourite products this year are included later in this report. When you visit school this term you will see that there is work being carried out at the back of our car park. This is the project we have been planning to create a vehicle entrance on Bridge Road This will be ready by September. There will then be a marked pedestrian walkway from the Woodlands Road entrance to the school entrance. This will make bringing children to school easier for those parents who do so. We have recently been contacted by the Hilton Hotel at Heathrow Airport. The hotel staff have chosen Oaklands as a charity. They are raising money for equipment for our playground. There will be a fundraising event at the hotel on Saturday 28th June to which you are all invited. Finally I need to let you all know that Zohra, our receptionist, is leaving Oaklands to take a promotion position at another school at half term. Zohra has done a fantastic job at Oaklands and she will be missed by all of us. I hope that you all have a great half term week. Anne Clinton

2 Page 2 Sixth Form Some Sixth Form students have been attending a Link Course at Feltham Skills Centre (part of West Thames College). Students go for the whole day and take part in construction activities and car valeting. The first construction activity was bricklaying. Students have enjoyed the new experience and have risen to the challenge of working in an adult environment, where health and safety is paramount. Four students in the Sixth Form are currently out in the community on one day a week supported work placements. They are working at St Mark s School Library, Adrian Hall Garden Centre, Lindon Bennett School and at St Paul s Open House Café. This term Sixth Form students have also started to run a café for staff in school., They take orders in the morning on a Wednesday and then deliver cooked rolls to their customers by midmorning. They will soon be branching out and making drinks.

3 Page 3 A2 Go Fishing! On Tuesday 20 th May some of the children in the ASD department went fishing at Syon Park. They had a lovely day fly fishing and caught 5 fish! Hemanshi caught 3. Siddarth caught 1 and Fahim caught 1, with the help of our lovely fishermen and Susan, Cara and Adam. After fishing we had a lovely barbeque and went out for some more fishing, followed by an awards ceremony. What a lovely day in the sun! Sharmila A2 Class Teacher

4 Page 4 S2 News This term in English we are doing general skills, instructions and Drama. S2 chose Tarzan as their performance piece this term. We have been learning about recognising and showing emotions. All of the students have joined in well and have made good progress, creating a performance that will be showcased in assembly next term. In ICT several of the classes are creating tickets and posters for the musical on the new software Purple Mash. S2 have also been using the software to explore coding which will be in the new curriculum in September. Ayomide in particular has shown a real aptitude for coding. Grease is the word! On the 25 th June, Oaklands School will be transformed into Rydell High as some of our students take part in the school production of Grease. It will be an all singing all dancing performance starring Nay Chi as Sandy and Charlie Price as Danny. Tickets will be available after half term.

5 Page 5 Class S3 This term all the students in S3 have been very busy working in the garden, which we have called, The Corner of the World Garden. During our community visits, we have been visiting local parks and garden centres for ideas. We brought back seeds and plants. We have planted potatoes, chilli peppers, tomatoes, strawberries, sunflowers, sweet peas, herbs, cucumbers, peas, aubergines, radish, lettuce and beans. We have used lots of containers including hanging baskets, potato sacks, small and large pots and the borders around the edge. Everyone has worked really hard planting, transplanting, watering, weeding and keeping our beautiful garden clean and tidy.

6 Page 6 A1 This term A1 have been dressing up and doing some role play for our story about a tailor and his magic cloth. We have also been reading a sensory story learning about animals and the sounds that they make. We have also visited Gunnersbury Park where everyone choose their favourite food and drink and ordered it from the café.

7 Page 7 Exhibition in reading Useful information for parents and carers There is an exhibition taking place in Reading on 12 th June for the parents and carers of young people with disabilities. It has been recommended by our physiotherapist as a good place to get information about services and products for young people. Tickets are free. Information can be found on the following website Recommendation from our trip to the Naidex Exhibition We saw lots of useful products at the Naidex Exhibition. This year our favourite was the adapted clothing for wheelchair users by a company called Seenin. The company produce neckties, clothing protectors and overalls, waterproof clothing for use in wheelchairs and arm and leg warmers. The company have a website at Family Information Service Hounslow Family Information Service (FIS) provides free up-to-date information, advice and guidance on all aspects of family life to parents and careers of children and young people aged Our service is also available to schools and any other organisations or professionals working to support families in Hounslow. We provide information on: Registered childcare (child minders, nurseries, preschools and out of school care) Children s Centres (services for under fives) Education (starting school and education support services) Family support services (early help, financial assistance links, general health services, domestic violence, drugs, and alcohol). Special educational needs, disability support services for children and young people (education, health, leisure and travel) Activities for children and young people (youth clubs, libraries, toddler groups) You can find information on any of the above and more by visiting our Family Service Directory ( which provides a searchable online listing of services, activities and information in an easy-to-use and accessible way. We also maintain Young Hounslow ( a directory especially for the young people of Hounslow, many of whom also played a key part in the design of this. As well as covering many of the services listed in the Family Services Directory, Young Hounslow focuses on what Hounslow can offer the borough's children and young people.

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