School newsletter_Spring 2016 2.pub

Newsletter
Spring 2016
Dear Parents,
It has been an excellent term at Rainbow School. Our Careers and Pathways Event on Monday 29th
February was a real success, with a wealth of information available for parents and students from a range
of services, organisations, education providers and individuals who support young people through Post 14
education and beyond. Hopefully you will have received our follow-up newsletter with photographs of the
event, exhibitor contact information and a summary of our careers and pathways work going forward. We
hope you found this useful.
It has been a busy term for class trips - Yellow, Green,
Light Blue and Dark Blue classes went on a school trip to
Kidzania at Westfield, Shepherd’s Bush on Friday 26th
February. KidZania is an indoor ‘town’ with lots of different
activities where the children can role-play any of a number
of ‘jobs’ such as a hairdresser, a pilot or a policeman. The
students had a great visit to the centre and we hope to
return again. Red and Orange classes visited the local Fire
Station where they had the chance to meet Firemen,
practice using a real fire hose and sit in a fire engine!
We have also had a few special events at school. World
Book Day was excellent. Students and staff dressed up as
their favourite character from a book and we welcomed
volunteers from Octopus Investments and parents to read
stories to the students.
We also had 32 Mums come and celebrate at our special
whole school Mother’s Day assembly, where students shared
cards and flowers with their Mums. It was a lovely occasion,
and we look forward to Father’s Day in June!
Finally, our congratulations to Oliver in Green Class who was
awarded the Jack Petchey Achievement Award for making
outstanding progress this term. Since 1999, the Jack Petchey
foundation has given £100 million to support youth projects and
awarding achievement. Almost 2,000 schools, colleges and
youth organisations throughout London and the UK run the
Achievement Award scheme, and this is the first time we
have ever run the scheme here at Rainbow School. We
will soon be running nominations for our next student
winner. We also congratulate Rich LeRoy who was
chosen as the staff award winner for this term.
Bennie Lesch
Head of Lower School
David Anthony
Head of Upper School
Newsletter
Staffing and Recruitment
We have promoted Ina Perera and Pat Marcinkowska to the role of Class Leader. Seth Broadribb Larkin, Ana
Marta Huffstot and Ivan Prskalo have also been promoted to the role of Senior Tutor. Andrew Beveridge and
Diana Teixeira are both promoted to acting Senior Tutor.
We are sad to say goodbye to Michaela Milesi, Amelia Hartnett, Marsha Lee-Thompson, Laura Pla Silvestra,
and Beth Page. We’d like to thank them all for their hard work and wish them the best of luck in their future
endeavours!
We welcomed Clodagh O’Reilly to the SaLT team this term, she is working closely with Chloe Watkins, our
Senior SaLT who is also now on the Senior Leadership Team. We also welcome Reynardo, our new part time
Site Manager (who will be working from 3pm – 7pm each day at Spencer Park) and ABA Tutors Ewa Szumna,
Lucy Bostock, Filipa Nogueira and Molly Talmage.
We have successfully recruited two new OT’s - Eleni Zachmanoglou will take the role of the Senior SaLT,
joining the Senior Leadership Team. Aimee Wardwill be full time and line manged by Eleni Zachmanoglou.
They will both start after Easter.
We currently have a nursing student undertaking a 6-week community placement and we have 4 volunteers
that help out 1-3 days a week at Spencer Park. One of them is an OT volunteer.
Board of Governors update
We look forward to welcoming Joy O’Neill to the organisation. Joy will be appointed to the role of Chair of
Governors and to the Board of Trustees on 19th April.
We would like to say a very big thank you to Sam Rospigliosi for her hard work and contribution to the school
as a Parent Governor. Sam has now stepped down from this role and we will be electing a new Parent
Governor in the summer term.
Forthcoming Events
Wednesday 20th April - Parent Coffee and
Training Morning: Accessing support for disabled
children including short breaks and respite,
challenging decisions and a brief reference to EHC
Plans.
Term Dates 2015/2016
Summer 2016
Term starts:
Mon 11th April
Friday 17th June - Whole school Father’s Day
Assembly
Bank Holiday: Mon 2nd May
Friday 24th June - Parent Coffee and Training
Morning: Sleep Disorders
Bank Holiday: Mon 30th May
Tuesday 28th June - Parent Open Day, Garratt
Lane site
Wednesday 29th June - Parent Open Day,
Spencer Park site
Date TBA - Parent Training on ‘Sexuality &
Sexuality Instruction with Learners with Autism
Spectrum Disorders
Half term:
Mon 30th May - Fri 3rd June
(Inset day: Monday 6th June)
Term ends:
Fri 22nd July at 12.30pm
Newsletter
Tram House move to Floreat
When the school returns from the Easter break
on Monday 11th April, the staff and students
based at the Tram House site will have relocated
to Floreat School.
The address of this site is:
305 Garratt Lane, Earlsfield SW18 4EQ.
Rainbow School has its own entrance at the side
of the building (see street view below).
Please note the new phone number for this
site: 020 3031 9707. The old number (020 8897
7700) will no longer be in use as of 8th April.
LA’s and transport have been informed of the
move. Transition arrangements were made for
students during the last week of term and Tram
House parents and staff have had the
opportunity to visit the school.
Going forward we will refer to this location as our
‘Garratt Lane’ site.
This is a very exciting change for the pupils and
school. We look forward to working together and
building a positive and strong relationship with
Floreat School.
Parent Facebook Group
A successful pilot of a parent Facebook
group has been run with the Tram
House parents, and this will now be
opened out for all parents to join. We
will be sending out invitations to the group during
the Easter break, along with a letter providing
more information on its purpose and a code of
conduct for its use.
Parent Training
This term we have had a parent coffee morning
with training on SaLT tips, and a coffee
morning to say goodbye to Lesley. Our last
coffee morning was tied in with World Book
Day and parents were invited to come in and
read to some of our students in the school.
Cat Bradly is running a Makaton Beginners
Workshop with parents, which provides a
practical introduction to the Makaton Language
Programme. Sessions include discussing
commonly asked questions, hints and tips for
effective signing and symbol use and how to
start using Makaton in everyday situations at
home or work.
Chloe Watkins will soon be running a parent
training session on Cued Articulation and we
are planning a parent training session for the
summer term on ‘Sexuality & Sexuality
Instruction with Learners with Autism Spectrum
Disorders’.
Staff Training and Conferences
• Three members of staff recently attended a 3-day
residential ‘Introduction to ABA’ course with Dr VJ
Carbone.
• Tracy Cooper and Mikaela Green provided
Governors in the Children and Families
Committee with information on ‘Ethics: BACB
guidelines’.
• All Senior Tutors have completed First Aid
training and all First Aiders will be trained in the
safe administration of medication.
• Our two trainee teachers have completed their 6
week placements at Sunnyhill Primary School.
• Three senior staff members attended medication
training at Jigsaw school. This was very
informative and we are in the process of updating
our systems internally according to the new
guidelines as set out by the DfE in January 2016.
Newsletter
Highlights of the term
Red Class
Red Class have had an excellent term. In the first half of term we
enjoyed looking at the topic ‘people in our community’ where
through activities set up for the Early Years Foundation Curriculum
we explored police, firefighters, doctors, vets and postmen. Whilst
exploring this topic the pupils particularly enjoyed their trip to
Wandsworth fire station. At the fire station we got to ride the fire
engine, try on the helmets and spray the hose. The pupils
particularly loved spraying the hoses and trying to get their teachers with the water. In the second half of term
we have been looking at books by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. Our favourite book has been the
‘Gruffalo’ and we have enjoyed a variety of different activities themed around the ‘Gruffalo’. We have also been
looking at ‘A Squash and a Squeeze’, and everyone has enjoyed playing in our role play farm. We hope you
have a lovely Easter break, and are looking forward to settling in at Floreat next term.
Orange Class
It has been yet another excellent term for Orange Class! We had the chance to visit the fire station and saw a
firefighter slide down the emergency pole when the fire alarm went off. We also experienced the life of a
firefighter: sitting in the fire engine with the fire hat and (with some
help) using the fire hose! Every Tuesday we have been going to
Vauxhall Farm where we see various animals, such as sheep and
chickens, and learn horse riding. Every Friday we have been
swimming and the pupils have worked really hard on their
individual swimming targets. A very memorable event of this term
was World Book Day. We dressed up as our favourite book
characters and some parents and volunteers came in to read
books with us. Throughout the term we have been reading the
Alex Scheffler books “Gruffalo” and “A Squash and a Squeeze”.
Following the topic, pupils have felt and tasted different food items
while making their own Gruffalo faces.
Yellow Class
Yellow Class have been enjoying the spring term, and particularly the
sunshine that has recently appeared! We spent the first half of the term
with an Art focus where we did some clay modelling – each pupil got to
make their own clay hand shaped bowl, which was left to dry and then
painted in bright colours the following week. We then made a Yellow Class
clay bowl where each student made a clay hand which we stuck together
to make one large bowl of all the pupils’ hands - the plan is to use this as a
class fruit bowl!
For the second half of spring term we have been working on Food
Technology once a week where the class have been learning sandwich
making skills – for some pupils this has been a focus on using a knife to
spread, whilst others have been practising making the whole sandwich
themselves. In honour of World Book Day in the second half of term we
chose an author to focus on in our Story Time each week – Giles Andreae
was the chosen one for Yellow Class. We have been reading ‘Giraffe’s Can’t
Dance’, which is a lovely story about being confident to be yourself. The
students seem to have enjoyed the book and we like to stand up and try our
own dance moves at the end of the story!
Newsletter
Highlights of the term
Green Class
This term has been an eventful and enjoyable one for Green Class! We visited Kidzania,
which the pupils all thoroughly enjoyed. They had the opportunity to act out different
occupations (being a pilot or a chocolatier were their favourites). They also generalised
their skills across different environments and thoroughly enjoyed their time there.
We have had a lot of fun learning to make pancakes in food tech; using ingredients to
make the mixture and tasting pancakes with different toppings.
Green Class also participated in World Book Day and enjoyed listening to stories being
read by parents and volunteers, joining in with actions and labelling items within the book.
All of the pupils have become more confident in the water this term - learning to swim on
their front or back with support, and being able to kick their legs independently. Green
Class also enjoyed their art lesson making Mother’s Day cards for the Mother’s Day
assembly - they practiced their cutting and gluing skills, and identified
different colours and materials. They also love the songs we practice
daily for assembly, making good attempts to either sing or sign.
This term had a theme of authors, to tie in with World Book Day. Green
Class’ author was ‘Dr Seuss’, and we listened to the story of ‘The Cat in
the Hat’. The pupils also made a ‘Cat in the Hat’ mask, copying an
image with minimal prompts. It has been a busy term but one where all
pupils made tremendous progress in all areas, and participated in a
variety of enjoyable events. Sadly this term, we said bye bye to Mrs
Love! However, she didn’t go without playing a very fun game of musical
chairs. All the children of Yellow and Green Class joined in and giggled
all the way through.
Light Blue Class
Light Blue Class have had an exciting spring term. This term we have focused on two different topics, vocations
and the author ‘Dr Seuss’. As part of our vocations theme we read lots of different books about different jobs in
the community. We were also lucky enough to visit ‘Kidzania’, a centre where pupils can experience different
vocations such as hairdressing, being a DJ and being fire fighters. This trip was a great experience for the pupils
to try first hand potential future jobs, hairdressing being a firm favourite in Light Blue Class.
During the second half of term Light Blue took part in focused sessions based on ‘Dr Seuss’ books. Art sessions
saw the pupils copy colourful art work from the stories. During reading sessions, pupils focused on reading the
different words and counting animals and objects within the books.
Light Blue Class has had a great term and looks forward to summer term!
Newsletter
Highlights of the term at Spencer Park
Dark Blue Class
Dark Blue Class have had a
busy and exciting term this
spring, taking part in a range of
activities and a trip. The theme
for the first half of spring term
was ‘Jobs’ and the class
explored this through art, story
time and a trip. In art the class
made piggy banks over the
course of the half term out of
plastic bottles and paper mâché. Our class book for the term was ‘Farmer Duck’ which the children enjoyed,
especially engaging with the puppets and talking about all the farm animals. At the start of the second half of term
we visited Kidzania in Westfield shopping centre to try out some different jobs and places people work. Dance
and music were popular choices, along with the hair salon. Some of the class were able to buy things they liked
from the shop with their hard earned Kidzania money. This term Dark Blue Class have made mugs for staff as
part of their ASDAN enterprise project and earnt money for the class to spend. They have also been learning to
make chocolate cornflake cakes as part of our ‘Roald Dahl’ theme and have enjoyed reading ‘Charlie and the
Chocolate Factory’ and singing along to the songs.
Indigo Class
Indigo Class has had a fantastic term. The class as a whole
have begun to take a more active role in the community.
Everyone has started to take more care of their environment
inside and outside of the school from recycling to the
consciousness of clearing up after themselves.
The class have all been working on
shopping, with trips to Sainsbury's where
they have been encouraged to buy some of
their favourite healthy foods. This has given
them all an opportunity to work on handling
money, crossing the road safely and
transitioning in the community, which have
all been a huge success!
This term the pupils have also been
encouraged to take a look at and try
different types of food that are healthy and
unhealthy. They have also been learning
about what makes a balanced and unbalanced diet although the love for chocolate and crisps still remains
strong!
Victorian day was a huge success - the pupils all tried on
Victorian attire and had a fun day where they took part in
Victorian lessons, looked at Victorian artefacts and had fun
playing a range of Victorian games.
Newsletter
Highlights of the term at Spencer Park
Violet Class
Spring term in Violet Class has been one full of exciting opportunities and
learning. The students have been working on increasing their own
independence and friendships within the class. They have also all been
working towards gaining an Entry Level ASDAN qualification in Personal
Progress both in our weekly group lesson and during one to one teaching.
The ASDAN certificate is a useful qualification for both further study and
employment. Half of the members of Violet Class have been taking part in
group swimming lessons during our weekly swimming trip, working on
breathing out in the water and turning their heads to each side to breathe in
again – of course as well as having lots of fun.
Rainbow Café continues to be a success! The students have learnt the
ropes and are becoming increasingly more independent in both cooking
and serving lunch – some weeks for up to 40 staff members! Our current
menu of jacket potatoes, chilli con carne, hotdogs and burgers gives
students the opportunity to practise their skills whilst offering a varied
selection to the staff. With the temperature hopefully increasing in the
summer term, we might have to start thinking about changing our menu.
We can’t talk about the last term without mentioning our involvement in
Rainbow School’s Christmas production of ‘Joseph and the Amazing
Technicolour Dream Coat’. All of the students involved loved playing their roles and have had the DVD on repeat
in class! We look forward to the summer term!
6th Form
Sixth Form has had a great term. We have enjoyed working on our
community skills; we have been going regularly to the gym, and on
weekly visits to Lambeth College where we have been taking part
in cooking classes.
Trips to Nando’s are a weekly highlight for all students who are
learning to independently order and eat at a restaurant.
Particularly exciting are the work experience placements that all
students have been taking part in; these have included developing
office skills, working in a card shop, a charity shop, café and
working in a horse stable.
In the summer term we are
looking forward to returning to
roots and shoots, an
environment science centre in
South London.
Newsletter
A word from the charity
Tracie Linehan, CEO
We have seen a lot of change this term. The new school leadership team are doing a fantastic job of steadying
the ship whilst ensuring that it continues to move forwards, keeping the children and young people at the heart of
everything we do. I have shared the outline of our proposed organisational 5 year strategy – Empowering
People, Launching Lives and continue to work with the Board of Trustees to agree and publicise this. The
summer months are coming, bringing warmth and longer days – I look forward to all we will achieve together.
Quiz
The annual BeyondAutism Quiz Night is on Wednesday 4th May from 7-11pm at the Civic Suite in
Wandsworth Town Hall.
This is always a fantastic event for us - last year it raised over £12k! The evening starts with a prosecco
reception, followed by a quiz and a gourmet fish and chip supper provided by the award-winning Fish Club.
There will also be a raffle with amazing prizes and a silent auction.
Tickets for the event are £35pp, on tables of 10. If you would like to buy a ticket or reserve a table please email
[email protected].
Superhero run
This year, we are proud to have a 25-strong staff team running in the 2016 Superhero Run in Regent’s Park on
Sunday 15th May, to raise much-needed funds for Rainbow School’s Rainy Day Fund!
If you’d like to sponsor our Superheroes and help raise as much money as possible for the Rainy Day Fund,
please visit http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fund/Superhero.
You can also show your support by coming along to the race to cheer our runners around the course! Please
get in touch with Naomi Glancy on [email protected] or 020 3031 9705 for details.
Charity partnerships
• Octopus Investments has chosen BeyondAutism as one of their 5 charity partners for 2016, and are pulling
out all the stops to support Rainbow School and the Tram House Appeal this year, including: over 1,000
volunteer hours, funding for class trips, helping to organise the school’s annual sports day, pro-bono support,
and a significant grant towards the Tram House Appeal.
• The brand new M&S Southfields Foodhall, which opened their doors on 3rd February, has named
BeyondAutism as their charity of the year – they will be supporting us with a number of activities and events
throughout the year, ranging from sponsored walks and runs and bag packing, to cake bakes and in-store
raffles.
• Manheim Wimbledon has also chosen BeyondAutism as their charity of the year, and is aiming to raise
£1,500 over the next 12 months in support of the Tram House Appeal.
• We are very grateful to Jacksons Estate Agents, Sainsbury’s St John’s Hill and the White Stuff Chiswick for
their brilliant and ongoing support.
Rainbow School
48 North Side Wandsworth Common
London SW18 2SL
Tel: 020 3031 9700
beyondautism.org.uk
facebook.com/BeyondAusm
twier.com/BeyondAusmUK