Redwood School

Redwood School

Redwood Parent Governor - We have three places for parents available, if you wish to self nominate or nominate another parent, with their approval, please complete the form sent home and return it to school by Monday 26 September. We have a very supportive governing body at Redwood School who take an active role in monitoring the many areas of the school. Should you wish to have more details on this please contact school.

Project Ability 2012 ( Olympic & Para – Olympic Games ) -Following our TES national award in July for` Outstanding Sporting Partnership and Initiatives ` , we have been approached by the Youth Sports Trust, working as part of the 2012 Games, to express an interest in becoming one of the 50 lead schools nationally to become involved in a project. This would involve Redwood further promoting sporting achievements for pupils with disabilities within the region. We will be submitting a bid next week. We will keep you updated on developments.

Disabled Sports Awards - Many congratulations to Rebecca B, Kersty M and Ryan W who participated in a variety of sporting competitions in St. Helens last weekend. Particular well done to Rebecca who achieved a gold medal in bowling and a silver medal in boccia. Kersty received a gold for pistol shooting and silver for swimming. Well done to Ryan for a great effort in the weightlifting ! Thanks to parents / carers for your support

Redwood`s After School Clubs and Youth Clubs - Our comprehensive programme of clubs commenced on Monday. If you wish your child to attend after school clubs or the Youth Clubs on Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday evenings, 6pm – 8pm, please contact Mr David Butterworth in school. Saturday morning clubs also start on 24 September, 10.00am – 12.00noon. A great time is had by all.

McMillan Coffee Morning - Our fundraising coffee morning will take place on the morning of Friday 30 September. Please try your best to support this excellent cause.

Inspirational Speaker - We are fortunate to have secured a 2 hour session with Ros Blackburn, who has been diagnosed on the autistic spectrum disorder since she was a child, on Wednesday 19 October 4pm – 6pm at The Gracie Fields Theatre. Her unique presentation gives an insight into her life as a child and adult with such a diagnosis. To secure a place to listen to this inspirational talk please contact school.

Parents / Carers ‘Signalong’ Course - Whole school approach to communication has been a priority during the past 2 years. We are fortunate to have 3 excellent teaching assistants who are skilled in the delivery of the training. We wish to open the training to parents and would consist of 7 x 2 hrs sessions on Saturday mornings leading to Foundation Level in Signalong. If you would be interested or wish to have more details please contact either Julie Walsh, Louise Walton or Sue Stridgen at school. Should you wish to attend you could utilize the Saturday Youth Clubs to support your child if required.

Key stage 4 news – last week the new Bridging group put on a wonderful breakfast based on the Olympics 2012 the group worked extremely hard. Each form group has also been working hard on work the Olympics 2012 , this work will continue throughout the rest of the year. Every form has chosen a country to support and lots of classes have put up displays showing their wonderful work. 4J have been to the All in One garden centre to look round, it won’t be long till Christmas decorations are in the shops. 4E/R have been working very hard on making some beautiful Chinese lanterns. Mr Alcock’s group have been completing various Baseline Assessments as well as tasks relating to the Olympics. They have developed their creative skills by producing Papier Mache models. They worked very hard to produce a model of the Japanese Flag, Olympic Rings and Olympic Torch. 4U have been putting lots of effort in by baking lots of buns and cakes in preparation for their coffee morning, Ryan and Tommy H also joined in the group to help bake so many cakes. As part of their work they also took a trip to Asda to buy all their ingredients.

Rebound Therapy—Thank you for your responses. It is really important that we get parental permission for our pupils to take part in either Rebound Therapy sessions or trampolining sessions. To explain what rebound is...it is more like fun than therapy, it introduces children with learning disabilities to structured sessions of both passive and active bounding in a variety of positions, such as lying, sitting, kneeling and standing. Rebound is increasingly being used with children with cystic fibrosis and children with developmental coordination disorders, dyspraxia and multiple sclerosis. Pupils can safely be hoisted on to the trampoline. It is also accessible for those with autism, challenging behaviours and other multiple and profound physical conditions who are totally dependent and wheelchair-bound. It is great fun and therapy for pupils with challenging behaviour and sensory modulation difficulties too. The sessions are safe and differentiated to cater for all needs, no matter how complex. The benefits for all pupils are far reaching and numerous... watch out for further information in the next newsletter.

Key Stage 3 News— We have been out and about this week with a trip to Ikea to buy resources for the sensory room. The students have now settled into their timetables—all seems to be going well. Yr 7 green are working hard in History learning about schools in the past. Yr7’s have been introduced to S.E.A.L by Mr Hall, the theme was to make someone feel welcome. Students of the week—All Year 7, Jason Cooper, Sajid Ali.

6th form - A big thank you to all our students for their patience and hard work as they continued to be baselined all students have been given a copy of their timetable and have now started their new sessions.