School News Spring 2017 Woodlane High School Achieving success in a nurturing environment BBC School Report On the 16 th of March, Year 8 students at Woodlane went live online for BBC School Report. The aim of the day was to teach students how the news works, and what goes into creating a news story. In a frenzy of excitement whipped up by Miss Roberts and Mr. Feery, the students set themselves busily about what news story they might cover. After much debate and discussion, the students settled on World Book Day as the topic they would be reporting on. Given that World Book Day celebrated it s 20 th anniversary this year, and the low literacy levels throughout the UK, the students thought it might be a good idea to investigate why the UK was performing so poorly, and what might be done to improve it. Students interviewed peers and staff about their opinions on the importance of literacy, and even spoke to a Finnish national about their education system, and why their literacy rates were so high. Many good points were I liked being on camera and seeing myself. Andi I liked the BBC School Report because it was fun and interesting to do. I liked when I filmed on the IPad. I was so excited to do the report. All the Year 8 s were good reporters speaking loud and clear and they all had amazing stories to tell. Sundus made by all interview subjects, and presented in a very neat manner by all of our reporters. A big thanks must to go Miss Roberts and Mr. Feery, who worked tirelessly to make the whole BBC School Report such a success. The report is available to view online both on the BBC and Woodlane websites. Year 10 Textiles trip to the V&A (Written by Angel 10JJ) Pupils in Year 10 Textiles went on a trip to see the You say you want a revolution exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum. A vast, interactively organized collection, this exhibit details the lives, times, culture and issues of the 1960 s and 1970 s from a youth revolution to political protests around the Vietnam War. The exhibition displayed many aspects of this intriguing decade in a mixture of visuals, music and clothing from the period.
Young Chef of the Year Every year, Woodlane sends pupils to participate in the Young Chef of the Year competition at Hammersmith College. This is a tri-borough event with pupils from Westminster, Hammersmith and Fulham, and Kensington and Chelsea competing in a tough cooking competition. Pupils have to cook a main dish and a pudding in one hour from scratch. This year we were pleased to send Dante and Reece in Year 10. Pupils did great work and made our school proud of their achievements. I was really nervous before the competition. There were lots of people there including the Mayor of Hammersmith and Fulham. I cooked a chicken, and pancetta penne with a chocolate and strawberry mousse. Reece I cooked a prawn, cucumber and couscous main along with Nutella twists for my dessert. We won a 50 Westfield voucher, trophy and cookbook. I loved participating in this competition. Dante Ingredients: 125g softened butter 50g caster sugar 125g plain flour lemon curd, to taste Method: Preheat the oven to 190 C / Gas 5. Cream together the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add the flour, and mix well until all of the ingredients are combined and have formed a firm dough. Shape the dough into balls and press your thumb into the centre of each ball to make a well then fill with a little jam or lemon curd. Arrange on the prepared baking tray. Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool on a cooling rack
World Book Day (Written by Diwan 8SP) On Thursday March 2nd some children dressed up as book characters in terrific costumes for this special day. I went first to our PE teacher, Mr. Best who told us to play the game Quidditch which is in the Harry Potter films. It was really active, fun, and an exciting new game for us to play. During break time we all went to pick a book from the school library. Later, the Year 8s left to go see Mr. Feery to do our BBC News Report interview. After lunch I went to make tasty scrumptious jam tarts in the cooking room. It was based on the Queen of Hearts from the book Alice in Wonderland. My favourite part of the day was dressing up and coming to school as a book character, which was Captain Haddock from the comic book Tintin. We had so much fun. I got to lots of different activities and enjoyed seeing my friends in their costumes. Leah I thought the day was very interesting and exciting because of all the costumes and great activities. It was a very fun day. Mikey Thanks to Miss. Roberts and Mrs. Jermain for organising such a great day! Therapy Dogs The decision was put to the pupils and they overwhelmingly voted to have therapy dogs at Woodlane. So, what is a therapy dog? A dog trained to provide affection and comfort to people in hospitals, retirement homes, nursing homes, hospices, disaster areas, mainstream and special schools. The aim of a therapy dog is to release stress and tension. Some young people also read to therapy dogs, building their confidence in reading. A variety of activities may be done with a therapy dog including stroking it, reading to it, playing and spending time with the dog in order to feel less anxious. Otis and Pandora belong to Mr. Morgan and Miss. Maynard and are being trained to work with our pupils. These dogs need to possess certain qualities in order to be successful therapy dogs. These qualities include: Exceptional tolerance of handling by strangers, no sensitivity to rough stroking or petting, excellent obedience levels, the ability to walk on the lead without pulling, tolerance of unusual smells and sites, such as wheelchairs, medical devices, no fear of unsteady movement in humans, a calm disposition, complete lack of food or toy aggression and guarding behaviours. We feel that having these dogs become an integrated part of our school therapy will be a benefit for all pupils at Woodlane.
Attendance Update At Woodlane we feel that pupils should be attending school regularly in order to get the most out of their education. All pupils should be aiming for 98% attendance with the expectation that they will also arrive on time for school everyday. All for one gift cards have been awarded to all pupils who have managed to achieve an outstanding 100% attendance this term. These pupils are: KS3 Tristan (Yr.7) Christopher (Yr.7) Anastacia (Yr.7) Maxwell (Yr.7) Riyad (Yr.8) Hamida (Yr.8) Asia (Yr.8) Che (Yr.8) Dyslexia Friendly Accreditation KS4 Martin (Yr.10) Reece (Yr.10) Endri (Yr.10) Toby (Yr.11) Plamedi (Yr.11) Christopher (Yr.11) Woodlane is in the process of renewing its dyslexia friendly accreditation with the British Dyslexia Association. We will keep you informed about this and if you have any questions about dyslexia or speech and language concerns please contact the school. Investor in Careers This year Woodlane has been working towards maintaining our Investor in Careers accreditation. A lot of hard work has been done in order to get the school to remain every vigilant about how we teach and help our pupils onto the next steps in life ncluding the world of work and college placements. Miss. White, Mr. Heapy and staff have worked hard to make sure we are providing what is necessary for our pupils to transition well into adult life and independence. Attached in all pupils diaries is pupils careers entitlement. This shows you and your child what we at Woodlane will provide for them in order to support their progress and transitioning into adulthood. Please take a look and discuss these entitlements with your child.
Communication-friendly ways to use technology during the holidays/free time Technology is everywhere and part of many of our everyday lives. If your child is very motivated by devices such as tablets and phones, and you think you might be using it over the holidays or weekends consider some of the following ways which can also support communication skills: Calendar: using the calendar together to plan or set reminders about the day/week is a great way to help young people to learn ways to become more independent and organised Ask Siri: this is a great way to practise saying words, it encourages children to slow down their speech which helps people understand their talking better Photos: take photos during a trip or activity, and use them to retell/talk about the events later. Some children might want to use snapchat story to help them structure their story, and perhaps write a narrative about it Internet: to help prepare for changes; some children get anxious about new experiences/trips/activities you can perhaps go online and look at the photos, plan the journey, and on some sites you can take a virtual tour so they know what to expect. This allows time for the child to understand the trip and ask questions about it As always, parents are in the best position to make decisions about how their child uses the internet/ their devices so please when reading this refer to the above ideas as suggestions. Please note children with communication difficulties can be particularly vulnerable online as they may not understand the implications of what other people say and do, and how their communication can be interpreted by others. There is some great advice on how to keep children safe online at: http;//www.nspcc.org.uk/preventing-abuse/keeping-children-safe/online-safety/ Year 11 trip to Anselm Kiefer (written by Denny) Going to Anselm Kiefer was a very good experience, it was very powerful and all the artwork had a lot of emotion in it. I thought the corridor with beds was very dark and close, with the light being very limited it created more of a dark experience and it creates the feeling of suffering and it gave me the feeling of being trapped. The beds were very simplistic in the way of not much colour and textures, however the work which had been done to create this exhibition obviously was very technical and precise. My favorite piece of artwork was the staircase, it had a lot of meaning, with the clothes hanging from the stairs. where none of the work had information by it, each art piece could have several meanings, e.g, the wings and the rock, to me that represents a animal being trapped and held down, when I see feathers I usually associate it with a bird that flies, however having the rock in the middle there has no certain meaning: it could have several meanings. Anselm Kiefer definitely plays on the mind of the public, he wants us to think not just read.
Technology and Literacy Many pupils find picking up a book daunting and struggle to find a book that is age appropriate while being at the level they need to read successfully. This is where technology can help us bridge the gap and make reading not only more accessible but also more fun. Here we discuss some of the new programs out there to help pupils access reading online. Programs to support reading and writing: Touch mic and talk you dictate text into the phone and writes down what you have said. Dyslexia Aid App- This app is cheap to buy at only 2-3 per download. Its quick to use and allows pupils to email or upload text and print for books. You can use it to check spellings and helps pupils access reading and writing independently. The Notes App This app is free and no download is needed. Its quick to use and easy access to email and upload text with a microphone for speech to text available. This app helps pupils read and provides predictive text to help with spelling. Text to speech This can be found in settings on your computer. Its free, easy to switch on and no download necessary. Simply highlight text you want to read and it will play back to you. Dyslexia Friendly Keyboards- Ghotit App - when downloaded the keyboard appears in existing Apps. It reads aloud correctly spelled words. Search by voice Simply press the microphone at the bottom of the Google Page and ask Google a question instead of typing into the search engine. Maths at home: The estimation game You will need: 10 dried beans/ buttons/ pebbles; a box to use as a shaker How to play: Without letting your child see, place a small number of the beans/buttons/pebbles in an opaque box with a lid. Shake the box and ask the child to guess how many items are in it. Then empty the contents onto the table and count the items to see how close the guess was. Encourage the child to place the items in a line. Repeat with a smaller or larger number of items.
Transform: Year 11 Art exhibition Our Year 11 pupils have been attending William Morris Sixth College all year participating in a Digital Media and Enterprise courses. This is a community link Woodlane is proud of because it helps our pupils begin to understand what like after Woodlane will look like. Going to college is the next big step in their lives and we want them to transition onto that next step in the best way possible. Over the course of this year our pupils have been learning all kinds of new skills at William Morris including: using Photoshop, making IMovies, merging photos, colligraphing, collaging making repeat patterns and understanding what the cost and price of a final product should be. Pupils worked extremely hard to produce excellent pieces of work which went on display at the Apothecaries Gallery, a local gallery, on Greyhound road. The college link is a very good experience because we benefit from the skills we have developed using the computer like Photoshop and Imovie. Natan It was an exciting day for all the pupils to see their hard work hung up high on the gallery walls and they should be very proud of their accomplishments this year at college. I like the independence going to the I enjoy the work I do at college. I like shop by ourselves. I the support I get and I can t wait to also like the work as go to college next year. I am learning it gives me new how to use Photoshop using cameras ideas. and how to become a designer for Plamedi Marimekko. Michael Art day was held on Thursday, January 17th. Visiting artist and graphic designer Cristina Guitian worked with the arts council students at Woodlane previous to her visit and we all explored the new Woodlane Values that were decided upon through staff and student contributions. On the day, all students took part in a workshop with Cristina before breaking off into groups and participating in workshops that were designed to further embed our understanding of The Woodlane Values through music, acting, literacy and both fine art and art based computing programmes. The day was a success and a select group of pupils worked in teams to produce the designs for 4 large canvases that will be displayed around the school. It was a great day because of the team work, everyone was working together to create great art. Martin
Welcome to our new staff I am very lucky to be working at Woodlane. I feel I have the best job in the world, as I wake up every morning and look forward to teaching PE at Woodlane. My role is to provide a well-0balanced programme of physical education and provide opportunities to pupils to participate in coaching and competitions. I take a keen interest in all sports particularly football, cricket and boxing. When I m not watching the beautiful game C Brighton Hove Albion on TV I m captaining my Saturday side to victory. Me in 3 words: personable, hard working and competitive. Simple Science: Make Lemonade Fizzy Drink There's a lot of people out there that like drinking fizzy drinks, so why not do a fun science experiment that leaves you with your own lemon soda to drink afterwards! What you'll need: Lemon Drinking glass Water 1 teaspoon of baking soda Some sugar to make it sweet Instructions: Squeeze as much of the juice from the lemon as you can into the glass. Pour in an equal amount of water as lemon juice. Stir in the teaspoon of baking soda. Give the mixture a taste and add in some sugar if you think it needs to be sweeter. What s happening: The mixture you created should go bubbly and taste like a lemonade, soda, fizzy or soft drink, if you added some sugar it might even taste like a lemon flavoured soft drink you've bought at a store. The bubbles that form when you add the baking soda to the lemon mixture are carbon dioxide (CO2), these are the same bubbles you'll find in proper fizzy drinks. If you are wondering how the carbon dioxide bubbles formed, it was because you created a chemical reaction when you added the lemon (an acid) to the baking soda (a base). Run a mile This term pupils participated in the Run a mile event in support of our parents council Friends of Woodlane. Students walked over the Wormwood Scrubs and ran a designated course to show their athletic abilities. Pupils worked really hard and showed their determination and perseverance while completing the course. A big thanks to Mr. Morgan for organising and an even BIGGER thanks to our parents and carers who helped raise over 300 for our parents council. Without your continued support our parents council would not be able to provide the funding and support they do to our pupils.
Due to the tireless hard work of all stakeholders, including our highly motivated pupils, Woodlane High School continues to go from strength to strength, specific details on our developments will be shared in the Summer Term when our School s Self-Evaluation Form (SEF) and School Improvement Plan (SIP) is updated. The documents will be accessible on our school website, following our return from the Spring break. In the meantime, I will summarise some of the highlights from our most recent progress, attendance and behaviour analysis: 98% of expectations are currently met or exceeded, indicating substantial pupil progress across all subjects. Our whole school focus on Maths during the last academic year has led to increased enthusiasm and improved behaviour, leading to substantial and sustained pupil progress in Maths. 100% of expectations are currently met or exceeded within Art, Computing, French and History. Overall attendance at Woodlane is currently 94%, which is 3.4% above the national average for special schools. As assessment procedures can be complex, we have added a PowerPoint presentation, with voiceover, to our school website, which explains Woodlane assessment procedures, it also includes links to our full progress and attainment analysis packs. The presentation can be found under Information and then Assessment, Progress and Outcomes. I hope the information is accessible, however, do contact us if you feel further information or clarification is required. This term s Parent Reference Group focused on reviewing our newly designed prospectus and explored any improvements that may be required before we go to print. Parents were extremely positive about the design, they praised the content and colours used, they were also impressed by all the images of happy, smiley pupils, enjoying their education. Small amendments were suggested, for example, ensuing the website address is prominent and further details are included on health and welfare, including details on our extra curricular activities. Thank you very much to the parents who attended this session. The suggestions made will be implemented. Our new prospectus will be available to view on the school website from the Summer Term. Our next Parent Reference Group will focus on how we conduct our Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs). Thank you to Ms Jelen and all the pupils who contributed to our Spring newsletter, I am delighted to see more and more pupils contributing and writing their own articles. Wishing you all a lovely Spring break!