21st July 2023

Headteacher’s Message

I am delighted to say that we have had an extremely positive year! Recent external assessments have produced some fantastic results. We have had a number of pupils pass Level 1 qualifications and have also had a pupil pass the benchmark for phonics screening. These are very significant results and demonstrate how much progress pupils are making across our curriculum. We are very proud of all of the pupils!!!

This term has seen the pupils looking at the theme of ‘Amazing Adventures’ and has seen a lot of visits out! In addition, we have had a number of whole school events, such as Sports Week and the Summer Fair. These have been very successful and I would like to thank everybody involved in organising these events. Particular thanks go to the Friends of Winchelsea for planning the Summer Fair and being able to hold the event despite the weather! As ever, we are very grateful for their effort and support!

Once again, I do not have any more of an update about the building works but I hope to be able to update you all soon. However, we have some very exciting developments with our Post 16 provision in place and I will share this news with all of you in September.

As always, I would like to thank you all for your continued support this year. It has been so good to see so many of you throughout the year now that we are able to have families back on site.

Finally, please be aware that school will be close on Friday 21st July 2023 and the pupils return on Tuesday 5  September. Staff will be in school for training on Monday 4 September if you have any questions. 

In the meantime, I hope you all have a lovely summer break!

Geoff Cherrill
Headteacher

Safeguarding and Participation Team

Are You Worried About A Child Or Young Person? 

If you're worried about the wellbeing of a child, want to report abuse or aren't sure what to do, please get in touch.

The Children's Service First Response Hub provides the public and professionals with advice, information and support for children who are vulnerable and at risk.

Children's First Response Hub can help if you:

• Are worried about a child or young person who is at risk of (or is being) hurt or abused
• Know of a child or young person who may be vulnerable without additional help and support
• Want to know more about services to support children, young people, and their families
• Need support to agree an Early Help offer

If you're concerned, but not sure a child is at risk? Discuss the circumstances with the Children’s First Team.

Contact Children's First Response Hub

If you are a member of the public please telephone or e-mail the team.

• 01202 123 334
• Email: [email protected]

The First Response Hub is open during the following hours:

Monday to Thursday, 8:30am to 5:15pm
Friday, 8.30am to 4.45pm

Urgent help out of hours

The ‘out of hours service’ offer emergency support for any child who is in crisis, needs urgent help or is at serious risk of significant harm. Their phone number is 01202 738 256.

In an emergency, or if you believe a child is at immediate danger or risk of harm, call the police on 999.

Vaping Amongst Children

The supply of disposable vapes has exploded over recent months. The child-appealing design of the packaging and the fruity flavours have made vaping more appealing to children.

The knock-on effect of the popularity of vaping amongst children is that perpetrators of Child Sexual or Criminal Exploitation and abuse are giving vapes to individuals as part of their grooming tactics. If you know of any local businesses selling vapes to underage children, please report this to the Police.

To read more about the use of vapes amongst young people please see the report by Ash.

NSPCC Training for All - Listen up, Speak up

Half a million children suffer abuse and neglect a year in the UK.

But there's something we can all do to change that.

With the NSPCC’S free 10-minute digital training, they're empowering every adult to know what to do if a child needs help, and where to go if you need support yourself.

Keeping children safe during community activities, after-school clubs, and tuition: Questions to help parents and carers choose out-of-school settings

The Department for Education have produced guidance that helps parents and carers identify the safeguarding issues to consider when choosing an out-of-school provider or community activity. Keeping children safe during community activities, after-school clubs, and tuition.

For the full guidance please follow the link below.

Keeping children safe during community activities, after-school clubs and tuition: Questions to help parents and carers choose out-of-school settings - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

RNLI

The RNLI provide lots of advice and guidance on how to stay safe around water.

There are lots of resources that you can share with your child to improve their understanding of the risks and how to stay safe around water.

Eating Out Deals

Lots of places offer special offers for children eating out during the summer holidays. Some of the places are listed below but more information can be found at 

ASDA - Children eat for £1 all day, every day at Asda cafes, with no adult spend required. You can receive a free Ella’s Kitchen baby food pouch for babies under 18 months with any purchase in Asda's cafés. You can also get a free piece of fruit (apple, pear, or banana) when purchasing the hot kids £1 meal deal. Asda Cafés also offer a £1 cold pick and mix selection that includes a sandwich, drink, and piece of fruit.

TESCO - Kids eat free with a purchase of 60p+.

SAINSBURYS – Children can eat for £1 with the purchase of an adult meal from 11.30am daily.

MORRISONS - Kids aged under 16 eat for free at any Morrisons café when an adult spends £4.99 or more on a meal. The kid's meal includes a piece of fruit and Tropicana Kids Orange or Apple drink or bottle of water.

Food Banks and Community Fridges

Food Banks provide emergency food parcels, this is intended as a short term offer to cover a crisis.  A referral is required to access the Food Bank, if you feel you need to access this service please email [email protected] and someone will make contact with you within 3 working days to arrange the referral or alternatively contact BCP Council Crisis Team 01202 096 622.

Community Fridges provide food that is given by households, or supermarkets, restaurants, and shops. Giving food that otherwise would go to waste. This may include fresh produce, dairy, and bakery items. They are open to everyone and do not require a referral.

Some local to school community fridges are –

Surplus4Dorset
Parkstone Christadelphian Church
Douglas Road
Parkstone
BH12 2AX

Branksome Community Fridge
Branksome Library
212 Ashley Road
Poole
BH14 9BY

The Access to Food map is made with information gathered and shared. This map shows the variety of community food support and what is available throughout Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole, and how you can access it.

Mental Health and Well Being

Health Assured offer the following advice - Summer is the perfect time to work on your mental well-being, the sun is out and it’s easier to get out and about. Below are 5 steps which might help to inspire you:

1. Connect with the people around you: your family, friends, colleagues, and neighbours. Spend time developing these relationships - maybe by spending the day together. Taking time to strengthen and broaden relationships is good for your wellbeing, and good for the wellbeing of the other people involved.
2. You don't have to go to the gym to be active. Take a walk, go cycling or play a game of football. Find the activity that you enjoy and make it a part of your life. Summer is perfect for swimming or playing tennis on the park.
3. Learning new skills can give you a sense of achievement and a new confidence. So why not sign up at college ready for September. Colleges offer a wide range of courses that there is bound to be something to tempt you.
4. Even the smallest act of generosity can count - whether it's a smile, a thank you or a kind word. Larger acts, such as volunteering at your local community centre, can improve your mental wellbeing and help you build new social networks.
5. Be more aware of the present moment. Some people call this awareness "mindfulness", and it can positively change the way you feel about life and how you approach challenges.

It can be easy to rush through life without stopping to notice the truly important things in life. Paying more attention to the present moment – to your own thoughts and feelings, and to the world around you – can improve your mental wellbeing. By becoming more aware of the present moment means you will notice the sights, smells, sounds and tastes that you experience, as well as the thoughts and feelings that occur from one moment to the next. For more information on mental well-being visit the NHS website 

Have a fantastic and most importantly safe holiday.

Best wishes,
Adam, Jo, Abi, Kelly & James

Every Day in School Matters

Did you know

There are 175 non-school days in a year for holidays, appointments, weddings, shopping and spending time with friends and family.

Types of Absence

Every half-day absence from school, by law, has to be classified as either authorised or unauthorised. This is why information about the cause of absence is always asked for.

Authorised Absences

These are mornings or afternoons away from school for a valid reason such as illness, emergency medical or dental appointments (routine appointments should always be made out of school hours) and emergencies. Where there are high levels of illness without proof that medical advice has been sought these absences will not be authorised.

Unauthorised Absences

An absence is classified as Unauthorised if the reason was not recognised as acceptable. The Department for Education (DfE) and Local Education Authorities provide information for schools as to what is acceptable and what is not.

Examples of reasons that would not be accepted:

• A birthday;
• A shopping trip;
• Day trips;
• Holidays – unless have been agreed as exceptional circumstances.

Getting ready to return to school

We know that a break from the routine of school can make returning to school in September a bit of a challenge. Below are some top tips that may make the return a little easier.

• Get in the habit of going to bed early and getting up in time to eat breakfast;
• Young people need plenty of sleep and fuel for the day;
• Encourage children to start taking responsibility for the things they need to do each day - getting their bag ready and getting themselves ready in the mornings;
• Practise packing all the things children will need to take to school. Get in the good habit of packing the night before;
• Plan the route to your new school and make a few trial runs when it’s safe to do so.

If you would like any support or advice on attendance or punctuality, please speak to your child’s class teacher or to Adam Bradford

Curriculum

This half term our curriculum theme ‘Amazing Adventures’ has been a geography topic. Pupils have been finding out about Oceans and what lives in our Oceans, what continents are as well as exploring some of our local geographical features. This has enabled many great opportunities to get ‘out and about’ and take journeys to a wide variety of places.

Some classes have visited the Oceanarium to learn about what is in the Ocean, whilst others have been further afield to Swanage on the open top bus. This theme has also been a great opportunity for pupils across the school to gain greater experience with travel training.

Some pupils in Key Stage Four took part in a Robotics workshop hosted by Bournemouth University; this supports our STEAM programme, pupils worked with the BU staff team to programme and use LEGO robots. This is much harder than it looks and although there were several crashes, all groups managed to get the robot to travel to where it needed to go!  This was followed by a visit to Bournemouth University’s Festival of Design and Engineering.  An opportunity for pupils to see how STEAM leads to real life designs and creations, an eye-opening morning!

Pupils have been sitting external examinations in the last month.  We were very excited that Jess passed her phonic screening test, well done!  We were also really pleased that four of our pupils in KS 4 passed their Level 1 Maths Functional Skills Exam, we are very proud of you all!

I headed off with an energetic group of Key Stage 4 pupils to Ferny Croft Residential Centre in the New Forest in July.  All pupils were a credit to the school and their families as they all got thoroughly stuck into a variety of challenges, chores and teamwork throughout the week.  Pupils showed bravery, courage and skill as they took part in climbing, jumping from great heights, getting very wet and muddy and being able to aim with certain accuracy at a target.  I hope all pupils have returned with some very special memories; I know the staff have.

Ending our term in style and making sure we are all exhausted was a very excited and well-planned Sports Week, pupils thoroughly enjoyed dancing, rock climbing, playing competitions and taking part in sports day. Well done to all our pupils for their involvement and the PE team for organising it all.

I hope you all have an enjoyable break; we look forward to welcoming many of your children back in September.  To those pupils moving on to new ventures, we wish you much happiness and success.

Have a lovely summer and a relaxing break.

Hannah Parry
Curriculum Lead

Medical

Sun Safety Facts:

From March to October, the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays are strongest between 11am and 3pm.  During this time, the sun may be strong enough to cause damage. Take extra care to protect your skin, especially if you get sunburnt easily by:

• Spending time in the shade, especially between 11am and 3pm
• Covering up with suitable clothes, hat, and sunglasses (ideally, you should select glasses which offer UV400 or 100%UVA/UVB protection)
• Taking extra care with children
• Using at least a SPF30 sunscreen and at least a 4-star UVA protection. Use it generously, reapply regularly and use together with shade and clothing

Tips for applying sunscreen:

• Most people do not apply enough sunscreen - make sure you put enough on. If sunscreen is applied too thinly, the amount of protection it gives is reduced.
• Apply sunscreen evenly and thickly, even if it is a roll on or spray sunscreen.
• Sunscreen should be applied to all exposed skin, including the face, ears, feet, and backs of hands.
• Sunscreen needs to be reapplied liberally and frequently throughout the day. Sunscreen can rub, sweat, and wash off, even if it is “water resistant”.  It is recommended to reapply sunscreen every 2 hours, as the sun can dry it off your skin.
• Always remember to check the expiry date on your sunscreen before use. Look for a symbol ‘M’ and a number on the bottle/packaging; this shows the number of months that the sunscreen will last after opening.

COMING SOON – Paediatric First Aid Courses

As a registered First Aid trainer, Michelle is able to offer a few dates over the next academic year to deliver a fully accredited 1 day Paediatric First Aid Course.  The course will be free with a nominal charge of approx. £10.00 for the certificate and book.

If you are interested in attending a fully accredited 1 day Paediatric First Aid Course, please email Michelle directly to register your interest:

[email protected]

Supportive Workshops

Due to high demand, we will be offering further workshops from September for Sleep, Continence, and Epilepsy. Further information about the workshops and how to gain a place will follow in September.

Sleep Workshops

Michelle has recently qualified as a Sleep Practitioner and will be providing sleep workshops. This workshop will be available to parents/carers of pupils and their families that are experiencing ongoing sleep problems at home.

The sleep workshop will provide the following information and support:

• what is sleep
• sleep stages
• Cause of sleep issues
• Impact of sleep deprivation
• sleep advice, resources
• Strategies, programmes
• Bedroom Environments
• Nightmares, night terrors and sleep walking
• Melatonin

Epilepsy Workshops

Jane has 20 years’ experience looking after a child with severe epilepsy and is currently doing an accredited course on Epilepsy and will be able to offer a workshop for those parents/carers of pupils with epilepsy covering:

• An introduction to the brain
• Diagnosing epilepsy
• Different types of epilepsy
• Causes of epilepsy
• What to do when someone is having a seizure
• Managing epilepsy and medication
• Impact on family

Continence Workshops

We will be offering the following workshops during the next Academic Year – further details to follow:

Toilet training - Barriers to successful toileting for young people with complex needs and practical strategies to optimise independence.

Letting it out - Explore the mechanic and emotional aspects of withholding poo.

Medical Protocols

If your child requires a medical protocol, this will have already been sent home to you. Please ensure that if you have not signed and returned to school already, that it is sent into school with your child on the first day back in September.

Medical Email

Please use our medical email address [email protected] if you would like to discuss the following:

Request referrals - School Paediatrician, ID-CAMHS, Continence Team, Sleep Clinic, Community Dietician, Dental Service

We aim to respond to all email enquiries on the same day.

Medication

If your child has regular medication in school e.g., Inhalers, Auto-Injectors etc., these will be sent home with your child at the end of term. The medication will then need to be returned to school with your child on the first day back in September, please check expiry dates before your child returns to school.

Prescribed Medications

If your child requires medication during school time, you must complete an M2 form.  Copies are available in the main site reception or on the school website to download.

Paracetamol - please be advised that we have a Medication Policy in place that states we can only administer prescribed medications which includes Paracetamol.

As always, if the medical team can offer any support or advice, please contact us.

We wish you a happy and safe summer!

Michelle & Jane

Therapy Team

Speech and Language Therapy

A new Speech and Language Therapist has joined our Therapy Team, Jess Travers (yes, another Jess meaning we now have 3 SaLTs named Jess). Jess T has been spending time in all the classes to get to know the pupils. She has got stuck in by joining Oysters and Penguins on their boat trip to model using Let’s Chat boards to support communication while out in the community.

Sea Lions have been doing Lego Therapy groups within the classroom supported by Michelle from the Therapy Team. Dolphins class have also started class-based Lego Therapy supported by Wendy. The pupils in each class are grouped into threes, where each pupil takes on one of the Lego roles (either the Engineer, Builder or Supplier) and work collaboratively to build a Lego model. This works on a range of communication skills, such as turn-taking, descriptive language, joint attention, following instructions and repairing communication breakdown.

Seahorses have started Talkabout social skills groups starting on the self-awareness and self-esteem part of the programme run by Michelle and Emily in the Therapy Team.

Occupational Therapy

Jo Scott (Total Children’s Therapy Occupational Therapist) has reviewed the progress of the pupils having Sensory Integration therapy sessions with the Therapy Assistants. The pupils have made lots of progress and have hugely benefitted from Sensory Integration intervention. The pupils are much calmer at the end and more regulated to help engage in learning, and have developed their physical skills to explore movement in new ways.

Physiotherapy

A selection of pupils from Octopus, Jellyfish and Orca classes have joined a strength and conditioning group with the therapy team and PE team this half term. The programme works on their strength and co-ordination. The pupils have been willing to give it a go and are making progress with their physical skills, well done!

The Whole School have been taking part in our Faster, Fitter, Stronger challenge and earned an inflatable obstacle course for Sports Week. The challenge involves completing the exercise video made by Wendy in the Therapy Team and Jane the physiotherapist, which often feature staff around the school!

Horse Therapy

A selection of pupils from Starfish class and Octopus have been going to the Fortune Centre Riding Centre for Horse Riding Therapy sessions. These sessions have focused on developing physical skills, communication skills and sensory regulation. The pupils have grown in confidence with getting on the barrel and the horse, even letting go of the saddle or riding backwards!

Ocean

We cannot believe the year is coming to an end, and to be honest we could not be prouder of Ocean Class.  What an amazing summer term and year they have had.  The biggest achievement we believe this year is how the children have bonded as a class, how they care for each other, and the relationships they have established between themselves and the adults in the class. 

This last summer term our topic has been ‘Amazing Adventures’ and we have certainly had some!  Our community visits have been central to this where we have continued to explore the park for our PE sessions, and the confidence the children are building in their own abilities to climb, slide, take turns and experience a wide-open space is growing with each visit.  This term we have also focused on learning how to be safe on the beach and near the sea.  Whilst we would love to go into the sea we have been learning how to paddle and that it is not appropriate to lay in the water with our clothes on! J  We have also replicated the beach in school where we have enjoyed the paddling pool, and our new hosepipe and sprinkler!  We have therefore been practising how to put our shoes and socks on and change our clothes.

Our Community Session on a Friday morning has continued to be a success and most of the children are now having an adventure ‘row row rowing their boat’ as Ocean and Harbour join together.  During this time, we have also enjoyed an adventure to France where we had a typical French breakfast of French bread with butter and jam, croissants, pain au chocolat and hot chocolate while listening to typical French café music.  This was very much enjoyed by all. 

The children loved the ‘Pirate’ section of our theme, as we dressed up like pirates, and walked the gang plank!  They have also enjoyed painting on the gates and wall (on materials stuck to the gate and wall), building a great big bubble bath and hideaway shed, and the biggest hit of the term has been the new sand pit where the children are learning to fill and empty pots, transfer sand, mix sand and water, and take turns with the equipment.  We have also focused this term on brushing our teeth, and we now have a number of children who will request to brush their teeth several times a day! 

We are so very grateful to all of you for the help and support you have given us this year, for your open communications, and for trusting us with your amazing children.  Have an awesome summer!

Ocean Class Team

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Harbour

What an amazing last half term Harbour class have had! The children have had so much fun related to our topic of ‘Amazing Adventures’, where we have explored new environments and experiences in our local community.

The children have been to Hamworthy Splash Park, Sandbank’s beach and Hamworthy beach, and through these trips we have been working on walking safely with an adult and appropriate behaviours in the community. Harbour class have been absolutely brilliant on our trips out - they have loved paddling in the splash park and the sea, looking for wildlife ‘treasures’ such as shells, and have listened to the adults so well to stay safe in the community. We are so proud of how well they have been walking, with some children beginning to look for moving cars with adult support before crossing the road.

In our communication sessions this half term we have been exploring activities relating to the beach in order to develop our vocabulary and communication skills. This has included exploring a sensory sea tuff tray, listening to, and guessing what the seaside sound is, building sandcastles and exploring with summer garden materials. Through these activities we have been working on developing the children’s labelling of both objects and actions, as well as concepts such as wet, dry, big, and small, and developing their commenting during play. Alongside this we have continued to work on our phonics sounds, and it has been amazing to see how confident some of the children have become with their blending and segmenting in order to read individual words and short phrases.

Our Problem Solving life skill has been focused on waiting and turn taking. We have developed these skills through playing games, such as Pop Up Olaf, as well as using other activities such as bubble play and water play with fewer resources available in order to naturally introduce waiting for your turn. With a lot of practice, the children have become much more tolerant of sharing resources and waiting for their turn! Similarly, in our communication sessions, we have also been using beach themed activities in order to develop our early numeracy skills. The children have had lots of fun developing their 1:1 counting skills and finding specified amounts of different beach themed items during their play.

Our cooking lessons have continued this half term, with the children showing an increased interest in working together to follow instructions when baking. We have made fruit pizza, yoghurt parfait, banana bread, cheese pinwheels and rock cakes! It’s been lovely to see the children explore and taste the ingredients used in these recipes, and many of the children have begun to show an increased willingness to try the end result of our baking! 

We are so proud of the progress all the pupils have made across this year - it’s been so wonderful to see them grow and develop, and they have all been a delight to teach. We hope you have a wonderful summer and look forward to new adventures in September!

Harbour Class Team

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Oyster

So here we are, we have made it through the final term of the year. Firstly, we would like to say a huge thank you for all your help and support over the last year, as a class team we have reflected on how far everyone in Oysters have come individually and together as a group. We see little snippets of golden moments and progress every week and you can all be hugely proud of them all. I hope that at home you have seen new things they have learned and are now applying at home with you. 

As planned, we have collectively rewritten ‘Were Going on a Bear Hunt’ to ‘We’re Going on a Cow Hunt.’ This story features some of our communication skills and community visits, our first trip being Upton County Park. We go through the forest, the big big forest, as well as the park, the big big park. This is also where we stumbled upon the inspiration for the title in the form of a large heard of cows that mesmerises the children. In addition, the visit to the beach took us on a bus, a big big bus, for our adventures paddling and playing at sandbanks. The final part of the story features our visit to Poole Quay where we set aboard a boat, and yes, you’ve guessed it a big big boat. We finished our story by recording voices for every page!

As part of our Rocktopus activity we created a snack song, the children chose a favourite fruit to sign, and found the fruit in our local Aldi! The trip for this lesson was our first experience as a class on public transport, we travelled by bus from Poole Bus Station over to the Winchelsea main site. It was a great success!

The children’s turn taking skills are improving across all areas of the curriculum including when lining up, waiting for a group turn, turn taking games with their friends and in queuing for the daily snack café. On the days toast is available in the cafe we have continued to practice spreading butter with cutlery, while in our instruction lesson with play dough we have been practicing our knife and fork skills.

I think one of our biggest successes over this term and last has been getting all the children into the swimming pool together, as a collective, in a positive way developing their water confidence and enjoying their physical activity at Rossmore Leisure Centre.

Finally, we took part in a learning experience day ‘Road Trip Around Europe’, where the children had a small slice of culture from France, Spain, Italy and Sweden with art and music activities, as well as a large slice of culinary experiences to sample as well.

After reflecting on the term and the year we now look forward to seeing the children move on and progress next year, either directly in Oyster class or from a distance as they continue their journey through Winchelsea to become the best most independent version of themselves.

To Oysters Class of 2023, have a great summer break making memories together.

Team Oyster

Starfish

What a wonderful half term we have had in Starfish Class.  Lots of trips out linking to our theme of ‘Amazing Adventures’, visiting beaches, woodlands, parks and new environments.  The children have shown great resilience this half term with the weather being so hot and have continued to engage in new activities, be patient with one another and us, and continue to develop their self-care and life skills.

In My Communication lessons, the children have been looking at sensory stories.  We have chosen two familiar stories, ‘The Snail and The Whale’ written by Julia Donaldson and ‘We’re Going on A Bear Hunt’ written by Michael Rosen turning these into multi-sensory stories that have enabled the children to try new textures, listen to different music, and explore different objects.  They have all engaged really well in the stories and some of them even ask for the books to read in their own time.  As always there has been a strong focus on communicating and commenting and we have seen a huge progression in all the children’s ability to ask for what they want using a range of requesting tools such as Choosing Boards and Let’s Chat boards.

In My Problem Solving we have been looking at a range of number songs and have started thinking about ordering numerals and finding missing numbers.  The children have really enjoyed exploring the different number activities and they are starting to recognise a range of numerals.

This half term we have had a big focus on Stop and Go.  We have included this key vocabulary into a lot of our lessons and have seen a huge improvement in their listening skills when in school and out and about in the community. 

Overall, it has been a very fun, very hot half term and once again, all the children have continued to surprise and delight us in how much they have come along both socially and academically.  We are incredibly proud of what they have achieved this year and cannot wait to see them continue to grow and progress next year. 

The Starfish Team

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Jellyfish

The final Newsletter of this academic year… and what a year it’s been! When thinking back to where we started in September, to where we are now, it is amazing to see how far the pupils have come in their learning, abilities, and confidence!

This half term’s theme has been “Amazing Adventures” and we have been lucky enough to go on many an adventure this Summer 2 Term! In the first week, we had the opportunity to go to Weymouth Sea Life Centre. Here we stroked starfish, walked under sharks, and even saw some fellow jellyfish! During our weekly community visits, Jellyfish Class have explored the look-out tower at Poole Quay, climbed different apparatus at Moors Valley and seen the sea views at Whitecliff Park. During our final week of this year, Jellyfish Class were fortunate enough to hop on a ferry to Brownsea Island! We got our exercise in and explored the island! During this adventure, we looked out for red squirrels in the trees, peacocks on the grass and seals on the shore! It was a fantastic day had by all and a great way to celebrate our final trip together!

During My Communication, we have been appreciating the book “The Boy Who Sailed the World” by Julia Green. We have learnt that this is a true story, based on Julia’s son who loved the sea and had his own ocean adventures! To support us with the story, we used Moving Pictures to help us retell the book as well as up-level the pupils’ writing. Alongside this, the pupils also used their imaginations to include describing words, create their own “where”, character and vehicle to travel on. Jellyfish Class had the fantastic opportunity to record our own songs for Winchelsea School to listen to. The two-man band, “Rocktopus” helped us write lyrics, choose chords, and perform songs about our feelings and the days of the week - keep a look out for these videos coming soon! In Sports Week, we had the opportunity to use the climbing wall which was a bit scary but so fun! We also played cricket, American Football and did Bubble Yoga! During Sports Day, I was so proud to see all of Jellyfish Class having-a-go and trying their best!  This half term, we also enjoyed a whole school drop day, “Road Trip Around Europe”. On this day we emersed ourselves in different cultures including their music, art, and food (which was also enjoyed by the adults!).

Reflecting over the year, as well as looking over the class data, I am so proud of how far Jellyfish pupils have come and I cannot wait to see how they grow, develop, and succeed next year! It has been a privilege to be the Jellyfish Class Team and we wish you a wonderful and sunny Summer Holidays!

Miss Naomi and the Jellyfish Class Team; Miss Jo, Miss Laura, and Miss Heather

Dolphin

Dolphin Class have had an amazing final half term of the year!

Our topic this half term has been Amazing Adventures and we have been on a few amazing adventures of our own and we have been looking for and finding lots of different types of things.

For My World, our community visits included a fantastic trip to Hamworthy Park, where we took part in a scavenger hunt on the beach and found shells, rocks, seaweed, and we even found a crab!  We made our own pirate maps and went on a Treasure Hunt at Bourne Valley Park and we were lucky enough to find ‘chocolate’!  We also visited Snowtrax Pirate Ship and the Alpine Adventure Park, where we explored the pirate ship and found a secret tunnel, following which, we enjoyed our picnic. 

In Woodland Learning, we have been on many scavenger hunts and found lots of things, including items of different colours and textures, plants and minibeasts. In cooking, we have made fruit ice lollies and banana & strawberry ice cream milkshakes.  We followed visual recipes independently, using different equipment including blenders to mix the ingredients.

In PSHE, we practised our road crossing skills during our community visits and we learned about road safety and looked at the signs that we see when we are out and about.

Dolphin class took part in a World War 2 Re-enactment with Post 16 and enjoyed an assault course, practising what happens during an air raid and learning some songs and dance routines from that era, as well as looking at many items that would have been used by children during the War, including gas masks.

Pupils enjoyed an enrichment day celebrating Europe and tried various foods from France, Italy, Spain and Sweden and all pupils bravely tried each item including pickled fish! We created our own Dala horses and coloured in the flags for each country. We finished off the day celebrating with songs from the Eurovision Song Contest with music from each country with Abba being a firm favourite!

A number of our Year 10 and 11 pupils undertook work experience placements this term, working in a local hotel. These pupils did incredibly well and enjoyed the experience of trying out different types of jobs and we were told that they were a credit to Winchelsea School!

Three of our pupils completed their Duke of Edinburgh bronze award, doing extremely well during their expedition, walking almost 9 miles over 2 days. They set up a camp, had a campfire, cooking s’mores and they really enjoyed their experience.

In My Communication, Dolphin class have been working on Phonics and letter recognition.  We have been looking at initial letter sounds and matching them to a variety of items.  We have been continuing with the Words First Reading programme to develop independent reading skills.  We have completed further work on our speaking and listening skills, developing different strategies to help with communication, including signing. We have continued working on our Busy Hands fine motor programme to help us with letter formation skills to write our full names. We have created our own stories using Moving Pictures based around the characters in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ and ‘Hairy Maclary.’

In My Problem Solving, we have looked at prepositional language and put our knowledge to good use in our weekly Lego Therapy sessions in class and whilst solving clues on our treasure hunt.  We have used our problem-solving skills during cooking where we have independently identified what equipment and ingredients, we needed to prepare our own food.  We have used our money skills in the Post-16 Café to purchase snacks and pay for our items.

In My Physical, Dolphin class have engaged in daily Busy Hands activities and field games during PE.   Pupils enjoyed Sports Week and we have tried new sports and taken part in our own class sports day

In My Creative, pupils took part in a music project with Rocktopus.  In addition, pupils composed and performed some action songs that will be used at Winchelsea School in the next academic year.

We are looking forward to our Leavers Event at the end of term and the activities that have been planned. We will be very sad to see four of the Dolphin pupils leave at the end of the year but they have had a brilliant year and we will miss them! We would like to wish them good luck in the next stage of their education.

 We have had an amazing year with Dolphin Class and we would like to wish you all a lovely summer break with your families and we look forward to seeing you in September in our new class teams.

Best wishes,
Paula, Kirsty, and Tina
Dolphin Class Team

Octopus

Hello Octopus Parents and Carers,

This half term we have been enjoying our theme of ‘Amazing Adventures’, learning all about different places we can visit and about different environments around the world. Our community visits have been to Winchelsea beach and the arctic! and taking a walk to see the heath land, working on our road safety on our way. We had a whole school drop day, “Road Trip Around Europe”, Octopus did a Tour de France lesson on the bikes, explored making Italian pizzas and enjoyed a Swedish mid-summer festival at Forest School.

During our weekly story lessons, we have been reading the book ‘We’re Going on A Bear Hunt’ written by Michael Rosen, which has inspired our imaginations and led us to exploring with paint and other materials, using different techniques to create our own adaptions of environments around us.

Winchelsea’s Forest School has still been a weekly adventure for us, exploring the area that has changed with the sunny weather. We have been using our communication aids in the new context of forest school, so we can communicate for preferred items and snacks.

Some of the children have enjoyed going horse riding and have done very well listening to instructions and waiting!

This term has been wonderful, with the pupils taking the topic of ‘Amazing Adventures’ and putting there all into each activity, making every day as special as the last.

Coral

We have had a great half term in Coral class learning all about our topic ‘Amazing Adventures’! All pupils have worked so hard and we are so proud of them!

We have enjoyed exploring our theme and learning about different environments with a focus on developing our understanding of different countries, cultures, and landscapes. 

In My Communication, we have been reading the story ‘The Journey Home’, written by Frann Preston-Gannon which explores different animals, their environments and conservation issues. We made our own puppets to retell the story using a story map.  The children did a fabulous job of retelling the story both on their own and with their peers.  We used adjectives to talk about our favourite animals from the story and matched them to the countries and environments they live in.  We linked speaking and listening to the countries we learnt about across all areas of the curriculum. 

In Art, we used mixed media to create our own weaving pictures when exploring African art. We used clay to make a vase for Japanese Cherry Blossom we made and then printed with natural materials.  Once the clay was dry, we chose the colour we wanted to paint it and experimented with gold leaf to add detail - we are very proud of the children’s focus, concentration, and attention to detail when working on this project. 

In PE, we have continued to work on strength and balance building using different apparatus.  As well as developing our tennis skills, by balancing balls on a racket while moving, bouncing it on our own racket, hitting it and then passing back to a partner.

At Forest School, we used the fire to cook food, explored different natural materials, developed team work with one another, made sculptures and played on a tyre swing as well as developing our balancing skills using a slack line.

In My Problem Solving, we have continued to work on number fluency and problem-solving using size and shape. The children have made decisions about which 3D shapes should be used to represent a 2D picture.  The pupils have used Numicon and other materials confidently to explore different ways of making numbers up to 10, 20 and 100; using symbols to add and take away.

This half term we have continued with our cooking, making cuisine to match the countries we visited.  We prepared; Jollof Rice, plantain, noodles, bruschetta and tried sushi - all were yummy! We ordered the cooking instructions and used word mats to say ‘I like’ ‘I don’t like’, as well as using describing words in conversational language about our food. 

Community visits have been so much fun and very adventurous this half term; with a visit to Compton Acres, Studland, Wareham Forest, Swanage, and Poole Park on the bus.  The children have all got fully involved with our trips, have been brave and excellent role models in the community.

We have also continued to practise our bike skills, yoga, fine motor across subjects and physio breaks.

We hope you have a wonderful Summer Holiday and look forward to seeing the children in September.

Have a lovely Summer break!

Coral Class Team

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Penguins

Penguin Class have had a busy and exciting half term and we have been on lots of Amazing Adventures!

As part of our PSHE learning this half term, we have been taking part in events outside of school with familiar people. We had an adventure walking to Poole Park, turn taking and playing with our friends. We also had the chance to ride on an open top bus which was so much fun! We also rode on the open top bus to Sandbanks Beach where we splashed in the sea and jumped over waves. We had a picnic - which the gulls wanted to eat too! Before we went home, we played in the sand, burying our feet, and digging! Finally, we went on a boat trip around Poole Harbour! We saw lots of gulls and boats. We sailed close to Brownsea Island and got splashed by the waves because it was a very windy day!

For our learning in RE, we have been looking at different places of worship. We walked to St James’ Church in Poole. It was beautiful inside with colourful stained glass windows. We spoke to the Vicar and wrote a prayer to hang on the prayer tree.

In our English lessons, we have been creating some fantastic sentences! Our class texts have been ‘Puffin Peter’ and ‘Grandad’s Island.’ We have been retelling these stories using Moving Pictures and then making our own scenes using the characters from the story. We also drew some brilliant story maps for a new adventure for the puffins.

In Maths, we have been learning about place value in 2-digit numbers using tens and ones. Some of us have even been working with 3- and 4-digit numbers! We have also been measuring objects and comparing heights and lengths.

In our My World lessons, linking to ‘Amazing Adventures’, we have been learning about the names and locations of the five largest oceans around the world. We also looked at physical features, such as deserts, mountains, and jungles, and found some interesting facts about British sea creatures.

In Art and Music, we have been exploring art and music from around the world. We created some beautiful Mexican folk-art paintings, Hawaiian totem poles and Chinese pandas.

After the Summer Holiday, our topic will have a history theme. ‘Heroes Who Help Us’ will focus on famous heroic people from the past and people who are our personal heroes and the reasons for this.

Have a fun and safe summer break. Thank you for your continued support throughout the year. We look forward to welcoming you all back to start another exciting school year in September.

The Penguin Team. (Miss Lisa, Miss Kellie, Miss Kath, and Miss Clare)

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Sea Lions

Wow… the final newsletter of the academic year! Firstly, where did this year go? Secondly, how proud am I of what Sea Lions have achieved not just this summer, but the whole year? Incredibly! Despite the hot and sweaty weather, the class have worked very hard and we have crammed in as much as possible for these last 7 weeks!

In line with our theme, “Amazing Adventures” we have been accessing the community and exploring! One of the skills we’ve been working on collectively has been exploring unfamiliar places for an extended period of time. For example, we visited Upton Country Park, where we visited the café for a snack, as well as going to Durlston Country Park to learn more about our local coastline. Sea Lions have also spent the day at Poole Quay exploring the Harbour.

We have also been extremely lucky to be able to take part in a range of non-timetabled activities, both with our host school and with Winchelsea. We participated in a classical music workshop, where musicians brought in a range of instruments to play an assortment of well-known theme tunes and classic music, such as Harry Potter and the Pink Panther. We also took part in CHJS’s Aspirations Day, where people from a range of working backgrounds came in to discuss with pupils what they do and how they help people. Sea Lions were able to meet police officers and have the opportunity to try on a range of uniform, and make me jump with the siren! We also listened to a talk from an employee from Monkey World detailing how they care for animals and a volunteer from the RNLI who discussed how to stay safe in the water. Sea Lions asked some great questions related to each topic - well done!

For English, we finished our class book; Boot, Small Robot, Big Adventure! This half term, we focused on retelling events, describing characters in chapters, as well as story mapping the key events in the story. Sea Lions also wrote a book review to evaluate their thoughts and feelings about the story and I’m pleased to say they all said they’d recommend it to a friend! We have also been using English lessons to begin learning new skills, such as alphabetical ordering and learning how to use a dictionary as well as continuing our phonics interventions three times a week in the mornings. As a result of these sessions, pupils have made great progress in their reading and have gone up at least one book band since their last assessment.

Maths has been focused on measuring and shapes. Sea Lions started the half term measuring using centimetres and metres, with some beginning to use smaller units such as millimetres. We also touched on being able to accurately measure liquids to make mocktails.

In RE, we have been exploring different places of worship. Sea Lions all understand that different religions have different places of worship and these will look different too. Sea Lions have linked this to their understanding of 3D shapes and recreated a place of worship using 3D shape drawings. Sea Lions have also looked in detail at the features of a church. They have all been able to successfully label the different features, and made their own stain glassed window inspired by what they saw in pictures.

A big part of our half term was Sports Week! We have been lucky enough to join Linwood School for a football festival at the Ringwood Community Hub, where we learnt skills, such as shooting, dribbling, and passing. We also completed our Sports Day on Thursday and cheered on our friends as they completed a range of activities. Amazing work, Sea Lions on trying so hard even when things didn’t necessarily go your way. We also completed activities such as Rounders, bikes, cheer leading and the climbing wall.

It has been an absolute pleasure to work with Sea Lions this year - we have all come so far since Autumn 1 and every child should be exceedingly proud of their accomplishments and effort made this year. As their teacher, it has been amazing to see them develop strong friendships and be able to lean on each other when they are having friendship conflicts. It’s been a year of laughs and sometimes unexpected moments, but we wouldn’t have had it any other way.

Have a lovely, safe summer holiday!

Ciara, Alanna, Sarah, Lois, and Paris

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Sea Turtles

What a wonderful half term, and end of the academic year, we have had.

Our theme has been ‘Amazing Adventures’, and we have been on several amazing trips this half term. We began with our café trip to Upton Country Park, where we enjoyed the play areas and utilised our learning to make purchases in the café. Our next adventure was to the Winchester Science Centre, where we learnt how to make slime that could bounce! We were able to explore the different exhibits and enjoyed eating our lunch in the café. Our final trip was to the Oceanarium and Bournemouth beach. We walked along the beach to explore the different features, such as the pier and the cliffs. We were very fortunate to be offered a free lift on the West Cliff Lift, where we were able to enjoy amazing views of the beaches and sea.

This half term, we have been lucky enough to take part in a classical music workshop. Musicians brought in a selection of instruments, and played well known theme tunes and classic music. We were also to be invited to Canford Heath Junior’s ‘Aspirations Day’; where a variety of people who provide essential services come in to talk about what they do. Sea Turtles were able to meet police officers, try on their uniforms and sit in police cars! We also listened to a talk from an employee from Monkey World about how they care for their animals. I was particularly impressed by the way pupils engaged with our talk from the RNLI, and how they were able to ask well formulated questions.

In English, we have explored elements of non-fiction writing and looked at how we can create a leaflet about an animal that we have researched. We learnt how to recount facts about puffins and then transferred this into a formal leaflet. In addition to this, we have been working on recounting what we have learnt on school trips, and produced pieces of work about our trips to the Science Centre and the Oceanarium. We have continued to work on our phonics and guided reading, the class team have been amazed at how well Sea Turtles have been able to develop their decoding and blending skills. Our guided reading groups have been reading texts linked to our theme of amazing adventures and working on answer comprehension questions.

In maths, we have covered a range of topics. Sea Turtles have explored place value of numbers with up to 3 digits. We have been looking at how we can represent numbers in different ways and working on nonstandard units of measure such as using cubes and hands. Sea Turtles have applied their measuring skills in lessons particularly on weight and measuring in cooking during maths. This has also been a great opportunity to work on following instructions.

In RE, we have been learning about different places of worship and what shapes and symbols are important within religions.

In PSHE, we have been learning about what our favourite leisure activities are and how we can keep ourselves safe when doing them. This includes how we can cross the road safely. We have set up our own Sea Turtles cinema where children have the chance to purchase tickets and popcorn!

Sea Turtles have enjoyed sports week. We were lucky enough to be invited to a football festival at the Ringwood Community Hub, where we learnt skills, such as shooting, dribbling, and passing. We have been able to access a variety of other games, such as the bikes, cheerleading and rounders. We had a lovely Sports Day on Thursday, Sea Turtles tried so hard, Well Done!

It has been a pleasure to work with each and every pupil in Sea Turtles this year. As a team, we have watched them forge strong friendships with each other, they have developed new skills and adapted to every new challenge we have presented them.  It has been amazing to be able to take all pupils to such a broad variety of places on trips this year, the class team wish every pupil every success as they continue their journey through Winchelsea.

Enjoy your summer holidays,

Miss Nancy, Miss Katie, and Miss Jennifer

Lobsters

This half term Lobsters have continued to ‘Wow’ and amaze us.  We have really embraced this term’s topic of ‘Amazing Adventures’.

In My World, we have been on many different adventures. We have talked about different continents and the oceans of the world. We have ‘flown’ to New Zealand, and enjoyed watching drone footage of the countries that we crossed over. It was lovely hearing all the things that they knew about the different countries. We have also been on a range of trips which have allowed us to explore local areas and go on mini adventures of our own. Everyone really enjoyed choosing which way to go and working out how to get to given places, we thought about how explorers would feel discovering new lands for the first time.

In English, we have been using two books to support our writing, ‘Ice trap’ and ‘Around the World in 80 days’. Using these books, Lobsters have written diary entries from the view point of the characters. We have talked about how they would have felt and what they might be thinking. The class showed an understanding of how characters would have felt in different situations and how this would have affected their actions. The class have also used story mapping to help retell the stories. Following the trip to Arne, the class completed a great recount of their trip in which they used all the skills we have learnt throughout the year on conjunctions, sentence structure and descriptions.

In Maths, we have been continuing to develop our accuracy when measuring in metres, centimetres, and millimetres. We have also been looking at perimeter and area of simple shapes. To begin with we counted squares to work these out and have started to move on to using adding and multiplication.  During the term we have also been refining and revising doubling and halving, mental addition, subtraction, and problem solving. As the year has progressed it has been brilliant to see the class’s resilience and perseverance with problem solving develop and see that some of the class enjoy the process.

In home cooking this term we have extended our bread making skills to make pizza. The class were able to use their knowledge of adding the water slowly and what to do if they added too much water.  This term we gave the class more responsibility to check on their own food once in the oven to ensure that it was cooked correctly.

Our learning in PSHE this half term has also allowed us to go on a range of trips. With objectives linked to catching public transport and developing social skill and confidence in new parks. We have been able to explore areas slightly further afield. As a class we have been able to use the More Bus website to plan our journeys, ensuring that we are catching the correct buses to not only make sure we are back in time but also to make sure that we have enough time there. The class have increased in confidence when getting on and off the bus and making sure that we are using the correct bus stops.  Having the experience of an open top bus was a lovely added bonus.

During Sports week, Lobsters took part in a range of activities which have allowed them to not only take part in already loved sports but also try some new ones. To incorporate our PSHE learning we took a bus to Bournemouth and played crazy golf. This gave the class an opportunity to show what they had remembered about how the amount of force on an object affected how far it went, as well as practising addition skills to work out who won.

I can’t believe that this year is over. It has been a truly amazing year with so much great learning happening. The hard work and resilience of the whole class has allowed us to be able to challenge them and know that they will rise to it.  We wish you all a very well deserved summer. For those changing classes next year, we can’t wait to hear about how you are continuing to be amazing.

Laura, Sammy, and Ellie

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Seahorses

Well, the end of this academic year has arrived! Seahorses have had an amazing year and have embraced many opportunities that have come their way. This half term was no exception, with a theme aptly named ‘Amazing Adventures’. Members of Seahorses have been part of the Duke of Edinburgh Award fundraising event and expedition, Ferny Croft Residential trip, Winchelsea Sports week, a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) trip to Bournemouth University and getting out and about around Poole.

At the start of the half term, some members of the class took part in a robotics workshop with Bournemouth University. In pairs, the pupils were required to use their Lego building skills in combination with computer coding to complete certain challenges with their robot. The challenges were based around a stylized map of Bournemouth, Poole and the surrounding areas and involved tasks including moving fossils and flowers from one location to another. Despite some of the challenges being frustrating at times, the pupils enjoyed the morning and modelled resilience and teamwork alongside their building and coding skills.

In June, along with the rest of the school, we enjoyed a ‘Road Trip Around Europe Day’. The pupils in Seahorses embraced trying a variety of food from around Europe as well as making their own French style chocolate mousse in their Home Cooking lessons that week.

A portion of the class enjoyed 3 nights on the residential trip at Ferny Crofts Scout site in the New Forest. Some of the favourite activities included Aero Ball, the zip wire, paddle games and raft building, where many pupils and staff got wet! The pizza oven and marshmallows by the campfire were also a big hit!

The Seahorse’s class team are proud of all that the pupils have achieved this year and wish them all the best for their next steps at Winchelsea or on to Post 16 provisions.

Magna Seals

Wow! It’s finally that time of year when it’s nearly the end of the academic year and we all start to look forward to the summer break, while reflecting on the wonderful year we have had! It is with sadness that this year is coming to an end, but while some pupils are staying at Magna, who will form a new class team, some pupils are moving to main site to continue their journey. I would like to say that I have thoroughly enjoyed teaching Seals as they have been a wonderful group of children to start my Winchelsea journey with. Each and every one of them has made progress and I feel blessed to have been able to watch then develop over the year! I will miss them! I feel sure that they will ease into their new classes while continuing to be a credit to you all.

In English, we have continued to read the novel, ‘Bloom’. The story continues to get more magical as the chapters roll by. The relationship between Sorell and her best friend Neena continue to get more complex which have sparked some excellent class discussions. The story has linked well to drama activities which has helped the pupils explore the plot, and the relationships between characters. Seals have responded positively to these drama activities and shown real flare and great understanding of the book. 

In Maths we have continued to do lots of practical work. We have focused on measuring distance in metres and centimetres and converting it using a decimal point. The pupils enjoying going outside and recording how far they could roll or throw various items, although I think their favourite was the rocket! 

I also have to mention how amazing Seals have been in developing their core strength. Over this term we have had the pleasure of working with Miss Jane and this has enabled us to adapt the exercises to match each one of the pupil’s abilities. I have thoroughly enjoyed seeing the pupil’s progress with this, as well as learn a lot myself!

Over the term we have had the pleasure of doing a few off-site trips ranging from Lulworth Cove to the Oceanarium in Bournemouth as part of our ‘Amazing Adventures’ topic. The pupils enjoyed the experiences - and the weather was kind to us! We also had our last trip to the ‘Spire Café’, and I am now one of their regulars!!!!

We have taken part in ‘Sports Week’ and enjoyed a Football Tournament in Ringwood, the pupils performed fantastically and really worked as a team, which was lovely to see.

For the last week of term, we have eased off the learning and enjoyed spending some time together, playing games, solving problems and above all talking and having fun!

Thank you all for being so positive and supportive over the year. It has been much appreciated!

What amazing children you all have!  I am sure you are all very proud!

Have an amazing summer!

Best wishes, Miss Nic, Miss Lorraine, Miss Jane

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Magna Manatees

It is with very mixed emotions that I am writing this final newsletter for Manatees Class. Firstly, with shock - that the year is coming to an end, when it feels like only yesterday that I was meeting your children for the first time. Secondly with pride, as I reflect on the incredible progress that these wonderful young people have made and all that they have achieved. Also, with a touch of sadness, that our time together is coming to an end. Many students from Manatees Class will be leaving Magna this year, to return to the Main Site and take up their places in their Accreditation classes for the next phase of their academic journey. Others will stay here for a further year, to continue developing their skills and confidence with the support of a new Class Team. What is certain to me, is that the nine students in my room are not the same as when they started this journey. They have blossomed and found their voices; have learnt to face their fears and in many cases conquer them and have developed secure and positive friendships that will last into the future.

This term we have relished the topic ‘Amazing Adventures’, which saw us explore the Oceans and ways of travelling in STEAM sessions, and which took us on trips as far afield as Lulworth Cove. Manatees Class tackled each new opportunity that they were afforded with humour and bravery. It has been incredible to see students that were frozen with anxiety at leaving the school site at the start of the year, throwing pebbles into the sea on a different stretch of coastline and making chattering noises at Penguins at the Oceanarium. With each new ‘adventure’, we saw more and more evidence of students using their toolkits unbidden, to calm their fears and ease their minds. The satisfaction of knowing that they are ready for even bigger challenges in the next academic year, is one that makes teaching so worthwhile. Like baby birds, they are ready to leave this nest and see more of the world.

In English, students have continued to engage with the characters in ‘Bloom - The Surprising Seeds of Sorrel Fallowfield’, and to laugh at the hilarious images, make guesses about where the story will go next and mimic the language choices they have read, in their own writing. I suspect that if you had told Manatees Class that they were going to read a book made up of 56 chapters and 363 pages (with almost no pictures), they would have laughed in our faces. And yet they have done it with enthusiasm and insight. They can describe in detail, the trials and tribulations of Sorrel Fallowfield and her best friend Neena, as they navigate the chaos caused by some magical seeds planted many hundreds of years ago.

Maths has seen Manatees exploring links with Sports this team, as they learn to measure distance, time, and speed. Students have practised their own sporting prowess in readiness for Sports Week, and have measured distances of objects thrown and speed of races run, with exacting accuracy and care.

We could not close this newsletter without mentioning the incredible successes that Manatees Class have seen, through their dedicated Physio Programme designed by Jane Reynolds from Total Children’s Therapy. For the last 9 weeks, Manatees Class have taken part in a 30 minute physio session every day, which has been designed to build their core strength and to support their motor control as a result. In the first week, Geoff Cherrill agreed to fund the purchase of 20 new Yoga Mats, and with a decided lack of enthusiasm…we began our sessions. It was incredible to see how challenging the students found even basic movements, such as eye tracking or balancing on one leg. But over 35 sessions have now been completed and the students are mind blowing in their ability to hold plank poses for 30 seconds or more, bounce and catch balls with alternative hands at speed and with amazing accuracy… and even to work together to move balls forwards and backwards whilst balancing in some incredible poses on their sides. It was never going to be easy to get a group of teenagers to try things that were so out of their ‘comfort zone’, but I can honestly say that I have seen their strength, stamina and control increase exponentially over the last term. 

All that remains for me to say, is thank you for your fantastic communication and support in helping us to help your children be the best that they can be. Each and every one is an asset to their families, and it has been an exceptional pleasure to work with them this year.

Enjoy a very well-earned break together this Summer.

Best wishes, Verity, Megan and all the Class Team

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Manta

We have thoroughly enjoyed this summer term and our topic ‘Amazing Adventures’. Our class text, ‘The Boy that Biked the World’ written by Alastair Humphreys tells the story of a boy who cycled his way around the world. The first book in the series follows his travels through Europe and Africa and was a great opportunity to explore those countries as well as practise our reading and writing skills.

We have had some fantastic adventures this half term. We took a trip to Swanage on the open top Breezer. The bus ride was lots of fun and we managed to get a seat at the top so we could see the brilliant views across the coast. When we arrived in Swanage, we had time to play on the beach before we went to order our food. All the children were given their own money to spend. They had to choose the café they wanted to order from and the item of food or drink they would like before ordering and paying for the items independently. It was a great learning experience and a good excuse to eat chips and ice-cream!

We also took trips to Upton Country House and Durlston where we had enjoyable walks and got to play on the rope swings. At Durlston, we also saw the giant globe and lots of the students put their Maths and Geography skills to the test, spotting countries on the globe and identifying which way was North.

The residential has been a key part of this half term, the children who went, experienced some brilliant activities including wall climbing, kayaking, rifle shooting and archery. They also enjoyed staying in dormitories with their friends and helping to make breakfast, lunches, and dinner together. The evenings were spent playing team games, singing on karaoke, and cooking pizza in the pizza oven. It was certainly an enjoyable but exhausting week.

Here is what some of the children had to say about their year in Manta:

“This year I have enjoyed singing in front of the school and all the teachers during Creative Arts week. World book day was fun and I enjoyed dressing up at school as a princess. I have loved cooking this year especially scrambled egg with toast” - Aleyna

“The highlight of the year for me is when we went crabbing and saw the harbour. I also liked World Book Day dressing up as Deku. I loved seeing the lambs at Kingston Maurward because I love animals” - Lola

“I enjoyed everything at school this year: Maths, English, Art, Music, Cooking, Forest School and PE. I enjoyed the school trip to Bovington Tank Museum, Winchester Science Centre and Kingston Maurward College” - George

“I enjoyed the residential because I like to challenge myself to do things that I have never done before. I liked the zip wire because I was nervous but I still completed it” - Ben

“I have enjoyed going on the residential because I did really fun activities. I did the leap of faith, paddle games and crate stacking. I loved playing Simon says in the kayaks. I had to stand up and I didn’t fall in!” - Izzy

I have been so pleased with the progress that all the students have made over the year particularly all the wonderful exam results that the children achieved. They have all worked extremely hard, built some lovely friendships, and learnt new life skills. I hope you all have a wonderful summer holiday and we look forward to seeing you all in September.

Manta Class Team

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Orca

What a year it has been in Orca Class! Truly it has gone by in the blink of an eye with so many incredible moments. We asked the pupils to write about their experiences this year.

We have had two pupils complete their DofE, here is what they had to say:

“I think my lead up towards my DofE rewards was actually pretty fun. Although there was a roller Coaster of emotions doing the physio sheet and doing the walk on the camping trip I think through all of the blood sweat and tears I think it was worth the wait. In my opinion the best segments throughout the DofE was the bits where we cooked and played games with each other” - Kayne

“Expedition: The expedition is definitely the highlight of the award, and what you’d think when you first hear about DofE. It involves many skills, including Camping, Navigating, Cooking, and much more. It was very hard work; I ended up walking over 6 miles! Overall, it was definitely the most enjoyable part of the award.

Volunteering: The boring part. But we had it easy in fairness. We set up a Food and Clothes bank, which involved many skills, including marketing, organising and arranging the event. It was a long time in the making, but we pulled it off! The event was a success, and I managed to snag an Austin Powers DVD!

Skills: This is a very important part of the award, as it lets me develop my skills as a Graphic Designer. We set up a school magazine, which has a very successful launch (we even made a launch trailer!). It’s progressing to great heights, including more issues, an extra Graphic Designer, and maybe soon a website! All of this contributes towards the Skills section of the DofE award, which is a great bonus!

Physical: The final section of the award is conveniently the most time consuming. You have to log every single exercise you’ve done over 6 months, and it should total up to 24 hours. It’s a lot of effort, but it rounds out the award nicely.

Conclusion: To conclude, the award it hard work! But it’ll be great for my CV, gives me some extra skills, and helps me in my journey to becoming a Graphic Designer” - Josh

Orca’s lessons are always busy and the pupils continue to push themselves which is very impressive. Here are some of their thoughts on their lessons this year:

“PE has been ok because we have played some football matches like our 4-2 victory over Lion Works and our 3-2 loss to Lion Works. We also did a Dodgeball competition with easy victory over the other schools and we also did a bleep test with me and josh getting the highest score

This year personally, I have done 19 exams and I think that the level 1 maths and level 1 writing were the hardest, but I found the entry levels easier” - Mikey

“These are my highlights of animal care of the whole year. I will begin with me and my class mates in options lesson and the red foot tortoise where we met Miss Tash’s tortoise speedy.  In this lesson I hypothesised that tortoise could perhaps have more strength than a humane side note I learnt that tortoise live in ROME. Next we had a return of solo laia and flash the three bearded dragons who we met before in a previous lesson and I got to feed them” - Brandon

“On Mondays, the Music group goes to a place called Absolute Music, a music instrument store and where we have our 2 hour sessions with Jamie! We normally take turns playing different instruments as an ensemble, like the drums, bass guitar, guitar, and much more! We’ve made music to put over an animation, made our own summery music, and tried out new instruments we haven’t tried before!” - Sammy

This half term Key Stage 4 took part in a Robotics workshop with Bournemouth University:

“On Monday 26th June 2023, the people that were doing the Robotics Workshop, went on the minibus to Bournemouth University at Talbot Campus to see what inventions the people at BU has done for the future. The invention event was hosted by the Making Waves team and their inventions were held at BU’s Student Centre’s Sport @BU hall and Kimmeridge House.

The tour guide of Bournemouth University took us on a tour of the university and showed us many great stuff like the Union Shop in Poole House, the oldest building at BU & Bournemouth University’s celebrities, Mike & Sully from Disney’s Monsters Inc., in Weymouth House and the largest building on Talbot campus, Poole Gateway Building.

I thought the event and tour of BU was amazing because I had a dream of coming back to Talbot Campus so I can achieve on my dream, but do others before the dream job.” - John

We had several pupils complete work experience, Mohamad, Kayne, Nicole, and Josh did theirs this half term:

“The send4 team special trip was awesome because we cleaned the heathland hotel on the first day then on the second day we were exploring the nici hotel and back to heathland hotel for lunch. Then we saw the mechanic and after that me and Kayne had a mcflurry then back to school.” - Mohamad

Several Orca pupils have been part of the new student magazine Winchelsea Times:

“In spring 1, Miss Smyth came up with a plan of having a magazine across the Winchelsea community, including satellites at Magna & Canford Heath. So she had the people who are interested to work on the first issue like me, Josh S, Djamel, Ava, Archie and both Korrie & Kayne. I came up with a name for the student magazine called “Winchelsea Times”.

In the issue, there are pages with sorted out problems with Djamel, comics, jokes & riddles by me, Life at the Satellites by Ava, Sports by Kayne & Top Tips by the lead editor, Josh S. himself.” - John

We asked a couple of pupils to reflect on their year, this is what they had to say:

“This year has been great because I got to see so many of my old friends and staff from Magna again.

I have definitely enjoyed all my lessons and even some like science that I have not done since year eight. My teachers made sure they were helping me with all my learning also so I can do my best. I am going to miss a lot of my friends and my teachers. I have promised to keep in touch with my friends that I have now because I believe that are my best of friends that have always been there for me no matter what. I am sad that I am leaving but I know that it is going to be difficult but something that I and everyone should hold on to is our memories.

Thank you so much everyone who has supported me throughout the year.

I wish to you good luck in everything you do including you AMAZING teaches and TA’S.” - Amelia

“If I had one word to describe this year it would be awesome/amazing/cool/fun/creative (I needed more than one word).

We had a school newspaper (Mrs Catford she created it) we’ve already made 2 issues so far and one more coming soon for the summer and I enjoy making problems and fixing them for other people.

We had an awesome dance off and won (Lilia did all the choreography :0) it started with just a class who didn’t know what to do for the dance off but five days later we had an awesome dance off because Lilia trained us.

This year personally has been a fun rollercoaster so many emotions and friendships and effort in this year but most of it was Mrs Catford she has carried this year on her short back because she’s awesome and radical and without her it would be like a desert and she’s like a role model to me.” - Djamel

We can honestly say this has been an incredible year! Orca pupils have pushed themselves in all areas of their learning and this is reflected in their exam results. They are a truly impressive group of young people and we could not be prouder of them.

We hope you all have a wonderful summer break!

Sam, Alison, and Sarah

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Post 16

It’s come to that time again, the end of another academic year, but what a fantastic one it has been! It has been amazing getting to know the pupils, through all the highs and lows.  Some of our pupils will be leaving us to continue developing their skills and independence learnt during their time with us. Others will stay and continue their Winchelsea journey developing their skills and gaining new ones. What is certain, is that all pupils have worked hard to achieve great progress developing their independence, maturity and have made some positive lifelong friendships.

We have enjoyed the topic Amazing Adventures, which saw us explore the local area and took us on trips as far afield as Moors Valley Country Park and Monkey World.  The class loved being outside and enjoying all the different sights and sounds. There was lots of laughter and the sun was shining for us.

In addition, pupils took part in a WW2 Re-Enactment, which they had spent a lot of time practicing and they were all exceptional! Pupils dressed up in the relevant costume for their part, including farmers, nurses, fighter, and bomber pilots. Each pupil talked about their role, spoke to the other pupils, and put on activities for the children/staff to see what it was like in WW2.  All their hard work really paid off. Well done!

In June, along with the rest of the school, we enjoyed a ‘Road Trip around Europe Day’.  Pupils voted on what countries they would like to learn about and chose Sweden, Poland, Greece and Italy. Pupils made a variety of different food from these countries, testing their culinary skills and especially enjoyed.  Some of the amazing dishes made included “Spiced Feta with Watermelon Salsa” and “Focaccia”.

In English, we have been reading the books “The Wild Robot” and “The Runaway Pea”.  The Wild Robot by Peter Brown is about a robot called Roz, who lands up on an island and has the adventures she has there. The Runaway Pea, by Kjartan Poskitt, is a book about a pea that falls off the plate and has many adventures. 

Pupils have been doing Maths in two groups; one group have been looking at clocks and telling the time and learning about money, to help pupils identify different coins when they are out and about.  The other Maths group has been focusing on their times tables.

We are very proud of all our Post 16 pupils; they have all achieved so much this year.

All that remains for us to say is “Have a wonderful summer!”  We wish all our leavers the very best for the future, please keep in touch, we would love to know how you are getting on.  For all the pupils returning in September; we will see you then for another great year!

Best Wishes,
The Post 16 Team

Creative Arts

Amazing Art

How time has flown by! We have come to the end of another busy, messy, and super fun academic year in art, it is great to look back at all the wonderful experiences the children have had. This half term we have been looking at art from around the world. We have been using henna to draw on our hands and have discussed the cultural relevance of this. We have made African masks and looked at Adinkra prints and their meanings. The children have enjoyed learning where different art comes from and exploring the meaning behind it!

“Henna is awesome. It’s like having a tattoo except that it washes off!”

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Marvellous Music

Well, what a term we have finished on! Students have been exploring music from around the world! For our younger classes, this has included listening to music from different countries and thinking about singing, moving their bodies, and exploring multi-cultural instruments. Our Enquirer classes have done a whistle stop tour of the world, looking into a different country or continent for each week of their learning. They have learned about Samba from Brazil, Djembe Drumming from Africa, Dragon Dancing from China, and Flamenco dancing from Spain! Students have been focusing on playing together as part of an ensemble.

“I love learning about music from Brazil”

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We have also had our music intervention group running. This term students have been working towards learning basic music theory and then using the knowledge they have learnt to learn a piece of music. The group successfully learnt a part of Hedwig’s theme from Harry Potter - all playing different parts at the same time, which is a real achievement! 

“Even though it’s challenging, learning how to read music is great!”

This summer Post 16 ran a WW2 re-enactment day for some of the younger children. This included some of the student’s creating music and drama-based workshops for the younger children to enjoy. The students had to stay in character whilst delivering their workshop and did an absolutely fantastic job! The day was incredibly successful, we and the younger students loved joining in!

“I had so much fun! I loved the singing and dancing and being told to go to the shelter by the Air Raid warden!”

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We are incredibly proud of the children and everything they have achieved this year. We can’t wait to welcome you back in September for another year of music, drama, and art!

Do you or any one you know have any creative skills? We are looking out for people who could lead an art or music-based workshop for our 2024 Creative Arts Week! If you think you can help, get in contact with us at [email protected]

Forest School

We have enjoyed exploring the woodland and seeing how it has changed as we journey through summer. The combination of sun and rain has shifted growth up a gear and pupils are now surrounded by a stunning display of wild flowers and greenery. The woods are so full of wildlife and birds with their songs nearly making more noise than the pupils (but not quite!).

The students have been building and experimenting with gravity fed painting tripods, building rafts to see which design and materials are the most buoyant, balancing on slacklines and the students have had great fun designing and flying their own kites. We have also been making the most of the beautiful sunshine and making our own sundials to tell the time the old-fashioned way!

PE

Summer is always exciting in the PE department and this year has been no different. We start with the fantastic news that we have, once again, received the Gold award from the School Games. This is a measure of how hard our staff and pupils work at Winchelsea to really imbed sports throughout the whole curriculum. 

Our Discoverers pupils have been practicing some key skills for striking and field games this half term and have really enjoyed hitting the balls as far as they can.

Our Enquirers’ pupils have been practicing their throwing and catching getting ready for rounders and cricket.

Some of our other Enquirer’s classes have been playing cricket and rounders also. Here we have Sea turtles working on their catching skills and hitting a ball with a cricket bat.

Sea Lions have also been enjoying their cricket sessions. 

Jay said “I really like cricket, because I like hitting the ball far away and helping my friends to hold the bat.” 

We have also enjoyed two days at Poole Park competing in the ‘Can Do Water Sports.’ We took two different groups of pupils who really enjoyed their day.

And what could be a better way to finish the year than a whole week of sports and activities for our annual sports week. The pupils loved it, and particular highlights were the climbing wall and the staff run sessions.

Unfortunately, our final sports day of the year was cancelled due to the bad weather on the Friday. Apart from this the week went off without a hitch!

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DofE

We are delighted to share that this year we have had three wonderful teams of students participate in the Duke of Edinburgh award. They have shown great perseverance with their skills, physical and expedition sections as well as showing off their organisational skills through their volunteering section. All groups blew us away on their practice and qualifying expeditions. All three groups conquered a mighty hike whilst navigating themselves around the forest. Later in the day they rustled up a delicious meal and set up their camp for the night (group 1 and 2 slept over). All teams then repeated it all over again on day two of their expedition. We are very proud of them all. Well done!