18 July 2025

Headteacher’s Message

We have had another very successful term…. with the weather being a great help!

This term has seen the pupils looking at the theme of ‘In the Zone’. This has involved discussing emotions and how to regulate how we feel. We have been able to use our zones to reflect on how to make helpful choices and think about our mental health. This ended with our Beach Walk! A huge thank you to the staff who organised the event and congratulations to all the pupils who managed to complete the walk… particularly our older pupils who actually walked from school!

I would like to thank those of you who attended our enterprise event this week. The pupils worked very hard to create the items for sale and it was lovely to see so many of you come and support them.

I am delighted to let you all know that we have now begun working with the DfE to deliver significant changes to our main site. This project will continue in September and I will keep you all updated as we move towards a final version of the new buildings. This is very exciting and should help us continue to develop our provision. We are also discussing some changes to our Post 16 provision and I hope to share this with you next term.

As always, I would like to thank you all for your continued support this year.

Finally, please be aware that school will be closed from Friday 18th July 2025. Pupils return on Thursday 4^th September 2025. Staff will be in school for training on Wednesday 3^rd September 2025 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 01202 123 334 or 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. 

Early Help Advice Point

Getting help early, helps.

Sometimes we all need a bit of extra help - someone to turn to or advice to just give us a bit of reassurance. This could be for you or your children.

We know that if we get help early enough, it can stop issues escalating and can help us manage better.

You can now get this help from the BCP Early Help Access Point. One number, or email, to support you with whatever advice or guidance you may need.

One place, one number to help support you, 01202 126668

Or you can still email us [email protected]

There’s also lots of information and advice on the BCP Virtual Family Hub and Family Information Directory.

Float to Live - RNLI

Heading to the coast or out on the water is a great way to have fun and stay active. But, if you're not careful, it's a lot easier to get into trouble in the water than you might think. Conditions can change quickly and if you're not prepared, you can easily get caught out.

The RNLI have lots of information and advice on how to stay safe on and around the water.

Online Safety - Help children stay safe on chat apps

Messaging and chat apps, such as WhatsApp and Kik, are a great way for a child to stay in touch with their friends and family but it’s important both of you are comfortable with who they’re talking to.

Talk to your child about who they’re chatting to and how they know them. Remind them to be conscious of who they’re sharing personal information with and not to share information with people they haven’t met before. This includes information like their name, location, email, phone number and school name.

The NSPCC has a range of resources that can support you and your family stay safe online.

Access to Food - food banks, community fridges and social supermarkets in our area

The Access to Food Partnership brings together local services to make sure everyone has access to food. This is through food banks, community fridges, social supermarkets and more.

For more information about how to access the Access to Food Partnership please follow the link below.

Medical

Sun Safety Facts:

In the UK the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays are the strongest between 11am - 3pm from mid-March to mid-October. 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 – 3pm
• Covering up with clothes, hat and UV protection sunglasses
• Using sunscreen with a least SPF15 and 4 or 5 stars. Use it generously, reapply regularly and use together with shade and clothing

Tips for applying sunscreen:

• Make sure you put enough on – people often put much less sunscreen that they need to. Apply sunscreen evenly and thickly, even if it is a roll on or spray sunscreen.
• Reapply sunscreen regularly through the day including ‘once a day’ and ‘water resistant’ products. Sunscreen can rub, sweat and wash off – even if it is supposed to be waterproof. It is especially important to put more on after towelling dry. Reapplying also helps avoid missing bits of skin.
• Check the expiry date on your sunscreen before you use it. Look for a symbol with the letter M and a number that shows how many months the sunscreen will last after opening.

Heat Exhaustion and Heatstroke Awareness

Heatstroke is a medical condition caused by the body becoming too hot and overheating, this usually happens after a prolonged exposure to high temperature or physical exertion.

Heat exhaustion does not usually need medical help if you are cooled down within 30minutes. If the condition develops into heatstroke this requires urgent medical treatment.

During high temperatures it is important the body is cool and very well hydrated. Ice packs, cooling mists and fans are ways you can prevent heat exhaustion from occurring.

Please see link for further information and advice:

Hay fever 

Hay fever is a common allergy that causes sneezing, coughing and itchy eyes. You cannot cure it but there are many things you can do to alleviate symptoms and medicines available. 

• Common Hay fever symptoms include:
• Sneezing and coughing
• A runny or blocked nose
• Itchy, red or watery eyes
• Itchy throat, mouth, nose and ears
• Loss of smell
• Pain at the side of the head and forehead
• Headache
• Feeling tired

Symptoms are usually worse late March to September, especially when it is warm, humid and windy, when the pollen count is at its highest. 

If your child suffers with any of the symptoms above, speak to your pharmacist about antihistamine medication and give advice. 

For further information see NHS link below: 

Ticks Awareness

Ticks can occur throughout the year, but ticks are more common during the spring and summer months. Ticks are small arachnids that carry diseases such as Lyme Disease. These can be found in woodland, grassland, moorland, parks and garden.

Please see link for further information and advice about ticks:

Right to Choose

What is the right to choose?

The Right to Choose is a legal right. If you are not offered a choice at the point of referral, ask your doctor why and say you wish to explore your options

For further information, please see link below:

ADHD/ASD– Right to Choose Referral

If you or child are eligible, this means you have the right to choose which mental healthcare provider you want to be referred to for assessment and treatment. This means that if you decide the waiting time for you ADHD/ASD assessment is too long then you can choose another provider.

Please see useful websites links below:

Dental Referrals

If you are having difficulties in finding a local NHS dentist, we can help to refer your child to the Somerset Specialist Community Dental Service. The service is very skilled at providing treatment to children with a range of Learning difficulties and health needs.

Medical Email

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

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

General enquiry box - to be used for any other medical related issue other than listed above.

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

Medication

If your child has regular medication in school e.g. Inhalers. At the end of term all medication held in school will be sent home with your child. Please check you have received all medication.

Medical Protocols

Medical Protocols are now updated prior to your child’s Annual Review. If there are any amendments required before your child’s next Annual Review, please contact us to ensure we have accurate up to date information.

If your child is new to Winchelsea and we believe a Medical Protocol is necessary, you will have already been contacted prior to receiving this newsletter. If you feel your child has a significant medical need and you have not spoken with the medical team, please contact us.

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

We wish you all a happy and healthy summer.

Best Wishes
Michelle and Sue

Therapy Team

Gestalt Language Processing

The SaLT team have recorded our Gestalt Language Processing training for parents/carers and it is available on our YouTube channel through this link:

This half term, we have been piloting group therapy for some gestalt language processors to see if group therapy would be as effective as one-to-one therapy. So far, we have had great success with our pilot group with pupils from Dolphin class and plan to continue delivering gestalt therapy in this way over the summer holidays with select pupils and next academic year.

High-tech AAC

We have rolled out an exciting new part of our Universal offer by having class iPads with a communication app, Clicker Communicator, in all classes in the Explorers and Discoverers curriculum.

The iPads will allow pupils who use AAC (Alternative and Augmentative Communication) to be able to explore high-tech AAC, provide adult models of high-tech AAC use, and enable the SaLT team to identify pupils who would benefit from high-tech communication aids more quickly.

Any pupil who already has their own high-tech communication aid will continue to be supported to use their existing one, even if the app is different to the class-based iPads. AAC is not a one-size-fits-all and there isn’t one app that is the best for everyone. The class-based iPads will be part of the SaLT team’s dynamic assessment to finding the best communication aids for each pupil who needs one. If you think your child would benefit from high-tech AAC, please contact the salt team on [email protected] 

Whole School Physiotherapy Inflatable Challenge

This half term, all pupils have been following an exercise video made by the Physiotherapist and our Therapy Assistants to earn some time on the Inflatable Obstacle course and bouncy castle. We have seen really great engagement with the videos across the school and pupil fitness is improving. We have received some great ideas from pupils in Seals class on how to make the challenge even better next year.

Horse Riding Therapy

This term a group of students from Shells went to the Fortune Riding Centre for six sessions of horse therapy on wonderful Pye the pony. They were supported by Teaching Assistants from their class and an older pupil from Dolphins. It was fantastic to see a student mentoring younger pupils.

Everybody achieved great success and were very proud to receive their Blue Badges for completing the riding curriculum. The successes achieved in riding have had a positive impact in other areas such as increased attention in class-based learning, riding bikes and trikes and confidence to try new activities outside of school.

Occupational Therapy

The Sensory Integration sessions run by our Therapy Assistants and overseen by the Occupational Therapist have been very successful this term. We regularly get feedback from class teams that pupils return from their SI sessions calmer and they show more engagement in learning.

Ocean

Sometimes, when we are busy living life, we forget just how far the children have come.  When we look back over the year, we could not be prouder of the progress the children in Ocean class have made.  Watching them today during ‘Ocean Wimbledon’ as part of our sports week was an absolute privilege as they shared resources, engaged with each other, explored the resources with purpose demonstrating clear learning; exhibiting their developing fine motor skills while they made strawberries and cream.

Ocean class have focused on being mindful this term, how to calm and relax, and just take a moment to focus and reset and enjoy the full experience of the world.  We have really enjoyed our calm walks through the woods listening to the birds, looking at and touching the bushes and flowers, and pausing to listen to the river and throw sticks and stones in.

The weather has been exceptionally warm, and as a result we have also focused on our dressing skills as we changed our clothes for water play. This immersive activity has proved hugely popular, and we now have some children finding their own water wear to indicate they want the experience again.

This last year has been so much fun, we have all enjoyed getting to know the children, and watch their characters develop. The children should be extremely proud of themselves. We would also like to thank you for all of your support. Please take care during the summer holidays, enjoy lazy mornings and ice cream!

Thank you.

The Ocean Class Team

Harbour

This term’s topic, ‘In the Zone’, has focussed on understanding emotions and self-expression. It has provided so many meaningful opportunities for the children to learn more about themselves and each other. From music sessions filled with favourite songs and happy dances, to investigating facial expressions using mirrors and playdough, the children have embraced every chance to explore feelings and develop their communication skills.

We have also had lots of exciting adventures outdoors. Weekly woodland walks and trips to the park have given the children a chance to connect with nature, collect natural treasures and build independence. They have confidently explored streams, practiced road safety and strengthened their physical skills through climbing, spinning and balancing. During our cooking and food sensory sessions, we have made our own cheese pastries, pizza bread and cupcakes. Of course, the highlight was always tasting the delicious creations during snack time. The children engaged with a variety of ingredients and textures and helped to label, mix and pour with growing confidence.

One of our biggest highlights this term has been water play. Whether splashing in the large paddling pool in the garden or exploring Redhill paddling pool on our trips, the children have loved wading, pouring and playing in the water. These experiences have also supported the children’s developing independence as they have practised putting on their own sun cream, as well as dressing and undressing themselves with growing confidence. In our Attention Autism and Letters and Sounds sessions we have explored sensory materials including water and foam. We have also tuned into the ‘a’ sound and have searched for objects beginning with ‘a’. The children have also engaged with lots of role play using kitchen appliances and sound-themed toys to investigate household noises such as hoovers, doorbells, washing machines, taps and microwaves.

In the final weeks, we have celebrated the children’s fantastic progress with some truly memorable experiences including joining in with a bouncy castle and inflatables at the main site and a trip to Lemur Landings. The children have explored these new environments and activities and have challenged themselves in fun physical play. We have also had Sports Week which was filled with forest walks, parachute games, bikes, scooters and a picnic in the park. The children loved engaging in calming mindfulness sessions, healthy cooking activities and splashing about in our garden water play. Our school year ended with a fabulous ‘cinema experience’ at our main site and a special picnic on the beach. It was the perfect way to celebrate all the wonderful memories we have created together.

As we head into the summer holidays, we want to thank you all for your ongoing support. It has been an absolute pleasure to teach your children and we are so proud of each and every one of them. We will miss them dearly but are excited for the next chapter as they move on to new classes in September. Wishing you all a joyful and restful summer break. Best wishes, The Harbour Class Team.

Starfish

Starfish have had a great half term! 

The last half term has focussed on thinking about our emotions and all of the different ways we can stay healthy. The children have had lots of opportunities to engage in a range of physical activities such as swimming, going on long walks, going to the park, and enjoying our sports week where they had the fantastic sports day and the inflatables!

As well as focusing on these key areas of physical development, the children have been thinking about their emotions and how they feel when different things happen such as oops moments or changing of routine.  We have also looked at activities that make us feel happy or calm.

The children have continued to make the most of our broad and varied curriculum, accessing a range of outdoor spaces across the week such as Forest Schools, outdoor learning time, and our regulation time in the hall across the week as well as some fun adventures out and about!

Finally, as always we have been pushing the communication on within class and have been consolidating what the children have learnt over the year by ensuring that they are using their language as effectively and intentionally as possible.

Well done Starfish! Another wonderful half term and we hope you all have a wonderful summer!

Dolphin

This term, and the whole year has flown by. It feels like only yesterday that our new Dolphin Class started out, and what amazing adventures and personal progress they’ve made on their learning journeys so far. In this term alone, we have focused on fitness and feelings as part of our theme ‘In the Zone.’  Students have worked very hard to develop their understanding of the zones, their own feelings and how they can effectively self-regulate. This has given pupils a greater insight into their own well-being and how to keep themselves safe by taking ownership of their feelings and actions.

Our new book this term was ‘The Colour Monster’ which helped solidify further pupil’s knowledge of the Winchelsea Zones. Our phonics also moved into phase 3 and Dolphins have loved learning new sounds and words through attention autism style sessions which help pupils to focus on words and sounds in a practical way.

In my problem solving, we have been sorting and grouping physical objects by their similarities and differences. For example, sorting by shape, colour and size. Recently we tested our knowledge by trying these all together, with pupils independently collecting equipment to build a big green house from rectangles for a dinosaur or a small blue house for a mouse out of squares. In our STEAM lessons, we designed and built feelings jars to sell as part of our summer enterprise project. We utilised our sorting skills to effectively add each coloured pompom to the jar to represent how we feel.

Our biggest success this term, however, has been our push on physical development. We have seen pupils gradually extend their general fitness through our ‘healthy hikes’ on our weekly community visit walks, culminating in our end of term beach walk. Dolphins also followed visual movements and instructions in our daily HIIT exercises, earning enough stickers to win extra time on the bouncy castles on our’ inflatables day. We have also seen amazing engagement in our Wednesday swimming sessions, with pupils not only transitioning and getting changed with minimal support but listening well to instructions from the swim teacher and learning new techniques.

We were also joined this term by the SALT team, who taught us about barrier games which support in developing our social interaction skills. The games have seen a positive impact on pupil’s communication, turn-taking, and teamwork abilities. With two students working together to create something that only one of them can see.

What an absolute pleasure it has been to teach Dolphin Class this year, they are so much fun and always so excited to learn something new every day. It's been a blast!

Have a great summer.

All the best,
The Dolphin Class Team

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Octopus

This half term in Octopus Class, our theme has been In the Zone! We’ve been discovering all the different ways we can move our bodies and how this helps us feel calm, happy, and ready to learn. The children have explored what they like and dislike when it comes to movement, and how this can support their wellbeing. This theme linked beautifully with our school-wide focus on mental health and self-regulation, and with Sports Week rounding off the term, it’s been an energetic and joyful few weeks.

A big part of our learning came through our book focus, "I Like This, You Like That." This story helped us explore our own preferences and recognise that it’s okay for people to like different things. Alongside this, our key vocabulary focused on types of movement - children have been learning and practising words like “jump,” “dance,” and “walk” through fun and active sessions such as local walks, dance parties, and even some bouncing fun on a bouncy castle!

In cooking, our sessions focused on making toast - a real favourite in Octopus Class! Some children have been developing their independence by learning how to safely use a toaster, while others have been practising their spreading and cutting skills. These sessions have also given us great opportunities to express our preferences and communicate what we like.

We’ve also been out and about in the community this half term, visiting places that make us feel good. We’ve enjoyed walks in our local area, trips to the park, and a brilliant morning out at the beach. These experiences have helped the children connect with their environment and reflect on how different places make them feel. Thank you for your continued support this term - we hope you have a wonderful, restful, and sunny summer break!

Shells

What a wonderful end to the year Shells have had - the children have been making the most of the hot weather this half term and have enjoyed exploring our final topic ‘In the Zone’, where we have explored emotions and how movement makes our bodies feel good.

The children have been working hard on building their understanding of emotions and the different strategies we can use to help us feel better. We have worked a lot on using our toolkits and finding different activities or resources that help us feel calm, as well as developing a deeper understanding of some more complex emotions. Linked to this we have also been taking part in different physical activity challenges linked to our word of the week, and noticing how different physical activity might make us feel. The children have really enjoyed taking part in regular physio-based obstacle courses, and have found that afterwards they feel much calmer and ready to listen and learn!

As part of our physical activity, we also prepared for Sports Day. We are super impressed by how well the children listened and took part on the day - they were super teammates and all tried their best in the different events. Our swimming sessions have also continued to be a success. We are so proud of not only their development in confidence in the water and their swimming skills but also their independence in getting themselves ready at the beginning and end of the session; well done Shells!

In our cooking sessions this half term we have worked on cooking pizzas. Over the weeks the children have built on their skills to follow either written or verbal instructions to independently make a pizza with toppings of their choosing. This then led into an afternoon café, where the children then exchanged money (working on coin recognition) to buy their pizza.

We are so proud of all the progress and engagement from the children this year, they have all worked super hard and should be so proud of their achievements. Shells team have thoroughly enjoyed this year and we hope you all have an amazing and relaxing summer break

Shells Class Team

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Penguins

We were blessed with such good weather this final term of the year. This has enabled us to get out and about, making the most of it in many contexts all tied in with the theme, ‘In the Zone’. Our story has been an adapted version of ‘The Colour Monster’, helping us name our feelings and select activities we enjoy to help us calm if we are upset. This has been at Old Town, Main Site, and out in the community.

Our community visits have included Poole Park and the Quay where we have developed social interactions skills, taken turns, explored activities slightly out of our comfort zone, as well as making and expressing choices. Finally, and most importantly, managing with tricky situations such as finishing when it is time to go! Also, at Winchelsea Main Site, we have had the inflatable challenge and our sports day experience. Apologies again if there was a delay in getting to you, we are always supporting the children in their independence and transitions which on occasion requires a bit of extra time and patience!

You are probably well aware of the days we have had some sun and high temperatures, which have given us the opportunity to get into the routine of supporting independence in sun cream application, taking drinks with us and when we need them, finding ways to say cool with shade, ice, water and lollies. The additional life skills we have been focusing on have been washing our faces and continuing spreading skills in preparation of our forest picnics. It has been a very full term!

Now we are heading into the summer holidays, we reflect on the fact that when we return several of us will be on different journeys to new classes and adventures. Have a great summer making memories. It has been a pleasure for all of us to have had the opportunity to have your children with us this year in Penguins.

Happy Holidays

Team Penguin  

Sea Lions

Dear Parents and Carers,

As we come to the end of another busy and rewarding term, we want to take a moment to celebrate the wonderful experiences and progress our pupils have made. The children have truly put in tremendous effort across all areas of school life – from academic studies to extracurricular activities – and we are incredibly proud of their achievements.

Throughout the term, the children have worked incredibly hard and shown great enthusiasm across all areas of learning. A real highlight has been our trips to the beach – travelling together by bus, exploring the shoreline, digging in the sand, and most importantly, taking time to think about our emotions. These special moments gave pupils the chance to reflect on how they’re feeling and learn practical ways to support their own wellbeing.

It’s been a joy to see how thoughtful, resilient, and caring our pupils continue to be. The growing awareness of their emotions and how to manage them has been a key focus, and we’re so proud of the progress they’ve made.

Thank you, as always, for your continued support. We wish you a restful and happy break, and we look forward to welcoming everyone back next term for more learning and new adventures.

The Sea Lions Team

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Sea Turtles

What a wonderful half term we have had! Our theme this half term has been ‘In The Zone’, which focuses on our emotions, wellbeing and regulation. Pupils have worked hard on identifying how they can regulate themselves and how this might be different to what their friends need. The highlight for our pupils has been our trip to the beach. Pupils had to get on not one, but two buses to get to Bournemouth beach! They particularly enjoyed our second bus (the open topped bus) which gave them magnificent views of Poole and Bournemouth. Pupils had a wonderful time building sandcastles and eating ice-cream before returning to school. We are very proud of Sea Turtles behaviour on this trip.

In English, pupils have continued to work hard on a mixture of phase 5 sounds and SPaG. Pupils have blown us away with their blending skills, as we have focused on a mixture of tricky sounds this half term, such as split digraphs. As part of our reading and writing work this half term, we explored the book ‘The Colour Monster’ by Anna Llenas. The story provided a wonderful opportunity to discuss emotions and the importance of understanding and expressing how we feel. Inspired by the book, pupils created their own unique colour monsters to represent different emotions such as happiness, sadness, anger, fear, and calm. They used descriptive language to explain what their monsters were feeling and why.

In Maths, pupils have engaged with a broad and varied range of topics this term. We began our learning journey by exploring statistics. Pupils learned how to interpret and construct bar charts, using them to represent data in a clear and meaningful way. They also developed their ability to sort and classify items into different groups based on shared characteristics. Following our work on statistics, we moved on to explore the fundamental operations of addition and subtraction. Pupils practised using a range of methods to solve problems, including number lines, partitioning, and column methods where appropriate. Through practical activities and problem-solving tasks, they deepened their understanding of how these operations are used in everyday contexts.

As the weather has become increasingly hot, pupils have relished the chance to go out in Forest School. They have shown great care when being out in the sun, ensuring they take their hats and water bottles with them. Pupils have enjoyed a variety of activities as part of their Forest School this year. They have been able to make nature inspired dream catchers and bracelets, den and nest building and using the hammock. The highlight this half term for many pupils was a Pokémon quest! Pupils had to work as a team to follow a map to find different Pokémon that had been hidden around the Forest school site. Well done on your excellent teamwork Sea Turtles!

It has been a pleasure to work with your children this year, and we look forward to welcoming some of your pupils back in September. We wish those moving on to new sites and classes the best of luck in September and we look forward to hearing about their continued amazing progress.

Have a wonderful summer holiday,

Best Wishes,

Miss Nancy, Miss Sarah and Miss Sana

Puffin

The Summer term has been full of fun and practical learning opportunities, linked to our theme ‘In the Zone’. This included a trip to Upton Country Park, SoundStorm Music lessons with Mr Jack, an inflatable challenge, sports day and our beach walk.

HI - “I really liked our trip to Upton Country Park because I like how much we explored.”

AS - “I liked learning about our feelings this term.”

TB - “I liked singing into a microphone in our music lessons with Mr Jack!”

AS - “I had so much fun going on the inflatables!”

LP - “I liked our trip to Upton Country Park because it was fun to go on a long walk.”

In English, Puffin read the story ‘Ruby’s Worry’ by Tom Percival. The pupils planned and wrote a letter to Rosie to advise her on how to make helpful choices about her worries. The pupils then learnt about the features of an information poster and each pupil produced their own information poster about how to develop their mental health. Lastly, the pupils learnt about persuasive language and wrote a persuasive letter.

In Maths, the pupils have continued with developing their number, statistics and geometry skills. The pupils sorted and classified objects using different criteria. Additionally, the pupils have been practicing a range of addition and subtraction strategies, using concrete resources to add or subtract one-digit, two-digit, three-digit and four-digit numbers. Furthermore, the pupils have been practicing measuring capacity and weight in a range of contexts.

As part of our wider curriculum, the pupils have been engaging in different activities which include learning about how religious stories teach and encourage mindfulness. In our My World lessons, the pupils have been learning about organs in the body, which links to our STEAM project, where the pupils have investigated how muscles move.

Puffin have had a wonderful year, and they all should be very proud of themselves. We hope you enjoy reading the reports and celebrating all the progress the pupils have made this year. We wish the pupils the best of luck in their new classes next year and look forward to hearing about their continued progress.

We hope you have a lovely, restful summer holiday. 

Best wishes,
Puffin Class Team

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Lobsters

Lobsters class have achieved a huge amount in the space of 10 months. It has been a memorable year with so many highlights including; examination results, accreditation work, running the class café, Duke of Edinburgh, water sports and practicing our travel training by catching a public bus to various places in the local area.

We all enjoyed a very fitting end to the year as we celebrated sports week and sports day. Everybody really excelled, showing great determination in all events and we loved seeing families join in with the long jump and Tug of War too! We particularly enjoyed tennis and (plastic!) axe throwing, where Ty won the overall competition!

We also say a fond farewell to Tommy, Valerie and Ty. They are all very popular pupils who will be sorely missed by everyone across the school. All of them have huge talents and I know they will continue to excel as they move through Post 16 and into adulthood. We wish them all the happiness and success in the future.

We hope all the pupils and their families have an incredible summer break we look forward to seeing you all again soon.

Lobsters Team

Navigators: Seahorses, Orca and Manta

As we reach the end of a fantastic half term, we wanted to take a moment to celebrate all the amazing experiences and achievements across Navigators. Our theme this term, “In the Zone”, focused on mental health and wellbeing, and it’s safe to say we’ve all benefited from the mix of adventure, challenge, creativity, and reflection.

We’ve had a half term packed with brilliant trips and outdoor learning:

Sandbanks Beach & Open-Top Bus Ride - A sunny day of sea views and seaside fun, with plenty of laughter on the top deck!

Lulworth Cove to Durdle Door Walk - A huge challenge conquered by all, followed by a well-earned picnic on the beach.

Brownsea Island - We crossed by ferry, explored the island, and even spotted a peacock during our walk.

Rockley Watersports - Students took to the water with raft-building, giant SUP boards and kayaking. The teamwork, confidence and joy (especially jumping in!) were incredible to see.

Beach Walk from School to Boscombe Pier - Covering five miles along the coast was no small feat. We were so impressed by everyone’s resilience and positive attitudes.

Back at school, students took on a new creative challenge - building garden furniture from pallets using power tools. Their focus, practical skills and teamwork were outstanding, and the final products are something to be truly proud of.

As the summer term comes to a close, it’s with both pride and a little sadness that we say goodbye to some of our Year 11 students, who are now heading off to college and Post-16 placements. We wish them all the very best for the exciting journeys ahead.

Thank you, as always, for your continued support. We hope you all have a wonderful summer break - full of rest, sunshine and smiles.

Warm wishes,
The Navigators Team

Magna Seals

Seals final half term has been packed full of fun, laughter and learning, particularly during our trip to Delph Woods.

The highlights of this half term have been: beach walk and picnic, Delph Woods, Wareham Forest, Sports Day, Creative Clash, Summer Enterprise and the Inflatable Challenge!

AB: ‘I liked being in the river on our trip.’

LD: ‘I Really enjoyed our trip to Monkey World because I’ve never been.’

GF: ‘I’ve loved all of our trips this year. The river was my favourite because of the rope swings.’

CO: ‘My favourite trip was when we went to the beach because I liked playing in the sand.’

Our topic in September is ‘Home,’ which will focus on learning more about our local area. This will include learning about what a community is and suggesting ways we could improve our community.

The Seals Class team would like to say a huge well done to all of the pupils in Seals Class for a fantastic year! Every pupil has made progress academically and socially and should be extremely proud of themselves.  Thank you for your continued support and we wish you all a safe and happy summer holiday.

Post 16

What a great and fun year Post 16 has had!

This summer term there have been lots of practical and fun learning activities around our topic ‘In the Zone’. This has included trips to Lulworth Cove, catching the Breezer bus to Sandbanks, Walk Wednesday, Friends of Dolphin Boat Trip, a beach walk and many more.

NF - “Trips have been amazing!”

LL - “I have enjoyed socialising and making them laugh.”

BG -  “I have enjoyed the trips all of them.”

Students have been looking at how to improve their mental health and wellbeing. They have identified that being outdoors helps them feel calm and more relaxed, especially places in the countryside and by the beach.  They have also been participating in more exercise helping their mental health and well-being.

Most of the students have taken their Maths and English Functional Skills Exams, what an amazing achievement! They have worked really hard throughout the year. Some of the students have had their results back whilst other are waiting patiently, not long now!

All the students have worked so hard on their Laser Accreditation Units which will be moderated soon. The time and work that they have all put in has been phenomenal! Well done to you all!

They have also worked hard on creating dishes to cook for their lunches. There have been some crazy ideas, but they tasted good (well most of them, so, they tell me!)

Post 16 you have had a wonderful year. They have grown in confidence and in maturity. We are very proud of you and we wish you all the very best for September. To all the students going to college you will be amazing, keep working hard! To all the students who will be Interns, you will be brilliant, and for the remaining students in Post 16, see you in September!

Have a wonderful summer holiday

Best Wishes

Post 16 Team

Creative Arts

Art

Summer Sensation

It has been a very busy time in Art, and we have been doing lots of printing and exploring using different methods, such as gelli plates and polystyrene foam blocks.

In Lobster class, they have used these prints to make a home-made book, using traditional methods of sewing a spine.

During health and beauty club, we recently got together with jewellery club and together we made items to sell at the enterprise event.

This is also an opportunity for me to say just how much of a privilege it has been to teach your children these past 9 years. I will be leaving Winchelsea to work at another special school setting from September and will be taking many wonderful memories to cherish.

Have a wonderful summer

Miss Tash

Music

This half term the pupils have had some exciting experiences in music. We were honoured to be visited by a professional harp player who led a fantastic interactive session with our pupils. They got to ‘conduct’ the harpist and enjoyed a stunning range of classical and modern tunes.

Down in Discoverers and Explorers we explored how music made us feel and how we respond to this through movement and creating music. We enjoyed our Discoverers FunFest, where children had the opportunity to engage with dance workshops, craft making and sensory music areas.

Our Creative Clash was a roaring success with our Navigators and Enquirers, with pupils showcasing their artistic skills including performances of junk bands, dance troupes and stand-up comedy!

Puffins and Dolphins classes have been writing their own music with the help of the incredible Mr Jack from SoundStorm. They recorded their own vocals to a song that they composed with Jack’s help. All of the pupils involved really enjoyed the project.

Aside from this excitement, the KS4 Arts Award group have been creating collages about a musician or group that inspires them. Their finished results are spectacular.

Forest School

This half term has been an absolute joy with sunny smiles all around. We have been keeping cool under the trees and doing a bit of clearing in the river at our off-site forest school area.

A very talented group of pupils set themselves the task of building a summer house from scratch and only using scrap materials. Their teamwork and determination are something to be admired as we now have a wonderful addition to our on-site forest school area. Well done team!

We have been on quests through the forest to find hidden treasures using a map and fine tuning our tree climbing skills.

I am very excited to share that our very first Forest School Award certificates have been presented after the award being rolled out this year. This award has been created and designed by our students and I am very proud of them all. Keep up the great work!

Have a wonderful summer.

PE

This term we have been having lots of fun in the PE department!  

Our Discoverers pupils have been practising sports day themed activities, such as parachute games, running and ball skills. They have also been developing their hand eye coordination playing games such as cricket and tennis.

Our Enquirers pupils have been learning different techniques to improve their running, jumping and throwing skills such as swinging their arms when running and jumping. They have then put these skills all together to show great improvements in their all-round athletic skills. They have also improved their Boccia throwing accuracy and improved their cricket skills.

A group of pupils from our Canford Heath Satellite had the great opportunity to compete at the Dorset Softball Cricket Competition, which was run by Dorset Cricket. The students had lots of fun, showed great effort and represented the school well.

Winchelsea held 5(!) sports days this half term and we had fantastic weather for all (maybe a little too hot...)

Have a wonderful summer holiday.

Winchelsea Wellness

To support mental wellbeing during the summer holidays, you can focus on maintaining a routine and staying active. Engaging in enjoyable activities, spending time outdoors, and practicing mindfulness can also be beneficial.

Services available to help with mental wellbeing - https://www.steps2wellbeing.co.uk/

Have a wonderful summer holiday.

Online Safety

Online Safety for the summer holidays:

The Bourne Community Hub

The Bourne Community Hub, is a great place to meet with friends, join an activity or class, attend an event or visit for help and advice.

If you live in the BH12 4 postcode you are eligible to join our community food store. (£1 membership joining fee and £3 per week for a 10 item shop) It is open from 12 noon – 3pm every Wednesday. Also on a Wednesday either Citizens Advice or Help and Care are available to offer support and advice from 11am to 2pm.

The community café is open Monday – Friday mornings (including lunchtime on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday) and offers extremely budget friendly, home cooked food. Winchelsea pupils run the café on the Fridays during the term time. There are lots of activities for children and young people during early evenings (including football coaching, street dance and youth clubs for different age groups) during term time. They also run special events and activities during school holidays. Their partners, Friends of Bourne, run regular social events including weekly tea and toast on a Monday morning (10 am – 12noon) and bingo every fortnight on Fridays at 6pm. Plus special events throughout the year. We also offer rooms for hire for special events, including children’s birthday parties.