& News from Elmwood & Penrose Federation / October 2016

October 2016

Hello to all our Newsletter readers,

Firstly, I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone, students,

parents, carers, staff governors and our local partners for such a warm

welcome to the Federation.

It has been a very busy start to the term with lots of activity across the

Federation, staff and students working hard both in and outside the classroom. It has been

fantastic to see so many students making it into the Commendation book and getting a

mention at Celebration Assembly.

We have said hello to a number of new staff and students and it is great to see them all

settling in well.

A few special mentions, firstly a thank you to Helen at Penrose and the team for such a

fantastic Summer Fayre. Their hard work certainly paid off as it was a huge success.

A number of students were entered for Entry level and GCSE Art last year with great results.

Well done to the students but also thank you for the hard work of Kate and others making

this happen. A special mention to Becky at the Jean Rees Centre who, with a small team of

Post 16 students represented the Federation at a recent conference sharing our work on

Enterprise and Work related learning. The presentation is available to see on our websites.

It is a very busy term with lots of activities planned, students and staff are already thinking

about and preparing for the Christmas Fayre. Some excellent products are already being

produced.

I am looking forward to meeting you all over the coming months as you visit our schools.

Don't forget to look at our website www.elmwood-penrose-jeanrees.org.uk, it has lots of

useful information. If you have any questions, or can't find what you are looking for, please

contact the school office where staff will be happy to help.

Helen Farnell

Executive Head Teacher

Penrose blog Elmwood blog Jean Rees blog

Inset Days 2016/2017 The inset days for next year are as follows:

2016 2017

Monday 21st November 2016 Friday 10th February 2017

Friday 10th March 2017

Monday 5th June 2017

Monday 24th July 2017

Inset days give all staff opportunities to access high quality training which supports and

improves teaching and learning for all students.

www.elmwood-penrose-jeanrees.org.uk

Hello from the New Head Teacher

On Stage at Somerset Conference

Term 1—1 September—21 October 2016 Term 2—31 October—16 December 2016

Term 3—3 January - 10 February 2017 Term 4—20 February—31 March 2017

Term 4—20 February - 31 March 2017 Term 5—18 April—26 May 2017

Term 6—5 June—24 July 2017

Term Dates 2016/2017

Helen Farnell—Executive Head Teacher for the Federation

Georgia Bedgood—LSA working in Pine Class

Caroline Dick—LSA working in Holly Class

Debbie Bastin—LSA working at the Jean Rees Centre

Amanda Wood—MDS working at Penrose

Emma West—Cleaner working at Penrose School

Our Federation was very proudly represented by staff and students from the Jean Rees

Centre who presented the amazing work our students do on the subject of Enterprise and

on their work experience placements. Becki Maddison ably supported by Jack, Charlene,

Josh and Laura stood on stage and presented to the audience a presentation. The

feedback from the attendees at the conference regarding our learners was extremely

positive, as was the work we do from Primary, through Secondary to Post 16 in order to

help develop our learners into the adult they will become.

A copy of their presentation can be found on the Federation’s

web site on the Teaching and Learning section under

Enterprise & Work Related Learning.

The students then enjoyed listening to others presenting (one of

those was DHL/Morrison’s telling everyone how great our

students are when they go to work experience in the canteen)

and they also enjoyed a nice lunch! The photo pictures them listening to a presentation.

New Starters

& News from Elmwood & Penrose Federation / October 2016 & News from Elmwood & Penrose Federation / October 2016

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Mentors

This term Bumblebee class are learning about all the different pets that people keep. To help with our learning we have been visiting Pets at Home where we have had the chance

to feed and handle some of the animals that they keep in the store. The pupils have been walking around the store finding out all about the things you need to keep a pet healthy, clean and safe. During the visits the pupils have been helping some of the other customers find things they need and later on in the term they will be visiting the veterinary clinic and grooming parlour. The pupils have really enjoyed getting hands on with the pets and helping customers. A big thanks to the staff at Pets at Home for helping our pupils with their learning.

Bumblebee Class Weekly Visit to Pets At Home

School has a fabulous opportunity for anyone who may be considering their career

options with a view to returning to work, undertaking an subject-related course, or simply

wishing to take on a role that is not time-consuming but provides an opportunity to use

their skills and help to inspire the next generation of workers.

A chance to help influence the local workforce of tomorrow!

Do you have 2 spare hours per month to mentor a student? Working in conjunction with

the Bridgewater Education Trust, Careers South West Group arranges mentors for young

people in the five Bridgwater Secondary schools (Chilton Trinity, Elmwood, Robert Blake

Science College, Haygrove and Bridgwater College Academy). The students are mostly

Years 10 or 11 (14-16 year olds). The aims of the scheme are many, but the promotion of

employability skills and retention of talent in the local area are two of the main hoped for

outcomes.

Training will be given and a DBS disclosure will be required and provided for this role.

If you are interested in becoming a mentor and feel you may be able to give around 2

hours of your time each month to help grow our local workforce, kindly email

hilary.adams@cswgroup.co.uk or feel free to telephone 07781 551322 for an informal chat.

Don’t forget to check out our website where you can find out all about our learning, read

important documents and learn more about the federation.

www.elmwood-penrose-jeanrees.org.uk

Key stage 3 have been focusing on the topic of celebrations and

festivals this term. We have learnt about different customs and

cultures from around the world. Students have visited places to

enhance their learning and

re-enacted traditional

celebrations.

We have been on our own

pilgrimage up the tor after

learning about the Hajj, combined

science with religion when we

learnt about the equinox and

even learnt about a magic rabbit

who lives on the moon!

Celebrations have included

Rosh Hashanah, the Chinese

Moon Festival, Durga Puja and

Gandhi Jayanti.

Celebrations and Festivals

& News from Elmwood & Penrose Federation / October 2016 & News from Elmwood & Penrose Federation / October 2016

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Hawthorn class completed the pineapple challenge this

term. The instructions were to get it on to the balcony

without it breaking and with the equipment in the box –

string, cups, scissors, sellotape, a cardboard box, a bottle

of water and a cuddly toy. They found this easy at first,

wrapping it in the string, but then they were told no

string could touch the pineapple. Students worked

together to come up with different solutions and testing

them out, with a few snapped strings and unravelling

boxes. The lesson taught

them about pulleys and teamwork and at the end we

went to the kitchen and worked out how to eat a

pineapple – it was delicious!

Pineapple Challenge

Market Place @Angel Place

We are about to embark on a very exciting venture as the Federation is starting to run a

stall at Angel Place in Bridgwater. Students will be working hard, selling products they

have made through Enterprise activities.

We aim to:

Improve communication skills

Improve money recognition and maths skills

Breakdown barriers between the public and our students

Increase our students’ presence in the community

Raise awareness of our Federation in the community

Increase employability skills

Develop an understanding of how business works

Team work

Increase enthusiasm by creating clear purpose for learning

Increase self-confidence

Develop a willingness to take responsibility and show initiative

Develop time management

Build on their effective work and social skills

Some of the items on sale are:

Hand Made Cards

Candy Cane Sleighs

Bags

Tea Towels

Pot Pourri

Sweet Trees

Father Christmas Sweet Canes

Christmas Dog Biscuits

Christmas Rabbit Food

We hope you will come down on Wednesday between 10.00am-12.00noon to Angel

Place to support our Enterprise project.

Literacy Intervention At Penrose we have recently introduced Literacy intervention.

These are 1:2:1 individualised sessions that support many of

our pupils with their reading and writing skills.

Although this is a new Initiative,

fantastic progress is already

being made,

Keep up the good work!

& News from Elmwood & Penrose Federation / October 2016 & News from Elmwood & Penrose Federation / October 2016

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The Federation has been invited to present

at a County wide conference to celebrate

how enterprising our students are.

Over the last year all three sites developed

a number of products they made and sold

at various events throughout the year. This

included the Winter Fayre at the Jean Rees Centre, The Spring Fayre at Elmwood and

the Summer Fayre at Penrose.

We are really proud of the high quality products that the

students make.

The conference was

very successful and

everyone was really

impressed at our

productivity.

KS3 MacMillan Coffee Morning

Online Safety Update: Appropriate and Responsible

Gaming

Coffee Mornings

Celebrating the Enterprising Federation

Many of our learners enjoy digital gaming on consoles, computers,

tablets and phones. We now know that these sorts of games are not

only fun for young people but can also offer great learning opportunities

and help develop creativity, imagination and social skills. However it is

important to remember that not all the games they love may be

appropriate for them to play. Remember that most games come with a minimum age

recommendation and to look for reviews about their content when buying.

Pan-European Games Information or PEGI ratings help indicate who the game is

appropriate for, not just who can buy it. When buying for a young person, the game you

purchase should have an age rating of their age or younger. You can find more

information on this at http://www.pegi.info/

For reviews and guidance, visit Common Sense Media, who not only

cover games but also films, TV, books, apps and websites. You can also

look up suitable content based on the young person’s age

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/

Controls and restrictions will also help keep gamers of all ages safer while they enjoy them-

selves. Parental controls and restrictions on what content can be accessed

can be applied by whoever supplies your internet connection, as well as on

each device that will access it. While on federation sites, there are filters in

place to block content, which report back to staff to inform them of

inappropriate searches.

For advice about gaming and how to help everyone in the family be safe

and sensible, try visiting Ask About Games http://www.askaboutgames.com/

Key Stage 3 would like to say a huge ‘Thank You!’ to everyone who supported them with

their Macmillan Coffee Morning. By making cakes in food

technology and through generous donations from staff, parents and friends, we managed

to raise an amazing £180.00!

Thursday 20th October 2016 “Coffee Morning”, 10.00am —12.00noon at Coffee#1,

Bridgwater

Thursday 24th November 10.00am – 12.00noon, “Coffee, cake and

Christmas” making Christmas items/crafts to sell at the Christmas school

events to be held at Elmwood Learning Resource Centre.

Don’t forget to contact the Family Team to find out about other activities, important dates

and holiday activities.