Meadowside Magazine Issue 4

Special Achievements Daniel travelled to Amsterdam in June, to represent England in

the

INAS

European

Championship. He was also the Youth Heroes Awards 2014

Sporting Achievement winner.

Taylor

was

invited

to

open the new Subway outlet, in Bromborough.

Local Businesses - would you like to sponsor the next edition of the

Meadowside Magazine? An advertisement this size would cost ÂŁ40; one half this size would cost ÂŁ20. We distribute 200 copies across Wirral and further afield, and publish online via issuu.com.

Contact the Editor - Mrs Hughes - or the school office.

Meadowside School Pool Lane Woodchurch Wirral CH49 5LA Tel 0151 6787711 www.meadowsideschool.com

Welcome...

to the fourth edition of the Meadowside Magazine. It is packed with achievements and awards and evidence of hard work and enthusiasm across the board. There have been a lot of sporting and celebratory events, at Meadowside and other locations, developing skills in teamwork, respect and selfbelief to coin some of the key words from the Olympics.

We are sorry to see two valued staff members leave this year, but wish them well in their new posts. Mr Farrelly is leaving after 5 years as Science Leader and Miss Hartgrave as Maths teacher. We are also saying goodbye to a longstanding Governor, Marian Picton, who has served Meadowside loyally for 8 years.

Our new R-EVOLVE project begins construction shortly and we are looking forward to the new facilities that will include a new Medical Room, a Community Room and a fantastic Immersive Interactive Room to name a few. The unveiling will hopefully be in October.

May I take this opportunity to wish you all a good summer break and I look forward to reading the next issue in the Autumn Term.

Paula Wareing - Head Teacher

Citizenship Our topic this term has involved improving the school environment. We have painted, weeded, planted and even built a water fountain. The gardens look really good. Our Kitchen Garden is developing nicely. We won the Love Wirral Grant earlier in the year and have been able to plant a huge variety of fruits and vegetables, including potatoes, carrots, onions, cucumbers, lettuce, pumpkins, rhubarb, herbs, edible flowers, tomatoes, strawberries, raspberries and cherry and pear fruit trees. The best part was when we took part in some fruit picking!

Mrs Jones

Photo Quiz

Write down your answers on a plain piece of paper, with your name on, and return to Mrs Hughes by October 1st 2014.

In the event of a tie, the winner will be drawn from a hat.

Prize is a sparkly pencil!

Easter Celebration

Can you identify the members of staff in these photographs? Some people haven’t changed a bit!

1

4

2

5

3

6

This year we tried something a little different for our Easter performance. The series of travelling freeze frames was so well received by parents, carers, families and members of Meadowside’s wider community, that we ended up doing an extra impromptu performance for pupils from Woodchurch C of E school. Jamie worked incredibly hard and even sacrificed some of his favourite activities, in order to ensure that his role as Jesus was played to the best of his abilities. In 4CD, the girls worked so hard to perfect their ‘shocked faces’ that they still break them out on occasion now!

Mrs Dunn

7

8

9

Vocational College 10

11

12

4L have been attending the Vocational College every Wednesday to do a Horticulture course. It was especially exciting when the Mayor of Wirral helped to plant trees.

Another group has attended a Horticultural Construction course.

Mrs Hughes

Showcase Day

Presentation of Awards Event

This term we held our first ever School Showcase Day. We opened our doors and invited parents to a day of lessons, lunch and fun. We thought that this hands-on day would be a twist on the usual Parents’ Consultation Evening and those who attended felt that is was an enjoyable and informative day. One parent said that she felt that joining her son in his lessons gave her a real understanding of what he can do, and another said that seeing the way staff interact with her son

reaffirmed the fact that she had made the right choice of school for him.

The day began with tea and biscuits with Mrs Vickers, whilst Miss Wareing welcomed the families of our new Year 7s. Parents then joined their sons and daughters in lessons before we all sat down for a street-party style lunch; thankfully the weather was kind to us! The afternoon was filled with entertainment from the Signing Singers, outdoor games, music from Mr Farrelly and a massive game of rounders organised

by Mr Stubbs. We hope to see you all there at next year’s event.

Mrs Dunn

To mark the achievements of individual learners across the curriculum, we held a special

ceremony to present learners with certificates of achievement in each subject area.

There were also two trophies sponsored by Meadowside’s own

Enterprise Group and a corporate sponsor - FazzleDazzle (Mobile Discos). The trophy

for Personal Development was awarded to

Laila and the trophy for Making a Positive Impact on School was awarded to Ellie. We are incredibly proud of all of our learners and it was a brilliant way to celebrate everyone’s efforts and achievements.

Five

learners

attending

from

Wirral

Year Youth

10

have

Theatre

been since

September 2013. They have all been working towards an Open Awards Level 1 Certificate for a unit called ‘Taking part In An Activity’.

Jenny Wright

Student Council/ Meadowside Interact Club

Summer Fair

We were exceptionally proud to welcome dignitaries from West Wirral Rotary to Meadowside, to present us with the 2014 Presidential Citation Award for having met the Presidential Challenge. District Governor Philip Horwood presented the award. It was also an opportunity for Lydia to receive the Vernon Schwarz Award for achievement, presented by Jenny Schwarz of The West Wirral Rotary. Jenny was accompanied by fellow member and school governor, Peter Wilkinson.

To just be nominated for this award was a great honour and we were pleased to welcome parents of the nominees at the ceremony. The Presidential role will pass on to Matthew as Daniel leaves and we thank him for carrying out his duties admirably and with

The weather was kind to us this year. The Home-School Association says a big THANK YOU to everyone involved in organising and supporting the Fair and making it such a success. Total profit was more than £1,800 – the highest sum ever! It was lovely to see so many friends, families and supporters of the school. We were especially pleased to see so many Meadowside graduates who returned to see us.

Mrs Vickers

great dignity.

Pauline Freeman

Bag2School pickup in May made a brilliant £98 towards Water Aid. A meeting will be held in September with Rotarians for us to make the donation. Thank you to everybody who supported this event by sending in their unwanted items of clothing.

Next pickup will be during the Autumn term.

Pauline Freeman

Student Council

During April, pupils and staff met Gordon Caddy and Jenny Schwarz at Queen’s Park in Hoylake to plant the 30 saplings that we had obtained from the Woodland Trust. It was a brilliant afternoon’s work.

Pauline Freeman

Student Council

Meadowside School Council is part of The Merseyside School Council Forum, which consists of 15 special schools from across Merseyside. This year we have been fundraising for “Zoe’s Place”, a hospice that provides respite and palliative care for very sick babies and young children.

On 7th May three KS3 pupils attended an event at The Liverpool Town Hall to present a huge cheque from all the schools involved; we raised nearly £4000. We had a fantastic day; Mrs Hodges and Mrs McCall, two of our governors were also there to support us.

Pauline Freeman

English This term in Maths lessons we have focused on number, including Problem Solving and Money, to link in with this term’s Careers module of Economic Well-Being. Pupils have also practised their times tables through various activities, including songs, dice and multiplication feet.

Miss Hartgrave

Science We have been VERY VERY busy in Science lessons this term. We have had Mrs Rutland from Edge Hill University working with us and we would like to thank her for the wonderful time she spent with us.

In some of our lessons, we have been focusing on plants and animals. We have been planting and visiting our sensory garden, especially now the sun is coming out! Some of our learners have been investigating forces and have been designing their very own race cars.

Personally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the learners, staff, parents, governors and anyone else who helps to make Meadowside School the fantastic place it is. It is has been a very happy 5 years for me and I wish everyone the best in the future.

Mr Farrelly

Hubble bubble, toil and trouble, Key Stages 3

and 4 have been learning about ‘Macbeth’.

This term we have been working in partnership with Edge Hill University. Some of our English lessons have been delivered by trainee teachers who provided us with exciting and well planned lessons, under the watchful eye of Mrs Dunn. The story of ‘Macbeth’ had us hooked from the moment it was introduced and we have not only enjoyed learning about the story, but also acting it out. Kayleigh was willing to play the part of a rather dramatic murder victim and Caleb played the most convincing witch, even when his classmates got a bit carried away and shouted ‘burn him’!‘. The two Scotts wowed us with their knowledge of the story and have even been able to translate some of the difficult Shakespearian language!

Huge congratulations to Matthew who won the first ever English Subject Leader’s Award for progress made in the subject. From September, I will be on the lookout for a potential winner for next year’s award; anyone who works hard at reading at home would certainly be in the running. I would like to take this opportunity to say a huge “well done” to all of our learners for all of the hard work and effort they have put in this term. Enjoy the holidays everyone! Mrs Dunn

Art Here are some photos of our quilling project. We have decorated the front entrance to liven it up for the summer.

Mrs Carr

Fusion

P.S.H.E.

As part of their accreditation, learners in Fusion group have been working on

16C visited the Museum of Liverpool

interacting with others and have had

and the Maritime Museum to view

great success. As well as continuing to

several exhibitions related to PSHE and Life Skills topics. It was a great day

share a ‘casual cuppa’ and a newspaper

out. We travelled on public transport to

with one another during some of their offsite visits, they have been taking turns in board games, using the co-operation band in a range of ways and learning to walk on interlocking skis! They seem to have enjoyed the practical tasks and worked extremely well together, in spite of the challenges that

Liverpool,

visited

participated

in

the the

Museums, interactive

activities, found out about some of the

working so closely with each other

history of Liverpool and saw some Superlambananas on the way. We visited the Mi

can present.

Smarthouse exhibition which displayed some gadgets to help with independence in the

The really good news is that

home.

everyone who was entered for accreditation,

has

achieved

it.

Well done!

Mrs Dunn

Learners

in

Flair

Group

have

continued to explore a multisensory curriculum, using their

Flair

senses to explore different environments.

Ryan has begun swimming on his front, Lydia has been enjoying the feel of the crinkly fabric, Daniel enjoyed being outdoors at the Showcase Day and Jaymie has been relaxed

and has been vocalising more.

Mrs Hughes

DLS

KS3 pupils worked on a topic about helping others. They worked together to make items to sell at the Summer Fair. KS4 learners made muffins and developed pasta dishes.

Mrs Jones

Sports Day All pupils from Meadowside School took in part in our 5th ‘Meadolympics’ Sports Day

This year, the sun shone on our Sports Day and our Opening Ceremony was the best ever. The teams paraded Brazilian Carnaval style to mark the World Cup 2014.

Each team wore a head dress to represent its country and composed a team chant based on the values of the Olympics, which included Respect, Determination, Self Belief and Honesty.

The second part of the Ceremony was a whole school performance of a New Zealand Haka. This is a traditional dance, usually performed to welcome distinguished guests and to impart a sense of importance to the occasion.

on 1st July 2014. They competed in teams, in activities

including archery, athletics and golf. It was a very close event,

but

team

Japan

(loyalty) were overall winners on the day.

Primary Special Mr Stubbs Schools’ Pupils from Elleray Park, Hayfield and Orretts Meadow schools came to Medaowside to take part in activities ‘Meadolympics’ including golf, athletics, archery and boccia. The day was led by the ‘Young Sports Leaders’ and everyone involved had a very enjoyable day. We hope it’s the first of many to come.

Mr Stubbs

ICT

Olympic Legacy Event A mixed group of Key Stage 3, 4 Post 16 pupils travelled to Archbishop Beck Tennis Centre in Liverpool to take part in a variety of activities, including boccia, rowing, athletics and football. Pupils competed against lots of other schools from Merseyside and they made us very proud.

The ICT suite has been updated with new portable Windows 7 machines and we have been continuing to develop our iPad skills.

Some learners have been accessing Zondle and Edmodo in school and at home, creating quizzes and topics to play games as they learn. ESafety has featured highly this term, comparing Edmodo to Facebook and discussing safe practice.

Mrs Hughes

This term we have been practising our singing skills, preparing for the Annual Special Schools’ Signalong. Five other schools came and great fun was had by all.

We also sang for Showcase Day, when parents and members of the council came to watch, and practised a set of Golden Oldies songs to sing for the Lunch Club, at Holy Cross Church.

The drum workshops have been a great success and we can perform two rhythmic sequences that sound really good!

Mrs Hughes

Mr Stubbs

After School Clubs Boxercise club continues to be a popular club. Caleb, Jack and Rachel have been working hard and having fun at the same time.

Enterprise Learners worked very hard to produce goods to sell at the Summer Fair.

D&T The frameworks for the head dresses used in Sports Day parade were designed and made in D & T lessons.

Mrs Hughes

R.E.

We are nearing the end of a very successful programme of Work Experience placements. Providers include Best Bites café, Sainsbury’s and Woodchurch High School, where one Post 16 learner is working as a PE technician one day per week.

The focus in lessons this term has been Economic WellBeing and use of money in everyday life. This includes using a shop scenario in Maths, making choices and spending money in cafés, local shops, on residential journeys and on other off-site visits. The Horticulture and Horticultural Construction groups have enjoyed working in the open air and the Post 16 groups made a great job of using plants and flowers to make the school a more pleasant environment. (Have you seen our solar fountain?) 16C, in the mini enterprise lessons, have raised enough money to provide positive behaviour rewards.

Mrs Vickers

Humanities Key Stage 3 groups have been studying Port Sunlight Village and enjoyed a visit

Learners in Acorn Group have begun creating a Big Book of the story The Parable of the Sower They worked together as a team, setting up the scenes outside and planning the images for the pages themselves.

Ms Hoffmann

there enjoyed

this

term.

looking

at

They the

buildings and finding out about Lord Leverhulme.

Claire Albertsen

Following on from the success of our weekly visits to Crosby Lakeside Water Sports Centre, we decided to offer an overnight stay. Since January, a group of learners have been working towards Open Awards accreditation in Team Work and Outdoor Pursuits. We were pleased to be able to offer the overnight stay to a wider group of students from across the school.

Upon arrival, we were welcomed and given an introduction to the rules and routines at the centre and it didn’t take long for us to settle into the residents lounge as you can see.

In the afternoon we all enjoyed bellboating, where Brad was able to showcase the steering skills he has mastered over recent months. Before we got changed, there was just enough time to jump in; everyone was very proud of Ben who, with help from Karen, managed to conquer his somewhat understandable fear of cold, deep, brown, salty water. Well done Ben!

We all enjoyed a chicken dinner before heading out for an evening stroll, where we rescued a floating football and ‘limboed’ under a fence.

We had free time in the park and Kim responded bravely to her unplanned dismount from the zip wire!

When Mrs Dunn issued the morning wake up call, she was thrilled to find the majority of us ready and raring to go and it was a close run competition for the ‘first person ready’ prize. Matthew and Jamie put up quite a fight for this honour.

Before our raft building activity, we enjoyed a substantial continental breakfast, which left the staff wondering quite how anybody affords to fill a teenager with food!

Mrs Dunn