Meadowside Magazine

Dear Parents, Welcome to the first edition of the Meadowside Magazine. It is a fantastic celebration of the hard work and achievements of the learners and staff at Meadowside School over the past year.

We have had a very exciting year, it was difficult to fit it all in to just one magazine! We are especially proud of the efforts some learners have made individually, ranging from dramatic weight loss to Paralympian Team Gold Medal-winning success at sporting events. We have enjoyed several fundraising days that proved successful and had cross-curricular days to enrich and enhance our curriculum. Many subject areas have reported on their achievements or developments over the year and it is lovely to see everyone so involved. Learners have been out and about at a wide range of locations, developing skills for the world of work or just being a part of the local community.

I myself have featured in the first broadcast of our new radio station, Radio Meadowside. Check it out on our website. Our new website features a ‘blog’ of information and developments that may be of interest. There are lots of pages, including relevant information for parents and families. Our core values are represented both on the website and here in this magazine. Our mission statement sums it up –

We are PASSIONATE about the service we offer, not just in talking about our values, but in truly living them.

I hope you enjoy reading our magazine as much as I have and I look forward to the next edition!

Paula Wareing Headteacher

Each term we had a cross curricular day when every subject took part in a focused day of different activities.

Problem Solving Day This was also a team-building day, which involved everyone working in

different

groups

from usual, and working with new people across the Key Stages. We developed skills in perseverance and patience!

Shape and Space Day We made shapes, drew shapes and worked with different shapes all day. It’s amazing how shapes and space feature in everything we do! Tash divided a pizza into slices on the iPad, Scott made a life-sized model of himself and Bob drew shapes in different colours.

Makaton Day We

learned

over

50

new

Makaton signs on topics that included

Food,

Feelings,

Colours, Counting, The Gruffalo and two new Songs with Signs.

Residential Visits Learners from Year 7 and other learners who had not been

on

a

Meadowside

residential

trip

went

to

BENDRIGG TRUST lodge in February They took part in activities such as archery, climbing, abseiling, zip wire, ropes course, canoeing, caving, orienteering, big swing and camp fire - amazing!

The Year 14 students recently went to Fell End for their Leavers’ Residential Journey.

The visit is a time to reflect on skills learned during their time at Meadowside and to prepare for the transition to college. Fell End is set in beautiful countryside in Cumbria. The learners were very independent and were a great team.

Mr Stubbs

Work Experience

Work experience placements in the 14-19 department have been very successful so far this year. In addition to the projects running with Sainsbury’s and Best Bites, one learner has participated in a work experience placement at AWB – a firm of architects in Liverpool – for a day per week in the Summer Term. Most learners in the 14-19 department participated in work experience “taster sessions” in Skills Week.

Our third annual Work-Related Learning Skills Week (WRL) took place in March. Every young person in the 14-19 department took part in a week-long focus on WRL Skills. The theme was “Raising Aspirations” and experiences included visits to:         

Royden Park Rangers Wirral Metropolitan College, Thurstaston Beach with the Interact Group The Vocational College (for tasters in Horticulture, Catering and Hospitality and Construction) Woodchurch Sports Barn Ganney’s Meadow Nursery Skills North West Convention in Manchester Selling Enterprise products at Sainsbury’s Neston Cricket Club as part of the ABW Construction Challenge

Activities/sessions on site included:       

Performing Arts Beauty Therapy Team Building Cookery Tai Chi Yoga Mock Interviews

Careers At Meadowside, we see Careers lessons as an opportunity for young people to experience aspects of the world of work and develop skills such as presentation, working with money, making choices, team working and communicating with a wide range of people. These skills support them to become as independent as they can be and equipping them to participate actively in making transitions, whether within school, in the local community or in their lives after Meadowside School.

Learners and staff in our Business Studies Group have involved themselves enthusiastically and energetically in this new venture. They entered a competition, sponsored by Wirral Partnership Homes, with a plan for setting up a business selling embroidered items such as babies’ bibs, cushions etc. They were awarded a donation of £250! Well done everyone.

Mrs Vickers

The day outer space came to school.

Learners were very shocked one day to go into the hall and find outer space had arrived in Meadowside.

As

part

of

the

learners’

science

curriculum, an inflatable planetarium had been brought in to show them the wonders of space. All learners had the opportunity to go inside the planetarium and subsequently completed activities based on the constellations we had seen.

Mr Farrelly said,“ It was wonderful to see all the learners taking part in all the ways they could.

I will definitely be using the planetarium again!”

Matthew said “ It was awesome!”

Alastair said “Everything was sooo big”!

Mr Farrelly

P.S.H.E The

NHS

Smoking

Cessation team visited the school in the spring term to

show

some

of

the

effects that smoking can cause. Pupils were told that there are over 3,000 chemicals used in the making of cigarettes and they helped to make a soup with some of them. This visit related to the PSHE Drugs Education lessons taught this year to support their understanding. Many of the pupils who attended asked some really thoughtful questions and these sessions were enjoyed by both the pupils and the Smoking Cessation team.

Mrs Jones

Life Skills The topic covered in the Summer Term is World

Foods.

Lessons

have

involved

learning about various countries by using maps, watching travel

information,

listening

to

music

and

different

languages along with tasting or making foods from these countries.

Countries

covered

have

included

Scotland,

England, Wales, Italy, China and Spain. A variety of food has been made including:- Scones, Flapjack, Cottage Pie, Chicken Chow Mein, Tropical Fruit Salad, Milkshakes, Pasta Bake, Pasta Salad, Pizza & Roast Dinner.

Mrs Jones

Art We have filled the foyer with a wonderful display of Mexican inspired masks. We have made a lot of pottery this term.

Mrs Carr

D.T. “Ms Hoffmann keeps us all very busy in DT. We have designed

and

created

some fantastic products.�

Taylor (Y12 learner)

Student Council We have been really busy this year attending meetings at school, at Wirral Student Council and also Merseyside Student Council. We met the Lord Mayor of Liverpool to receive a cheque for money raised for Claire House by all of the Merseyside Special Schools. We took part in a Beach Clean, with members of the Rotary Interact Club and have collected pens and pencils etc. to send to children in Africa.

We also collected clothes for the Bag2School campaign that raises money for our school and projects overseas.

Pauline Freeman

Interact At the end of last year, West Wirral Rotary Club sponsored two young Interactors from our school - Kim and Elizabeth at the IMDR at Morfa Bay, Pendine. The weekend included a trip to the beach where the girls had great fun kayaking, followed by a barbecue. On the Saturday the girls enjoyed high ropes and a very muddy assault course which was very slippery but great fun! Kim and Elizabeth were well included in the group and it was great to see them join in all the activities on the action packed weekend. They made lots of friends and developed many skills including team-work and cooperation, whilst being physically and mentally challenged through fun activities.

All the Interactors were presented with certificates for their participation over the weekend.

Jenny Wright

We held our World Book Day celebrations on 14th March this year and the theme was ‘Superheroes’. The learners were divided into mixed age and ability groups and everybody enjoyed working with people who would not usually be in their classes.

The aim of the day was to write, design and produce a comic strip and there were some excellent results. Each group began by browsing a range of comic strips online and explored the features of comic strips before creating their own superheroes to include in a comic strip story.

One group used an iPad App to create a story about the evil Jackman who stole super powers from other superheroes.

Another group spent a long time creating amazing props and scenery for their comic strip and some groups used the outdoor areas of the school as backdrops for their ideas.

The day was a great success and was very much enjoyed by all involved.

Mrs Dunn

This

year

the

group

working

towards the Duke of Edinburgh Award has been enjoying Geocaching.

Geocaching is an outdoor activity that uses a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver to hide and seek containers, called ‘geocaches’ or ‘caches’, anywhere in the country. We have found caches in Arrowe Park, Royden Park, Thurstaston Hill and surrounding areas We have been to Delamere Forest and built a shelter from natural materials. The group has also been learning to follow a bus timetable to use public transport to various different locations to develop the learners’ independence.

Mrs Sayer

We recently started a Radio Station, via the school website. Check out our broadcasts at

www.meadowsideschool.com under the Pupils menu. There are interviews with Miss Wareing, Mrs Dunn, Trish and Mrs Carr plus news, jokes and pupil profiles. The project is organised by Mr Farrelly and some willing roving reporters.

Mr Farrelly

Our Easter Celebrations included an Easter Bonnet

Parade, a service led by Rev Anne Davis from Holy Cross and a performance from the Singing Signers.

Mrs Hughes

Learners from Flair group enjoyed a day out taking part in

Rebound Therapy activities with pupils from other schools at the

P.E.

Bounce Festival held at Foxfield School.

We practised the dance to Michael Jackson’s Thriller, dressed up and had a whole school outdoor performance in our playground. It was amazing! The event was sponsored to raise money for our new trampoline which we purchased early this year.

We are very proud of our Young Leaders who organise the ‘Active

Playground’ activities. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday lunch times, lots of learners have taken part and had fun.

Learners have also been taking part in another new activity in P.E. lessons this year - Boxing sessions Mr Stubbs

Maths Our shape has 5 sides - we’ve made a pentagon!!

What shape am I ?

We had a whole day in which every subject focused on shape, space and measure. We decided to start being more creative with shapes!

The learners enjoyed getting involved with shape activities such as patterns, painting, shape bingo and creating shapes with different equipment.

Each class had fun creating its chosen shapes using body parts; whilst incorporating team building skills.

Miss Hartgrave

We’ve made a six sided shape we’re a hexagon!

Charity Fundraising We held a coffee afternoon in aid of MacMillan Cancer

Support.

We dressed in our jeans to raise money for the Jeans

for Genes charity.

The Summer Fair raised a fantastic ÂŁ1650! Well done and thanks to all who made that happen.

Dress Funny for Money Day was lots of fun! We raised money for charity too.

Flair Flair group has enjoyed experiencing the sights, sounds, feel and even smells of a multisensory curriculum. One of our new books is a ‘smell and tell’ book that actually smells of chocolate! We have enjoyed using the iPads and created sounds using the Drums and Toca Band Apps.

Claire Albertsen

Fusion

This term Fusion Group has been enjoying a lot of off-site education.

The learners have been visiting Birkenhead Park twice a week where their time in the park and the café has enabled them to work on their Careers,

PSHE,

Communication,

English and RE, as well as meeting some of their sensory needs.

With support the learners have

been ordering their own snacks at the till, using a range of different equipment in the park, taking turns and crossing the road safely. Christopher has

even

been

practising

his

photography skills whilst the staff imitate the masks on display in the visitors centre!

Mrs Dunn

We have had a busy year with the Singing Signers showcasing their talents at a range of venues -

Birkenhead Pyramids, ASDA supermarket, Wesley Grange Residential Home and Holy Cross Church at Christmas. Meadowside hosted the Christmas Signalong and welcomed singers from Foxfield

School, Elleray Park School, Stanley School, the Lyndale School, Princes Primary and Orrets Meadow.

Classroom music making has included lots of practical activities, singing songs, playing instruments and having FUN! We took part in the Merseyside Special Schools’ Music Festival, held at Foxfield School. We sang 4 songs with great enthusiasm. The Summer Signalong was held at South Wirral

High School and we attended to sing Proud by JLS. We are especially proud of the Singing Signers and their growing repertoire of songs.

Mrs Hughes

I.C.T. We

are

very

excited to be using our

new

set

of

iPads and learning how

to

connect

them to the Wi-Fi network. We have used them to take and

edit

record

photos, videos,

browse the internet and so much more. Our favourite Apps include VidRhythm, which records short video clips and mixes them into a music video; the Talking Apps that repeat everything you say and Puppet Pals 2, a simple-to-use mini cartoon maker. We have made our own games using Tiny Tap and

My Doodle Game, both really easy to use and so effective.

We have explored mini floor robots called BeeBots on the iPads, the PCs and with actual BeeBots.

We are especially excited to be developing basic programming skills using an App called Hopscotch that turns method blocks into scripts to create simple games and animations.

Mrs Hughes

Sainsbury’s Sainsbury’s in Upton has again been very supportive this year and six learners have had the opportunity to be on a long

term

work

experience

project.

They

attend

Sainsbury’s every Thursday and have to wear appropriate work clothes, including an official name badge. Their day begins at 10am and they finish at 2pm with a short coffee and lunch break included. During their working day the learners are trained by Sainsbury’s staff in Moving and Handling, Fire Safety, dealing with customers and stacking shelves safely.

The learners have successfully been able to build their skills, knowledge and confidence by actually working in the store and it has shown them that skills learned in the classroom can be applied to a real work situation.

Well done to Ben, Jake, Kieran, Christopher, Kim and Kenny on a successful year working well as part of the

Sainsbury’s team.

Jenny Wright

Best Bites Two learners from year 11 are currently on work experience at Best Bites Café every Monday from 10am-2pm.

Best

Bites

social

is

a

Best Bites

enterprise company.

Their duties include welcoming customers, taking customer orders, serving food, clearing the tables and re-setting them for the next customer.

Both learners have thrived during their work experience and have grown in confidence each week.

Jenny Wright

HSA The Home School Association hosts a number of social events for families to come and meet the staff and each other. We have a Welcome BBQ every September and also a Christmas Social.

The HSA values new members with new ideas. If you would like to help at any events or join the planning team, please contact Hayley Morris or at school and we would love to have you on board!

Mrs Vickers

Sports Day The weather was kind to us this year and Sports Day was a great success, with points awarded for determination,

team work and respect. Team South Africa won on the day but all of the teams put in a great effort and had an enjoyable

a f t er n oo n .

We

w er e

particularly pleased to see Y4, 5 & 6

Team

Hayfield

taking

part

and

welcomed Y6 guests from Elleray Park.

Winning Teams won wristbands bearing the values promoted by the Olympic legacy.

Mr Stubbs

Enterprise We have been busy producing goods for all occasions; our painted crockery is especially popular as we have some very talented designers. All of our products are

made

in

school

by

Meadowside

learners and are available to purchase at school

events

or

by

contacting

Ms.

Hoffmann. We are so proud to have won the trophy this year at the Merseyside

Showcase in Aintree. The team faced a Dragons’ Den style panel and fought off stiff competition from other schools.

Ms Hoffmann

R.E. We have been to visit several places of worship including a Russian Orthodox Church. We also went to two special events - Experience Christmas and Experience

Easter at Wallasey Village URC. We learned about the different aspects of some religious festivals and celebrations. We especially enjoyed having cake!

Ms Hoffmann

In March this year, Jake was awarded the Vernon Schwarz

Memorial Award, for his achievement over the year reaching his target weight loss of over 4 stone. He is pictured here with school governor, Peter Wilkinson and West Wirral Rotarian, Jenny Schwarz.

Winning Medals Daniel won two Gold medals for running races at Sheffield in May. He was 1st in both the 200 metres race and 100 metres

race;

his

times

were

23.7

seconds and 11.7 seconds respectively.

Dan was selected to represent Great Britain as an athlete for the GB Paralympic team. He went to Prague with the team in June and brought back a Gold and a Bronze medal. In a remarkable switch of sport success story, Daniel has gone from being a superb boundary fielder to a top-notch sprinter, in less than three years.

Congratulations to Robert who has been eating healthily and exercising. He has lost 9 stone in weight since September. He is pictured wearing his ‘North Face’ jacket which was one of his incentives for losing weight. Well done Rob!

Farewell to our Y14 Leavers who are moving on to pastures new. They have all blossomed into confident young adults and we will be sorry to see them go. We wish them all the best for the future.

2013

2005

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

Local Businesses - would you like to sponsor the next edition of the Meadowside Magazine for an advertisement this size ÂŁ40 or half this size for only ÂŁ20? Contact the Editor - Mrs Hughes or the school office.