Welcome to the 10th edition of the Meadowside Magazine.
As we approach the end of another year I would like to thank all of those who have enabled the school to offer the diverse range of learning opportunities shown in the following pages; external providers such as ‘Riding for the Disabled’, employers such as Bristol-Myers Squibb, parents and carers who come into school or provide resources such as cakes and fancy dress costumes for the events we organise. I would particularly like to thank the staff at Meadowside for their hard work , creativity, commitment and outstanding care of our learners. This year three new governors; Gwen Seller, Graham Spearing and Jeff Hughes have joined our Governing Board. I thank them, and all our governors, for giving their time and expertise to support continuous improvement of our school. Paula Wareing Head Teacher
1980’s Disco
Staff and pupils took part in a sponsored 80’s themed disco to help raise money for our Trampolining/Rebound Therapy Fund. Everyone made a huge effort and there were some fantastic costumes. We made a grand total of £216! Thank you to everyone for your support. Karen Roebuck
The Signing Singers attended the Merseyside Music Festival, held at Foxfield school. It was a lovely opportunity to perform to others and to watch other schools’ performances. We have several other events lined up—another Music Festival at Cavendish School in Runcorn, a Signalong Show at South Wirral High School and our own event—the Signing Singing Social. As a Makaton Friendly school, we pride ourselves on our wide repertoire of songs we can sign along to. We especially enjoyed a visit from some orchestral musicians, who performed classical favourites from ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’, ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Space Oddity’. Pupils were given the opportunity to join in with percussion instruments and some tried conducting the group! Music Club, on Wednesday lunchtimes, continues to be popular and we have been enjoying some new songs at Signing Singing Club on Thursdays. Post 16 learners have been editing music, using free software Audacity. After downloading MP3 music files, they have identified the part of the song they want to copy into a ‘remix’ Mrs Hughes
Skills Week 2016
The topic for this year was ‘Science and Technology’. It coincided with British Science Week and we enjoyed some really exciting activities! Elements of the Science of Sound were explored using the Sound Beam and a Beamz player, creating amazing music by breaking a laser beam.
Skills Week activities were shared by some of our Primary Schools, with Hayfield School enjoying a session on Fingerprints. We had the giant Star Lab in the school hall, and dressed up as real scientists at Bristol-Myers Squibbs. Groups went off site to Royden Park, World Museum, Liverpool and to Catalyst Museum in Cheshire. We had some visiting scientists in school, one of whom was our very own Mrs Vickers.
British Science Week provided a wealth of materials for exploring Science in and out of the classroom. One group was glad the sun shone, enabling pupils to create shadow animals on the wall. There were activities exploring Salt, Bubbles, Insects and Worms. Scott was very pleased to dangle a worm for the camera! Ellie enjoyed trying on PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) and chose the right clothing for the job in hand. We practised our interview skills with a range of professionals, including local business leaders and school governors. Some learners made a great effort to dress the part. Once again, the week was the culmination of a lot of planning, preparation and hard work. Our thanks go to Katherine Magnall and Mrs Cliffe, who made it run so smoothly.
Learners in Flair group have enjoyed the topic ‘Victorian Historians’, looking at activities and stories of Victorian origin. This has included feeling the sand from a traditional seaside day out; making hats for a tea party inspired by ‘Alice in Wonderland’, listening to Danny Elfman’s musical interpretation of the movie and using the Immersive Theatre to explore Wonderland and ‘Through the Looking Glass’. The virtual ‘rabbit hole’ on the floor worked especially well with the overhead hoist— Kieran actually felt like he was standing by a hole!
Learners in Flair group enjoy the multisensory approach, exploring touch, smell, sound and visual resources as part of their Informal Curriculum. Mrs Hughes
In the first half of the term, we designed simple games using Purple Mash online software. It has been fun to share the games and have peer feedback on what makes a good game. Some pupils have added instructions and challenges to make their games more difficult. In the second half of the term, we are sequencing instructions and beginning to program robots. The LEGO Fix the Factory game is great for seeing the instructions work or fail as the robot moves to each command. We also use LightBot—free for tablets and iPads. Learners in Flair group have been developing switch skills, using the free software on www.senictsoftware.com. The Immersive screen is a great visual prompt and helps learners to see an immediate outcome to the press of the switch. We took delivery of 12 BBC micro:bits and are planning some exciting projects to put them to work. Mrs Hughes
Duke of Edinburgh Award This term the Duke of Edinburgh group has continued developing their navigation skills and have successfully found “the Treasure” during a Geocaching session at Arrowe Park. They have also continued their work toward the ‘Service’ section of the award, by supporting Merseyside School Council and decorating the shoes boxes, in preparation for filling before sending them to the International Shoe Box Appeal.
Jan Sayer
Meadowside School Council & Interact Club During the term Student Council/Interact Club have been involved in a range of activities including a meeting at Redbridge School, a consultation exercise to select the new menu starting in September , the International Shoe Box Appeal and an event at Liverpool Town Hall.
Holly and Scott welcome the Lord Mayor of Liverpool.
Town Hall Event — An Exciting Day! Holly, Scott and Jacqui representing Meadowside School at the Town Hall event in Liverpool. We are very proud to be part of Merseyside School Council. Between us we donated 376 shoe boxes to The International Shoe Box Appeal. Well done everyone. Pauline Freeman
Learning Mentor
Fusion The Summer Term has been an exciting one for members of the Fusion group! They have still participated in their Active Start every day and are showing great progress when out in the community. They have been working with money and improving their social skills by role playing sharing amongst other things. In preparation for transition, they have been enjoying lots of their lessons in different classrooms, and have joined in with different groups of their peers.
Mrs Dunn
Autism Awareness The National Autistic Society does amazing work for children with Autism and their families, so during the Summer Term we felt that it would be good to raise some money to support them. The NAS runs national programmes which help to raise awareness of Autism and this year, their ‘Too Much Information’ project is focusing on the impact that sensory overload can have on people with Autism. In school we organised three fundraising events which were thoroughly enjoyed by learners and staff alike. Star Wars is a common favourite among people with Autism, so May 4th, ‘Star Wars Day’, was our chance to share the positives and look at how the often negatively described ‘obsessions’, associated with Autism, can be used to motivate and engage. On ‘Onesie Wednesday’ we thought about the sensory issues which can be caused by everyday items such as seams, labels and cuffs on clothing. Onesies are generally made of one type of fabric and don’t have a waistband, meaning that they don’t cause the same irritation as other clothing. We would like to thank the families and staff who supported us with the Pink and Purple bake off, in one way or another. A huge well done to Mrs Bailey for being the only person who managed to make her cakes pink without using food colouring! Holly made a fantastic handbag cake and everyone enjoyed practising social skills and conversing with their peers, whilst enjoying tea and cake. The three events made a total of £30. Many thanks to all those who contributed.
Mrs Dunn
Maths
This term, Post 16 students have been focusing on the Maths
skills they might need in the world of work. Some groups have been learning to calculate area and perimeter, based on the idea of carpet fitters and fencers. Other groups have been developing logic and team work skills, by working together to solve puzzles. Sport and The Olympics has been the topic covered by the rest of the groups. Through this topic we have learned about statistics, Roman Numerals and maps, as well as calculating, measuring and comparing distances, speeds and heights. Some groups have made runners’ numbers by writing numbers in words whilst others have experienced moving quickly and slowly over a range of surfaces. In addition to learning about Maths through sport, we have also been getting active in Maths in a range of ways. Learners in Star group made a range of human pictograms by arranging themselves onto a pair of axis to represent things like how many people wear glasses, or have pets etc. The Moon group used skittles and giant dice to generate addition problems by bowling with the die and adding the number of skittles knocked over, to the number shown on the die. All learners say that they really enjoy working outside which is why we are looking forward to accessing ‘Maths of the Day’, a website that suggests over 1000 ways to make Maths active! We have already used some of the suggested activities and I was amazed to see how they promoted team work, independence and problem solving (as well as a little bit of cheating!!!) Mrs Dunn
After School Clubs This term pupils have been able to take part in a wide range of After School Clubs including Swimming, Wii U, Rebound Therapy and Multi– Sports. We had a wonderful time in History Club last term; learning about Vikings and The Blitz. History Club members worked extremely hard designing their own Viking shields, turning their original sketch designs into larger, painted shields. We also learnt that some words we use come from old Norse language, such as cake, scare, and glitter! Learners also worked together to build their own WWII Morrison Shelter in the Immersive Theatre. We experienced the sounds of the Blitz , and used panoramas to show the London skyline during the raids. Our air raid siren was so realistic that it startled some of the staff! Loren Miller
In Personal, Social and Health Education this term pupils have been learning about keeping safe in school and outside school, including in the local community and at home. Pupils have discussed how they can keep themselves safe by learning to say, “No” to peer pressure. We have also continued work on friendships from last term looking at how they can stay safe with friends. Mr Stubbs
This term our topic has been Journeys. We have looked at lots of different types of journey, with specific references to Shakespeare's play, ‘The Tempest’. Learners from all groups have been studying the key themes within the text and using their knowledge and understanding to make predictions about what might happen next.
Stars group learners have been thinking about what it would be like to be stranded on a desert island and created their own model islands. They wrote a descriptive piece using their senses to describe their desert island.
Sun and Moon group learners have been using ‘The Tempest’ to improve their speaking and listening skills. They have taken part in activities such as ‘Conscience Alley’ and ‘Hot Seating’, where they ask questions and use persuasive language to influence another character as well as acting out scenes from the play. Post 16 students have looked closely at the characters and scenes in ‘The Tempest’ . We have also talked about what we think Utopia and Dystopia mean and created a descriptive piece of writing about our own ‘perfect’ place and ‘horrible’ place. Flair group has been exploring lots of different places and stories on their magic carpet journeys.
Learners have also been learning about instructions. They have listened to instructions on how to draw characters from ‘The Tempest’ as well as writing their own instructions to create a model of a ship.
Fusion group has been continuing their English lessons offsite in the local community.
Miss Branch
This term in Modern Foreign Languages we have been looking at French numbers, colours and words for familiar things. The learners have been thinking about different number games and using their French number knowledge to play these games. We have played hop scotch in the playground and put ourselves in different groups of numbers. We had fun doing a scavenger hunt using numbers and colours to help us find objects outside in the playground as well as familiar classroom objects.
Towards the end of term we started thinking about the days of the week, months of the year and the seasons. The learners have enjoyed listening to different songs in French as well as the French National Anthem and some traditional French music.
Learners have played some speaking and listening games in which they tried to pick out the key words or phrases that they knew, from a sentence spoken in French.
Miss Branch
Art & Design Beech and 16L groups have been making camouflage paper. We have used this to make head-dresses for our Sports Day.
Acorn group are making great progress on their Aboriginal based paintings.
Key Stage 4 group has been working on ‘Exploring Art’ accreditation work.
16C and 16V groups are working on designs based on William Morris designs. Some learners are completing accreditation work on ‘Textiles Decoration’. Ms Hoffmann
Design & Technology
Pupils in Acorn group enjoyed exploring both the old and the new sewing machines. Michael is doing a paper test first to learn the Health and Safety rules of using the sewing machine. They are making reflective wear.
Enterprise All students in Post 16 groups have worked hard at making resources for their Enterprise products. Joanne really enjoyed using the scissors to cut the straws for dyeing. Bob learned how to pick up the dyed straws using the plastic tweezers.
Ms Hoffmann
Religious Education Key Stage 4 Whole School Assembly - Buddhism Well done to the Key Stage 4 pupils for their great performance in the Whole School Assembly. They all seemed to enjoy taking part in the play which was all about the life of Siddatha Gautama, who became Buddha.
Ms Hoffmann
Cross Curricular Day This term’s cross curricular day focused on Design and Technology and Physical Education skills and knowledge. The day had ‘The Crystal Maze’ as its theme, with learners working together in teams to solve problems and find solutions to challenges around the school buildings and grounds. The competition was intense, particularly as the team with the most crystals won a day at Crosby Lakeside Adventure Centre. Even though the inflatable dome had a puncture, it was still a wonderful day! Ms Hoffmann
Key Stage 5 pupils took part in a Residential to the Wingate Centre, Wrenbury in Cheshire this term. They stayed for 5 days and 4 nights, taking part in lots of activities including: a gymnastics session, relaxing in the grounds, bowling in Crewe, visiting the ‘secret bunker’ and Nantwich Museum. The pupils also visited the local pub for a soft drink and darts and pool, (but don't tell any one), and they relaxed with games and cinema time at night.
The residential visit helped our students continue to develop their independent living skills, organisational skills, team work and physical skills. There were opportunities to develop self-help skills, social and communication skills and to enjoy new activities whilst reflecting on their time spent at Meadowside School. Mr Stubbs
This term has been very busy in P.E. Key Stage 3, 4 and Post 16 pupils have been looking at different types of sports, linked with the Olympic Games. Pupils have been warming up specific to the activity and working on how to take part following rules.
Pupils have represented Meadowside in the LSSP ‘Olympic Legacy Event’ at Archbishop Beck Tennis Centre, taking part in new age curling, archery, athletics, football and rowing.
Some Post 16 pupils took part in Young Leader training in ‘Quicksticks’, looking at how to referee, rules, making risk assessments and general playing the game.
Pupils from Key Stage 3 took part in a trampolining event at I.M. Marsh campus. Pupils learnt how to bounce safely and stop and how to turn in the air and perform the seat drop. Mr Stubbs
This term Key Stage 3 and 4 pupils have been learning about states and changes of matter. They have been looking at solids, liquids and gases and what happens to these when we try and change them. All pupils at Meadowside have been involved in the ‘Rocket Seed’ experiment. We were lucky enough to be one of only two schools in Wirral, chosen to take part in the very special event, in conjunction with Major Tim Peak’s time on the International Space Station. Pupils had to plant two packets of rocket seeds and watch them grow and decide which they thought had been in space, kept in micro gravity.
Mr Stubbs
Post 16 students enjoyed the Tuesday afternoon leisure option with the ’Riding for the Disabled’ charity. The RDA instructor set a course for students to undertake their ‘Countryside Challenge’. Barbara Baker from Foresters Horn RDA awarded students their rosettes as they all successfully completed the Challenge which required that they demonstrate the skills they have been learning each week including sitting up tall, walking and trotting.
In the field each student had to turn to make a figure of eight, pick up an apple, transfer it to their other hand and then drop it in a bucket, zig-zag through a path of obstacles and also imagine that they had come across a low branch and bend forward to their horse’s neck whilst still looking where they were going.
Claira received an additional award for becoming a ‘natural’ at riding. Joanne received an award for really mastering her riding skills. Trish Pude
Humanities The History topic this term was the Ancient Greeks. Pupils learned about how they lived, some of their beliefs and the origins of the Olympics. Key Stage 3 pupils explored Myths and Legends by participating and experiencing the stories through dressing up, watching related movie clips and acting out some of the stories. The Geography topic involved building general knowledge about the world in which we live such as the continents, oceans, seas and different climates. We have also studied Brazil and some of the countries that participate in the Olympics. The Olympics has also featured as a whole school topic at Meadowside this term, with activities that relate to other subjects incorporated into lessons. Mrs Jones
In Citizenship, pupils have participated in activities related to different local and national charities. Post 16 students’ work has also related to volunteering and environmental issues.
Life Skills Acorn group learners have developed basic skills such as peeling, grating, spreading, slicing and cutting, to promote greater independence and confidence. They have worked together to make snacks such as fruit salad and coleslaw. Pupils have also participated in general cleaning tasks such as washing up, washing floors, using a washing machine and folding clean laundry.
Post 16 Daily Living Skills The theme this term was British and European foods. Pupils made a range of traditional British foods including scones, coleslaw and sausage rolls, and European foods such as Hummus, pizza and garlic mushrooms. When students shop for ingredients for their cookery lessons they develop the skills, confidence towards greater independence to budget, find and buy the ingredients that they need for their practical lesson. Students made meals that relate to traditional British foods, such as fish and chips, sausages and mash and roast chicken dinner, and meals that originated from various European Countries, such as French bread, pizza and bolognaise. All pupils who have practical Life Skills lessons have also made a range of different cakes that they sold to raise money towards new kitchen equipment or for plants for the Kitchen Garden. Thank you for supporting this fundraiser. Mrs Jones
A large print version of this magazine is available on our website www.meadowsideschool.com Meadowside School. Pool Lane, Woodchurch, Wirral. CH49 5LA 0151 678 7711
We are grateful to our sponsor, Newhall Publishing, for printing this edition of the magazine.