Message from Adele - Head Teacher
Welcome to our Newsletter for Spring 2023
As always, can I take this opportunity to say a HUGE thank you to all our school community for your support this term. Your children have been working tirelessly and have continued to develop their learning. As always, we are so proud of our students and we salute the determination, resilience, and enthusiasm that they display on a daily basis! I would also like to thank our wonderful staff, who work so hard supporting your children in all they do!
We hope you enjoy reading our newsletter and we look forward to an exciting and successful summer term!
Take care everyone and see you all in 2 weeks time!
Adele and the Pioneer House Team
I’ve hidden 10 of these eggs in this newsletter, can you find them all?
This term in RE, Group 1 have been learning about Buddhism. Students have been learning about different aspects of Buddhism including Buddhist practices, symbols, values, and the story of Buddha. Students visited the Manchester Fo Guang Shan Temple to have a tour of the temple and take part in Buddhist practices including offering fruit and flowers to Buddha and lighting incense.
The students had a wonderful experience and enjoyed seeing the temple and meeting and asking questions with the Monk who showed the group around.
Well done Group 1!
Last Tuesday 19th March we made a visit to Ketumati Buddhist Vihara a Buddhist temple in Wythenshawe. We walked there and back. It was fun and very interesting!
Excellent work Group 2!
Tyler and McKenzie introduced our school and group and explained what we aim to achieve from the visit.
We took some offerings; flowers, fruit and incense. Chiazor lit a candle (symbol of enlightenment) and Mia an incense stick (nice smells help with meditation).
The Monk asked us to close our eyes, think of our body posture and relax our muscles. We did a session of meditation - It was very calming for the mind.
Students working towards their Duke of Edinburgh and Arts Award got the amazing opportunity to go and watch the acclaimed Broadway Show HAMILTON at the Palace Theatre. Students had a fantastic day out developing their independence and travel skills, using public transport and using money to buy their own snacks.
The performance was fantastic, with students returning to school singing the songs in class, even attempting some of the raps! This was particularly exciting occasion as it was classed a ‘special schools’ performance, where afterwards the entire cast and crew came onstage to explain how their roles worked and to give a demonstration. Students particularly enjoyed the costume departments “quick change”.
Afterwards students went to Pizza Express for a real “night at the theatre” experience, enjoying mini doughballs and chocolate brownies.
The trip was a wonderful personal development opportunity for our students, harnessing cultural capital and providing the chance to learn about careers in the arts. As one of our students stated “It was the best show ever, I want to be a stage manager!”
Group 3 have had a busy spring term! Students have created their own story books for the Sadie Massey book competition, learnt how to play Wonderwall in music and created their own Mexican style ceramic tiles in art. Group 3 have also been helping to look after our school by keeping our outside spaces clean. Thank you Group 3!
We had some exciting news on World Book Day when we won the door decorating competition! Students made their own mini books and wrote what their favourite things to read are.
We have been busy sowing onion, cabbage, beetroot and carrot seeds in our forest school lessons. We are growing these vegetables to use in Food Tech lessons. We have made bird feeders from recycled plastic bottles that we collect in school and fat balls to try to encourage different types of birds in the forest
My name’s Andy Ridyard and I am the Careers Adviser in Pioneer House School (and College). I’ve been the Careers Adviser in school for around two and a half years. I’m in school one day per week, working closely with Diane (Deputy Head and Careers and Post 16 Lead). My role is to work collaboratively with school to support the young people (and their families) in making decisions about their options when they are at key transition points in their educational journey.
I have lots of great conversations with students and families and help them think about future career options and what their next steps might be, either at Pioneer House 6th Form or at a different college or educational placement. This can include arranging and supporting visits to check out possibilities.
Once the decision has been made, I’m there to help with the process of applying and starting in their new placement.
I love working with the brilliant students in Pioneer House School and helping them progress onto their next steps.
Our theme is: Forest School.
This term, Group 4 had the opportunity to visit and explore forest school as part of their curriculum! They have thoroughly enjoyed exploring our outside space at Forest School. They have participated in adult-led activities such as creating a fire and supporting one another in using fire-strikers correctly, using carving tools with support to practice whittling and setting up camp with a hammock or two. The most exciting experience for them was roasting marshmallows over an open fire!
Well done Group 4!
Exciting News: Our New College Building Opens for 6th Form Students!
We are thrilled to announce the long-awaited opening of our brand-new college building, exclusively for our 6th form students.
After eagerly watching the area take shape and the building rise over the past year, we are overjoyed to finally welcome our students into this state-of-the-art facility.
The excitement among our students was palpable as they moved into their new surroundings. The spacious common room provides the perfect setting for socialising and unwinding between classes, fostering a sense of community and camaraderie among peers. Additionally, the introduction of a dedicated kitchen area offers students the opportunity to develop vital independence skills, from meal preparation to culinary experimentation.
The mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, came to officially open the building on the 28th March and have a tour from our students to learn more about their exciting curriculum offer.
This milestone marks a significant moment in our school's journey, symbolising our unwavering commitment to providing the best possible learning environment for our students. As they settle into their new surroundings, we look forward to witnessing their growth and success in this vibrant and inspiring space. Here's to a bright future filled with endless possibilities in our new college building!
On February 14th the school hosted its annual careers event. The school welcomed a number of employers, next steps providers and community organisations as part of this annual event.
Similar to last year’s successful event our careers event took the format of a drop-down morning with a range of local employers and next steps providers delivering interactive 30 -minute workshops for students across all key stages. This is a format that the students find engaging and as a result, they are able to gain an insight into the many entry level career pathways and learning opportunities that exist within the local area. This supports students to be able to make informed choices relating to their next steps beyond Pioneer House.
This year’s attendees included a range of organisations, including:
• The Department for Work and Pensions
• Cardinal Logistics,
• Iris Software and Manchester City Council all of whom are able to offer entry level pathways into employment.
The event also offered our students the opportunity to provide some warm hospitality in the Strawberry Fox café and demonstrate to our visitors their amazing employability skills and how they are able to apply these to the real-life working environment.
All students engaged fully with our visitors and feedback was extremely positive with visitors commenting on what they most enjoyed about the event as “Getting to interact with students about the career paths they can take." Other guests commented on how enthusiastic our students were in participating in the activities they had planned commenting on how there was “Great enthusiasm and feedback from the pupils; they were really engaged". These high levels of engagement support our students to be able to understand their post 16 and 19 choices in a way that enables them to understand the wealth of opportunities that are available to them beyond Pioneer House. A huge thank you to all our wonderful employers who gave up their time to make our careers event such a huge success.
‘Green Up Your Act’
This term group 5 had a great class presentation by ‘Green Up Your Act’ which involved showing the class how houses are built to be carbon neutral in other countries around the world. How plastics are recycled into purses and bags and the importance of reducing, reusing and recycling items, both at home and at school. All pupils made a recycled notebook which they were all allowed to take home and staff can see that pupils love using them. Other KS3 and KS4 classes also had a presentation from this company which also involved looking at rainforests and the importance of preserving the rainforests that we have.
Well done Group 5!
This term group 6 went on a visit to Waterstone in Altrincham. We had gift vouchers from World Book Day that students were very excited to spend.
We had spent the week before looking at the books we could buy and planning our trip. Students took the bus to Altrincham and were fantastic role models, giving up their seats for the elderly and using their manners. At Waterstones some students opted to buy a £1 book, for themselves or for a family member.
Some students went for Diary of a Wimpy Kid, some went for anime and some for fantasy books. Students then had time to enjoy their books in the café, where they practised their money skills, and some very kind students bought their friends snacks too! Great work Group 6!
Fermentation Investigation!
This term, Group 8 have been looking at the fermentation process in the biotechnology module.
Group 8 fermented cabbage to make sauerkraut and kimchi. It would be safe to say that not everyone enjoyed the smell (or taste) but they all put in a lot of effort!
Group 8 were able to make predictions on what would happen to the cabbage, explain the process, and say whether their predictions were correct.
Well done Group 8 scientists!
