 Sherwood Foundation School
Weekly Newsletter
|
|
|
News from Leadership Team
We have had a busy week at Sherwood Hill Campus. Students celebrated European Day of Languages, including exploring Sign Language through song. Across the school, our assemblies focused on the Autumn Equinox and the changes that young people can see all around them in the environment.
Wishing all our families a wonderful weekend.
|
|
Lower School News
 Lower School have had another busy and enjoyable week.
In Mint Class, students have been learning about the number 1 through Maths activities and counting songs, while also exploring the Autumn season through assembly and daily class activities. Students have enjoyed exploring different textures, including crunchy and soft leaves and spiky pine cones, as well as taking part in therapy sessions with the Wellbeing, OT and SaLT teams to build relationships, develop play skills and explore new regulation strategies.
Lime Class have enjoyed an amazing music therapy session, exploring a variety of instruments including drums and guitars. In RHE, students have been learning about ‘My Body, My Rules’, developing self-awareness and an understanding of personal boundaries, while in PE the class focused on moving safely and stopping within a space. Students also enjoyed a lovely walk to the local park.
Teal Class have been exploring the Autumn Equinox in assembly and created some lovely artwork using Autumn materials for our display board. Students have enjoyed literacy activities focused on the letter C and mark making with cornflour and water. The class have also been developing their attention through a favourite attention bucket activity. Students also had fun making flapjacks with oats and honey as part of our healthy food activities.
Olive Class have been exploring the concepts of ‘heavy’ and ‘light’ in Numeracy. Students have been using weighing scales to balance different items and compare which objects are a similar weight and which are different. The class also had a successful trip out into the community to the local park and enjoyed a range of different activities whilst on their outing.
|
|
Middle School News
 Sapphire had a fantastic first music therapy session this week, with students showing wonderful engagement as they explored a wide range of instruments, sounds and rhythms. Students used their creativity and imagination to improvise and respond to different songs and melodies, finding their own unique ways to participate, make choices and communicate through music.
Indigo had a fascinating week exploring Neil Armstrong, the first person on the Moon, in History. Students moved along to rocket songs, used figurines to create footprints in moon dough and made their own paper rockets for an exciting blast-off.
Capri have had another busy week, with some students enjoying a community trip to Stanley Park to explore the beautiful autumn leaves and collect sticks to use as props for the ‘Three Little Pigs’ sensory story. In Numeracy, students have been developing their fine motor skills through play-dough, spaghetti and Cheerios, practising threading and counting up to five. The class also enjoyed some sunshine outdoors, making use of the playground equipment.
Ocean class have had a busy week. In Numeracy, students have been exploring categorisation, while in RHE they have been learning about puberty and its effects on the body, including mental health.
Iris class have had a very busy and fun week. In literacy, students have been exploring the book ‘supertato’ and used action words to say and write what Supertato was doing. Students also really enjoyed the whole school choir this week and did some lovely singing and moving their bodies!
|
|
Upper School News
 Lavender Class have been focusing on Autumn activities, including creating beautiful autumn tree cards using a variety of materials. To celebrate European Day of Languages, students listened to their good morning song, danced to movement songs in different languages and explored a sombrero, a wide-brimmed hat from Mexico. In Cooking, the class made dairy-free tomato and cheese pinwheels, which smelled and tasted delicious.
Thistle Class have been continuing to build relationships with their new classroom team and enjoyed several outings, including visits to the park, library and swimming. To celebrate National Teaching Assistants’ Day, students worked together to make a poster thanking their amazing teaching assistants. In Literacy, the class explored ‘The Pirates Next Door’ by making their own pirate flags and completing semantic worksheets, while in Numeracy they began looking at statistics and tally charts.
Lilac Class have been exploring European languages as part of their European Day of Languages activities. As part of the Work Experience and Preparation for Adulthood programme, students have also been developing their cleaning and life skills by helping to tidy the classroom, wash up after lunch and clean the windows. It was fantastic to see students getting involved and taking pride in helping to keep the classroom clean and tidy.
Violet Class have been doing some outstanding work this week. Students were able, with support, to recognise the number seven and our highlight of the week was cooking flapjacks, with all the students loving the results! And, once again, Thursday’s Choir practice was a blast!
|
|
*Stars of the Week*
Mint: Mahbeer for engaging well in class, becoming more confident exploring new experiences such as messy play with corn flour and the swing in soft play, and trialling new regulation strategies with support.
Olive: Taraji for her excellent engagement during the choir, enjoying the singing and joining in with dancing too.
Teal: Ethan for an amazing trip to the park and using his core board to stop, look and go when safely crossing the roads with a staff member.
Lime: Kaylum for working hard to build relationships with different staff and spending more time in class.
Indigo: Aaryan for being keen to engage in lessons, showing excitement during Attention Autism and demonstrating independence when changing for swimming.
Iris: Ben for fantastic play and leisure activities alongside peers, engaging well and using clear communication to continue interactions with another classmate while showing lots of laughs and smiles throughout.
Sapphire: Joel for showing great courage and bravery this week, dealing with unexpected situations and doing a fantastic job of following instructions.
Capri: Diya for great engagement in Literacy during the ‘Three Little Pigs’ sensory story and for a fantastic transition to the park.
Ocean: Elijus for following directions really well and coping well during an unexpected changes of routine.
Thistle: Dylan for showing empathy and understanding towards classmates and staff, checking in to make sure everyone was okay and warmly welcoming everyone who enters Thistle class.
Violet: Declan for showing great improvement in his communication using AAC, excellent transitions and a really positive approach to his work.
Lilac: Kelvin for fantastic engagement in his learning and enthusiastic participation in a range of work and sensory activities, showing a positive attitude and great effort throughout the week.
Lavender: Shaun for brilliant transitions to different areas of the school.
Wellbeing: Louis for completing his first community trip in a long time, handling stressful situations and showing positive progress in multiple areas.
Therapy: Jacob for working hard in his cooking session, enjoying spreading tomato puree on a wrap, chopping tomatoes and basil.
|
|
|
News from the Leadership Team
It has been another really positive week at the Park Campus. It has been lovely to see our students continuing to settle into their classes and routines, and particularly to see so many happy faces around the school. Next Thursday, we will be celebrating National Poetry Day, with each class taking part in activities during the day. We are looking forward to seeing how our students engage with poetry in lots of different and creative ways.
As always, a huge thank you to our staff team for all their hard work, patience and commitment throughout the week. The positive atmosphere across the campus is a reflection of the care and support they provide to our pupils every day.
We hope all our pupils, families and staff have a lovely weekend.
|
|
Lower School News
 It has been an incredibly busy and exciting week of learning and exploration across the Lower School, with everyone making the most of the lovely autumn weather. The week kicked off on Monday with students from various classes coming together for a fun game of football, followed by energetic dancing sessions with the dance teacher Samuel on Tuesday, which Bluebell Class particularly enjoyed. Outdoor learning was a major theme this week; Orchid Class visited the park to collect conkers, while Hebe Class successfully completed their very first outdoor learning session down at Beddington Park. Sunflower Class investigated the changing seasons through indoor and outdoor sensory exploration of plants and conkers. Back in the classroom, the students continued to immerse themselves in history by learning about the lives of knights and castle residents through story telling, shared reading and art. Orchid Class also engaged in intensive interaction sessions. Both Bluebell and Sunflower Classes baked delicious banana bread in their cooking sessions.
|
|
Middle School News
 This week Daffodil Class have been focusing further on their Core word of the week - 'want' for requesting and practising their fine motor regulation strategy of the week: 'squeeze and stop'. They were also introduced to a shared story, whereby functional objects were used, within engaging repetition. Lily Class have been working hard on their physio programmes, as well as started their Sensory Story Writing unit, beginning to choose different sensory elements of stories. The students also enjoyed some social play with Middle School class friends in the playground and explored different sensory elements in sensory trays. Poppy Class had a fantastic week and begun to explore matching numbers to groups of objects. They also matched pictures of objects found at home and in the garden and stuck them to the matching room. A firm favourite activity was making and flying kites during their Play and Leisure lesson. Tulip Class worked on Letters of the week. Students learnt letter sound ‘s’ and ‘a’ and word family ‘-at’.
|
|
Upper School News
 Peony class have been developing their money skills; learning about exchanging money, paying for items, recognising coins and receiving change. Students practised these skills on a shopping trip to Asda, where they bought the weekly snacks and cooking ingredients. In Cooking, students made pear crumble and did really well with their chopping and peeling skills, producing a delicious crumble.
Daisy class have had another busy and exciting week, with students exploring their local area during Geography, visiting interesting landmarks and enjoying the surrounding nature. In Cooking, the class made delicious cheese swirls, which students enjoyed exploring and tasting. Students have also been developing their switch work, using switches to operate some of their favourite things, including the dancing llama. The class have also started a gardening project by planting herbs and are looking forward to watching them grow.
Marigold Class have been exploring how to care for our planet. Students have been practising picking up litter in the playground as preparation for doing this in the community as part of their work experience journey. They have also enjoyed multimedia art using different mark-making tools, colours and materials. This week’s story, ‘The Day the Hurricane Came’, was brought to life with water, leaves, fans and sound effects, with students engaged throughout. PE has also kept everyone active through parachute games, action songs, dance and lots of movement.
Dahlia Class have continued exploring Brazil through a sensory journey of rainforests and beaches, using a range of resources and switches. Students also completed our new window display, which was great fun and a big hit with other pupils! Our usual community trips and class enterprise also took place, with students enjoying shopping for and preparing jacket potatoes.
|
|
*Stars of the Week*
Orchid: Theo for lovely intensive interactions with new staff, smiling and navigating towards them while on the mats, and enjoying collecting conkers on the trip to the park.
Hebe: Arya for creating some fantastic artwork, showing enjoyment, independence and initiative while painting.
Bluebell: Daisy for showing great enthusiasm during cooking by mashing and mixing fruit and demonstrating excellent focus when recognising and matching different shapes in Maths.
Sunflower: Joshua for being highly engaged in learning activities, joining in with Maths and Science, pouring and mixing ingredients in Science, taking turns with a classmate to build a tower in Maths and using his voice throughout circle activities.
Marigold: Frankie for showing increased independence and communication during daily living tasks.
Tulip: Raihaan for settling in really well to his new class and participating in lessons and activities.
Daffodil: Ashraful for using verbal communication during sessions, including the word ‘Go’, and using sound effects as part of the regulation strategy of the week.
Poppy: Alex for fantastic effort during learning tasks, engaging with counting activities, independently matching objects from home and the garden, and using BSL to communicate while completing a home-themed activity.
Daisy: Jeysha for showing a great interest in her PODD book, beginning to explore different pages and using switches to operate some of her favourite toys, including the dancing flamingo.
Peony: Ella for doing amazing physio, using her standing frame and wearing her hand splints every day, as well as supporting shopping in the community by scanning items and paying for them.
Lily: Jack for working hard on his PODD communication by tapping different words to describe a range of sensory items.
Dahlia: Charlie for accessing the community twice this week and enjoying some wonderful interactions with staff during intensive interaction sessions.
Therapy: Nicole for working very hard in Sam’s Space sensory room, moving herself onto all fours towards her classmates to greet them.
Wellbeing: Ayaan for working hard to use his standing frame and developing his regulation skills.
|
|
|
News from the Leadership Team
 Another wonderful week at The Manor. The weather has been kind which has meant we have made the most of the outdoors with classes going to Beddington Park to do Geography, Life Skills and Play and Leisure.
Our assembly this week was about World Gratitude Day, led by the Kestrel Class teacher, Alyssa. The students learnt the Makaton signs related to the day. They also had the opportunity to fill up a Gratitude Jar, create leaves for a Gratitude Tree and complete Thank You cards. Our gratitude goes to our amazing students and staff for being part of our school community and bringing joy every day to The Manor.
A highlight for Albatross class this week was putting up tents on the field, practising life skills in the process, and having a wonderful time pretending to build a camp fire with a sing-song led by Lola-Rose!
|
|
*Stars of the Week*
Albatross: Scott for making huge improvements when transitioning from his favourite locations around school, listening to his teachers, asking to help in class and working hard in lessons.
Robin: Nathaniel for adapting so quickly to joining Robin class and making lots of new friends during his first week.
Cardinal: Sai for showing commitment and patience during his first days at school, making a great effort to adapt to new routines, explore different environments and become familiar with the people around him.
Kingfisher: Summer-Louise for amazing writing and for reading aloud to her class.
Kite: James for brilliant engagement and for giving every activity a go.
Hawk: Hugo for joining in with class activities, showing brilliant participation during communication sessions and making new friends in the playground.
Kestrel: Lucas for amazing participation during shared communication, including greeting everyone and signing along to all the songs.
Falcon: Shakur for great engagement in every lesson, listening carefully to instructions, completing tasks with enthusiasm and adapting positively to changing situations.
Goshawk: Connor for sitting with his classmates at the table and completing his learning tasks with enthusiasm.
Therapy: Samantha for using her language to communicate how she was feeling about the change in her classroom.
Wellbeing: Eleanore for settling into her class so wonderfully, making fantastic progress with self-regulation and becoming more confident in communicating what she wants and needs.
|
|
|
|
|
|
More information and bookings can be found Events & Bookings | Sutton Libraries and searching ‘Preparation for Adulthood’.
|
|
Sutton Mencap Parent Carer Forum
Sutton Mencap is seeking parents and carers of children and young people aged 0-25 with SEND to help establish Sutton's new independent SEND Parent Carer Forum by joining its steering group.
To submit your application for membership of the steering group, please click here. Please note that applications close on 8 October 2026.
If you are a parent or carer who may be interested, or if you work with SEND families, please take a moment to read the information in the original email below and share this opportunity with anyone who may wish to get involved.
|
|
|
