Sherwood Foundation School

Weekly Newsletter

Sherwood Hill Campus

News from Leadership Team

This week, Sherwood Hill have been celebrating inspiring women in STEM as part of our themed day for International Women in Maths. Classes learnt about Ada Lovelace and her significant contribution to ICT by exploring online resources that have only been made possible through her pioneering work, including eBooks during literacy lessons and online statistics games on Busy Things.

We have also been reflecting on Article 24 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, which states that every child has the right to the best possible health, as part of World Mental Health Month. Classes explored ways to advocate for their own mental health by trying new regulation strategies to add to their personal toolbox of support techniques. Pupils also reflected on activities they enjoy and would like to do more often to support their wellbeing, including trips and shared experiences linked to end-of-term activities.

Next week, we will be celebrating World Bee Day by learning about the important role bees play in our ecosystem, whilst also marking the belated 100th birthday of David Attenborough. On Wednesday 20th May if pupils would like to wear something bee-themed or in the colours of a bee for the day, they are very welcome to do so.

Hill Campus – Summer Term events and dates

Lower School News

Pupil taking part in a science lesson Mint Class really enjoyed this week’s assembly on Mental Health and loved exploring calming activities such as fidget toys, light projectors, cosy reading areas, and hand and foot massages.

Olive Class had a fantastic dance session on Wednesday with teachers from RADiate. Pupils especially enjoyed dancing with different textures and materials and had lots of fun using the big stretchy band!

This week in Science, Teal Class explored the properties of solids and liquids, showing great curiosity and enthusiasm during practical activities. In RE, pupils learnt about the Five Pillars of Islam and their importance to Muslims around the world.

Lime Class enjoyed a wonderful RHE lesson on sharing and taking turns. Everyone showed great patience while playing with exciting toys in group activities and practising turn-taking in one-to-one games.

Middle School News

Pupil completing sticking activity with staff member Indigo Class enjoyed exploring new fruits during cooking through smelling and tasting.

Sapphire Class enjoyed cooking spaghetti hoops on toast and all had a go at using the stove to heat the hoops.

Iris Class had a fantastic week, showing great engagement in cooking, swimming, interactive learning games, and developing communication and self-regulation skills.

Capri Class made egg sandwiches, enjoying cracking, peeling, mashing, and spreading the egg mixture. In Science, pupils learnt about the life cycle of ladybirds and painted their own using potatoes.

Ocean Class explored cartography and directional language by reading and creating maps, identifying cardinal directions, and using Google Maps. Pupils also enjoyed bowling to practise turn-taking and gross motor skills, and made Rice Krispies cakes during cooking.

Upper School News

Pupil using interactive white board Lavender Class had a fantastic session celebrating Women in Mathematics Day. Pupils researched inspirational women who have made a significant impact in mathematics and learnt facts about their achievements, and completed data and graph activities to show their understanding.

In Lilac Class, pupils continued learning about jungle animals by watching nature documentaries, using AAC to comment on the animals and exploring animal books. In Citizenship, pupils learnt about recycling by investigating the properties of plastic and paper and sorting real-life materials into groups.

Violet Class enjoyed lots of physical activity this week, including visits to the park, a Joe Wicks workout, sensory circuits in PE, regulating in the sensory gym, and trying different dances in our new Wednesday dance class.

Thistle Class continued exploring our Hungry Caterpillar theme across literacy, numeracy, and art, with everyone making an outstanding contribution. Pupils also enjoyed taking part in the lunchtime parachute games.

Stars of the Week

Mint
Freddie for actively participating in dance therapy sessions for two weeks in a row.

Olive
Jace for his excellent engagement in the dance session this week, exploring different elements and requesting another turn. Well done Jace!

Teal
Jackson for independently using his choice board to select his snack and showing fantastic confidence and independence throughout the week. Well done, Jackson.

Lime
Apiram for engaging with his learning and moving between activities. Well done Apiram.

Indigo
Kishan for showing great enthusiasm while in class and engaging in all activities. Well done!

Sapphire
Ben for his hard work following a new routine and timetable this week.

Iris
Jacob for managing changes in his routine and asking for help to support his regulation when needed.

Capri
Maa-Abena for her amazing engagement during numeracy and independently matching numbers 1–5. Well done, Maa-Abena!

Ocean
Izaan for his fantastic work on his vocabulary and confidently identifying verbs on flash cards, songs, and word hunts. Also demonstrating great competitive spirit during bowling. Well done, Izaan!

Thistle
Louis for working really hard during lessons this week and on his regulation. Well done Louis!

Violet
Eugene for showing great engagement in all his lessons and during community visits and for consistent use of his device to communicate with different staff.

Lilac
Abu for his fast, powerful, and consistent swimming at Waddon Leisure Centre. Well done, Abu!

Lavender
Lakiesha for her excellent communication, positive engagement with her modulated music programme, and great focus during class and a community trip. Well done, Lakiesha!

Wellbeing
Jace for embracing the transition to the life skills cooking area with confidence and a willingness to try new experiences, showing great resilience and progress in learning new skills. Well done, Jace.

Therapy
Steven for his fantastic engagement with a new motorised car activity, showing great resilience, communication, and patience. Well done, Steven!

Sherwood Park Campus

News from the Leadership Team

It has been a wonderful week for pupils and staff at the Sherwood Park Campus. With the warmer weather, many activities took place outdoors and within the local community. Classes enjoyed visits to nearby parks and shops, while football and PE sessions took place in the playground.

Hebe Class also delivered a fantastic assembly to celebrate National Children’s Day. Pupils and staff organised a range of engaging activities which were enjoyed by classes across the campus.

Park Campus - Summer Term events

Lower School News

Pupil doing art activity with his hands It has been an exciting and busy week for pupils in the Lower School. In cookery, some pupils made delicious focaccia while practising switching skills and using different equipment, while another group prepared a healthy pasta salad.

In Literacy, pupils began a new sensory story, The Rainbow Fish, and enjoyed exploring its shiny, colourful features. Another class focused on rhyming words and listened to poems from this week’s book, Commotion in the Ocean.

In Art, students used collage techniques to create beautiful shiny fish inspired by their learning.

Middle School News

Pupil making a kite It has been a very busy and exciting week in Middle School. Lily Class had great fun exploring the Magic Box, where pupils discovered comets, “swam” with fish, scored goals in a football game, made music by popping bubbles, and turned pages in an interactive story about Peter Rabbit. Pupils particularly enjoyed the cause-and-effect activities using their wheelchairs and walkers, while others loved exploring the interactive lights on the floor.

Poppy Class explored capacity in maths and made some delicious apple and oat cupcakes. They also thoroughly enjoyed music therapy, Open Orchestra, and making their own kites.

Sunflower Class have been working on functional fine motor skills and sharing information about themselves using photographs, whilst practising their yes and no communication skills.

Tulip Class explored reading poetry and creating their own poems. In Geography, they practised route planning using Google Maps to visit Asda and one pupil successfully followed the map along the route. Alongside this, they have begun learning what to do if a friend has an accident in the community and role-played a variety of scenarios.

Upper School News

Pupil shopping in the community This week, Daisy Class had a fantastic time taking part in a range of science experiments linked to liquids and solids. Pupils especially enjoyed the exciting milk experiment and investigating what happened when cornflour was added. To complete their science work, they observed the wonderful range of colours and beautiful patterns created during the experiments.

In Marigold Class, pupils took part in regulation lessons where they shared thoughtful ideas about worries and discussed positive strategies to help manage these emotions. They also participated in communication lessons focused on using positive body language and recognising the body language and actions of others. Pupils continued to develop their communication skills through the use of AAC to express their thoughts, needs, and responses during activities and group discussions.

Dahlia Class have been very busy preparing items for the Summer Enterprise. Pupils have been selecting designs for their tote bags and have also enjoyed trips to the local park, shops, and café.

Stars of the Week

Orchid
Jack for his fantastic engagement during an Art lesson, especially when using paint with his hands to create a beautiful artwork.

Hebe
Anishka for her fantastic engagement in messy play activities and exploring a range of textures.

Bluebell
Alex for his brilliant work during cooking lessons and doing really well on a community visit to the park.

Sunflower
Frankie for showing growing independence and confidence in his routines while engaging positively with a range of peers during different tasks. Well done Frankie!

Marigold
Alife for showing brilliant engagement in dance lessons and excellent motor skills using apparatus at the park during play and leisure activities.

Tulip
Maheen for her fantastic effort in class this week, including independently following a map to Asda and working really hard during maths lessons.

Lily
Freddie for fantastic work using Eyegaze to explore new games and for showing excellent engagement and effort during swimming.

Daffodil
Abinaya for her brilliant participation in PE and confidently taking part in the sensory circuit.

Daisy Class
Leo for his outstanding contribution to the dance session, using his arms and hands to create imaginative dance movements. Well done Leo!

Peony
Denise for her hard work in developing her confidence and independence skills in the kitchen and in the classroom. Denise shows kindness to her classmates and has been a wonderful role model to her peers. We are so proud of you!

Dahlia
Calum for his positive engagement in the class enterprise, offering his thoughts and opinions on designs using a combination of signs and symbols. Well done Calum!

Poppy Class
Sai for his positive participation during dance, cooking, PE, and his fantastic achievement of entering the swimming pool for the first time this year.

Therapy
Liam in Daisy Class for showing fantastic skills using Eyegaze during a session with a Smartbox representative, engaging with games and using his Gridpad to read a short story using only his eyes. Well done Liam!

Wellbeing
This week the Star of the Week is everyone! The team have seen so many pupils working hard on their self-regulation, both with support from staff and independently.

Sherwood Manor Campus

News from the Leadership Team

Pupil doing classroom activity It has been an exciting week at The Manor. Pupils have enjoyed continuing to learn about statistics, linking their learning to multiplication in relation to values on an axis and tallies of five. There has been some excitement around learning about the life cycle of a butterfly as the school has caterpillars that we are observing and hoping they will chrysalis very soon.

In PE there has been continued focus on dance as well as outdoor sports, starting our preparation for Sports Day.

We would like to invite parents to our Celebration Assembly on Friday 22nd May at 2.20pm where we will enjoy a carousel of activities around being part of a family. Please let The Manor Office know if you would like to attend.

Manor Campus - Summer Term events

Stars of the Week

Robin
Lucas for his brilliant work using Makaton to communicate

Albatross
Aleks C for working so hard this week and solving complicated division and word problems with minimal support.

Cardinal
Niam for his willingness to explore new activities.

Kingfisher
Jude for making fantastic progress using her core board and using her voice to make requests. Well done, Jude!

Therapy
Emmy for her excellent engagement and participation in her Speech and Language assessment. Well done Emmy.

Wellbeing
Lucas for doing such an amazing job trying new music to support his self-regulation. Well done and a massive happy birthday from all of us too!