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Dear parents/carers,
Summer term has come to an end and we hope that this summer break will bring rest and happiness to your family.
This year has been full of challenges but once again, our staff have been able to provide an excellent provision for our learners with the support of parents and carers. A great deal has been achieved this year and this newsletter will give you a flavour of all the fantastic work that took place this summer term.
Following the wishes made by the Learner Voice Committee and suggestions from staff, the Senior Leadership Team knew that our secondary playground has to be one of the top priorities for us.
It has been challenging to accumulate the necessary funds to make this project a reality but after 2 years of hard work, we have managed to invest £240,000 to improve our outdoor provision.
The Trust has been key in securing the best deal possible for Calthorpe Academy and we are working now with DBD play.
The work will start as soon as we break up for summer and we are hoping (fingers crossed) to have the playground ready for September.
We are very excited about this project and I wanted to share with you the design of our new playground.
Finally, I would like to wish all learners who are leaving us at the end of this academic year all the very best on their next journey. I know that they all had an amazing experience here at Calthorpe and I believe that they will continue to shine throughout their adult life.
Kind regards,
Our highly dedicated and passionate workforce, all of whom have established strong relationships with the learners have supported the continued implementation of our aspirational curriculum. Below you will see examples of the learning opportunities that have taken place this term.
Learning in the community:
Learners have had the opportunity to work with ABUNDANCE to develop an eco-environment. Here learners were able to apply their acquired communication, emotional regulation and daily living skills to new and unfamiliar environments.
Communication:
Communication is an integral part of our curriculum, enabling learners to make choices, requests and to develop their reading skills.
Language and Reading:
Our progressive See and Learn Language and Reading programme has enabled our learners to develop their early vocabulary and reading skills.
Real-life maths:
Learners have been working on their budgeting skills. They have had opportunities to generalise their learning during visits to the supermarket, as part of their community participation sessions.
PSHE:
Within our PSHE sessions, learners have worked through the NSPCC Speak out Stay Safe programme. In doing so, learners were able to recognise types of abuse and who to seek help from. This topic is linked to prior learning on ‘people who help us’, ‘relationships’ and ‘safe circles.
Understanding the World:
Learners have been learning about ‘living things’ where they have had opportunities to experience and explore living organisms in real-life contexts. Examples include observing the growth and development of butterflies at school and observing the hatching of chicks at a local farm.
Art:
Unleashing their creative spark, learners working through the Art curriculum have created bespoke garments, to be gifted to all Post 16 leavers. Further down the school learners have created pieces of artwork linked to the topic of the ‘local environment. This work is on display near the school entrance. Finally, learners have created posters that tie into the Commonwealth theme. The final pieces of artwork have successfully been chosen to be on exhibition at the Athletes Training Village during the Commonwealth Games.
Amjid Zaman
Deputy Head Teacher
The Move Programme
We have successfully achieved the MOVE Programme’s Bronze Quality Mark! The MOVE Programme focuses on enabling our learners with complex disabilities to learn how to move more effectively through a series of functional movement skills.
To set meaningful targets and deliver learning we have used a combined approach of the school, therapy and family knowledge to teach the skills of sitting, standing, walking and transitioning between.
The benefits we are seeing from the MOVE Programme are learners who are happier, engaged in learning and able to make more choices. Families support learning targets through ‘MOVE at Home’ activities and have attended MOVE Workshops with class staff and physiotherapists to celebrate the learner’s success and plan for their next steps!
IQM Flagship School Award
This year we have also successfully maintained our Inclusion Quality Mark Flagship status. We had an evaluation of our first-year project which focussed on how we have further advanced our career provision for our learners for year 9 onwards by enhancing partnership links with transition providers, providing learners with exposure to Post16 and 19 settings and enriching the support we offer to both our learners and their families through the transitions process.
We would like to thank all the students, employer representatives from work experience placements that support our learners such as Tesco’s and Birmingham Children’s Hospital (Liver Unit), our teaching staff, SENCO, our Transition Team and a member of our Local Governing Body for sharing their passion, views, experiences and contributions of how we have all worked together relentlessly to remove barriers to learning and enabling our learners to have an enhanced career provision.
If you wish to read the full report it can be found in our ‘Awards’ section here on our website.
The Quality in Careers Standard Award
This year we have also achieved The Quality in Careers Standard which is the single national quality award for careers education, information, advice and guidance (CEIAG) in secondary schools, colleges and work-based learning. The reviewers came to review our practice and meet with our learners, parents, carers and employment links from local businesses and staff from our transition team with regards to how our learners are able to meet the Gatsby Bench Marks through careers education and information guidance provided by Calthorpe.
Laura Marsden
Assistant Head Teacher
Throughout June & July, our learners have been experiencing a range of activities to develop health and wellbeing.
Our learners in the Learning for Life pathway travelled to Norman Green Stadium in Solihull and enjoyed a day packed with field and track events. Spurred on by watching parents, the learners had an amazing time enjoying being with their peers, competing against each other and winning certificates and medals for individual and group events. We would like to thank all of the volunteers from King Edwards VI College Stourbridge, Eversheds and transport company Green Destinations for very generously donating gift vouchers to some learners for exemplary behaviour and attitude.
Our Engagement for Life sports day was run on-site at Calthorpe and was a very lively event with classes choosing countries from the Commonwealth Games for them to represent. All classes made banners, headpieces, and flags and had balloons tied to chairs and walkers in the colour of their country. It is always amazing to watch our Engagement for Life learners together enjoying the atmosphere and activities that they participate in. Thank you to all of parents/carers for supporting the events, it makes a big difference to the learners.
Learners in the Foundations for Life pathway have experienced a range of offsite activities to help develop their gross and fine motor skills, general fitness and social skills. The activities have included trips to an adventure playground, Revolution gymnastics and an inflatable theme park. These activities have enabled our learners to be part of their community to support learners to make a successful transition into adulthood.
Andrew Blakeley
Assistant Head Teacher
As part of 'The World Around Us' curriculum coverage on the topic of 'Animals', some of the learners from L1 and L3 had the opportunity to attend Dodford Farm on a two-night residential. During the trip, learners took part in various animal care activities such as feeding, grooming and petting the farm animals including donkeys, guinea pigs and rabbits.
Our learners also had the opportunity to explore the surrounding countryside by going on nature walks, widening their experiences of new environments outside of the city and generalising their independence skills learnt within the classroom this half term. With the nice weather, learners enjoyed playing and cooling down in the paddling pool and soft play area after a busy day at the farm.
Rebecca Ward
Class Teacher
Pupils from L4, L5 and F3 have been involved in a fantastic choir project this year, provided by the charity Music of Life. Each week, pupils rehearsed songs with two professional singers and a pianist. Pupils were given opportunities to create parts of the songs themselves and contribute with their own ideas as they lead the choir. Pupils sang, danced and signed their way to a performance at Town Hall Birmingham on Monday 13th June where they were accompanied by a full band and took their cues from a real conductor.
It was a fantastic event which was so prestigious and such a huge venue that pupils were asking where the stage was as they were stood on top of it. It was a long day, but pupils were still smiling and gave their performance all their energy (after they ate their way through a pizza delivery) before heading home at 8 pm. Thank you to all the families and parents who came to watch and support our young singers, we're sure you'll agree how brightly your little stars shined that night.
Emily Tully
Performing Arts Coordinator
Despite the covid restrictions this year we were able to deliver 10 parent workshops covering various topics of your interest.
The turnout was amazing and I would like to thank all the parents who attended these workshops.
Some feedback from parents for these workshops:
“Very good workshop about a very difficult topic, provided some good and practical ideas”
“Information delivered was useful”
“Very well done & informative"
We are looking forward to next year and we‘ll be bringing once again some very exciting workshops for you, please complete the survey below to share your interests with us for next year.
We have a number of Bring it on Brum providers that offer holiday clubs for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Please contact the holiday club provider before booking; it’s important to discuss the needs of your child in advance.
They are prioritising vulnerable young people, those with EHCPs and those with a disability and/or a special educational need. If you are looking to book activities for your child who is not eligible for benefits-related free school meals but needs to access free holiday provisions due to their additional needs or vulnerability please use this code when booking activities: B25070309223B. You may still need to select ‘Yes’ to the free school meal eligibility but make sure you use this code.
https://www.bringitonbrum.co.uk/send-provision/
Partners across Birmingham are connecting together to support families who want early help, you can request support by completing the family connect form for self-referral.
Have a lovely summer holidays
Masuma Rajwani
Family Support Coordinator
September 2022 – there will be two Teacher Training days at the start of next term so learners will start back on Wednesday 7th September.
Covid has been having a big impact on attendance the past few years however we will be focusing on reducing absence over the next academic year. The Attendance Officer will be making contact with the parents of low attenders in the Autumn term as we focus on reducing avoidable absences.
Please remember to contact us to report absences daily or if you have any queries by calling 0121 773 4637.
