The Iffley Academy Newsletter
May 2017
Autism
Awareness Day
www.iffleyacademy.co.uk
Voice in a Million
On Thursday 9th March a coachload
of 45 staff and pupils left school after
lunch for The SSE Wembley Arena,
to take part in the national
performance of Voice in a Million.
This was a fantastic opportunity for
the pupils to come together and
perform alongside 5,000 other
school children. Everyone was
really excited when they arrived
and took their seats high up in the
gallery. After rehearsing their
favourite songs the pupils were
treated to Domino’s pizzas brought
in by taxi – too many to arrive by
moped!
The banner parade featured Liam,
Phoebe and Amber; bravely
representing The Iffley Academy in
front of a packed arena and then the
show began! The Arena was united
in song and dance and the pupils
loved every minute. Staff were so
proud of them all.
Thank you to all the parents and
carers who came to support and
those who collected their child from
school at 11.30pm.
Here’s to Voice in a Million 2018!
Free School
On Tuesday 21st March
the school took part in an
Autism Awareness day.
Pupils further developed
their understanding of
Autism and explored
some of the challenges
people with Autism can
face. The pupils
considered the needs
within the school and how
they can support each
other in the school
community. Each class
prepared a short
presentation, which was
delivered to the rest of the
school through an end of
day assembly. Pupils also
completed a
questionnaire to share
their thoughts about the
Autism Awareness day.
We have received very exciting news that our application to
the Department for Education to open an additional new free
special school in North Oxfordshire has been successful.
We are thrilled that we will be able to offer the same
Outstanding education to students in the north of the county.
The schedule for opening the new school will depend on the
availability of a site, and at the moment we do not have an
opening date. In the meantime, we are also working on our
new build here in Iffley and anticipate that building work will
commence this year!
The Iffley Academy has become one of the first schools to
contribute to the NASEN SEND Gateway sharing information
about restorative practice.
Read more about it at
http://www.sendgateway.org.uk/resources.restorativejustice.html
May 2017
The Iffley Academy Newsletter
Safety Online
Below is a link to the ‘Think
U Know’ website which has
been updated with practical
strategies to support your
child to be safe online.
https://www.thinkuknow.co.
uk/parents/Supporttools/How-to-guides/?mc
cid=6edb2c8180&mc
eid=e2fd8af67c
Sports at The Iffley Academy
This term the pupils have been taking part in a
mixture of different sports, which has provided a
range of opportunities for all the pupils. The
pupils have been developing their own fitness
levels and exploring how being active can
have an important impact for their future. The
pupils have taken part in bleep tests
and circuit training sessions to try and increase
their understanding of how the body works, and
to set themselves achievable targets that they
then try to meet.
Burgerman class has had the opportunity to
meet Toby Garbet, a rower for Team GB
during the Sydney Olympics. He has been
involved in the Sky Sports Living for Sport
Project which Burgerman class have taken
part in.
To help raise awareness for charity Miss
Shuker completed the London Marathon.
The pupils took part in a challenge to try and
cycle a full Marathon distance, on a spin
bike collectively as a class. Congratulations
to Hirst Class who managed 27.45 miles.
The Iffley Academy approached World Book Day with its
usual enthusiasm. In fact, pupils celebrated all week, with
plenty of activities and competitions. Miss Taylor was
thrilled with the photographs of pets and pupils reading in
unusual places.
The actual World Book Day started with an assembly
celebrating the amazing costumes worn by pupils and
adults. There were some fantastic book characters,
including Cruella Deville and two Gangsta Grannies. A big
thank you to parents and carers for all your hard work.
The pupils also heard book readings, talked about reading
and completed a ‘Where’s Wally’ hunt. Wally turned up in
Mrs Smith’s office and even on the cake trolley in the dining
hall. The day was a great success and we are looking
forward to the next one.
Competition Results
1st place: Charlotte
2nd place: Coco
3rd place: Jason
Highly commended:
Molly
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The Iffley Academy Newsletter
The Gallery
+
Warhol Class
The pupils in Warhol class have worked very
hard this term to further develop their writing
skills. The pupils have been focusing on
exploring fairy tales as well as developing
their reading and writing skills through the
Sound Reading Scheme.
The pupils have explored traditional stories
such as The Gingerbread Man and Little Red
Riding Hood and focused on retelling them.
The parents of a Warhol pupil generously
funded a trip to the Oxford Story Museum,
which supported our work on fairy tales. At
the museum the pupils had the chance to join
in with the interactive retelling of a story
about a crocodile. They explored all the
wonderful exhibits, including a dressing up
room, which had a talking throne to describe
the character they had created for
themselves. The pupils particularly enjoyed
going through the back of the wardrobe into
Narnia and lying on the largest bed any of the
pupils had ever seen, to listen to a bedtime
story.
May 2017
There is a new space in our school to support
pupils when they are struggling, perhaps in crisis
or when they just need a little bit of extra
support. This space is called the Gallery and is
staffed by our TSW (Therapeutic Support
Worker) and PSW (Pastoral Support Worker)
team. Most of the work, which takes place in this
space, is about emotional literacy, developing
emotional resilience and supporting pupils
through interventions such as 'protective
behaviours'. However, pupils can also access this
resource to support them in transitions between
home and school, with staff running 'check in'
sessions with pupils who may need additional
support.
To ensure this development is as effective as
possible the school have committed to additional
training and support for our staff. A partnership
with The Mulberry Bush School has been
developed, to provide external training and
support for our staff between 2016 and 2019. This
includes extensive training on psychodynamic
approaches to support behaviour. These
include: understanding causes and functions of
behaviour, working with emotional and
behavioural
communication,
emotional
resilience and using psychodynamic approaches
to understand and manage relationships. In
addition to this training The Mulberry Bush are
also providing group supervision for Iffley staff to
support their emotional wellbeing and the
Therapeutic Support Workers will be studying
towards the Foundation Degree in Therapeutic
Work with Children and Young People.
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May 2017
The Iffley Academy Newsletter
Home learning by Toby…
Frankenstein went to the barbers
By Toby and family
For an English home learning activity, this
term, pupils were asked to use pictures as
a source of creativity for a poem or piece of
writing. This brilliant poem was produced.
Etiam eu ipsum.
Enjoy!
Donec ac arcu.
Frankenstein went to the barbers
ipsum
dolor sit amet,
For a shampoo, Lorem
cut and
a shave
He wouldn’t sit still
in the chair
consectetuer
adipiscing
So the barber said
elit.“Behave!
Vivamus semper
Sit still you old goat
sodales lorem. Quisque
Or I might catchvenenatis
your throat
vehicula lectus.
And it won’t be my
fault
Donec a odio eu eros
If I loosen your bolt”
lobortis vehicula.
+ Learning Highlights…
Lowry class has been learning about electricity
this term. A highlight has been the pupils learning
all about the components of a circuit and then
working together to build electrical circuits.
Banksy class has worked hard this term
completing challenges as part of the Asdan Life
skills Challenge program. Pupils have cooked
healthy and delicious meals as part of the
Independent Living module and are working
together at Hill End to complete a variety of tasks
as part of the Environment module.
This term in Jackson Pollock the pupils have been
completing some really interesting STEM
(Science,
Technology,
Engineering
and
Mechanics) based work. The tasks have required
pupils to work within a team and use practical
thinking skills to solve problems; such as using
lolly pop sticks to engineer a bridge or to mimic a
building using Lego. Although at times the pupils
have found this challenging, they are proud of
their creations and have learnt about the
importance of communication.
So he sat and relaxed - sodales.
While they started to chat
The barber began to snip away
While Frankenstein read the news of the
day
The barber asked “What style would you
like?”
“A flat top as usual… Or maybe a spike?”
“You being funny?” Frankenstein said
When the barber cut round the top of his
head
“It’s always flat this hair style of mine
Makes me look handsome and mighty fine”
They laughed together at Frankenstein’s
jokes
And when the barber finished, he got his
coat
Frankenstein thought he looked as smart as
a button
But we all know he looks like a bit of old
mutton!
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The Iffley Academy Newsletter
May 2017
Consumer Challenge
This term four pupils, Josh, Amy, Courtney and Jamie took part in the annual Consumer
Challenge run by Oxfordshire Trading Standards.
The team travelled to UniPart House in Oxford and competed against 7 other Oxfordshire
special schools. There were five rounds and the team answered questions based on: scams,
Internet safety, fire safety, complaint procedures and age regulations.
The team have been revising every week since Christmas and led in every round… until the
last round! (There is always next year.)
However, the Iffley team won the best Consumer Challenge poem competition with a great
poem penned by Josh. The pupils had a great day and were excellent representatives of the
school.
A Safe Word
1) Put the warning signs in a small bowl and pour over a
cup of safety laws.
2) Add the fire extinguishers to the mixture. Mix in a
pound of consumer rights.
3) Add a final handful of brain cells.
4) Stir well.
5) Meanwhile, lightly oil a baking tray with a dash of
dangerous red.
6) Put in the oven at Gas mark 6 keep an eye to avoid fires
and explosions.
7) Take out with oven gloves and leave to cool.
8) Decorate with a pinch of legal age guidance
Follow these rules!
From the winners of the Consumer Challenge.
Ingredients
1 cup of safety laws
A pound of consumer rights
10 ounces of warning signs
6 ounces of warning signs
A handful of brain cells
A dash of red
A pinch of legal age guidance
Sainsbury’s Active Kids
Charity Events
Please send your vouchers into school.
Congratulations to everyone for raising
The school can use these to purchase
over £600 pounds though dressing up,
further sports equipment. We are
selling cakes and making hotdogs. The
collecting all vouchers in our
money will be shared equally between
reception area.
the two charities, Blue Cross and Red
Nose Day