10th July 2015 (Series 20 / Issue No 30)
A Week and a half!
Dear Parents and Carers
following reasons:
After opening THE CEDARS it was
delightful to welcome Rosemary, last
BAT ROOST: Because bats once lived in the
year's Lady Captain at Westerham Golf
building and bats still live in the building
I say a week and a half because so
Club to present us with a cheque for
much is going on and so much has
over £3,000 for the Friends of Valence
happened and is happening - some this
as a result of her and Mark, last year's
week and some last! Last Thursday I
Captain, choosing Valence as their
was able to slip away early in the
charity. We are so grateful for this
morning and travel via Marylebone
ongoing and very generous support.
Station to Kidderminster to join our
Year 14 leavers on their ‘Residential
week’ away, a chance to try new
things, be the adults that they are and
just have fun! They had a great week
and I thoroughly enjoyed my time with behind.
them. The time at Bridgenorth station
on Friday at the end of the outward
journeys on the Severn Valley Railway
was particularly enjoyable but as Zena
Belton says what happens on
residentials stays on residentials!
Anyway, it was a great week for our
Year 14 leavers and one that they can
be proud of as even in this short time
they excelled in their relationships with
others, their care and their
independence. Bravo!
HECTOR’S HOUSE: Because Hector John
Toler (3rd Earl of Norbury) bought Hill Park
and returned its name to Valence.
And so to Thursday - we named our
‘new’ Teaching and Learning Block,
after students and staff had submitted
nominations for a new name and then
voted. Was it going to be BAT ROOST,
HECTOR’S HOUSE, HODGSON HOUSE,
LANCELOT BLOCK or THE CEDARS? The
nominations were made because of the
HODGSON HOUSE: Because Mr Hodgson
was our first Head Teacher.
LANCELOT BLOCK: Lancelot ‘Capability’
Brown designed part of the grounds at
Valence.
THE CEDARS: Because of the 200 year old
cedar trees at the school.
Tremendous!
The end of term draws closer so please
make sure you donate to the Summer
Fair, offer to help and finally come to
the End of Year Service! Much to
celebrate - much to enjoy!
Well after a bit of lobbying and some
Have a lovely weekend!
enthusiastic voting Class T counted the
votes and we were able to announce
Roland Gooding
Principal
the winner -THE CEDARS! Janet Mahy,
SSA who made the nomination cut the
ribbon to the building and so our
teaching and learning block is now
known as THE CEDARS!
CHATA
Summer term is nearly coming to an end. We have had a very busy term. The leavers group has
been very successful and we are pleased to have been able to do some much work with them
to help prepare them for their transition. Other groups have continued and we have started to
make plans for September.
Congratulations…..
Jodie one of our SLTs has been promoted to a band 6 therapist. Jodie has
done some fantastic work this year, particularly around AAC. She will be
continuing to work with AAC next year, but will also be completing her
Dysphagia training to further support the school eating and drinking team.
Forging new relationships…..
We are excited to say that we have forged new relationships with
Canterbury Christchurch University and this term have had our
first SLT students at Valence. Matt and Haleema will have spent
six weeks with us by the end of term and have both done incredibly well for their first placement. They both asked to come to Valence and have had only positive things to say about the school
and what they have observed here. Thank you to the parents who
have signed consent forms to allow them to video their children
for their assessments. We are hoping to continue to develop relationships with the university and in doing so further raise awareness of the speech and language work going on at Valence. We
have our next students before Christmas and will be looking
forward to that.
A fond farewell…...
We wanted to take this opportunity to say a personal
farewell to Pauline Hayat. Pauline will be retiring at the
end of term after 17 years of working at Valence. She
has dedicated much of her working life to improving the
communication opportunities for students at Valence
and has made a big impact on many students lives. We
want to wish her all of the very best for the future and
let her know that she will be missed.
Summer Fair—9 days to go
Sunday 19th July from 1p.m.
Monday 13th to Friday 17th July 2015
HELP !!!!
We are in desperate need of bottles both Soft
drinks and alcohol, Toys and Good as New. Any
student bringing a donation to Reception for the
Summer Fair will be allowed to wear non school
uniform on Friday 17th July.
May I remind you that stubs and money should be
returned to me via Reception. If you require more
tickets, please phone Reception who will be able
to arrange this for you.
Remember to invite Friends, Families, Neighbours
to the Fair
Thank you
Sports Experience Day 2015
Thursday 16th July Valence School
From 9.30am – 3.30pm for guests
Running a Whole School Inter-house Athletics event using the wonderful Sports facilities at Sevenoaks
School for 13 years is a very hard act to follow. It would be impossible to aspire anywhere near to the
same high quality, competitive event with 100% participation of all students here at Valence. Therefore
we are not going to try!
Instead we have planned a completely different type of day this year “Sports Experience Day 2015”
where students will have the opportunity to try something new. You are welcome to join us, join in with
some of the activities or come and support the final RELAY RACES at the end of the day, points from this
going to the final scores for the Inter-House Athletics competition that has been running in class session
this term.
The themes for the day are:
To wear your House Colours with Pride
To have FUN and enjoyment
To do something physical
To demonstrate Fair play and positive Team Spirit.
Guests are asked to sign in at reception on arrival, where they will be given more detail of activities available and where their child will be.
Events Schedule
Session 1: 9.30am -10.30pm
Swimming Students from classes Star, Comet and Galaxy will be competing in a mini Gala at the pool
(Please note space is very limited on poolside so priority will be given for parents and carers of those
students involved, it will be very warm up there!)
Workshops The rest of the school will be split amongst 5 different activities in various areas of the
school. Staff and guests will encouraged to have a go too.
Session 2: 11.00am -12.00
Swimming Students from classes Star, Comet and Galaxy will continue with the above gala.
Workshops The rest of the school will move in their groups to a second workshop. Staff and guests will
be encouraged to have a go too.
Lunch: 12.15pm - 1.00pm
This will be in the form of a picnic on top lawn. There will be sandwiches available for guests, but you are
asked kindly to wait until all students have been served. Alternatively, you may bring your own. Coffee,
tea and water will be available all day. Additionally there will be cake in the afternoon served from the
dining hall.
Session 3: 1.15pm – 2.15pm
Have - a - Go All students, staff and guests will be invited to Have - a - Go at any of the activities.
Session 4: 2.15pm – 3.30pm
Whole School RELAYS on back playground.
All students will be in at least 1 relay. Points will be going towards the overall Athletics Trophy.
Please note if any parents intend taking their own students home instead of via their taxis, please ensure
that you have made arrangements and informed the school (keyworkers, reception, etc of your
intention.) and the taxi company.
Parents are invited to wear house colours if they wish.
Any queries please refer to Sue McClinton – Sports College Administrator
Sports Experience Day 2015
Class E – Circus skills
Class E have been learning about the outside world during the summer terms. One week we went up to the poly
tunnel we have near the bungalows. We looked, felt and smelt all the fruit and veg that the students were
growing. The photo above shows Alfie Plummer checking out the strawberries and we resisted and didn’t eat
any… we promise!
Class D and U – Send My Friend to School Campaign
Class D and U helped organise the Send My Friend to School campaign this term. It is an international
campaign aimed at raising awareness about the 58 million children around the world who don’t go to school.
Each class was asked to make a model world leader and write a message on the front to say how they would
improve education if they were a world leader.
Class D and U performed an assembly in front of the whole
school to tell them about the campaign
Class T – Imperial War Museum
This term Class T have been working through a unit on the holocaust. As part
of the unit we went to the Imperial War Museum in London to learn more
about the holocaust. During a study session the students had to investigate a
person who experienced the events of the holocaust. The students found this
fascinating as it made the awful events of the holocaust all the more real.
Below is a photo of Luke Chapman and David Kemp researching their chosen
person Benny Grunfeld.
GCSE Humanities and AS Geography
Earlier in the summer term Ben Edgett, Tyler Russell, Jamie Smith, Cameron Spargo and Sophie Wells sat
their Geography, History and R.E exams and have now completed their GCSE Humanities Course. Gaby Ward,
Josh Ivins and Jake Graham sat the Physical paper of their AS Geography course which they will complete
next year.
They all work really hard and deserve a big WELL DONE!!
Tim Longthorne
Humanities Co-ordinator
B5/6 BBQ
This Week
The Week Ahead!
CHATA
2
Summer Fair
3
4/5
Governors End of Term Meeting
Sports Experience
Day
Thurs 16
Sports Experience Day
Humanities
6
Fri 17
Non School uniform in exchange for a Summer Fair Donation
BBQ
7
Important Info
8
Mon 13
Dr Shakoor
Knole Academy Fair Trade Project
Tues 14
Dr Knox
Sports Experience Day
Sunday 19th—Summer Fair 1pm
Sevenoaks Powerchair Football Club present QUIZ NIGHT
7.30 pm Saturday 11th July, Valence School, Westerham, TN16 1QN
This Saturday Sevenoaks Powerchair Football club, our community powerchair team, are holding their
first ever quiz night. Held here at Valence School the quiz night is aimed at raising funds for the club,
helping them to purchase a portable hoist to help transfer their players into their chairs at training and
matches. This will greatly help their players, who are past and current students of Valence School.
As well as taking part in their quiz the club have secured various raffle prizes. The main prizes are: a 32”
flatscreen tv , a 10.1” tablet. Other prizes include: £20 off meal and free bottle of wine from The
Bullfinch, Voucher from El Matador restaurant. Wine tasting experience for up to x10 people from
Majestic Wines, 4 ball round of golf at Westerham Golf Club, Family ticket to Odeon Cinema, Bottle of
Champagne
A bar will serve a variety of
drinks throughout the evening.
Tickets are available on the door
for £5 and teams can consist of
up to 8 people! The quiz will
start at 7.30pm and all are
welcome to attend.