This week we are just hearing from Mrs Lamb as Miss Allison has not been well – we hope that she is feeling much better soon.

I can honestly say I love my job and will miss so much when I retire. It’s not just the staff, it’s not just the children, all of whom are amazing, it’s just New Bridge School – what can I say? As each day passes and 19th December looms nearer I am acutely aware of all I hold dear about my job. This week has proved no different; a lot has been happening both within the classroom and out of school.

New Bridge School held an extraordinary admissions meeting first thing on Monday morning for next September’s Year 7 intake. Requests for places are already being sent into school – it appears our reputation is spreading.

An official photographer spent Wednesday in school capturing our young people in lessons; some of the images will be included in our New Bridge School Calendar which will be going home to families before Christmas.

The second School Council meeting of the Autumn term was held on Wednesday and we discussed the playground developments, in particular painted lines. I showed the council a variety of images; they liked a battleships grid, a number square, a road complete with zebra crossing and a giant snakes and ladders. In addition, we are intending to purchase some basketball and football nets.

On Thursday our Year 7s took part in a pantomime workshop led by Ben from Oldham Theatre Workshop. They were introduced to the theory (oh yes, they were!) pantomime skills, backdrops, props, costumes (oh no, they didn’t!). The session ended with them taking on the role of a princess, a hero and a villain enacting a mini panto with a script and lines. A great time was had by all, especially Imogen who wanted to take the princess dress home!

This week is the turn of our Nurture Base and some of our Communication Groups to share their work. Mr Meadows and his class have been learning about WWI..

This week in the Nurture Base we have been concentrating on our World War 1 project. We have been building our own WWI trench and the teamwork the group have shown on this project was really pleasing to see..

..and here is the finished trench..

We have also been looking at the aircraft used in WWII such as Spitfires and Lancaster Bombers. In our Maths lessons we have been flying our planes and then measuring the distance they covered..

A few weeks ago we also went round the school selling poppies and other items for Remembrance Day..

..before making our own poppies..

We’re also very proud of Ryan who has just completed his probationary period with the Greater Manchester Volunteer Police Cadets and was presented with this certificate at the passing out parade this week..

Mr Flanagan’s Year 7 class have had a great start to the year..

We have had a busy but exciting term meeting our new peers and staff! Our class have all been very hard at work learning about their new school, including topics such as Dinosaurs and ‘Our World’. We are getting all excited to begin our Christmas activities having explored other holidays such as Halloween (where we created the best pumpkin carvings!). We have been discovering more about all the wonderful subjects at New Bridge and have had a fantastic time working on our own personal targets to help us become much more independent young people within our newly formed Communication Groups.

Our first term has been a busy one, but we are all working harder than ever with the run up to Christmas and cannot wait to show everyone our fantastic work in the future! Here is a taste of what we have been up to..

Arthur has been exploring Alexandra Park in Living Skills..

Leo has been practising his letter formation..

Stefan has been showing his creative side creating a stained glass dinosaur!

Tahamina  has been exploring our sensory activities..

Just look at some of our wonderful creations in Nurture Group!

This half term Miss Silvester’s Communication Group have been learning all about St Lucia and have developed their own version of the Lord of the Flies story..

We have been practising sequencing our Lord of the Flies story; matching symbols to words and developing our signing skills. We have split in to tribes and we are completing team challenges including finding fish for our tea, counting how many we have and practising our placement skills..

We have ‘gone fishing’..

..and practised letter formation in our sand trays like we were at the beach..

We have done some wonderful work in cooking with Mrs Crook..

..and had lots of fun in PE with Mr Lawrence..

We have been learning about masks in Drama and linking this to our feelings – we have been role playing how we feel and how we would act when we are feeling different things..

We’re looking forward to sharing more of the work our young people have been doing at next week’s Parents’ Evenings. Don’t forget that Mrs Lane will be addressing our Learning Centre Parent Group on Wednesday 29th November from 2.30pm when she will be talking about the transition to adult services as well as individualised budgets and respite care. We strongly recommend parents and carers attend as it will be a very informative session and you can then stay on, if you wish, to the Learning Centre Parents’ Evening which is taking place from 4pm – 7pm on the same day. Parents’ Evening for pupils attending the school site is on Thursday 30th November when teachers will be available from 4.15pm until 7pm. There is a strict 5 minute time slot for each teacher but if you feel you will need more time, please contact us to arrange a mutually convenient appointment with the relevant staff. Thank you for your continued support.

Have a lovely weekend,

Judith

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