Hi all, it has been an emotional week this week with it being Ty’s last week at Astley Park. Please chat with your child about their feelings around the events that have happened these last few weeks and if there are any issues let Mrs Fisher know.

Every day we have continued reading with every pupil in class. Each night, learners will bring their reading packs home in the hope that you can read at home or practice their sight-reading words with them a few times per week. When you do this, please record this in their reading record then return their reading pack in their school bag so we can repeat the process again the next day.

On Monday afternoon we used our time with the laptops to create and print our awards that we wanted to make to give to Ty in his Leaver’s Assembly on Thursday. We thought very carefully about which awards we wanted to give him and chose some really nice ones as well as some funny ones.

On Tuesday morning we were lucky enough to have Miss Wells come to join us for our weekly Weekend News session in class. A massive thank you to all parents/carers who have helped support our Weekend News work this week, we cannot explain the positive impact that this has on all pupils contributions during the lesson and we would be very grateful is this could continue every week please. By providing us with photographs, this gives your child a visual prompt to remind them of what they did at the weekend and also inspires them to give more information and extend their vocabulary while supported by staff. Any information that you can provide to accompany the photographs is very much appreciated too.

In the afternoon, we split into two groups to take part in the Great 11G Bake Off. Mrs Cobham and Mrs Fisher stayed in class with Harry, Danny, Jacob and Katie, whilst Miss Smith and Miss Greenwood took Clayton, Eshan, Lily, Tyler and Josh up to the food technology room. We were tasked with following the recipe to make school cake and a group of impartial judges (Mrs Crouch, Miss Melling, Mrs Webb, Mrs Mahood, Miss Wells and Mrs Goonan) came to taste our bakes at the end of the school day. It was a close call but Mrs Cobham and Mrs Fisher’s group were the winners! It is clear to see that some of our staff need to work on coping with losing and that it is OK to lose!! We will work on this as the year progresses.

On Wednesday morning, Mrs McShane joined the class as they took part in their weekly visit to the gym. This week was a team challenge. Each pair was asked to work together to see the distance that they could cover on different pieces of equipment in 8 minutes. Pupils worked hard to continue with their challenge with support and encouragement from staff.

In the afternoon,

On Thursday it was time for Ty’s leavers assembly. 11G chose to support their friend (and have a sneaky practice for their own leaver’s assembly next year) by wearing caps and gowns just like Ty. The hall was packed out with people wanting to take part in Ty’s special assembly. We walked into the hall to Ty’s favourite song and sat at the front of the hall. Mrs Cobham gave a wonderful speech about Ty and how we proud we all are of him, then we watched the fabulously made photostory from Miss Greenwood on the screen in the hall. Next it was time for us to give out our special awards to Ty and the majority of 11G were very brave and stood up in front of everyone in the hall, using the microphone to announce their award and who had won it. Ty gave out flowers to staff of his choose, then he gave us a rendition of his favourite karaoke song-  Never Enough from the Greatest Showman, then we brought the assembly to a close with the Hokey Cokey. We had lots of tears and lots of fun. In the afternoon it was Ty’s choice of activity so we borrowed the PA system and microphones from Mrs Hodgeon and had lots of fun singing karaoke and dancing in class.

Friday was Ty’s last day in school. Mr Murphy was very kind and brought in some delicious breakfast treats for everyone to share including croissants, pain au chocolate, bagels, pastries and fruit. In the afternoon we had a party in class doing some Just Dance and sharing the lovely doughnuts that Ty brought in for us all.

Our Star of the Week this week has to go to the whole class. We are so proud of all of the learners in 11G for how they have dealt with the news of Ty leaving school and have coped with the change to our usual routines whilst Ty has been taking part in his transitions. Well done Team 11G!

The deadline for money for Leaver’s Hoodies is Monday 9th October. Please send any outstanding monies by this date.

Mrs Fisher sent out a link to the online medical form last week that you will all need to complete for our Bendrigg Trust visit in November. Forms will need to be completed by Wednesday 11th October.

One page profiles have been sent home tonight. Please can you fill these in and return ASAP as they are included in the review paperwork that will be submitted to update your child’s EHCP ready for college.

Enjoy your weekend!

Mrs Fisher, Mrs Cobham, Miss Greenwood and Miss Smith

11G Autumn Week 5