News
May
Dance Project
In May this year, five Calthorpe students were involved in an exciting and challenging project based at the Hippodrome theatre involving three special schools, a mainstream girls school and a professional dance company from South Africa called REMIX. The group spent five intensive days choreographing and practicing a fifteen minute routine which they performed in front of family and friends on stage at The Patrick Centre. The piece was a contemporary dance based around the theme of friendship, students quickly made a bond allowing them to fully integrate to make a fantastic end dance which everyone enjoyed performing and were very proud of. There were tears at the end when leaving the friends they had made over the project but all left with a sense of achievement and some fantastic memories. Well done to all involved it was a pleasure to go on the journey with you.
Ann and Anthony
West Midland Support Staff Training
Calthorpe is proud to be working with partner schools in Birmingham and the Best Practise Network to provide training tailored for school support staff.
"West Midland Support Staff Training is a partnership of ‘outstanding’ schools in the West Midlands, working with Best Practice Network, a leading national organisation, to provide high quality CPD to classroom based support staff, that is linked to professional standards and the Qualifications and Credits Framework."
The partnership work together to plan, deliver and assure the quality of effective training that focuses on developing knowledge and skills that meet the needs of individuals, their schools and the pupils they work with.
The following opportunities are available at Calthorpe:
5th July 09.15 - 12.00
Teaching Assistant Summer Half Day Workshop
5th July 13.00 - 15.45
Cover Supervisor Summer Half Day Workshop
11th July 09.15 - 12.00
Leaders of CPD for Classroom Based Support Staff - Half Day Workshop
11th July 13.00 - 15.45
April
Calthorpe Languages Day
On Friday 27th of April, Calthorpe School invited three partner primary schools to our annual Language Day. A group of French students from the Maison Familiale Rurale in Normandy had the opportunity to work with Calthorpe’s Enhanced Learners to prepare and deliver activities to primary school pupils. We had eight French workshops, a Mandarin Chinese calligraphy activity and a sign language taster. The interaction between Calthorpe and primary school pupils was truly amazing and seeing our pupils becoming teachers for an afternoon was a great experience for all! We are proud of the achievement we made through Languages and the impact it has on our pupils and the community around us.
18 French students on Work experience
From Monday 23rd of April until Friday 4th of May, 18 French students from the MFR in Normandy will complete their work experience at Calthorpe School. This is an important part of our strong partnership with the MFR in France and it allows the French students to have an exceptional experience in the UK. We are proud to contribute to the training of students from partner schools abroad and it is part of our international dimension development.
Inclusion Quality Mark Award Ceremony
On the 24th April 2012 Sheila Holden, Deputy Headteacher went to London to attend the Inclusion Quality Mark Award Ceremony. Inclusion at Calthorpe is about increasing the participation of our students in activities both in school and within the local community. As a school we wanted to be able to assess our current provision in terms of the quality of the opportunities available to our students. The Inclusion Quality Mark has now been awarded twice and we are looking at the possibility of becoming a flagship school for inclusion.
March 2012
Indoor Rowing Championships
The annual Birmingham Special Needs Sports Association and British Rowing Indoor Rowing Championships took place on Thursday 15th March, which was supported by the Calthorpe School Sports Partnership and Project Ability. Special schools from across the West Midlands came together at Calthorpe School for an exciting day on the indoor rowing machines.
Special Educational Needs pupils from Hallmoor, Chadsgrove, Braidwood, Baskerville, Calthorpe, Victoria, Fox Hollies, Priestly Smith and Riversides competed in individual races and there was some really close racing.
Everyone who took part received a medal, and three of the schools have taken away a signed GB flag.
A big thank you to all who helped out and congratulations to all the pupils who took part.
Calthorpe pupils enjoy a sun filled week of skiing in France
Late on Friday 16th March a group of Calthorpe pupils returned from a very sunny skiing trip to the Massif Central in France. Everyone had a wonderful time exploring the snow and learning to ski with all pupils making excellent progress leading to them skiing independently. Four pupils could even be seen regularly taking the chairlift to the top of the mountain and skiing all the way back down. With the sun shining in a clear blue sky almost every day pupils were careful to avoid sunburn by frequently applying sun cream and wearing their goggles to avoid the glare!
After a full day of ski lessons we would return to our accommodation to shower, change and meet for dinner. A three course meal was just what we needed after a hard days skiing and pupils would sit together to eat and help each other to serve food and drinks.
A great time was had by all and a big thank you to all the staff, including Pete and Geoff the volunteers, who made it such an enjoyable week for everyone.
An Overnight Residential for our Foundation pupils
On Friday 2nd March five pupils and four staff members from the Foundation Department attended an overnight residential in the Life Skills Centre. The aim of the residential was to promote life skills and give pupils the opportunity to be as independent as possible in a safe and familiar environment. For most of the pupils it was the first time they had been on an overnight trip so they were all very excited.
The five chosen pupils enjoyed activities including swimming, P.E. and preparing their own meal. During the Friday evening the pupils took a trip to a local supermarket to shop for their evening meal and also their breakfast.
The pupils were encouraged to cook, make drinks, interact with each other and manage their own personal hygiene throughout their stay.
The residential was very successful and the pupils really enjoyed their time in the Life Skills Centre.
A quote from one of the pupils, ’I loved making my own breakfast!’
February 2012
A visit from International Athletes
On Saturday 4th February, a group of Polish international athletes arrived in Birmingham to compete in the Birmingham Games at the National Indoor Arena. This was the first opportunity for these athletes to compete in the United Kingdom in preparation for the London Olympic Games. As part of their tour, on Monday 6th February, we were privileged to be visited by these international athletes.
The athletes delivered a training session to our middle and upper school pupils, using a variety of equipment and techniques. It was a very successful day and athletes, pupils and staff had a great time working together. Further activities are planned as part of our lead up to London 2012.
January 2012
Information and Guidance Event
On Wednesday 25th January we held our annual Information and Guidance Event at school. This event gave parents and carers the opportunity to meet representatives from Colleges, Training providers, Social Services, Benefits and Transport who offered advice and guidance about all the options and help available for their child when they leave Calthorpe School.
The event was well attended by 22 providers and about 40 families who came away with a lot of information and helpful advice. Some of the comments from parents - ‘very informative’, ‘excellent, thank you’, ‘gave me ideas about colleges and courses for my brother’, ‘I feel I now know what my next steps are with regard to my child’s future’ ‘Great, keep it up’
December 2011
Gold Standard Youth Sport Trust Partner School
The PE department are delighted to announce that Calthorpe has been confirmed as a Gold Standard Youth Sport Trust partner school. The top level status, which lasts for 2 years, is awarded to schools that provide high quality physical education to all pupils, ensure that high quality school sport opportunities are available for all its pupils and that use high quality PE and school sport as a catalyst for whole school improvement.
November 2011
Visitors from Sri Lanka
On the 3rd November 2011 Calthorpe welcomed two visitors from our partner school in Sri Lanka. Mrs Idira Padmini, the Headteacher of Ananda College and Miss Thanuja Lakmali, Citizenship Teacher came to visit for 10 days.
Calthorpe has been working with Ananda College for the past three years on various projects which have helped both schools to understand each other’s education systems and given staff the opportunity to exchange teaching strategies and ideas to support the pupils.
Mrs Padmini and Miss Lakmali observed a variety of lessons across all departments in the school, including Physical Education, Technology and PSHE whilst visiting Calthorpe. They also met with the Student Council where they talked about their own school and the country’s cultural beliefs during a question and answer session.
During their leisure time the visitors experienced a trip to London, shopping in Birmingham and sampled English village life with Mr Hardy. Mrs Padmini and Miss Lakmali stayed in the Life Skills Centre and were very impressed with the facilities that we offer our students.
Both schools agreed that the partnership had been very beneficial and a new three year plan was drawn up including giving staff the opportunity to exchange and work in each school for longer periods of time.
Next year Calthorpe will welcome the first students to visit from Ananda College and we are all looking forward to it.
Finally a quote from Mrs Padmini, ‘This trip has provided me with great opportunities to obtain good experiences in a school in another country’.
October 2011
Our Chinese Partners Visit
After a successful visit to Guangzhou School in March our partner school came to visit Calthorpe in October. On Friday 7th October six teachers and two pupils from Guangzhou School for the Blind and a teacher from Changsha Special Education School arrived at Calthorpe to a warm welcome from both staff and pupils as their minibus entered the school grounds.
The visitors had a busy week of activities planned which started on the Saturday with a trip to London for sightseeing and a West End Show – Thriller followed by a more relaxing walk around the Lickey Hills on Sunday
During the week our visitors were welcomed by pupils and staff as they had a tour of the school and participated in a variety of lessons. The pupils enjoyed participating in the lessons, especially the sensory/relaxation lessons with a variety of smells and sounds for them to enjoy. The staff observed and participated in lessons and were very keen to learn new skills to take back to China especially how to make play dough!
In the evenings our visitors enjoyed sampling a selection of different foods including on the Friday night a traditional Christmas dinner with crackers, party poppers, hats and decorations.
A very enjoyable week was had by all involved and it was very sad to wave them off on their return to Guangzhou.
Something Special - Baby Animals
Back in June several pupils from our Foundation department has the opportunity to participate in an episode of the BBC’s “Something Special”. The episode was titled "Baby Animals" and had the pupils interacting with a variety of animals on Ash End Farm. That episode is now available for viewing until Tuesday 29th Nov 2011 via the BBC iPlayer (and may be repeated again at a later date).
September 2011
Enterprise Workshop
Pupils in the 14-19 department took part in a variety of exciting career workshops at Calthorpe school in September.
An external speaker came into school for the day and worked with the pupils on a range of aspirational and motivational tasks.
Pupils also experienced a role play session that was provided by an actress from ‘Doctors’. Naturally this evoked an interesting question and answer session that created further interest in the different opportunities that are available when pupils leave school.
The session was a great success and will be repeated in the future for other year groups. Clearly the pupils that participated in the workshops benefitted from discussing a variety of different jobs and giving some thought to their own futures.
Welcome back!
We welcome back all pupils and staff and wish them all the best in an undoubtedly busy and successful year!
Please check back regularly to receive our latest news.
Past news can be viewed in the news archive.
