Website www.st-anthonys.kent.sch.uk Email [email protected]Phone 01843 292 015 July 2017 Newsletter Sports Day July 17 th saw the return of a whole school sports day for pupils after several years’ absence. Pupils participated in a range of sporting events such as sprints, relays and hopping to win points for their school house. Pupils and staff had a wonderful morning both participating and cheering on their teammates. Well done to Craig, Catrina and Gill and all the other staff who supported the event to make it so successful. The final House point totals for sports day are - Green Giants 554.5 Blue Bulldogs 428 Red Rangers 400.5 Well done Green Giants on winning! Staff Departures The end of the summer term will see three well liked members of staff leaving the school. Jean Clelford who has been teaching English at the school for the past three and a half years is retiring. Jean has supported mainly KS4 pupils with gaining their English GCSEs, Foundation Level and Entry Level qualifications with much success. Sarah Boost joined the school in Sept 2014 as a learning support assistant in the primary department. As a qualified dance teacher she then taught dance to all primary pupils when she realised that she wished to become a teacher. Sarah has been working very hard to gain her qualifications and she has secured a promotion and so will be moving to another local school to further her career. Jodie Barham originally joined the school as part of her training in Early Childhood Education at East Kent College and worked with Abi’s class in 2013. She officially joined the school Sept 2014 as a learning support assistant in the primary department. Since joining the school she has married and had two children. Jodie will be starting a teacher training course in late Sept so will still be with us till then and knowing Jodie when she completes her training will be back. We wish them all well.
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July 2017 Newsletter Sports Day Staff Departures...July 2017 Newsletter Sports Day July 17th saw the return of a whole school sports day for pupils after several years’ absence.
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Year 11s had their leavers’ assembly on June 29th in
which we celebrated their time at St Anthony’s. This
was followed the next day by an outing to Laser Tag
and lunch at Pizza Hut.
Functional Skills English Qualifications
We are proud to announce that it has been
another successful year for students passing
examinations in English. All of year eleven who
attended school regularly have achieved Entry
Level Functional Skills 3. Kieren R and Peter A have
also passed English Functional Skills 1, which is
equivalents to half a GCSE at a lower level. All of
Year 10.1 group have passed Functional Skills
Entry Level 3, with Henry M and Jack BB already
achieving Functional Skills 1, with Ewan S and
Reece C very close to passing.
Congratulations to all these pupils.
Forest School
The last term has been a busy term with the
development of our Forest School. Our Forest
Leader has had his final observation from his
trainers and he passed it in flying colours so he is
firmly on track to qualify in August which is
fantastic. We have also won £5000 from the Tesco
Bags for Help scheme which is an amazing
achievement as it shows that our local community
really support the development of our Forest
School right at the heart of their community.
Some vandalism on the site has been upsetting
but our Forest School Leader is meeting with
Thanet District Council next week to discuss ways
of making the site more secure so hopefully this
will be an issue of the past. All in all it has been a
very productive time and we are looking forward
to further developments over the summer.
PTFA
Our PTFA has really started to get off the ground
this term with a good turn out of school staff and
friends of the PTFA attending our last meeting.
Parent involvement has also increased via our new
Facebook page (Sas PTFA) which is fantastic news
moving forward. The PTFA also planned, prepared
and delivered a fantastic Summer Fair which
everybody at St Anthony's School can be really
proud of. Our running total of money raised since
our establishment in January is £19,750 and we
still have some outstanding bids to come back so
let’s all keep our fingers crossed they are
successful too. At our meeting we also discussed
and agreed to make 2 fresh bids for Lego Therapy
resources and After School PE/Fitness clubs so let
us hope they are successful too.
The card is likely to be of most benefit to those who access
the community independently but could be helpful for those
who usually have the support of a carer or parent
ll a
The Autism Alert Card has been designed to alert the Police and other emergency services to the fact that the holder has an Autism Spectrum Condition. The card alerts the emergency services that the holder may have difficulty communicating and may appear anxious in unfamiliar surroundings or exhibit behaviour which, to the unaware may seem strange and could be misinterpreted. The card is likely to be most benefit to those who access the community independently but could be helpful for those who usually have the support of a carer or parent particularly if they are lost. It is available to all ages. Lesley Gray has application forms in school but alternatively you can telephone The Kent Autistic Trust on 01634 405168
It was another busy term for sports. Pupils have had
the opportunity to participate in a variety of sporting
fixtures including tag rugby, beach volleyball, beach
tennis, athletics and the Panathlon.
Nine pupils attended the Kent Challenger Games at the
Julie Rose Stadium in Ashford on July 14th. Pupils
completed various activities including: a blindfolded
stretcher race, a command challenge, handball, boccia
and a slalom race.
As always all of the pupils participated with exemplary
behaviour and outstanding sportsmanship.
Please Help
Please will you name your child’s school uniform
ready for September. It is such a shame when
unnamed items are found because we have no
idea who to give them back to.
Addaction
Kim Cottington and Tom Debono from Addaction
were invited to provide an informal session for
parents and carers to raise awareness of
substance misuse by young people. Lots of
information was shared and there was plenty of
opportunity to ask questions.
If you have any suggestions for future
parent/carer sessions please let Lesley Gray know
and she will try to arrange a suitable speaker.
Hampton Court Visit on the 3rd July 2017
St Anthony’s entered the Royal Horticultural Society Scarecrow Competition at Hampton Court Flower Show and we were shortlisted. On the 3rd
July we arrived at Hampton Court Leo, Colin and Fran set up the Scarecrow and Deanna, Ellie and Liz made the final touches deciding he would look good with his leg in the air. We looked around the show and watched the Hairy Bikers cooking, saw lots of famous people and had our photo taken with Ben Shepherd. We went into the Butterfly Dome and saw loads of beautiful butterflies. We have a level 5 award for Horticulture through the RHS, there are only 2% of all schools involved with the RHS that have this.
We came very close to achieving our school attendance target of 85% this year but missed by just over 1.5%. There are 365 days in the calendar year. 190 are school days which means 175 are non-school days (so if you can use this time to go on holiday, or attend appointments, etc.)
0 days absent = 190 days of education = 100% attendance
9 days absent = 181 days of education = 95% attendance
Good attendance means being at school 95% of the time. Please give your child the best chance of success by ensuring they have good attendance.
School Holidays
We have put together some tips for Parents and Carers to plan, structure, and balance activities and downtime for the summer in advance of the holidays.
1. Plan for a mix of high tempo and low tempo days wherever possible. i.e. one activity day, one chilled day.
2. Create countdown calendars and make sure your child understands they won’t be seeing their school friends and teachers during the holidays.
3. Try and prepare for holidays and days out by picking destinations with lots of information and photos you can show to your child in advance.
4. Take favourite foods pillow cases from home and transition toys when going away.
5. If you are flying, check with airports in advance about whether they have any materials or guides for people on the spectrum.
6. Create a timetable of what will be happening on your holiday or day out to show your child so they know what to expect.
7. Holidaying in small apartment complexes rather than big hotels. Think small and friendly.
Tips taken from Ambitious about Autism article 'Tips for an
Autism Friendly Summer’
School Dates
Thurs July 20th Pupils Last Day
Fri July 21st EHCP review day
Sept 4th Staff Training Day
Tues Sept 5th Pupils First Day of the new school year.
Thank you to all of the parents/carers and staff who supported the pupils to have a successful school year.
Have a safe and wonderful summer.
Keep safe and we look forward to seeing you in September.