So, my last blog of this half term – and what a term it’s been! We always talk at school about reflection, thinking about what‘s gone by and how we can learn from our actions and move on. So this week I reflected on my past year at Dean Street – this is my diary so far..

• November 2016
  arrived at Dean Street to be greeted by Miss Rodgers and the rest of the Spring Brook pupils and staff
  my first Spring Brook Children in Need day – which turned out a really snowy day
  November also involved a trip to London to find out exactly what a Free School is
• December 2016
  1st December saw Spring Brook School convert to academy status and join the New Bridge Multi Academy Trust. Our pupils changed their uniform and the school logo changed. We were also treated to a virtual reality session with Google
  a trip down to Southampton to see some good practice at The Quay School (another Free School) and my first Christmas at Dean Street
• January
   the New Year brought about some changes; Mrs Thorpe arrived at Dean Street, Miss Beaumont set off on her travels in Australia and we interviewed some new support staff ready for the term ahead. We also entered into job chats with the staff ready for the New Year
• February
  a cold, dark month that brought us a series of events such as Safer Internet Day, a whole Group training day and World Book Day (where the staff dressed up)
• March
  Key Stage 4 ventured off to Formby beach (another cold and wet day!) and we celebrated Red Nose day – with cars washed, more fancy dress and cakes
• April
  the evenings started getting lighter and warmer and we welcomed some more new staff
  I ventured off again to London to begin to talk about what our new school would look like and what ICT resources will be needed
• May
  teaching staff were observed in lessons and the pupils went off to a Tag Rugby competition in Blackburn with the rest of the Group…..and they won!!!!!!
  May saw the start of ‘exam season’ which the pupils coped really well with
• June
  EXAMS EXAMS EXAMS – need I say more??
  Dean Street became a ‘quiet, exam in progress’ zone as Key Stage 4 battled on to complete their Maths, English, ICT, Art and Technology
• July
  we said ‘goodbye and good luck’ to Year 11 and began to wind down the school year and get ready for the new one. We attended Sports Day at New Bridge and welcomed the new Year 7 pupils from Heron Street

Phew!!!!! What a year! Which brings me back finally to the end of this half term. Last week the Key Stage 4 boys were out on Snake plantation again for a shorter walk than normal..

..which gave them time instead to practise putting up a tent..

..and learn about fire safety. As part of the fire safety, the pupils were shown how to build and light a fire the old fashioned way – with a flint and steel!!

These skills also transfer over to earning AQA Unit awards in bushcraft, as well as being skills that could be used for their Duke of Edinburgh’s Awards. Of course, if we have a fire on a rainy day then we also have to have marshmallows too!!!

Jason and Alex learnt about the Fibonacci sequence and how it can create spirals that can be discovered in nature. Both boys then produced their own spirals using the Fibonacci sequence..

Well done, boys!They also created their own Cardoids by using multiples of 2 and were fascinated how these lines can create an optical illusion of curved lines using only straight lines..

Finally on the Autumn theme, Miss Tokelove has been exhibiting some fantastic work done by the pupils..

The display has really brightened up the foyer – speaking of which, after half term we will see a considerable change in the Dean Street site as our builders are moving in over the holiday and changing the pupil entrance to the side of the building.

We have really enjoyed celebrating Halloween and made the most of the upcoming ‘witching hour’…

Big thanks to all the Key Stage 4 staff for making Friday so ‘ghoulishly good’!

That’s all from me, it just remains to say thank you to our staff at Dean Street who always work relentlessly to ensure the best outcomes for all our young people. Have a great half term, be safe and we will see you all on 6th November (roll on Christmas!),

Mrs Tootill
Head of Springboard Project

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