On Monday we held our first Learning Centre ‘Parents Group’ of this academic year. This was an opportunity for parents and family members to talk to each other in a mutually supportive environment. We had a fantastic turnout of 13 parents and family members, a large number of whom were new to the group with sons and daughters from Year 12. Mr Barker explains:

We talked about the ethos and rationale behind the group and how it has run in the past but stressed that it was the parents’ group and for them to decide how they wanted the group to run this year. We talked about the professionals who have been invited to address the group in the past and there was a general consensus that the group wanted to invite Mrs Velti, a solicitor from Touch Solicitors based in Oldham, to address the group first. Parents were keen to learn more about lasting powers of attorney, court of protection, wills and trust funds amongst other legal matters pertinent to ourselves. Parents also had the opportunity to talk amongst themselves and share stories. A big thank you too to Mrs Walters and the Food Enterprise group for providing refreshments.

Mrs Velti will be joining the next Parents Group meeting on Monday 25th November from 2:00pm at the Leaning Centre. The following meeting has been pencilled in for Monday 20th January. Shamin Akhtar (our bilingual family liaison officer) will be in attendance for both of these meetings and will be available to translate if required.

We hope you will be able to join us for the next meeting. If you have any questions about the group, please do not hesitate in contacting Mr. Barker, Deputy Head of the Learning Centre.

There are many aspects of my job that I love, however working alongside our amazing Student Council representatives is always a highlight. On Wednesday Saif (Year 12), Joe S. and Joseph F. (Year 13) and Natasha Taylor (Year 14), joined Mr Barker, Governor Cathy Bailey and myself for our very first meeting.
During the meeting we discussed and voted on a number of aspects of Learning Centre life including agreeing the following actions:

• The meeting agreed on the positive impact of purchasing of a new table tennis table with monies raised last year, commenting that more students are now playing.
• We also agreed on the purchase of a Karaoke machine proposed by last year’s council.
• Following the recent iPad roll-out, we agreed a number of recommendations around their use which will be shared with all students. One expectation is that students should all use headphones when listening to music or watching videos. If students do not have their own headphones, they can now be purchased from the LC reception for £1.
• The meeting agreed to reintroduce a weekly lunchtime choir.

Finally, the students showed their ‘giving’ side by unanimously agreeing that we should support the following charities:

• ‘Children In Need’ November 15th

• ‘Oldham Foodbank’ at Christmas

• ‘Rock your Socks’ for Downs Syndrome Day – March 20th

• ‘Comic Relief, Red Nose Day’

Whilst supporting local and national charities, the meeting also felt it was important to raise funds for the Learning Centre, therefore we will be holding our very own Christmas Market. Please watch this space for further details of how you can show your support.

I’d like to thank Natasha and Joseph F. for stepping in at short notice and Cathy Bailey for her continuing support and encouragement. Student voice remains an integral part of Learning Centre life.

Mr Lawrence continues to enable our students engage with a wide range of sports, here’s a short report from Friday’s PE sessions:

Year 12 PE have had a fantastic morning in PE. They have had the opportunity to work with Steve Donnelly from Isaan Gym. Steve is a kickboxing trainer who regularly works with Activ8 KS5. This morning Steve took the students from the Learning Centre and put them through their paces with a fun warm-up and techniques for a couple of types of kicks. All the students had a brilliant time and would like to say a big thank you to Steve for a great morning.

Mr Bright has an update for us on our new iPad Champions..

As we roll out our 1:1 iPad initiative across the MAT, New Bridge School and the Learning Centre have both identified some of their ‘iPad Champions’ who are also leading the TV channels at their site. Each site has multiple screens that broadcast some of the successes happening within lessons, around school and on school trips. The TV channel also communicates messages, dates of events and showcases students’ work. All this content is created and uploaded by our ‘iPad Champions’.

Here we can see Joseph, Regan, Ryan and Subhan editing video and photo slideshows within the iMovie app and uploading them to our online broadcasting portal provided by TrilbyTV..

We are starting to see the potential of mobile device technology within the classroom but I know this is only the beginning. I am very excited to see where this goes as we get more involved and it is fully embedded across the MAT.

Halloween arrived early in Mrs Keane’s Year 13 class on Friday..

During ‘Learning For Life’ we talked about different aspects of Halloween, dressing up and ‘trick or treating’. We talked about keeping safe when we go out and stranger danger.

Then we made some mummy lights and magic potions. Working with Mrs Wright, each student chose what they would like to make. For the potion the students mixed hair gel and water together, poured the mixture in and added plastic creepy crawlies..

For the mummy lights, the students had to cut pieces of cloth bandage, stick them onto the jar and add googly eyes..

There were some scary sights on Friday, Mrs Brierley’s twin was spotted flying around the Learning Centre..

..and Aimee, Chantelle and Kaitlin definitely entered into the ‘spirit’ of things! (I’m still not going to watch ‘Chucky’ or ‘IT’ ladies!!)

Have a great half term,

Dawn

Click here for this week’s news from Graham

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For news on our Key Stage 5 pathway groups at Medtia Square please click here

You can find my previous blog posts here