Thornhill Park School

Thornhill Park School is an independent specialist school based in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear for pupils aged 4-19

Our mission is to work together inspiring, supporting, celebrating and equipping autistic and neurodiverse children, young people and adults.

Academic Year 2020-21

2020 - 2021

Our Sports Day

Laura Tumilty, Post-14 teacher at Thornhill Park School, took on the incredible challenge of participating in Race to the Castle - an impressive 100k journey through Northumberland, ending at Bamburgh Castle - in a bid to raise funds to purchase play equipment for Thornhill Park School.

Unfortunately, Laura had to be pulled from the race on medical grounds but still managed to run the unbelievable distance of 68k and raised the fantastic amount of £540.

Everybody at Thornhill Park School could not be prouder of Laura’s efforts and, in order to show our admiration to this dedicated teacher, we held a Castle Themed Sports Day!

Pre-14:

Students and staff spent the past weeks organising castle themed sports activities and creating inventive props to ensure a fun-filled day!

Capture the Tower was Class 1’s activity: decorated card board boxes were turned into castle towers and students used hoops and plenty of imagination to conquer them! But Class 1 had plenty more to offer: they set up a castle themed crafts station and encouraged everyone to create their best medieval art.

Class 2 innovative Ye Olde Castle Footgolf excited everybody! Students played golf using their feetand a football as they tried to fit the ball through the most amazing structures also created by them: a knight, a ghost and a castle were some of the props.

Attack the Castle! Class 3 designed their own castle and participants attacked it with bean bags. Later, Class 3 invited staff members to participate in Peasants Sack Race: in between giggles, adults took their turn at exercising!

Class 4 decorated Knights for a ten pin bowling activity and surprised everybody with an egg and spoon race. Trying to keep those eggs balanced seemed like no easy task, but nothing to worry, they thought of it all: chocolate eggs were delicious treats that surely did not crack.

Post-14:

A week later, it was Post-14 students’ turn to enjoy the activities they had planned.

Class 5 took the lead in organising small activities: a castle sack race, a castle treasure hunt and an egg and spoon race were some of the exciting games created by the group. Class 5 made sure there was never a dull moment during our sports day!

Class 6 amazed the entire school with the giant castle they built and decorated for Ye Olde Tennis Ball Archery. After, students were welcome to participate in the amusing game of Pin the Tail on the Knight’s Horse: this surely caused some laughter!

Class 7’s Quidditch Obstacle Course was full of adventures: handmade paper broomsticks, hats and wands were handed out and students crawled under a castle arch, fought a vicious dragon and scored points by throwing a snitch in a treasure chest. This frightening adventure was not for the faint-hearted!

The Voice - Summer Newsletter

Mental Health Awareness Week 

This week, pupils at Thornhill Park School have participated in a range of activities that have promoted positive mental health and wellbeing. Mental Health is topic that should be celebrated and explored through everything we do in order to diminish the stigma behind the topic. It is especially important that our community in the school and people with Autism are able to recognise the signs of poor mental health, and understand where to get help to promote better wellbeing. 

To showcase the learning that has taken place, we have put together a short article to demonstrate the amazing work and achievements that pupils at Thornhill Park school have complete over the past week to achieve positive mental health.  

Read the full story.

Captain Sir Tom Challenge

In April Last year during the COVID pandemic, at 99 years of age Captain Sir Tom Moore raised over £32 million for the NHS by walking 100 lengths of his garden. He quickly bypassed his target of £1000 and became a well known national name, ending with him being knighted by the Queen in May 2020, her first official appearance after the first Lockdown.

To celebrate Captain Sir Tom’s 101st Birthday in 2021, there was a national Campaign called 100 for Captain Tom where members of the public would complete 100 of something to celebrate the great achievement of a great man in the year that he died.

At Thornhill Park school all of the pupils and staff decided on their own challenge to be completed, slowly filling up our board to showcase the varied, unique and diverse challenges that they were going to complete. 

Some of the different challenges included: 100 walks with my dog, blow 100 bubbles, and water 100 plants.

World Numeracy Day 

As well as their regular Maths activities, such as Callum demonstrating his developing times tables skills, Class 3 focused on practical Maths activities in a variety of subjects:

For example, during our John Muir Conservation Project activities, Aaron helped Helen count up to 10 during games of ‘1, 2, 3, Where Are You?’  He also hunted for numbers hidden around Rainton Meadow.

Pupils also showed their counting skills when using the trampoline during our Health and Wellbeing sessions at Everyone Active in Washington.

Everyone employed their Maths abilities in measuring ingredients and following a recipe sequence to create their own pizzas, with Callum tasked with completing a class tick sheet of required toppings!

Taylor, Zak, Jacob and Callum also used their Maths skills to count repetitions when using equipment at the gym at Everyone Active Silksworth.

We even used numbers to help think about the journey food takes through the body from beginning to end! 

Class 5 looked at both International Space day and world number day, exploring different planets within out solar system. The pupils explored different facts about the planets, looking at the distance between planets and the sizes of the different planets. As part of Number day the pupils created graphs that compared the different sizes of planets, the pupils all completed these graphs in different ways including using Lego to mark it out.

Once the pupils had completed their graphs they looked at being able to round numbers and compare the different sizes of the planets using the rounded numbers. This was a good continuation of the skills that the pupils had been developing in their functional numeracy classes.

Our Daffodils

As part of Class 1’s ‘Growing’ topic pupils had lots of fun planting daffodils. First pupils watched a video on what plants need to help them to grow.  Pupils then walked to a local shop and bought some daffodil bulbs and compost as part of their community inclusion session. Pupils had lots of fun following their visual instructions to plant their bulbs. Pupils looked after our daffodils by watering them and placing them in direct sunlight.  Pupils were very excited to watch them grow.

Daffodils

Easter Raffle

An Easter raffle was held on the final day of term, most of the prizes were supplied by Jude’s mam in the form of Easter eggs and crafts but there was also an Easter cake baked and decorated by our very own Val in school.  The Easter Bunny drew the raffle before delivering the different prizes around the school to the winners.

The winners of the Easter egg bags were: Kim Murphey, Luke Graham, Lisa Johnson, Annette Bloxham and Cerine Kouache.  Julie Jenkins won the beautiful Easter cake.

Pupils and families could also order Easter cupcakes to take home, once again Val stepped up and made and decorated 160 cupcakes ready to go home to our pupils, helping to raise money for the school.

Pupils also took part in Easter activities on the afternoon, these included ‘Pin the beak on the chick’, ‘Feed the rabbit’, penalty shots in 60 seconds and basketball hoops in 60 seconds.

Our local Community and Friends of the school

We have also been supported by our local community this Easter to make sure that all of our pupils received plenty of Easter treats to take home!!

One of our parents, raised money and used that money to not only make raffle prizes for our students but also provided an Easter egg bag for each student.

Easter bunny visit

We also received enough chocolate Easter bunnies for each Pupil to have their own bunny from Sharon and Eva.

Eva had completed a charity challenge and shared donations with local charities.

Thank you Eva!  

Finally Asda donated a Cadbury Easter egg for each pupil, thanks to Coree’s dad Dale for securing the donation and delivering them.

Spring Fete

Our Virtual Spring fete catalogue went out electronically and in home bags just before the end of term, allowing parents and students to be able to order items from the class groups within the school.

Most of the items in the catalogue were social enterprise projects that the class groups had developed as part of the Head teacher’s Social Enterprise challenge in the spring term.

Pupils have been working hard to complete all orders ready to for delivery or collection.

We are really hopeful that our fete in the Summer will be in person and we will be able to have lots of people browsing the items that the pupils will make in the summer term.

Easter at Thornhill Park School

Easter this year has been that little bit different but we still managed to fit in lots of exciting things, even if they weren’t how we may have previously arranged things. Members of the School Council were an integral part of planning and delivering the Easter activities.

This included a visit from the Easter Bunny to complete different tasks throughout the day including visiting all of our students and delivering plenty of Easter eggs.

Red Nose Day

2021 has been an unusual year and Red Nose Day 2021 was definitely different from previous years but this didn’t stop our pupils and staff from having a fun filled day.

Rather than the whole school getting together to take part in events, the classes each did activities within their own bubble, these included ‘pin the red nose on the teacher’, ‘shooting hoops’, ‘nose goals’ and ‘skittles’ just to name a few.

The pupils worked both as a team and individually with a friendly competition with peers. The pupils and staff all had a great day, and it was great to see everyone taking part and enjoying themselves.

An amazing World Book Day at THPS

Today at Thornhill Park School the pupils took part in world book day to bring a smile to peoples faces. As you can see by the photos everyone took part and had fun!

We have Snow White and the seven tall dwarfs, BFG, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, the Mad Hatter and so many more lots of fun to be had by all!

Pupils and staff from Pre-14 dressed up as their favourite literary creations, including Willy Wonka, the Mad Hatter, Meg from Meg and Mog, an anime character and a terrifying shark! 

Pupils and staff were asked to write about their favourite literary characters, with Dracula, Max from Where the Wild Things Are, Matilda, the Gangsta Granny, and the BFG among those reviewed. 

Pupils from Classes 3 and 4 also took part in a book-themed Treasure Hunt, scouring the classrooms, corridors and yard for sneakily hidden characters and authors.

Valentine's Day

This term in art we have been exploring the work of Romero Britto, a Brazilian pop artist who creates bright colourful paintings and sculptures. He also does a lot of heart-based art work so it was an obvious choice to use that to make some Valentine’s cards.

Evolution by Romero Britto

The students in Class 7 looked at different ways that they could make pop-up cards that they could send to a loved one. They looked at the different people that they could send a Valentines to including friends and family and learned Valentines day was about love in general not just romantic love.

 

Class 3 decided to combine Valentine's Day and Pancake Day into one, extremely creamy creation!   

During Travel Training, the pupils selected and bought the ingredients required to create their own lovely Valentine's Pancakes!  Lots of jam, strawberries, heart-shaped pancakes and just a tiny dash of squirty cream were involved in the creation of these romantic culinary delights.

Burns Night 

Pupils in Class 3 enjoyed learning about Burns’ Night, including developing their knowledge of what it is, who Burns was and how people traditionally celebrate.  They even tried vegetarian and traditional haggis – although their faces would indicate they were not overly keen on the taste!

 

Keeping in with the Scottish theme, the pupils also made porridge, developing both their independent living and functional numeracy skills: clearly, they enjoyed it a lot more than the haggis! 

Santa came to Thornhill Park School                                 

Twas the last day of term, when all through the school
Not a student was quiet, not even just one.
Christmas lunch had been eaten with great joy and fare,
In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard by the door
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Through the door St Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were bright colours and beard bushy.
A bundle of Toys he had flung on his back,
He was accompanied by his elf, just ready to help.

They spoke not a word, but went straight to work,

And went classroom to classroom, to give out the gifts
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, out through the door they went!

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight,
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!"

Christmas Art Project inspired by background Bob

Our Christmas theme has been  ‘Comfort and Joy’ as we all felt that whilst Christmas is not going to be the same this year this is a sentiment that we hope will carry on into the New Year.

 To celebrate this,  with inspiration from Background Bob, we completed a whole school project to make our comfort and joy tree.

This was a collaboration between the entire school with Pre-14 creating the backgrounds and post 14 and 16 adding different images to each piece.

All of the different canvases where then connected together and a star added to the top to make our Christmas Comfort and Joy tree.                                

           

We wish you all comfort and joy this Christmas and hope for brighter times in 2021.

In April 2020, @Background_Bob, and his Dad sat down to do some painting. They knew a few street artists from their love of the art and visiting street art festivals and so posted on Instagram to ask if anyone wanted to collaborate on producing some pieces for a charity auction. Around 250 artists from around the world replied and work is still arriving!

 

As a school we were inspired by Bob and planned a whole school event based upon Bob’s art ideas.

 

Good Morning song from pre-14



Christmas at Thornhill Park School

Here at Thornhill Park School, our Christmas celebrations have came early! Take a look at how we celebrated.



Christmas display competition at Thornhill Park School

Thornhill Park School have been getting into the Christmas spirit over the last few weeks. Pupils and staff have been invited to partake in a Christmas display competition, decoration or sculpture for their class. The classes have really excelled themselves and a great amount of effort has been made by all involved.

We have judged the team Christmas decoration or sculpture and the results are as follows:

1st prize – joint prize goes to Class 3 and class 5

2nd prize goes to class 4

3rd prize goes to class 6

Well done to all groups who submitted their team decorations and sculptures

Christmas is coming to Thornhill Park School

Christmas has officially started in school and all of the classes have got off to a roaring start to make sure that our school is full of Christmas Spirit.

This year our theme is ‘Comfort and Joy’ and the fireplace that class 3 have made encompasses this theme perfectly.

They haven’t been the only class getting creative, all of the classes have been designing and creating decorations, trees and cards ready to spread our theme of comfort and joy.

From making Christmas trees to window displays to pop up cards and metres of Christmas bunting, everyone has been extra crafty to get us in the right mood during such a challenging time.

Our Advent Adventure

As a special treat for all pupils the staff have provided a giant advent calendar for each class full of personalised gifts. Each day a lucky pupil opens the class window to find Christmas novelties to share with their peers.

Choosing the right tree!

Two very lucky pupils travelled to Twizzle Farm to choose a real tree to be featured in the dining room. Back at school pupils made sure the school looked festive with decoraed tees, hnd crafte trees and decorations.           

Sponsorship activities for Children in Need

Class 2 had a creative time planning sponsored activities and spent the week collecting sponsorship from their family and friends.

On Friday 13th November 2020 they all brought in sponsorship money and completed their chosen activities.

The group contributed to the final total for Children in Need £416.00 which included Brooke’s amazing collection of £60 for completing her stepping challenge completing 50 steps for the money she raised.

Children in Need 2020

This year, students at Thornhill Park School have really got into the Pudsey spirit, wearing Pudsey-inspired outfits, including sporting lots of spots and yellow clothes, and decorating the school in the favourite colours of the bandana-wearing bear!

Many of the students participated in a special ‘We’re on (Pudsey) Bear Hunt’, locating pictures of not only Pudsey himself and his friend Blush, but also the famous yellow bear with many of his celebrity chums, including Gary Barlow, Tess Daley and even Stormzy!

There were also many other competitions, including ‘Pin the Ears on Pudsey’, ‘Guess the Number of Sweets in the Jar’ and a colouring contest for younger pupils.  Some groups even made their own Pudsey-inspired biscuits!

Other pupils took part in a sponsored basketball shoot, as well as playing ‘Pin the Tail on the Pudsey’! 

There was also a Cake Sale, with a raffle to win to even more Pudsey-inspired cakes and some of the pupils took part in sponsored walk in the local community, all to raise money for a very worthy cause!

All activities were – of course – carried out sticking to strict social distancing measures!

In total, we raised £405.90!  Well done, everyone!

Bonfire Night Art Competition 

Our students in Class 3 took part in a society wide Bonfire Night art competition. They created a group collage and looked on the internet for images that reflected key aspects of Bonfire Night. The collage was created by having triangles of Bonfire Night images ‘exploding’ from the centre to create a colourful and sparkly masterpiece!

The students thought about onomatopoeic words associated with fireworks and created Jackson Pollack-style splatter paintings to reflect the explosion of colours and patterns of Bonfire Night.

As we all go off on our summer break pupils and staff have reflected upon this unusual time in school and the ways in which we have all come together to support one another. Pupils engaged in art and creativity which has helped them to remain positive and happy during lockdown. Here is a sample of their skills and talents.

We all look forward to being back together in September.

Learning through lockdown - Bubble 6

Although lockdown has changed the way we do our lessons in school we’ve still been able to learn new skills such as cycling safely in the school grounds and when proficient riding our bike and exploring the local surroundings, rollerskating and yoga. We’ve also learned how to adapt to covid restrictions and guidance such as social distancing and extra hand washing. We have shown our thanks to the NHS by decorating our classroom windows with rainbows too.

Learning through lockdown 

Family life has changed so much during lock down. I am delighted to share these wonderful photographs of Vinnie who has spent a lot of time gardening. Gran told us that ‘he has his own plot in the garden – he has planted vegetables and also some flowers to attract bees. He managed to get hold of some wood and nails and built a boat, with very little input from us other than help from Grandad with the sawing. The family have been on bike rides most days and done some foraging, collecting wild garlic to make Pesto and Dandelions to make an immunity boosting drink with lemons and oranges. Vinnie has done a lot of cooking, mainly pasta dishes, smoothies and chocolate crispy cakes. He puts a lot of garlic in things he makes because he says it is a natural antibiotic.’ As you can see both Vinnie and the family have stayed active and productive, making the most of their time together and clearly having fun whilst learning at home.

Well done Vinnie we are very proud of you!

 

Learning through lockdown

We are immensely proud of our school, pupils and staff. We have been open all through lockdown and have shared precious moments as a school community. Staff and pupils have come together to make the most of this time in school. We have stayed in touch with pupils who remain at home providing education packs and activities to work on at home. The weekly catch up calls are something we all look forward to as we love to hear the great things that are happening at home and look forward to all being together again in school.  We have all changed the way in which we work and play. This has not stopped fun and games and has provided many opportunities for learning

This week bubble 5 share their experiences

Lockdown in Bubble 5

 

This has been a very strange time for pupils in Bubble 5… We started off as a group of two! These pupils have attended every single day since lockdown began, and have been able to take great advantage of their time in school, focussing on their specific hobbies and interests. This has included so much, but some of the highlights have involved playing the guitar, drums, upcycling a full garden furniture set, growing the most delicious strawberries, writing some fantastic fictional stories and helping to create an amazing Equality and Diversity flag! As the weeks continue on, Bubble 5 is expanding, and so are the learning activities. We have had some superb work done both at home and at school, with one of our students even completing online open university courses – so impressive! Cooking fresh meals for their lunches, and taking advantage of the exercise time by going for short local walks are some of the most favoured sessions, as well as spending time being creative in the Art studio and Workshop. As we draw closer to summer, the pupils are looking ahead to the differences in their school days and planning for September, from social distancing in new class groups to returning to a more ‘normal’ timetable, and this is something they ought to be very proud of themselves for! It has been a very difficult time globally, but the students in Bubble 5 have shown just how resilient and mature they are, and there has rarely been a day they haven’t had a smile on their faces.

 

Thank you bubble 5!

 

School Diversity Week 2020, 22-26 June

 Day 5 of school Diversity week

 

We have all had such a great time this week exploring and participating in learning all about Diversity through different activities completed across the school. Our inclusive approach has cumulated in the assembly of our giant Mosaic Diversity flag with work from every group in school.

We have completed diversity maths on Monday, black out poetry on Tuesday, learning about diversity through history on Wednesday, making our own diversity logo in art on Thursday, then on Friday we discussed ‘Black lives matter’ and what this means, we looked at some of the great black leaders such as Martin Luther king Jr.  We learned that he was an American Christian minister and activist who became a spokesperson and leader in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968.

Pupils have really enjoyed taking part in these activities and have learnt a lot about what it means to be unique and have begun to recognise and appreciate our individual differences. Pupils have being doing research into: Racism, how our families have changed, PRIDE, Famous people who have faced prejudice in the past including Mohammed Ali, Jesse Owens, and Rosa Parks, Black out Poems and famous people who have shared their life stories. Throughout the week we have been completing different art projects using lots of different techniques and materials; including painting our feet and hands to make some nice bright hand and foot prints. Every group chose what they were going to create each day, using the colours for that day so that by the end week we would have many different creations in the full rainbow of the flag. We have been sharing snippets of the creations throughout this week, today we collected up all the different pieces and the students placed their creations in the correct space to create our rainbow flag.

Day 4: Today we continued our progress rainbow theme in readiness for Rainbow Friday when we put the flag together.

 Each bubble is earning points for our prizes. 

 

Here is a clue .

Points make .....

Day 3: We have created poems for Diversity week , taken part in diverse family maths session and researched the life of Ann Lister as well as creating art for our progress flag.

 

Day 2: Today we worked with Green , blue and Purple.

We have fantastic art work to add to our flag for Friday.

Watch this space!

We will be celebrating diversity, equality and inclusion by creating a progress flag. We are all making a collage flag to show that even though we can’t be together, we'll still join as one to celebrate diversity.

Each day we are using the set colours of the flag to create art work and imagery which will be inlayed into the flag.

he Progress Flag was created in 2018, designed to update the existing rainbow pride flag. The design incorporates the colours of the trans flag (white, pink, light blue) and black and brown stripes to represent LGBT+ people of colour. Both groups face disproportionate levels of discrimination, face unique challenges and have histories that other members of the LGBT+ communities don’t. The flag draws attention to these and encourages us to fight for the equal rights of everyone under the LGBT+ umbrella.

We will create a giant collage Progress Flag of photos and art work.

Why don’t you join in! You can wear one of the colours on the specific days below, make a colour themed piece of art to add to the flag or make an item in a different colour each day or come up with your own suggestions.

Each day will be based upon the colours of the Progress Flag.

Each class bubble will earn bonus points each day which can be exchanged for a special treat on Friday.

 

Monday : Red, orange and yellow
Tuesday: Green , blue and Purple
Wednesday:  white, Pink and Light blue
Thursday: Brown and Black
Friday : All of them!

 

The finished flag will be uploaded to the website and displayed in school.

 

Monday

Watch this space for Tuesday’s art work !

Thank you to all involved in the making of this lovely short film.

Our pupils are remaining positive and creative throughout the pandemic.

We are delighted to share this little bit of happiness sent our way by one of our pupils who has kept up with his musical studies remotely and has attended school throughout this period of time.

Due to lockdown,  music lessons and beginners' band sessions have been carried out using Zoom.  Online band attendance diminished so instead they made this film, separately from their own homes and gardens.  Our pupil helped 'write' the story, played his trumpet, sang with his sister, and photographed, animated and filmed his toy animals. His music teacher has done a great job putting the sounds and pics together.

We hope it brings a smile your way.

Somewhere over the Rainbow 

The past couple of weeks have had a lot of uncertainty with many of our pupils staying at home however this has not dampened their enthusiasm or creativity.

Pupils in school have been creating rainbows to put in our windows to raise the spirits of residents who may be self-isolating near our school and visitors walking past taking their daily exercise.

We hope that everyone who sees them enjoys them and knows we are thinking of them, wishing them good health and high spirits.

Pupils who are at home with their families have also been creating Rainbows joining us in sending a stay safe and happy message to the nation.

  

Easter Treasure Hunt

Despite the ongoing restrictions in place due to Coronavirus, pupils at Thornhill Park School still managed to participate in their traditional Easter Treasure Hunt, exploring the school building in search of Easter-related images hidden in all manner of strange places in both the building itself and the yard, whilst carefully adhering to social distancing recommendations!  All received a chocolate egg for their efforts!

 There’s an Easter Bunny hiding out in this World Book Day display!  Can you spot him?

Coronavirus Symbol Information 

Please click to download:

Friday 13 March 2020
Update on Coronavirus

 

I am writing to provide information with regards the coronavirus infection.

Government guidance to schools and the situation at North East Autism Society

The School and College receives daily updates from the Department for Health and Social Care, Public Health England, and the Department for Education. This guidance is published at the links below:

 

 

There are no confirmed cases of coronavirus from any pupils, learners or staff attending our school’s/ or College. If a pupil or learner begins to develop the symptoms of coronavirus (fever, cough, difficulties in breathing), parents should use the NHS 111 service to seek medical advice. In the event of a confirmed case, the NHS and Public Health England will advise parents on the course of action to take, and where necessary, will contact the School/ College to advise us on the actions that should be taken in School and College.

The Department for Education has launched a helpline for young people, parents and staff to raise questions about the coronavirus outbreak:

 

The Society’s Senior Management Team is reviewing the government’s guidance daily, and will take all necessary action to protect the pupils, learners and staff of the School and College, taking advice from Public Health England, the National Health Service, and the Departments for Health and Social Care and Education.

 

Trips and visits

All trips and visits scheduled in the coming months will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis, seeking relevant advice where necessary. Further information will be shared with parents of pupils and learners participating in planned trips in due course. At the moment, it remains our intention to run these trips, but we will keep this under continual review, based on any updated advice from the Department for Health and Social Care.

  

Offsite Curriculum

For those pupils who access our Offsite Curriculum provision it is business as usual but we will be checking in advance before we attend daily activities to ensure that the facility is open. In the event that an activity centre, such as a library is closed we may need to adapt the curriculum, but in any event we will ensure that the needs of our pupils are met.

 

Communication with parents

The School/ College will continue to keep parents and carers informed through the School/College website, text messages and through written communications, acting on the advice of the relevant public bodies. To do this, it is vital that we have accurate and up-to-date contact details for all parents.

 

Communication with students

All students have been spoken to regarding good hand hygiene (hand washing techniques) and the NHS ‘Catch It, Bin It, Kill It’ advice. The National Institute for Clinical Excellence has recommended the use of e-Bug to teach students about hygiene.

Information is displayed around the School/ College to remind students of this. Hand sanitisers are already installed around the school. Tissues are also available in every classroom.

 

The message of the School/College to students has been one of reassurance, and we trust that parents will support this message. As adults, we are able to recognise that some information shared on social media is inaccurate but young people may struggle to interpret some of these messages correctly. The BBC News website has published a helpful guide for parents speaking to young people about the current situation:

 

 

School/ College closure

We will provide further details regarding school closure should this happen but please be reassured that this will be a last resort and we will only close if the Government officially instruct us to do so.

 

Our priority is to ensure the health and safety of our children, young people, adults, employees as well as the continuity of our services.

We will continue to comply with government and public health organisation guidance in order to keep everyone safe.

If you have any further queries regarding this situation, please contact your child’s/ learner’s class teacher/ key tutor or email the School/ College directly at [email protected] and your email will be forwarded to an appropriate member of staff.

World Book Day at Thornhill Park School

Pupils and staff have come together at Thornhill Park to celebrate World Book Day! Everyone has pulled together to come up with fantastic costumes from strange and fantastical worlds of our favourite books.  We have had characters from Willie Wonker and the chocolate factory, Harry Potter, 101 Dalmatians and Room on the broom. Pupils have come to school dressed up and have been spending the morning completing a World Book Day themed treasure hunt around the new school site. Everyone is looking forward to spending the afternoon in a world book day themed coffee afternoon. Fabulous effort everyone the costumes are outstanding!

To celebrate World Book Day 2020, pupils were given the opportunity to come to school dressed as their favourite literary characters, such as Willy Wonka and Harry Potter, with prizes awarded for ‘Best Costume’ for students in Pre-14 and Post-14 groups.  Staff also got into the spirit, wearing character costumes instead of their normal clothes.

Pupils were also challenged to complete a World Book Day Treasure Hunt, with literary clues hidden all around the new school building.

Students also completed World Book Day-themed activities in lessons, including creating their own ‘Best Book from Childhood’ reviews, as well book covers, book marks and matching fairy stories to their descriptions; other pupils created their own Gothic-themed descriptive stories, inspired by famous Gothic novels, such as Bram Stoker’s ‘Dracula’, Mary Shelley’s ‘Frankenstein’ and the works of Edgar Allen Poe.

Parents were also invited into school for a combined Fair Trade Fortnight and World Book Day Coffee Afternoon on Thursday!

Some of the famous faces in the Treasure Hunt! The students had to find 20 characters or authors.

Students – and staff! – reviewed some of their favourite novels from childhood and beyond!

Students’ early drafts of their Gothic-inspired spooky stories, following in the footsteps of Bram Stoker and Edgar Allen Poe.

World Book Day Awards

Pupils, staff and visitors ended the day with an award ceremony for best costume and best participants in the Literacy treasure Hunt.

There were four trophies in total and four delighted pupils!

Class 1

Class 1 have enjoyed exploring their new classrooms and enjoying a range of sensory activities:

  • We loved painting some Spring pictures to decorate the classroom
  • Attention Autism sessions exploring our senses
  • Choosing toppings for our breakfast
  • Accessing our favourite lessons
  • Having tea parties

Safer Internet Day 2020

Pupils participated in Safer Internet Day, focusing on the theme 'Together for a Better Internet', developing their awareness of remaining safe online. Pupils created cut-up poems (or 'decoupe' in French!) on the subject of internet safety, imitating the style of poets and lyricists such as David Bowie and Thom Yorke from Radiohead. 

Other pupils used their Persuasive Writing skills to write a letter to a fictional friend in which they encouraged them to be more careful when sharing personal information on the World Wide Web.

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Author: Jess Galley

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