Dear Parents and Carers,
The children have been doing fantastically well in school this week and we are pleased that so many of our reception children have settled well into school, are coming in full time and using the buses so well to come to and from school. A number of children have made good progress in their communication, responding better to verbal instructions, using the feelings board independently and naming all the feelings in the Zones of Regulation. Others have increased their range of vocalisations. There has been some great learning in the pool too; one of our pupils swum independently with just her buoyancy aids for example. Others worked really hard in their session and made it clear when they did not want to get out of the pool! Another pupil worked hard in their stander, engaging in a whole hello session without a motivator! In PE some of our older pupils worked hard on their dribbling and throwing and catching skills. A number of students have made progress in their independence skills; one pupil getting more independent with transitioning to the toilet and another consistently using the toilet and having a wee. There has also been some lovely developments in social skills and it has been lovely to see children sharing toys, chatting with new friends and to hear them saying how much they love school.
Dietary Information
We are aware that many of our children have special diets and sometimes there are changes in this. Therefore, in order to ensure we have the most up to date information on all pupils a dietary information sheet was sent out earlier this week. If you haven’t already done so, please complete and return this to school as soon as possible. Thank you for your cooperation with this.
Warm Space Hub
Our local Parish in partnership with Mothers Union are excited to be launching a Warm Space Hub on a Tuesday from 4pm – 8.30pm starting on Tuesday 18 October 2022. It will run weekly through until 28 March during term time and will tie in with the clocks going back in October and forward in March!
Much has been said about the fuel crisis and energy costs that families will face as the weather gets colder and we move into winter. Financial hardship is very real for many as the cost-of-living soars and it is with this in mind that the Warm Space Hub wants to reach out to families that maybe feeling the ‘pinch.’
It will be based out of the Old Palace, Glebe Road, Worthing and will be open to families with children aged 0 to age 10/11 (year 6). Children will be given a free hot meal and a drink and parents will be offered tea/coffee, soup and bread (free). It will also offer children and families the opportunity to socialise. There will not be internet access but there will be activities to keep children entertained and there will be a TV and DVD! This is not a child care provision, and children must be accompanied by an adult but it somewhere warm and safe that families can access once a week.
There is no cost and families do not have to commit to going every week. The venue is able to hold a considerable number of people, however, it would be really helpful if you could indicate whether this is something you may like to avail yourself of as this will enable the Warm Space Hub to plan. Please let Kaarina know if you are interested either by email (kdougherty@palatineschool.org), phone or in person; if you are interested, it would help to know how many adults and how many children from your family would potentially attend and whether you would do this weekly or occasionally.
Parent Focus Group
We are excited to be able to invite you to express your interest in a new and very important initiative for Palatine. We are always striving to find ways to involve parents and carers as much as possible in the life of our school. To that end, we are launching a Parent’s Focus Group. The mission of the group is to act as a focused sounding board for future ideas, broadly discuss issues that need resolution or give cause for concern and give constructive feedback. The remit for the group would be to meet half-termly with at least one member from the Senior Leadership Team to discuss and provide ideas and work towards finding solutions that promote the excellent work, communication and reputation of our school within our families and the wider local community; we never underestimate the power of ‘parent voice’ which can be stronger than ours in certain situations. The group will not be a forum for individual complaints and issues; these must be addressed through your child’s class teacher in the first instance and then through the usual channels of escalation and ultimately our complaints procedure if needed.
We are looking for parent/carer representation across all of our classes and therefore, we would like to start by asking that you let Kaarina, Family Liaison Officer know if you would be interested in being part of this group. Please email kdougherty@palatineschool.org by Friday 30th September.
Depending on the level of interest we have we may have to rotate members on a six-monthly or annual basis.
Accessing Public Services Toolkit Workshop
Just a reminder that the workshop will be running on Thursday 29 September 2022 from 10am-12.30pm. We are hosting this in conjunction with the charity Cerebra via Zoom. There is no charge.
The aim of the workshop is to support families who might be encountering difficulties in relation to the provision of health, social care and education support services. The workshop isn’t about giving legal advice or solving individual issues, but about general strategies that parents can use to get the services that they need for their child and family.
If you are interested in attending this event, then please let Kaarina know as soon as possible by calling or emailing at kdougherty@palatineschool.org
The online world changes so quickly it’s hard to keep up! In their 2021 report, Ofcom reported that 1 in 3 young people have seen something worrying or nasty online and just under half of young people have been exposed to online pornography.
Being online can be positive for children and young people, including those with additional needs. The internet can also be a valuable education resource. So much of our communication now happens online, either by messages, in a game or through a video call. Back in 2018 Ofcom report found that 82% of 5-7 year olds spend around 9 1/2 hours a week online. This figure rose to 99% of 12-15 year olds who spend around 20 1/2 hours a week online. However, letting children go online can be scary and it does have its risks. These are risks for all children who go online, but sometimes those with additional needs do require a bit of extra help, support and guidance to enjoy the internet safely. A useful Learning Disabilities, Autism and Internet Safety Parents Guide can be found here.
Best advice for making your home as Internet safe as possible;
- Keep computers in family rooms with the screen facing into the room
- Install Internet filters
- Install child-friendly browsers
- Install anti-virus software
- Install parental guidance locks
Nowadays, the Internet is also available on Internet enabled devices such as phones, tablets and gaming devices. Remember to set parental controls on these devices too and explore your child’s online activities together whether that be games they are playing or films/programmes they are viewing. Lots of platforms have chat functions that let you talk to people you don’t know. Make sure to check the communication features on the apps and games your child uses and explore the safety features available. Visit the UK Safer Internet Centre with guidance for parents/carers around how to set safeguards on these devices.
Have a lovely weekend
Very best wishes,
Catriona