SCHOOLS

Kindling skills with CWA Bushcraft!

The students at CWA have worked hard this year during Bushcraft lessons. The subject embodies Forest School principles and develops hugely important life and employment skills. The students have been busy building and maintaining an outdoor classroom that has become a huge part of their self-guided work.

This time of year, a typical day starts out with a fire. Students use the fire for warmth, cooking, and several traditional crafts. We then get to work with whatever we need to do which might be fixing a roof, sorting out drainage or looking for a plant species for a specific purpose. Skills that we need are learned along the way, sometimes through teacher direction or sometimes by student led discovery.

Sometimes the students just enjoy being outside, we learn to appreciate the seasons and learn about our immediate environment. We are looking forward to more signs of spring and some dry weather so we can get some different projects up and running. Older students use the skills from Bushcraft and apply them to their Duke of Edinburgh award. This year our sixth formers will be attempting the gold award. Duke of Edinburgh organisers have told us we are the first special school in the country to ever enter students for this top-level award, so we are hoping to break the mould for the special schools sector and see our students earn qualifications that will be with them forest of their lives!

Paul Coffey, Head of Wendover Campus, CWA

John Colet School Governing Body

We are looking for new governors to help oversee the strategic direction of the school. There has obviously been massive disruption to learning, despite all those online lessons, and the students have missed out on the clubs, sports and social side of education. Practical subjects have really suffered. There will have been no traditional GSCE exams for two years so there are big issues of catch up and missed curriculum as well as student mental health and well-being. Even if we have vaccinated “normality” again by September, the effects of the last two years will be felt by students for many years. As a governor, you can help to steer the school and get the best education and experience for the students.

We are looking for new parent governors and will also co-opt people who bring specific skills, for example in audit and finance (accountancy or bookkeeping).

Governors are all members of the Full Governing Body that meets typically three to four times a year. We also ask each governor to support one of the two sub committees: Curriculum that looks at what is taught and how the students are developing, and Finance and General that looks after the money and is building new facilities like the long-awaited canteen and new sports facilities.

Meetings are usually on Tuesday evenings, during term time and start at 7pm. We try to finish by 9pm. Papers are available online before meetings.

If you would like to discuss these roles with a current governor, please get in touch with Mrs Claire Rawlinson, Head of Finance and Business and we will arrange a call or email response if its just a quick question.

Our next full meeting is in June where we will appoint new Governors, so please let us know by 14 April if you are interested. If you are a parent or carer, please let us know your child’s name and form.

Dr J Savin, Chair of Governors John Colet School

Chiltern Way Academy World Book Day!

This year on Thursday, 4 March, Chiltern Way Academy celebrated World Book Day. Staff and students participated in a series of book-centred activities including dressing as their favourite book character and decorating their class doors as book jackets. Ethan Bowers in year 7 made a particularly strong effort with his costume of The Iron Giant. The form group 8MW also stood out with their spectacular door jacket for The Hunger Games. A big thank you to staff and students who helped to make it an amazing and memorable day.

Shelby Camman, Head of literacy, Chiltern Way Academy, Wendover