We are pleased to announce that we have a new visi ng teacher to help our staff support our students with a visual impairment. Ruth Ellio is part of the Sensory Support team, which is a branch of Birmingham's Access to Educa on. She will be coming in to school regularly to advise staff on how to support our students with VI and we look forward to having her help.
More details of the service can be found here: h p://accesstoeduca on.birmingham.gov.uk/index. php/SS/welcome-to-sensory-support.html
3.3 visited Tesco for an applied learning maths trip. The children had to navigate around the supermarket for a list of items, compare the price of the items to find the cheapest, pay for the item and wait for the change.
The children worked in pairs around the supermarket and were encouraged to be as independent as possible. The ingredients were then used back at school to make biscuits and numbers from salt dough, both of which were linked to measuring out ingredients and reading scales.
Jul
Jun
Apr May
Primary Residen al week 3.3 & 3.4 Annual Reviews week GCSE Exams period start KS2 SATS week start PMLD 1&2 Annual Reviews week 15 Parents Evening online booking opens 18 Year 5 EHCP Transi on Reviews week 19 Parents Maths Workshop 22 Students break up for Half Term 12 GCSE Exams period ends 13 (sat) Garden Party 15 19-25 Residen al week 16 Parents Evening online booking closes 24 Primary & KS3 reports sent home 02 Primary & KS3 Parents Evening 03 60th Anniversary Celebra on 06 Year 11 Residen al week 09 Primary Makaton Fun day 14 Sports Day 15 Sports Day 17 Students break up for End of Term 2pm
28 05 11
Dates for the Diary
All who a ended found it interes ng and informa ve. A copy of the PowerPoint used is available for parents who were unable to a end.
The workshop consisted of an example examina on paper and ques on, informa on about the marking system and percentage value of the examina on. Websites were also shared for suppor ng the revision of the examina on paper focus ‘understanding and producing non fic on texts’ , these included GCSE POD and BBC Bitesize.
In February parents were invited to a GCSE English revision workshop to support their children to prepare for the forthcoming examina on in June.
Keep up to date with news on our website: www.wilsonstuart.co.uk
The Rep’s associate director of par cipa on was so impressed he personally took us on a back stage tour. We saw the workshops, paint shops, the prompt corner and even went onto the stage, unfortunately there wasn’t an audience!
We were alongside stands such as The Bri sh Stammering Associa on and The Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists. Jack, Dan, Reece, Deeva, Josh and Weronika all rose to the occasion, using their VOCAs to talk to people about themselves and demonstra ng the importance of communica on aids. People were really impressed by their willingness to talk and their confidence.
Wilson Stuart communica on group were invited to the REP for an event designed to showcase the work of speech and language therapists across the city, inspired by the REP’s produc on of ‘The King’s Speech’.
CommunicaƟon Group visit to Birmingham REP
The children had a great me and learnt about how maths is used outside the classroom.
VisiƟng Visual Impairment Teacher
3.3 Tesco Maths Visit
English GCSE Revision
Spring Term
Wilson Stuart School
I
One student kept saying “wow” and “these aeroplanes are just unbelievable”
The students really enjoyed the trip and were fantas c ambassadors for the school. The museum is a great place to visit because it has great wheelchair access and is free so perhaps would be a great place for a family day out in the summer to come. We will certainly be going back to try some more ‘Cosford Calcula ons’!
The Cold War hangar has the biggest planes in the museum and some planes were even hanging from the roof!
Students also went to an exhibi on about the Cold War and watched a presenta on about peaceful demonstra on and how a group of women kept a constant vigil at an American airbase called Greenham Common to campaign for nuclear disarmament.
out surface area of the wing of a Mosquito reconnaissance aircra without using any equipment! Members of the public were watching on with quite some interest.
Keep up to date with news on our website: www.wilsonstuart.co.uk
Some of the maths challenges were quite hard. For example, Jordan, George and Samrat were asked to work
Students visited two hangars which had warplanes and test aircra . Working in groups they were asked challenging ques ons and had to use informa on about the aircra on display to inform their answers. All of the groups worked very hard and found the chance to see some fantas c aeroplanes really inspiring. One student who had never been to this museum before commented, “these aeroplanes are just unbelievable”, and he just kept saying “wow” all the me. He obviously had a fantas c me.
Owen, Anne-Marie and Olivia can be seen with their TA, Paula standing beside a fabulous Hawker Fury in a maths lesson with a difference! Together with students from 5.2 and 5.3, they visited RAF Cosford to par cipate in maths lessons based on avia on.
Cosford CalculaƟons!
SteveHughes - Head Teacher
hope you enjoyed your Easter holiday. There has certainly been a change in the weather and with the lighter nights it is clear summer is really on the way. This term is very busy in school, we have examina ons for our year 11 and sixth form students, and also residen al visits. We have to start planning for the class changes and for the new students who will be joining us in September. On top of this we have the challenge of managing our very large building project, which is due to start before the end of this month (April) and run on through the summer holidays. When it is finished we will have be er dining facili es, much improved medical facili es and addi onal rooms. These expansions will be a major improvement and benefit everyone. I am also pleased to tell you that we have had no fica on from the Department of Educa on on April 2nd that we have been approved to sponsor other schools. This means that we may be asked to manage and be responsible for other local schools that need support. This is an exci ng development that could create many opportuni es for both our students and staff here. Certainly no me to be idle – we hope for sunny days to go with exci ng mes!
A Special Academy
Wilson Stuart School Spring Term
NewsleƩer Spring 2015
Wilson Stuart School
Spring Term
Birmingham Children’s Hospital will launch their exhibi on on the 11th March.
Only 4 schools in the Midlands were picked for this project, we are very happy to be part of such a fantas c enterprise! Every child in 3.3 has fond memories of being looked a er by Birmingham Children’s Hospital and they were very happy to give something back!
Children of 3.3 had a fantas c two days exploring the world of art. They worked with a wonderful ar st called Nicky who has been commissioned by Birmingham Children’s Hospital to create murals about Bri sh values and is to be put on display for one year.
Bee Fair!
“The performance was nothing short of spectacular.”
All our students were an absolute credit to Wilson Stuart and we have already booked for next year.
The performance was nothing short of spectacular. The ac ng was superb with “Silly Billy” being a par cular favourite and the special effects included a helicopter and an amazing 3D experience. The audience par cipa on was also good with Georgia from Year 12 being chosen to go on stage to sing!
On a very cold Thursday morning, 16-25 students headed off to Birmingham Hippodrome to watch Jack and the Beanstalk. The Hippodrome were offering their second “relaxed” performance which is more suited to children and adults with special needs – they gave advance warning of any loud noises, kept the theatre lighter than usual, provided toys and even a sensory room if needed!
16-25 Jack and the Beanstalk at the Birmingham Hippodrome Trip
Keep up to date with news on our website: www.wilsonstuart.co.uk
Here’s looking forward to Young Voices 2016!!!
Mrs Leyland was presented with a Limited Edi on YV Hoody Top, with “TEACHER” emblazoned on the back – as an acknowledgement of the huge amount of work undertaken over the many years we have taken part.
For the second year running, Young Voices encouraged the Music Teachers from the schools involved, to sing together on stage within one of the pieces. This year it was Mozart’s “Requiem” and it was performed in 4-part harmony. It was incredibly difficult, but Mrs Leyland has always insisted that our pupils learn the repertoire by memory and so she had to do the same!!
Many of our pupils met with the musical team and here you can see Craig McLeish, the Musical Director, Instrumentalist, and Singer, stopping to have a chat with all of our Wilson Stuart Singers.
Young Voices has been running now for 17 years and Wilson Stuart has been in a endance for nearly all of them. Over the years we have built a very close working rela onship with the Young Voices Team and they, along with the staff at the LG Arena, have always been extremely accommoda ng of our many individualised requests.
This year we took 37 pupils from Secondary and 6th Form departments and they sang a huge repertoire of 13 songs, including a sec on of Mozart’s “Requiem” in La n!!
This is the 6000 strong Young Voices Choir in rehearsal.
Young Voices 2015
Wilson Stuart School
Students dressed in their brightest colours for the day, learned the story behind Holi and joined in Holi tradi ons of throwing away unwanted things into a (pretend!) bonfire and then celebra ng the colours of spring – which we did in style with balloons, streamers, gli er and foam!
We celebrated Holi this month, which is a Hindu spring fes val; also known as the fes val of colours.
Holi CelebraƟons!
In February we held our Chinese New Year celebra ons. The "Big Wok" cafe hosted students making and sampling tradi onal Chinese delights, drama c skills shone as students retold the story of the origin of Chinese New Year, firework displays were made with paint, fizzy pop, bubble wrap and science magic, and the whole school was Chinese dancing thanks to our special visitor Susie Lu, a Chinese dance ar st.
Chinese New Year
Our students gained a lot by listening to Michael’s transi on from school to the adult, working world and it stressed again the significance of our 6th Form mantra – “To take charge of our learning is to take charge of our lives”!
Keep up to date with news on our website: www.wilsonstuart.co.uk
Wri en by: Georgia (5.1), Megan (5.1) and Peter (5.2)
Everyone deserves a lot of credit and we are already planning for next year!!!
The a ernoon was a great success with the show being thoroughly enjoyed by the audience. Peter’s jokes as Basil Brush, George’s singing of “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” and Conor and Ailish’s duet of “Smelly Cat” from Friends being especially well received.
All the students put in a lot of effort to make the show a success. Staff too entered into the spirit with Mr Virgo’s French accent as Inspector Clouseau being a par cular highlight! A special men on should also go to our dedicated staff who dressed up as our version of Li le Mix – Pick and Mix – to perform “Wings”!!!! Senior Leaders also got involved – Mr Wilson did the “Carlton dance” and Mrs Everton was prepared to be “evil” for an a ernoon!
The show was a mixture of pre-filmed and live ac on based around different TV programmes such as Take Me Out, Scooby Doo, Friends and Charlie’s Angels.
On Monday 23rd February the 6th Form welcomed back one of their ex students – Michael.
In March, 6th Form students performed “TV Takeover” to a packed audience. It was an original script about the disappearance of TV stars due to Evil Everton and her henchmen.
Michael le Wilson Stuart last year to begin work as a trainee chef at Aston Villa Football Club. He worked with 5.4 on their “introduc on” skills as well as telling them about his job – complete with photos of the mouth watering dishes he has created. Michael then spent the a ernoon with 5.3 and 5.1 explaining how life has changed since leaving school. He told them about the long hours and the high expecta ons that are involved in becoming a chef and about how he has had to “grow up” and take responsibility for himself. This was especially evident when he answered ques ons about independent travel and financial budge ng – as well as a ending college to pass his English and Maths GCSEs!
Michael Returns!
Spring Term
6th Form ProducƟon
Wilson Stuart School