DRUMBEAT SCHOOL. Monthly Newsletter. Dates for the Diary. We are coming to the end of our second term and Easter is upon us, how time flies!

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1 DRUMBEAT SCHOOL Monthly Newsletter Dear Parents and Carers We are coming to the end of our second term and Easter is upon us, how time flies! We have had a lovely and very productive March. Our young people have been on a residential, school trips, produced great jungle art work and danced at Laban Theatre in Deptford. We are settling into our new curriculum and assessment. Katie Denton (Deputy Head) has produced a mid-year summary for you. We have been given a gold award for travel training and recognition for the work we do with the students. Many thanks to the staff for their work on this. We had an Ofsted visit last week. I would like to thank parents for their feedback online, which was amazing and for taking the time to talk to inspectors. I will share the report with you when published. Sadly we have to say goodbye to Emma Donovan-Brown, Richard Burbage, Mathieu Blanc, Aleks von Unge, Alison Luker, Kate Hunt and Jason Taylor. They will be missed and we wish them all the best for their new ventures. Have a good weekend. Marie Neave Executive Headteacher Dates for the Diary. 1 April 4 April 6th form trip to Macaroni Woods Friday, 5 April World Autism Awareness Week Pyjama Day (both sites) See page 6 for details Friday, 5 April Last day of term School will finish at 1pm Tuesday, 23 April Staff and students back at school 1 May 3 May Year 11 trip to Macaroni Woods Monday, 6 May May Day Bank Holiday School will be closed on this day Wednesday, 8 May Coffee Morning Brockley at 10am Topic: Managing behavior changes positively and Mental Health First Aid Tuesday, 14 May Coffee Morning Downham 10am Topic: Puberty Wednesday, 22 May Coffee Morning Downham 10am Topic: How to support siblings of a child with ASD Drumbeat School & ASD Service 1

2 Drumbeat Curriculum and Assessment update As many of you will be aware we launched a new curriculum framework at Drumbeat in September with a bespoke assessment system developed by our own staff team to capture progress. We are now half way through our first year of using the new curriculum and pupils and staff are positive about the changes. We are now able to record all the areas of progress we really value, such as; independence, emotional regulation, expressive arts etc, in addition to our core curriculum areas of English, maths and ICT. You are receiving termly reports from your child s teacher with updates on the core areas and any additional achievements and wow moments they have made. At the end of the year you will also receive a report on their progress against their targets for the year in all areas. Katie Denton Deputy Headteacher Drumbeat School & ASD Service 2

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4 Review of the National Autism Strategy Think Autism': call for evidence A new call for evidence is asking people for their views on what is working and where more needs to be done to transform care and support. Overview In April 2014 the government published Think Autism, a strategy for meeting the needs of autistic adults in England. The strategy supports the Autism Act This year the Department of Health and Social Care, working with the Department for Education, will review the strategy and extend it to cover children as well as adults. To help us do this, we want to hear about people s experiences of care and support. This call for evidence is for England only. It will be of particular interest to: autistic people adults, children and young people their families their carers organisations and professionals that provide care and support to autistic people or work with autistic people We will use the results to find out where people think progress has been made and where more needs to be done in the future. Please visit the website for more information and the online survey. Summary The government wants to hear from autistic people, their families and their carers about their experiences of care and support. This consultation closes at 11:59pm on 16 May 2019 Drumbeat School & ASD Service 4

5 Drumbeat Coffee Mornings for Parents Coffee mornings will be held at both sites and are open to all Drumbeat parents and carers. Please attend as many as you feel relevant to you. Date & Time Drumbeat Site Theme Led by Wednesday, 10 May at 10am Brockley Managing behaviour changes positively in the teen years and mental health awareness. Mental Health First Aid recognise, understand, respond to the early signs of mental health problems. Dr Emma Mahoney - Drumbeat Clinical Psychologist Tuesday, 14 May at 10am Downham Puberty Puberty can be a challenging time for any young person. At Drumbeat we use tailor made individualized systems to help support students understanding and the practical management of the changes that happen to the body. This session will offer practical examples and ideas of tried and tested methods to support families and young people to cope with such changes. School Nurse Wednesday, 22 May at 10am Downham How to support siblings of a child with ASD Being a sibling of a young person with ASD has very particular challenges. This session will help you to think about practical ways of supporting your other child/children and where you can get extra help if needed. Sonia Gannon, Outreach Lead If a session is not on the list then it means that it has been cancelled. This is due to staff not being available to run the sessions. We are asking parents to visit the Ofsted website and give your views about the school. You may have done this before, but we are required to ask you to do this each year. You can find the website at If you do not have access to the internet, please call Seán Richings at school and he will arrange to meet with you and help you complete it. Drumbeat School & ASD Service 5

6 Comic Relief s Red Nose Day Drumbeat raised a total of R for Red Nose Day! Thank you for all your donations and contributions. Donation to the School Black & Callow, a financial printing company, have kindly donated some computers to the school. These have consisted of 5 desk tops and 8 monitors. They will be installed on both sites and will replace computers that were no longer working properly. This generous donation was organised via Denise Gallagher s husband, Michael, who works for the company. I m sure our children will benefit enormously and a big thank you to Black & Callow! KENT HOUSE LEISURE GARDENS THANK YOU FOR THE DONATION The Kent House Leisure Gardens and Allotments have a tradition of nominating local charities to receive a donation. Drumbeat was awarded 700 to develop our plot, particularly the seating area, in acknowledgement of our hard work and commitment over the last 4 years! We would like to thank KHLGA and the Committee Members for this very generous donation. The committee members are:- Chairperson - Korehan Dora Committe members - Martin, John, Les, John and Heather. Treasurer - Reg Every Summer the Kent House Lane Gardens and Allotments have an open day in May. We will keep you posted on the date. Drumbeat School & ASD Service 6

7 Next week it will be World Autism Awareness week. To mark this special time, we will be holding a Pyjama Day on April 5th! For those who wish to take part, can come to school wearing their pyjamas. Alternatively, they can put them on when they get to school.we are also asking for 1 donation, which will go to the National Autistic Society. We know that those affected by Autism, often have difficulties relaxing. Therefore we thought that this would help us think about ways to chill out. Please encourage your child to participate and we hope to see as many as possible in their pyjamas! ASDAN at Millwall Students have been attending the ASDAN Independent living course every week at Millwall training ground as part of our link with outside community based learning. Students have been learning valuable money handling skills and budgeting for a meal, organizing and planning a fund raiser set for later in the year and interviewing members of the Millwall staff team to develop their social communication and understanding. Students are looking forward to continuing with this program of study in the Summer term. Drumbeat School & ASD Service 7

8 World Book Day Thank you to all the staff and pupils who dressed up for World Book Day. We had some fantastic costumes. Our Best Dressed Pupils for Downham and Brockley are: Our winners each received a 10 book voucher. Drumbeat School & ASD Service 8

9 Art Update Drumbeat Primary Department have been working on some exciting Art projects. During Arts Week each class worked on different aspects of The Jungle. We worked on making vines, leaves, an elephant, a monkey, tigers and flowers and snakes. Early years worked on painting the back drop and stencilling leaves. Other classes made paper mache animals and cutting out and making flowers and vines. The colourful and vibrant result is currently on display in Reception. The Saatchi Gallery in Chelsea want to exhibit our Jungle display and are currently looking at exhibition space. We have also been invited to take part in an exciting new installation at the Tate Gallery. From November 2019 to May 2020, the Duveen Galleries at Tate Britain will be taken over by a vast photographic installation featuring our students. The photographer has already visited the school and we look forward to the results. During the Summer term we are going to be involved in a Drama and Art project with The Conservatoire in Blackheath when we will be exploring a Circus theme. The finished project will be on display at The Conservatoire for all to visit and enjoy. Continued on the next page Drumbeat School & ASD Service 9

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11 Sports update There have been a range of different sports competitions taking place over the past month involving many different students showing their skills in a range of areas. We have attended our regular football fixtures at Long Lane Junior FC with the football team as enthusiastic as ever and enjoying playing against a range of opponents. We have come out with a variety of different results in each match however the team are improving each time they play and are now winning more games throughout each tournament. A group of 10 Key Stage 4 students recently attended the National Junior Indoor Rowing Championships at the Copper Box Arena in the Olympic park. The students showed exemplary effort throughout the competition and performed extremely well. In their respective races all students came within the top 32 students in the country! Full results: Boys Humaid 32 nd Daniel V 31 st Sageevan 29 th Steve A 25 th Hamza 23 rd Levi 17 th Steve O 10 th Girls Oviya 17 th Kirsty K 14 th Ejiro 13 th Continued on the next page Drumbeat School & ASD Service 11

12 A mixed group of students from Key stage 4 and Key stage 5 have been undertaking a program of BMX training with Adam over the past term. These students have taken part in sessions within school and at Beckenham Place Park on the BMX track. This has all been in preparation for a competition which the students have recently taken part in at the Olympic park. The students took part in the event alongside students from 9 other schools and were entered into races alongside these students. The event was run by Access Sport who Adam used to work for and we have to thank them for providing us with the bikes and equipment for the students to train on and also for the running of the competition. In the coming term we have a range of events for the students to take part against teams from other school including: swimming, hockey, tennis, cricket and of course football. We also have a chance for some students to visit Milwall football stadium. Finally we are preparing for our annual sports day in June. Drumbeat School & ASD Service 12

13 Downham Football Team The Downham Football Team has been very busy with training and football tournaments. Every Monday afternoon the team train very hard with Millwall coach, Steve Roger and Downham Team Manager, Vincenzo. Our players are giving their best during the training and at the last football tournament our team impressed with their skills, focus and especially with the tactical organisation of our defence, inspired by an Italian style of football. It has been so good to see our team getting so involved at supporting each other on the pitch. Last week at the tournament which took place at Long Lane, Drumbeat team won 1 match 1-0, drew two 0-0 and 1-1 and lost one 2-0. A big improvement from the last tournament where we won one match, draw one and lost two. I would like to praise our players as they have been training really well and hard this season, improving so much especially learning to play and develop as a TEAM. Drumbeat School & ASD Service 13

14 Turtle Class There has been a lot of eventful activities in Turtle Class since our last newsletter. We have made Valentines Cards and Mothers Day cards and we had events such as Red Nose Day. We have thoroughly enjoyed taking part in our Fairy Tale Stories. This term we did Goldilocks and Red Riding Hood. We have read simple versions of the stories and taken part in re-enacting parts of the story as well as making porridge! We have all excelled in working at the computer this term and have become very confident computer users. Drumbeat School & ASD Service 14

15 Zebra Class This term Zebras went swimming on Thursday mornings. We really enjoyed learning to swim and playing. We our looking forward to more lessons in the summer term. In English we have read stories such as Little Red Riding Hood, Goldilocks, and The Three Little Pigs. We really enjoyed dressing up for World Book Day this Month and had lots of fun in our KS1 assembly acting out parts of the stories. Drumbeat School & ASD Service 15

16 Giraffe Class Giraffe class have been visiting museums. We visited the Bethnal Green museum of Childhood for a SEN quiet day. The children attended a sensory workshop all about pirates, dressed up as pirates and played on a huge pirate ship. We also had fun playing on the rocking horse and exploring the sensory areas and toys. At the Museum of London, the Giraffes joined in with a workshop about Roman London; the children dressed up as Romans, handled shields and wore helmets. They then ground herbs using a pestle & mortar and made little bags of herbs. The Giraffes even put on some armour. Continued on the next page Drumbeat School & ASD Service 16

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18 Leopards Class As part of our work on The war Leopard class went on a trip to Chartwell in Westerham. Chartwell was the home of Winston Churchill and is now a historic building, run by the National Trust. We travelled to Chartwell by minibus and then we had a tour of the house. We saw the kitchens, bedrooms and library, where there were over 10,000 books. We also saw lots of important documents and outfits. After that we went and had a look around the very large gardens, including walking across the wooden bridge and over the lake. This was very hungry work and so we stopped for lunch in the onsite café. We all had a great day and learnt about the life of Winston Churchill. Drumbeat School & ASD Service 18

19 Lions Class Lion class students have enjoyed the horse riding sessions this term. They showed confidence when mounting a horse and riding in the stables. We made lots of lovely craft for spring and St Patrick s day. We all enjoyed dressing up for Red nose day and World Book day assemblies and we especially liked buying cakes at the cake sale. Drumbeat School & ASD Service 19

20 KS3 summary on progress and projects this term In the Spring term Key stage 3 have been learning about 'the world around them.' As part of this project classes have been on regular trips into the local community e.g. to the shops or swimming. Some of our students have even learnt to swim safely and independently in the big pool. Also, 2 classes have been on a weekly gardening club trip to learn about their local community and to help maintain some of our green spaces. This has also been a great opportunity for science, communication and for a bit of work experience. This has supported progress in Health and Wellbeing and Knowledge and understanding of the world. Some students in key stage 3 continue to work on their independence, participating in a weekly bike club to learn how to travel safely and independently. Several of our students have even learnt to ride a bike on 2 wheels without any support. Lastly, the entire key stage has been working on their creativity through a weekly 'creative club', where the students are able to choose drama, projects, art or dance to get their creative juices flowing. We have seen huge progress in the children's ability to manage a transition across the key stage and in their tolerance of new artistic inputs. We also have noticed some budding actors and actresses who we hope will be keen to participate in Shakespeare School festival again next year! Drumbeat School & ASD Service 20

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22 Lancelot Class Greetings from Lancelot Class and Happy Spring! The past 4 weeks Lancelot Class have been attending a gardening club/workshop at Beckenham Place Park. We have participated in many activities. We have taken woodland walks, looked at and learned about different types of leaves. We have used our hearing sense to listen to different birdsong and other sounds in the woods, such as rustling from the wind in the trees. We have investigated different pieces of bark, looking at moss and fungus through a magnifying class. We made boats out of natural materials using bark, leaves and twigs. Overall, we have had a lovely time. We have so enjoyed getting out into the park and the woods each week. Lancelot Team Drumbeat School & ASD Service 22

23 Drumbeat Brockley does World Book Day! It s that time of year again when the Brockley Campus participates in all things reading! So this year we have been making more use of our library, Sharing Stories in class, visiting local bookshops to buy our books and using local libraries. Everyone came dressed as a book character and Helena won the top prize for The Best Dressed Costume and Steves came a very close runner up! The Where s Wally competition is back by popular demand and continues to run winners will be announced next week! Please encourage your young people by Sharing a Story with them just 10 minutes a day will develop language and literacy skills. Who will you Share a Story with today? Drumbeat School & ASD Service 23

24 6 th Form Millwall Asdan Course Some of our students took part in an interview simulation. They were very smart, confident and answered the questions correctly. We are immensely proud of them and they did a fantastic job. Well done to all. Drumbeat School & ASD Service 24

25 BMX competition at the Olympic park, Stratford 125 students from 10 schools across London came together on Wednesday 20th March to take part in an exhilarating day of BMX racing at the Olympic Park BMX Track. Brockley students have been practising every week at a nearby BMX track to prepare for this competition and did exceptionally well on the day. Kirsty & Taylor came 2nd & 3rd respectively in the WINGZ GIRLS category. Jordan, Steve, Hamza & Donte also did exceptionally well and finsied in pole positions in the WINGZ BOYS category. Big thank you to Adam, Gary, Sarah & Richard for supporting the training and race day. Drumbeat School & ASD Service 25

26 Red Nose day celebrations: Friday 15 th March 2019 Students have been celebrating Red nose day by wearing red items of clothing and taking part in a karaoke/disco plus cake sale. We have raised for Red nose day this year which will go to the charity to be used to change countless lives, both here in the UK and worldwide. Thank you to everyone for donating what they could and making Friday an enjoyable and special day for the students. Drumbeat School & ASD Service 26

27 Laban dance project performance: Tuesday 26 th March Brockley students from both KS4 & 5 have been rehearsing with professional dancers and choreographers from the Laban Dance centre every Thursday afternoon. Students have been learning how to express themselves through dance and convey emotion through movement. They have been learning a dance routine in preparation for a performance which they gave on Tuesday 26 th March at the Laban Theatre Deptford. Family, friends and staff came to watch them and each student did exceptionally well. A big thank you to staff who supported the students so well throughout the process. Drumbeat School & ASD Service 27

28 Tuck shop re-opens on Tuesday afternoons After a short break tuck shop has re-opened at Brockley on Tuesday afternoons. Students have been preparing and cooking healthy light snacks for the tuck shop in the mornings during life skills sessions. These snacks are then sold to students and staff in the afternoon. As part of students personalised plan targets selected students have been taking money and giving correct change, using the till machine, preparing drinks and snacks and serving customers. The tuck shop will continue to run every Tuesday and will be helping to develop student s money handling, communication, independence and life skills. Please remember to send in 1 every Tuesday if you wish for your child to purchase items from Tuck shop. Drumbeat School & ASD Service 28

29 Tower Class Congratulations We would likle to congratulate Kieron for winning the Jack Petchey Award after being nominated by different members of staff for a variety of reasons. Progress in his communication; supporting his peers whenever he can; taking responsibility for his own behaviour; for his politeness to staff and students alike and his willingness to help staff. Drumbeat School & ASD Service 29

30 Battersea Class trip to Greenwich: Monday 25 th March Students from Battersea class visited Greenwich on Monday to explore the area and use their book tokens to receive a free book at Waterstones as part of World Book day. Students visited a number of key places of interest including Queens s house, Maritime museum, Cutty Sark and Greenwich market. Students worked on their map reading skills to lead staff to the different places on the map and showed used key language such as left, right, straight on, turn round etc. Whilst at the Maritime museum students found countries on the map that they have a connection with and this will form part of our project in class with links to the ASDAN Wider World module. Drumbeat School & ASD Service 30

31 Wimbledon Class Over the past month in Wimbledon class we have been taking advantage of the nicer weather to get outside and practice our shopping skills. We have been regularly visiting local shops to buy ingredients for our cooking lessons. While we have been doing this we have also been practicing our road safety skills. Mainly remembering to stop, look and listen before crossing the road. We have also visited a local bookshop to spend our world book day tokens. Drumbeat School & ASD Service 31

32 AUTUMN TERM 2018 SCHOOL TERM AND HOLIDAY DATES 2018/2019 AUTUMN TERM 1 HALF TERM HOLIDAY AUTUMN TERM 2 CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY Monday 3 September Staff training day Tuesday 4 September Students first day of term Friday 28 September Staff training day Friday 19 October - Students last day of term MONDAY 22 OCTOBER FRIDAY 26 OCTOBER Monday 29 October Students first day of term Friday 21 December - Students last day of term* (School will close at 1pm on this day) MONDAY 24 DECEMBER FRIDAY 4 JANUARY SPRING TERM 2019 SPRING TERM 1 HALF TERM HOLIDAY SPRING TERM 2 EASTER HOLIDAY Monday 7 January Staff training day Tuesday 8 January - Students first day of term Friday 15 February Students last day of term MONDAY 18 FEBRUARY FRIDAY 22 FEBRUARY Monday 25 February Students first day of term Friday 5 April - Students last day of term* (School will close at 1pm on this day) MONDAY 8 APRIL MONDAY 22 APRIL SUMMER TERM 2019 SUMMER TERM 1 HALF TERM HOLIDAY SUMMER TERM 2 Tuesday 23 April Students first day of term Friday 24 May Students last day of term (MAY DAY PUBLIC HOLIDAY WILL BE TAKEN ON 6 MAY) MONDAY 27 MAY FRIDAY 31 MAY (SPRING BANK HOLIDAY WILL BE TAKEN ON 27 MAY) Monday 3 June Students first day of term Friday 19 July Students last day of term* Monday 22 & Tuesday 23 July Twilight Staff Training Days non attending *SCHOOL WILL CLOSE AT 1PM ON THE LAST DAY OF THE FULL TERM INSET/CPD = STAFF TRAINING DAYS Drumbeat School & ASD Service 32

33 SCHOOL TERM AND HOLIDAY DATES 2019/2020 AUTUMN TERM 2019 Autumn Term 1 Half Term Holiday Autumn Term 2 Christmas Holiday Monday 2 September INSET day Tuesday 3 September Students first day of term Friday 4 October INSET DAY Friday 18 October - Students last day of term Monday 21 October Friday 25 October Monday 28 October Students first day of term Friday 29 November INSET DAY Thursday 19 December - Students last day of Autumn term* Friday 20 December Friday 3 January SPRING TERM 2020 Spring Term 1 Half Term Holiday Spring Term 2 Easter Holiday Monday 6 January - Students first day of term Friday 14 February Students last day of term Monday 17 February Friday 21 February Monday 24 February Students first day of term Friday 3 April - Students last day of Spring term* Monday 6 April Friday 17 April (Easter weekend April) SUMMER TERM 2020 Summer Term 1 Half Term Holiday Summer Term 2 Monday 20 April Students first day of term Friday 22 May Students last day of term (May Day Public Holiday will be taken on 4 May) Monday 25 May Friday 29 May (Spring Bank Holiday will be taken on 25 May) Monday 1 June Students first day of term Friday 17 July Students last day of Summer term* Monday 20 & Tuesday 21 July TWILIGHT CPD DAYS NON ATTENDING *School will close at 1pm on the last day of the full term. INSET/CPD = Staff Training days Drumbeat School & ASD Service 33

34 If you are in receipt of any of the following benefits you may be eligible to receive Free School Meals for your child: Universal Credit Income Support Income-based Jobseekers Allowance or Employment and Support Allowance Child Tax Credit net earnings threshold of 7400 from April 2018 Guarantee element of pension card Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 To apply for Free School Meals please go to You will need to create an account and submit an online application. For more information Whilst your child will be eligible for the Universal Free School Meals in Reception, Year 1 and Year 2, the school could benefit from Pupil Premium funding of up to 1320 per child if you are in receipt of any of the following benefits Universal Credit Income Support Income-based Jobseekers Allowance or Employment and Support Allowance Child Tax Credit net earnings threshold of 7400 from April 2018 Guarantee element of pension card Support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 An application for Free School Meals will confirm whether you are eligible and allow the school to claim the funding. To apply you will need to create an account and submit an online application at the link below For more information pupil.support@lewisham.gov.uk Drumbeat School & ASD Service 34

35 We know that parking is limited but please be mindful of residents and do not block their drives when parking outside the schools. Some residents do school runs and they have complained a few times that they cannot get their cars out. Drumbeat School & ASD Service 35