DRUMBEAT SCHOOL. Weekly Newsletter. Dates for the Diary. Dear Parents and Carers

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1 DRUMBEAT SCHOOL Weekly Newsletter Dear Parents and Carers Welcome back, I hope you are all feeling rested after the half term break and ready for what is one of our busiest terms of the year. We have lots going on and events for parents, please come along to any coffee mornings with themes and speakers of interest to you. There has been a real change in the weather now and with the clocks going back winter is definitely on it s way. The children and young people have all returned to school with lots of energy and enthusiasm. Our school football team have been out at a tournament this week at the Long Lane Special Schools League. The team were fantastic and were joint leaders at the end of the event. Have a happy and safe bonfire night if you are going out to celebrate it at one of the local firework displays. The National Autistic Society have a Facebook group with suggestions on how to help your child or young person access such events, which you might find useful. Have a good weekend. Katie Denton Deputy Headteacher Dates for the Diary. Friday, 10 November Coffee Morning () Topic: Post 16: what happens next? Tuesday, 14 November Coffee Morning () at Topic: Access to Funding Friday, 17 November Reading Workshop () from to 12:30pm (see page 12 for details) Tuesday, 21 November Coffee Morning () at Topic: Benefits from Age 16 What is your young person entitled to? Friday, 1 December Kangaroo Class Stay n Play 9:15 10:15 Thursday, 7 December Christmas Grotto opens (Downham) Wednesday, 13 December Christmas Lunch at Thursday, 14 December Showcase from 10:30 12:00 Thursday, 14 December Primary Show from 10:30 at Downham Monday, 18 December Christmas Lunch at Downham Drumbeat School & ASD Service 1

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3 Tesco have chosen Drumbeat for its Bags of Help scheme. This means we will receive a sum of money based on how many votes we receive. Voting will take place in the following Tesco stores during November and December BELL GRN CATFORD EXP SE6 4LG 2253 CATFORD SE6 4JU 6495 CATFORD RUSHEY RD EXP SE6 4AS 6048 DEPTFORD HIGH ST EXP SE8 4AF 5444 DOWNHAM BROMLY RD EXP BR1 4PB 2556 FOREST HILL EXPRESS SE23 3PE 2596 GROVE PARK EXPRESS SE12 0DU 5509 HITHER GREEN LANE EXP SE13 6UR 2821 LEWISHAM SE13 7PY 5513 LEWISHAM WAY EXP SE4 1UY 2826 LOAMPIT VALE EXPRESS SE13 7TG 6740 MARINE WHARF EXP SE16 7UD 5729 SYDENHAM EXP SE26 4QJ 6843 SYDENHAM ROAD EXP SE26 5QF Please ask your family and friends to vote for Drumbeat. To vote, you will need to make a purchase within store of any value. You will receive one token per transaction and it's not necessary to purchase a carrier bag in order to receive a token. To prevent lost belongings, please label all of your child s possessions especially coats, jackets, sweaters and shoes. Drumbeat School & ASD Service 3

4 Drumbeat Family Forum Coffee Mornings The Coffee Mornings are open to all Drumbeat parents and carers. Please attend as many as you feel relevant to you. Date & Time Site Theme Led by 10 November at Post 16: What happens next? Do you want to find out the process that happens when your son/daughter reaches Post 16? Do you want to find out what provision is available? 14 November at Access to Funding An opportunity to look at how you can access funding for the family. The Family Funds is just one example. Sheryl & Sean Richings School Business Director 21 November at 8 December at 12 January at 26 January at Benefits from Age 16yrs What is your young person entitled to? At aged 16 there are a number of changes to benefits you may already claim to claim, for example if you receive Disability Living Allowance (DLA) this will be replaced by Personal Independence Payments (PIP). Similarly you can claim for Education and Support Allowance ( ESA). This workshop will give you information about how to make a claim and tackle difficult questions. Downham Using visual supports at home make & take session At Drumbeat we believe that using visual supports can help a child to learn, communicate and become more independent. We understand that it can be hard to make pictures and symbols at home and also understand the best way to use them. Would you like a set of visual instructions for home to help your child get dressed by themselves? Do you need a communication board to help your child talk to you whilst you play together? Then come along to our make and take session where you will be able to take home lots of different types of support as well as talk to the therapy team to design visual supports that are right for you and your child. Downham Money Management So Christmas is all done and dusted and we may have overspent more than we should. This session will look at how we managed and budget our funds and keep on track. Growing up & Relationships (Boys) This session is aimed at parents of older students and will include an overview of puberty. This will be followed by a workshop on relationships, including how to keep safe when out and about, developing independence safely and the challenges of developing relationships. There will also be some information on keeping safe online and what parents should look out for. There will also be time for questions and discussion within the group. Hannah Robinson Drumbeat Speech & Language Therapist & Rosie Hallett Drumbeat Occupational Therapist Sheryl & speaker Andy Brown Sarah Mitchell Katie Denton Drumbeat School & ASD Service 4

5 Date & Time Site Theme Led by 31 January at Growing up & Relationships (Girls) This session is aimed at parents of older students and will include an overview of puberty and periods. This will be followed by a workshop on relationships, including how to keep safe when out and about, developing independence safely and the challenges of developing relationships. There will also be some information on keeping safe online and what parents should look out for. There will also be time for questions and discussion within the group. Sandra Taylor Sarah Mitchell Katie Denton 9 February at 23 February at 9 March at 27 April at Downham Meeting sensory needs at home How do your child s sensory needs show in their behaviour at home? Always on the move? Refusing to get in the bath or shower? Problems tolerating normal household noises like washing machine or hoover? Come along to this session to find out more about sensory difficulties for children with autism, and share ideas for things to try at home to make everyday life easier. Meeting sensory needs at home As young people with autism grow into adulthood, sensory behaviours can change and families may need to find different, more age appropriate ways to support these; the young adult who wants to walk around naked at home, teenagers still sleeping in bed with parents etc. Come along and share your experiences and ideas for dealing with teens and young adults sensory needs at home. Downham Support services in Lewisham what s available to you? An information morning for parents to gather information regarding services for available for families with disabled children. Downham Helping your child with their eating Lots of children and young people with autism have difficulties with eating and drinking from a young age, leading to some of them having very limited diets. This workshop is for you if you would like to make some changes at home to extend the range of foods your child will try, and to find out about our approach to feeding difficulties at Drumbeat school. Rosie Hallett Drumbeat Occupational Therapist Rosie Hallett Drumbeat Occupational Therapist Sheryl & speaker Rosie Hallett Drumbeat Occupational Therapist 11 May at Downham Puberty for Girls Puberty can be a challenging time for any young person including young women with Autism. At Drumbeat we use tailored 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. Bryony Bowen Head of KS3 Rachel Fisk School Nurse Drumbeat School & ASD Service 5

6 Date & Time Site Theme Led by 18 May at Downham Puberty for Boys Puberty can be a challenging time for any young person including young man with Autism. At Drumbeat we use tailored 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. Bryony Bowen Head of KS3 Rachel Fisk School Nurse 23 May at Mental Health & Teens with ASD Mental illnesses like anxiety and depression are more common in teens with ASD than in the general population, but the mental health of young people on the autistic spectrum is often overlooked or misunderstood. Come along to this session to find out more about how to recognise signs and symptoms of common mental health problems, how to respond to and support your teen if you are concerned, and where and when to seek extra help. Dr Emma Mahoney Clinical Psychologist 8 June at Downham Benefits do you know what you are entitled to? A workshop for Downham and parents looking at Benefits entitlements and how to go about making a claim. Sheryl & speaker 20 June at Communicating positively through behavior All behaviour has a purpose and can sometimes be your child's only way of communicating their needs and feelings. Through discussion in this session, we will look at how to get a better understanding of your child's unique behaviours including the ones that can be more challenging. Dr Emma Mahoney Clinical Psychologist Dear Parents We are asking parents to log onto the Ofsted site, Parent View, and tell us what you think of our school. Ofsted ask schools to promote this with their families. If you don t have a computer at home or would like some help doing this, please ask in reception. The link to the site is below Many thanks for your help with this. Drumbeat School & ASD Service 6

7 Tiger Class Tiger class went for their first outing on the minibus to Mudchute farm. The children had a wonderful time; they visited the goats, sheep, chickens and pigs and enjoyed their trip very much. We fed the goats, named the animals and matched the pictures of the different animals to their aided language boards. After visiting the animals we all went into the field by the farm to run up and down the banks in the sunshine! Continued on next page Drumbeat School & ASD Service 7

8 Tiger class have been having fun joining in with of Attention Autism sessions. All the students enjoy taking a turn now and are getting very good at their independent work. We also had fun with our Halloween Attention Autism, where the children dressed up as a witch and then decorated a pumpkin template! Drumbeat School & ASD Service 8

9 Universal Credit and Welfare Benefit Changes workshop FOR PARENT/CARERS OF DISABLED CHILDREN AND YOUNG PEOPLE Kamal Patel, Partnership Support Manager from Department for Work and Pensions, is running a free workshop for parents/carers of disabled children and young people in Lewisham. This workshop will cover Universal Credit, latest changes to Welfare Benefits. Venue: Leemore Community Hub, Bonfield Road, Lewisham, SE13 5EU Date: Thursday, 9 November 2017 Time: Lunch will be provided To book your place, please call the office on or Meram on or to meram.aydin@contact.org.uk Drumbeat School & ASD Service 9

10 Parent Coffee Morning Post 16: What happens next? Do you want to find out the process that happens when your son/ daughter reaches Post 16? Do you want to find out what provision is available? Then come to this informative morning Date: Friday November 10th at am Venue: Drumbeat Calling all Campus Parents! Free Reading Workshop Drumbeat from to 12:30pm Friday 17th November 2017 No need to book just turn up. The aim of the workshop is to enable you to support your son/daughter with their reading development and will Include: information about how Autistic young people learn to read; strategies and techniques that we use to support this, and a practical session so that you can learn how to do this too! Drumbeat School & ASD Service 10

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