DRUMBEAT SCHOOL Weekly Newsletter Dear parents/carers What a wonderful week we have had. There have been lots of trips, to our local nature reserve, horse-riding and swimming has started again. As always our students' behaviour has been exemplary and they are always great ambassadors for Drumbeat. Interaction with the community to increase awareness of autism is an important part of what we are doing. Our staff training from the speech and language therapists and coaches will now be available on the website along with any other training this year. This means you will be able to access a rich bank of resources, as will other schools with similar pupils. The Extended Services team will now include working with families as part of their jobs. This is an exciting new initiative and I know Sheryl is looking forward to working with you to support you even more. I look forward to meeting you at our Coffee Morning on Friday, the students are very excited about baking for the event. Thank you for getting your children to school on time and as always looking so smart and ready for the day. Have a lovely weekend. Marie Neave Executive Headteacher Events coming up... Thursday, 29 September Pandas Class Mudchute Trip Friday, 30 September Coffee Morning from 11am at Downham & Brockley Friday 7 October HPV vaccines for year 8 girls Monday 17 October to Friday 21 October Flu Vaccines for all students (the days for various sites will be confirmed) School Reception Revamp This term our school reception area is getting a makeover! We will be improving accessibility, making the space more colourful and exciting, and overall creating a very welcoming area for visitors that allows them to see some of the fantastic work we do here at Drumbeat. There will be artwork exhibited, an extended services display, an achievements and celebrations board, and a collage with photos of all staff and students here at Drumbeat Downham. Drumbeat School & ASD Service 1
New Parents Coffee Morning A New Parents Coffee Morning was held last Thursday. 14 parents attended which is more than 3 times the number who came last year. All parents reported how useful the session had been to meet with staff but also to chat with other parents. The parents would all be interested in attending similar events and asked whether workshops would be running this year. The cakes were fantastic and most parents (but not staff) succumbed to temptation. Thank you to all the parents who attended and to Marina for the advertising and Moti for the cream sponges! The Chameleon Class Chameleon class went to their first horse riding lesson on Wednesday. It was at the new stables which is a lot bigger, with more horses and the staff were really attentive. Everybody got to groom the horses and ride them. The new teacher thought that Keshaun, Tanya, George, Ariella and Harry were professionals. Sofia was a little scared but with support she went up the stairs and nearly got on the horse, she tried really hard. Farah and Edelmar were so excited they had to go in the first group to ride the horses as they could not wait. Keziah nearly went home with her riding hat as she liked it so much. We are all really looking forward to going back next week. Drumbeat School & ASD Service 2
The Zebra Class Zebra class have been settling in very well and spent the first two weeks on our topic Getting to know you. We have completed some wonderful work about their interests, have made zebra masks, birthday balloons and decorated their names. We have also played a lot of turn taking and circle games in class and have made cakes in Food technology. This week we have started our termly topic My amazing world. The children have been for a walk to the local nature reserve to look for mini beasts and signs of Autumn. Drumbeat School & ASD Service 3
The Giraffes Class Giraffe class have had a very busy week. We learned a little bit about Charlie & the Chocolate factory and managed to find some Golden tickets that enabled us to visit Willy Wonka s Factory. Here is a picture with some Wonka sweets, candies and a giant Wonka chocolate bar! In our class we have breakfast together everyday. On Wednesdays we learn to make different elements of our own breakfasts; this week we learned how to make scrambled eggs using a microwave! It was fun to crack the eggs! As you can see they were delicious served on hot buttered toast! Drumbeat School & ASD Service 4
The Tigers Class Tigers had a great week and they enjoyed exploring our term topic "Colour and Light" through a variety of sensory activities. They engaged well in Attention Autism sessions and they particularly enjoyed activities on the interactive whiteboard. We have also started learning about "feelings" in our PSHE lessons and the children designed some lovely happy and sad faces. The Pandas Class This week in Panda Class we have had a fun time in sensory play as part of our topic My Amazing World. We have explored ice and water, soil and leaves as well as slime and cornflour. It has been fun mark-making with these different materials. We have also been reading From Head to Toe by Eric Carle and we are getting so good at doing the actions along with the story. We will be going on our Mudchute trip on 29 th September please provide waterproof shoes and a coat. Thank you. Drumbeat School & ASD Service 5
The Lions Class The Lions class went horse riding this week for the first time at the Southborough Lane Stables in Bromley. The class was split into two with one group riding and the other group grooming the horses. We all had a fantastic time and can t wait to go back next week. Lion s class took part in Roald Dahl assembly with the rest of KS2 and KS3. The Roald Dahl book that we have been reading is James and the Giant Peach. We have looked at the characters and discussed the book. The Jubilee Class Jubilee Class has had a great week. We have been hunting for and exploring mini beasts and the students loved looking at ladybirds, slugs, snails and red ants through a magnifying glass. We all took turns to hold a worm! We also had a great science lesson by exploring the changing matter when hot water was poured onto our favourite sweets, making a lovely melting rainbow. The students commented on the results and were able give reasons as to why this occurred. Well done Jubilee! Drumbeat School & ASD Service 6
Ocean Class Key Stage 4 In Ocean Class we have been thinking of ideas to show the progress we make. We discussed how we felt when we make progress and said that we felt proud. We have made a classroom display called Bee Proud. We all made a Bee and we will build a wall of hexagonal honeycomb cells displaying our progress. 6F3 6F3 have been settling into their new class very well. For a bit of fun each student put their favourite meal into a hat and each week Richard has been pulling one out. This week Joseph won so we cooked Marconi cheese with salad, fruit and ice cream for desert which is his favourite. Looking forward to see who'll get to cook their favourite meal next week. Drumbeat School & ASD Service 7
GCSE Photography and Art and Design News We are very proud to announce that Victoria Noel and Benjamin Brooklyn achieved fantastic results in GCSE Photography and Wesley John- Smith in GCSE Art & Design. Each student committed and excelled in completing 2 years of coursework and a 10 hour final exam across 3 days. I was so impressed with the enthusiasm, progress and confidence they gained throughout. Victoria, Ben and Wesley had to choose a theme for their final exam. Wesley chose Wish You Were Here pursuing his interest in fun fairs, he completed a fantasy carousel painting. Victoria chose Reflections - creating self-portraits using photo shop/layering images. Ben chose Landmarks to include his interest in photographing London landmarks. All 3 students created amazing and very skilled personal work. They have all gone on to study at college, Victoria is continuing her talent and passion for photography. We wish them all every success in the future. Fiona Smithers Wesley s Wish You Were Here Artwork Drumbeat School & ASD Service 8
Victoria s Reflections Portraits Ben s Landmarks Images Drumbeat School & ASD Service 9