DRUMBEAT SCHOOL Weekly Newsletter Dear Parents and Carers It has been a cold week with temperatures well below freezing this week. In case of adverse conditions and the closure of the school you will be contacted by the school through our snow line. I have seen some great maths teaching in primary this week. Pupils described their shapes to me. I also heard reading in KS2 and some lovely singing in classrooms. We are now well on our way to the countdown to Christmas. Have a good weekend. Marie Neave Executive Headteacher Dates for the Diary. Friday 9 December Primary Christmas Show from 10am at Downham Friday 9 December Drumbeat Christmas Fair from 1:30pm at Downham Thursday 15 December KS3 Christmas Show from 1:45pm at Downham Friday 16 December Primary Carol Service from 10am at Downham Friday 16 December KS4 & 6th Form Christmas Event from 10:30am at Brockley Wednesday 21 December Last day of term. School closes at 1pm Christmas Fair Don t forget our Christmas Fair starts at 1:30pm on Friday 9th December. Wednesday 4 January Students back at school We hope to see you there, however, if you are not able to attend please send spending money for your child in a marked envelope or purse so they can enjoy the fun and games. Thank you. Drumbeat School & ASD Service 1
Your views are really important to us and will be used for an Ofsted inspection which is due. We would appreciate it if you could please go to the school s website (www.drumbeatasd.org) and complete the Parent View Survey located in the For Parents tab. EYFS & Primary events coming up... Tuesday 6 December EYFS Stay and Play at 9:15 Tuesday 6 December Zebra Class trip to Ruxley Manor Friday 9 December Primary Christmas Show at 10am Friday 16 December Primary Carol Service at 10am Drumbeat School & ASD Service 2
Crocodile Class This week we had our stay and play session. The children really enjoyed playing with their parents. It was great to show our parents some of the fantastic learning that takes place in the Crocodile Class. First we played with our parents, then we had breakfast together and finally we showed our mums and dads our daily morning circle time. We all had lots of fun and hope to have another stay and play again next term. Drumbeat School & ASD Service 3
Chameleon Class The Chameleon Class have been getting the items ready for our stall at the Christmas Fair next week. We were making candy crackers. First we chose a sweet from each bowl, wrapped the sweets in tissue paper and put them inside a small piece of the kitchen towel. We then wrapped this in shiny paper and the adults helped us to tie ribbon at the end. We then made it look pretty by colouring in some Season s Greetings signs and sticking them on. We all had a lot of fun. Ariella and Farah tried to eat them and Harry and Edelmar needed help rolling the paper. Tanya, George and Keshaun were very good at wrapping the sweets. Keziah and Sofia liked sticking the bows on. They are looking great. You will be able to see our hard work and buy one at the Fair next week. KS3 events coming up... Thursday 15 December - KS3 Christmas Show from 1:45pm Drumbeat School & ASD Service 4
Jubilee Class We had had a busy couple of weeks. In maths we have been looking at shapes and measuring. We have been exploring these areas by experimenting, guessing how much objects around the class weigh and then seeing if our guesses were correct. We are very good at exploring and discovering for ourselves in Jubilee. Last week we went for a huge stompy walk around Crystal Palace Park. We saw the old grounds for the palace and looked at the beautiful Autumn colours in nature. We then created our own Winter tree art. A big welcome back to our lovely TA, Morrica. We have all missed her and we hope she is rested and ready for us all in the lead up to Christmas. Drumbeat School & ASD Service 5
Victoria Class Victoria class enjoyed some sensory festive fun this week at Ruxley Manor where we mixed food for the reindeer, played musical instruments, sang songs and then met with Mr Claus himself. Drumbeat School & ASD Service 6
Bongo Class We have been on a lovely trip to the O2 arena as a class. We got the train, led expertly by Traivonn. We ordered some hot drinks in the Harvester and then went to the Nissan Innovation Centre to look at cars and being environmentally friendly. We got to drive the Nissan Leaf, an electric car, play games, use virtual reality to drive a formula 1 car and we recorded ourselves talking about the environment. After our packed lunch, we went to the Sky Q gallery, recorded ourselves telling the news and used virtual reality to be Superman and Batman. It was a great day and we were very grown up. Drumbeat School & ASD Service 7
KS4 ICT Group I must mention my ICT group, here we are coding Beebots in our own big snakes and ladders game. It was really hard getting it to go round corners and remember how many spaces to make it go, but we did a really good job at trying. A special mention to Levi who quickly became an expert. Well done Levi! Drumbeat School & ASD Service 8
6th Form Work Experience Update Deresha has made a fantastic start to her placement at Good Hope Café in Hither Green. During our work experience assembly she explained that her jobs included washing up and serving the customers. She must be doing an incredible job because she returned to school last week beaming and shared with us that she had received her first tip of 50p. Work experience is picking up pace with 8 students completing weekly programmes in the local community. We are looking forward to visiting the ITN studios in January and learning more about the world of media. A group of students from across 6 th Form and KS4 will have the opportunity watch a live news broadcast and interview the news presenters about their jobs. Work experience is very popular in the 6 th Form and is a key part of our programme. It helps our students to not only gain work based skills but also build self-confidence and learn more about the wider community. We are always looking for new and exciting opportunities for our students. KS4 and 6th Form events coming up... Wednesday 7 December - Brockley Swimming competition at Canons Leisure Centre from 11:30 1:30 Thursday 8 December - Post 16 Xmas football festival special league Friday 16 December - KS4 & 6th Form Christmas Event from 10:30 Drumbeat School & ASD Service 9
Families affected by eating problems Please see below the details of a research project that a colleague in Lewisham is doing. Zoe, a researcher from Coventry University, is looking for families affected by eating problems in their children with Autism. This is something that affects many of our families so please do get in touch with Zoe if you would like to be involved. Please contact Rosie Hallett, Occupational Therapist at school, if you would like more information about this project. Drumbeat School & ASD Service 10