DRUMBEAT SCHOOL Weekly Newsletter Dear Parents/Carers What a busy productive week we have had. It is fantastic to see our pupils so busy in the classroom and outside of it. The children have done quite a bit of work for charity this week which should be commended. This week we have had a visitor from the Department of Health who was extremely impressed with Drumbeat. Have a lovely weekend. Marie Neave Executive Headteacher The Outreach Team We are back into the swing of working in schools around the borough, and it is always lovely to come back to the Brockley site that is now so busy with the addition of KS4 pupils and staff. We are still waiting for our new rooms to be completed to advertise our workshop programme for the term but once the building work is finished we will have a lovely new training room and in addition a parent room that will also double as a resources making room. Events coming up... 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) Friday 21 October Parents Coffee Morning from 11am 12pm at our Downham & Brockley sites. Friday 21 October students last day before half term Monday 24 October to Friday 28 October - half term In the last week we have had our information meetings for parent programmes, Earlybird and Earlybird Plus and will be starting both courses next week. Drumbeat School & ASD Service 1
The Kangaroo Class This week Kangaroo Class started their journey at Drumbeat and what a week it has been! The children came in for an increased amount of time each day until a full day on Friday 16 th September. The children have all engaged in the variety of activities on offer in class as well as following some transitions we have put into place. It has been a great week and with the support of our amazing new parents, we have been able to make the transition match the needs of the children. We can t wait to see what the following weeks and months will bring to the youngest class in the school. Well done to all our little roos!!! Drumbeat School & ASD Service 2
As part of the new transition into school for the Early Years, Tuesday 27 th September saw our first Stay and Play session. We were so happy to see so many parents being able to attend. We look forward to another session next month! Drumbeat School & ASD Service 3
The Koala Class The Koala class have had a lovely start to the term. We have all been busy getting to know our staff, routines and transitions through out the school day. We have also been having lots of fun by exploring the different activities in the classroom, soft play room, large sensory room and the outdoor area. Our next 'Stay and Play' is session on Tuesday 18th October at 9:15-10:15am. Drumbeat School & ASD Service 4
The Tigers Class Tiger class have had a lovely week. We did some more work on understanding emotions and the children enjoyed dancing to happy and sad music and painting happy and sad pictures. We also started reading the Brown Bear. The students really enjoyed exploring the story props and taking part in the writing activities. Drumbeat School & ASD Service 5
The Crocodile Class This week we started our topic Colour and Light. We have been listening to the story Elmer and learning about colours. In art we made our own Elmer Elephants out of different coloured tissue paper. The children enjoyed our weekly attention autism session and liked taking part in the turn taking game raining on you. During music this week we have been exploring the keyboard and playing along side our music teacher Lee. Some of the class went to the local shop to buy food for our cooking session this week, making sandwiches. Drumbeat School & ASD Service 6
The Lions Class On Wednesday Lions class had the privilege to lead the primary assembly. The theme of assembly was Harvest. Lions class have been studying the book Stone Soup and we decided to perform the play Stone Soup to the rest of the primary department. Mahdi performed the role of the traveller with Tyrell taking the part of the villager. The rest of the class were villagers who brought the food to the house. We all had fun learning the story and enjoyed performing to the rest of primary. We also had a collection at the end of assembly where children from other classes brought in food that had donated from home. This food will now be given to a worthy local charity. Drumbeat School & ASD Service 7
The Piccadilly Class Piccadilly Class had lots of fun during our Science lesson where we used skittles dyed water to make a rainbow pattern. Here Kurushiya is exploring the skittles rainbow. The Jubilee Class Jubilee Class have had another busy week. We are continuing our work looking at Roald Dahl and The Big Friendly Giant, we love listening to the story and thinking about the different themes it presents. We made butter in science as part of our changing states study and had a 'shake off' to see who could turn their cream to butter first. We all saw the liquid change to solid. We have also almost completed our paper mache fruit bowls in art. Some will be donated with fruit inside to local charities, this was the decision from the student vote. Drumbeat School & ASD Service 8
The Waterloo Class As part of our George s marvelous topic Waterloo class has been experimenting with some of their own mixtures in Science. This week we used mentos and a fizzy drink to blow up balloons. First we put the mentos in the balloon, then we attached the balloon to the fizzy drink. We then tipped the mentos in and watched what happened. We made predictions about what would happened and wrote down the results. Some of the balloons exploded and we got very messy. Some balloons filled with gas. We talked about the liquid and the gas and we are beginning to think about why this might happen. All the children had a wonderful morning and we are now planning our own experiments in pairs. Drumbeat School & ASD Service 9
The Victoria Class These are some photographs of Victoria class making some cinnamon shortbread biscuits. We used cinnamon as it is grown widely in Sri Lanka and that is where we visited in class this week as part of our cultural background project in Humanities. The Djembe Class Djembe class have a weekly swimming lesson at Deptford Wavelengths. They were all so impressive on their first visit and clearly love the water. Maritsa had a great time jumping up and down and splashing to make bubbles. By the end of the session she was copying the others moving across the pool. Leo spent half his time twirling his body round and round under the water having a terrific time. Asad was very brave and got lower and lower into the water, having a great game with the instructor. John was excellent in copying the others, stretching out his legs and kicking. He made a massive wave of splashes. Stephanie had a lovely time and really listened, stretching her body out and kicking her legs on her front and back. Mariam found it all very exciting. She copied her friends using a noodle and a float to stretch out and kick. Ghulam was a champion. He used masses of energy kicking and swimming right across the pool and back with his noodle. Thank you for sending in the kit on a Friday. We look forward to keeping you up to date with their progress. Drumbeat School & ASD Service 10
6F1 September 2016 a new class and a new beginning. The group started the new school year by working on their self-portraits. This is helping us to bond together as a group in a calm and friendly environment while getting to know one another. We are looking forward to showing off our finished products soon. Watch this space Drumbeat School & ASD Service 11
KS1 & KS2 Assembly On Wednesday 21st September KS2 and KS3 had their first ever joint assembly. These key stages will collaborate every half term this year to get together and celebrate events, learn about important issues and share their work and experiences with one another. This first assembly was celebrating the work of Roald Dahl which is KS3's Literacy topic for this term. Each class has been reading one of Roald Dahl's stories, and in the assembly they shared what they had enjoyed and the work they had done. Both key stages contributed a wonderful range of art work and activities, and the gathering was enjoyed by all. Drumbeat School & ASD Service 12
Extended Services After a fantastic summer scheme students have made a very smooth transition into the new term. After School Club students who have moved over to the Brockley site have settled into a good routine. I would like to say a massive thank you to all the Extended Services staff who have worked so hard to make this happen. Activities such as, Zumba, Music, football, Cycling, Sensory, Arts and Crafts and cooking continues to run on both sites. The Art Club on the Downham site are working on a welcome sign to be displayed Reception, so watch out for that. We are now taking booking for the October Holiday Scheme. If you have not received a leaflet then please let Sheryl know. Drumbeat School & ASD Service 13