St Dominic’s School

Friday Flyer February 24th 2017

Thursday 2nd March World Book Day Friday 24th March Celebratory Assembly – pupils only Red Nose Day Week Commencing Monday 27th March Reward Trips (please see note in Flyer) Friday 31st March - Last Day of Term  Easter Service (time tbc)  Easter Fayre – 11am  Family forum – 1pm – 2:10pm

On Thursday, 2nd March, St Dominic’s will be celebrating World Book Day by encouraging as many pupils and students to come dressed up as book characters. It would therefore be great if your sons and daughters joined in on what promises to be a fun day. Prizes will be awarded at the end of the day to the best dressed pupil or student in each Key Stage as an incentive to participate. Have Your Details Changed? Please let the front office and the school nurse know if your contact details or taxi details have changed. Thank you.

Easter Holidays – 31st March–18th April inclusive Wednesday 19th April First day back to school

Don’t’ forget, St Dominic’s is collecting Active Kids vouchers. We would very much appreciate it if you would kindly donate any vouchers and put them in an envelope marked for the Front Office.

NOTICE FROM THE FRONT OFFICE Combined cheques When paying by cheque for trips etc. we would be very grateful if you could write a separate cheque for each amount to assist with banking. Thank you for your assistance.

Positive Slips This week’s winner is LEWIS HICKS Well done!

Many of our pupils have achievements - either in sports or other talents - outside of school life. We would like to encourage the pupils and parents to tell us about these achievements so they can be shared with the whole school community. Any information you wish to share can be sent in to [email protected]

End-of-Term Reward Trips In this morning’s Assembly the arrangements for the end of term reward trips were shared with pupils. Trips are being arranged for the following venues:    

The Art of the Brick: DC Super Heroes – The world’s largest Lego exhibition Fishers Farm – Adventure Farm Park Wild Wood IMAX movie and Nando’s

At the end of today’s assembly pupils signed up for the trip that they would like to attend. Any pupils who were absent today will be able to choose which trip they would like to participate in on their return. More details (including dates and times) will of course be sent to you closer to the time, according to your child’s trip preference. With regards to the criteria for attendance, we are using the number of negative slips (resulting from negative behaviours) as we have done over the past few years, but are now also using the recently introduced positive slips (resulting from positive behaviours). The following was shared as part of the Powerpoint this morning: 

Everyone is going to start with 5 Behaviour Blocks

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A Level 1 Negative Slip loses you 1 Behaviour Block

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A Level 2 Negative Slip loses you 3 Behaviour Blocks

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A Level 3 Negative Slip means you can’t go

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BUT a Positive Slip earns you back 1 Behaviour Block

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If your Behaviour Blocks fall to 0 you can’t go and can’t earn any Blocks back

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No one can go above 5 Behaviour Blocks This will begin on Monday 27th February and end on Friday March 24th. This is four weeks (20 school days) Essentially your child will need to have between 1-5 ‘blocks’ to access the trip. These trips will take place during the last week of term (27th March)

Physical Education Department

Last half-term, in Spring 1, pupils and students at St Dominic’s explored Health and Fitness and Basketball and looked at the importance of teamwork and applying rules into games.

Key Stage 2 Key Stage 2 have been looking at basketball games and marking defending in games. Pupils have focused on the non-contact part of basketball and applying this rule in a conditioned game. The Falcons class; Dara, Connor, Louis N and Matthew have worked very well and showed good enthusiasm in lessons.

Year 7 Year 7 pupils worked on their gross motor skill development in basketball by showing excellent control when dribbling the ball in game situations. Pupils then started to explore some of the basic basketball rules and apply them into conditioned games with a round robin tournament towards the end of the half term.

Dara and Louis - Key Stage 2 defending and marking

Year 8 Year 8 pupils have been applying their skills and knowledge in conditioned games. Pupils explored double dribble and side-line rules and used these in a competitive game. Dillion and James have been outstanding in basketball this half term.

Year 9 Year 9 pupils have developed a good understanding of basketball rules and regulations and applied these into games. Pupils have worked well in teams, showing outstanding team work, and have produced some very close and thrilling matches. Year 9 pupils have also produced some excellent results in their Health and Fitness topic, showing a good understanding of the importance of a warm up and cool down. Special mention to Louis N and Gianluca for their excellent hard work and teamwork in lessons.

Louis N in Year 9 – Showing Year 10 his excellent basketball skills Year 10 pupils have worked well in basketball games this half term and have applied side-line rules, non-contact rules and have explored the double dribble and traveling rules. Pupils have managed to apply these into conditioned games supported by staff. Pupils have also explored their health and fitness topic, gaining an understanding of sport-specific warm ups and cool downs. Pupils have used the Health and Fitness Suite and looked at how to set up and

complete different exercises on the new equipment. Xavier and Sam both have been working hard in the Health and Fitness Suite.

Year 11 Year 11 have shown superb skills and team work in basketball this half term. Pupils have applied a variety of rules and regulations into games successfully and demonstrated some excellent shooting ability during the games played!

6th From 6th Form students have been working as a group on teamwork skills and showing support to each other. They have looked at shooting and applying this difficult skill into games. The students have made good progress in lessons, and special mention goes to Callum and Sam C who both have shown good support to their peers.

Leo & Dara

George in Year 11 making a shot in the game

Falcons taking a rest after an exhausting PE circuit

Well done to all pupils and students who participated in Basketball and Health and Fitness in Spring 1. Next half term we will be looking at Hockey and Health and Fitness.

Can parents please supply their son/daughter with shin pads for Spring 2. The PE Department Mr C Connor, Mr H Alonso, Mr T Owen

In KS2, our theme this term is ‘Life Cycles’. As part of our learning, we are hatching duck eggs. Five ducklings have hatched and the names we have so far are: Shady, Max and Harry. The ducklings are very cute and we are learning about how to take care of them and how they will grow.

Key Stage 2

With the start of the new term Key Stage 2 have been embracing their new theme, Life Cycles. We have been investigating different animals, and have even hatched our own ducklings. Now named Harry, Max, Shady, Cheep Cheep, and Yellow, these 5 little guys are a welcome addition to our family!

All of the children have made a huge effort with their learning this week and have all settled back into the school routines nicely. Special mention goes to Callum B for sharing so nicely and encouraging his peers to do the right thing. Also to Connor, for being kind and offering to help others. Also to Will E, for being super helpful and supportive at Wii club this week. So many of the TOTOPS handed out this week were for those who have been helping the adults by offering to sharpen pencils, set the classrooms up, and holding doors which is a delight to see. Next week will be action packed with Pancake Day on Tuesday, and World book day towards the end of the week. We are excited to collect our free books from Waterstones on Wednesday and look forward to seeing everyone’s favourite character costumes on Thursday. Lastly, thank you for sharing your incredible WOW Moments with us once again. Please do continue to send them in and don’t forget to ask your tutors for more copies if you need them! Emma Jones Head of Key Stage 2

South Downs Planetarium This half-term, Year 7 have been studying the topic of Space and have been learning about the solar system, inventions that were invented by NASA, and how we use them in everyday life and space travel. In order to support their topic they visited the South Downs Planetarium in Chichester.

Planetarium in Chichester

St Dominic’s School Social Communication Programme Do the Right Thing

The target is to encourage pupils to make the best choice when faced with a decision.

Facts regarding ASD •

Many pupils find it extremely difficult to make decisions, often because they cannot predict the consequence of each option

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There is a link between theory of mind, social interaction and rigidity of thought

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Pupils who cannot rely on social understanding to predict and control the behaviour of others might imitate poor behaviour without understanding the inherent complexity or the context in which it occurred

Suggested Script You need to make the right choice: •

walk away and do not get involved

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stay in your seat

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finish your work.

Hints and Tips •

Give clear alternatives so that pupils are able to make an informed decision

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Remember to build in Time to Think, allowing the pupil time to process the information and reach a decision

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Be prepared to repeat the options if the pupil needs to hear the choices again

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CPI training (Autism Spectrum Disorders) refers to ‘Mind the Gap’ as the period of time during which a person faced with a situation can choose a response or course of action. It may be beneficial to use the visual prompts in the CPI manual or a decision tree.

Menu for week beginning Monday 27 MENU

MONDAY

th

February 2017

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

BREAKFAST

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

World Book Day David Walliams Presents

MORNING SNACK

Cinnamon Shortbread

Fresh Fruit

Fresh Fruit

Cherry Fairy Cake

Fresh Fruit

LUNCH

Pasta Bolognaise & Garlic Bread

Chicken & Mushroom Pie (Mashed Potato Top)

Boiled Ham

Rat Burger & Roll Or Billionaire Boys Golden Nuggets

Breaded Fish

Pasta & Vegetable Bake & Garlic Bread

Vegetable & Cheese Pastie

Quorn Minced, Cheese & Red Onion

Rat Veg Burger & Roll

Cheese & Tomato Pizza

Jacket Potato

Wedge Potatoes Stuffed Jacket Potato

Roast Potatoes Jacket Potato

Gangsta Granny’s Jewel Potatoes

Chips Jacket Potatoes

Gangsta Granny’s Jacket Potato Mixed Vegetable Carrots

Sweetcorn Peas

Cabbage Mashed Swede

Baked Beans

Spaghetti Hoops Peas

Fresh Salad Bar Grated Cheese

Fresh Salad Bar Ham & Orange Dressing

Fresh Salad Bar Chicken & Bacon

Fresh Salad Bar

Pineapple Upside Down Pudding & Cream

Apples Crumble & Custard

Fresh Salad Bar Tuna Mayo & Red Onion Mayo Fruit Jelly & Cream

Buy Raj’s Sticky Toffee Pudding & Get Free Sauce

Lemon Meringue Pie

Fresh Fruit Basket

Fresh Fruit Basket

Fresh Fruit Basket

Fresh Fruit Basket

Fresh Fruit Basket

Yoghurt

Yogurt

Yogurt

Yogurt

Yoghurt

AFTERNOON SNACK

Fruit Bun

Cheese & Tomato Filled Potato Skins

Lemon Drizzle Loaf

Cheese & Bacon Scones

SUPPER

Jacket Potatoes Coleslaw, Grated Cheese Baked Beans

Gammon Steaks New Potatoes Vegetables

Macaroni Cheese & Bacon Bake Sweetcorn

Beef Goulash & Rice

DESSERT

Assemblies W/C 20th February 2017 Theme – Stories Monday 20th – xx Monday 20th Miss Maxted started off our story-based week with The Three Little Pigs. She introduced the topic of traditional tales by discussing what they are: stories retold, in writing or orally, over many years and generations, comprising of fairy tales, myths, legends and fables. Most have a moral message of some kind and this is usually fairly obvious. We reviewed the story of the 3 Pigs; 3 houses, two blown down, wolf boiled – and worked out what the message might be. Examples were: working hard and consistently will pay off,

focus and concentration can give rewards, laziness might land you in trouble, taking a gamble doesn’t always pay off. Miss Maxted wondered whether one of the moral messages could also be that valuing ourselves enough to put in the hard work when it matters really pays off? Second question: what do you think the wolf represents? Some answers were: bad guy, consequences of bad decisions, antagonist, challenges in life, natural instinct. Miss Maxted picked up on the life challenges, which might be different things for all of us. We finished with a modern and very different take on the Three Little Pigs story – an advertisement for the Guardian newspaper that was run a couple of years ago. The bottom line was that maybe the pigs were pulling an insurance scam and trying to frame the wolf; how up to the minute! Tuesday 21st – KS 2/3 Mrs Coleman talked about traditional tales and why we remember them, usually because they are told over the generations and have a number of elements in common. We identified some of those elements – hero/villain/strong plot/moral/goodies and baddies. Many of the Bible stories, although not originating in this country, have become part of our popular storytelling culture and can reflect the same elements we identified. Mrs Coleman retold the story of David and Goliath with help from a movie clip. We picked out the moral behind the story – that David had faith in his God and believed that he would help him defeat the giant, even though he was the youngest of 10 sons and only used to looking after his father’s sheep. We also discussed any other moral messages that the story might contain; no matter how strong someone appears they always have a weak spot, choose your target carefully and it could pay off, believe in yourself, be brave in the face of challenges. We then considered a modern day David and Goliath tale – Lincoln City football club. They have managed to get into the FA cup Quarter Finals for the first time in over 100 years! Wednesday – Extended Tutor Time Thursday 23rd – KS 4/5 Miss Grant led this morning’s assembly, focussing on Fairy Tales. She posed a question – why do we think Fairy Tales are important? We thought about it and agreed that they teach us something, have a moral to them and include valuable lessons for life. We then enjoyed a Fairy Tale Quiz that was very challenging indeed! None of your Disney reinterpretations of fairy stories here, we had to think about the original stories and were very surprised to find out how little we know about the tales as they were written – for example Belle (Beauty and the Beast) had a father and three brothers, plus two horrible sisters who were changed into living statues as a punishment at the end of the story – we couldn’t see Walt Disney buying into that particular version! We read a quote attributed to Einstein following a question about how to develop a child into a good scientist “First give him fairy tales, second give him fairy tales, third give him fairy tales..” It seemed to be very strange advice from someone who deals with the actual world rather than the fictional one but after some thought and discussion we came up with some ideas as to why this advice was given.  The world of possibility is very important when exploring science – not what you know but the potential for what might become known  Knowing the difference between fact and fiction  Develops imagination Fairy tales can also teach us how to recognise good from bad/wrong from right and the universally accepted values of society. Friday 24th Good News Assembly Mr Morton announced the Reward Trips for the end of term, and the system for gaining a place on the trips – to be fully explained elsewhere. Good News was shared and we all departed for a sunny Friday.

This Oscar-Nominated Documentary About Autism Celebrates The Outsider “Life, Animated” director Roger Ross Williams says “no one should be left behind.” At the age of 3, Owen Suskind stopped speaking. His non-verbal state, his parents soon learned, stemmed from Autism. Owen’s ability to socialise was replaced by a keen interest in classic Disney movies, which he watched enough to memorise line-by-line. By versing themselves in the language of Disney, Owen’s parents were able to reacquaint themselves with his inner life, and eventually help him regain his speech. Owen’s father, journalist Ron Suskind, has since presented the case to the UN, calling the progress he made with his son “affinity therapy,” a technique that’s now being studied by psychiatrists. Suskind also wrote about Owen’s story in a book published by Disney imprint Kingswell. The book has since served as the jumping-off point for a film directed by Academy Award winner Roger Ross Williams, whose documentary “Life, Animated” is up for an Oscar this year. The movie opens at a crossroads: Owen, a young adult, is preparing to live independently. He tells his own story to Williams, explaining his interest in Disney heroes, villains and plots. He also shares his own creative endeavor, a story he wrote called “The Land of Lost Sidekicks,” a world filled with roaming characters who’ve been left behind by their heroic counterparts, who’ve gone on to fulfill their destiny. In Owen’s story, which Williams says is parallel to Owen’s life, the sidekicks have to find their inner heroes. “That, to me, was screaming to be animated,” Williams told The Huffington Post in an interview. “This film was really about giving people like Owen ― people that have been left behind, people that don’t have a voice ― a voice.” Williams ensured that the film didn’t editorialise Owen’s story, but rather, provided a platform for Owen to narrate his own goings on. He’s the only person who speaks over the course of the film, and his story, “The Land of Lost Sidekicks,” is brought to life as an animation, so viewers can literally enter a product of his imagination. “That was a way for the audience to have a direct connection to Owen as he narrated his own story,” Williams said. Williams emphasised that the message of his film, ultimately, is about the enduring power of storytelling. Although Owen’s stories of choice ― classic Disney films ― were cultural touchstones and spoke to the time in which they were made, they were adapted from centuries-old fairy tales. “Owen has grown up on a diet of myths and fable and story,” Williams said. “We all need story to survive, but this is about the power of story to transform one life in such a profound way.” Williams says that making the film was an informative and inspiring experience; heading into the project, he knew very little about Autism, and now he feels strongly about supporting the journeys of Autistic individuals. “What I learned is that there’s a whole population of people ― a growing population of people ― living with autism, who have so much to offer the world, and we can learn so much from them. We’re losing out if we toss them aside and look past them,” Williams said. “I’ve always felt myself like an outsider. I think I connected with Owen on that level. Here I am, a black gay man, from really outside of the mainstream. Owen is someone who he says people look past, and I think we connected on that level.” The year, Williams is one of five black directors nominated for an Oscar in the Best Documentary Feature category. “In this day and age, we need hope, and we need that message that everyone ― we’re all ― everyone should be included. And that’s the theme in all my work. I want to tell the story of the outsider, and humanize the outsider. I think no one would be left behind.”