COVID-19

 Pupils visited Reculver Country Park, Oare Gunpowder Works, Faversham and Westgate Parks, Canterbury. During these sessions our pupils explored different species found in different water sources such as ponds, rivers and the sea. Leant about the history of each place and followed a GPS system to uncover facts and complete a trail. 

During their PE lessons, students across the school took part in National Fitness Day. We extended the day across the week to fit in with their lessons. Students took part in various different activities, whilst working on developing their fitness and stamina.

The pupils learnt about recycling and how rubbish is sorted during Recyling week. Each classroom was asked to make sure they sorted their rubbish into the correct bins.

The City of Rochester School have kindly chosen wHoo Cares as their community group /charity of the year.  The young people have been learning about the organisation and have been busy drawing posters and thinking about how they can connect with people in their local community.  This week the students have been excited about their Harvest Festival and made up harvest boxes for some Partners of wHoo Cares in Cliffe Woods.  One gentleman commented how touched he was to receive this kind gesture and tradition of Harvest Festival from young people in the area.  Thank you to all students, staff and parents involved with this.

Earth class did a reading comprehension on Rosa Parks, watched some videos and had discussions, specifically around why there is black history month and not white history month. They looked at maps in Geography and spoke about how maps and the globe aren't accurate, that they were created by Europeans to make Europe look bigger than it actually is.  

Students are now confident in asking more about racism and pointing out when they see examples of it. 

In history with some of the older students, a video was shown about a black opera singer and a conversation had about stereotypes. They did some research on a Ugandan soldier who fought for Britain during one of the world wars. 

Staff used resources from the Young Minds website to talk about issues surrounding our mental health, especially in this difficult year. They looked at how to get support and how to spot mental health issues in others and when to help. The students talked about things that they use to relax and calm anxieties including music. Younger students produced a poster to let people know to ask for help if you need it.  
 

 Classes looked at the different poppies (red, brown, white and purple) and their meanings. An animation video was shown to students showing the impact that the war had on animals. Neptune class decorated the front of the school with coloured poppies and made a wreath using their hands as templates for the poppies.  

 The children enjoyed the opportunity to wear their own clothes and paid £1 to wear something yellow or something spotty to school. Some classes watched Joe Wicks finish his PE marathon. 

This term our younger students have been learning outdoors at forest school. They have been learning survival skills such as how to start a fire and building shelters and tools with items from the environment around them. They have also been looking at the wildlife and what’s living by bug hunting and making animal habitats.

This term some of our older students have had taster sessions at challenger troop in preparation to start a BTEC qualification in teamwork, personal development and citizenship in January. They have also been working towards their Duke of Edinburgh Award. They have been taking part in activities such as archery, fire building, pioneering, cooking, woodcraft, tool safety and airsoft.

On Christmas Jumper day, classes were presented with a power point which explained what Christmas jumper day is and the charity, Save The Children. 

The students and adults all joined in with this wearing their Christmas jumpers and donated £1 to the charity.   

In the afternoon the pupils got the opportunity to watch a Christmas film with their peers, Christmas activity sheets and a snack bag to enjoy. Staff also joined in and wore their best, or worst, Christmas jumpers. 

 A range of activities was provided for students to do in class, including wearing odd socks to show that it is okay to be different.  

Our younger classes spoke about different ways in which people can bully -what bullying looks like, and their own experiences if they had been bullied. The wore the odd socks and made guesses of whose socks were the photos on the wall. They also designed their own socks and anti-bullying masks to show how if we can talk about how it makes us feel, we no longer have to hide behind a mask. 

The junior classes used a PowerPoint to look at cyber bullying, which linked nicely with the Thinkuknow video that we played. This was a 3-part animation aimed at age 8-10. This introduced safety and bullying online, covering topics such as liking negative comments, blocking and reporting. Someone being weird or nasty online. Posting rumours about someone. But also sending someone a kind message when others have been mean to them. They also learnt about not changing their settings from Friends to Public and only accepting people they know. Not to share their password with anyone. (One of the characters had their account hacked.) 

In all classes, the students responded well to the crumpled red hearts. It was a good visual to explain that when someone has been bullied, even if the perpetrator says sorry the scars are still there. Some students talked about when they had felt bullied and this was useful to reinforce this point. Even adults can remember the times they were bullied and how it made us feel. 

The 27th January marks Holocaust Memorial Day, the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau the largest Nazi death camp. This year, pupils and staff were invited to “be the light in the darkness” and light a candle in their windows at home at 8:00pm to remember those who were murdered for who they were and to stand against prejudice and hatred today.

We have continued to encourage our pupils and staff to read. Staff dressed up as characters from their favourite books to read stories and poems to the children. The students were encouraged to do the same and to share their favourite books or stories from a real person that may have inspired them. Some of the younger students played a game of ‘Guess the Story’. 

Safer Internet Day is an annual event and is a global celebration all about technology and how children and young people can use the internet responsibly, respectfully, critically and creatively.

At Challenger Troop this term, pupils worked as part of a team and built a life raft which was then sailed on the water!  Well done!

Neptune class held an assembly for all students as part of remote learning and activities were shared for the children to complete at home.

Pupils in the Primary School were given an end of term treat by Our Amazing Animal World. It was very interesting to hear all about these unusual creatures and to see some of thepets that pupils and staff own. We look forward to being able to invite these animals into school when it is safe to do so. 

For World Book day the pupils had the opportunity to Zoom with local author Karen Scudder who talked about her book 'Twig and the UFO'.

The students were able to ask her questions such as (how did you become an author?  where does your inspiration come from?  how did you design your book?  She also shared some images from her sketchbook / design process.

In their lessons, students took on British Science Week's theme of 'Innovating for the future'. 

Students were encouraged to be creative with their materials and think of innovative designs to build some crunchy architecture. The materials used included biscuits, wafers, crackers and edible cement (melted chocolate). There were some excellent designs and structures built - well done to all involved!

Pupils also attended a Science club where they made their own lava lamp. They used water, oil and food colouring to make their mixtures. The experiment looked at the density of different materials, as well as observing liquids that don't mix together. 

In their lessons, students took on British Science Week's theme of 'Innovating for the future'. 

Students were encouraged to be creative with their materials and think of innovative designs to build some crunchy architecture. The materials used included biscuits, wafers, crackers and edible cement (melted chocolate). There were some excellent designs and structures built - well done to all involved!

Pupils also attended a Science club where they made their own lava lamp. They used water, oil and food colouring to make their mixtures. The experiment looked at the density of different materials, as well as observing liquids that don't mix together.

This term the students in our lower classes have been attending Tiger Troop. 

Pupils are given opportunities to participate in bushcraft, fieldcraft and sports and outdoor adventure activities, together with teambuilding and popular games with a twist, designed to challenge them physically and mentally.

The programme not only compliments the national curriculum but also offers the opportunity for pupils to develop self-confidence and self-esteem whilst gaining valuable life skills.

The pupils had fun leaving jokes around the school to keep us all laughing. 

Staff and pupils also had the opportunity to purchase headbands and red noses and managed to raise an amazing £187.

Our staff and students created and designed our own individual jigsaw puzzle pieces, to show that even though we may all be different, we all fit together to make one whole picture.

Mars Class produced an assembly which was

shared between all classes that had real-life

stories about how autism can be a positive as well as highlighting some of the challenge’s individuals experience.

This took place in classrooms due to COVID. Staff shared information about Earth Day and why it is important and pupils played nature Top Trumps.T

Here at City of Rochester School we have a School Council which meets half termly.

The School Council comprises one representative from each class, chosen by student election.

Topics discussed are chosen by the students and then minutes are typed up.  At this terms meeting the students discussed what they liked and disliked about school at the moment, who they would talk to if they had a problem and some of the events we have celebrated recently such as Earth day.

They have requested more electric guitars and Lego organisers.

Several of our pupils have started attending Curly's Farm in Leysdown this term. Whilst there they get to help to muck out and feed the animals as well as exercising them and cuddling them.

Next term our Primary children will be spending one day a week at the farm.

Students had a great time visiting other classrooms for Cultural Diversity Day, all of which had become a different country for the day. We had Egypt, Australia, France, Italy, Japan, Jamaica and Mexico. The children were able to experience new foods, music, clothes and try arts and crafts from the countries. This was the first big event that we had been able to hold safely this year and it was great to see the children being able to mix with each other and enjoy the interactions between the students that they have not been able to work with for a while.   

Pupils in our older classes had a chance to chat with Christine from CXK about their hopes and career dreams for the future. Christine shared with them various job roles they could be suited to and gave them ideas of websites and things to think about in preparation for further interviews next year.

The older pupils visited the Knife angel at Rochester Cathedral -  a striking 25ft-high statue made of 100,000 confiscated knives. The pupils had the opportunity to sign a 'pledge book' pledging not to carry a knife which will be presented to the Prime Minister.

During term 1 the pupils have had the opportunity to spend an afternoon at Kent Life taking part in the care of the animals - including walking and mucking them out, learning about growing crops and making soup from crops they have harvested.

The pupils regularly get the opportunity to take part in cookery lessons to learn independent living skills for their future. 

The whole school visited Leeds Castle. They toured the castle; in the grounds they looked at the different trees and wildlife. They then met a owl up close and made a clay owl to take home. They also had a talk about the animals and habitats within the castle which involved the children getting dressed up.

This year the pupils have chosen to support Homelessness in the local area. We were visited by One Big Family who are a local charity who support homeless people. We heard about the plight of living on the street. We donated our collection for havest to One Big Family and during the day we made dog biscuits for dogs on the street.

The pupils visited Gravesend Gudwara where they had a guided tour and talk about Sikhism and important symbols. They were then invited to the dining hall to try a range of foods.

The older pupils went to the theatre to watch Billionaire Boy which they have recently studied in English.

For Children in Need the children dressed in their onesies or pyjamas and made and sold cakes.

This term the pupils have been working with the Chocolate Film company to produce their own animations and documentary films.

Each week the younger pupils access the local swimming pool to take part in swimming lessons. This helps their gross motor skills, fitness levels and mental health.

The whole school wore their Christmas jumpers and came together for Christmas dinner cooked by some of the staff. Some pupils tried food they had never tried before.

We held a parents evening for parents to meet with staff to discuss their child's progress. We also combined this with a concert where children sang, performed and danced before holding a premiere of the films the pupils made during film school.

This term the students have been attending Squirrels riding school to take part in the Changing Lives through Horses programme with the British Horse Foundation. The pupil's confidence, resilience and success has certainly developed over this term.

This term the children have been learning to use Marty the Robot as part of their ICT lessons. By the end of the term the children could code Marty to produce a dance routine.

The pupils have had the opportunity to take part in lessons to introduce the importance of nutrition and help them develop an understanding of why it is so important to us not just physically but also mentally.

The first session was based around food play- smells, textures, flavours and looking at the different food groups.

As part of PE this term the pupils have taken part in skiing and toboganning lessons at Chatham ski centre. 

As part of Lifeskills the oldest pupils have taken part in Travel training learning to use bus timetables and using the bus to travel from place to place.

PC Richard Jones is our local policeman who regularly visits to talk to the children about issues such as keeping them safe online, county lines and safeguarding.