Term 3 2023

 This term for our experiential curriculum we started on a new theme of problem solving. We had a visit from George from The Problem Solving Company who set the children different problems which they had to solve as a team and in pairs. As you can see this wasn't always easy. 

 Earth Class have been learning about Australia as part of their LMTW XL topic. 

They celebrated Australia Day with a fascinating visit from George a digeridoo musician.  A didgeridoo is an Aboriginal wind instrument. George told them how didgeridoos are made and showed them how you can make different sounds by using your mouth and nose. 

To mark Holocaust Memorial day classes shared age relevant information during form time including watching videos from survivors and had discussions about how the victims must have felt. Staff lit candles as a mark of remembrance.  

 Students from Earth, Mercury and Jupiter won the Ootiboo Imaginary Worlds competition to turn drawings they made into moving green screen animations. At Canterbury Christ Church University students green screened themselves into their own world.

 Mercury class have been learning about Art in Religion. They looked at Celtic Art and how this influenced Christianity thousands of years ago.  The pupils chose to sew their own Celtic design onto fabric, choosing whether to do a celtic knot, maze, animal spirals.  They listened to Celtic music as they did this and everyone in class found it a very relaxing activity and have all asked to do it again in their Skills lessons.

  Mercury class have been reading the poem Windrush Child by John Agard before writing their own versions. Well done to Isaac who created this version. 

 What an amazing evening! Three of our pupils were finalists in the Medway Youth Awards. Louie in The Nucleus Arts Creative Arts Award category and Riley and Tegan in The Learning and Achievement Award category. Seven adults went along to the event at Priestfields, Gillingham to support and cheer them on and we were so proud when their nominations were read out. They all demonstrate the City of Rochester School values of Confidence, Resilience and Success. Congratulations to Tegan who was the winner in her category g.

To mark UK parliament week the pupils and staff wrote and shared their own mainfestos to become Prime Minister of City of Rochester School. All the pupils and staff had a chance to vote for their PM in an exclusive polling booth. Votes were counted and verified and the winner was.......Billy-Jay!  

 We marked Antibullying week. On Monday we wore odd socks to show that everyone is unique. We coloured in odd socks and hung them on a washing line. We set up a "Buddy Corner" in the hall, which was a quiet space for anyone to talk or just sit for a few moments if they needed to. Classes discussed bullying and acted out different scenarios. 

 This term for experiential Earth and Mercury class have been learning first aid with Mini First Aid Mid Kent. They have learnt about DRABC – Danger, Response, Airway, Breathing and Circulation, how to use a defibrillator, how to place somebody in the recovery position and how to administer CPR. The pupils have really engaged with the lessons and as well as learning some key lifeskills, Katie the trainer said she has been so impressed with not only their knowledge but their willingness to get involved. They're keen to have a go and ask questions which for this age group is rare! Well done to all. 

 Neptune class invited their 'heroes' (parents and families) into school for the day as part of their Learning Means the World topic. They made biscuits with them as well as spending time with them playing games and reading in the classroom. 

 We are very proud to announce we have been awarded the Gold LOtC mark. The assessor said "It is obvious that you are all passionate about offering a wide range of Learning Outside the Classroom (LOtC) experiences that are well planned, meaningful and have impact."

  The kitchen has had a makeover over the summer and is now ready to welcome the students to our new couse Hospitality and Catering.

 TOn National Fitness Day at break time and lunch time, the pupils got to take part in a range of activities. This included a circuit of exercise stations and a chance to have a go on our new archery set. 

As part of one of their Essential Learning Experiences Neptune class visited Eagle Heights to look at their birds of prey. 

We marked Harvest by asking for donations for Gillingham Street Angels. We discussed what Harvest meant to the children and how it feels to give to others.

 As part of their KS3 'Learning Means the World XL' communication topic, 'Dot, Dot, Dash', Earth Class have been learning about Louis Braille and Braille as a means of communication. For our Essential Learning Experience (ELE) to enhance this work, we had a visit from a working guide dog with its owner Simon, and also a guide dog puppy and its trainers Brian and Lesley. During the visit, the pupils learnt about the working life of a guide dog and how they are trained. They also had the chance to pat and stroke the dogs and ask questions. 

 As part of their experiential curriculum Earth and Mercury class went caving Great Leaps Adventure CiC at Buckmore Park. The students were much braver than the adults! All the students managed to complete all of the caves. 

 To mark World Environment day we had a vist from Amanda and Julia Environmental Team Officers from Medway Council. They came to talk to us about recycling and how we need to look after the planet. We then played a recycling game. 

One of our students was invited to a British Horse Society event at the Saddlers hall in London to celebrate the BHS Changing Lives through Horses programme.  We were invited to the luncheon to discuss how the program has benefited this and other students lives.  The programme has been a huge success and has really benefited us and other schools, two of which also attended. Thank you to all that supported us especially Squirrells Riding School 

This term the students worked with Mona Whitton, a local artist on anenvironmental art project. They worked so hard creating this huge steel and willow bug house in the shape of  snail.

The staff held a students vs staff football match to mark the end of the GCSE exam season. The final score was 4-3 to the staff.  Stevie-Lee wrote a review of the match:

"Cameron scored to make it 1-0 to the staff, then Louie scored a freekick to make it 1-1, I scored to make it 2-1 to the students, then Cameron scored to make it 2-2, Dave scored to make it 3-2 to the staff, Cameron scored to make it 4-2 to the staff, Oscar scored to make it 4-3. 

The highlights were Belinda said Dave was like a little whippet. The staff were very confident they would win, the staff were shocked at how good the students played. The most dramatic part of the match was we had a pitch invader and he stole our ball and tried to give us a bad ball. Gary received a yellow card for time wasting. Sam says everyone played well and everyone stayed on the pitch all game."

 As part of our Essential Learning Experience for our topic 'Going Wild' some of the classes had a vist from Creepy Claws. They got to learn all about the animals, what they like to eat, how to care for them, what their habitat is like and how to hold them. Many children confronted their fears by holding animals such as snakes and spiders! 

Our Secondary students enjoyed a trip to the Ben Kinsella Exhibition in Barking. They moved through 5 different rooms exploring Ben's journey and the seriousness of knife crime. Listening to Ben's story, our students watched videos, saw an actor in a role play prison cell and took part in quiz style discussions. The interactive exhibition opened up some mature conversation between students, peers and staff. 

As part of RSPCA week at school we were joined by Inspector Brian Milligan who talked to the students about how to look after pets, how he rescues wild animals and what the RSPCA does.  

Some of our classes have started walking Colin our therapy dog as part of their lessons on a Monday.

This benefits the children of CoR by:
• The facilitation of communication and social interactions
• To facilitate the expression of feelings
• Developing life skills
• To brighten mood and affect and lessen anxiety
• To help to improve reality orientation
• To help to improve the ability to cooperate
• To increase the ability to trust
• To help learn appropriate forms of touch
• To help to improve self-esteem and self worth
• To provide an opportunity to show affection

 On Friday 20th May, the whole school celebrated World Cultural Diversity Day with an exhibition and activities in the hall, displays on classroom doors, dressing up and in class activities and assemblies. All students had the opportunity to take part by looking at displays, handling objects, joining in a wealth of food tasting and enjoying various hands-on activities. This included Henna hand painting, traditional Pakistani buttermilk making, making the Leaning Tower of Pisa out of spaghetti and marshmallows, potato stamping, making clay mud huts, learning different languages and a range of arts and crafts activities. There was a real buzz in the hall, with students and staff actively engaged in the activities, enjoying the new tastes from around the world and students socialising with their peers and staff. 

May saw the start of our GCSE exams and we want to wish good luck to all students taking exams this summer. Remember to have Confidence, show Resilience and we are sure you will have Success. 

Earth had a DJ skills taster session with Jo. We were lucky enough to be awarded a grant from the Arts Award Access Fund to purchase this equipment to enable our pupils to try new things as part of their Arts Award qualifications. Earth class are working on Explore level through digital arts. Also this term they had a GarageBand workshop using iPads and in Art they will be using digital photography. 

At the end of term we held our Platinum Jubilee Big Lunch and our CoR Bake Off. We all joined together on the school field for a shared lunch then there were games and activities for the pupils to enjoy before the final bake off judging. Michelle and Mrs Emmett were excited to judge the cakes and biscuits and the overall winners were 

Primary: Bailey

Secondary: Simon

Staff: Uzma

As part of Careers Week we held a Careers Fair in the school hall. It was attended by Kent Police, NHS Medway, Cats Protection, National Grid and a STEM bio scientist. Each class got a chance to visit the hall and ask questions and find out about different careers.

As part of Careers Week three quarters of the school went to Kidzania while the others went on placements or to Bluewater to take part in careers research. Those that went to Kidzania had an amazing day and all the staff were so proud of the Confidence, Resilience and Success that the children displayed.

On Friday 4th March we celebrated World Book Day. Students and staff dressed up as their favourite book characters, a quiz was held which Earth won and in the afternoon students visited different classrooms whose doors were decorated and themed around different books and participated in activities around that book.

This term two students and two members of staff took part in a Challenger Troop overnight residential. The students demonstrated huge independence, confidence, resilience and success. The staff also demonstrated huge enthusiasm and excitement so many thanks to Kaylee and Gary for accompanying them.

As part of British Science Week the children took part in various experiments at lunchtime and during lessons including Making indicators using vegetables, a Geyser experiment, Tie dying and digesting a fruit.

We held a Ukraine day in school where we thought about all those in Ukraine. We made ribbons of yellow and blue to wear, wrote letters of Kindness and Hope, held and assembly with a poem read by Jason and made sunflowers as the national flower of Ukraine. We are held a collection of goods which we donated to one of the local collection points.

As part of Experiential curriculum in term 3 we were focusing on the development of our communication skills, fine motor skills and learning how to plan and organize.  Bricks 4 Kidz provides an extraordinary atmosphere for students to build unique creations through hands on experiences. During each session students participated in STEM based learning, then followed by learning how to engineer and create imaginative designs whilst working with peers in a non-competitive environment.

As part of Holocaust Memorial Day the pupils coloured in candles then wrote pledges on the peace candle. The idea was to bring colour to the darkness. Jason said ''I made this candle to show respect to the Jewish community who were tortured.'' Charli commented ''This made me think how this could have happened to any of us as we don't choose who we are or where or when we're born.'' 

For Safer Internet day the students learnt about fake new stories and whether everything you read on the internet is true. We also had a visit from our school Police Officer. The students posed their own questions for him including: Why do people troll? If the police found out someone was being bullied on line what would they do?

 Alfie and Kian organised a a 'wear your hat to school' day to raise money for our charity of the year Medway Area Rethink Support Group (MARS). They raised £50 - well done boys.

As part of their topic Come Fly with me Africa the pupils in Jupiter and Mercury class have been learning about the continent of Africa.  Rich Rhythms visited them this afternoon to do African drumming/Djembe drumming with them.

Mercury Class have been learning about the brain and neurodiversity with Jutta our SaLT. They made brain 'hats' and studied the different parts. Some of them were a bit squeamish when they put them on!

As part of our experiential curriculum this term the students have been visiting Cascades swimming pool to take part in swimming lessons. The children enjoyed being able to swim with their friends and learn how to swim and support themselves in the water.

 The students and staff marked Remembrance day today by holding 2 minutes silence at 11am and creating poppy displays. One of the students, an army cadet, bought in poppies to sell to staff and pupils.  

 We marked  Anti-bullying week in school during the national week.

The theme for the week is ‘One Kind Word’. Kindness is more important today than it has ever been. The isolation of the last year has underlined how little acts of consideration can break down barriers and brighten the lives of the people around us. 

In a world that can sometimes feel like it’s filled with negativity, one kind word can provide a moment of hope. It can be a turning point. It can change someone’s perspective. It can change their day. It can change the course of  a conversation and break the cycle of bullying. 

We kicked off the week by wearing Odd socks - it’s a great way to celebrate what makes us all unique.

We have then been filling posters in the hall with one kind word about our friends, students and staff. At the end of the week each person is going to get to keep their poster with the kind words as a reminder of how positive words can make us feel. Each person has also been given a wristband to remind them of the 'one kind word' message.

 Classes practiced road safety in school by using role play including ‘dangerous drivers’ on the diddy cars and learning about high visibility clothing. Information was shared throughout the school about road safety awareness including statistics for the older students which helped them to be more aware of the reasons why we need to be careful.   

As part of their Learning Means the World topic - Artic Circle, Sun and Neptune class went ice skating in Gillingham. The children's confidence on the ice was amazing to see.

 On Friday 10th December the whole school celebrated Christmas Jumper day by having Christmas dinner in our classrooms followed by a Christmas concert which staff and students performed at. A wonderful afternoon was had by all!
 

As part of our experiential curriculum this term some of the students visited Lower Grange Farm where they took part in a range of activities including archery, geo-caching and climbing.

   For National Fitness Day Tim, Nathan and Callum our sports coaches are helping to raise awareness of the importance of fitness in helping us to lead healthier lifestyles through being physically active. In the mornings they set up a range of heavy sensory circuits out on the playground for the pupils to take part in.

As part of Recycling week all classes and offices were provided with a recycling bag.

Our  planet needs us more than ever, and every one of us, every single day, has the power to make a difference. Recycling Week is a time to focus on what we can to reduce and reuse our waste. This year the theme is to ‘Step It Up’…because recycling is one activity that we can all do to be kinder to the planet.

 To celebrate Harvest the school collected donations for the local Foodbank. Taite made a poster for Medway Foodbank so they knew where our donation had come from.

 On Mondays and Fridays some of our students attend Motor Mechanics at NACRO. This term they built a tool that measures pressure in an engine called a compression tester.  

As part of our communication topic 'Inter-nation Media Station' Neptune and Sun class have been learning about semaphore code. We have been using Smarties to write messages to each other. 

We have been learning about the media and stereo typing which led to designing outfits for a rappers grandma.

We also had a school trip to the Sunlight radio station, where the children got to ask questions about the radio and have a go at djing