World of Work recognition

We are very proud that our World of Work programme has been given national recognition by the British Association of Supported Employment (BASE) in a recent Department fro Education (DfE) funded paper on how to support young people with special educational needs and disabilities into work. The article used The Castle School as a case study to highlight good practice in Vocational Profiles. You can see the guide by clicking on the link below

BASE Article

Bikeability success!

Congratulations to Jamie McCarthy, Brandon Cox, Brandon Fifield, Chris Pearcey, George Gibson and Bradley Powell who all passed their Level 1&2 Bikeability tests this week.  The boys spent two days riding along roads in the local area with a Bikeability assessor and Castle School staff, practising the skills needed to ride safely in the community.  All the boys were fantastic ambassadors for the school, acting maturely and responsibly throughout the course.  This is the second cohort of pupils to pass at Level 1&2 this year - well done boys!  Next week we have our first 4 pupils completing the Level 3 course.... watch this space!

Tintagel investigate.....

This week Tintagel Class rounded off their unit of work, ‘Solving a crime’, with a mock trial. The students had spent the previous 4 weeks trying to solve the murder of a fictitious person, who was found dead on their classroom floor one Monday morning in February (lucky it was just a cardboard outline!).The students then had to collect evidence at the scene. The work continued with the students interviewing all the potential suspects and witnesses, taking fingerprints and comparing shoes to footprints found at the scene. Tintagel then had to write up the crime scene reports and witness statements and make a decision about who they felt was guilt. The class decided that, based on the witness statement from Kate, Sandra was guilt. The students then became barristers and planned arguments to prove that Sandra was guilty or not guilty. Finally, we held a trial. Shannon acted as our judge and Donnington Class were the jury. Tintagel Class presented their arguments, strongly, for both the Prosecution and Defense with every member of the class involved. At the end of trial Sandra, who had been accused, was found not guilty so we will never know who the murderer was …

The students had an amazing time and learned a great deal about how to ask questions and find out information from various sources. Well done to all involved. Here are some picture of the investigation team in action and the trial.

Olympics are go!

Is I really 4 years since the London Olympics? Well, we are all ready to get going again. This summer our whole school theme is based around the Summer 2016 Rio Olympics. Here are Colchester Class getting into the spirit of things.

Collaborative working

Just before Easter Appleby Class and Stirling Class worked in collaboration to produce a lovely work of art. The picture consists of the pupils handprints together making a colourful flower. This is a wonderful shared experience between some of our younger and older pupils. Here is one of the finished pieces:

The quote reads: "We are all unique and beautiful. But together we are a masterpiece"

New Key Stage 2 playground equipment

The pupils in key stage 2 are very pleased with their new activity climbing frame. This wonderful piece of apparatus has been installed on the grass area above the key stage 2 playground. From the photos below you can see that it will be very well used by pupils and staff alike!

Welcome back

I would like to welcome back all our pupils to the start of this first summer term. The time has flown past this year and our pupils have done and achieved much. I look forward to seeing all the wonderful learning opportunities that our pupils take part in throughout this term.