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Dear Parents and Carers,

The autumn term has been a vibrant and exciting educational journey for all our learners at Charlton Park Academy. Students have participated in numerous exciting trips in the run up to the holidays, representing Charlton Park Academy with great pride in the local and wider community.

Our parents/carers have been involved in a number of workshops including Parent Matters and it is with great excitement that we are pursuing the Leading Parent Partnership Award (LPPA) at Charlton Park Academy. Our Christmas Fair was a great success and thanks must be extended to all involved including our safeguarding governor Sarah McTigue.

As with all schools across the country we are facing challenging times, but our student learners are at the heart of what we do daily and I thank all the staff for their hard work and dedication and continued support from parents/carers. May I take this opportunity to wish you a peaceful and restful holiday.

Yours sincerely,

Niall Fallon
Senior Vice Principal
and Designated Safeguarding Lead

Text © LPPA website

About the Leading Parent Partnership Award

The Leading Parent Partnership Award gives schools a coherent framework to deliver effective parental engagement from early years to post-16.

Through this award, schools can meet a number of longer term success criteria, such as improved pupil progress, punctuality, attendance and behaviour and increased parental involvement in school life.

Using the evidence portfolio, leaders can easily demonstrate, to Ofsted inspectors and other stakeholders, that the school has an outstanding and sustainable programme for parental engagement.

Term ends on Friday 21 December 2018

School re-starts on
Monday 7 January 2019

Christmas Fair 2018

Christmas Stall at Fair

Sara with two members from our parents/carers support group

Well done to our parents/carers who completed the City Lit Make Do and Sell workshop to have a full stall of beautifully handmade items at our Christmas Fair.

Children in Need

Thank you to everyone that supported Children In Need

on Friday. We raised £149.40 which is fantastic.

To view the photos from Children in Need visit:

www.charltonparkacademy.com/parent-carer/galleries/

Christmas Concerts

Christmas from around the world was the theme of our Key Stage 3, 4 and 5 concerts. Plus, Stage Right had their performance which was organised by All Kids Can.

To see photographs from the concerts visit our website: www.charltonparkacademy.com/parent-carer/galleries

image of child reading at school Christmas concert

Key Stage 4 concert

young man singing in Christmas hat

Key Stage 5 concert

student dropping false snow on head of audience

Stage Right's Christmas performance

A Voice for All
celebrating 50 years of Assistive Technology
in Education at the O2

Top L to R: Students welcoming everyone, Abdi Omar giving a short speech about is Assistive Technology journey and Javan on screen using Alexa. Bottom L to R: Cenmac students Hicham in his film review of Dragon and Eye-Gaze, Lillie-Ann from A Voice for All in the reception after the screening and Matthew Goodsell whose 1000 Londoner film was also screened with Abdi Omar.

On Friday 7 December CENMAC celebrated 50 years of working with Assistive Technology in education at the O2 Cineworld. Their film, A Voice for All, celebrated the past and present as well as the future of Assistive Technology in education.

Also on the programme was Me, Dragon and Eye-Gaze, a short technology review by Hicham, which was a joint venture with students and Jim Hobbs from the School of Film and TV at Greenwich University. Hicham's friend Aaron said 'I am really proud of him' when asked what he thought of his friend's film. The final film by writer, blogger and filmmaker Matthew Goodsell's – 1000 Londoners – gave viewers an insight into his life as a wheelchair and communication device user. This celebratory event allowed attendees to reflect on CENMAC's journey within Assistive Technology and its impact on students' lives.

The films A Voice for All and Me, dragon and Eye-Gaze will soon be available on CENMAC's website, but it can be viewed on their Vimeo site, links below :

A Voice For All
Me, Dragon and Eye-gaze

Christmas Jumper Day 2018

To view more of our students showcasing their jumpers, visit: www.charltonparkacademy.com/parent-carer/galleries

Class and Subject Updates

Key Stage 3 and 4

Assistant Principals KS3 and 4: Rachel Dunlop and Deborah Collard
www.charltonparkacademy.com/ks3-and-ks4/welcome/

Class Sloane Square

Remembrance Day

Liyi helping to make our poppy display in Sloane Square, to commemorate Remembrance Day 2018.

Class St.James Park

'We have had a very busy term.'

lion witch and wardrobe cover We have continued to work on the novel The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis and have written our own stories 'Through the Wardrobe'. Our stories featured a main character, going through a wardrobe, meeting a new person and having an adventure. The ending of the story was when we returned home to find something in our pocket.

Now we are looking at Media and how we can find News and Information. We watch Newsround everyday to find out what is happening in the UK and in other countries. Some of our favourites have been stories about sport, other countries, weather, entertainment on TV and animals. We are also looking at Newspapers and we read First News every week. This is a newspaper we get in school aimed at teenagers.

We have worked hard this term not only in classroom lessons but also in our swimming lessons. Our swimming teacher Sheila is very proud, as is our class staff, of the developments the students in St James’ Park class have made.

We would like to wish families and friends of Charlton Park Academy a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Class Notting Hill Gate

Work Experience at Christmas

two young girls collecting christmas post

Two students from Class Notting Hill Gate enjoyed their festive work experience.
Lopou and Myiesha were given the task of collecting the Christmas cards, sorting and delivering them.

Class Cyprus
The Royal Opera House

Class Cyprus at The Royal Opera House

Students from Class Cyprus had a great time at The Royal Opera House.
Charlie said: 'It was fantastic to see opera in real-life. It was amazing to go to see Carmen at the most famous opera house in the world. I'm so grateful to have had this opportunity.'

Class Angel

student exploring sand

Students in Class Angel have been working hard to explore different textures this term, such as:

pouring rice
mixing sand
and shaving foam.

They are all developing their skills at moving their hands independently or touching the textures for longer which is a huge achievement for everyone in the class. We have also enjoyed our magic carpet sensory story and everyone had engaged fully with this activity. Have a good Christmas break everyone.

Class London Bridge
Poetic Licence

During an English lesson students, in Class London Bridge, discussed how there are people less fortunate than themselves around the world – such as people affected by famine and homelessness. So they have created a Christmas poem to reflect this.

To read their poem click here: London Bridge – It’s serious (bad Christmas)

Post 16/Key Stage 5

Autumn Term 2018

Assistant Principal KS5: Jo Zarb
www.charltonparkacademy.com/post-16/welcome

christmas tree illustration We have had a very successful first term in Post 16 and our 12 students have settled in well.

It was wonderful to see so may of our Year 13 and 14 parents at our Transition Coffee mornings. These gave parents a good overview of post school planning and provisions.

The Royal Borough of Greenwich are working very closely with us to facilitate and better inform parents of what they might expect after leaving Charlton Park Academy. We are very happy to help year 14 parents to complete college applications and you will be support by Anilwala Blina, she is in school on a Monday and you can make an appointment to see her.

Sara Johnson will support parents with benefit forms as some students are transferring over to PIPs and child benefit.

All the staff in Post 16 wish you all Seasons Greetings and a Happy New Year.

2019 Diary Dates:
Next coffee morning sessions are below for the following Colleges campuses for LSEC:

Bexley Campus - Friday 11 January 2019 at 10am
Bromley Campus Thursday 17 January 2019 at 10am

ACE (Action | Change | Equality)

ACE's first meeting this term.

Some of the ACE team at Woolwich Town Hall for their Christmas Party

Our ACE (Action, Change and Equality) board had their first meeting on 7 November, where students had suggestions for activities to happen during future meetings. Their December meeting and Christmas party was held at Woolwich Town Hall, where our students met for first time other ACE members from the Royal Borough of Greenwich schools.

For further information visit: ACE Greenwich
The next ACE Meeting for students is on Wednesday 30 January 2019 | 10am

Library Updates

Our library's Recommended Reads this term

An Anty -War Story by Tony Ross
Dealing with feeling ... Worried
Knights and Bikes by Gabrielle Kent

Library Tweet

'Our new library conversation group had lots to discuss today, from music, the best bus route (486 was mentioned a lot) and radio stations to moving on to college.'

Mathisis Project

Student working with assistant on ipad

Students from class Notting Hill Gate are enjoying working with Rix Media on the Mathisis project. However, time with the robot is always enjoyed after completing online exercises.

Gosia Kwiatkowska, who is part of this project, felt that students are becoming more engaged with the online activities and has noticed that some students are determined to complete work if they have made mistakes. The robot, of course is the favourite part of the session for students.

To find out more visit mathisis-project.eu
www.charltonparkacademy.com/research

This project is supported by University of East London, Nottingham University and Nottingham Trent University.

Parent/Carer Support Group

Parents/carers with city lit certificate

L to R: Proud parent/carers with their City Lit certificates and individual praise from the tutor Sheila for their individual strengths and qualities that they brought to the Make Do and Sell workshop

This term parents/carers completed their Make Do and Sell City Lit course and successfully sold their products at the Christmas Fair. The parent and carer group have worked really well together to create beautiful handmade gifts, organise pre-orders and plan how best to run their stall. Each attendee received a certificate and they are all looking forward to the next course.

'This City Lit course has rekindled the inspiration to do things.
I haven't done craft for awhile and now I know I will continue creating.'
– Ivy

Since Niall and Sara started parent matters we parents have felt supported and believe we have someone who listens and acts on what we need. The parent matters sessions helps parents to identify issues and problems and we always get feedback from Niall regarding what was discussed.

Things have changed since Sara and Theresa set up parent support groups. Sara helps parents by listening and explaining what is happening next, such as Court of protection, WIKIs, Occupational Therapy, Greenwich Parent Voice and City Lit.

– Ketty

Parents/carers also attended workshops and sessions on: First Aid, Sensory Diets, The Buddies Scheme, MIND and Dental Hygiene.

Please contact Sara Johnson if you want to find out more information or check the parent/carer support group page for new events added or any alterations.

Diary Dates: Spring Term 2019

Spring Term 1

Thursday 24 January 2019: Cerebra: Accessing public services workshop for
parents/carers | 10am-2pm

Thursday 7 February 2019: Online Safety | 10am - 12 noon

Thursday 28 February 2018: Benefits and Welfare Training for Parents/Carers | 10am - 12 noon

Thursday 7 March 2019: Brushing Training with Denise Yusuf (OT) | 10am - 11.30am

Parents/Carers on our website

Please visit the parent/carer area with information on:

Admissions: www.charltonparkacademy.com/parent-carer/admissions
Attendance: www.charltonparkacademy.com/parent-carer/attendance
Community Resources: www.charltonparkacademy.com/parent-carer/community-resources
Letters: www.charltonparkacademy.com/parent-carer/senco-letters
Parent/Carer: www.charltonparkacademy.com/parent-carer-support-group
Term Dates: www.charltonparkacademy.com/parent-carer/term-dates
Parent Training Courses: www.charltonparkacademy.com/events/staff-training-2

Other areas you maybe interested in:

Wikis: www.charltonparkacademy.com/about-us/communication
Therapies and Nursing: www.charltonparkacademy.com/about-us/therapies-and-nursing
Research: www.charltonparkacademy.com/research

Sandra
We can't forget that our wonderful receptionist Sandra turned 60 on
10 November.

Photo and balloons courtesy of
parent Michelle Bialek

Goodbye
We are sad to say farewell to Teresa Funa, Head of Care at Rainbow House but wish her well in her new adventure back into full-time education. We would like to welcome Paul Kniveton currently joining us as Acting Head of Care. Thank you to Jackie Fletcher who is also supporting at this time in her role as Deputy Head of Care.

Over the last few weeks we have run the pilot after school group with the focus on social, independence and life skills. We have been particularly pleased at how well the students have taken part and enjoyed their sessions. We look forward to sharing more about the pilot when it ends in mid-January.

Woodlarks: Nick Richards

Woodlarks and Santa's Grotto

The Woodlarks Santa’s Grotto 2018 has been a great success with over 200 children – from Charlton Park Academy, other specialist schools and children’s hospices – attending during the week long event.

Young girl in visor at campsite young boy constructing a grotto

Students from Charlton Park Academy attended on three different days and one evening. Fortunately, the weather has been relatively kind to us and it only rained during two sessions with everyone who wanted to see Santa managing to do so. The Woodlarks Grotto (strictly invite only) is run entirely by volunteers who fundraise to cover all costs so that no one has to pay to attend and each visitor leaves with a very good present from Santa.

young student pushing christmas tree on a trolley

We are very lucky to be supported in building and running the event by students from Charlton Park Academy who are on work experience. They have helped construct all areas of the site and have been working closely with both the Woodlarks and corporate volunteers. Their help has been invaluable in making the Grotto such a success and we are very grateful to them for their input, support and sheer hard work.

woodlark's grotto

Useful links during the Christmas break

Emergency Support Scheme

The emergency support scheme was set up by the Royal Borough of Greenwich to provide discretionary support to local residents in difficult times, for example, after a house fire or flood.

There are two types of support available:
Community support awards
Emergency support payments.

NHS Online
NHS 111 online in Greenwich

Mind Greenwich
Greenwich Counselling and Information,
Bromley, Lewisham & Greenwich Mind,
54-56 Ormiston Road,
Greenwich,
SE10 0LN
Tel: 020 8853 2395

Monday - Friday | 9.30am-5pm
Christmas Eve | 9.30am - 2pm
25 and 26 December 2018 | 1 January 2019 closed
27-28 December | 9.30am-5pm
New Year's Eve | 9.30am - 2pm

Greenwich Citizens Advice Bureau
The advice services shall be closed for the Christmas and New Year period, from Monday 24 December 2018 until Wednesday 2 January 2019 inclusive.

Click here to view the Charlton Park Academy calendar

School closes for the Christmas break on
Friday 21 December 2018

School resumes on Monday 7 January 2019

Term Dates 2018-19

www.charltonparkacademy.com

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Education · Charlton Park Road · Charlton, London SE78HX · United Kingdom