News, STARS, Hello Yellow, our DJs and Double Makaton – from John & the PHS Team
Welcome to 51Ƶ School's Whole School Blog!
10.10.25
Hi everyone


Hello Yellow –Friday 10th October
We’re excited to be celebratingHello Yellow,for ourfirst Resilience Day of the year in support ofWorld Mental Health Dayand the charityYoungMinds. Today is filled with activities includingaFeelings Doodle WallԻPeer Support Pledges, as well as other creative ways to promote wellbeing and resilience
Students and staff are wearing YELLOWand taking part in the fun! There’s also be abake salewith cakes and biscuits available for50p each, with all proceeds going to YoungMinds
Let’s show our support and stand together for young people’s mental health – and don’t forget to stop by the Wellbeing room for a “Hello Yellow” sticker!

So good that we have a Wellbeing Team doing things like this! And I am wearing my only yellow thing today – a shirt!
Ok, so lots going on with this and with everything else – but that’s how we like it and how it should be. It’s amazing to see so many of the young people here, who might be forgiven for just thinking about themselves – think of others too, both at the school, in the immediate community, and beyond. They really are an inspiration
I hope you’re getting what you need from us – have a read of Rebecca’s piece about safeguarding training for parents & carers, Aylisha’s about behaviour, Hannah’s about PfA, FoPHS or any other others for articles that are designed to support all our families in whatever way we can. As is Eileen’s Family Liaison blog too, so do look at that. Or read the first three, brilliant pieces from Becky, Ash and Jo’s team
Or just look at the STARs, the best bit, of course! There are a few extra this week, and excellent they are too. All the best anyway, have a lovely weekend, and we look forward to seeing your son or daughter at the school again on Monday
Take care!
John S
😊 from John & the PHS Team 😊
How the curriculum works & what’s important to us
- 3 Super-Steering Groups deliver our Key Drivers through our curriculum
- The Key Drivers are Communication, Wellbeing and Independence
- The Groups are Literacy, Physical Development & Personal Development
Literacy
Becky, our Literacy Specialist Lead, leads a team that improve all aspects of literacy, including writing, oracy, reading, phonics, books & the library! Here’s Becky!
MORE NATIONAL POETRY DAY!
Starting this week’s blog with a little bit from National Poetry Day, which we celebrated last week. 5RR collected pictures to create pairs of rhyming words, which they’re planning to use to write their own rhyming story. Thank you for sharing and hoping we get to share the finished story in a future blog!


If you’ve read the literacy blog before you’ll know that one of our recent missions has been promoting ‘writing for pleasure’, or making writing something students want to do and are motivated by- rather than a chore! Rosie and Occupational Therapist Jenny have given us a brilliant example of doing just that
Working on her therapy target of developing her handwriting, Rosie has made Halloween cards for her peers in her class, and I think you’ll agree that they look brilliant! Getting students involved in tasks that involve even a small bit of writing is excellent practice, not only of handwriting but of all of the many other skills that go into being a writer too. Shopping lists (with some of their favourite things to buy) or greeting cards are a fab way to do a little bit in a motivating way – and even better when they look as great as Rosie’s!



Happy Reading & Writing!
Becky
Physical Development
Everything that is in the world of Physical Development, including physio, hydro, MOVE, PE, HI, VI, OT and other key areas for us, including Outdoor Learning, the John Muir Award & many other aspects. Steph oversees this. This week, let’s hear from Ash
HEALTHY LIVING
Physical activity can look very different for each of our students here at PHS and we celebrate encouraging regular movement with an individualised approach to support each child and their learning. Healthy living isn’t about perfection or big transformations it is all about thesmall, meaningful changesthat quickly add up over time
Evidence shows us that by incorporating even just a little more physical activity into the week can help to improve our mood, sleep, strength, and coordination – just to name a few! For our PHS students, personalised and accessible physical movement can also further support gross and fine motor skill development, support learning, increasing self-confidence, encourage social engagement and improve overall wellbeing
We can help to reinforce these healthy habits not only at school but also at home by making healthy living ateam effort(staff, therapists, and even friends & families). Celebrating every effort (no matter how small!!!) will help to build a positive mindset around physical movement
This year as we focus on healthy living, we encourage you to challenge yourself to make small changes to your lifestyle. Even 5-10minutes each day, as when small changes are supported and repeated this will lead to improved health and happiness
Here is Chloe from 3RC in our ELTBA pathway showing us a small change by doing her Maths lesson in her walking sling, increasing her activity and helping to support her learning! Well done Chloe!!



HOME CHALLENGE: ADVENTURE PATH
Can you create a home adventure path to follow? Try using floor tape, mats, or visual markers to create a guided path to move around in your home or even in your garden!!
Children can follow the path by rolling, crawling, walking, using walking frames, or rolling in wheelchairs! You can even add a stop along the adventure path at different “stations” to do a fun activity like waving,singing/dancing, showing a silly faceor something of your choosing!!
This small challenge is a great way to encourage movement and develop spatial awareness and we would love to see your pictures!! Send them into s.tucker@percyhedley.org.uk to be shown in the blog next time!
Personal Development
One of the best things about the school and one of the most important for our pupils, PD covers PSHE, Wellbeing, Careers, Social Moral Spiritual & Cultural, Online Safety, Behaviour & similar areas. Jo pulls it all together
Wellbeing
4CH love to do a bit of art, it helps us to relax and even better is when we do arty stuff outdoors, because we all love to get out in the fresh air too!
Emily, Masie, Christopher, Nat and Jay enjoy taking part in activities to improve their wellbeing and judging by some of these smiles it really does work!





Harvest Festival & World Food Day
Within 2HR this week, we have been talking about and taking responsibility for the Harvest Festival.




Students have been taking care of the display at reception and have organised the food brought in by students around school! We have discussed the significance of the festival and made decorations within Art lessons with the focus of printing
The Harvest Festival has linked nicely to World Food Day on 16th October which we have also been learning about this week. Students have recognised ways to save water and reduce food waste and created posters to promote ways we can help world hunger and appreciate the food we have!
World Mental Health Day
4MM are joining in with the whole school celebrating Mental Health Day on Friday
We will be thinking about different emotions such as Calm, Angry, Happy etc. We will looking at the characters from the film Inside Out and play games to help us remember what different emotions look like and how they make us feel
We will also be thinking about ways to help us relax and make us calm and happy. Some of us will be wearing yellow to signify the day. We are all looking forward to it

PE with Nathan!
Well now, Nathan brought us some girls football last week, so this week it’s the boys’ turn. Let’s hear how they got on…
Newcastle Foundation Boys’ Team Kicks Off Festival with Strong Performances
This week marks the start of the Newcastle Foundation competition festival for the boys, and just like our girls’ team, it’s a developing squad with plenty of promise. One of our returning players, Taylor, has been instrumental in bringing out the best in everyone. His energy and motivation have helped lift the entire team’s spirit and performance
As with the girls’ team, I’ve been emphasising to the boys that while each player has a specific position on the pitch, their individual tasks and responsibilities all contribute to the team’s overall success. Understanding and embracing these roles is key to becoming a cohesive, championship-winning team
The boys started the festival with a champion mindset, and it showed on the scoreboard — winning all but one game. Although we stumbled in the last match, I believe this team is only going to get stronger. As the players continue to sync their roles and improve their fitness, I’m confident they’ll keep winning and growing into true champions
It’s exciting to watch this group develop, and with Taylor’s leadership and the team’s determination, the future looks bright

Russell’s Class!
Russell has a brilliant Radio Group, and he wanted to give a shoutout to everyone in it! Great stuff!
All those in School Radio Group, our DJs have been recording their introductions to each song in their playlists which have a Hallowe’en and Bonfire Night theme. All our DJs have done a fantastic job!


Therapy Star of the Week
Abi! This week Abigail has done amazing work in physiotherapy sessions with Ash
In hydro, she has worked hard on cycling her legs and activelypushing off the pool wall or a staff member’s hand to develop her leg strength further!
In Bike Group Abi is continuing to develop her head control and learning to ride her Veloplus bike
Finally, this week she has even tolerated having both arm and leg gaiters on for a good stretch! This is the first time Abigail has been able to achieve this in over a year!!! Well done, Abi!!



The fabulous Abigail – Fabi Abi! Therapy STAR!!!
Andy’s Class!
51Ƶ School of Rock! Now then, you remember Andy’s new Class Band, Movers & Shakers? Course you do. Well here’s the latest update plus a video! Enjoy! Mover & Shakers! Woohoo! OK, let’s hear from Andy…
Welcome to the very first rehearsal of MOVERS & SHAKERS — our brand-new class rock band! Today we’re diving in with a powerful start, playing the iconic anthem ‘We Will Rock You.’ You can see the energy building straight away as the band finds its rhythm, with stomp-and-clap beats driving the groove. Each member is finding their place — experimenting with tempo, dynamics, and stage presence.
There’s a real sense of teamwork: listening to each other, joining in with their parts, and making music together. It’s messy, it’s exciting, and it’s the first step in what’s sure to be a great musical journey
MOVERS & SHAKERS are ready to make some noise — and they’re just getting started
Behaviour for Learning (BfL)
Aylisha and Corin have developed the BfL Team and are working on supporting our pupils all the time, in all situations. They’ve been joined by Nicola and Nat, Sarah and Andrea this year to make a really important team for the school. This week, a very interesting concept that Aylisha is explaining...
Capable Environments
What is a capable environment?
Capable Environmentswithin the context of Positive Behaviour Support (PBS)refer to settings that are intentionally designed to reduce the frequency and severity of behaviours that challenge, while enhancing the quality of life for individuals—particularly those with learning disabilities, autism, or complex needs
The BILD capable environments framework outlines 12 features divided across 4 areas and can be used within working practice. Creating a supportive and structured environment is something we prioritise every day to help our students feel safe, understood, and ready to learn

If you have any questions or queries please do not hesitate to contact the BfL Team
- holland@percyhedley.org.uk
- orr@percyhedley.org.uk
- 📞Call us:0191 216 1811

Early Years – The Ducklings!
Well, our Ducklings have entered their second year as a class in the school, and they seem to be going from strength to strength. It’s great to get these updates and pictures

Some great Ducklings work!

Preparation for Adulthood with Hannah
PfA is a key part of the School Improvement Plan. Let’s hear below what Hannah & the PfA Team have been working on – PfA is one of our very biggest priorities!
A PfA date for your diary!
Parent Carer Forum, 22ndOctober, 9.30 – 11am
As part of our PfA offer, we would like to invite parents of students from year 7 upwards to attend our first Parent Carer Forum of the year. The focus for our first meeting is ‘Planning ahead: Post 16 and Post 19 transitions’. We will be thinking about
- Planning for post-PHS
- What is available to our young people?
- How do transitions work?
- Timelines – what to think about and when?
- Who can help with transitions?
Transitions can be difficult for our students and it can be really helpful to know what the various options are for them as they move towards adulthood. This session will be led by Louise Finlay, our Careers Officer, and it’s an opportunity for you to meet and share information, discuss ideas and address any concerns in an informal, supportive environment
If you would like to speak to someone about something PfA-related, please feel free to contact
- Hannah Fuller – PfA Lead
- Eileen Robinson – Family Liaison Officer
- Louise Finlay – Careers Lead
We look forward to meeting and planning with you over the coming year
School Lunches
Unless your child is in receipt of Free School Meals or Bursary, you should ensure your iPay account is topped upbefore meals are taken. Thank you for your understanding & continued support in helping us to provide good quality, safe & nutritious meals for our children
If you have any questions or need support with your iPay account, please don’t hesitate to contact the school office

Safeguarding
Aylisha is our Safeguarding Officer, Rebecca is the DSL. Tracy and Corin round out a great DSL Team, with others involved too in many aspects of safeguarding. Let’s hear from Rebecca about training for parents & carers
This week we have been writing our training plan for our staff and governors to ensure that we have covered all area of our compulsory training across the year, as well as our contextual issues. This forms part of the safeguarding audit that we complete each year with our safeguarding partners Clennell
As part of this we have also been thinking about our training for parents and carers.We have begun to develop a section of our website which features any past training we have complete, and where we will upload any future trainings for you to come back to or look at if you cannot make the live training sessions we offer
You can access this through the website or at the below link. We will be uploading new training to this across the year
We will also be letting you know about some in person and online drop-in sessions we will be putting on, closer to Christmas, to support you with any issues around devices, security settings or support you might need with Christmas presents or devices within the home
As always, if you need any support please get in touch with the team
As ever if there is anything that the DSL Team can help with, or if you have any queries or questions at all, then please don’t hesitate to contact r.fletcher@percyhedley.org.uk or aylisha.holland@percyhedley.org.uk for anything like at all that you think is or even may be related to safeguarding
Online Safety
Online safety is a huge part of the work that we are doing within school, and our Online Safety Blog can support you with issues you may be having at home. If you need any support at all please reach out to the safeguarding team who can support or signpost you to help you may need
look into it. We know what a priority this is for many of you
We’d also like to remind families that we are ano-spray school. This means pupils and staff should not wear perfumes or aerosol body sprays, as these can cause serious allergic reactions (including anaphylaxis) for some members of our community
Roll-on deodorants and water-based sprays are absolutely fine to use
Thank you for your support in keeping our school a safe place for everyone

Attendance
Thank you for your support with attendance, an area of national scrutiny for everyone. Here’s Kelly
We are still seeing a lot of requests for family holidays coming through. Please note these will be declined. It is only in exceptional rare circumstances any such requests will be approved. Taking time out of school for holidays detracts from valuable learning time. So far since the start of term 72 hours of learning has been missed. Please ensure your child only takes holidays in authorised holiday time
If any appointments can be planned in advance as much as possible and made for outside of school hours. Understandably some cannot. An absence request form and proof are required to be submitted. Forms can be emailed, posted, or collected from the school office
Just a brief reminder about how to contact the school for reporting an absence. Parents and carers have a crucial responsibility to notify the school if their child is going to be absent. Please note this is daily for each day the child is absent. This may be via
- Note in the school diary if the absence is known in advance (e.g. medical appointment)
- A telephone call to the school officebefore 9.30on the first day of absence if the absence was unplanned (e.g. illness)
- Email to class teacher orPHSattendance@percyhedley.org.uk.addressbefore 9:30 on the day of the absence’
As always, any queries feel free to reach out – kelly.richardson@percyhedley.org.uk
Thanks for your support and partnership in this area

Parent/Carer Code of Conduct
Our Parent/Carer Code of Conduct is on the website here:Parent and Carers Area – 51Ƶ School. Most schools have these now, so please do have a read – they aren’t used very often. Thanks for your support with it – both in general terms and in most times and cases that arise every day

Friends of PHS – the FoPHS!
A huge thank you to all of the FoPHS for their time, commitment & support, with projects, ideas and all sorts. Great to have you guys on board, you’re such an important part of the school. Here’s Eileen to set it all out
FoPHS is into its 12th year since we launched as a PTA in 2013. All parents, carers and staff are members by default. The change to a Friends of was to enable us to involve extended family members and those in the community to support us
I am your Family Liaison Officer. I have worked here since 2011, am a former nurse and proud parent to a former student. I can support with non-class related matters and am here to provide a listening ear, share information and signpost you. I like to think my own journey means I see things from a parental perspective. I can support by email, telephone, TEAMS and face to face
Your FoPHS committee is
Chair Ollie Teasdale (parent)
Vice Chair Hannah Fuller (staff)
Secretary Tracy Smithson (staff)
Treasurer Ros Holden (parent)
School link Eileen Robinson (staff) – school-specific appointment
We also benefit in that our two parents are also Parent Governors for the school
We are members of Parentkind, which provides guidance and structure to ensure we operate correctly. Benefits include insurance for events, links with their partners and training for parents, carers and staff
We meet half termly; dates of this year’s meetings will be shared once confirmed but we would like to invite you to join us on Wednesday 17th September between 9.30-11.00 for our first meeting, which is also a social coffee morning
Ways in which you can help
- Join the 100 club
- Attend meetings, share suggestions
- Volunteer at events
- Donate items which may be requested throughout the year
If you would like to discuss anything related to FoPHS please get in contact with me on
e.robinson@percyhedley.org.uk or phone 0191 2161811 ext. 3260
The Friends of 51Ƶ (FoPHS) would like to thank the school community for all of your support last year. Your support has meant that we have been able to contribute to lots of exciting, enriching opportunities in school.All the money we raise goes directly to the students, and every single child and young person benefits from it.We welcome you to join us this year to help us in continuing to support our students.Until then, follow the link to find out more about the work we do.Thanks!
Stars of the Week!
That reflect our School Values!
ENGAGEMENT
Danny!
Teamwork!
LSTE star of the pathway is Danny for his amazing teamwork and engaging in morning routine. He has been able to say the right day of the week for 3 weeks now

ELTBA – 2 Fab ones this week!
Isaac!
Resilience!

Our ELBTA star of the is Isaac from 3LL/RM
During a STEM session making Bug Homes, Isaac was touching mud and leaves which he found difficult but with encouragement and some gloves he did a great job
**
Scarlett!
Resilience!
Scarlett has greatly impressed all the staff in 3HB with her resilient attitude
She is coping well with the challenges of a new class team and going to lessons in a different classroom
She is developing some lovely friendships in her class

Well done Scarlett, you’re a STAR!!!
APPROPRIATE ACCREDITATION
Ellie B!
Respect
Ellie B for helping out withthestudent interviews this week – she was fantastic! She came up with some great questions to ask and really tried to think whether each person would be a good fit for our school, including her peer intheconversation
Ellie also had an encounter with a student that previously would have dysregulated her, but she handled it so well and was really mature
Great work, Ellie – STAR!!!
POST-16!
Resilience
Faith demonstrated a very professional delivery
Harrison J has shown great resilience in returning to school and getting on with his work
Finlay C S for his positive communication and continuing effort in ELS
Teamwork
Olivia C was careful to be quiet in ‘the radio studio’ and timed her contributions perfectly using her V.O.C.A.
Matthew H provided perfect intonation during recording ‘in the radio studio’
Lucas A and Daniel G for supporting 51Ƶ in the boys’ football team
Respect
James F S has been practicing using his positive manners within the wider community
Makaton Signs of the Week with Julie!
Every Sunday Julie prepares a message for the whole school on Makaton signs that are current and relevant to the time of year. I reproduce that here so that you can do the same thing at home if that suits you – or just for you to learn a few signs each week. Hope it works for you!
Signs to support our Resilience Day on Friday 10thOctober
MentalHealthAwareness Day
Mentalhealth, okay, talk, listen, feel, yellow
Here are the signs
Please ask if you need any more signs for activities on the day
Here are The Singing Hands demonstrating signs for emotions
And their signed version of FEELING GOOD
Also – more sneaky Makaton from Julie!
Here are some useful signs for Harvest celebrations this week
Here are The Singing Hands singing and signing an Autumn song:
Here they are again with some signs for vegetables:
And here they are again with some signs for fruit:
Let me know if you need anything else
…..from John & the Team here at PHS