Community Activities

Please see below details of groups and activities at Gorse Hill studios, including Tuesday and Saturday challenge specifically for young people with SEND. Use the links below for more information and to book on:

Monday 

INDRA Multi Arts Club 11-25's- 16:00-17:30

Tuesday 

Art Club 7-11's- 16:00-17:30

Tuesday Challenge for 11-25's- 19:00-21:00

Wednesday 

Dance Club 7-11's- 16:00-17:00

Thursday 

Art Club 12-16's- 16:00-17:30

GHS Music Project 13-18's- 17:00-19:00

Friday

Youth Theatre 9-16's- 16:00-17:30

Saturday

Saturday Challenge 11-25's 10:00-12:30

Message from the Headteacher – May 2021

Throughout this half term we have seen life gradually returning to ‘normal’. It is great to have almost all of our students back in school and they are certainly enjoying all of the learning opportunities they are experiencing.

We have continued to encourage outdoor learning, with a particular drive on physical activity. Not only does being outdoors limit the risk of the spread of infection, but being active supports our students with their mental and physical health. It has been lovely to see students engaging in forest schools, animal care, farm shop, bikes and horticulture in school as well as accessing sports activities in the community and horticulture at the local allotments. It’s just a shame the weather has been so grim!

Today we said farewell to our lovely cleaner Veronica. As an octogenarian she decided it was finally time to hang up her dusters. We gave her a great send off and wish her all the best in her retirement – she will be sadly missed.

As you will all be aware we have a number of animals in school and college including chickens, quails, rabbits and a tortoise. Our students love working with the animals and they support, amongst other things, engagement, communication, taking responsibility and work experience. After the holidays we will also have a school and college dog. She is a labradoodle puppy called Thea and she will be joining the school team after the holidays. Thea will be trained to work with students in school and college starting with initial familiarisation in the summer term, building up to small group sessions through the autumn and next spring. She will be fully working from aged 12-18months. We have a team of staff in school and college who will be trained to support her. We have a risk assessment and dog policy in place but please let us know if your child has a phobia, allergy or has been violent with animals before. This is an opt out procedure at this stage and will be included on out permissions agreement from September.

Finally just a word about track and trace. If your son/daughter tests positive for Covid over the weekend, please let us know so that we can carry out track and trace for contacts in school and college. After the bank holiday weekend we do not need to carry out track and trace but would be grateful if you could let us know. Please contact by class dojo or email me on jlomas@brentwood.trafford.sch.uk.

I would like to thank everyone once again for their support.      

Have a great holiday – let’s hope the sun shines!

Jude

Information from Unlimited Potential:

If you live in Trafford, have a disability and are under the age of 25, you can get your hands on a free activity pack to see you through to Christmas! Sign up to become a Winter Warrior here: https://bit.ly/WinterWarriorsTribe

Thanks to Access Sport and Nova Sports for this great initiative.

National Autistic Society

Please find some information below from the National Autistic Society:

"I wanted to let you know about a free online event organised by a mother of a child with autism, Florencia Djoe, keen to raise awareness and provide advice and support to parents and caregivers of children with an ASC.
She has interviewed several expert speakers, researchers and parents, sharing their experiences and advice on supporting children with Autism."

The online event is mainly aimed at parents and education practitioners and is running from today until November 8th, with a different interview being released each day on a different topic.

All you need to do is register on the link below and you'll receive a daily email with a link to the interviews. I have included the running order, topics and speakers below for your information:

https://thechildwithautism.com/luhe

SPEAKER RUNNING ORDER, DATE and TOPIC
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day 1. Oct. 19. Dr. Stephen Shore: Develop Connection with Your Child Interest
Day 2. Oct. 20. Nancy Amar : Communication through Connection
Day 3. Oct. 21. Kay Toomey : Helping the Child with an ASD to Eat Better
Day 4. Oct. 22. Barbara Avilla: Parents are the Specialist for Their Own Child
Day 5. Oct. 23. Matteo Musso: I Found My Voice
Day 6. Oct. 24. Amanda Alvarez: Learning Through Play
Day 7. Oct. 25. Deborah DiMare: Design Interior for Autism
Day 8. Oct. 26. Dr. Neil Margolis: Visual Skills and Autism: Can You Notice What You See?
Day 9. Oct. 27. Dr. Darin Ingels: Diet, Immune and Detox for Children with Autism
Day 10. Oct. 28. Susan Larkin, PhD.: Creating Social Story for Your Child
Day 11. Oct. 29. Roberta Scherf: The Power of 5 minutes of CALM
Day 12. Oct. 30. Dr. James Adams: Nutritional and Microbiome Treatments for Autism
Day 13. Oct. 31. Sue DeCaro: Mindfulness in everyday moments
Day 14. Nov. 1. Tony DeBlois: Manifesting My Life Through Music
Day 15. Nov. 2. Katie Cook, M.Ed. BCBA: Be Your Child's Most Valuable Teacher
Day 16. Nov. 3. Temple Grandin: Explore, Develop and Broaden Child’s Interest
Day 17. Nov. 4. Dr. Robert Melillo: What is actually happening in the brain?
Day 18. Nov. 5. Becky Miksic: End Picky Eating
Day 19. Nov. 6. Anna Wang: How Community Can Support and Empower Your Child and Family
Day 20. Nov. 7. Henry Dunn: Music Therapy Perspectives on Childhood Autism
Day 21. Nov. 8. Lucy Healy: How to Create a Study Area for Your Child

Trafford Directory has lots of useful information about local support during this time as well as information about maintaining your well-being and some links to activities your children may enjoy.

https://www.trafforddirectory.co.uk/kb5/trafford/fsd/advice.page?id=6TzAFXlfQtI 

Department of Education update:

Information for parents and carers about the closure of schools and other educational settings following the outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19).

This useful publication from the Department of Education answers some frequently asked questions about the closure of educational settings:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/closure-of-educational-settings-information-for-parents-and-carers/closure-of-educational-settings-information-for-parents-and-carers 

A list of helpful resources:

• National Autistic Society – guidance and helpline for parents’, young people and staff: https://www.autism.org.uk/services/nas-schools/vanguard/news/2020/march/coronavirus-(covid-19)-advice.aspx

• Mencap - Easy Read guide to Coronavirus: https://www.mencap.org.uk/sites/default/files/2020-03/Information%20about%20Coronavirus%20ER%20SS2.pdf

• Place2Be – Guide to helping parents answer questions from their children and to support family wellbeing: https://www.place2be.org.uk/about-us/news-and-blogs/2020/march/coronavirus-information-for-children/

• Young Minds - Talking to your child about Coronavirus and 10 tips from their Parents Helpline to support family wellbeing: https://youngminds.org.uk/blog/talking-to-your-child-about-coronavirus/

• Carers UK - Guidance for carers: https://www.carersuk.org/help-and-advice/health/looking-after-your-health/coronavirus-covid-19

• Covibook – an interactive resource designed to support and reassure children aged 7 and under, designed to help children explain and draw the emotions that they might be experiencing during the pandemic: https://www.mindheart.co/descargables

• Amaze - information pack for parents https://amazesussex.org.uk/faqs-about-the-coronavirus-for-parent-carers-of-children-with-send-brighton-hove/

• Public Health England have produced an easy read version of their Advice on the coronavirus for places of education.  You can download it here.

Trafford Local Hubs

Please find below some information about the local hubs to support families:

http://www.trafford.gov.uk/residents/community/partnerships-and-communities/Coronavirus-Covid-19-Trafford-Community-Response.aspx

There are 5 community hubs across Trafford which are up and running to support people through the COVID-19 outbreak. They are located in Altrincham, Gorse Hill, Partington, Sale and Urmston but anyone needing local support must be directed through the dedicated helpline to avoid overcrowding at hub venues: the dedicated helpline 0300 3309073

The Centres are available to those living in the area who are self isolating or vulnerable and are being run by volunteers from across Trafford. They have been set up and coordinated by Trafford Council, Trafford Housing Trust, Thrive, Trafford Stronger Communities Board and other local community groups who were already helping to support local residents when social distancing measures were first put in place.

For activities your child maybe interested in at home, please see the Student Zone section

Go Kids Go! Free Wheelchair Skills Event in Manchester

Manchester Art Gallery Open Doors Event: 20th July

Team Karting - Autism Friendly