With half term fast approaching, I am on the lookout for information on activities which will be of interest to families. I would appreciate any help or suggestions you can offer. My contact details are at the end of this message.

I have been contacted by some parents, who asked why their children’s photos aren’t being shared. On investigation, consent for image sharing was not complete. GDPR means we must have permission. I am making contact with some to check whether this has been an oversight, and this list will be updated in the next week.

Reminder: next week is a 4 day week as Friday 27th is a staff training day.

Circus Starr: To those families attending tomorrow I hope you enjoy it. Remember that free tickets are funded by community groups to whom your feedback is important. Thanks to those who have returned tickets they were unable to use: I have managed to redistribute to others. Next year, I think priority will be given to those who were disappointed this year in order to give as many the opportunity of attending at least once in their time at PHS.

Coffee afternoon: 

I am delighted to offer a face to face social coffee afternoon to parents/carers on Wednesday 15th June from 14-15.00. For our families who joined us in the last 2 years this will be, I hope a welcome opportunity to meet with other families. I need to emphasise that the only staff member in attendance will be me and the coffee events I host are separate from the class/departmental ones. The purpose is to meet other families, meet me face to face and answer any queries you may have which are not related to your child’s progress. I would like to know how many to expect so please drop me an email and let me know if you are planning to join me. If there are parents traveling a distance who want to speak with a class team member, it may be possible to arrange it with them directly.

Information

CEA Card

The Card enables a disabled cinema guest  aged 8+ to receive a complimentary ticket for someone to go with them when they visit a participating cinema. It costs £6 per year and evidence of DLA/PIP is required. The agre is relevant as children under this age would not go to the cinema alone. The card has the child’s photo, can only be used by them but the carer does not have to be named.

The link is here

Discounts

There are various ways of reducing costs for social outings. Max cards, issued by some local authorities is one. Many places have their own policies on concessions, availability of free/reduced carer access. I always suggest looking at their website under “accessibility”.

Activities

Newcastle United Football Club: Accessibility         

Thanks to one of our parents, Heather Crozier for reminding me at our PTA meeting and on our facebook page that this information, shared back in 2018 benefitted her family. I am trying to make contact with NUFC disability access team at present.

I know that they worked with some of our students and disabled people in making St James Park more accessible. They have 2 “changing places”, a sensory room, wheelchair spaces, discount on tickets and free carer access where required. You need to be in receipt of:

DLA: Middle or high rate care component or higher rate mobility

PIP: Enhanced rate care or mobility component.

You will need to check directly with NUFC as to what evidence they require, how many seats they allocate for those with disabilities and the current cost of concession tickets. If I hear more, I will share

I attach the link to their accessibility page and think it is excellent.

https://www.nufc.co.uk/media/46024/disability-access-statement-2019.pd

Smile Through Sport.

Please see their half term activity flyer below. I have also included up to date flyers for term time clubs/activities. Please note that these sessions are now free, but donations are gratefully received. One of the sessions is here, although children need to be supported by family during activities.

Alton Towers.

I don’t know if our families visit, but saw the poster below and thought it worth sharing. I also include a link to their access page.

https://www.altontowers.com/plan-your-visit/before-you-visit/accessibility/

CJ’s Funhouse: Cramlington

The SEN sessions are Saturday mornings.

Here’s the link to their Facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/CJS-Funhouse-107043628311971

PTA

Summer Fayre

We are making great progress for an even better fayre than last year. We’ve got a funfair ride company coming along and there will be Tea cups, mini chairoplanes and maybe more. We will start collecting donations after half term for tombolas as follows: 1. Bottle. 2. Chocolate. 3. Gifts. We already have lots of toys for a toy one. We will have an on the day raffle, so prizes would be most welcome. Smile Through Sport are coming to share their information and we have lots of lovely stalls. We hope to have the Community Police, Blood bikes as we did last year. They enjoyed it and have agreed to attend again. There will be food, games and a PTA information stand.

Meetings

We had 2 meetings this week:

Sub committee Summer fayre planning

The sub committee met in person/online to look at progress. Everything seems to be going well at this stage.

PTA Meeting.

We appreciate those parents who attend/engage with us regularly. Whilst recognising the unique challenges at PHS, our success depends upon responding to family preferences. We will return to face to face meetings for the day meetings and discuss options for evening ones. Some families live quite a distance from school and with caring responsibilities it may not be practical to do face to face in the evening. However, talk to us if you have ideas.

We are looking at the potential of funding a falconry visit into school over 2 days. I will share further information once available.

Our next PTA Meeting will be an evening one: Thursday 23rd June 19.30-20.30 so save that date. Details will follow after half term

PTA Facebook page: 

The link to join the Percy Hedley School PTA page is here

Have a good weekend.

My contact details are:

Eileen Robinson; Family Liaison Officer

Telephone: 0191 2161811 ext 3260

Email: e.robinson@percyhedley.org.uk