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Miss Pidjie's School of Sensible

43 replies

purplepidjin · 04/02/2011 00:11

Following on from another thread, www.mumsnet.com/Talk/special_needs/1139648-Ooops-made-the-TA-cry, I would be prepared to be Headteacher of a Free School with a curriculum loosely based on the following

"If I ran a school, it'd be full of happy kids who could tie their own ties and shoe laces, budget for and cook for a family of four for a week, change a lightbulb and put up shelves, do martial arts in PE, and sew on buttons/mend rips in clothes. Times tables would be taught for 10 minutes a week, and handwriting would be based on legibility not what some cartoon book says, and geography would involve maps. Science would cover the best way to get your house and clothes clean; IT would be how to not get groomed on facebook; and RE would be replaced with "how to be a good friend and human being"

The government would shut me down in hours."

I already have enough parents who want to send their kids, but need people with the necessary skills to do set up, source funding etc.

Anybody up for a challenge??

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purplepidjin · 07/02/2011 10:17

Staff:
Head Teacher - Purple Pidjin
Deputy Head - Lollipop Violet?
Teaching Assistant - vacant

Governors:
Chief - IndigoBell
Legal - Benito
Financial - vacant

Parents:
Benito - 2 DS
Moosemama -
Newlife -
Signandsmile -
Intothewest -
auntevil - 3DC

I think we're doing quite well so far!

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IndigoBell · 07/02/2011 10:25

Can everyone who is interested Message me with their

  • email address
  • age of children who possibly might come
  • permission to share their email address, first name, and children's details with the other people who are interested (or be clear that I don't have permission to do that Grin )
  • anything else that might be relevant.

Then I will start an email chain about it....

benito · 07/02/2011 10:36

I know a local tutor (trained teacher) who helps DS once a week. She might be interested too.

There is a very good disability equality/inclusion argument for such a school. I have done lots of background research into that angle!

purplepidjin · 07/02/2011 11:02

I have to go into work this afternoon to cover, but can get on it tomorrow if needed.

What info about curriculum aims and policies are needed? Off the top of my head we'll need:
Health and Safety
Safe-guarding
Anti-Bullying
Something about how we'll meet the 5 ECM outcomes
Equal opportunities (staff and pupil)

Also, I'd like to think that a group of children could help make, serve and clear away lunch each day (take turns) in the 11-12:30 slot. Does anyone know if there's a precedent for this? And would it even be possible to get the risk down to a manageable level? Hmm

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benito · 07/02/2011 11:05

Equality policy - Equality Act oobligations
Inclusion Policy

benito · 07/02/2011 11:08

SEN policy

I can draft those from precedents but it will take me a week or so as I would want to use the precedents but expand them to be really core documents.

intothewest · 07/02/2011 11:19

child protection policy
intimate care policy
safeguarding policy
ds is in SS ,but I guess most of the policies are the same- If I come across any more,I'll post them

Purple- the idea of home cooked food is a great idea- I know of it happening in schools post 16,but I don't know about younger-though saying that my ds does cooking at school and they eat what they've made- that is probably with 1:1 help-

IndigoBell · 07/02/2011 11:21

I don't think we need to deal with this stuff quite yet.

Here's all the info about what we have to do:

Free Schools

New Schools Network

Montessori schools get the children involved with the practical side of stuff as much as possible. There'll be no problem getting them to serve and clear away, but might be a problem with them making it...

(Also we might have loads of unusual diets to cater for...)

intothewest · 07/02/2011 11:32

yep,my ds veggie to start with ..... I guess first it's a case of stating EXACTLY what the aims and objectives are (Reading from the link)

purplepidjin · 07/02/2011 11:38

Ok, I won't worry about policies yet then Grin

For food, I was thinking of stuff like colour-themed veggie soup, hand-decorated pizza, jacket potatoes with fillings...

Red pepper and sweet potato soup on "red" day.

Spinach and pea soup on "green" day.

Yellow pepper and onion soup on "yellow" day.

Peppers can be cut with a blunt knife, stick blender used under supervision, cheese grater ditto, ready-made pizza bases (or bread machine - lots of weighing practice) mixing tuna and mayo up... Hot things and sharp things to be done by staff or Y5-6 pupils. Sandwiches/wraps/pitta breads as a daily option for those who won't eat certain colours Wink and lots of plastic gloves for hygiene and sensory issues Grin

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silverfrog · 07/02/2011 11:43

dpeending obviouly on how many children you end up with, and what facilities, and what age range, etc etc, what they do at dd1's school might work for meal times.

you would need to stagger, just for logistics.

but dd1 mkaes her lunch each day, sets her place and tidies upafter.

so, I send in her food - whether a sandwich (I just send the bread plain, she makes the sandwich) or a "hot" meal - either to be cooked (if frozen, bung in microwave) or partly cooked to be heated (eg spag bol, all done, needs heating up).

this take scare of the diet aspect - I know what she is beign fed. and she gets to practice cooking/odd bit of stirrign/chopping etc. she lays her place out (placemat, cutlery) and that of her tutor. and other pupil if they are eating at the same time. she clears her plate (scraps in bin), and puts in in the sink for washingup. a couple of times a week it is her turn to do the washing up as part of her daily living skills. wipes table, etc.

I think you could get htis working for eg 5/6 children at a time, within a routine, so you would need ot stagger "cooking" time into 3/4 groups (depending on numbe rof chidlren), but as this is minimal as it is more about heating up, then it shouldn't be too hard.

I don't find it that hard to send food for dd1 - leftovers form what we have the night before, batch cook and freeze etc - you adapt to what oyu know. I would find it harder to put together a lunchbox day after day, I htink, and certainly more stressful to not be in control of what she is eating (even something as little as eating a different type of raisins can have an impact on dd1, both bowel wise and behaviour wise), so I don't think that asig parents ot send in food would be that much of an issue necessarily.

Good luck with this - I am fairly heavily involved in policies and steering the curriculum at dd1's school, so if you need anythign, please ask.

purplepidjin · 07/02/2011 11:52

Thank you, Silver, that's brilliant Grin and would definitely work from a day student point of view. If we were to have a couple of four-night boarders, I'm sure we could work it into the daily routine too Hmm

I'm a big advocate of batch-cooking too, so could maybe make it a weekly afternoon activity for older ones then younger ones do the defrosting stirring and serving, or make krispie cakes and crumbles for pudding...

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silverfrog · 07/02/2011 12:04

I htink something you might need ot be wary of, is how much time things like daily living skills can eat up.

I love the fact that dd1's school addresses this (it is a SN school, very small, completely individual curriculum fo reach pupil as full time 1:! teaching), but we (dh &I) did get a bit concerned late last year when it appeared that dd1 was not necessarily being stretched as much as she could be, seemingly because so much time was being spent on living skills.

it is a very hard balance to find.

I am not, of course, saying don't include them. but do try ot remeber (and I think this is more relevant if you are aiming ofr a MS school) that it is, at the end of the day, a school. lovely though it is for dd1 to have lots of practice at these daily skills (and fantastic for me Grin - she is a great hlp around the home!), what I really, really want form her school is o address her academic learning. I can teach her to wipe a table - we have plenty of opportunity for that.

same for cooking meals. we do that at home too. and I think you will find that the pupils oyu get will be form families who take a good interest in "home" life.

I think it is fantastic that dd1 gets to practice these skills in another setting (generalisation being an issue at times in ASD), but overall, I would rather she could read than was comfortable cooking. and I would rather she can tell the time than be excellent at washing up (however easy that makes my life!)

and cooking form scrtch, of the type you are meaning, takes time. everyhitng take s3 times as long anyway when working with children, and teaching them, so eg I knock up a spag bol in 30 mins. that would easily be an hour if chidlren are heavily involved in prep, cooking and clearing. that is a lot out of curriculum time to have it as a regular thing.

intothewest · 07/02/2011 12:04

Purple,I have sent you a PM

purplepidjin · 07/02/2011 12:16

Silver, thanks for the input. I'm hoping to be able to work it so we do a minimum of 1 hour per day on literacy and numeracy. Then, depending on need, an hour and a half on something more practical - whether this is cooking lunch for everyone, making towers out of lego, sewing, woodwork etc. A YR or 1 child may be able to make a row of 20 blocks and count them in this time. A Y5 or 6 child may be able to count how many blocks are in a hollow square, then use that to work out how many you'd need to make a house... Also the lesson would change everyday, so an individual would have a day where it's there turn to prepare lunch, a day where they do construction work, a day where they do art and craft, a day where they do some music etc

Then in the afternoon, extension activities. History, science, geography, IT, etc. Also, time for therapies - rebounder, music, physio etc. And lots of physical sporting activities for those who need to burn off energy Grin (DP's ears pricked up at the mention of football etc) but changed every day. That way, the ASD routine can be stuck to - Tuesday is PE day for example - but lots of different activities offered. So, for a child with ASD and ADHD, physical stuff would be available before school, at break, lunchtime and all aftenoon at least once a week if not more. Does that make sense???

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purplepidjin · 08/02/2011 17:36

Bump!

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IndigoBell · 11/02/2011 12:11

Last bump. Having some phone calls this weekend. Anybody interested please PM me.

purplepidjin · 12/02/2011 21:20

It was lovely to chat to you today, Indigo! On the phone for nearly an hour Blush

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