Latest News
What has been going on at Dawn House...
-
Men of Few Words are the Best Men
Mon 29 Nov 2021We have celebrated Shakespeare’s Schools this week. Students from KS4 and 5 produced a short film at the end of the Summer as part of this yearly event. Andy Metcalfe wrote and directed the film and the actors were just amazing. The actors were ‘interviewed’ by a visitor to school last week and gave some great insights about what they had gained from the experience. One proud DHS moment!
You can watch Henry V at Shakespeare Schools Film Festival.
Coram Shakespeare Schools Festival (CSSF) is a cultural education charity that exists to instil curiosity and empathy, aspiration and self-esteem, literacy and teamwork - giving young people the confidence to see that all the world is their stage. The Foundation's Shakespeare Schools Festival is the world's largest youth drama festival.
Join CSSF at 7pm on Thursday 2nd December for the big Festival celebration. Tune in to find out which clip from our film is being showcased, hear some messages from some famous faces, and celebrate with other Festival schools.
Best of the Fest will be screened on the Film Festival website. Do share the link with friends and family so they can appreciate how marvellous the pupils have been.
-
Sherwood Forest Past and Future Project
Mon 29 Nov 2021Inspire Culture, Learning and Libraries is a proud delivery partner on a fantastic scheme called Miner2Major: The Real Sherwood Forest. The scheme will encourage local people and community groups to get involved in projects aimed at exploring, celebrating and conserving Nottinghamshire’s heritage.
David 'Stickman' Higgins visited the school to deliver workshops with a focus on Sherwood Forest past and future and how the students fit into the landscape and history. The project ran over two days and will lead to a collective art installation which will be displayed at the Old Library in Mansfield. The installation will include other local schools ideas and work and will comprise of music, photography, art and poetry.
-
Spoken Language in the Spotlight
Mon 29 Nov 2021On 24th November 2021, pupils put down their pens to take part in No Pens Day Wednesday; a national speaking and listening event organised by I CAN.
All learning and assessment took place through speaking and listening, rather than writing and all lessons and activities focused on speaking and understanding skills rather than writing or using a computer keyboard.
Jenny McConnell, Principal said:
"We believe that speech, language, and communication skills underpin everything and directly affect our pupils’ life chances and for this reason we have been delighted to take part in No Pens Day Wednesday. This is something which we take part in each year. This fantastic event focuses on spoken language and listening activities and we have seen pupils, teachers and therapists taking part in debating, maths games, story-telling and outdoor movement activities.”
Carol Payne, I CAN interim Chief Executive, said:
"Huge thanks go to all the pupils, staff and parents at Dawn House School for taking part in No Pens Day Wednesday. Developing speaking and understanding skills are fundamental for learning to read and write, managing emotions, developing friendships and are vital when entering further education or employment. Following long periods away from classroom learning due to Covid-19, we are calling on early years, primary, secondary schools, colleges and families to get involved with their own No Pens Day Wednesday by putting down their pens, getting creative in the classroom and speaking up for spoken language!”
For more information, visit www.ican.org.uk/no-pens-day-wednesday
To listen to Jenny's interview on BBC Radio Nottingham visit the link below and fast forward to 23.20.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0b1jptm
-
Lions Make a Difference
Mon 15 Nov 2021The local Edwinstowe and The Dukeries Lions Club were more than happy to help support Dawn House School when we approached them recently.
Below are members of the club presenting a range of items from our Amazon wish list to Jenny McConnell, Principal and pupils. The Lions members stayed to find out more about the school and enjoy refreshments as a thank you for their kindness. This is the start of a ongoing partnership with more plans afoot.
Lions Clubs International British Isles has more volunteers in more places than any other service organisation. The Lions step forward to tackle local community challenges wherever they occur. To find out more visit Lions Clubs International | British Isles.
-
Celebrating OT Week
Mon 15 Nov 2021Dawn House School have had a great week celebrating occupational therapy through engaging in a range of self-regulating activities:
Mindfulness Monday - class body scan
Zones of Regulation Tuesday - creating a visual zones of regulation classroom board
Work it Wednesday - A movement-based game
Thinking Thursday - Sharing and drawing green activities
Feet up Friday - Mindfulness colouring
It has been fantastic to see students sharing with their peers their sensory preferences in the classroom, relaxing together whilst engaging in a body scan and hearing discussions about what activities in and out of school support them to feel green/just right.
It is a pleasure to share with you feedback about OT from some of our students:
“Everything about OT makes me feel green.”
“Doing OT makes me happy, and I love squashing.”
“Going on the swing in the sensory integration room makes me feel green.”
“I am enjoying learning about how my body is going to change when I am a grown-up.”
-
Winter Sports Day
Mon 08 Nov 2021Our first winter sports day was a resounding success! A big thank you goes to Mr Rose and his team for a very well organised and enjoyable day and for arranging for the sun to shine! Children (and staff) enjoyed the egg and spoon race, running competitions, an obstacle course and tin can alley amongst other activities. There was such a lovely atmosphere around school today, I wish we could bottle it!
Congratulations go to all of those who took part and supported the day, hopefully you will get to see your children’s medals later. The day was also linked to our house system, with Pine being the overall winners today- they take the cup for this Sports Day! We all agreed that a winter sports day is something that we would love to again next year. Thank you also for all of the parents who were able to join us. It was so lovely to see everyone and have parents here again.
The Friends of Dawn House also came up trumps with a tombola, a gift stall and raffle ticket stall (don’t worry, raffle tickets will continue to be on sale for the rest of this term) and 6th form ran a DVD sale. Thank you for your support of this event- so far we have raised almost £200!
-
Collaboration Training for Dawn House School Staff
Thu 04 Nov 2021Andrea Robinson (Head of Therapy and Assessment Service and Heather Benjamin (Head of 6th Form and School SENCo) delivered twilight training to the whole school team on Tuesday evening 2nd November.
Collaborative practice underpins all planning and preparations for our pupils, and we wanted to reinforce the principles behind this as we enter a time of fewer bubbles, less isolation and less working from home.
Staff engaged in all discussions and solutions but were particularly active during their collaborative tower building exercise! We discovered many qualities in the room and could see the different strengths and interactions as groups worked together to achieve an outcome.
Excellent work!
-
DLD Awareness Day
Mon 01 Nov 202115 October 2021 was DLD Awareness Day, an annual event to raise awareness of Developmental Language Disorder which affects 2 children in every average primary school class of 30.
I CAN will be shared free DLD resources for educators and parents.
-
Meet Gary
Mon 01 Nov 2021In the last week of this half term, the students from the Animal Care and Veterinary Science had a much welcomed visitor. Meet Gary the giant African snail.
-
Fundraising During November and December
Mon 01 Nov 2021This term, staff across school will be working hard to raise funds to support the positive experience of pupils in school.
Christmas cards - We look forward to seeing the children's creations again this year, following the great response from last year. Please use the order form sent home to place your orders.
Winter Sports Day on Friday 5th November - The Bonfire Night Themed Lunch includes hot dogs, spicy wedges, mushy peas and a toffee muffin. If you would like to order a lunch for yourself, please pre-book and pay for a meal on ParentMail - cost £3. We will not be able to take orders on the day, as we need to prepare in advance. Any parents booking a meal can collect a meal token from the Reception/School Business Office on the day.
The Bags for Schools collection is booked in for Thursday 18th November. We would be grateful for any donations of men's, ladies and children's clothing, paired shoes, handbags and bedding. Please send/bring them into school. Remember "The more they weigh, the more they pay."
Christmas raffle tickets will be on sale priced at £1.00. We have some great prizes include a cordless Makita drill, a Radley tote bag and wine. The raffle will be drawn on Friday 17th December 2021. If you would like to donate a raffle prize or would like to make us aware of a company that might donate one, then please do get in touch.
Other ways that you can support Dawn House include making a purchase from our Amazon Wishlist www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/254DMG1FZMRMY?ref_=wl_share
Buying Christmas presents on Amazon? Next time you do, make sure that you visit smile.amazon.co.uk and select 'ICANCharity' as your preferred charity. Amazon will donate 0.5% of the net purchase price to us, at no additional cost to you - easy!
Looking for a stocking filler? Why not Purchase a Lottery Ticket from the Robin Hood Lottery.
Page 1 of 1