Stanmore House Spring Newsletter

STANMORE HOUSE
SCHOOL
Spring 2022 Newsletter
Spring has finally arrived! We are all enjoying the
sunnier and brighter days – long may it continue.
Once again, we are nearing the end of another
term with our pupils and staff having completed a
very busy and hard-working few months. This term,
our pupils have enjoyed a variety of curriculum
success and achievements in the wider community.
As the Spring holiday approaches, we wish you all a
relaxing, safe and enjoyable Easter break.
We look forward to seeing everyone on their
return for the Summer term.
Follow Stanmore House School on our Twitter and
Facebook pages to keep up to date with what is
happening in school and to see a range of
photographs and videos showing the activities and
experiences of our learners.

BLUE CLASS NEWS
This term we have been learning all
about the rainforest and our
environment. We have carried out
science experiments including making
rainforest slime, dancing beetles and
bubble snakes. We created our own
rainforest layers and discovered all the
different animals that live in each layer.
We created our own bugs and beasties
using stones to put into our garden.
During listening time, we had a quiz to
identify the correct animal sound. As we
were learning about the rainforest, we
also thought of ways that we could help
to look after the Earth. We learned
about reducing, reusing and recycling,
and made our own games using
recyclable materials.
We also learned about healthy eating
and did some nice fruit tasting and
smelling. We collected data around the
school to see what the most popular
fruit was and created a pictogram.
We enjoyed lots of lovely community
visits including the zoo, Lanark Moor
Sensory Garden and Deep Sea World.
We have had so much fun learning all
about the environment and having lots
of sensory experiences.

PURPLE CLASS NEWS
Purple class have had an amazing time
at the fair this term! Delicious smells of
candyfloss, hamburgers and hotdogs,
yum yum. We won lots of money on the
slot machines at our fair. Counting all
our winnings was hard work but we
enjoyed seeing who had won the most.
We researched many carnival and
fairground festivals to see what it would
be like to be there. Recreating it in class
was so much fun, especially
experiencing all the games with our
friends.
We have also been learning to recognise
simple types of forces and describe their
effects while making rollercoasters and
giant marble runs. It was a lot of fun
using switch games and toys to explore
new technologies; discovering what
they can do and how they can help us.
After all the fun and challenging work
from this term, we all deserve a holiday
and wish everyone a happy Easter and
relaxing break!
Happy Easter!
From the Purple Class x

ORANGE CLASS NEWS
It has been a very busy term in Orange
Class. Our learning has been built around
seasonal themes and preparing for our trip
to Blackpool in April.
Our Tuesday college sessions are a
highlight. They provide the opportunity to
meet and engage with other young people
and enjoy learning in a different context.
We have really enjoyed our weekly
community trips. Our young people have
enjoyed outings for SQA and weekly
themed assemblies such as Learning
Through Play and World Book Day.
In February we had a storyteller working
with the school. The orange class loved
making a whole school story and are
looking forward to working with our
storyteller again next term.
We have also been busy working on Spring.
We have been following weekly Spring
themes including Chinese New Year, Shrove
Tuesday, Mardi Gras, World Book Day, St
Patrick’s Day and Mother’s Day as well as
observing the new life that is unfolding
around us. We have been making recipes,
participating in ICT games and art activities
to reinforce our learning.
Finally, we have been busy preparing and
raising money for our Blackpool trip after
Easter. We have enjoyed hosting a whole
school Cycle-a-thon and Valentine’s Day
Disco and we are now preparing our
activities and shopping supplies for
Blackpool.

LEARNING THROUGH PLAY NEWS
This term during our Learning Through
Play sessions we have been working
towards our Make Way For Play Award.
We have learned all about our peers'
hobbies and interests and through this
sharing we have discovered new things
we enjoy.
We will be working towards the
adventure part of the award next term
which will include lots of fun trips!
OUTDOOR LEARNING NEWS
This term we have kicked off our Outdoor
Learning sessions with a bang - we have
learned lots and have been putting our new
skills into practice. Our key aims for this year
are based on improving our outdoor learning
spaces for ourselves and wildlife. Using our
targets, we are working towards an
opportunity to grow with a renewed focus on
conservation as we work towards our John
Muir Awards.
We are coming to the end of our learning
focus about owls and will be installing our owl
boxes soon. This is one of the ways we are
making our school grounds more biodiverse.
We have also started our potting beds and
look forward to seeing some of our hard work
spring up from root. We are looking forward
to seeing exciting new sights and sounds of
Spring appear and to make the most of the
grounds we are so lucky to have at Stanmore.

PE NEWS
This term in PE we have been learning
all about athletics. We have been
working on movement and throwing
activities such as relay races.
Working as part of a team, and
individually, we have had lots of fun
competing against our peers.
After the Easter break, we will be
moving forward onto more throwing
activities such as discus and javelin.
We can't wait to have some more fun
competitions.
PUPIL COUNCIL NEWS
This term the Pupil Council have helped to
create our new school menu by carrying out
research about everyone’s favourite foods.
Thinking about health and wellbeing, the
Pupil Council carried out a school-life
questionnaire with all of the young people in
their classes. We analysed this and thought
of ways that we could improve our school
environment.
In order to celebrate the fantastic hard work
that goes on around the school, the Pupil
Council chose to give out certificates at
assembly each week which reflect our
school values. They also organised a
celebration of learning and awarded
certificates, medals and trophies to their
peers to acknowledge their hard work and
achievements.

OTHER NEWS
MESS Performance
Our learners were completely captivated
by the MESS production performed by
Tenterhooks - visual artist (Fergus Dunnet)
and two theatre clowns (Suzie Ferguson
and Diane Thornton). The show was nonverbal,
funny, musical and sensory. Our
young people had such an engaging and
fun experience.
Scottish Book Trust – Live Literature
Residency
We were absolutely delighted this session
to find out that our application for the
fully funded Live Literature Author
Residency had been approved by the
Scottish Book Trust. This session we have
had the privilege of working with
storyteller Jackie Ross to develop our
young people’s literacy and
communication skills, as well as their love
for literacy.
Our young people have participated in six
workshops with Jackie. They have enjoyed
listening to wonderful stories, creating
some stories of their own and learning a
little bit of Doric along the way. Our staff
team have not been left out either as we
have been treated to two training sessions
with our resident author (a few hidden
talents have been discovered)!
We are all looking forward to Jackie’s
return next session to deliver the final six
fun filled workshops.