S h r o p s h i r e C o u n c i l

A Word from the Head …

It’s been an incredibly busy start to the academic year across all our centres and

September seems a distant memory as we approach the end of term. I’ve been

delighted to spend time in each Centre observing the wide range of activities

and hard work being undertaken by our students.

I’d like to take this opportunity as we approach the end of term to thank all our parents and

carers for their ongoing support and commitment and wish you all a very happy Christmas.

Greg Portman - Head of Service

Macmillan Coffee Morning

Students across the service pulled out all the stops to raise money for Macmillan in October.

Macmillan nurses work across the community to support

people living with cancer and TMBSS have made it a

priority to raise money for this charity over the last few

years. This year was no exception, and we were able to

invite parents and carers to join us at a coffee morning

at Sundorne Centre.

It was a fantastic morning and the contribution of cakes

from staff, pupils and families was incredible. Lots of

people had been busy in the kitchen both at home and

school, creating delicious treats that everyone enjoyed. Students

served tea and coffee and there was a wonderful turnout

We are delighted to be able to announce that we raised £250 for

this worthy cause and offer our sincere

thanks to all those who attended and

to those who contributed to our selec-

tion of cakes.

Issy said, "I enjoyed greeting all

the visitors that came to our coffee

morning. I also enjoyed collecting

the money as it was all going to

charity."

December 2019

Moving Tribute to the Fallen

At 11am on November 11th, along with thousands of peo-ple across the country, TMBSS fell silent.

Students demonstrated abso-lute respect and consideration to those who have lost their lives in conflict, observing a two minutes silence and watching live tributes from the National Memorial Arbo-retum in Staffordshire.

To support their understand-ing of Remembrance day, stu-dents at Sundorne Education Centre created some artwork to proudly display in the main corridor of the centre. KS3 and Year 10 produced mixed media poppies to fill the silhouette of a world war 1 soldier.

Builders of the future...

TMBSS are always keen to allow students vocational opportunities. Experience of ‘the real world’ is hugely beneficial, alongside study-ing for GCSEs.

Students from Sundorne and Bridgnorth having been heading off to Lower

Bush Farm to learn some new skills in Construction. They were given the

brief of clearing a rabbit hutch area into a sensory garden. They had to

include raised herb beds, stone pathways, flower beds and a large decked

area to include a ramp for wheelchair access with safety rails and entrance

gate.

From 10am to 3pm the four students were given their

brief, shown the work plan and taken through the

health and safety procedures. They learnt how to han-

dle tools correctly, then measured the site and cut the

timber to the correct size. Each student dug the foot-

ings for the posts and inserted them into the ground for

concreting. The timber was drilled together to form the

base to lay the decking and posts for safety rails.

Lacey’s Legendary legs Learning Mentor Mr Lacey is known across the service for his sport-

ing activities. He is often found out and about encouraging students to engage in physi-

cal activity such as running, cycling , badminton or tennis. But on 6th October Mr

Lacey‘s legendary legs were tested to the limit. In a

challenge of his own skill and endurance, Mr Lacey

undertook the demanding 26 miles of the Chester

Marathon. Determined to finish, despite needing

medical attention part way round the route, we were

all delighted that Mr Lacey finished in a good time

and raised £600 for Severn Hospice. Well done Mr

Lacey...an inspirational effort!

Kirsty Griffin, Learning mentor at Hookagate Edu-

cation Centre, achieved the incredible feat of jump-

ing out of an aeroplane at 10,000 feet! She was

attached to an experienced skydiver and he did

have a parachute on, but an astonishing act of

bravery nonetheless.

Staff and pupils from Hookagate supported Kirsty’s

efforts by watching the event live from the air field.

They also supported the jump by sponsoring Kirsty

in her efforts to raise over £500 for the benefit of Severn Hospice. We are all

immensely proud of her.

Superstar Staff Learning

Mentor

Flying

High

School Gardening Project’s

‘Souper’ Day!

For the past three years, students at Hookagate Education Centre have been in-

volved in the School Gardening project . The campaign is part of the Royal Horticul-

tural Society’s commitment to improving the achievement and

well-being of young people through gardening. Supported by

Mrs Rudge, the students demonstrated their commitment to

using fresh, home grown produce in their own cooking by

holding a Soup Kitchen in Centre.

On the menu was carrot and parsnip soup, featuring Harry’s

home grown carrots, and red lentil. Staff and students

enjoyed the lunch together, feeding 20 people, including

the photocopying engineers who were tempted by the

delicious smells from the kitchen.

National Curry week also gave Hookagate another excuse to cook up some treats.

Pinching a recipe from Mrs William’s magazine, students made a very popular

chicken curry and served it with their very own onion bhajis and dips.

For more information about the RHS School

gardening Project and how you can get in-

volved, visit their website at

rhs.org.uk/schoolgardening

Having dominated the skyline for decades, the view of the Ironbridge Cooling Towers is

familiar to most Shropshire folk. But the huge structures have gone forever, following Friday’s

demolition. Viewing the event from a near as 350 metres and as far as a few miles, TMBSS

students will not forget the day the towers toppled. This is Joe’s account:

An Explosive December Trip

TMBSS students witnessed the end of an

era on the 6th of December, when they

watched the demolition of the iconic Cooling

Towers in Ironbridge.

Pictures

taken by

Will @

Hookagate

‘I don’t know what I was expecting, after all it isn’t every day you see four towers be-

ing blown up, except in films or games. We gathered with the onlookers and strangers

to share the experience. You could feel the tension in the air.

Rumours stirred that the siren was about to sound and it was like being in the blitz. It

was deafening as it screeched like a howling monkey. Then nothing for what seemed like

five minutes. My wrists were hurting from trying to hold the camera. A gunshot echoed

through the hills and then a big, booming bang like a giant had just stamped on the

earth. The ground shook and the four towers deflated like balloons. A red mist of dust

crept out of the ashes and wafted over the crowd, stinging our eyes.

Looking around, I could hear people chatting about how they were feeling in that mo-

ment. Some people were sad to see them go, others were just reliving the moment. If I

could describe the experience in a sentence, I would say it was thrilling and also sad

at the same time.’

Last month, several students

from the service headed of to the NEC in Birmingham for the World

Skills UK event. This is the nation’s largest experiential skills and ca-

reers event, covering the area of nine football pitches. Leading employ-

ers offer have a go experiences and talk to young people about what’s

important to them – their futures. Inde-

pendent careers advisors are also on-

hand to give 1:1 expert advice.

Matthew said " I found this very interesting experience. I collected a lot

of useful information and took it home to read over the weekend. This

has really broadened my scope for future careers. "

Students from across the service have had a busy term enjoying themselves. Not content to sit inside

all day, all centres have run trips out to encourage experience, independence and enjoyment. Here are

just a few of the visits that have taken place this term:

TMBSS Out and About!

Six Sundorne pupils from KS3, year 10 and yr11 went to PAR-TICIPATE Art Space in Shrews-bury today to experience work-ing in a professional art studio. This is a new experience for TMBSS. We had an area in among the other 15 artists in residence. Pupils received a tour of the facility, and the artist work areas.

Pupils worked really well togeth-er to produce a piece made up of 50 individual pieces. They were respectful of those work-ing with and around them and it was a fantastic experience.

Mrs Lacey

Subject Lead for Arts

‘’nto Film’ is a British edu-cational charity whose pur-pose is to put film at the heart of chil-dren and young peo-ple's educa-tion, helping to support their aca-

demic, cultural, and social devel-opment. TMBSS’s links to this charity have enabled our young people to have some fabulous cin-ema experiences.

Pupils from Hookagate took a chil-ly trip out to Raby Sawmill to choose a Christmas tree for the centre. After some discussion, we opted for a beautiful big tree that had only been cut two days before, directly from the Wrekin. With some jolly festive tunes to get us in the mood, we then decorated the tree with our well-loved collection of decorations, in preparation for the Christmas Fair.

The Christmas Fair was a huge success, raising over £200 for the charity ‘Young

Minds’.

Pupils manned the stalls, with Joe and Will being very popular on the Chocolate Tom-bola and everyone having a good laugh on Pearl and Olivia’s Play your Cards Right.

Gina sold plenty of plants and Christmas decorations and Harry and May were very

busy on the drinks and cake stall.

A huge thank you to all the family who attended and helped to make such a super

day. We appreciate all your donations. A special thank you to Mrs’s Rudge’s mum and Mrs Williams’s mum, who handmade

all the items for the craft stall.

Recycling Bottle Tops Project

Over the summer and autumn terms, students at Bridgnorth Centre collected

plastic bottle tops for a collaborative cross-curricular project.

We started this project because arguments about single-use plastic have

been littered across the media for some time now. Although much more is

being done about this, however one problem remains… plastic bottle tops.

There has been a lot of confusion about recycling caps and in 2017, the In-

ternational Coastal Cleanup reported that across the world, bottle tops were

counted as the third most collected item. So why are bottle tops even a prob-

lem? Firstly, it is difficult to recycle small lids because they are too small to

go into recycling processing machines. Lots of them don't get recycled which

can be a problem for the environment because wildlife tries to eat them and

also because they turn into microplastics.

Y9 Student, Bridgnorth Centre

Students have decided to use this 'resource' to create a piece of artwork by

arranging and gluing bottle-tops to create a tree mural. In true recycling spirit,

even the board used as a base has been obtained from Scrappies in Church

Stretton, starting life as a set of drawers. Although not quite finished, the pro-

ject is looking great and is a credit to all those involved in creating it.

Quick reminder: Mobile Phones

should not be used in lessons.

Thank you to all the parents,

carers and students who have

supported the new policy for

the benefit and safety of all

pupils.

What about in an

emergency?

If you need to contact

your child within school

hours, then you can call them at their

Education Centre on the following num-

bers and not on their mobiles:

Bridgnorth Centre: 01746 764733

Hook A Gate Centre: 01743 367369

Ludlow Centre: 01584 876129

Oswestry Centre: 01691 653134

Sundorne Centre: 01743 368190

End of term:

Friday 20th December 2019

Start of Term:

Monday 6th January 2020

PD Day:

Friday 14th February 2020

Half term:

Monday 17th February– Fri-

day 21st February 2020

End of Spring term:

Thursday 2nd April 2020

PD Day :

Friday 3rd April 2020

Students across the service engaged in activities to sup-

port Anti-Bullying Week. There was mature and thought-

ful discussion about the different types of bullying we

might experience and how we might tackle these behav-

iours as individuals and as a collective. Some students

displayed their thoughts and ideas about words of en-

couragement they could use to support each other.