veclife summer 2014

7/21/2019 VecLife Summer 2014

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P.T.O.

09

Issue

2014

JulyVEC

Achieving Through Believing

lifeOur Termly Newsletter for Parents, Patrons and Supporters

Inside This Issue

News In Brief Thank you to all that tookpart in the Easter Raffle. Weaised £145.

The little knitted EasterPeople & Bunnies (thanks toGill) raised £147.50.

All monies

raised are goingo assist with the cost of

students equipment.

Merlin's Magic Wand,bringing the Magic to theChildren and their staff gethe opportunity to nominate

a charitable project to bethemed’. We were asked tosubmit a short film and sadlywe were second to Poolehospital children’s ward but

his has fallen through andnow they are coming back tohelp us. It is a NationalAward and they want toheme our new pool’s

changing rooms. Update toollow.

Thank you to everyone whosupported class KB duringheir work experience on

Wednesday and Thursday.They took £162 of which

£116 was profit. The moneys going towards a mixer ona stand for the food techoom which students will be

able to operate with annfra-red switch.

Thank you to all that helped

make the Sponsored Walk at

Poole Park on Monday 23rd

une a success. An amazing

£1016.83 was raised for the

Friends of Victoria Appeal.

In Class CN Danielle and Sam lookedat green issues while Ryan compiled arota for emptying the recycling bin,others read sets of instructions formaking a bug box and are part waythrough putting it together. They are also

going to make bird feeders.

Meanwhile in Class KWE Global

Warming was the topic. They had Joelas the earth holding a globe and putblankets on him to represent thedifferent types of pollution, Joel leteveryone know that all the blanketsmade him, the earth, hot! Then theyhelped add more to the ‘recycled’ pirateship. They also thought about howgrowing your own courgettes is betterthan buying them from a supermarketand identified that shipping from Spainand wrapping in plastic counted asadding to two of the types of pollutionthat was causing Global warming. After

Victoria learned in June that we havebeen awarded the prestigious eco schoolssilver award. Our eco committee has beenworking hard over the last two yearspromoting green issues and raisingawareness of the responsibility we all

have towards our planet. We have held a“switch off fortnight” for electricalequipment, placed a number of recyclingbins around VEC so everyone is recyclinglike crazy, and classes have been activelyinvolved in growing a range of plants andvegetables as well as fundraising acrossthe school for the Woodland Trust andWater Aid. Well done to Jen Williams andthe Victoria Eco Committee for your hardwork. On 20th of May we held Green Dayat Victoria. Activities with a green theme

were planned by our students who hadfun while looking at ways we can livemore in tune with our environment.Class JW looked at their tadpoles asthey’ve grown legs, then some went out inthe grounds to identify plants and animalsand some explored scented plants. Laterthey crushed recycling – lots of fun. Theyalso helped paint a sail for the fabulousrecycled pirate ship. Explorers planted some plants and

crushed recycling. Class JO looked athow ice melts and made some ice boatsmade from recycled shells and lolly sticks.

News 1 - 10 The Staff Room 11Resi Round-up 14

The Sports Report 16-17Body Language 18Mark’s Enviro-Blog 19Apps Amazing 20Classroom News 21-27

28 Page

Bumper Summer Edition



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VECLife Summer 2 14

all this they then planted some seeds. SpeechTherapist Sarah Gilling played a super happyfamilies type game with recycling – each studenthad to ask for a certain type of recyclablematerial from other students until they had afamily of cans/cardboard/plastic bottle etc.

Finally they had a switch off moment at the endof the day and listened to a story called Tom’sTree about a boy who planted a tree seed andhad to wait until he was an adult with his own sonto see the tree he imagined when he planted it. To round off an eventful day the students atHorticulture very kindly made planters forstudents to use in education. They alsopresented us with a big bag of gardening toolsand seeds. We hope that classes can grow their

VEC Management Structure ChangesThere are a number of changes being made inthe way Victoria is managed and as most willbe aware Chris Davies is stepping down frombeing VEC’s Principal at the end of this termbut will continue as Hub Manager for the SouthWest. When Chris was appointed eleven yearsago VEC was a residential special school withcare, therapy and horticulture making up the‘Centre’. Since we registered the caredepartment as a 52 week Children’s Home thelegal responsibility for running the Home isnow the responsibility of the Registered

Manager Paula Bates and the Post 19Residential Unit is the responsibility of EmmaWhiting. As a consequence Livability hasdecided that the requirement for a directreplacement of the post of Principal is nolonger required. Instead the Trustees haveappointed Simon Brown as Headteachersupported by Angus and Kate as AssistantHeadteachers and Sue Stratis who manages

support services. Mr Brown’s team will workalongside the two Registered Managers andHead of Therapy and Nursing Ceri Vosper.

By Angus Collins Assistant Principal

ForewordWelcome to the summer edition of VECs Life.Where has the year gone? I have been at Victoriafor six years now and I have no idea where all thetime has gone. I think the time seems todisappear for two reasons. Firstly, the fantasticstudents. The students never cease to amaze mewith their enthusiasm, commitment andeagerness to be involved in everything. Secondly,the dedicated staff who always go the extra mileto support the students. The students and thestaff create a wonderful atmosphere at Victoriamaking it such a great place to work and time justseems to disappear. Anyway, I have gone off the point, which is sounlike me! There have been so many events thathave happened in the Summer Term that will be

featured in this edition. The Vibe Radio andipad launch, the family BBQ, the student led‘Taster Festival’, the Work Experience Weekand Sports Week as well as many class tripsand events. At the time of writing there arepreparations underway by all the teams for

Sports Day and everyone is getting veryexcited and also slightly nervous about whatthe PE department have in store for us thisyear. Also congratulations to the Eco SchoolsCommittee on their wonderful achievement ofthe Silver Eco Award.Please enjoy this edition and I hope everyonehas a relaxing and safe holiday. Take care!

JW cultivating green fingers

own seeds and plant them in the planters. It willbe wonderful for our students to watch themgrow and harvest our own vegetables. ClassJW went down to thank Horticulture, thechildren got stuck in straight away, having a

lovely time digging and Alfie planted a tomatoplant.



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VIBE Radio and iPad initiative official Launch

Nick declares VIBE open

VECLife Summer 2 14

demand service. The big launch got underwaywith much fanfare as the iPad treasure hunt andthe guided tours of the station got under way.There was a prize draw to win a DJ’ing slot onVIBE and parents and guests were alsoinvited to try out the latest sensory apps in use atVictoria. Former student Nick Farmer who hascome to prominence recently with a song he haswritten and recorded with his Brother In Law wasguest of honour. After a countdown the ribbon

was cut and VIBE was officially opened.Scrumptious burgers and hotdogs were providedby Stuart and the BBQ team while Jane ablyhandled the plant and cake stalls. The eveningwas very enjoyable and was a milestone inVictoria’s efforts in new technology and inclusivebroadcasting.

DJ’s Harry and George

On top of Parents evening and BBQ with amini Fayre thrown in July 10th was also theofficial launch of Victoria’s very own radiostation VIBE (VIBE stands for VictoriaInclusive Broadcasting Enterprise) and theculmination of last years drive to provide andiPad for each classroom. The “Apple forTeacher” iPad appeal started last January andover the following eleven months nearly£9,000 was raised. The money came in frommany great fund raising ideas put together byStaff, Parents, Friends and Students fromcake sales, book sales, sweet sales,sponsored events and everything in between.

From the total raised we purchased 18 iPadsand cases, an Apple file server and a syncand charge trolley to store them in. Sinceacquiring the equipment we have made greatstrides implementing into our studentseveryday educational lives.VIBE Radio started out as the brainchild ofmusic tech wizard Mike Whitlock. After muchconsultation funding was secured by thenbusiness manager Gary Ayles for the radiostation equipment and the media suite

computers. A room was found and decoratedand then the boxes started to be delivered. After some excellent training with NigelVernon-Dyer from Clyde Broadcast VIBEradio was born. Students George Rogers,Harry Bassett and James Wheeler soon madeit their own and with tremendous input fromBeth Kay, Mike Whitlock and the one and onlyTony Rudd we took our first steps into theworld of radio. VIBE currently broadcasts dailyon the school intranet and has its very own on

The VIBE and iPad Stand



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AFC Bournemouth’s Steve Fletcher and SteveCuss visited us on April 29th to chat to studentsand present a cheque for £2000. AFCB legendSteve Fletcher needs no introduction with 121

goals in 728 appearances in a cherries careerspanning 18 seasons. Steve Cuss is the Headof the AFC Bournemouth Community SportsTrust. We were very kindly chosen to receivethe funds to make big accessibilityimprovements to our pet’s corner. The moneywill be used to landscape the existing areaand provide better facilities allowingstudents safer access and make a properfeature of this resource. After a whistle-stop tourof the school the guys mingled with studentswho had plenty of questions considering this is AFC Bournemouth’s most successful seasonever. The guys then consented to an interview

Cherries Stars Visit VEC

by students Ebony, Liam and Tom on VIBEradio, Victoria’s own radio station. We would liketo say a huge thank you to both Steve’s and allthe good people of AFC Bournemouth for thesemuch needed funds.

Up, up and Away On a very sunny day in June six of our studentshad the fantastic opportunity of not only taking tothe skies but actually taking the controls of aplane and flying. Accompanied by some equally

intrepid staff they set off bright and early on thetrip to Blackbushe airport which is on the borderof Hampshire and Surrey. After checking in thestudents attended a pre-flight briefing where thedynamics of flight were explained and they weregiven the basics on the cockpit instrumentation.The day was hosted by Aerobility a registeredcharity founded in 1993 offering disabled people,without exception, the opportunity to fly anaeroplane. Some of the wheelchair usingstudents needed extra help in getting onto the

plane and this was provided by a special hoist.Once in, the students buckled up and were ready

to go. They took to it amazingly well andthoroughly enjoyed the experience. WatchingEbony banking the plane over the Readingfootball stadium was unforgettable. For their verygenerous help in making this special daypossible we must thank our friends atColes-Miller Solicitors, Parkstone Golf Club and ofcourse Aerobility for their true professionalism.

Captain Amar ready for action

The Students were thrilled to meet the two Steve’s

VECLife Summer 2 14



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VECLife Summer 2 14

DJ Harry Widens AudienceVictoria student and VIBE Radio DJ Harry Bassett is nowreaching a far wider audience with his radio shows. Around15,000! Working with VIBE stalwart Tony Rudd, Harry has beenbusy recording shows for broadcast on the Mill internet radio

station broadcasting from The Isle of Man. When asked byVECLife about this exciting new opportunity Harry said about theshow “It’s more nerve wracking recording the show not knowingany of the people listening in but it’s good fun. It’s also muchdifferent than broadcasting in school as you know that anyonecan tune in”. Harry has been asked to contribute a show tobroadcast every Friday night from 7 to 8. Tony helped fix thingsup with Mill radio after contributing his own shows over the lastfive years. Tony says ” I asked them if they would be interestedin hosting any of the VIBE radio programmes that we make. Isent them a file of Harry doing his Breakfast Show and they

were impressed”. The Mill is an internet radio station so log on tolisten to Harry!

DJ Harry, coming to a

computer near you!

‘Pets @ VEC’ has been totally transformed overthe last term. Despite our bid for Guardian ‘Schoolwe’d like’ competition being unsuccessful we werevery pleased to see our plans become a realitythanks to some very kind donations and somevery helpful volunteers!

Over the last half term holiday a team ofvolunteers, led by Nationwide and our ownHorticulture department, took on the challenge oftransforming our ‘Pets @ VEC’ area. A wheelchair accessible path now runs throughthe grass area (which has all been re-turfed) toenable students to gain closer access to the pets.The shed has had a lick of paint and has somerather cute rabbits painted on the outside and therabbits’ new outdoor enclosure is proving verypopular. The volunteers and Horticulture departmentcreated a fenced area where the rabbits can runand enjoy much more freedom than they werepreviously able to. ‘This One’ and ‘That One’ (ourschool rabbits) were unavailable for comment butcertainly seem to enjoy their new enclosure –particularly the tunnel which they like to use tohide from the staff trying to put them away at theend of the day! (Incidentally this is also thestudents’ favourite time as they seem to find it

very amusing as the staff run around in circlestrying to catch the rabbits!) A huge thank you goes out to all of those whomade this possible – AFC Bournemouth who

donated funds to help out with the work andNationwide, Horticulture and all of the othervolunteers for their hard work.

In other news we continue to work closely withGraham Elliott of Canine Partners. Orbit, thegolden retriever who previously visited theschool as part of his training, is now fully trainedand has been working in Edinburgh as anassistance dog for 3 months. Graham now has a new puppy called Hannah(a very cute black Labrador puppy!) and we

have all enjoyed getting to know her as shestarts out on her training. Her first visit wasaged just 11 weeks and so it has been lovely forus all to see her progress from the early stagesand hopefully see her reach her potential as afully trained assistance dog.Graham and Hannah regularly join us forachievement assemblies, break times as wellas the Grand Prix and they hope to join us forSports day too. Their visits help Hannah toexperience different environments but are also

a fantastic chance for us to all see the works ofCanine Partners – and the fact that Hannah is avery cute and friendly puppy is a lovely bonus!

By Amy Hunt

Pets@VEC News



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VIBE on Demand and Playground V2

VECLife Summer 2 14

On the 14th June a team from RaymondBrown Construction namely Mark Kettle whoseSon George attends Victoria, Chris Williams,Pete Williamson and his wife Tara, Kieren

Hush, Steve Whitfield and Martin Rendell setout on their attempt to climb Ben Nevis, ScafellPike and Snowdon, the three highest peaks inScotland, England and Wales including all thedriving in between in less than 24 hours! Andall in the name of Victoria. I’m very pleased toreport that their endeavour ended in success.The team raised an amazing £1,600.

Mark Kettle: “Our team pulled off the toughestmental and physical challenge of their lives to

complete the National Three Peaks, climbingBen Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon and allthe driving in between in under 24 hours withthe team all safely down in 23½ hours. As well

as driving us on an incredible 1,400 mile journey, our drivers each climbed one of theperilous peaks, giving us new foundmotivation, inner strength and resolve.

Our team have been touched by people’sgenerosity, giving what they can to raise muchneeded funds for the Victoria Education Centre(VEC) in Poole, providing specialised, highquality care and therapy for young disabledpeople, so thank you to all those who havedonated so far to refurbish VEC’s caravan atRockley Park”.

Everyone at VEC is astounded by theirachievement and generosity. And these muchappreciated funds will make a huge differenceto the lives of our students. Thank You!

Team Raymond Brown Construction

Three Peaks Triumph

This month a brand new intranet radio ondemand and students intranet have beenlaunched. Playground V2 has been streamlinedand rebuilt from the ground up to bring studentsthe content they like more efficiently. The site willalso be easier to maintain. Playground V2 incorporates VIBE on Demand a brand newservice to bring students and staff programmes,features and much more when they want to hearit. Available shows are student Harry Bassett’sFull English Breakfast Show, George Roger’s

Friday Freak-Out and James Wheeler’s Wheeler

Fortune show. Resi Radio have a spot as doesTony with his crazy edits and there is a also a

brilliant on demand story resource for classTeachers. Content is updated on a weeklybasis. As well as a photo gallery andtimetables the students can now showcasetheir talents on the intranet.

An exciting new service for staff and students



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Pete Does Us Proud Congratulations to Pete Sammons who ran hisfirst London Marathon on the 13th April. Petecame in to Victoria on the 19th March for aninterview on VIBE radio to tell us how hispreparations were going in the run up to the race.On the big day conditions were perfect, sunny butcool so things were looking good from the start.He was seen at the eleven and again at the twentymile marks looking comfortable and smiling for thespectators, finally running into the Mall for the last

few meters with family and friends cheering fromthe side-lines. Pete clocked an amazing 3 hours31 minutes. At the last count Pete raised abrilliant £2000 for Livability/Victoria. Not onlywould we like to express our massive thanks toPete for his wonderful achievement but also tothose that supported him. I understand fromCarol, Pete’s Mum that he would also like to thankBathsheba the masseur, at the Livabilityreception after the race. Pete has been back toVictoria for a follow up interview on VIBE and told

us of his experiences on the day. You can hearthe whole fascinating interview on Victoria’sYouTube channel.

Pete post race with medal.

Makers Inc. Westbourne

Some of the

Wonderful craft

on offer.

Victoria Craft Goes On Sale Makers Inc, a new shop in Westbourne offeringcraft, shopping and a great coffee shop have verykindly given us a shelf for free on their premises.Victoria students have been busy making art andcrafts during lessons to sell there. We’ve beengiven a shelf for free; it’s displayed on the right asyou go through the main door which is a greatposition. With their guidance we priced up productsat half -term and money from sales will come back tous. Craft makers can rent shelves at Makers Inc tosell their items and they also run craft workshops inthe evenings for the local community. You can findthem at 42 Poole Road in Westbourne. Makers Incalso offer homemade food, organic, fair -trade andlocal produce are child friendly with a free

considered play area. They regularly hold eventsand parties and there is FREE WIFI. You can alsovisit them on Facebook here:https://www.facebook.com/MakersInc/timeline



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The Post 16 Events Management Class held asports taster festival on the 4

th July. The students

set up and organised a whole range of events forall levels of ability to come and enjoy. The eventwas organised to help them attain a level twopass in event planning. The day was off timetableand once again the sun shone brightly as Sambamusic filled the air as the event had a Braziliantheme. Live music was provided by Kerry Laws,Sean Gallagher (The Sonny and Cher of Victoria)and a lovely performance by Rachel Stroud.

Sports taster sessions took place includingwheelchair hockey and Boccia while giant Jengaand Ker Plunk games were a hit outside.

Sensory games, giant board games and muchmore besides made it a memorable day.

The day was a huge success and as always notpossible without our fantastic staff. Top honoursfor the day have to go to the Post 16 students fororganising a huge well done to Charley Baker,Liam Drummond, Spencer Owens, Alex Elliott,Patrick Asher Relf, Harry Bassett, Jude Wardell-

Victoria’s fantasy football season drew to aclose in May and what a season it’s was!

Mirroring the premier league for drama, threeteams were in contention for the staff title rightup until the last day. The student’s competitionwas equally exciting with six students vying forthe title over the last month. In third place AmarChidziva scored 1171 points for “Amar’s VictoriaTeam”. In Second place Jacob Whitehousescored 1177 points with “Rollercoaster Rovers”

with only six points between them. Overallchampion for the students was the “goody TwoShoes” team managed by Connor Ferris.

Connor scored a total of 1232 points. In the staffleague Gary Hicks with his “Flaming Galahs”team came third with 1324 points falling justthree points short of second which was held byMatt McLean and his “McDirty FC” team on1327 points. Manager of the season was

Kate Baldwin who scored 1367 points with the

“Kate may have had some help” team. Thewinner of the wooden spoon award for coming120

th out of 120

teams was Sean Mogg with

“Smashers Ununited”. A special thanks must be

said to Angus Collins, chairman of the Victorialeague, for all his efforts in organising the fun.Roll on next season!

Fantasy League winners L-R Amar Chidziva, Kate Baldwin

Connor Ferris, Sean Mogg and Jacob Whitehouse.

Sweet Taster Success for Posties VECLife Summer 2 14

And now for the football results…..

knights, Jordan Woodward, Ramon Hansford,Kieran Collins, Abi Punchard and Ben Povey.They all put so much effort into planning. Thanksalso have to go to Aaron Gregory for his amazingsupport.



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Day 1Victoria Sports Week kicked off today and to get the ballrolling we held a sponsored walk in Poole Park. Eachstudent was sponsored by family and friends and waschallenged to complete a mile for Victoria which meantthree laps around the cricket pitch. The students andstaff did amazingly well with special commendations toSpencer Owens, Callie Dibblin and Ebony Robinson.The weather was fantastic throughout with warm

sunshine but a nice breeze picked up in the afternoon totake the edge off. A distance of 120 miles was coveredby the students and staff which is the equivalent of

walking to Luton! Well done to all involved, students andstaff alike. More sports week updates to follow.

VECLife Summer 2 14

Sports Week ‘14 as it Happened This years Victoria Sports week took place between 23rd and

26th June and was the best yet. From our sponsored walk in

Poole Park through an amazing Victoriair Day to the glory that

is our dance off the staff and students had a wail of time. Read

our as it happened sports week blog….

Day two of Victoria sports week was Victoriair day! Ourgood friends from Aerobility brought in a fantastic flightsimulator which the students loved getting to grips with,

then this afternoon it was the great Victoriair flyingcompetition. Classes were challenged to build a plane oftheir own and then test fly it in front of our distinguishedguests for points and a chance to win the Victoriair trophy.We had our very own custom built aerodrome completewith customs, baggage cars, air hostesses and runway. I’lllet the photos do the talking but it was a close run thingwith Class PT winning the day. Thanks to all who helpedset up this fun day, thanks to Aerobility and a specialthanks to Tom Jackson.

Day 2

Day 3 As Victoria’s Sports Week moves onapace, today was our eagerly anticipatedGrand Prix Day. Again we have been solucky with the weather this year and theSun smiled down on us and the £2 Millionworth of mean machines we had visiting. As you will see from the photos a widerange of motor vehicles attended includingthe Bat mobile! The students enjoyedsitting in the driving seat and revving theengines while the staff dreamed about

£605.33 was raised on the big day

Martin or Martina?



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VECLife Summer 2 14

shedding their jalopies and owning a Ferrari.One day! Anyway the serious business beganafter lunch when this year’s races started inearnest at around 1.30pm. Tony once againprovided his excellent commentary fresh fromthe VIBE radio studio’s where he broadcast a

Grand Prix special with work experience visitorand ex-student Maxine Moore. The spectators,some of whom are big friends of Victoria,cheered the students on while enjoying icecream cones. She won’t like me mentioning itbut it was also staff member Trish Turle’sbirthday! The results are just in and the winnerof this years propelled race was Sam Bird withBen Bridges zooming home first in the self -propelled category. Another fantastic day withmany people to thank, so thank you to Coles-

Miller for supplying the trophy and banners, theParkstone Golf Club Members for trusting uswith their cars, Hughes International for loaningus their awesome motors and Can Am forbringing some legendary American models withthem. Finally all our thanks to the PE crew andespecially Martin Cook and Paula Allcroft fororganising.

Day 4

Sadly it’s the last day today of our action packedsports week and the closing ceremony is takingplace as I type. Today we had our GoldenGoggles swimming gala held for the very firsttime in our new pool which has proven to beevery bit as brilliant as we’d hoped. After somevery hard fought races the Golden Goggles thisyear went to Class JW. Meanwhile in the sportshall a full Boccia tournament was held. Again, thestandard was high and closely run but three

champions emerged, Jude Wardell-Knights,

Jacob Whitehouse and Kieran Collins. The dayculminated in the great Victoria dance-off wherestudents and staff alike can let their hair down totry and win the coveted dance-off trophy. Wordhas just reached me that the winner this year wasthe awesome Abbie Graham!It’s been an amazing sports week and Mondayseems a long time ago now. On behalf of theschool thank-you to all those that have made it so

good for us this year. From staff to organisationsto friends, parents and more besides. Thank you.

Some amazing cars attended including the

Bat mobile

Swimming, Boccia and Dance Phew!



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And also…..

Emma Whiting has been appointedfor the post of Registered Managerfor our Post 19 Unit. Our gratefulthanks to Dee Parsons our interim

manager for putting so much timeand effort in developing the unit aswell as managing Talbot Manor andShaftesbury Court.

We are delighted to welcome andintroduce the new members of theresidential Team. The new Regis-tered Manager of the Children’s

Home is Paula Bates. Paula is aqualified Social Worker with manyyears’ experience of managing residentialhomes in the local authority and in independentschools. You can read Paula’s introduction inthe “Residential Round-Up section on page 12.

VECLife Summer 2 14

SaLT are very pleased to

Welcome Emily Oram to theirteam. You May have met Emilyalready as she has been

volunteering for a few months andhas regularly helped at lunch

times in Carmel and in the signing groups.Emily will be working in SaLT on

Wednesdays and Fridays.

Comings and Goings

Weddings Galore!Wonderful nuptial news to start the staff room thisissue with no less than three staff membersgetting married on the same day!Liz Barton from Class JO is tying the knot withGraham at the Guildhall in Poole. The happy

couple are honeymooning in Egypt. Also gettinghitched on the 19th is Nurse HollieWenden-Gipson. Hollie and beau Nigel arehaving a vintage themed wedding and aremarrying at the Trinity Methodist Church inSouthbourne. Because of work commitments thecouple have no honeymoon planned as yet butwill get away as time permits. Would you believeresi staffer Chelsea Cobb is also getting marriedon the 19th. Chelsea is getting married at AllSaints Church Branksome to Toby. They have just

purchased a new home so no plans to get away.On behalf of all of your colleagues and of coursethe students we wish all three of you a fabulouswedding day and many happy years ahead.

We would also like to welcome Bei Yu andLeonie Jones who are new Bank staff and alsoOwen Robinson our new domestic assistant.Terry White also returns to the fold in Post 19.

Sadly leaving us to concentrate on being a

Mum is Natalie Harden while finally leavingafter many years we say farewell to Kay Willis.Media Teacher Beth Kay also leaves us tostart a course on interior design as well asTeacher Joanne O’Neil. Beverley Morris isleaving her role in the PE dept. Good luck andthanks one and all for your sterling service.

This interesting photo has found its way to VECLifeTowers and I thought it would make a greatcompetition for you to try and guess who it is.

Study carefully make your guess and turn to the backpage where the answer lies.

Staff Photo Guess Who????



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Variety the Children’s Charity together with staffat Victoria Education Centre invited 14youngsters who came from all over Dorset,Hampshire and Wiltshire to help celebrate the17th birthday of their friend Liam Drummondresident at Victoria Education Centre. The

youngsters were treated to Paintballing and thenWheelchair Hockey in the afternoon.Ramon Hansford was the winner of thePaintballing and was presented with a specialprize of a cup by Paintballing expert SimonBarnett who also officiated and supplied all theitems needed with his compliments to make theevent such an exciting and unforgettable time forall who attended. The youngsters then played wheelchair hockey inthe afternoon, finishing with fish and chips

compliments of Chez Fred in Westbourne.

Liam’s Birthday Shoot-Out

Hot Shot Ramon collects his trophy

Shiver Me Timbers It’s Harry Paye Day!

Last year Sam Bird attended Harry Paye Day

on a trip out. We met and chatted to lots ofPirates. In the Summer activity days we had aPirate themed day so Sam used his MyTobii tosend an invitation to come and join us. FourPiratesanswered the call and we had a great day. Wewere thrilled when this year the Pirates choseus as one of their charities of the year. Theyalso attended our Spring Fayre and onSaturday 21st June we attended Harry PayeDay. It was a lovely day and the Sun shone

throughout. We had a friends of VEC stall witha game and a name the teddy competition.Captain Jax Parrow had cut out somehardboard Galleons and several of the studentsdecorated these, mounted them on their chairsand joined us in the parade representing theschool.Callie’s “Pink Galleon” drew lots of attention asdid the “Gleaming Bogey” (Sam’s ship). Afterthe parade there was a fancy dress competitionand many other stalls, games and activities tolook at and do. The Jubilee training ship

By Paula Allcroft

Tenacious was berthed alongside the Quay andsome people were lucky enough to have a lookaround. The day was a fantastic success andapproximately 10,000 people visited the Quayduring the day. We don’t know the final total yetbut monies raised from this and other Pirateevents during the year will be split three wayswith the lucky recipients being Victoria, Diverse

Abilities and Lewis Manning at the end of theyear.

Student Pirates during the parade



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Just to let you know that within the next three years your child’s Statement of Special Needs willbe transferred on to an Education, Health and Care Plan from September 1

st this year, in line with

the new Children's and Families Bill, and in relation to the information we have been sharing withyou. Our local authorities of Poole, Bournemouth and Dorset have been working together on howthey will be implementing these changes and we shall keep you updated. We would also like your

feedback on how we can improve out Parent Support Service and ideas to me would be most

welcome. I hope you enjoy your Summer holidays!

PPG Update By Nicky Greenway

Hello, some of you may already know me as I

used to be the Deputy Manager for the children’shome. I have recently changed roles and am nowthe specialist transitions officer for 19-25. I ambased up in Post 19 where I manage the Person-al assistants and I also support the service usersto move on supported living/another residentialsetting/start college placements etc. I have been speaking to service users about newactivities and work experience that they wouldlike to try in the future and hope to start thesevery soon. Here are some of the activities they

already take part in:

Radio station, Swimming, Cooking & Life skills, Verwood day centre, Church group, Horticulture

Tuesday Club, Music sessions, TherapyProgrammes.

Transitions By Vicki Goldsmith

Each timetable of activities is different for eachindividual and based around their interests andhobbies.

The ‘Teenager 2 Adult’ transition event isfor parent, carers and young people aged13-25 with additional needs or disabilitiesliving in the county of Dorset. The event isdesigned to help these young people andtheir parents, carers understand what liesahead as they move into adulthood. It willinclude representatives from the full rangeof Post-16 providers and Children's &Adult's Services

AFC Bournmouth (BH77AF) Wed 8th

October 11am -6pmKingston Maurward College (DT28PY) Wed15th October 11am -6pm

If you would like more information on our Post

19 services please don’t hesitate to contact me

[email protected]

The Eco-Committee have been celebrating! As you have been reading on the front page

Victoria has been awarded the Silver EcoSchools award. Everyone has been workingvery hard all year towards this and we arelooking forward to the new term when we willbe working towards the big green award. Wesadly have to say goodbye to Alec Ross andKayleigh Willcox who are leaving at the end ofterm. Good luck to them both and welcome tonew eco warriors Sheila Marsh, Jana Henleyand former teacher Julie Cox. We hopeeveryone had fun on green day making

recycled Pirate ships then crushing all the leftovers in our crushing challenge. A big thankyou to everyone for their great efforts in

stepping up their recycling efforts and saving

energy in our switch it off fortnight. We hope tocontinue the good work and make VictoriaSchool an even greener place.

By Lisa Frett

Good luck and thanks to Alec and Kayleigh

Eco Update



14

By Julie Greening

Residential Round-up

VECLife Summer 2 14

With Paula Bates

Hi! I am the new registered manager for VictoriaChildren’s Home. My name is Paula Bates, I am aqualified Social Worker with many years’

experience of managing residential homes in the

local authority and in independent schools. It’s greatto be at Victoria and I have lots of ideas and plans tobrighten up the accommodation and make the

experience of staying here fun and comfortable.

The first step has been to give the Children’s Homea separate identity to Victoria Education Centre - not

terribly different but we will now be known as VictoriaChildren’s Home. The next stage will be

redecoration and renewing some of the old furniture.

I aim to involve the residents in choosinghow things look where possible and will workclosely with the excellent staff team to makeliving or staying at Victoria a great

experience.

If you would like to come and have a lookaround or have a chat please feel free tocontact me.

Purbeck Unit News

We have had a good term on Purbeck and are

looking forward to our unit trip out to Longleat SafariPark in July . Philip is especially anticipating this

visit, checking out what animals we will see.

We will be sad to see Ramon leave us but are

excited for him as he sets out on a new adventure inhis new flat. We are having a BBQ on the beach tomark this occasion along with others from Brownseawho will be leaving us.

Liam is thrilled at having a brand new electric chairand he and Ramon have enjoyed competing insports activities again this term.

Ben ,Philip and George have continued exploringcooking on a Tuesday night and love the VIBE radio

club.

The unit staff have enjoyed working with this all boygroup and some more than others have been

following the world cup tournament with its highs andlows.

Tell him George! Liam makes a grab

for the cake mix

Ben in the mixThe Purbeck Crew



15

By Ewelina Jankowska

A Few of the Brownsea students went sailing onthe Spirit of Scott Bader yacht to celebrateJessica’s 18th and Holly’s 19th Birthdays.Sailing across Isle of Wight was an amazingexperience for both students and staff.

Jessica

absolutely loved the water and wavesMotion and had a fantastic time chilling on thedeck of the boat. James took over steering andbecame our captain and during the breaks fromsteering he was working out how to pull his life jacket . Holly had an amazing time sightseeingSPECTACULAR PANORAMIC views of

VECLife Summer 2 14

Brownsea Birthday Treat

Portsmouth and of course she was very busychatting to good looking crew members.We all had fab time and after two weeks of windyand rainy weather we have been spoilt by MrSun.

The students and I would like to say a Big“Thank You!” to Frances Cornelius and Varietywho kindly covered our cruise fee and we alsowould like to say thank you to Gemma Brownwho ensured we reached our destination safelyand on time and Holly Wenden for looking afterthe students medical needs and wellbeing whileon the boat.

Now it’s time for an apology which goes to GaryHicks for not telling him in advance that we weretaking the bus to Portsmouth ….Sorry Gary. Youdid a great job, and the students had funwatching you checking and cleaning the bus infast motion.

Jess enjoys the sunshine

James at the helm

The Sailing Team

The students had a fantastic day



16

VECLife Summer 2 14

D.O.E. Silver News

Report

The

With Katherine Birtwell

Gala SuccessThis year the swimming gala was held at the newpool at Thomas Hardye. It was a great new pool

and there was lots of competition. We took Kieran,Connor, Torin, Jake, Spencer, Amar, Alex, Joanneand Charlotte. They all competed in differentswimming races and also relays. They did reallywell and they all won a medal. Also

congratulations to Kieran as he got a gold medal.

Boccia Nationals

On the 28th March we took Ramon, Liam, Alex

and Abbie to the Boccia National in Worcester forthe weekend. The standard for the Nationals this

year was outstanding. Ramon, Liam and Abbie all did really well against tough opponents. Alex made the quarter final which was a greatachievement. They all gained lots of experienceand knowledge from this event.

Regional Table CricketThis year’s regional took place at Exeter Universitywhich was a great venue to hold this event. Therewere 3 teams in our group - Queen ElizabethSchool, Ellen Tinkham and St Luke’s. We took

Ramon, Liam, Robert, Spencer, Dan, George and Alex to compete for a place in the Nationals. Thefirst two games they played were Ellen Tinkhamand St Luke’s they played really well and scoredover 300 runs. The last game, which was a mustwin game was against Queen Elizabeth Schooland we played amazing as a team and the encour-agement within the team was outstanding. Theywon all three games and that means they have

qualified for the National Table Cricket finals atLords cricket ground at the end of June.

Athletics in YeovilOn 13

th May we took Kieran, Spencer, Scott, Tom,

Kevin, Dave, Charlotte and Alex to the regional

athletics in Yeovil. The weather was amazing.There were lots of events in track and field. The

students were all enthusiastic with the events they

were competing in and they encouraged eachother in the different events. The athletes that gothrough from the regionals go to compete in the

Nationals in July. On your marks!

From17th to the 19th June we took Spencer,Patrick, Charley, Alex, Kieran, Dan andGemma on their expedition for their SilverDuke of Edinburgh. They started at Hamworthyand canoed to Wareham which was a great

achievement. They set up camp and put theirtent up. The second day they went on a trekaround Wareham forest where they navigatedthemselves around. The third and final daythey had to canoe back but there was a slightproblem the river didn’t have any water in asthe tide was too low. So they went back toHamworthy and canoed along the beach.

Our successful cricketers



17

The Next Generation Speaks

National Table Cricket Finals

Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Award

VECLife Summer 2 14

Drama at VEC

Curtain Call

By Nicky Hewitt

A new voice speaks out

We took James, Ben, Michael, Tom, Charles andEbony to the New Forest for their expedition forBronze Duke of Edinburgh. On day one there was ahike around the New Forest where they had to

navigate themselves to the campsite, their camp for

the evening. They did really well, but they had totake a detour as the path was closed due to an

unsafe bridge. They saw a snake going past whilstthey were having their lunch. It was a great

experience for them all and they really enjoyedcooking and camping in a tent. The next day theydid some more hiking and then they had their lunchand came back to school. New Forest Trek

A great story to finish this educational year andthis edition of Sports News. It was that time ofyear when our table cricket team makes the tripto Lords Cricket Ground for the National TableCricket Finals. The team this year was

Spencer, George, Robert, Harry, Dan, Nathanand Ray the team coach. They had 4 games toplay to reach the final. The whole team were

eager to get to the final. The team won all thegames in the group stage, where their fieldingwas amazing. The final was against Ralph

Thoresby; they played really well as a teamand batted a score of 270. The final score wasRalph Thoresby 213 and Victoria 270. This isVEC’s10

th year for winning the National trophy

for Table Cricket.Champions!

Our group of poets did a superb performanceon 10

th June, showcasing their fantastic poems.

There were individual performances and lots ofgroup collaboration too.The content of the poems was powerful andreally expressed the future ambitions of thestudents, and the obstacles that stand in theway of achieving those dreams.

The next step for some of the poets, is a visit tothe Houses of Parliament in September, to tellthe Government just what we think!!



18

Performance and Dance at VEC With Belinda Ellicott

ody Language

This year’s Creative Arts Week linked to ourthemes of Festivals and Celebrations tying inalso with our recent links with the Harry Payefestival. This meant there were plenty of pirategoings-on including baking ships’ biscuits, flagprinting, treasure hunts and to cap it all a classchallenge to build a galleon. The week also sawour own mini festival in a day VECStock wherethere were live musicians, including Si Genarofrom The Voice and poetry all day, plusrelaxation areas, a DJ booth and craft anddesign activities as well as an Eco area forstudents to visit at their leisure. The weekfinished with a celebration of our students’talents and the amazing showcase that is VEC’sGot Talent. We had a panel of guest judgesand the final winner was Daniel Standhaft withhis fantastic performance of Walking in the Air.

Creative Arts Festivals and Celebrations

As part of their Arts Award, being an audience,Class PT went to an art exhibition at The

Lighthouse, Poole that was all based around thecircus. There were pictures hanging from the

ceiling that showed trapeze artists and acrobatsand graffiti based on circles and rings. There wasalso a chalkboard challenging visitors to draw a

perfect circle that the students really enjoyed trying.

Another trip that tied in with the “being an

audience” theme Class ACO attended a

performance of Let it Be at the Mayflower

Theatre. The show featured the music of The

Beatles from their early days right through the eras

and had our students dancing in their seats.

Arts Award News

Dan and Mike with their winning performance

Katie enjoying the exhibition

“Being an audience”: Students from Class PT and ACO on Arts Award duties.

VECLife Summer 2 14



19

Shiva Project film crew at VictoriaOn the 10th of June 2014 a Dutch film crew travelledfrom the Netherlands to VEC to make a short film aboutthe Shiva project. The Shiva project was a 4 year EUproject which VEC had been involved in withBournemouth University, Lille University and theHopale Foundation. The project came to an end inJanuary 2014. The film crew filmed two VEC pupils –Sam and James using the Shiva software. Thesoftware allows pupils to create 3D models on a com-puter which can then be printed using the schools 3Dprinter. Both pupils enjoyed taking part and being ‘filmstars’! The film will be used primarily to promote EUprojects and will indirectly promote VEC.

X-Box Kinect EvolvedThe Kinect is usually used with a Microsoft Xbox360 or Xbox One for gaming or exercise activi-

ties.

The ‘player’ is able to control what happens inthe game by moving limbs, jumping etc. without theneed for a controller of any kind. The problem thatI have found is that nearly all of the games availa-ble require the user to be in a standing position i.e.if you are using it from a seated position it will notwork at all, or will be inaccurate or limited. For the past 6 months I have been learning abouthow the Kinect works and how to write computerprograms for the Kinect so that it can work with aPC and for people who are seated.

By Mark Moseley

Jude at the helm of a Galleon

Michael takes a spacewalk

Lights. Camera…

One of the programs that I have developed allowsthe Kinect to be used to create a similar effect tothe ‘green-screen’ effect used in many so-called‘CGI’ films. This is where the actor acts in a roomthat is completely green while being filmed. Afterwards, the ‘green’ parts are replaced with acomputer generated background, to make theactor look as if they are e.g. in space as was thecase in the film ‘Gravity’ which reliedheavily on this technique. Using the Kinect, I havebeen able to recreate this effect. I am able to

select a background image and then thestudent is able to see themselves superimposedover this image on a screen. This is all done live(in real-time) so that the pupil is able to positionthemselves where they want to within theimage. I can then take a snapshot of them.

I’m hoping to develop more programs, so pleasewatch this space! Please let me know if you haveany ideas for how the Kinect could be used.

The VEC Enviro-Blog

VECLife Summer 2 14



20

VECLife Summer 2 14

Apps Amazing!Your Guide To The Latest Apps With Special Needs In Mind Visual Memory Clouds

Tap

Clouds tap, developed by DS Effects is an easy tounderstand app that not only works on developing memory butalso sequences. Numbers appear on clouds which the user has

to recall and sequence. Compatible with iPhone, iPad andiPod Touch.

Circles memory testPrice: Free

Available from App Store

Circles memory test from Appogeum.com Limited is a verysimple game where white circles appear on a black backgroundand the user has to identify which circle is new by tapping it.This sounds very easy but becomes increasingly difficult aseach level progresses. It can get a little repetitive but it is a

very good observational challenge. Compatible with iPhone,iPad and iPod Touch.

Monster HuntPrice: Free


This is a great app and is published by innovative mobile apps. A fun and simple memory improvement game for all ageswhere the object is to remember where the monsters are. Acombination of simplicity, creativity and addictive gameplaymakes this one of the most enjoyable memory games availa-ble. You can play on your own or with your friends and you

can tailor the visual elements to any ability. Compatible withiPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

LumosityPrice: Free


One for the older students and adults this app by LumosLabs,inc Lumosity is designed by neuroscientists to trainmemory, attention, and more. With foundations in the studyof neuroplasticity! Lumosity games help improve workingcore cognitive abilities according to several researchstudies. There are various games included and in apppurchases are offered.

Compatible with iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch.

Memory 2Price: Free


Memory is a game of memory skills, designed for the entirefamily and suitable for people of all ages. It is inspired by thepopular game of pairs where the player requires concentration

and memory. Compatible with iPhone, iPad and iPodTouch.

Visual memory is the ability to recall informationthat has been presented visually; for immediaterecall (4-5 seconds) all of the details of a visualitem and being able to find this from a selection ofitems. This involves being able to hold a mental picture ofa sequence of letters, numbers, words, objects,shapes etc. Problems in this area may meandifficulties with remembering the correct sequencesof letters which make up words or sentences.

A child with difficulties with visual memory maymisread words, have difficulties copying from the

board, learning letters and numbers. They may alsohave difficulties following instructions and locatingitems. Sequential memory of order of letters inwords and order of words in sequences areimportant for reading and spelling. App developerswere very quick off the mark designing apps to helpdevelop visual memory and to support children withproblems in this area. In this edition of VECLife welook at 5 recommended apps in no particular orderthat reinforce the development of visual memory.

I hope you find these visual memory apps useful. Finally in this edition of Apps Amazing I must tellyou about another excellent App I have recentlycome across. Euan’s Guide is the Disabled Access Review website and app for disabledpeople and their friends and families. How do you find a venue with good disabledaccess? Are you looking for an accessible place tovisit?

Check out Euan’s Guide for lots of ideas includingcinemas, bars, sports grounds, stations and many

more...You can review all the venues listed on the app orreview new places that you’d like to recommend toothers.

Euan’s Guide Price: Free


Compatibility: Requires iOS 5.0 orlater. Compatible with iPhone, iPad, andiPod touch. This app is optimized foriPhone 5.



21

By Gill Tuttiett

All the info From Explorers to Post 16!

J O J W

CN N H

J A

K B E x p l o r e r s

K W E

P o s t 1 6

AC O

P T

M H Clas

sroom

Catch up

VECLife Summer 2 14

Ooh Arr! Explorers Visit The Farm

On Friday 6th June Explorers went to Long down

dairy Farm. Terry drove the mini bus. She’s a verygood driver. The day was rather hot, so we all woresun hats and had lots of sun tan cream on to stop uscatching the sun. We spent time looking at all theanimals which we loved. Goats, guinea-pigs, ducks,horses, rabbits, and baby chicks. We even text Amyto see if we could bring a cow back to school. Theanswer to that was we would have to look after it inthe holidays! We went to look at the pigs, they wererather smelly and covered in mud, and we counted

Explorers Exploring!

43 in the pig pen. Stuart made us a lovely picnic which we ateoutside sat at the picnic tables. A kind ladytook the photograph of us all together. We had a lovely day and all came back toschool rather tired. Cannot wait to go again.

Class JW & Explorers spent the afternoonoutside on the sports pitch using all differentwater squirters. It started off well witheveryone being good and just squirting wateracross the pitch to see how far it would go.Then the fun started! Not sure who theinstigator was (Sally!). One thing lead toanother with seeing who you could get very

wet. Both children and staff achieved this withgreat delight. It took a little while for us all todry out just in time for going home. Great fun had by all.

JW and Explorers Water Fun!

Splish!

Splosh!Splash!



22

VECLife Summer 2 14

The Summer term Summary

By Sally Thornley

Wow! What a term for the students in Class JW.Have we been busy or what?! We have spent alot of time this term exploring different environ-ments, looking at the habitats and lifecycles of lo-cal animals and wildlife and experiencing changesin weather. In order to do this we needed to booka few trips out, so we did. It began at the beginning of term with a topical tripto Farmer Palmer’s farm. The children lookedaround the big barn at lambs, donkeys, piglets,guinea pigs then outside to see the alpacas,goats, owls and ponies. You name it, FarmerPalmer’s had it! (And no, they didn’t have alliga-

tors and hippos…it was their day off). The feedingof the lambs - not to be confused with the ‘Silenceof the Lambs’ was quite a spectacle and certainlynot silent. A gate in the barn was unlocked toabout twenty extremely hungry lambs that all ranout at once scampering to get to the nearest feed(not dissimilar to lunch time at VEC), it was quitean experience and most of the children absolutely

loved it. This was followed by a slightlybumpy ride in the tractor

through the woodland and thena quiet cuddly time with theguinea pigs which Alfie andSaad were just loving!

In May we travelled to Hengist-bury Head, a local beauty spot known by many. Apart from seeing different environments we suredid experience some wild and windy weather. Thefollowing week back at school Jacob enjoyed hiswildlife hunt, although he wasn’t mighty keen on

looking at the spiders too closely. We found thebug boxes that we had hidden in the bushesmonths ago were of great help when looking forall the creepy crawlies (thank you eco-committee!)Whilst we’re on the subject I just thought I wouldlet you know that the recycling in Class JW is go-ing brilliantly. Each week a different eco monitortakes out the recycling and waters the plants. Thechildren feel involved and are often very proud ofthe help they give, so thank you to all our studentsand those in other classes that get involved too. In June we went to Christchurch and hadbeautifully sunny weather. The students lovedfeeding the ducks and swans. We walked along

the quay and through the priory gardens wherethere were many different experiences to behad; bushes of herbs that tantalised the senses

and stunning lily pads in full bloom. Honey andMia particularly enjoyed the birds singing in thetrees. We did however manage to steer clear ofthe ‘contributions’ from the local ducks. Greatfun (and education) was had by all so it couldn’tbe finished off any better way other than a niceice cream by the bandstand. After visiting these different environments itwas time to give the students something a littledifferent, so a small group of us went toLegoland! The weather was very changeable in

Windsor that day and there were a couple of

downpours when we arrived but only when wewere inside, so perfectly planned I think. Itcertainly did not dampen our spirits and thechildren had a truly wonderful time. Saad had amind blowing time in the submarine ride, Hollyenjoyed getting dizzy on the gigantic spiderride, Tyler was loving the water ride….and theyenjoyed them so much they went on themtwice! The whole day there is geared up forchildren to have that special Lego experience



23

VECLife Summer 2 14

JO Go Ape At Monkey WorldBy the Class JO Students

My favourite part of the day was having lunch, wehad a picnic outside. We saw some wooly monkeys,some chimps and some Gibbons. Some of the

Monkeys surprised me. One came up to the windowand looked at me. mar

Today I went to Monkey World and I saw the biggestMonkeys in my life. They were fighting each other forfood. One of them was playing with his friend. Myfavourite part was seeing the Monkeys with theirbushy tales. bbie

Wow! I liked the little Monkeys because they were

swinging around the trees. I had a yummy packedlunch and the chicken that was running around atemy crusts! It was a fantastic day. Sam

Baby Zoey, Noises, swinging, apple. Daniel

I went to Monkey World, little monkeys,small Monkeys, play park, it was fun,

Monkeys Jumps in the air. Back to the bus,back to school. I saw the monkeys, all theMonkeys. James

I went to Monkey World, I saw a

Chimpanzee and I had egg sandwiches andI had a packet of crisps and an apple and achocolate mousse and my favourite was theMonkeys and I had a brilliant time and Iwant to go again. Charlotte

as just about everything looks like it’s made of Lego (I know you know). Look at that smile! A bigthank you to Class JW staff who went and also those who didn’t go to make this day possible. Thankyou also to Sarah (SLT) who seemed to enjoy the day and fitted in just perfectly. The dayfinished with lots of sunshine, lots of smiles and a whole lot of tiredness. I still can’t believe thatnobody fell asleep in the bus on the way back!Class JW staff have all had such an enjoyable year with our current students and may we just say

that it is such a pleasure to work alongside them all. We always miss those that leave the class butwelcome with open arms the new ones. Have a fantastically fabulous…marvellously mad or maybeyou prefer a more relaxed and chilled summer holiday. Whatever it may be – enjoy!



24

As written by Brandon-Lee Real

VECLife Summer 2 14

Class JA Cruise The CaribbeanBy Hilary Stewart

Despite a rather disappointing summer sofar in this country, Class JA have beentaking a weekly trip to the Caribbean in their

Culture lessons, sampling a variety ofactivities and experiences from the lifestyleand culture of the region. We’ve chilled outto Bob Marley and other reggae musicartists whilst wearing our dreadlock wigs,which always make Frankie laugh! We’vedived ‘Under The Sea’ to find seashells andsung along with Sebastian the Crab,something to which Asher has respondedbrilliantly every time. We met the birds ofparadise and then had lots of fun making

our own bird puppets, selecting the featherswe wanted to use from a large array ofcolours. However, the highlight so far has

George Hits a Six

been playing cricket on a lovely sunny afternoon onthe lawn behind Carmel house. Alexander enjoyedbowling and George Kettle helped me bat.Howzat?!We are now about to meet the Pirates of theCaribbean and discover the hidden treasure but Ihope they will let us sail peacefully back to school asClass JA have to get to their next lesson!

Amabel’s New Hairdo!

Class CN went to Hengistbury Head for the morning.We had a look at different kinds of habitats, anddifferent kinds of animals, there were: ladybugs,dragonflys, there were many kinds of birds, and lotsand lots of people. On our walk we found fourdifferent kinds of habitats. They were, a medo, a wetboggy marsh, a woodland with huge trees and asandy and dry beach.

In the picture Eileen was neeling down cos, she wasshowing me a ladybug, then it opened its wings andflew away.

CN’s Hengistbury Trip

Asher Joins in the bowling

Eileen demonstrates



25

VECLife Summer 2 14

Class MH wowed some VIP guests with theirmagnificent play of the story “Mine’s bigger thanYours” (about a mean scary monster and how hepicks on little hairy monster when he wants hislollipop). The class have spent several weeksmaking props, scenery, directing their classmates for

various scenes, planning dances, recording onswitches and videoing their efforts. Finally theydesigned invitations and chose who they would liketo come and watch. Tony Griffin edited all thefootage and put together a brilliant DVD. The GrandPremiere of their film was a triumph, with superbattention to detail – even giving out monster lollipopsto the audience. There was an exhibition of theirwork, live dancing, and the film itself. It was verymoving to see how each student responded verypositively to their peers, and remained quiet and

observant during all the parts of the show.

Congratulations to Alison Richardson – who plannedand delivered all the lessons to be fully inclusive - and all the class staff who worked tirelessly eachweek to enable the students to have such a

Class MH Trip the Light FantasticBy Margaret Humphreys

successful experience of taking part in ashow. I thoroughly enjoyed watching theirefforts.

Susan and Amy Entertain

Class JA have rounded off their sensory journey

to the Caribbean by making some fantastic,

brightly coloured snakes. We painted lots of

empty toilet rolls with different colours, designsand patterns and in the two weeks before the end

of term, we strung the rolls on string to make our

‘snakes.’ We had hoped to take our new pets

outside to the gardens of Carmel House but the

weather let us down and so the play hall it was.

Nevertheless, we had fun looking at all the won-

derful colours and making our snakes slither

across the floor and our bodies!

Snakes Alive

Class JA: Can you spot the snakes?

By Hilary Stewart

Just a couple of

the amazing props

put together for

MH’s brilliant play.



26

VECLife Summer 2 14

By Phil Thompson

Class PT are all at Sea

We are always pleased to get out and about foreducational trips and this June the aunt of one ofour students had raised money for the class toenjoy a day out together -we went to

Bournemouth Oceanarium and had a lovely day.We also found time to enjoy an ice-cream, eat apicnic on the pier and enjoy the sand.

We were so sorry that on the day we had bookedGeorgia was not well enough to join us so wehope to go out again when she is with us.We followed up by doing some work on theoceans of the world and the sea life that is foundin particular zones.

Philip is very pleased to have found out that theReef Trigger fish is the national fish of Hawaii butprefers to use its Hawaiian name:

Humuhumunukunukuāpuaʻa!

By Hilary Stewart

Holly and Stuart have a drink

Classes ACO and PT have had a busy andvery varied year in Life skills and you willpreviously have read about some of the topicswe have covered since September. Our final

unit of work has been ‘Getting about safely’and we have been looking at identifying,reducing and managing risks when we go outand also improving our knowledge of roadsigns, which help us to interpret the situationwhen we go out. As part of this unit, we haverecently been out on a trip to Westbourne,looking for signs and using pedestriancrossings safely.Of course, we had to take on boardrefreshments and so enjoyed some lovely

drinks and cakes at ‘Makers Inc’, a café whichalso sells a range of locally made items,including things made by our own studentshere at VEC. We were made to feel verywelcome and there was lots of space. PhilipHenderson (class PT) can particularlyrecommend the ‘Bumbleberry’ bottled juice,whilst I must admit that our research into cakewas very successful! During class ACO’s visit, we were able to trythe brand new live ‘on air’ phone link with Vibe

Radio and got through to one of our residentDJ’s, Harry Bassett for a quick report of whatwe were up to.

All in all, the trips were a fun way of rounding

off a year of hard work and a chance for

students from each class to get together for

some well earned ‘down time.’

Rounding Off The Year In Post 16

Class ACO (and Gemma!)



27

VECLife Summer 2 14

By Hilary Stewart

Post 16, Making Music in Life Skills

Life skills groups in classes PT and ACO have hada great time this term exploring music and have hadthe opportunity to join in and make music them-

selves, improvising with GCSE Music students fromSt. Edward’s School, who made two trips to visit ushere at VEC. Class PT met the St. Ed’s visitors in the musicroom, where they had set up with keyboards, abass guitar and a clarinet as well as having a smallsinging group. Class ACO stayed in Carmel for the visit and after asmall hitch with the drum kit, resolved by MikeWhitlock producing a fantastic electronic drummachine, the visitors brought guitars (electric andacoustic) and a glockenspiel.

Both classes had fun identifying instruments fromtheir sound alone, asked lots of questions, listenedto individual performances. Jackson’s Pirates of theCaribbean theme on the synthesizer was awesomeand we all took part in a play along session,providing percussion accompaniment.

Students from both schools were amazing – they interacted very well with St. Ed’sstudents partnering VEC students on thefollow up activity and everyone reallyenjoyed the sessions, as well as learning alot.

Out and About With

By Beth Kay

From the 16th June -19

th Abi Punchard, Jude

Wardell Knights, Ben Povey and Connor Ferris

spent their work experience at VIBE radio. Theykick-started the week with Tony Rudd, learningall the tricks of the trade from a real radio DJ! Thestudents wrote, produced and broadcast a varietyof features. Two days were spent out and aboutsourcing material for a new show ‘Out and Aboutwith Victoria’. The students interviewed a varietyof managers and the general public; visiting andreviewing Café Flirt, Makers Inc. and all the

facilities at Tower Park. They spent time learning

how to conduct the perfect interview and verysuccessfully interviewed our Principal, Chris

Davies. After lots of hard work and fun theschool now has four new budding radio

presenters/ producers!

DJ’s in the making

Holly rocks out!



Victoria Horticulture A good selection of shrubs, perennials,

Summer bedding, baskets and tubs for sale. Open Monday to Friday 9.00am—3.00 pm

For All Your Horticultural Needs!NB. Due to on-going building works parking will be at a premium. We

will be happy to assist customers in carrying purchases to their cars orwhere possible deliver.

C il d itt d dit d b J G db l th i t t d Vi t i S h l S MMXIV

ECLife

sue 09

veclife summer 2014

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