Welcome to our termly pathway newsletter
Dear parents and carers
Diary Dates
Term 2 ends: Friday 19 December @ 2pm
Term 3 starts: Tuesday 6 January
Term 3 ends: Friday 13 February
Term 4 starts: Monday 23 February
Kingswood Residential: Weds 18 to Friday 20 March
Term 4 ends: Thursday 2 April
We’re excited to be introducing our new Life Skills Curriculum across the Oak Pathway. This is a progressive framework designed to help all our young people build confidence, independence, and essential everyday skills from Key Stage 1 all the way through to Key Stage 4.
The life skills framework is inspired by our belief that “Every Moment Matters”. The curriculum is designed to capitalise on learning opportunities across the whole school day… and at home! Whether it’s making breakfast, choosing what to wear, travelling safely, or asking for help. Each small success adds up to a big step towards independence.
The Life Skills Curriculum covers these key areas: Independent Living, Personal Safety, Road Safety and Travel, Keeping Healthy, Personal Care, Leisure, and Work Skills. Learning in all areas happen through reallife, engaging activities.
We encourage parents and carers to take a look at our Life Skills Framework and try some simple activities at home. Home learning activities can really help reinforce learning and independence. You will find the framework here on our website: https://st-nicholas.kent.sch.uk/curriculum/the-oak-pathway
Thank you for your continued support and we hope to see you at one of our planned events during the Christmas period.
Best wishes
Dave
Jenner
Dave, Jule, Matt and Tracy (The St Nicholas Striders!) ran the 10k Mo Run earlier this month in windy Herne Bay! The run raises funds to promote men’s health research, transforming the way health services reach and support men.
CLASS NEWS
Oak primary celebrated Halloween with a fantastic fancy dress party!
Everyone got stuck in. Children worked in teams in a relay race to make a witches potion, had a go bobbing for apples, tested their nerves with our trick or treat boxes and played pass the pumpkin. They even had a go at wrapping their friends as Mummies. It was so lovely to see all the children come together and bond as a pathway. These events build friendships and confidence. It a very happy learning experience. Thank you to all the families who provided a party fantastic feast that was enjoyed by all.
Firmin class have had a busy half term!
As part of our English we have visited Morrison’s as we begin to look at text in various environments. We have been to Toddlers cove in our activity week, as well as celebrating a medieval day. The school photos at the main site gave a rare opportunity for Firmin Students to interact with peers with different needs than their own, which was very successful and benefited all. We are going to see a film in Canterbury centre today, (Karate Kid legends) on the chilliest day of the year so far! Next Monday we are visiting a garden centre in connection to our English through Gardening SOW. Firmin remains
CLASS NEWS
Apple Class had lots of fun in term one as part of our English Book toys in space. We learnt new descriptive words as we got to know the characters and even made a flying saucer which we used in our performance at the Oaks got talent show.
Fox class have been enjoying horse riding this term, particularly going for a walk in the woods and learning to trot on the horse. Well done fox class!
This term, Goffe Class have been fully engaged in their work experience activities, including Coffee Pod, Travel Training and time at the Shedloads shop in Whitstable. These opportunities have helped students develop confidence, independence and real-world skills.
As part of their preparation for the future, students have also been exploring local post-16 providers to help them start thinking about where they may want to study or train after Year 11.
To celebrate their hard work, the class enjoyed a trip to The Curzon cinema in Canterbury to watch Karate Kid Legends. The film was a great hit and enjoyed by everyone.
CLASS NEWS
Oak Pathway Talent Show
At the beginning of term 2, we had our annual Talent Show for all pupils on the Oak Pathway. This year was bigger and better, with over 40 performers!
We have a huge range of talents on the pathway, from singing, dancing, drama, drawing and sports skills.
The event gives pupils to show their talents and interests to a large audience in a real theatre setting, really showcasing our ‘Every Moment Matters’ values and giving pupils a chance to shine. Well done to everyone who took part this year.
CLASS NEWS
Cooper Class have made a fantastic start to the year. We have welcomed our new year 7 students. New students have done exceptionally well settling in to their new school and the Callis building. We have enjoyed cooking in class, mixing ingredients to make chocolate rice crispy cakes. We are looking forward to cooking roast potatoes and mash potatoes! For English, this term we have been exploring the Morrisons Christmas magazine and use describing words when examining the Christmas menu. We visited Morrisons supermarket to look at the Christmas aisle and Christmas food. We looked at each item to see if we would put this item on our Christmas menu. We looked at the price of each item to see how much it cost. Cooper class looked around the shop exploring the advertising point of sale. We could familiarise ourselves with the shop layout and made our way to the checkout. Cooper class, are looking forward to all the activities at school leading up to Christmas!
Tourtel class has been very busy since returning for Term 2!
After Pumpkin Carving and a Medieval Day, it’s now beginning to look a lot like Christmas as we dive into our new topics for the term. The students are getting to experience the changing seasons at Forest School this term, where I hear there have been plenty of scavenger hunts followed by warming treats around the campfire!
In English and Media, we’re planning to rival the Christmas food adverts appearing on TV by creating our own, inspired by our non-fiction text: Morrison’s Christmas Food Catalogue.
Our “Celebrations of Light” topic in The World Around Us is already getting us into the holiday spirit, with twinkling fairy lights and learning about different cultural celebrations.
CLASS NEWS
Mercury Class have enjoyed lots of trips out so far this term including Pumpkin Picking, soft play and seeing Paddington in Peru in the cinema! They have also been exploring some of the different festivals and celebrations this time of year brings, including Halloween and fireworks night. As part of our learning for The World Around Us, we had a party for Diwali where we painted diya lamps, made rice rangoli pictures and tried some Indian food! We can't wait to continue exploring our learning in fun ways.
Panther Class: This term, our students have been busy exploring a range of engaging topics across the curriculum. In science, we’ve continued our work on Earth science and natural disasters, and in maths we’ve been practising our functional maths skills including addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Students have also been developing their English skills through themed reading and writing tasks. Students have developed their proficiency with PowerPoint and Excel through projects in computing lessons. Alongside this, we’ve been working with the DWP to build employability skills, including preparing CVs and thinking about future career goals. It’s been a productive and exciting couple of terms!
CLASS NEWS
Here are a selection of learning experiences from Rhino Class in Term 1&2. We studied The Miller's Tale by Chaucer and made our own books which are now proudly on display in the classroom.
We have been learning to make pizza dough using the kneading technique. We then finished them off the following week putting on our favourite toppings and meats. We were able to take these home and our parents cooked them. They tasted delicious - see Sali eating hers at home! We also joined in the Halloween fun, getting dressed up. Poppy looked fantastic in her outfit. Maths has been very practical using lots of blocks and counters. Here is Ellie May practising counting in multiples of 5 using blocks - she then used her memory to recall her 5 times table back to the class.
