Secondary Department news

Another extremely busy term, so busy that the weeks have really rushed by and it is hard to think we are closing for the summer break so soon!

Firstly, summer is the exams season and our pupils have sat GCSEs in Art, Maths, Science and Textiles, Key Skills in Communication (English) and ICT, ABC Hospitality plus CACDP British Sign Language. Pupils and staff worked very hard to achieve success and we hope the results show that.

Years 7 to 10 went on a day visit to Bolton Abbey linked to Geography, History and RE whilst Year 9 visited a number of colleges to help them choose a vocational course for September.

Summer is also Work Experience season and all our Year 10, 11 and 6th form students have been involved for a fortnight each gaining real experience into the working life, at a range of work places including garages, schools, nurseries, community centres, shops and cafes. Employers are very friendly and helpful and we get lots of positive feedback. Our students are well supported by regular visits from our staff and they gain a lot of confidence from the time spent out of school.

Three of our pupils, Jacob (cello), Alex (bass guitar) and Katy (percussion) performed marvellously at the annual Music and the Deaf concert at Leeds College of Music in front of a full concert hall. Jacob and Katy played in the orchestra whilst Katy and Alex played a rock song, ‘Sunshine of My Love’ by Cream, along with our caretaker, Chris Stockings (Katy’s dad). Chris is a semi professional musician and has been practising with Katy and Alex every week. Our special thanks to Chris. The audience loved the trio!

Sport as always played a big part in the term. We went to Middlesbrough for deaf tennis, Doncaster for deaf athletics and Wakefield for a joint deaf and hearing activity competition. Also we got fully involved in the Healthy Schools Week and National Sports week running a week of activities.

We also went, along with Primary, on a sponsored walk from school to Lister Park to raise money for Oxfam.

We received a number of visitors who spoke to the pupils on different subjects including a talk about the dangers of electricity, the role of the NDCS (National Deaf Children’s’ Society) and the work of the Deaf Social Services team at Morley Street. A number of visitors also came to our annual Industry Day which gave our pupils valuable tasters of the world of work including photography, police work, first aid, flower arranging and catering.

We continued with our PE integration at Hanson School for Year 7 and 8 whilst we also went there for three mornings with Years 7, 8 and 9 for a Design and Technology Resistant Materials project.

Not to forget of course our annual fun day out at Lightwater Valley. Our thanks as always to the Bradford Blaize Charity for funding everything.

The term culminated in a three day residential to London for Years 11 and 6th form. Thanks to staff involved for making the visit possible. It was a great experience and one which the students will never forget. Thanks especially to Miss Gibson for all the hard work involved in organising the visit.

In September we look forward to receiving three pupils from primary, Darren, Rebesah and Adiba. Of course we also say goodbye to students we have known for a long time and wish them the best of luck and hope their years with us have given them the confidence and skills they will need in their futures. We look forward to hearing about them and seeing them again in the future.

At the time of writing it seems we might be saying goodbye to eight students, but we are unsure at the moment if their chosen onward choices are available to them, they are:- Tauseef Ali, Jason Exley, Zia ul Hassan, Haleema Iqbal, Halima Sadia, Firdous Khurshid, Zara Kauser and Peyara Khatun.

Mr Pulford

Year 9 Film Project-Midnight Thriller!!!!

Year 9 pupils were asked by ‘Deafinitions’ – a local deaf film maker, to write, perform and produce a short film for the Yorkshire Deaf Film Festival in May. All Year 9 children have taken part in this. They have written and planned a script, had a budget of £250 to manage, bought costumes and props, learnt how to use theatre make up, editing techniques and now understand the whole process of making a film.

It has been a very worthwhile experience as students have had to use their communication strategies to ask for things in shops, work together as a group, travel to different locations and most of all have learnt that it is a very slow process and lots of patience is necessary!

Film Premiere

The film premiere was in May. Schools from all over Yorkshire attended but as only Thorn Park School had met the criteria of a 20 minute film the competition was changed to a festival and a celebration of Deaf children’s achievements. All the children involved in the making of the film watched and enjoyed the other films on the first day. On the second day only year nine attended the festival. The group was invited up on to stage to explain the process in making the film and to interview an actor out of the Harry Potter films. I was extremely proud of the way our year 9 pupils involved themselves and amazed at their self assurance and confidence. They interviewed the actor without any preparation or prompting and showed everyone there just how capable they are.

The cast of our film received a signed certificate and a glass “star” award. Well done to all the children and staff involved it was a massive achievement.

Mrs Butterworth