News
A Virtual Trip to Malta!!
Gary Ireland’s ‘Virtual’ Travel Club
This is a club where we can travel the world … virtually! The children choose where they wish to go and then we research how to get there. This year we decided on Malta.
If we are going by aeroplane then we find out which airlines are going etc. This is all done via the internet. The children choose which airline to use and then via the computer design the air ticket! Once this is done, again via the internet, we try and find some decent accommodation, such as a hotel, obviously with a swimming pool! And again, once this done we try and find out what there is to do, such as museums and places of local interest. The boys especially like the beaches and places where they could spend lots of money!! If transport is needed to get to these events I show them how to go about getting it.
The three present members in the club chose Malta; apparently for no other reason than they like it! Even though none of them had been there before!
Unfortunately this year, due to other events coinciding with the club we only got as far as checking the airline and designing the ticket!
I am proud of what they achieved in such a short space of time. The club gives the children a good knowledge of how to use the internet safely, and in their leisure time, which would normally be spent playing games or watching TV. We took a number of evenings getting to use the right programme for designing the ticket as well, believe me we had some problems using ‘Word’! So we decided to use ‘Publisher’. This is not only a learning experience for the children, but for me too!
It is all done in a relaxed atmosphere and the children almost feel they are actually going to Malta!
By Gary Ireland
Directors Away Day
On the 28th February 2008, the Board of Directors kindly gave of their time, and along with the GGSET Executive Office Team, had a very successful working day. Various agenda items were discussed, such as Risk Management, the budget for 2008/2009 and GGSET's Long Term Strategies, and the Annual Business Plan for last year was reviewed and a new plan finalised. We'd like to thank the Board for their time and tremendous contribution!Performing Arts Centre Project
Performing Arts Centre
GGSET are currently in the process of seeking partners to share the financial cost of creating a performing arts centre at Grafham Grange School. This will allow us to create an appropriate space where drama, music, art and dance can be expressed both by the students of the School and also by others with disability or disadvantage in the community.
A large percentage of our pupils at school distrust adults, many of whom have been let down in the past. However a majority do possess a reasonable level of ability when it comes to the creative arts and can be motivated to develop this further. Creative and Expressive Arts are an area that we use, initially, as a way of engaging with pupils and subsequently as a means of helping them achieve success and ultimately their full potential in all areas of school and in realising future opportunities.
The school currently has limited performing and expressive Arts facilities and we propose constructing a new Performing Arts Centre to provide pupils with the opportunity of experiencing and participating in a wide range of arts. In addition, as a residential school, it is also of vital importance that we provide our pupils with access to a wide variety of artistic and leisure activities.
Also in their last (positive) inspection report (2007) OFSTED commented on the curriculum at the school; they said the following areas would benefit from enhancement:
- The extension of activities undertaken by pupils in art lessons
- Increasing the activities pupils experience in creative arts education; for example by including scope for additional music and music production
Furthermore, the aim of the “Every Child Matters” agenda is for every child, no matter what their background or circumstances, to have the support they need to:
- Be healthy
- Stay safe
- Enjoy and achieve
- Make a positive contribution
- Achieve economic wellbeing
This project will contribute to achieving these outcomes. Nationally there is a focus on improving outcomes particularly for looked-after children and children with special educational needs, narrowing the gap between these children and their peers. The Change for Children programme aims to improve outcomes for all children. To date outcomes achieved by looked-after children have been unacceptably poor, and the government is committed to addressing this disparity.
There will be 44 main beneficiaries from the project; the school pupils. However, the facilities will also be available to the local community during school holidays and at week-ends and some evenings.
GGSET Annual Trust Conference 2008
GGSET's next professional conference for Directors, Governors, other Volunteers and all Staff will be held on Tuesday 2nd September 2008. We look forward to discussing "Living our Values : Enhancing Expertise" and starting the new acedemic year with enthusiasm and clear goals in mind.Mardi Gras at Brantridge School
Mardi Gras - 19th March 2008 by Gary IrelandOn the day before our Easter weekend, we celebrated Mardi Gras. This means “Fat Tuesday” in French and is traditionally celebrated on Shrove Tuesday, the beginning of Lent. Thus we were a little late with our festivities!
Mardi Gras is an important celebration (particularly in New Orleans in the southern United States, where Mardi Gras was introduced in 1699 by the French explorer Iberville) as a time of feasting before the Lenten fast. It has been celebrated in one form or another since Roman times.
The celebrations have, over the years, become very elaborate, with participants decorating enormous floats with flowers, dressing up in ornate masks and costumes and creating a very exciting party atmosphere. It is thought that the "modern" style of celebration originated in Paris, France, where a fatted cow was paraded through the streets.
As part of our Mardi Gras, we wore colourful masks and strings of beads. The beads are traditionally thrown to revellers in the streets by those on the floats. This is a symbolic gesture which harks back to the days when the mayor or the wealthy of the town would distribute coins to the poor.
For our tea we ate Jambalaya, which is a traditional Cajun-style recipe made with chicken and rice. We were going to have King Bread/ Cake as well but, as it was Ozy's birthday, we had birthday cake instead!
After tea we had an Easter egg hunt. We had all decorated eggs and our names on them. The staff then hid them around the school and the grounds and we had to find our own eggs. This had nothing to do with Mardi Gras but it was Easter weekend, after all!!