This week we celebrated the superstars of Nightingales and Owls. Thank you to all the parents that attended to join in the celebrations. Nightingales have worked hard on engagement all year and we are so proud of them all.
A big thank you to the parents for supporting your children this academic year and working with us in everything we do to support and engage Nightingales.
Another big thank you to the staff that support Nightingales. The teaching assistants of Nightingales are super heroes that make everything possible.
Have a lovely summer everyone and here’s to making more memories next academic year. Lots of Love – Clare
It was Oakwood’s summer festival this week. There was bubbles, drumming and face painting. There was also a special visitor who came to the festival. Thank you to the parents who attended to enjoy the festival with Nightingales.
What a fabulous experience Nightingales had at Shugborough Estate to see ‘Night Out in Nature’ by the Frozen Light Theatre. An outdoor multi sensory experience which engaged our Nightingales in many different ways.
Thank you to the staff at Frozen Light Theatre who did an amazing job. We couldn’t recommend them enough and we hope to see another show in the future.
Here are the highlights of our wonderful experience.
This week we have captured some lovely moments of our Nightingales responding to their environments.
To support Sudis to access creative art we positioned him onto the Ly-on. By Sudis being supported to lay on his side he is able to move his right arm comfortably. Sudis made some lovely marks on the canvas positioned above him and was able to respond to the makaton signs communicated to him. Picasso in the making!
During rebound Tom responded to an adult under the trampoline by looking and responding to the taps by tapping back.
Tom enjoyed sharing the resonance board with Joe as we observed some lovely intensive interaction taking place.
Elliot worked hard in swimming by side stepping to gain access to something he could see.
During music Aminah enjoyed exploring the electric guitar and was able to communicate with Bev that she wanted to ‘more’.
We were all happy to see Serenity back in school at the end of the week. Serenity was able to enjoy a rest in the sun and we observed her reach for Sudis and in return Sudis also reached for Serenity. ❤️
Our wonderful Nightingales have been demonstrating some beautiful engagement since returning from half term. The start of our first week back was busy with the arrival of Ofsted and our wonderful Nightingales welcomed the unfamiliar faces into the classroom with ease.
Elliot was a little upset after half term because he missed his Nanny. We observed Elliot go to the book nook to find his personalised book and turned the pages to find his family. Elliot enjoyed the personalised books being placed into the book nook.
Elliot was very happy after seeing Nanny at the weekend and he showed some lovely engagement in our ‘Strictly come dancing’ session. Keep dancing Elliot!
We like to encourage Tom to make independent decisions when choosing the activity he would like to engage in. To enable Tom to move independently you will often see Tom crawling around the classroom thinking about where he wants to go. Tom always positions himself in the middle of the room and we often observe him looking and listening before he makes a decision. During creative we see Tom listening to Kerren as she sings with Elliot to encourage engagement with the paint. Tom hears and then makes his way to the painting activity.
Tom and Elliot did some lovely sharing with the white board. Tom was pressing the board to make the song continue.
Sudis is working very hard on his physical skills where we observed him stretching his upper limbs in ‘strictly come dancing’ and then tummy time using the Ly-on to explore the paint.
The concentration and upper limb strength to move the spinning wheel in the garden was amazing ! Well Done Sudis!
Saad also worked on his physical skills by sharing tummy time with Sudis as they engaged together with the ball.
Saad did some lovely sitting as he worked on his MOVE targets during ‘strictly come dancing’.
A lovely moment outside sharing intensive interaction with a familiar adult.
We observed Aminah demonstrating her play skills with a tea towel during a session in the sensory room.
This term we have been creating jungle art on canvases. Each week a different paint colour was given and a range of tools to promote different fine motor skills to create the marks on the canvas. The colours have built up over the last 7 weeks and the art looks wonderful. We plan on creating more jungle prints after half term so all pupils have the opportunity to take part.
Well done Nightingales! You are amazing!
Have a wonderful half term Nightingales. You have worked so hard! 👏
This term on Friday mornings Nightingales have a sensology session which is themed around ‘Africa & the Americas’. Our aim of delivering sensology sessions is to wake up the senses but we also want to explore different genres of music in the process.
We visit the African sunset with the orange and yellow vail fans.
We explore the smell of coffee to represent the coffee beans which grow in South America.
We feel the spray of water for the rain in Africa which feeds the animals.
We explore the green leaves as we go through the jungle in the Amazon rainforest.
We feel the fur of the tigers in Africa.
We create the sounds of the African drums by exploring the thunder drum.
Some of our secondary Nightingales tried on some new school uniform ideas this week. They look very smart!
This term we have observed a range of movements and engagement in our hydrotherapy sessions. Elliot engaged in supported movements in the water and enjoyed a relaxing experience on the floatsation while listening to Julie sing.
Serenity experienced floating on the water with support of the noodles and enjoyed being moved through the water.
We are so proud of Aminah! Aminah hasn’t been able to access hydrotherapy due to recovering from surgery. Aminah did amazing in her first session. Aminah loved splashing and experiencing different positions in the water.
Sudis loves being in the pool! The water allows Sudis to move his legs more freely.
This week during our weekly ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ session, Aminah engaged in touch for body awareness as the music played. Aminah pulled her arms away when the music stopped.
Saad enjoyed moving his trunk during with the support of Amanda.
During ‘Sensology’ we observed movements and body awareness as Nightingales explored the tiger alongside music.
Elliot didn’t want to come out of his chair after rebound but he did some lovely engagement during sensology. When Elliot came out of his chair he made himself comfortable with Kerren. Elliot tapped the bean bag to communicate he wanted the beanbag.
Tom has been working hard again this week with MOVE by taking independent steps using the parallel bars with encouragement from Clare and Joe. Tom has also been exploring how to navigate doors in school and outside using the slope to walk up and down. Tom enjoyed standing with Julie and Kerren as they listened to the birds.
We have been observing some lovely interactions in Nightingales. Responding to adults and their peers. Sudis, Saad and Serenity were carrying out tummy time. It was very tiring for Serenity but we observed Saad and Sudis enjoy a game of football. Sudis worked hard by using his head whilst Saad used his arms and hands.
Tom was watching nearby and joined in.
Repetition is very important for our Nightingales. Our afternoon registration this week captured the wonders of repetition. Our lovely Aminah is developing her verbal communication and this week she has blown us away.
Serenity has been working hard using the trans frame during registration. With time and patience for processing we are observing Serenity using her eyes to identify her friends in Nightingales.
Sudis is also using the trans frame and has been making progress by identifying ‘more & finished’ during his tasters for snack and lunch time.
During our ‘Walking Through the Jungle’ sensory experience Sudis is exploring how to identity the sound to the animal using the trans frame.
Serenity and Sudis carried out tummy time together and we saw Serenity reaching for Sudis’s hair.
Well done Nightingales for always working so hard. The Nightingales team are so proud of you!
A big ‘THANK YOU’ to Let’s Enable who visited with ponies ‘Mini & Freddy’. It was a very wet Monday when we met Mini and Freddy but we took shelter under the gazebo and put on our coats. The team at Let’s Enable were amazing and we can’t thank them enough for the opportunity! We hope to welcome them again soon!
Tom sat with Joe and watched as his peers interacted with the ponies. Giving Tom the time to observe enabled him to feel comfortable and approach the ponies later. Amol from Owls was very pleased to meet Mini. Look at Amols smile!
We also had a surprise visit from ‘Tilly’ the tortoise! Thank you to Christina for bringing her in. Nightingales loved meeting Tilly.
We had a lovely rebound and therapy session on Friday. Tom used the parallel bars and took some steps with encouragement. Serenity did amazing at balance sitting with close support. Elliot gave Clare and Kerren a work out on the rebound! Elliot wanted lots of bouncing!
