Welcome to Derwent Class. We are part of the Willows Department where we put great emphasis on nurture and sensory needs. Everyone has a wealth of experience to support the pupils varying needs in class.

We always start our day with a form of exercise to get us ready for some great learning throughout the day; this is often a dance routine or sensory circuit activity. Our classes are lively and interactive and full of discussion to help support language, communication and social interaction. We also use Lego Therapy in class to support speech & language, social skills and fine motor skills. We have a great outdoor learning programme, which covers gardening, exercise and Forest School activities during the year.

During 2024-2025 we will be covering a range of topics which support holistic, enriching and thought-provoking learning experiences, all linked to acquiring relevant knowledge and skills:

•  Autumn 1 – Me and my Memories (History Focus)
•  Autumn 2 – Make Some Noise! (Music Focus)
•  Spring 1 –  Let’s Get Fit! (PE Focus)
•  Spring 2 –  Exploring our Neighbourhood (History Focus)
•  Summer 1 – Nature Detectives (Science Focus)
•  Summer 2 – Colourful Carnival (Music Focus)

Sitting alongside topic work and core subjects, we spend time outside of the classroom during our ‘Beyond Bennerley’ sessions. Our focus themes for this year are: Friendships & Relationships, Hobbies, Personal Safety, and Travel. We will also be going into the local community to visit shops, cafes and the library to support pupils to gain independent living skills. Later on in the year, we will be taking part in our annual Enterprise scheme, where pupils will be creating their own businesses, and crafting their products. This will culminate in an Enterprise Market Place event during the summer term. This is a great opportunity for pupils to work together as a team and build on a range of skills to support them accessing the workplace in the future.

Important Information

PE is on a Tuesday morning, please ensure kit is ready to hang back on their pegs at the start of each term.

We will be doing Forest School in the summer term; we will let you know about the kit required for this separately.

We will send you updates about your child throughout the week using our class email. If you need to contact us, we check email before and after the school day. If you need to report anything urgent please use the main school email address or phone the office.

In Derwent and Shipley our class text is the non friction book, ‘Your Body, Your Senses'. In English we had a really fun and messy lesson exploring with our senses. 

In Derwent we have an outdoor maths lesson every week. This last fortnight we have been focusing on fun activities outside linked to number place value. 

On Thursday we had our first trip out into the community on the brand new accessible mini bus! We all enjoyed exploring and sharing the books at the library together. 

In Derwent recently we have been playing lots of different games as part of Beyond Bennerley. We have been practising taking turns, listening and being honest. 

In Science we learnt about our five senses and completed five small activities linked to them. We smelt a variety of spices - some were a hit and others not so. We played a fun household object listening game which was trickier than expected and looked through binoculars outside.