2023 Smart Body Sports Summer School

Another year in partnership with Smart Body Sports offering a fully funded Summer School where we have enjoyed hosting pupils for a Sports themed Summer School. Learners have had the opportunity to come into school twice a week and access all the fantastic onsite resources and provisions.

Thank you to all the staff at Rowan Tree for giving up some of their well deserved break. The children are so lucky to have the opportunity to enjoy extra doses of your imagination and kindness. – Year 6 Parent

Our KS2 learners across all sessions have been accessing MEDIA CUBS.

The Media Cubs pop-up TV studio And newsroom inspires kids from all backgrounds to broadcast confidence and learn how to create, debate and navigate the news.

‘Mini reporters’ get to work with Media Cubs characters Archie and Cece to create animated scenes and movies. We’ve loved exploring props commonly associated with newsreaders.

For more information feel free to visit their website at https://www.yellowjigsaw.co.uk/media-cubs/

Goodbye and good luck Year Six!

A fond farewell to all our Year Six pupils as the sun sets on their unforgettable journey through primary school. With bittersweet smiles and brimming eyes, they stand at the precipice of new beginnings, ready to soar into the vast unknown.

Here are a couple of snapshots from over the years and a few messages from staff:

Congratulations, year six leavers. Farewell, and may your future be filled with endless possibilities.

Poplar Family Adventures

Learners in Poplar 1 were very excited to have their families come on our school minibuses for their trip. Pupils showed them the beautiful gardens at The SPACE centre and explored the sensory trail. They interacted in the SPACE centre and tried the different equipment.
We have been thinking about picnics this half term in DT and it was great to share a picnic with them before driving down to the local park.
It was great that our families were able to meet each other as well.

Whole lotta Lego love!

Our weekly lunch time ‘Brick Club’ has been a popular session with pupils this year. Who doesn’t love a good play with Lego?! Brick Club is hosted by our trained Lego Therapists Alison and Mandi. It’s a freeplay session that allows pupils the time, space and resources to explore their creativity, develop some fantastic build skills and have lots of fun! It also provides an opportunity for pupils across different classes to come together to play and chat, encouraging new friendships and building up communication skills. Pupils often choose to have their Lego build photographed at the end of the session and added to our display wall. We are all really proud of our fantastic creations!

Rowan’s PASSED!

On Tuesday 4th July Rowan and 6 staff members from across school took part in The Dog Mentor Training Course. Rowan has been in school for a while – getting to know his environment and we are so proud that all of your hard work with him was recognised, and he passed his official assessment.
Rowan will start on a full timetable from September to support the children with the support of his trained mentors.
We can’t wait to see all of the wonderful things and the big impact we know he is going to have in school.

TOGETHER TRUST Music and Performing Arts Festival

Pupils from 10 specialist schools across Greater Manchester and Cheshire came together for the Together Trust’s Music and Performing Arts Festival. Hosted at the Lowry in Salford Quays, the music festival will showcased a number of performances ranging from singing to dance, with an ensemble of different types of singing groups.

Our very own Sing and Sign Choir elected to perform three songs which they did brilliantly. We are incredibly proud of their fantastic performance in front of such a large crowd.

 

Specialist Provision School of the Year

We are thrilled beyond words to announce that Rowan Tree Primary School has been honoured with the esteemed title of Specialist Provision School of the Year Award! This recognition reaffirms our commitment to excellence, and we are bursting with excitement as we continue to make a positive difference in the lives of our learners.

Staff at Rowan Tree Primary School are spreading the word about the impact of restrictive diets on their learners.

Back in 2019 the school recognised from staff and parent feedback that a high proportion of their learners had a restrictive diet due to their additional needs, with pupils often eating just one or two types of food. This was having a negative impact on the children’s weight, mood, oral health and ability to enjoy family meals.

Senior leaders committed time to researching avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder (ARFID) before developing a training plan for staff and families and a Food Facts curriculum which included daily personalised sessions for every one of the school’s 117 learners. 

Leaders know the Food Facts project is having a positive effect by monitoring each learner’s food intake and seeing the increase in the variety of foods and textures they try. This information is then used by staff to support the learners to further widen their diets.

Rowan Tree Primary is now providing training, resources and ongoing support to colleagues in mainstream schools across their local authority so that they too can support pupils with additional needs and ARFID. 

Judge Vijita Patel said: “The evidence base presented by the school in their submission clearly demonstrated the impact of their work. The way the school has tackled the challenging topic of diet and worked with pupils, staff and families to make it work so well is extremely impressive.”

– Tes Website

Staff Yoga and Relaxation

As a part of Sports Week, Vicki Lowe one of our school HLTAs with a passion for yoga has been operating a series of Yoga and Relaxation sessions for both pupils and staff! In accordance with the Summer Solstice, an event that occurs when the Sun appears to reach its most northerly or southerly excursion relative to the celestial equator on the celestial sphere – staff met to enjoy deep meditation and given thanks for all their blessings.

Studying Ancient Greeks in Cedar 2

Cedar 2 have been exploring the Ancient Greeks during their Humanities lessons. They have handled artefacts from the Greeks and been very careful with them. They have also used clay to make Greek sculptures, they were not sure about holding the clay but they were all very brave and had a try.

Butterfly Project in Willow 2

Willow 2 visited Pennington Park to release our school butterflies. Learners have watched and studied their growth from egg, caterpillar, chrysalis to Painted Lady Butterflies. After watching them fly away, they enjoyed Take Five on the park.

The entire transformation from caterpillar to adult butterfly took about three to four weeks, each class took super special care in making sure their Butterflies grew to be big and strong ready for the next stage of their journey.

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