Round Oak School, Support Service & Sports College

ROUNDOAK SCHOOL, SUPPORT SERVICE AND SPORTS COLLEGE IS TO BECOME A YOUTH SPORT TRUST GOLD PARTNER

ROUNDOAK SCHOOL, SUPPORT SERVICE AND SPORTS COLLEGE in is to become a Youth Sport Trust GOLD Partner School for its commitment to PE and school sport. Youth Sport Trust Partner Schools can demonstrate how they are delivering high quality school sport and improving the PE experience for every young person. Importantly, they are also using sport to raise achievement levels across the school. As a partner ROUNDOAK SCHOOL, SUPPORT SERVICE AND SPORTS COLLEGE will receive additional training and development opportunities and can become involved in national education and sport initiatives.

Jane Naylor said: “We are absolutely thrilled to become a Youth Sport Trust Partner School which recognises our commitment to delivering the best possible experiences for young people through PE and school sport. “There are a whole range of educational, health and wellbeing benefits from delivering high quality PE and school sport and we see on a regular basis that when sport is delivered well it can transform the lives of a whole range of pupils.”

Annette Montague, Education Director at the Youth Sport Trust, said: “Youth Sport Trust Partner Schools share our belief that sport changes lives and understand how it can be used across the curriculum to improve attainment. PE and school sport can be a catalyst for young people to live healthy, active lives and we are delighted to be working with schools across the country to support them develop this provision. “We have increasing number of schools applying for our partner school status which is a testament to the ongoing commitment that schools have in making a difference for young people and creating a world class system for PE and sport.”

This term choices for KS4 and KS5 Sport were:

KS4: Golf ,Windsurfing, Activities at Ryton Pools Rounders/Cricket, Athletics Canoeing, Country Walks

KS5: Canoeing, Country Walks Golf, Fencing, Athletics Windsurfing, Badminton Onsite mixed sports

All of our pupils have improved tremendously with Sandra and Jill’s teaching, both in skill levels and in water confidence. They all enjoy the sessions enormously and are very enthusiastic about them. Sandra and Jill were both immediately very sensitive to each pupil’s individual struggles. They are both very skilled at encouraging timid swimmers to go just one stage further, and encouraging reluctant swimmers to use their time more constructively. Pupils are always richly praised for their efforts and come back to school very proud of their achievements. As a result of these few weeks the entire group are now swimming without armbands, and most are happy to swim on both front and back. Three are now confident enough to swim a couple of widths with no buoyancy aids at all, and one of them has even advanced enough to begin swimming with breaststroke arms. Another pupil, who was quite intimidated by the water (would only leave the side with armbands and 2 woggles and adult support) is now kicking his way furiously across the pool, holding only a small float out in front of him! His smile as he comes out each week is enormous! We are so grateful for these extra swim sessions with such expert professionals. They have been quite life changing for most of our group. George Isaac Assistant Swim Instructor This year three pupils from Round Oak have been working as Young Ambassadors for the Central School Sport Partnership. Natalie Bemrose, Nathan Jones and Bethany Quinton were awarded their role of Sports Ambassador after contributing so much to school sport here at Round Oak. They have been meeting with Ali Knight, School Games Organiser for the Partnership, at Campion School every half term. Young Sports Ambassadors from and Aylesford Schools are also part of the group. As the meeting on Thursday was the last one for the year, I’d like to thank Natalie, Beth and Nathan all their hard work and excellent ideas. They have been fantastic Ambassadors for the School and I am very proud of all they have achieved. Natalie and Beth will be leaving Round Oak this term but they will be continuing their role as Sports Ambassador while at College. Well done to you all.

On Wednesday, Carrie, Jeffer , Edward, Jack Washbrooke and Natalie Bemrose along with Kath, Nick and Marion went to visit the Olympic Park in London. We had tickets to visit the Athletics Stadium, where we watched the finals of the Sainsbury's Schools Championships. Although the weather was dull and with an early start, everyone had a fabulous time. We felt very privileged to be there and experience the ambience and excitement of the forthcoming Olympics. On 18th April Round Oak School became home to one of the Coubertain Oak trees, a ribbon of 40 trees from Much Wenlock in Shropshire, through Stoke Mandeville to the Olympic Park in London. On the day of planting we were joined by many VIPS including the Mayor of Warwick and Nigel Murray as well as the local press. Thankfully the weather held out and the whole school were able to take part in the ceremony and become part of this event in this historic event. In 1890 Baron Pierre de Coubertain, considered the father of the modern Olympic games visited Much Wenlock to attend a special Wenlock Olympian Games held in hid honour. During Coubertain’s visit an oak tree was planted in his honour on the Linden Field where the games were held. It is from the acorns of this tree that the trees forming this ribbon are grown It was a proud moment for Round Oak to become involved in the London 2012 Olympic games and our tree can live for 300 years so we hope will become a permanent reminder of the Olympic legacy.

Representatives from Round Oak School were invited to witness the final Cobertain Oak Tree be planted at the Olympic Village in London. On Monday May 28th, Sue Backhouse took Joshua Buswell and Beth Quinton to London to be part of the event. It was an early start for everyone catching the train down to London, then negotiating the tube to get to the Olympic village but Beth and Josh had a great time and behaved impeccably throughout the day The day involved ceremonial planting and speeches as well as photo opportunities from the press and a tour of the village. It was a fantastic opportunity to be part of the build up to the Olympic games and was thoroughly enjoyed by all. On Wednesday 25th April, Adam Thacker, Adam Cave and Beth Quinton went to Campion School to take part in a golf leadership course. It was an informative afternoon for them, helping them to develop further sports leadership skills in a new sport. As always they conducted themselves with maturity and enthusiastically took on this new challenge. They were a credit to themselves and Round Oak and impressed everyone involved in the course.

On Tuesday after school, two of our aspiring Sports Leaders, Taurai Horton and Nikita Shanks, travelled to Campion School to attend an Indoor Rowing Competition Assistants Course. We were joined by 5 students from Campion. The course covered the safety elements that should be considered when running an event, the technique that should be used and lastly the way to use ICT to create races. All the leaders will have the opportunity to help run a primary event later in the year. Well done to Nikita and Taurai for taking part in this course.

On Thursday 31st May, Ridgeway School held an Paralympic Day and asked if our sports leaders would come and help organise the event. Natalie Bemrose, Alex Chamberlain, Danny Day, Adam Thacker, Jonny Shaw and Jack Washbrooke went along to help. They helped the staff to run Indoor Rowing, Boccia, Javelin, Hurdles, Jumping, Kurling Target Throws and racing and were an invaluable support to Ridgeway. Ridgeway staff were impressed by their leadership skills and their willingness to help. Well done to all of you! On 26th April three KS3 and 4 Indoor Rowing Teams from Round Oak travelled over to to compete in the Coventry, Solihull and Warwickshire Special Schools Indoor Rowing Competition. In total there were seventeen teams taking part and very quickly a very competitive and electric atmosphere developed! The teams worked together as a relay team to cover distances in the quickest time possible. This involved very slick changeovers from one rower to another ensuring everyone played their part and supported each other fully. I can’t tell you how exciting it was to be part of this event! Our pupils gave their all and their teamwork was amazing. Once all the races were over the results were announced and we were over the moon to come 9th, 5th and 1st out of the seventeen teams! We were so pleased to win the shield again this year and are really proud of all our rowers! Well done to Taurai Horton, Reg Celms, Shaun Kainth, Nikita Shanks, Chelsie McDonald, Phillip Lockwood-Jones, Harry Jay, Courtney Garnett, Ruth Edmond, Ryan, Alex Crowley-Palmer, Timieka Simmons and Jessica for their fantastic efforts on the machines and to Bethany Quinton who couldn’t take part through injury for her coaching and motivational skills!

On Wednesday 25th April a group of students attended the Saffron Lane Athletics Stadium in Leicester to take part in the DSE Midland Disability Athletics Championship. Tomas Bevan, Ciaran Bevan, Jamie Bloss, Katie Morgan, Ty Stringer, Jamie Smith, Jessica Smith, Carrie Mansell, Kirsty , Jayden Lucas, Jessie Lewis, Sam Barnett, Sam James, James Archer and Melanie Mul- roney represented Round Oak with great sporting attitudes. A number of events took place such as sprinting, Throwing, Jumps and Wheelchair Racing. It was a well run, enjoyable day for everyone involved. On 4th May Willows joined five other schools at Smiths Wood College in Solihull for the CSW Special Schools Rebound Therapy Day. It was a lovely day kindly organised by Donna Lilley which was enjoyed by staff and students alike!

On Friday 4th May we were fortunate to have Terry McCarthy from Corley come and deliver a mini Olympics morning to our Year 7 students. This is something Terry has been involved in delivering to schools across the region and consequently was a fantastically choreographed day designed to be both enjoyable and challenging for everyone. Our students had a wonderful time taking part in inclusive activities around the theme of Olympic and Paralympic sports. Thank you to Terry for organising a fantastic event and to all the students who took part with such enthusiasm. On Thursday 17th May a combined team of Round Oak and Kineton High School students took part in the Fieldfare Challenge at Coombe Abbey Park in Coventry. This competition challenges teams of 8 students, 4 with and 4 without disabilities, to complete 5 problem solving tasks. Points are awarded for planning, teamwork and evaluation of the task. A fraction of the points are given for completing the task. The idea therefore is to encourage young people to work together, value each others contributions and support each other. I can also tell you that they had great fun! The four Kineton High School students were fantastic and the group bonded together very quickly. It was a real pleasure to observe the wonderful interaction between the students and to see how successful they were in each task. At the end of the day we waited with baited breath to hear how we had done and were really pleased to come a very close 2nd to the winning team, although we would have liked to have won! We hope to continue our links with Kineton High School

On Thursday 25th May we hosted an inter school football competition for sixth formers from Warwick and Coventry Schools. More than ninety pupils from Sherbourne, Corley, Brooke, Woodlands, Alice Stevens and He reward College joined us and played in a total of 35 matches across four leagues. The winners of the four leagues were Round Oak, Hereward, Brooke and Woodlands.

We are so lucky at Round Oak to have links with local companies that are so good to us. One such example is Calor Gas. Two years ago they had a Community Work Force Day at Round Oak and did an enormous amount of work on our green house and vegetable garden. They also dug a long jump pit for us!

On Monday 16th July, Russell Davis and his team of 15 Calor Gas employees came to school equipped with plants, spades, forks, trowels, paint and brushes amongst other things! Their goal was to do a make over in the sensory garden. Unfortunately the weather was appalling and the wooden structures couldn’t be painted but the rain didn’t stop all the gardening and they all worked exceptionally hard!

What an amazing transformation! The beds are full of lovely scented and colourful plants. All the weeds have disappeared and a layer of bark now covers the earth. The hop covering the pagoda is now pruned and trained. The fish tank is beautifully clean and the fish are enjoying swimming through the new water features in the tank!

On Tuesday 12th June Primary Schools from across Warwick took part in an athletics competition at . The events included long jump, ball throw, individual races of various lengths and team relay races. Hundreds of pupils took part and to help with the organisation, Natalie, Alex, Jonny and Jack helped with escorting the winners and runners up to the podium. We were also lucky enough to meet Julian Thomas, Olympic hopeful in the 100 and 200metres. We wanted to challenge him to a race but unfortunately we ran out of time! Thank you to our four Sports Leaders for all their help with the athletes. After the competition we walked with all the pupils up to Warwick Castle where they took part in our very own Olympic Ceremony. It was a fantastic evening of dancing and singing from each primary school and the sun even shone! Everyone is now looking forward to the real Olympics in July. Warwick Rotary Club and Warwick Avon Rotary Club arranged for 20 of our pupils to have a Day Out at Drayton Manor Park on Wednesday 13th June. They also kindly provided a T-shirt, cap and lunch for staff and pupils. We set off early from School, were the first group to arrive and were first on the rides! It was difficult to know which rides to head for but we managed to try as many as we could and had great fun! Everyone had a brilliant day out and we would like to thank the two Rotary groups very much for funding the trip. I would also like to thank Teresa, Sarah, Charlie and Ellie from Warwick Avon Rotary Club for coming with us and being such fun and a great help.

On Thursday 14th June I went with Emma Baldwin and a group of Year 7 students to a gifted and talented day at the Alan Higgs Centre in Coventry. We joined students from other schools to take part in a range of activities designed to challenge them and learn new skills. The day involved some theory based work delivered by a physiotherapist for Olympic cycling hopefuls as well as the fun practical sessions such as circus skills. It was a fantastic day made even more enjoyable by the behaviour of our students who were truly amazing ambassadors for the school. Thank you to Philip Luo, Harry Harvey, Shawn Priest, Bradley Syvret, Alberto Riberio, Stephen Watts, Jayden Randle, Jayden Lucas and Shyla Miles for making this event such a pleasure to attend.

Sam Gillies

This term two of our teacher Raj and Phil have been taking some students who have been wanting to do fishing to angling sessions at the Kingfisher Pool after school. The pupils involved have really enjoyed the sessions they have had and despite the poor weather. Due to how popular it was and how much the students involved gained so much from this we are hoping to find ways for this to continue in the next academic year. At our Achievement Assembly the participants were presented with a certificate and fishing rod each. Many thanks to the Angling Development Board who secured the funding that enabled us to use their coaches, to Jayne Johnson our SSCO who spend endless hours on this project and despite many false starts refused to give up, and to Raj and Phil who gave up their free time after school to take our pupils to the sessions.

On Friday 15th June Rowans attended the Warwickshire Lawn Tennis Association Special School Tennis Finals at the AEGON Classic Tournament in Birmingham. Here they had the opportunity to play tennis and watch some of the best female tennis players in the world compete. Our pupils really got into the spirit of things and had a fantastic day out. They had the opportunity to take part in some competitive tennis at a prestigious venue and thoroughly engaged in the event. They really were outstanding ambassadors for the school and we are proud of the way they conducted themselves throughout the event. Well done to all of you. On Wednesday 20th June an Olympic Values Event was held at the Alan Higgs Centre in Coventry for Year 2 pupils across Central and Eastern Warwickshire. One of the activities provided was the Paralympic Sport of Boccia. Four of our Sports Leaders, Jonny Shaw, Jack Washbrooke, Danny Day and Adam Thacker spent a very busy morning delivering Boccia skills to over 200 pupils. Ali Knight, School Games Organiser, couldn’t speak highly enough of our Leaders, she said that they were an enormous help, she couldn’t have done without them and that they were a credit to the School. Well done all of you!

Round Oak School hosted a KS 3 Tag Rugby Festival on Tuesday 26th June at Leamington Rugby Football Club. A total of 53 pupils from special schools in Coventry and Warwickshire attended the event, including a team from Pines who represented Round Oak. The event was led by RFU coaches from the Warwickshire area who delivered high quality coaching throughout the day. Firstly pupils took part in a ‘round robin’ of different skill sessions. These included throwing, passing and catching together with learning how to ‘tag’ and how to score a try! After a shared picnic lunch, all pupils were put into four mixed ability teams to play several tag rugby games. Some excellent tries were scored and good team spirit was shown by all. There were smiles and cheers as medals were given to winning teams. Each student received a certificate and many staff and pupils told me how much they had enjoyed the day. A big thank you to Tony Timms, who as director of Leamington Rugby Football Club arranged all the coaches for us and ensured the smooth running of the day! Jayne Johnson SSCO. A team from Round Oak who attend the weekly wheelchair basketball club at stormed to success in the first ever Coventry, Solihull and Warwickshire Wheelchair Basketball Festival held at Myton School. They were overall winners of a fantastic shield having played against teams from Corley, Sherbourne Fields and Barr’s Hill. The event was held to celebrate school sports week and we were delighted that it was attended by our local sponsors Sainsbury's, together with GB Paralympic Wheelchair Rugby athlete Mandip Sehmi. Mandip presented the winners with medals and everyone received a participant certificate from Myton Head Teacher Paul MacIntyre who pledged to make this an annual event at Myton. It was great to see Tom and Dan from Warwickshire Bears who coached the event and refereed the matches. Press from the Courier came to take photos which should be in the paper next week. A great day was had by all – smiles all around and yet another chance for Round Oak pupils to excel – this time at a Paralympic sport!! Jayne Johnson

On Friday 29th June, two KS3 5 aside Football Teams travelled over to the Alan Higgs Centre in Coventry to play other Special School Teams from around Coventry , Solihull and Warwick- shire. We each played five 15 minutes matches and then the winning team, Corley Centre, was presented with gold medals. We came up against some amazing competition and both teams worked their socks off and played some great football. Well done to Jayden Lucas, Harry, Al- berto, Sam James, Sam Barnett, Kyle, Jamie, Brett, Shyla, Kirsty and Callum Klapatyj. On Tuesday 3rd July 2012, Round Oak students together with a student from Myton represented Central Warwickshire in the Coventry, Solihull and Warwickshire Level 3 School Games event held at the Excel Sports Centre in Coventry. Students from the eight School Sport Partnerships across Coventry, Solihull and Warwickshire competed in a total of five different sporting events. Round Oak students performed extremely well in all five sporting disciplines achieving: Gold in rowing (both team and individual) and Wheelchair Basketball. Silver for Cricket, Fencing and Football. Particular mention should go to Taurai Horton and Chelsea McDonald who both won individual Gold in the Indoor Rowing event. All students thoroughly enjoyed the day and returned to school shattered but extremely happy. Jayne Johnson and Sue Backhouse.

On Friday 6th July, Round Oak KS3 Cheerleading team travelled over to for the annual Warwickshire Cheerleading Competition. Hundreds of Cheerleaders gathered in their theatre all eagerly awaiting their chance to perform. The atmosphere is always electric at these events. We had spent the morning preparing and getting ready and took to the stage with confidence. The team did a fabulous routine to Olly Murs, ‘Heart Skips a Beat’ and won the Special Schools Award! Well done to Melissa, Jessica Day, Emily, Joshua Buswell, Stephano, Shawn, Mitchell, Melanie, Kirsty, Carrie and Natalie. Thank you also to the wonderful efforts of Kate, Mary. Kath and Greg, who supported and encouraged the team so well. The Denise Lewis Raising the Bar Trophy Adam Thacker

Sporting Endeavour James Finn Best Friend of Round Oak School Sporting Excellence Natalie Bemrose Awards Hannah Foster Sports Personality Beth Quinton Mark McGill The McInally Best Team Player Sam Barnett Jon Marsh Hopkins Award for Improvement Reg Celms Charles Cadogan Brenda Langham Nigel Murray Volunteer Awards Special Olympics– Kath Culverwell, Janette Mann, Marie Hopkins, Robyn Hall, Marion Wood, John Wilson, Mary Pinder Judo – Dave Nicolls, Reece Doherty, Marion Wood Wii Dance – Helen Feggins Football –Tom Duxbury, Sam Dunn, Greg Sturges, Danny McMahon Library – Val Moberley

Citizenship Awards KS3 – Jamie Robinson Community Award KS4 – Hannah Martin To 10/11K 6th Form – Jeffery

Farewells Jane Ann Bird Lisa Buchan Jayne Johnson Sam Dunn Callum MacKenzie Thanks to all students, parents/carers and staff for all of the fantastic support and effort you gave to Round Oak’s World Sports Day. Each class chose a different country to represent and along with discovering the differences in culture and society, made wonderful flags and presented them in a whole school assembly. From the All Black Haka to tasting tapas and Irish soda bread with smoked salmon, it was a fun filled day! Eve- ryone completed a mile around the school carrying their flags and banners all in aid of Myton Hospice. A massive thank you to Anita Burrows from Myton Hospice who started off the mile in frantic style. Thank you again for all your generosity and support. Jayne Johnson leaves Round Oak this term. She has been our School Sports Coordinator for the last two years and has worked relentlessly to provide a vast array of sporting opportunities for our pupils. Jayne has been a very popular figure amongst both staff and pupils. Her enthusiasm, sense of fun and love of children and sport make her a wonderful person to be around.

Jayne was involved in countless projects but her main successes were organising Equestrian Therapy at the Circles Network in Cawston, the after school Angling Club with Bob and a Change for Life Wheelchair Basketball Club for the local area based at Myton School. Jayne managed to find funding for 16 sports wheelchairs!

Jayne and her family are moving to Devon. We wish them lots of happiness in their new home and we would like to thank Jayne for the huge impact that she has made at Round Oak.