Issue 14 Spring 2016

Term

of n
letter
s
w
e
ly n

ew

ents for pare

s a nd e v

nts, our patrons and supporters

All the very latest

Spring Term News

Plus

Achieving Through Believing

"


Lingo Lab
See Page 12

The Princess Royal

LIVABILITY
AWARDS 2016

The Sports
Report

Page 4

A p p s A m a z in g !

Page 19

SEN Apps Page 14

Carmel House

Ar ts

Ever wondered about

its history?

1Z5Q

See page 18

Page 22

And Much More!

Look Out For Augmented Content
Exclusive Auras! only in VECLife!

Achieving
Through
Believing

Welcome

Foreword
As this very short Spring term comes to an end we can look back on a busy and
productive couple of months and look forward to the Easter break!
We have enjoyed a wide variety of events over the term including trips to see
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra perform Heroes and Aliens, theatre visits as well as
many fundraising activities. We had lots of fun on National Number Day, raising money
for the NSPCC by taking part in maths activities and then celebrated World Book Day
in disguise! Classes entered a Story Bag competition, producing some beautifully
resourced stories for our collection.
We also have Creative Arts Week to look forward to next week which is based on the
theme of Express Yourself. Students can take part in a range of exciting activities
opening with an interactive opera by English Touring Opera called Dust Child and
followed by a week of activities including bee keeping, performance poetry, Remix
dance and mini BSO workshops and closing the term with our renowned VECs Got
Talent show.
Victoria did very well at this years Princess Royal Livability Awards with a total of nine
staff winning awards and Paula Allcroft winning the overall award for Outstanding Staff
Achievement.

  


  
creativity as well as up to date reports on what the students have been up to in the
radio station, now available on the internet!
I hope you enjoy reading all the usual tales of trips out, adventures, fund raising and
student achievements and hope that it continues to highlight the best of life at Victoria!
Wishing you all a restful, relaxing and fun Easter break.

Kate Baldwin
Assistant Headteacher

Connect to VEC
Phone: 01202 763697
Mail: vec@victoria.poole.sch.uk
Visit: www.victoria.poole.sch.uk
Follow us: Facebook/+VictoriaEducationCentre.uk
Our address: 12 Lindsay Road, Branksome Park, Poole, Dorset. BH13 6AS
2 VEClife

Contents
News

Pages 4-11

Achieving Through Believing

Page 4: Thanks Stewpot + 2016 Livability Awards Page 5: "#$%& 

Web + Jesss Jurassic Jaunt Page 6: With a Little Help from our Friends + Number Day Page 7: World
Book Day 2016 + Pete Pays a Visit + Jakes Jump for VEC Page 8: On the Wings with a Prayer + Thanks
to Bev and Rory + Its in the Bag Page 9: Eco News + Childens Home Celebrate Page 10: VEC runs
a mile + Shiva on Show + Charlies Pie Surprise + Congrats to the Gregory Family Page 11: Lorraine +
Dates for your Diaries.

Features

Pages 12-23

Page 12: Hilarys Lingo Lab + Creative Writing Corner Pages 14 and 15: Pages 16 and 17:
Carmel, House of Peace Pages 18 and 19: Sensory Corner Pages 19 and 20: The Sports Report Page
21: The Vibe Pages 22 and 23: Creative Arts news-round.

Classroom

Pages 24-31

Page 24: Rainbows Round-Up Pages 25 and 26: Story and Spring Time Fun with Class JW
Page 26: '($ )"$%& 
*
Page 27: LB in Wonderland + We are Going to Holton Lee
/3 4Page 28: Green Island Welcomes Spring Page 29: Pergins Spring Term Fund Raising Project
Page 30: 5 (7/587
&4Page 31: 9 (&/%: 54";
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Aurasma
This issues Auras can be found on:
Page 6: Number Day 2016
Page 7: World Book Day 2016
Page 10: Sport Relief 2016
Page 12: Hilarys Lingo Lab
Page 21: The Vibe
And of course The history of Victoria School in 60 seconds below right.
Just look for the Photos with the Aurasma logo

How to set up Aurasma on your device.....

1. Download the Aurasma app onto your device. The app is free for all Android
and Apple devices on Google Play and iTunes.
2. Open the app and swipe through the start-up information until you get to a
sign-up screen.
3. Fill in the details with a user name e-mail address and a password and tap
Join.
4. Next you need to follow our Aurasma channel. Tap the A at the bottom of the
screen to go to the Aurasma home page. Tap the spy glass icon at the bottom
of the page and type Victoria Education Centre into the search window. Our
channel should be the top result.
5. Select it and then tap follow. You are now following our channel.
M<:7 
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short Aura on our history.

VEClife

Latest news
Thanks Stewpot
We were very saddened in January to learn of the
death of broadcaster and friend to Victoria Ed Stewpot
Stewart. Ed last popped into school in October 2015
:
8
8
8 
new Fiat Ducato bus from the Variety charity. He has
been a visitor many times over many years and was
instrumental in raising awareness of the work we do
at Victoria and also raising the funds which allow us
to continue to do it. Ed loved meeting people and
always had time to talk to staff and students alike. VIBE
station manager Tony Rudd interviewed Ed last May,
the result of which we have posted on our YouTube
channel for you to listen to. We will miss him but will
always remember the good he has done for us and the
difference that has made to our students.

The Princess Royal

LIVABILITY AWARDS 2016

Ed with Victoria Students at Poole

Quay in 1978

Presenting a cheque in school in

2000

This years annual Livability Awards evening

took place on the 23rd February at the National
]8

^ <&_&;

Princess Royal and Livability Patron made a
special visit to present the awards which are held
to celebrate staff, supporters and volunteers from
around the charity.
;
 7
8
85: (' ]8
following Livabilitys recent move to the area.
Also in attendance, were the Mayor of Royal
Greenwich, Councillor Norman Adams and the
Deputy Lieutenant of Greenwich, Dr Pieter Van
Der Merwe.
Livability holds the ceremony every year to mark
and celebrate the special achievements of staff,
supporters and volunteers. Nominated by their
peers, the winners are recognised as being
people that go the extra mile in their work and
service.
Victoria was very well represented this year
winning no less than nine awards. Paula Allcroft
8 $%
8
Outstanding Staff Achievement, collecting her
4 VEClife

Paulas Outstanding Staff Achievement

is recognised
8;
^_<^ 
that she was honoured and thrilled to
receive the award. Trustees awards went to
Headteacher Simon Brown, Head of Speech
and Language Therapy Sarah Gilling, Senior
Teaching Assistants Charlie Street and
Alison Richardson, Project Infrastructure
Manager Andy Price and Care Support
Worker Hazel Noyon. In the Outstanding
Team category awards went to Victoria
School and Victoria Horticulture. Well done
to all our award winners, its great to see you
getting the recognition you deserve.

DGCC Captains Raise 8000

^ *
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the Dorset Golf and Country Club visited
3:    

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nominated as the Captains charity during
their tenure as the clubs Captains in 201415. The club, which is situated in Bere Regis,
held many events including charity days and
8   
8 
from Barclays. Money was also raised by the
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of money, which will go a long way, we are
  
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system for use in our speech therapy and
environmental control sessions. For some
8   

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accessing ICT with the use of their eyes. On

Vicky and Paul with Sarah

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and Paul was Head of Speech and Language
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golfers and bowlers of the DGCC.

VIBE Hits the Web

We can now proudly announce that VIBE Radio
/#  $ % 4
now available on Mixcloud. Our student DJs are
very excited that their shows are now available
on the internet for all to hear. Pre-recorded
shows, plays and stories are available for you
to listen to wherever you are. You can listen
without signing up for an account, but should you
 8  : 
when new shows are available. There is also a
new Mixcloud tab on our Facebook page or you
can listen from our website. Join Tony and our
student presenters now for some great shows
and of course great music.

Catch up with VIBE Radio now on

Mixcloud.

Jesss Jurassic Jaunt

Kim (l) and Jess (r) hope to raise

1000 for Green Island

Running a marathon for Victoria on the 20th March

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7
 
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8 Q  <q
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They plan to run the marathon along our beautiful
Jurassic coastline which has some challenging
stretches. At the time of going to press, Jess is
pleased with the way training is going and having
`  X878 
the challenge. Go Jess!

VEClife 5

With a Little Help From Our Friends

By Snow Kuhne
Sometimes in life you meet someone who
makes a difference, and I am so happy and
grateful to talk about my friend Stuart Holt. We
play rugby together and have become good
friends over the years but recently Stuart made
an offer to the school that was overwhelming.
We had talked about my job, and when I ran

z)  : 8

offered to make up the rest of the money to
8
 :
Q  
needed. I invited him in to Victoria to see how
and who he would be helping and he was
:

 
 88
so much so that he decided to get even more
involved.
Through his company HOLT recruitment he
has offered to support the school with therapy
Q   :<_
money for whatever we need to support our
  (
<

 
 
: 8Q  
  :8
students as it is a Rifton Trike which is such

 <~

sleep system in the planning and a number of

School friend Stuart Holt continues to

support Victoria

  
 :    
greatly.
Im sure as a school we would like to extend
our gratitude to him and all the people who
support the cause, and welcome him into the
arms of Victoria. Personally I cannot thank him
enough, he understood how much this meant
to me and without hesitation offered to help.
Thank you Stuart Holt, you my friend are a
legend.

Number Day 2016

The 5th February was national NSPCC
Number Day. Students and staff dressed up in
their best number wear and took part in maths
and number related activities. We sang number
songs and raised money by constructing a
line of loose change in the sports hall with
'5$7Q   
the play hall. It was a great opportunity to get
our students engaged with maths. For the
 88


Q 
8 
100% entries. In the end the winner had to be
chosen by lucky dip with Mr Brown prevailing
as champion number cruncher. Numeracy lead
Carolyn Nelms thanked everyone for for taking
part with such enthusiasm and our sports hall
8
'*^<

6 VEClife

We had a lot of fun on number day

World Book Day 2016

Once upon a time it was World Book Day and

the staff and students of Victoria School had

a wonderful time dressing up and disguising
themselves as characters from their favourite
books. They had a costume parade in the morning


88
8
dress. Some had their photos taken in our
Disguise Yourself photo booth and took part in
book themed class activities. Charlotte Olive and
Jo Grant were the winners of the identity parade
Q 
8  |X 8<5 8 
 8
  
lands,

and we all lived happily ever after..

Staff and Students always enjoy

dressing up!

Pete Pays a Visit

As reported in the last edition of VECLife top
 ^ ;
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to purchase the Omi Vista, a state of the art
  <q ^  
 
: 
   
school and see for himself how we are using
this great piece of technology. VECs own Mr
music Mike Whitlock was on hand to give Pete
the guided tour and introduce him to some of our
students. Omi Vista has had a huge impact on
our sensory provision at VEC. Its easy to set up
and very portable so all classes can access to it
right across the site. The software is also editable
and staff training is planned so that we can
create our own resources to use with it. After a
presentation with a few tokens of our appreciation
he got to grips with the controls and the students

Pete met staff and students during

his visit
demonstrated just how much fun it is to use.
From everyone at Victoria, thanks Pete for

Q  


making a huge difference to our students as a
sensory experience.

Jakes Jump for VEC

Jake has always wanted to jump out

of a plane!

Victoria student Jacob Whitehouse is getting a very

special present for his 16th birthday this year. For some
time Jake has wanted to make a parachute jump much
to Mum Aprils consternation! Well, as its a landmark
birthday this year Mum has relented and with the
permission of his Consultant Jakes wish will come
 /
 4<q    8
 (
deadline, the jump is set for the 26th March. Jake has
also kindly decided that he would like to raise money
for Victoria at the same time. We have set-up a just

   
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The money will be used to provide a covered walkway
between main school and Carmel House, protecting
staff and students from the elements.
1

VEClife 7

On the Wings with a Prayer

By Paula Allcroft
Like Jacob Whitehouse intends, I have jumped
out of a plane - but now Im going to stand
on one, alongside Viv Fendley. Hopefully on
separate planes! We are doing a wingwalk in aid
of Lewis Manning Hospice at Compton Abbas
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q <~  

whether we can still hear Viv from down on the
 Z4;
  

  
giving number on it and I have included a link
to the Just giving page and both Viv and I have
paper sponsor forms.
Imagine, so the day of your fundraising wing
walk arrives. The weather is on our side and the
    
 :<
Weve already been taught the ins and outs of
what being a wing walker entails, so its time
for the ground crew to get us into position and
  
 
<;
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up to us. Nerves are sure to be rife as we taxi
away ready for take off. Yes, the wind will most
 : 
 ( <;

highlight for most people that dare to go wing

Thanks to Bev and Rory

Also bravely taking to the skies partly on our
:
8~ & Q 

$
Vatcher and her son Rory who are taking part in
a tandem parachute jump on the 10th April. Bev
_
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and LEAF ( Leukaemia Educating & Fundraising

 4<5%38  
 
and adults in Dorset and Hampshire affected
by Leukaemia who are receiving treatment
and have further needs. Bev comments I am

Its in the Bag

Our Story Bag competition which was tied
closely to World Book Day was a great success
this year. Staff and students put together props
and materials to bring their chosen books to life.
These are now in our story corner in the play
hall for students and teachers to enjoy. Finding
8  :  q 
Headteacher Simon Brown and Assistant
& 
) $
  
to two. This years champs are Green Island
for their bag illustrating Hansel and Gretel and
_:8
:8;
*
Mermaid. Standards were very high this year so
a huge thanks and well done to everyone who
took part.
8 VEClife

Paula and Viv will boldly go on the 16th july

78
 


 
over the aerodrome. As you swoop in youre
just 100 feet above the ground perched on top
of the Stearman plane. Now thats what we
call a charity wing walk experience! We would
love you to sponsor us if you can, we both
have sponsor forms with us most of the time
otherwise donations can be made on:
https://www.justgiving.com/Paula-Allcroft
or by text by sending a text saying WWPA50
/
     4 70070
so looking forward to the
jump as its part of my 50th
birthday celebrations, but I
 Z_(z
years old and, of course he
cant wait to jump out of an
aeroplane. Both causes are
Bev Vatcher close to my heart. Rory and I
are hoping to raise enough money to make a
difference in some way to both charities. We
would like to thank Bev and Rory in advance
for supporting Victoria in this endeavour and



<;

` $XX|zM

Our Winners: Green Island and Rainbows

By Jen Williams

Spring is here and the eco-committee have

been preparing for our Sports Mile sponsored
walk. It will be a great way to raise money for
other countries, enjoy our school grounds and

7: 

 < 

time it will be an opportunity for us to start
our school strawberry growing competition.
We hope to have a special strawberry day in
the summer term when we will announce the
winners and possibly enjoy some strawberry
tastes too. Also along the walk each student
 7/:48<
Hopefully by the time you read this you will
have your students leaf at home and will be
busy working on the task written on the back.
Classes were asked to think of suggestions
for tasks and the response was great. Please
let us know how you get on with your ecotasks and any photos would be very welcome.
Meanwhile we have had three eco-committee
meetings and great enthusiasm from the
students. We have noticed that classes keep

Sound advice from William

leaving their smartboard projectors on, so
William Sabine has made posters to remind
everyone to switch them off. We have also
8 7
students are doing a fantastic job of leading
our meetings now. The students agreed to
take it in turns and so far Akira, Charlotte and
William have taken on the role. We hope you
  
% 8
some sun!

Akira spreads the word

Childrens Home Celebrate

By Hazel Noyon
On the evening of March 17th, the residents
of the Childrens Home enjoyed a celebration
event to mark the end of the Winter section
of their Sensory Outward Bound Challenge.
Together with guests, they ate a lovely
meal, then had an Awards Ceremony. The
Westbourne Suite had been decorated for
the occasion, and photos around the room
were evidence of the varied experiences



 :  
:
silver and gold awards. Another award was
for WOW! moments when residents are
 :Z;

signing, gaining independence skills, being
thoughtful, and many other things. Everyone


 `  :
 8
  <] 
the Spring section of the Sensory Outward
Bound Challenge..

James Collects his prize

VEClife 9

VEC Runs a Mile

3
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  # <]  
Arts week will begin with a joint event organised by the
Creative Arts department, the PE department and the Ecocommittee. We invited all classes to take part in a sponsored
7/| 

 4 
money for Sports Relief. Primarily we were raising money for
sports relief but we also hope to raise awareness of health
and exercise and to encourage the use and enjoyment of the
school grounds. Check out the photo opposite with Aurasma.

Shiva on show
By Mark Moseley
Neil Sackley, a reporter and presenter from
BBC Radio Solent came into VEC to watch
pupils using the Shiva software. The Shiva
project had recently won a Times Higher
Education Award. Amar, Sam M and Sam B
demonstrated the software to Neil, each using
the software to create their models in different
ways: Amar used a touch screen, Sam M
used his tablet computer and Sam B used an
 <'
 

impressed. You can listen to the full interview
again on our Youtube channel or by following
this link:

< :< 
 :`]_'

Neil Sackley from Radio Solent

interviews Prof. Alexander Pasko

Charlies Pie Surprise

Class BEs Charlie Street had a very special
birthday treat this year in the shape of a giant
pork pie! Staff and students in her class had
the giant pie made through Paula Allcroft
who trusted the task to The Crow Farm Shop
in Ringwood. The result was a monster pie
weighing in at just over one stone! Charlie
thanks everyone for such a memorable gift
and naturally, to divide it up, made a pie chart.
A happy Charlie with pie chart
and pie

Congrats to the Gregory

Family
We would like to say a hearty
congratulations to Aaron and Vicky

:
8
 
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5 5 :

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10 VEClife

Introducing Amelia Louise

Lorraine
It was with great sadness in January that we learned of the passing
of former staff member Lorraine Maple. Lorraine started at Victoria
* :z8
assistant, encouraging and supporting students to achieve as much
as they could. Many owe their progress into successful adulthood
to Lorraines on-going and persistent input to their education and
independence. Lorraine left us in July 2012 but many staff here still
remember her time with us and kept in touch with her. Her friends
from Victoria attended an uplifting service at St Clements Church in
Parkstone where we were able to pass on our condolences to her
family.

Dates for your Diaries

There is always a lot going on and its not
always easy to keep up with those important events
around the corner. Here are a few things coming up
for you to add to your diaries so that you dont have to
miss out.
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June 18th see pirates take

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there.

VEClife 11

Features

"


Lingo Lab
By Hilary Stewart
Welcome, Bienvenue & Wilkommen
to a brand new feature in VEClife!
Every edition Madame Stewart hopes to
    :  8

from another language, usually with the help
of a friend! Via the wonders of Aurasma
technology, you can view short video clips
and hear the language spoken with English
subtitles making sure you understand. We
hope that this will be an enjoyable way to
share the fun of learning foreign languages
and will enable you to listen, speak and learn
with your child at home. To play along, all you

Creative
Writing
Corner

need to do is set-up your smart device with

Aurasma (there are instructions on how to

 4

 8
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know how you get on and look out for more
useful phrases in future editions of VECLife.
Bonne chance, mes amis!

with Beth Kay

During this half term the GCSE English

Language group have been working really


   
Q <
It would be fair to say they have become
experts! Senses, verbs, adverbs, nouns,
adjectives, pronouns, simile, metaphor,
   
are some of the key ingredients they put into
their writing. If you need to brush up on your
own creative writing skills and need some
ideas on how to go about it, then either pop
into a GCSE English lesson or stop one of the
students in the corridor and they will be happy
to share their tips with you.

Lottie
As I creep into the cold mysterious run down


:7 
feet. Wind hammers on the widow as though
it was saying, let me in. Around me it feels
empty but it is very cluttered.
12 VEClife

Join Hilary and Jaques for lesson 1

One of their tasks was to create a description

from this picture of a room. They were given
no contextual information but just had to
use their descriptive writing tool kit.
Read on for the original uncorrected results

Charlie
It was a lifeless room, in the middle of the
city. As I walked into the room there was the
horrible smell of vermin, like old food gone
off. I looked around the room, there was
everything from an old wheelchair to plant
 
<<

Connor

Ebony


 

decomposing room. Floorboards creaked and
groaned as my wheels rolled over to inspect
further. Feeling curious I take it all in and the
8   87  

to the point I couldnt breathe. I hit a sharp
8 :


8 


  

not touch anything. Rolling cautiously trying
to dodge clothes scrunched and scattered


8 
:
 
 

<*
7
I turned to focus on a window partly open
 
8

 
<%
and purr outside and the sounds of birds
singing make me wonder what happened

< 
8  :7
and unloved, thrown on each other making
me feel despair and sadness..

This room looks dangerous everywhere. The

:( 78
 
up at the corners like an evil clowns smirk.
My heart is pumping fast, a shiver trickles
:7<
 

as if I were holding ice packs. Suddenly a
cold gust of air past me like a lightening bolt.
 
7    

table which seems to be a decomposed rat. I
have to get a closer look..

Jazzie

Silence is in the room like youre asleep.

Walls are feeling bare and cold because they
have nothing on. Wind howling against the
windows. Being in the room makes you feel
sick as everything is practically mouldy, Sad
:   <{  
your mouth

Ryan

Luke

It was so cold, I was dithering, because the

window was open and the dust was making
me choke. The tables were peeling. The
lightbulbs were cracked because none of
the lights were working. Wind came howling
through the room, and it gave me goosebumps

Opening the door, it was like Id walked into

another world, the place looked abandoned.
 : 
like theyd been thrown down, or fallen over
The paint was peeling off the walls, it wasnt
a pretty sight. The smell was another thing
entirely.

Sophie
As I walk in the lonely, dark, miserable room I can see the plaster peeling off the ceiling like
 <;
78
:7 :
87(:
followed.
Howling winds sound like a ghost haunting me. I feel as cold as an iceberg as the wind coming
through the window is hitting me fast like a lightening bolt.

Robert
The room is abandoned, howling winds blast thought the thin cracks. They whistle with sadness.
You can hear the rain hammering against the roof and the crumbling plaster peels of the walls.
5 


7   

to get home. Hidden at the back is a Door It creaked as if something was there, the back room
8 

 8 

8 <;

7 (
hard to breathe.

7 

  

<88 8

unopened and feel lonely. Rats scavenge for food but because of lack of food and the front door
is shut they begin to eat each other. Sounds of an evil spirit slowly creep into the innocent room
smothering it in darkens. Boxes of random stuff and staked on top of one another toppling over.

VEClife 13

Apps Amazing!
<RXUJXLGHWR$SSOHDSSVZLWK6(1LQPLQG
~ 
 
going to look at creativity and in particular some
of the apps our students are using to express
themselves artistically. The iPad, combined
with appropriate apps, is an ideal device to
support, foster and engage creative thinking,
collaboration, interactivity, and learning. With its
front and back facing cameras,microphone and
portability, it is an engaging creative tool, even
for the less naturally creative among us.
With a bit of imagination the iPad can become an
art canvas, an animation tool, a live instrument, a
music studio, a video editing suite, and much
more besides.The option to add external devices
via Bluetooth or its docking capability means
the iPad can link to a guitar, a digital piano,
synthesisers and other controllers. The
iPad can also offer an alternative means of
recording, writing and presenting classwork,
   8 8
 

traditional methods of writing and reading
challenging. The following apps are spread
across the whole spectrum of creativity and will
hopefully help bring out the artist in all of you.

GarageBand
By Apple

3.99

Describing GarageBands extensive features

would probably take the next four pages so
Ill keep it brief. If music is your thing then
you need look no further as GarageBand has
pretty much all bases covered. GarageBand
turns your iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch into
a collection of Touch Instruments and a fullfeatured recording studio, so you can make
music anywhere you go. Live Loops makes
it easy for anyone to have fun creating music
like a DJ, by triggering loops and audio effects
in real time. You can use Multi-Touch gestures
to play a piano, organ, guitar, and drums.
They sound and play like their counterparts,
but let you do things you could never do on a
real instrument. Enjoy Smart Instruments that
make you sound like a pro even if youve never
played a note before. Plug an electric guitar
or bass into your iPad, iPhone, or iPod touch
and play through classic amps and effects.
14 VEClife

Instantly record a performance with support

for up of 32 tracks but if its simplicity you
want, GarageBands friendly user interface
will have you playing like the greats in no
time. You can then share your song using
email, Facebook, YouTube, SoundCloud, or
AirDrop for iOS.
Compatibility: Requires iOS 9.1 or later.
Compatible with iPad and iPhone.

Puppet Pals
By Polished Play, LLC

Free
or
1.99

With Puppet Pals you can create your own

Q 

  
real time. Simply pick out your actors and
backdrops, drag them on to the stage, and
tap record. Your movements and audio will
be recorded in real time for playback later.
Act out a story of Pirates on the high seas,

 
 8
Wild West bandit on the loose. You can even
combine characters however you want. The
completed scene can then be exported to
  :  8
in another app, such as Imovie. If you are
 : 
{ (^/z<4 
can access all options, including a range of
characters and settings unavailable in the
free version and the chance to use your own
photographs as backdrops. You can also
use images of yourself and crop the outlines
to create puppets of yourself. Puppet Pals
is intuitive and fun with the key ingredient
being your own imagination.
Compatibility: Requires iOS 6.1 or later.
Compatible with iPad.

Doodle Buddy
By Pinger, inc.

Free
or
79p

This app offers a lot of fun ways to draw

and stamp images either onto a preset
background or a photo from the camera roll.
As the name suggests you can doodle with
    
8
7  <;


is a stamp tool which enables you to stamp clip

art pictures onto your masterpiece and these
come with sound effects which is a nice touch. To
further personalise your picture you can also add
text before saving to the photo album, sending
to a friend by email or posting on Facebook. The
one drawback on the free version are the pop up
 

: 8X 
get the full featured app without them which is
well worth doing.
Compatibility: Requires iOS 7.0 or later.
Compatible with iPad.

iMovie
By Apple

3.99

Used a lot by our older students for media

` Q 8  

is no better streamlined movie editor for the iPad

<~
 
 8
than its bigger Brother Final Cut, iMovie is nicely
balanced for those that are absolute beginners
and someone with a little more knowledge in this
area. Theres not enough space to go fully into
its many features so, simply put iMovie uses a
simple tap and drag action to place clips into a
timeline. From the timeline, you can trim your
clips. There are also a good range of transitions,
titles and audio options to complete your epic.
9 
    
8 <
Compatibility: Requires iOS 9 or later. Compatible
with iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch.

I Can Animate
By Kudlian Software

2.29

8  

) *8 (
I can animate is just the thing for you budding
Nick Parks out there. With this app you can
create stunning and exciting animation movies
Q 7< :
 
of creating stop-frame animations to your iOS
devices and then share them for all to see.
I Can Animate has very useful features, you
can capture frames to use on your built-in IOS
camera before previewing them in the scrollable
timeline. You can duplicate or reorder frames
Q 7   ` 
as a whole. With standard and wide-screen
   8 z&{ <
you cant go wrong.
Compatibility: Requires iOS 5.1.1 or later.
Compatible with iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch.

Comic Touch 2
By Plasq LLC

Free

Ever wanted to be a comic book hero? Save


  Q  
Well, with Comic Touch 2 you can create
and star in your very own comic. As with
I Can Animate, take photos with your
devices in-built camera, import them into

:7
  <
;
(; 
 
comic art styles from grunge, to halftones
to classic with 20 combinations in total. The

zM  
professionally designed templates to start
off with but more content is available as
 
 
 
 X
<
You can then add your speech bubbles and
 
88   
personalise your comic. Its easy to preview
exactly how your comic looks and when you
are happy with the layout you can easily
share it with family and friends or even send
it to the printers to produce. All in all a great
app to exercise your creativity.
Compatibility: Requires iOS 7.1 or later.
Compatible with iPad and iPhone, iPod Touch.

Talking Pictures
By Ivan Perre

79p

Talking Pictures is a clever little app that

allows you to create up to ten touch activated
7 
 <*
select an image and then draw around a
particular object or area and you can then
record sound which will be activated when
that area is touched. You can use any image
in Talking Pictures so it could be a family
photo or a photo of your own drawing or
design. With its easy to pick-up interface
this is a great way to tell stories and develop
your creative imagination. When you have

  
 
can then save it and email it directly to your
friends.
Compatibility: Requires iOS 7.0 or later.
Compatible with iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch.
I hope you enjoyed my selections for being
 
 (Z 
of these apps have been tried and tested
:
: Q   7<<<<< 
students. Take care and see you next time.
VEClife
VEClife 15
15

Carmel
House of Peace

Carmel House has sat nestled in a quiet

corner of Branksome Park for over 130
years. As we go about our busy days around
Victoria with so little time to spare, often,
little thought is given to its origins and the
lives lived out within its walls. As you would
expect with a building this age its story is
fascinating with a few twists and turns and
also a dash of mystery along the way.

   

Daniel Makinson Fox (inset)
became Rector of Orford Church in Suffolk in
zXX

 8|<

Claremont in 1884. The house was




Carmels story begins with Daniel Makinson
Fox, a civil engineer from Hull in Yorkshire who
:z}<& 
engineer who built his reputation constructing
railways through the mountains of North Wales
and the Pyrenees. Through this work he was
awarded the commission to build a railway
*^ $ 
88
growing plateau with the states principal port.
He was just 26 years old. The line was opened
zMX`   

deadline and budget. Fox had Claremont
/& (4:  z|
as a place to settle with his wife Mary and their
family. Now in his 50s Fox employed a cook,
four maids, a groom and two nurses. Records
indicate that in his 70s he moved to London


zz<
The next resident of Claremont was Reverend
Edward Maude Scott who changed its name
to Birkdale. Edward was well educated,
attending Eton College and the Sorbonne in
^<&zX|
16 VEClife

 
 
appointment
During his time there Maude Scott managed
z8


  


 zM<&

 zz $7



8

<&
then became Curate of All Saints Church in
$7<&zzX: 
Orford where he spent so much time.
;
 8$7:8 :
the Convent Carmel House was Joseph
5 <& 


 z
was a wealthy man who had made his money
in property development in the London area.

Joseph Lucas with Wife Ann in 1895

& M


purchased the house and probably came
here to be near his eldest daughter who lived

in the area. He was known as something of

an eccentric with meticulous habits. He owned
two Rolls Royce cars and a large collection of
Majolica, Delft and Jacobean furniture which
:Q 
 
$ 
%  
{   :Q  ;
_ 
   

z|<
Birkdale was then empty for several years until
zX
 Q :
 
order of nuns. The Nuns renamed the house
}':zX
staying for 64 years. Life at Carmel was by no
means easy for the nuns. As well as a strict
regimen of prayer starting at 4.30am right up
to 11.30pm at night, they had to work hard in
order to pay their rates bill, taxes and fuel costs.
They grew their own food from seed and made
a meagre living by running a printing press for
local people and businesses and producing hand
painted cards. The Nuns also made Church
vestments and shoes to sell.

Sister Mary, one of

 
Over the years the Nuns made many changes,

/4
cloister and an enclosure wall selling 7 acres of
land to fund them. One of Carmels most distinct
8   
all over Branksome Park. This was converted
into a hermitage at one point and used by all the
Sisters as a place of peace and prayer with a
lamp burning in one of its twin windows. In the
z|8 
Q 
' 
founded a graveyard in a peaceful spot in the
trees with 16 of the Sisters being interred there.
{ 
 8
zX8

elderly Sisters needed permanent nursing and
:  /
{ 4<
With numbers dwindling and age creeping up

*  zz
 

should move on. Each chose a new
home within the Carmelite organisation with
Sister Winefride being the last to leave in
* :z7:
 

"# 
#
 $

the Drama studio).
the life of Carmel House. The remains of the
former Sisters were exhumed and re-interred
at their cemetery in Notting Hill.
;
*
8 : * Q 

and the rest of the story is rather better
known.
Having worked often in Carmel over the
years Ive always felt a sense of peace and
contentment there which I like to think has
been imbued in the very fabric of Carmel

 
:
 88 
lives. There has been talk among staff and

8 7 
 
around the house which has been described
as very much a benign presence. One thing

The mysterious marker

is for sure, the Carmel Sisters would certainly
approve of the work that is done in the house
these days. To bring the story full circle, I
recently heard tell about a grave stone in the
grounds. I went to investigate one day and
after clearing some undergrowth, and years
of fallen leaves, I unearthed a marker for
{ qz
z<

 :

7
that after all these years Carmel was still
revealing its secrets.
Acknowledgements& :&#* 


Branksome, Illustrated London News, Wikipedia, Geni.co.uk, Flickr.

VEClife 17

Sensory Corner
By Nicky Hewitt

Sensory Stories in Drama

Promoting communication and anticipation

Here in the Drama Department, we have been developing a new approach to our Sensory Drama
classes. Mondays are sensory days and the studio is organised with a set and props to support all

  
: 8*{;
 
<&
September 2015, these lessons have been developed in style, and the content for each term
adapted so that we now run a Sensory Story for each class on a Monday.
During the Summer of 2015, Nicky, the Drama Teacher at VEC, attended a training course led
:q/;
*^` 4
 8** <;

 
: 8
78
7  
 :
used to support it.

%   &

What are Sensory Stories?

Sensory Stories are a special kind of story
that can be written about anything you like.
A sensory story partners concise text with
strong sensory stimuli to convey a narrative.
These stories have a simple form, of up to
z 
  
language. To accompany each sentence,
there is a sensory experience that links to it.
The reader says the sentence to the listener,
whilst they explore the accompanying sensory
experience or prop. Within each story, there
is often coverage of all or most of the senses:
taste, touch, smell, sight, hearing, vestibular
and proprioception.
When the story is told to the listener, the reader
only says the words of the story and does not
add in any other language. This allows a better
link between the narrative and the sensory
experience.
18 VEClife

;
: 8** <
By repeating the stories often, in exactly the
same way, this allows the listener, our students,
to become very familiar with the language and
the narrative. This promotes communication
and anticipation of what is coming next. The
students can explore different sensory stimuli
and show us their preferences, thus allowing
future stories and experiences to be tailor made
8   8  

have similar sensory needs or preferences.
Each student has their own set of sensory
stimuli, so they can all experience them, at the
same time, along side the correlating sentence.
This makes the experience more powerful and

 
  <) 

Drama Technician at VEC, has been working
really hard to create and maintain all of the
sensory stimuli for the students. She has used
lots of the ideas from Joanna Graces work and
developed her own props too.

Sensory stimuli conveys the narrative

The impact of Sensory Stories at VEC

In classes we have seen a really positive response to the Sensory Stories that we have been
exploring. The vast majority of students are showing clear signs of anticipation of parts of the
story and are communicating more often, in response to them. We have discovered the likes and
dislikes of lots of the students and are better able to recognise when they express those opinions.
The familiarity of the experiences linked to the narrative, is allowing some of the more able
   Q 
     
 
<

An example of one of our sensory stories

Here is one of the stories written for the students at VEC, with the accompanying sensory
experiences. It is about an Indian Train journey:
The suitcases are heavy
hold a heavy suitcase
The train is coming
sound of approaching steam train
The train goes fast.... The train goes slow
travel round the room fast and slow
The sun shines through the window. The train is hot
hold heat pads
The waiter brings a drink of cool lemonade
pipettes of traditional lemonade to taste

 





smell Indian spices
Time to get off the train. It is raining. It is the Monsoon
trays and sprays of water
The train is leaving
sound of a train whistle

 


 
 

 
'

*&
All of the sensory props and experiences that we use are very cheap and easy to make. They
could be easily recreated at home.
There will be more information and opportunity to come and explore our resources, to inspire your
own Sensory Stories and experiences later in the year, so watch this space!
8 (     7 q(: /7:4
follow her on Facebook and Twitter. On her Facebook page, she provides lots of photos and
instructions on how to create your own sensory stimuli.
Joanna Graces website: http://jo.element42.org/, Email: sensorystory@gmail.com

The Sports

Report With
Hannah Powis

Rotary Sports Leaders Day

Our sports leaders took part in a two day event
at the end of January in partnership with the
_  :<];



 
leaders were coached by Sue Todd on how
to lead in a variety of sports including some
old favourites, Table Cricket and Boccia and
some new sports. The following day 6 schools
came over to VEC where the sports leaders put
their skills into practise leading all the sporting
activities for the day!
Well done to Joanne Sibley, Connor Ferris, Tom
Truong, Hanna Baker, Spencer Owens , Ebony
Robinson and Charlie Williams for a fabulous
day enjoyed by all.

Our Fab Sports Leaders

Continued Overleaf

VEClife 19

Bournemouth Uni Visit

Esther receives some coaching

On Friday 22nd January the sports leaders attended a

fantastic day held by the team at Sport BU. Whilst at
the university the students were taken for a tour of the
facilities, looking at the gym facilities and how adaptive
these were.
The day ended with a coaching session for the leaders
provided by the Bournemouth University Hockey Coach.
He took the students through some drills before giving
them an opportunity to do some leading of their own.
;




: 

leaders where Hanna Baker scored the winning goal.
We are now planning for Bournemouth University
students to come to Victoria for a day of trying out some
of the sports we like to play. A huge thank you goes out
to the staff at Sport BU for making this trip possible.

Pergins Swim 100 Lengths for Sport Relief

Robert Ewins, Alex Elliott, Hanna Baker and
Charlie Williams swam alongside class team
Hilary, Marilyn and Julia whilst Josh Houchen and
Ebony Robinson assisted with lap counting. The
team put in a fantastic effort and completed well
over 100 lengths of the pool in under an hour.
This was completed as part of a campaign the
class had done to raise money for sport relief
through different events held in January, February
and March.

We did it!

S.W. Regional Boccia

Some of you will remember that back before
Christmas both of the schools Boccia
Q 8
  8$
tournament. The regional Boccia competition
took place in Exeter on the 15th of March,
Team Boccia
both teams, Victoria A and B were drawn in
the same pool. There was some fantastic
game play and some great Boccia which
In order to fundraise for their trip to the Calvert Trust resulted in both teams winning their semi
that is due to take place in May, some of Class CN 


<
;
 


completed a sponsored push this term. Charlotte
Olive, Matthew Dean, William Sabine and Brandon Victoria A winning 4-3 and gaining a place in
Lee Real all put their rain coats on and braved the the nationals. Well done to Liam Drummond,
weather and headed down to Whitecliff to start the Spencer Owens, Robert Ewins of Victoria
A for winning the competition and Sophie
push. The students all made their way along the
^ 
 
*$8
seaside path and got to the end location, Poole
Victoria B.
Quay.
Thank you to everyone involved and family and
Thats it for this edition. There are lots more
friends for sponsoring the students! We are still
sporting events planned for the summer
awaiting all the sponsorship money and will let you term so check out The Sports Report in the
know how much they raised when it is all in!
next edition of VECLife.

Sponsored Push

20 VEClife

The

With Tony Rudd

Were on the Internet!

Yes weve been busy Bees here at Vibe! We
have been recording regular shows to be played
on the MIXCLOUD website! So now people can
listen in from anywhere, mums, dads, brothers,
sisters and even your Great Auntie Ethel from
Australia can listen in!!
Log in to MIXCLOUD: VIBE RADIO AT VEC
or follow the link from the schools website to
hear JAKE AND BEN SPIRALLING OUTTA
CONTROL, THE NO SHOW, SHOOT THE
ROOSTER, WHEELER FORTUNE, RESI
RADIO, FRIDAY CREW, FRIDAY VIBE, TOM
AND CHARLIES WORLD BOOK WEEK SHOW
and our new presenter LIAM DRUMMONDBASS !! All this whilst putting your feet up and
having a cup of tea in the comfort of your own
living room!!

Jake and Ben now on Mixcloud

competed in a TESTTONE DR WHO SPECIAL
against a really nerdy Dr Who Fan known only

']_)Q  
8

aplomb!! THOMAS HAZELTON from Class
Explorers recorded his own Dinosaur story and
it sounds great!!! Hes such a little star!!
The students also visited the BOURNEMOUTH
SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA as they were
rehearsing their Heroes and Villains concert
and various reviews were conducted on the
radio that contributes to their Arts Award!
RYAN SKINNER also saw the BSO perform
their set for RACHMANINOV and it has inspired
his piano playing!!

This terms radio hero: Akira Jackson

The Radio Hero of this term though has to go
to AKIRA JACKSON, his pure enthusiasm for
radio and the jingle making process, lending his
vocals to many voice overs on Vibe is excellent.
He has ideas of his own and really shows he is
VIBEs exciting new presenter
Drama productions have been a plenty this term committed to the Radio Process!! Go Akira!!
And so to our new Thought for the week team,
what with class LBs Alice in Wonderland, LBs
3 Billy Goats gruff, CNs Jack and the Beanstalk Matt and Amy!! A great new dynamic when it
and class BEs Alternative Nativity in production comes to the thinking of the week The best
double act since Ant and Dec with a real knack
in plenty of time before Christmas!!
of making the incredibly easy look exceedingly
Im also loving the student projects, BEN
8   (7 7 7(
POVEY has written and narrated another
Go Amy and Matt!!
story THE ALIEN CAT, AKIRA JACKSON has
VEClife 21

Sing,
g, Dance,, Act,, Play.
y

1Z5Q

Ar ts
Art

With Belinda Ellicott

BSO Heroes and Aliens

For our Arts Award some of the students
are creating their own pieces of music this
year in groups, and so as part of our studies,
we went along to the Lighthouse to hear
the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
in rehearsal for one of their concerts. The
 8:
Heroes and so it was fantastic to hear the
theme from Star Wars, ET and Superman
played live in a concert hall. It was also really
interesting to see how the conductor stopped
the musicians and made them practise
certain pieces again to make sure they were
all in time and playing together something
our groups can take back and use in their
own work. It was also lovely to have one

A fun day out

of our parents playing in the orchestra so we
could all wave and share the experience. The
students have created radio shows about their
experience which you will be able to listen to on
MixCloud.

BJO Perform Encore

After last years successful visit from the
$ 
q]
 
delighted to welcome them back again on

3: < 
8  
evening of live music played by top class
professional musicians. We were brilliantly
supported and were glad of the extra chairs

 


Q Z;

| 7 
7
everyone who supported the evening.
The amazing BJO raised 940

SWOYO Hold Auditions

Dancing Angels

This term the South West Open Youth Orchestra

invited students from Victoria Education Centre
to audition to become part of this exciting
project. We are delighted to announce that
Lottie Sharpe has been accepted to become
part of the orchestra, and Philip Henderson
has been offered a conditional place. For more
information about the project see the link below:
www.bit.ly/bbc-swoyo

During the FoVEC Carol Concert this

year some of our dance students showed

7:
 
angels and dancing while the Signing choir
performed live. The students were beautiful
and very professional despite having
no rehearsal in the church before their
performance. Well done!

22 VEClife

CN Explore the Theatre

As part of their Creative Arts studies towards
their Explore Arts Award, Class CN visited the
  

 
 $$<
They had a great time and the show was

  

Z3  <
Matt and Jo Check out the programme

At Swan Lake with JW

Next term in our Dance lessons the theme is
water and so we decided it would be a lovely
plan to go to see a ballet based on the story
of Swan Lake with Class JW. For some of our
  

   
 
and so it was a really exciting trip. Our
favourite bit was when the storyteller asked
us to join in the mime with the Prince and
] /
*^4<~ 
real life ballerina who was in the audience too
and showed her our swan arms.

First time at the Theatre

All Aboard The Polar Express

We decided to hold our 3rd annual whole
school Christmas party last December with a
Polar Express theme. This tied in nicely with
the termly theme of Travel and Transport.
The event was run and organised by the
Creative Arts Team and assisted by the Events
Management students. All students were invited
to attend and there were games including
parcel slides, knocking down elves and pass
the parcel. We had snow, letters to Santa, a
puppet theatre and a chocolate fountain plus
Jamie Jigsaw visited and created balloon
sculptures for all the students. Our relaxation
area complete with bubbles was popular and
ticket punch art and train decorating was also a
hit with the students. Everyone also went home

Snowman Tiago and Jess get into the spirit

with a bell to represent the spirit of Christmas
`  7
<~
 8 
and everyone was really in the mood for the
Christmas holidays.

A Fine Festive Finale

This years end of term service at St

Aldhelms Church was a bit different in that
the whole school were involved. The house
band of Mike, Harry, Aaron, Matthew and
Connor accompanied us all in singing and
signing all the songs whilst Amar and Sam
Bird played beautifully on the soundbeam
for Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Isnt
He Lovely? All the students dressed
appropriately for their section of the Nativity
story and our older students provided the

narration to tell us the story. The whole service was

rounded off by a fantastic rendition of The 12 Days
of Christmas as you have never seen it before,
performed by Class CN. A fabulous turn out from
parents and supporters and a lovely way to end
the term.
VEClife 23

ssroom
ClaCatch-up
m activities
o
ro
s
s
la
c
s
at this term
A look back
s to Pergins
from Rainbow

This issue
s

Rainbow

Class BE

Pergins

Class LB

Class JW
Class CN
Lifeskills
Furzey
Green Island

Rainbows Round-Up
By Beth Kay
~

 
`  
with class Rainbows. It has been lovely getting
to know the students and staff. We have been
 87  
snow dough, tearing up toilet tissue and mixing
it with grated soap and coca powder to make
clean mud for the Bear Hunt story, making our
/ 
Z4 
Tabby Mctat The Buskers cat and mixing food
colouring with condensed milk to create our own
sticky paintings.

Callie, Nathan, Honey and Asher sharing all their

favorite things with us in Show and Tell. We look
forward to sharing special things from the rest of
Rainbows after the Easter holidays.
All of the class has had lots of successes
in swimming, resonance and music therapy
sessions over the last term.
The tiny room adjoining Rainbows is almost


 8   
lighting, a UV carpet and our very own sound
beam and projection facility.
Spring has well and truly arrived in Rainbows
as we have been venturing out into the school
grounds, enjoying a sensory walk and making
plans for the rejuvenation of the small garden
adjoining the class.

Dressing up for Book Day

World book day was great fun! It was brilliant
to see all the students dressed up. I couldnt
tell who was who for the day, staff and students
alike! We had acrobats, ringmasters, mermaids,
 
 < 
was good fun making our own book bag for the
Singing Mermaid and even better that we were
joint winners of the book bag competition.

Messy Play is Fun

) 
:: 7

radio jingle which we listen to every morning
before the story on Vibe radio. Ama has been
has been working hard on her VECs Got Talent We hope you all have a lovely Easter, from all
entry, keeping it a surprise from us all until the
the staff and students in Rainbows.
performance. We have thoroughly enjoyed
24 VEClife

Story and Spring Time Fun with Class JW

By Sally White

; 
Christmas seems so long ago now but our new
term began well after children and staff returned
from their festive break. Class JW began by
planting bulbs in planters outside and pots inside.
) 7 
 
 
( 8
of getting her hands dirty and actually proved to
be a wonderful little gardener overall. Since then

: :
:  
8


8
blooming fantastic array of tulips outside.

Well huff and well puff

;
  * ( 
with our young students. They have enjoyed
walks to the local library in Westbourne where
we were made to feel very welcome and were
able to choose some traditional and some
not so traditional stories (you know what I am
7: (  &Z4&
engaged whilst listening to The Three Little Pigs
with sound effects and kept wanting More!
Tuesday mornings have been great fun with the
class OT session reading and performing Stick
Man and Aliens in Underpants. The students
have been able to work and play at the same
time and so fun has been had by all. James and
Naseem who love funny stories have particularly
enjoyed themselves and often have us all in
  
<~ ];/ 7


 4 Z&
more!
As part of dance we were lucky enough to
 
    

in Southampton and see an interactive
performance of Swan Lake by Birminghams
Royal Ballet Company. It was a rare treat and
everyone enjoyed it. Class JW certainly know
how to put a bit of culture into their lives.
At the beginning of February our students
celebrated the Chinese New Year with music

Brooke enjoyed making chocolates

and making dragon puppets that looked just
fantastic after they had been painted with
yellow and red sparkly paint...nothing like a bit
8 
 
Q  Z
Valentine s Day came and went and what
better way to tell your Mum you love her than
to make your very own love heart chocolates....
so we did. (Mums love chocolates if you didnt
74
 

 8 
especially liked watching the chocolate trickle
into the mould. It didnt even get really messy,
well maybe just a little later on. Talking of
getting messy, there was one other occasion
/
 
 :
  4
that involved a little messiness .enter Brooke
who knows how to do messy play in style. Oh
dear it looks like a bit of chocolate may have
fallen into her mouth by mistake. Never mind
Brooke we will just have to do it all again next
week. What a shame!

"   


 

PTO

VEClife 25

At the end of February we had two trainee

teachers join our class. They joined in
everything from horse riding to swimming,
World Book Day fancy dress to therapy
sessions. Holly really enjoyed having Jonny
help her make her Mothers Day card. Ooops
I think Hollys hand may have slipped. Do you
think Jonny has noticed?

" and Brooke using OmiVista

The Omivista has been tried and tested around
the school and in Class JW it is proving to
:  <~ <
especially loves getting down on the wedge and
listening to the water sounds in the realistic pond
:
<&$7  
how its done, showing interaction as well as
 


` <<<
Q  
sweet really.

SCITT trainee Jonny helps Holly

Class JW have had a great Spring term. It has been full of great activities and learning
where the students have been able to show their abilities whilst having fun (the best bit).
Thank you to the parents who have helped to support them. We hope to have another
amazing term after the Easter break...just with better weather!

CNs Blitz Kids

Brandon
Lee-Real
as Johnie

Blitz
Johnies Ch
arlotte
Olive
as Gran

A Class CN Ra
dio Play

Also Featuring
Abbie Graham as Mum
Lottie Sharpe as Mickey
and Vera Lynn
Matt McClean as Grandad
Tony Rudd as Uncle Harry

Now Available on VIBE ON-Dema

nd

A VIBE Radio
Production MM
XV

We also recorded an audio

version of a play called Johnnys
Blitz which you can listen to on
Mixcloud.

By Class CN
In Class CN we have been studying World War II this term.
%: 

(~

: 
called Carrie and her brother Nick who are evacuated from London
to the Welsh countryside. They went to stay with Mr Evans and
Aunty Lou who lived above the shop they owned. We all had to
imagine we were Carrie and write a letter home to Mum. Here are
some extracts from the letters we wrote:
Leaving London was hard because I had to leave you and all of my things. The
train journey was long.
:
  ;
I felt a bit cautious when I got to the hall because I was waiting for someone to
pick me. A man and woman picked me. They have lots of food because they live
over a shop.
:4 
";
There is a man called Mr Evans who I am a bit scared of because he is very
strict and does not like noise at meal times. Aunty Lou is nice and kind.
:)<  !;

BE Hit the Shops By Charlie Street

Recently three of the students in Class BE went on a life skills trip to Primark in Poole. They
impressed the staff with their driving and independence skills. They travelled to Poole on the public
bus and shopped for an item of clothing for themselves. It was a very successful trip and all three
of the students felt very proud of their efforts. Well done Danielle, Reece and Akira you were a
credit to the school!
26 VEClife

LB in Wonderland
By Lisa Boyes
This term Class LB have been looking at the
story of Alice in Wonderland. We have recorded
our own play script with the help of Tony Rudd
and then on Friday 26th February we hosted our
own Mad Hatters Tea Party where the students
invited VIPs and made food for everyone to share.
Everyone had a fantastic time and the students
 
   

cut of their play!

Were Going to Holton Lee!

By Kathryn Webb
3 8
8 
they have raised enough money to fund their
residential trip at Holton Lee. We will be there
for two nights 11th-13th April. The class and
staff have been busy all through the Autumn
Term making items to sell. We would like to
thank everyone who bought from our stalls at
the Christmas Fayre, after the Harvest Festival
and Christmas Carol Service or even supped
the soup we sold one cold October lunchtime. It
has been a huge undertaking and we are all very
excited about our forthcoming adventure!!
 3 
:: 
during the Spring Term. In English we put our
party planning skills to the test and invited
many of our friends to a lovely Beat the Winter
Blues party complete with party food, games,
decorations, music and dancing.

Who is it?

Mad Hatter Tony with the Gang

The Staff and Students celebrate

Household Shopping has been the focus of Life
Skills lesson this term so we have been out and
about visiting the Westbourne High Street and
local supermarkets to practise our shopping
skills. Tesco even invited us to take part in a
tour and we had a brilliant afternoon exploring
all areas of the shop including the bakery, the
88

 
and the highlight.........going up in the delivery lift
(high enough to reach the top deck of the double
74<;
7 
 
team at Tesco for making us so welcome and
giving us such an interesting and informative
tour!

;

Q  (  for the book bag......who knew you could make a
plastic cup sound like a duck or move a drinks
World Book Day 2016! Everyone looked
can without touching it!
 
 
  
disconcerting in Arne Class as there seemed to All afternoon, there was much activity in the
:8  ZZ/X%4 drama studio where a photo booth had been set
We all got to parade in our disguises to launch up. Disguises in the form of wigs, hats, masks,
glasses of every shape and colour were provided
the day before heading off to various book
inspired activities. Rainbows Class enjoyed story for students and staff to disguise themselves
time in the drama studio, when the GCSE class once more for the identity parade competition.
popped in to share a book or two! Other classes The photographic results were displayed in
the play hall the next day for all to guess. We
worked furiously on their book bags for the
discovered that the schools best detectives are
competition.
3 
:7:8_ Charlotte Olive and Jo Grant!! Nothing gets
past these keen observers.......you have been
Dahls The Witches, trialled magical science
experiments to see if they were worthy activities warned....
VEClife 27

Green Island Welcomes Spring

By Margaret Humphreys
Green Island have been welcoming Spring with
some tidying up! Our ASDAN course on the
environment asks us to improve an indoor and
outdoor area, so we have scrubbed and polished
the class using vinegar and bicarbonate of soda
/ :  74   :
with new plants. Our composting efforts are
going very well so far we have not had to buy
any, but are using the resulting soil from our bin
outside class. We recycle all our suitable scraps
from fruity snacks and food tech lessons. All very
A touch of spring
pleasing and eco-friendly.
challenges for his ASDAN Transition Award,
including organising an Easter nibbles party for
~  
 
$7 a friend from his former class. However, his
Bag competition (along with our splendid sister
funniest moment recently was discovering an
_:4<;
7  )
~:: old talking switch which alerted us to the fact A
for organising the events round World Book Day. baby has been born in Bethlehem! This has
Although Cameron was rather nonplussed by
Andrew giggling hugely when he presses it in
Angie in a wig.
place of his morning greeting. Hope has been
really enjoying using the Omivista like a sort
Our class communication work is paying
8 <*
7


dividends, and we have been especially proud
and sounds change. She is also very taken
of Amys efforts in making very clear choices
with our work on Light and UV in the MILE
during our morning greetings. Cameron is also
room.
beginning to use photo cards successfully to
select drinks, people and ICT activities. Tiagos
guitar skills are so fantastic he is being entered
in VECs got talent, along with Megan and some
of her singing. We like to think she is a bit of
a raconteur, as she passes comment on class
activities, and makes the odd knock knock joke.
Its the way she tells em.

A young Elvis? No its Tiago

*

 
 
Dubai, and then her grandmother in India. We
are delighted she is back safe and sound.
Andrew missed her and insisted on greeting her
using his Cheaptalk most mornings, so we had
to shout our hellos to her very loudly while she
was away. Andrew has been completing several
28 VEClife

Megan cooks up a treat.

As usual, many many thanks to the fabulous
team of people who support the class:
including, but not limited to, therapists, student
support workers, ICT support, Andy in rehab,
and to our supportive and lovely parents.

Pergins Spring Term Fundraising Project

By Hilary Stewart
At the beginning of January, Class Pergins
decided to do some fundraising for charity. After
much discussion, we chose to support the Sport
Relief 2016 charity as most Pergins students are
keen sportsmen and women so this would give
us the opportunity to do something active. Lots
8: 
 
organise 3 events a cake sale, a sponsored
silence and a sponsored Swim 100 with the
whole class team of students and staff aiming to
swim 100 lengths of the school pool.

Everyone likes cakes!

Finally, we completed our Swim 100
challenge on March 11. Students taking part
in the water were Rob, Hannah, Charlie and

q /*;4/;4
in the pool to do our bit. We had our poolside
support team of Josh and Ebony, assisted by
* /;4 7 8(

keep track of the overall total and provide cold
water drinks! All the swimmers did brilliantly
with most exceeding their target total and
really giving it their all. We had fantastic
A great success
support from the PE staff Sharon,
The cake sale was a great success. The range
Jason, Dan and Martin in the pool and Ali and
Q  8
7:  
Rhi poolside to assist. Andre also joined us in
  88<~

the water and we were cheered on by Class
beautiful cupcakes, chocolate cake, ginger
Arne, which gave us great encouragement.
cake, crispy cakes and a very impressive coffee
By the end of the session, we had collectively
cake brought in by the visiting new Chairman of
/;
7 Z4~      8z}M
 
achievement for Pergins students. This total
8:   7788 ` <
is also set to grow as a couple of students are
;
 :78 
8    adding to it in their individual hydrotherapy
sessions.
our second fundraising activity a sponsored
silence. We had a couple of students absent
that day, which made things a bit easier as boy,
do Josh and Rob love to chat! Everyone else
managed to be just about silent throughout our
<}z<}   8
control and team spirit.

Marilyn, Hanna and Julia in action

Josh and Ebony count the lengths

Oral hygene with Jean Houston

Weve had fun with all our activities and its

been made even better knowing that weve
made a difference to other peoples lives
through the great work and projects that Sport
Relief fund around the world.
The glamourous
Sophie
1

VEClife 29

Lets Cook!
By Hilary Stewart
In February, classes Arne and Pergins started a
new Life Skills unit to Make a simple meal. As
part of the preceding unit, Household Shopping,
both classes had split into two groups to visit
nearby Lidl and Tesco stores. Each group within
the class had an identical shopping list. Arne
students were buying ingredients to make a
simple pasta bake, whilst Pergins bought items
needed to cook a basic pasta Bolognese dish.
The shopping trips were a very useful opportunity
to look at the different products available at each
shop and also to practise communication and
numeracy skills, as each student had to purchase
an item, paying for it and collecting change.
Products were then taken back to school, where
prices were compared and value for money
considered.

Hanna prepares the ingredients

Products bought, it was then time for the Team
Tesco and Team Lidl in each class to go into
battle in the kitchen to see who could produce the
tastiest meal. Class Arne had the extra pressure
of cooking for that well known gourmet and food
connoisseur, Angus Collins!

The lads stir up a treat

On both occasions, the food tech room
was like a scene from Ready Steady
Cook two teams stirring, frying, peeling,
chopping, draining and grating. In class
Arne, Joanne was always busy and very
good at washing up! Abi and Sophie grated
cheese like professionals and Tom once
again demonstrated his kitchen chopping
while Liam and Josh went head to head at
the hob!
;

  
and everyone took their meal portion home
for dinner. Chief taster Angus had a very
close decision to make, separating Team
Tesco and Lidl in Class Arne but by a
whisker, awarded honours to Team Lidl for
perfectly cooked pasta. In class Pergins,

 

  
Q  
  
differences three colour and wholewheat
pasta, added garlic and herbs.

Decision time!
All the students involved worked brilliantly
and hopefully enjoyed developing their
own skills and knowledge for a more
independent future. Well done, everyone!
Perhaps a pop up restaurant next!
Joanne keeps a careful eye on things
VEClife 30

Youre Hired
By Hilary Stewart
Class Pergins have been working hard in their
Employability lessons this term, focusing on
developing interview skills that can improve
performance at college or job interviews. Weve
7 
8Q  
individualised answers to some and also learned
about non-verbal communication strategies, preinterview preparation and personal presentation.
We were very lucky to have a visit from Julie
Childs from local company, Poole Lighting, who
kindly agreed to come and give students an
insight into how she has developed a career
 
: /^4<q 7 
urge students to have high expectations, to work
hard and to push themselves forward to achieve
their dreams and ambitions.
During the visit, Julie also conducted a short
mock interview with one of our students, Charlie
Williams. Charlie very bravely volunteered to
do this with the rest of the class observing and
wasnt feeling one hundred percent on the
<&
 Z&

<  =

 
<~ 
: 8

preparation we had done in previous lessons,
  Q  
7
8
appropriate answers. Everyone (students,
 88 4 
impressed and could really appreciate what
a difference good preparation could make to
their performance. And as for Charlie the
unanimous decision was, Charlie youre
hired!

Advertisements

Exceptional people deserve exceptional Governors

We are looking to increase the membership of our Local Governing Body and currently have a
vacancy for a Parent Governor who is able to commit to attend 2 meetings per term.
If you are keen to represent parents and take an active role in the monitoring and development of
our school, please contact Rachel Jobbins, Clerk to Governors, for further information:

/_q:: <<

< 74<
Please can all applications be tendered by 20th May
ay

Shop at Victoria Horticulture

For all your Summer Garden Needs

Open Monday-Friday 8.30 - 3.30

Our shop is set up and maintained by young

adults who are supported by the team at Victoria.
All plants on sale are cared for and grown
by the young people themselves alongside
our wide range of gifts and produce. The

  Q 8  
 
community and many of our customers return
again and again to access this valuable local
resource. Why not pop in and pick up a bargain
knowing every penny you spend goes back into
supporting the young people at Victoria.



 " 
#   

Order early for collection from mid-May
We also carry a good range of perennial plants and shrubs at very competitive prices.
1

VEClife 31

Phone: 01202 763697

Mail: vec@victoria.poole.sch.uk
Visit: www.victoria.poole.sch.uk
Follow us: Facebook/victoriaEducationCentre.uk

Issue 14 Spring 2015

Compiled, written and edited by Jon Godber unless otherwise stated. Victoria School, Spring MMXVI