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life

Issue 13 December 2015

for parents, our patrons and supporters

s
t
n
e
v
e
d
an

AppsAmazing

We Look at the very latest SEN IOS Apps

Achieving Through Believing

VEC

News-Round

All the Autumn Term News

Going AThe
Extra Mile
Closer Look at some special Friends

The Sports

Introducing OmiVista

Report
Our Sports Stars in Action

VECs Brand New Multi-Sensory Wonder

The
Look Out For Augmented Content
With

Aurasma

Exclusive Auras! only in VECLife!

Classroom Catch-up

What Have The Students Been Doing This Term?

Achieving
Through
Believing

Tonys Radio Round-up

Welcome

Foreword
Welcome to the latest edition of VECLife. We have reached the end of
2015 and where has it gone? I have just got used to writing 15 on all my letters and forms
and I will now have to get used to writing 16. What a fantastic year we have had at Victoria
Education Centre. There have been so many wonderful events in the last twelve months.
This edition of VECLife will focus on the events since September. In this issue you
will discover that we have recently achieved full accreditation in the British Council
International School Awards, two of our members of staff have been nominated
for national awards (see page 6), our Christmas Fayre has raised over 3750 and
our new reception area is now fully opened. We now have an Omivista which is an
incredible machine creating an interactive floor which all the students have loved using.
There have been so many fantastic events this term for all the students. We have had
International Week, Anti-bullying week, Switch-Off Fortnight and Harvest Festival. There
is also information about Rainbows trip on the Bournemouth balloon, Green Islands
Diwali Celebrations, Class LB going back in time, Class JWs trip to Beaulieu and Class
Arnes Christmas shopping trip as part of their Life Skills (lets hope they remembered
their wonderful class teacher), as well as lots of other interesting news from all the
classes and departments. All these events would not be possible if it wasnt for the
dedicated staff that we have at Victoria and I am always so proud to be part of that team.
I must also mention Class Teacher Jo Allen who leaves us at the end of term and has
been an invaluable member of our team. Jo is moving on to the Rosewood Free School
and we wish her all the best for the future. Finally, Ive noticed that there are five pictures
of Simon Brown in this issue and I am determined that I will outdo him in the next.
I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and a peaceful
New Year.

Angus Collins

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. BH136AS
2 VEClife

Contents
News

4-16

Achieving Through Believing

Arts Award for Victoria, Celebrating 10 years of Arts Award, International recognition, Balloons for Tobi, The
bus stops here, Times Higher Education Award for Bournemouth Uni and Mark, Mike up for top award, The
Great Shaftesbury Run, A shoebox record for Ingrid, Vote for Victoria, Winter woolies for the homeless,
The Storm Diggers record again, Mark attends A.T. Conference, Champions of Change, Fayre raises
3000+, Introducing Alvin, Anti-Bullying Week, A penny for Nepal, Real Vintage visit, Harvest Festival
2015, Joanne Shines at Concert, Charity Days: A round-up of all the main charity days supported at VEC,
Making a grand entrance, SaLT News, Congratulations to Gemma and Eddie, Sonnys good fortune,The
Childrens Home Report, Going The Extra Mile: We thank some very special people, The Eco report.

Features

17-23

Introducing OmiVista, Apps Amazing!: Your guide to Apple apps with SEN in mind, The Sports Report: A
round-up of spoting events and achievements, Aurasma: A reminder, The VIBE: Tony spills the beans on
why he loves radio, The Creative Arts News Round: Belinda on all things Artsy.

Classroom 24-30
Rainbows Nordic Adventure, Up, Up and Away also with Rainbows, Shonias Divali Celebrations, Explorers
visit Santa, Class LB go Back in Time, Class JWs term, Arne shop til they drop, Post 16 Life skills, Furzey
Fundraise, PSE in BE, Green Island Recycle and Explore, Le Franais Victoria, And Finally.....

News in Brief
Class BE held a cake
sale and competition
back in September to
raise money for the
Macmillan charity. They
raised 140.

Congratulations to Nurse
Liz Lee who turned 50 on
the 10th November and also
Congratulations to Jenna
Pengelly who married Rob
on the 27th November.

Aurasma

Class CNs Eileen

Ridout would like to say
a huge thank you to all
the staff and students
who ran the Christmas
fun LEAP sessions this
year: They were such

good fun and very

creative. I enjoyed it
so much and hope
they all did too! Look
out next year and
hopefully we can do it
again.

This issues augmented content, a total of eight stories! can be found on pages 3,6,8,10,11,17
and 21. 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.
6. Go back to the viewfinder by taping the square at the bottom of the screen.
7. Frame a tagged image in the viewfinder and the image should come to life.
8. Youre good to go! Use Aurasma to frame the tagged image opposite to see a
short Aura on our history.

VEClife

Latest news
Victoria Awarded Arts Accreditation
We are pleased to announce that Victoria
Education Centre has been selected as an Arts
Award Good Practice Centre.
This is a significant achievement for us and
the assessors were really impressed with our
application. The Arts and Cultural officer said that,
we are very much looking forward to working
with you over the course of your 2015-16 Good
Practice Centre status!
A formal announcement of new Good Practice
Centres was made at Trinity College, London in
September so we had to keep the news under
wraps until now.
This status recognises how we use the Arts
Award here at VEC to inspire and develop
leadership opportunities for all our students.

Creative Arts Week 2015

It confirms our students high levels of
engagement with the arts, how we build their
creative skills, and how we support them to
achieve a national qualification.
Well done to Arts Teacher Belinda Ellicott for
submitting the application and managing the
process and a huge congratulations to all
involved and thank you to everyone for your
continued support of the Arts at VEC.

Celebrating 10 Years of Arts Award

Belinda and the Arts Crew Celebrate

To celebrate Arts Awards 10th

Birthday, students at VEC enjoyed
balloons and lollies courtesy
of Trinity College London and
pledged to complete the 10 month
challenge finishing their Arts
Award between October 2015 and
July 2016. To keep with the theme
of 10 our Arts Award projects
this year are all based around the
BBCs 10 pieces. This specially
selected list of 10 pieces of
classical music has been compiled
by education experts in conjunction
with the BBC, to inspire students
creativity across all arts subjects.
Lollies and Balloons all round!

Last year saw the launch of the primary 10 pieces with the
secondary 10 pieces launched this year. For our Arts Awards
we will be finding out about the different composers and
listening to the music and watching the specially created film
put together by the BBC and then using these as a starting
point for a variety of challenges and workshops to produce
their own works of art.
4 VEClife

International
Recognition
Victoria has also now achieved full
accreditation in the British Council
International School awards,
higher than our intermediate award which we
were awarded last February. The assessors
commented on our application and we have
included some quotes below:

This is an excellent Impact Evaluation and clearly charts

your international education journey, providing evidence of
your achievements (as well as your challenges) on your
way to attaining International School status.
You have created a robust and imaginative international
learning environment based on the special needs of your
students and characterised by innovative areas of interest.
Your relationships with your partner schools have worked
very well and seem to have developed into mutually
stimulating partnerships, generating some very good ideas in
terms of the types of cross-curricular collaborative activities
that you could deliver in order to bring your international
education to life in a contextualised and tangible way. Your
International Education Week 2014 and Creative Arts Week
2015 activities are good examples of this kind of work.

Victoria flies the Flag for

International Values
Headteacher Simon Brown attended the award
ceremony at the council chambers, Plymouth
to receive the award. Councillor Sue McDonald
Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and
Public Health said: Im really pleased that so
many of our schools take part in this programme
as its a great way for our children to broaden
their horizons by learning about the wider world
they live in. The award encourages schools
to make educational links with schools in other
You have done well to embrace the UN Convention on the
countries and help broaden their horizons.
Rights of the Child as part of UNICEFs Rights Respecting
Schools scheme. This will definitely give you an advantage Thank you to all who have contributed and for
in terms of understanding and expertise in international
supporting international activities at VEC.
education. Once again, congratulations on the work you have
done so far and best wishes for your continued success in the
future. Well done.

Balloons For Tobi

A balloon release was held in memory of one

of our own. Tobi Ogeleye very sadly passed
away in the early hours on Saturday 14th
November. In keeping with his families wishes
the gathering was colourful as Mr Brown
remembered Tobis snappy dress sense
and happy character. We will all miss Tobi,
especially his friends in our Rainbows class
and those staff who worked closely with him.
We all send our thoughts and prayers to his
parents Femi and Alice and their family.

The Bus Stops Here!

We hosted some very special guests on 16th

October from Variety, the childrens charity who
kindly came in to present us with a brand new
bus. Chair of the Wessex Barker Committee
Frances Cornelius was on hand to present the
keys to Headteacher Simon Brown. Also present
to bring a little magic to the proceedings was
broadcasting legend and friend of Victoria School
Ed Stewart. The Fiat 35, 13 seater bus will give
us much better capacity to continue our busy
student trips out calendar. On behalf of everyone
at Victoria I would like to extend our huge
appreciation to Variety for their generosity.

Frances Cornelius Presents the keys

1

VEClife 5

B.U. (and Mark) Win T.H.E. Award

We were delighted to hear that the Bournemouth

University Shiva Project team are the worthy
winners of the Times Higher Education Award
for Outstanding Digital Innovation in Teaching or
Research.
The team developed the Shiva software system
working with staff and students from VEC. The
software enables the students to bring art to life
by creating objects using eye gaze or touchscreen
technology, before 3D printing the finished result.
Mark with fellow award
We would like to offer our congratulations to all
winners from the B.U. team
involved in the project and a special mention to
Mark Moseley who was integral to this team. Mark access equipment in their environment. Mark
attended the presentation at the Grosvenor
continues to support our students with assistive
technology systems helping them to independently House Hotel in London on 26th November.

Mike Up For Top Award

Victorias music Technician Mike Whitlock has
been shortlisted for the 2016 Music Teacher
Awards for Excellence. Mike, who has just
returned from Soundbeams Soundability
training in Kent has been instrumental in our
drive to bring music in all its forms to our
students. The digital music revolution of the past
few years has enabled us to involve students in
the writing and composing of their own unique
pieces and Mike has been at the forefront of
this as well as delivering innovative Soundbeam
sessions. The winner of each award will be
announced on 25 February 2016 at a glitzy gala
evening in the Jumeirah Carlton Tower Hotel
in London. This is a fantastic achievement and

Mike working with Soundbeam switches

recognition of the amazing work Mike does
to inspire, engage, motivate and make music
accessible to the students at VEC. Fingers
crossed that he becomes one of the deserving
winners.

Grand Shaftesbury Triathlon Announced

The Grand Shaftesbury Triathlon and Run
Festival will be held on 21st-22nd May 2016.
This is the sixth installment of the race and the
most exciting yet as they will be partnering with
Try Tri Events to deliver a full day of triathlons for
all abilities. Victoria will directly benefit as one of
their chosen charities. The event takes place at
St Giles House, Wimborne St Giles and there will
be a mixture of open water swimming, cycling,
running, camping, live music and good food,
Good food, live music, camping and running.
all set in an area of outstanding natural beauty,
where the focus is very much on enjoying the
with our classic half marathon, 10km and 1km
stunning scenery and having fun.
routes. For more information on what will be
Saturday will be the triathlon day with several
an amazing weekend log on to:
distances (Standard, Sprint and Novice) to
www.grandtrirun.com
choose from and Sunday will be the run day
info@grandtrirun.com
6 VEClife

Its a Shoebox Appeal Record!

This years Samaritans Purse Shoe Box appeal has

turned out to be the best yet. Ingrid is pleased to
Horizons helping out
report that an amazing 130 shoe boxes filled with
treats are now winging their way to disadvantaged
children around the World as part of Operation
Christmas Child. Your small shoe boxes will have a
big impact and bring light into their lives. Ingrid says:

I am very proud of you all, and so should you be.

A very special thank you goes to Tammi Shannon,
who gave me the inspiration for putting
Shontell, Holly and Chantelle count up
love in a box! A little bit of love goes a
long, long way.

Vote for Victoria

Your votes needed! We have been kindly
nominated by local customers of the Nationwide
Building Society to feature in their Community
Match Scheme. Community Match is their inbranch local charity voting scheme where three
local charities are highlighted. Customers can
then vote in-branch up until the 8th January

2016. Whichever charity has the most votes

receives 500. Local branches taking part
are: Bournemouth, Broadstone, Canford
Cliffs, Ferndown, Parkstone, Poole, Swanage,
Wareham and Wimborne. If you are a
customer, the next time you visit your branch
please vote Victoria!

VECs Winter Woolies

41 warm tops were collected

By Kirsten Watts
Our generous staff have been supporting the
community again this winter by donating to Help
for the homeless. Help for the Homeless is a
charity offering a hot meal, clothing and support
to the homeless in Bournemouth and Poole.
Staff collected 41 jumpers and warm tops which
were gratefully received. Thank you to everyone
who contributed.

Playing Up a Storm
By Mike Whitlock
THE STORM DIGGERS, our Horticulture band
have been back in the studio recording their
latest hit- The Moves Flowers in the Rain which
is now playing regularly on VIBE. The band now
have three completed songs, What does the
Fox say?, We are the Friday Crew, and now
Flowers in the Rain. They are hoping to have
enough time to record one more hit for Christmas
before releasing a four track E.P. DIG IT.
The Friday Crew AKA The Storm Diggers
1

VEClife 7

Mark Attends A.T. Conference

In September Mark Moseley, our environmental

control specialist, attended the 13th AAATE
(Association for the Advancement of Assistive
Technology in Europe) conference at the
Budapest Congress Centre, Hungary.
The AAATE conference focusses upon all forms
of Assistive Technology (AT) and Accessibility.
It covers research and development as well as
service provision.
Mark comments On the first day there was a fullday workshop delivered by the Paciello group.
Beautiful Budapest on the Danube
This focussed on working in teams to develop a
new software/hardware AT product, considering
the stages involved in getting it to market and, drone was flown using a 4D mouth controller.
The audience watched as the drone swooped
most importantly, ensuring that it includes and
over their heads and then returned back to the
satisfies the needs of the target audience, as
pilot in his wheelchair!
well as meeting regulatory standards.
It was a very friendly conference and it was
Over the days that followed, papers were
presented on subject areas as diverse as smart very easy to network with other academics and
practitioners working within this field.
homes, augmented reality, robotics, tactile
graphics, haptic feedback, wearable technology Although I didnt get much chance to see
Budapest, it looks like a beautiful city and I would
and computer gaming. One of my favourite
encourage people to visit.
presentations was a demonstration where a

Champions of Change

By Belinda Ellicott
For this years Children in Need, we were
encouraged to become Champions of Change
and so as Victoria Education Centre has been
lucky enough to have been given money for a
project in the past we dressed as superheroes
and worked with our friends from Year 5 in
Longfleet school to sing some songs about
friendship because that is what Children in Need
is about everyone coming together to help each sale and we had a great day raising money for
other. The team leaders also organised a cake
a worthy cause!

Fayre Raises Over 3k

Councillor Ann Stribley with Mr Brown

declare the day open!
8 VEClife

Our annual Christmas Fayre was a great

success again this year. A brilliant 3786 (and
still rising) was raised from a festive array of
stalls, raffles and tombolas. A HUGE, HUGE
thank you to everyone that helped, donated, set
up and cleared away etc on the day. Without
you it just wouldnt happen.
The atmosphere was great with everyone
enjoying themselves, even the Mayoress had a
go on most things including the Pig Racing! Your
support is greatly appreciated.

Introducing Alvin

By Amy Hunt
Many of you will be aware of our links with
Canine Partners, a national charity providing
assistance dogs for people with physical
disabilities, and will know that Graham Elliott (a
Puppy Parent for Canine Partners) regularly
visits us with his current puppy in training.
Back in June we said goodbye to Hannah, a
black Labrador who had completed her year of
training with Graham. Hannah has now almost
fully completed her advanced training and has
now been partnered with the person she will be
assisting. We are all really pleased to hear how
well she has done.
Graham joined the lower school for our weekly
celebration assembly and his latest puppy in
training came with him, Alvin. Alvin is a very
lively 15 week old black Labrador and Explorers,

Anti- Bullying Week

By Sally Darby
Anti-Bullying week took place from the 16th
November culminating with a Blue Day on
Friday 20th November when all staff and
students were asked to wear something blue.
During the week assemblies and lessons were
held highlighting bullying and friendship issues.
As the Anti-Bullying Champion (aka Aunty
Bullying ) for Victoria I have set up a weekly
drop-in session on Mondays 12.30 to 1.15 pm for
students to pop along and chat about any issues
they may have. To promote this, a competition
ran during Anti-Bullying week for students to
design a T-Shirt logo for me to wear at these
sessions. The standard of entries was such that

The students meet Alvin

for the first time.
Class JW, Class LB and Rainbows all enjoyed
meeting him. We all look forward to seeing
Alvin progress over the coming year. Thank you
Graham for continuing this link with our school.

And the winners are:

Lottie (left)
and Tyler (right).

it was impossible to pick just one winner! As a

result, we had two winners Tyler Powell and
Lottie Sharpe. Both Tyler and Lottie will now be
invited to assist Matt Saunders in finalising their
designs for printing. Watch this space for the
end product!

A Penny for Nepal

With the help of Hazel, some of the Childrens

Home residents organised a Penny for the
Guy collection this year. Last year they had
so much fun making a Guy and collecting for
Marys Meals that they thought they would give
it another go. This years nominated good cause
was the Nepal re-build fund, helping them to
recover after their terrible earthquake. After
doing the rounds on the day they managed to
raise a brilliant 103.41 which will feed a family
of six for five months in Nepals disaster zone.
Hazel and the gang wish to thank everyone who
generously donated.

George and Friend collected 103.41

VEClife 9

Real Vintage, Real Deal

Class CN have been studying World War Two as

part of an on-going history project and just before
half term we hosted some very special guests Real
Vintage who popped in to bring this period to life.
As well as enjoying music, singing and dancing
our students also got to handle items from the era
including tin hats, gas masks, ration books and
costumes. We would like to thank Karl and Sue and,
of-course, the Colonel and his wife for their time in
providing our students with an invaluable experience.
It illustrated perfectly that although these were bleak
times for Britain people still managed to find time for
enjoyment.

The sounds of the forties: Real Vintage

Harvest Festival Gathers Goodwill

By Amy Hunt
Our Harvest Festival was very thought provoking
this year and all classes did a fantastic job in
bringing their themes to life. Thoughts for the
refugees, thoughts on protecting our world,
thoughts for others and, of course, being thankful
for what we have. Once again the students,
parents, carers and staff provided a car boot full
of food to the Poole Food Bank who were very
grateful for the donations.
The food was then boxed up and given out to
those in our community who struggle to find money
All donations went to the Poole Food Bank
for the basic essentials which we often take for
granted. Thanks to everyone who donated.
On the 6th November Poole Food Bank held
its annual celebration to say thank you to
those who support them throughout the year.
This year we were very kindly invited along to
share afternoon tea with the volunteers and
supporters.
Hanna, Abi, Amy and Sally really enjoyed
their afternoon of socialising and eating cake
and would like to say a big thank you to all
at the Poole Food Bank for their hospitality
and the best carrot cake ever! Well be back!
Hanna at the PFB, its not all hard work!

Joanne Shines at Concert

By Belinda Ellicott
On 3rd December Joanne Sibley was asked
to read at the Livability Carol Service at HM
Tower of London, The Chapel Royal St Peter
ad Vincula. This was a real honour as this is
a special service that patrons of Livability are
invited to and meant that we were really close
to the Crown Jewels. Joanne read Sharons
Christmas Prayer by John Shea. Joanne
performed this wearing a beautiful dress but, due
10 VEClife

Joanne read a christmas prayer

to a shoe malfunction, just like Sandie Shaw
barefooted! It was a really magical evening
but a very late night!

Charity Days
Pink Day Parade

Pink Day came around again in October and

as usual Victoria excelled. There was pink as
far as the eye could see and all for a great
cause. Every year, wear it pink raises around
2 million during Breast Cancer Awareness
Month by asking people to wear something
pink and donate whatever they can. Since the
very first wear it pink event in 2002, theyve
raised over 27 million. Victoria has donated
a sizable sum over the years and this year
another 78.87 was added to the total.

Jeans For Genes

Jeans for Genes day fell on the opening

day of the Rugby World Cup this year so
as well wearing our favourite denim, staff
and students were also invited to wear a
rugby shirt to go with it. 77.35 was raised to
provide vital care and support for thousands
of children living with genetic disorders.
Jeanius!

Children in Need Day

During this years Children in Need Day it
was a bit like walking around a Hollywood
movie set at Victoria! Wherever you looked
there was a superhero just around the
corner. From the dining hall to Carmel
House we had caped crusaders galore.
Staff and Students took up the challenge of
wearing something super to raise money.
BBC Children in Needs vision is that every
child in the UK has a safe, happy and
secure childhood and the chance to reach
their potential and thats a cause worth
being a hero for. This year we raised a
super 251.56.

VEClife 11

Making a Grand Entrance

Our brand new reception area has now been
completed. Work was undertaken over the
summer holidays to convert the original school
front into a modern and spacious area to
accommodate the many people who visit Victoria.

During
and The Canford Cliffs Land Society for their
major contributions to the project which has
had a tremendously positive impact on our
school.

Before
A comfortable seating area is now available with
an area for leaflets and flyers for all the latest
events and news. Automatic double doors provide
much better access for wheelchairs and moving
reception outward has freed up the main corridor,
enabling easier access for our students to all
parts of the school. The work was carried out by
Glossbrook Builders Ltd to a design by former
Governor Tony Barratt to whom we extend our
thanks. We must also mention Sophie Parsons

SaLT News

By Sarah Gilling
Nicky is currently enjoying maternity leave with
baby Archie, born in September. In the meantime
we are lucky to have Georgina, SaLT, (known as
George) covering Nickys maternity leave. George
is in school on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
Tassels - thank you to all the parents who have
attended the Tassels sessions we offered this term.
Please look out for more dates to be announced in
the New Year!

After

Gemma and Eddie

Our congratulations
goes to Mr and Mrs
Milne (AKA Gemma and
Eddie) on the birth of
their Son, Albert (Alby)
James Milne. Albert
was born on the 18th
October at 12.45am in
Poole and weighed 6lb
14 oz. Our best wishes
to you all.

Alby Says Hi

Sonnys Good Fortune

Many of our students benefit from weekly visits to the Fortune

Centre of Riding Therapy in Bransgore. The Centres mission is
to enable horse-motivated students with special needs to relate
more successfully to others and to have greater and
more appropriate control over their own lives. Well, weve heard
that one of their special horses has been awarded a prize.
Sonny was nominated for, and won, equine personality of the
year for having a wonderful temperament and for his four years
of service. TV personality Martin Clunes, who became the third
FCRT Patron in 2013, presented the award to Gillian Hayes at a
ceremony in London. Wed also like to add our thanks to Sonny
and all the staff at the Fortune Centre for all they do for us.
12 VEClife

Sonny: Equine Personality

The Childrens Home Report

By Hazel Noyon

Victoria Childrens Home has undergone some

amazing changes in the last year. One of the
lounges has been redecorated in a comic-book
Marvel theme, and residents have been able to
choose curtains and colour-schemes for rooms.
The Childrens Home also has a brand new
spacious kitchen, allowing for more opportunities
for the residents to learn cooking skills (and
washing-up after the session skills!!) The terrace
has a fish pond with eight goldfish, and a solar
oxygenator and fountain to keep them healthy.
The terrace also has two splendid planters,
which had contained various salad crops
throughout the Summer, and will be replanted
Our new Super Hero lounge
in the Spring. These were kindly donated to us,
turns to share their news, opinions, and
and have been much appreciated.
concerns. Some of the residents are supported
in this by communication books and speech
buttons, and Makaton is encouraged for all.
One objective of this activity is to encourage
and foster good social skills in our residents
talking and listening, turn-taking, empathy, as
well as to encourage good table manners and
courtesy. The first such night was a wonderful
occasion when all
staff and residents
commented on how
calm and good the
Activities in the Childrens Home have also
night felt.
been reviewed and restructured. Faith Group
Victoria Childrens
continues to be popular, and this term the
Home has been
celebrations have included the Queens recorddelighted to
breaking reign, Jewish New Year, Chinese
welcome Nathan
Moon Festival, Michaelmas Day, Ashura (the
and Harry into our
Muslim celebration of Noahs Ark), and of
midst, along with
course Bonfire Night and Remembrance Day.
many new staff to
Swimming is also a regular favourite activity,
join the hard-working
as well as cooking and Art Club with Rosie.
Outward
Bound
team. We also
New to the range of activities is the Sensory
welcome back some
Outward Bound Challenge. In this challenge,
the emphasis is on experience not achievement, staff after their maternity leave. The Childrens
Home now has a new Deputy Manager Rhi.
but the residents will also experience a sense
She is very pro-active and has much to bring
of achievement when they have completed all
to the role. We are really sad to be losing our
the sections of the award. The challenges are
Manager, Paula, and thank her very much for
seasonal, in bronze, silver and gold categories,
and are designed to encourage the participating the exceptional work she has done in the tooshort a time with us.
residents to get outside and experience and
appreciate many seasonal pleasures. Another
But we hope her new role will bring her
new activity is the Communication Night, when
much satisfaction and many adventures!
residents and staff, in two groups, sit together,
share a meal as part of the activity, then take
VEClife 13

Going the Extra Mile.....

Over the course of the last few months we have had some notable donations from staff and
friends of the school who have gone the extra mile to raise much needed funds for Victoria.
We greatly appreciate the time and effort these special people go to in order to maintain the
quality of our students learning and living experience. The following stories are just a few
of the many generously spirited people to whom we owe a debt of thanks.

Steve Rides High

The intrepid Steve Wallis (Georgias Dad) has
undertaken an arduous cycling challenge on
behalf of Victoria and our Horizons Post 19
group. Steves goal was to ride the challenging
Alp DHuez in the central French Alps. As you
can imagine you cannot take on this challenge
without some serious preparation and training.
You can read all about Steves journey from
his training to the assault on the mountain itself Steve with Mr Brown and Emma Whiting
and also how much Steve raised for Victoria by
logging on here:
opportunity to thank Steve personally for his
https://10dynamic.wordpress.com/
amazing efforts on our behalf when he popped
Its a fascinating read and we had the
in to present us with the 900 he raised.

Snow Runs For Therapy

The Nurses Go Nuts!

Victoria Therapy Assistant Snow Kuhn raised

an amazing 354 for therapy equipment when
she took part in the Christchurch 10k run. Snow
dutifully trained for a couple of months before the
event which runs from Stanpit to Mudeford. After
a slight mix up she ended up running a bit further
than planned but all ended well enough. Thanks
for thinking of us Snow and for putting in the
effort.

In September our adventurous nurses Hollie

Adams, Liz Lee, Billie Halls and Diane Kennedy
took part in the NUTS challenge in Surrey. The
challenge consisted of a gruelling 7K race over
an army style obstacle course with loads of mud
thrown in for good measure.
Hollie said We are pleased we completed the
challenge with no broken bones, but there were
lots of bruises and a few aches and pains. We
would like to thank everyone for their support and
sponsorship.
All the pain wasnt in vane though as they raised
an amazing 500. Well done Ladies!
14 VEClife

Muddy But Happy

Nigel Takes the Plunge

Nigel Adams (husband of nurse Hollie) has
raised 750 for Livability and Victoria. Nigel
fulfilled his lifelong dream of taking part in a
skydive, also managing to lose three and a half
stones to reach jumping weight.The funds are
going towards purchasing a table football game
and some PlayStation accessories with money
also being spent on games for the Childrens
Home. Nigel performed this feat on September
5th at Salisbury airfield.
Thanks Nigel and well done.

Bowled over by Argyll

We welcomed members of the Argyll Bowling
Club to our school in November. Club President
Franco Tinelli met some of our students
before presenting a cheque for 3080 to Head
of Support Services Sue Stratis. The club
has been busy fundraising on our behalf as
Presidents charity over the past year holding
special events and matches. We would like to
say a massive Thank You! to Franco and the
club from us all at Victoria.

Pirates Treasure for VEC

The Pirates of Poole have almost completed
another busy year of fundraising with Victoria
being one of their lucky designated charities.
Many students and staff attended their amazing
Harry Paye Day which took place on Poole
Franco
presents
the year.
cheque
to all
Sue
Quay on
the 20th
June this
All in
the
Pirates have raised 1100 which has been
gratefully received and will go towards aptly
named sail shades for use in our playground.

Thank-You Can-Am
We would like to send massive thanks to
the CanAm car club for donating 400 from
collections this year and wed also like to thank
them for adopting us as their charity again for
next year.
We will be attending their Lazy Sunday car
show in June and Canamania later in the year,
and hope some of them can make it to our
vintage day and car show here at school on
22nd May. Watch this space for details.

VEClife 15

Buckholme Towers For VEC

Finally we would like to thank Charlie Wagstaff and
the staff and friends of Buckholme Towers School
in Parkstone who very generously chose Victoria to
benefit from their Charity School Ball this year. The
ball was held at the Haven Hotel in Sandbanks
on the 27th November. Charlie reports that the
evening was a fabulous success and an incredible
1300 was raised which has been gratefully
received. On behalf of all staff and students, thank
you!

All Saints Donates 700

A cheque for a brilliant 700 has been presented

to Headteacher Simon Brown and Sue Stratis by
The Rev Charlie Boyle. The money was raised
at this years Harvest Supper held by All Saints
Church, Branksome. Tobis Mum and Dad, Alice
and Femi, were also at school having kindly laid
on a lunch for Tobis support staff and are involved
with the Church. We would like to thank The Rev
Charlie Boyle and also those that attended the
supper, for their generosity.

The

Report

By Jen Williams
The eco-committee has been busy as usual this
term. We had Switch-off fortnight in November
which has hopefully helped everyone to get
back in to good habits, switching off lights and
computers when theyre not in use. The ecocommittee have made a fantastic Switch-off
film with the wonderful help of Jon Godber,
and all students had opportunities to see it in
assemblies and classes. Akira Jackson made a
super Switch off jingle for Vibe radio.
The eco committee student members also
now have a file or scrap book for their class to
record the many activities related to eco-schools
that they do in class. These have been a very
successful way for students to share what they
have been doing and also to share minutes of
meetings with their classes.
Other news is that Alison Calcutt and Class
CN have ordered their planters, which will be
used by classes to grow plants through the
year. We aim for all classes to have their own
planter eventually. Green Island have been using
their own compost to grow plants outside their
classroom and a new open compost bin will be
made for students to put in their food waste,
16 VEClife

Thank you
Switch-Off Fortnight was a great success

thanks to Horticulture for offering to build this for

us.
Finally our committee have agreed for students
to take turns to take the lead in our meetings.
There was lots of enthusiasm for this so we look
forward to this beginning at our next meeting
when Akira Jackson takes the lead.
Thats all our eco-news for now. Wishing you
all a very merry (and green) Christmas and a
Happy New Year. Dont forget to keep switching
those lights off! There will be a box for recycling
Christmas cards in reception at the beginning of
term.

Features
Introducing.....
Victoria likes to be at the forfront of technical
innovations and where possible provide our
students with the equipment to enhance their
learning experience. We are very lucky to have
acquired another wonderful learning tool in the
shape of the OmiVista. In a nutshell OmiVista
creates an interactive floor on which we can
project a limitless amount of multi-sensory
experiences. The images projected by this highly
visual and intuitive system respond to the smallest
gesture or movement, enabling students to easily
Thanks Pete: Top Musician Pete Thomas
interact and engage in stimulating audio-visual
raised 10,000
experiences. The system helps promote inclusive
Introduced to the Victoria Education Centre
practices in education by engaging students
via Soundbeam, Pete visited us in September
2014 and asked what the school would like
him to raise funds for. Our music technician,
Mike Whitlock, recognised that whilst we
had a lot of fantastic equipment, it would
be fantastic to have a technical piece of
equipment that linked music with a strong
visual image to help students link cause and
effect. So Pete has been raising money for
the school to purchase an OmiVista floor
projection system that is mobile and can
be used around the school in a variety of
settings, allowing students access to music
Interactive and engaging
making throughout the curriculum.
of all ages and abilities; whether it is students
with PMLD learning through cause and effect or
our older Post 16+ learning how to create their
own interactive applications, OmiVista offers
scope for all. This has all been made possible by
professional musician Pete Thomas.
Pete is a professional session player and TV/
Film composer who has featured and recorded
OmiVista offers a whole range of tactile
for REM, Elton John, Joe Jackson, Richard
experiences to enhance learning
Thompson, Fats Domino, Jimmy Witherspoon
and many more. Pete is the author of Taming The
Saxophone, CafeSaxophone Forum, Media Music In July 2015, Pete sent the school a cheque
for 10,000 to cover the cost of the OmiVista
Forum and Saxophone Teachers Directory.
and we are incredibly grateful to him for his
Through the CafeSaxophone and Taming the
amazing support and the hard work that
Saxophone websites, Pete raises money online
providing music, resources, tuition and information he puts in to raising money for different
music projects around the country as well
for saxophonists and other musicians that he
supporting our school with this fantastic piece
donates to support disabled musicians, so that
of equipment.
everyone can access practical music making.
VEClife 17

A p p s A m a z i n g ! Visualapapsid

Your guide to Apple apps with SEN in mind.

It is often said that todays technology is making

the world a much smaller place by joining people
together in professional and social settings
through apps like Skype,and of-course the huge
impact of social media. This isnt the case across
the board. The use of technology has had quite
the opposite but equally empowering impact on
the lives of those living with blindness or a visual
impairment by opening up a larger new world of
possibilities. Now, with the aid of a smart device
the blind or partially sighted can virtually see
colour, light, bank notes and much more besides.
This edition of Apps Amazing brings you the best
of those cutting edge apps currently available for
the blind or partially sighted.

Ariadne GPS
By Giovanni Ciaffoni

4.49

In a world that relies on visual clues

to navigate, exploring a new place or taking
a solo walk is no longer a challenge for the
visually impaired. Ariadne GPS is a new app
that meets the needs of the partially sighted in
an easy to use interface. Talking maps allow
you to explore the world around you by moving
your finger around the map. While exploring,
crossing a street is signaled by vibration. It
has a favorites feature and can be used to
announce stops on the bus or train. Rotating
maps keep you centered, with what is behind
the user on the bottom of the screen and what
is ahead on the top portion. Available in multiple
languages, Ariadne GPS works anywhere
Google Maps are available. This is a must-have
application for the visually impaired.
Compatibility: Requires iOS 6.0 or later.
Compatible with iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

LookTel Money Reader

By IPPLEX

7.99

LookTel Money Reader instantly recognises

currency and speaks the denomination, enabling
people experiencing visual impairments or
blindness to quickly and easily identify and count
money. Point the camera of your iOS device at
18 VEClife

virtually any currency and the application will

tell you the denomination in real-time. Twenty
one currencies are supported including the
British Pound. The app does not require an
internet connection, which means it will read
money at any location, and at anytime.
Compatibility: Requires iOS 4.0 or later.
Compatible with iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

Color ID

By Greengar Studios

Free

Are there clouds in the sky? Is

the iPod done charging? What colour is the
shirt I just tried on? Color ID Free is here to
answer all these questions and more. Just
point the iPhone camera at any item and it
will announce the colour for you. Brilliantly
simple and easy to use, this application will
open a new world to those who cannot see. It
is amazingly accurate and can even find very
subtle differences in colour. It offers a setting
for basic colours, such as pale yellow green
or more advanced colours such as fresh
apricot.
Compatibility: Requires iOS 4.3 or later.
Compatible with iPad and iPod touch.

Voice Brief
By Dong Baik

2.29

Voice Brief is a great utility

for anyone, but for the vision impaired it
is particularly useful. With the touch of a
button Voice Brief reads your email, Twitter
feed, weather, stock prices, RSS and
Facebook feeds. This time saving app is
fully configurable and works flawlessly. The
voices are natural and clear. There is a free
lite version so you can give it a try before
you decide to buy. Voice Brief reads aloud
your customized content including: Calendar,
Weather, RSS news, Google Reader, Email,
Facebook, Twitter, Stock prices,Gmail
notifications and will speak any custom
sentence you type.
Compatibility: Requires iOS 4.3 or later.
Compatible with iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

List Recorder

By Sixth Mode Solutions

79p

This feature-rich application allows

users to record and organise lists
using audio or text. List Recorder is designed
to integrate with VoiceOver as well as Braille
displays. Replay, sort, delete or email recordings
with ease using custom gestures such as tilt and
tap. The recording quality is excellent and the
app has options such as a level meter, optional
stereo and your choice of recording formats.
The light version, which limits the user to 10
seconds per recording, is a great way to test
List Recorder. If you like it, you have the option
of buying the full version for 5.99 as an in-app
purchase.
Compatibility: Requires iOS 5.0 or later.
Compatible with iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch.

Awareness
By Essency

4.99

For the visually impaired using

headphones, Awareness is a very
useful App. It allows you to listen to your
headphones while also hearing the sounds
around you. It uses the microphone to feed in
noises as you listen to music or use another
app. Hear a car approaching or a doorbell
ringing. Using Awareness, you will not miss
those vital audio clues that keep your day on
track.
Compatibility: Requires iOS 4.3 or later.
Compatible with iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch.

Talking Calculator

By Adam Croser

3.99

Talking Scientific Calculator is easy

to operate and very useful. It has
different voices to chose from or even allows you
to record your own voice. There is a free version
to play with if you want to test it first. It works
with VoiceOver for the fully blind, or has high
contrast options for those with low vision. One
very useful feature unique to this calculator is the
option to use speech for answers, buttons names
and formulas! It also supports entry and display
of Braille on supported Bluetooth devices.
Compatibility: Requires iOS 4.3 or later.
Compatible with iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch.

Magnifier

By Michael Heinz

99p

Having trouble reading the small

print again? No problem! You
can now have your personal pocket-sized
magnifying glass for reading and viewing.
Handy and ready to use at all times! Up to
10-times zoom and with an integrated light,
it makes it easy and comfortable for you to
read even in poor lighting conditions. By a
simple click you can also create a snapshot
of the zoomed image.
Compatibility: Requires iOS 5.0 or later.
Compatible with iPhone, iPod Touch.

Colorblind
Avenger
By Brian Wardle

79p

The perfect tool for anyone who is

colourblind. Using this app youll be able to
identify the colour of anything just by taking
a picture of it with your iPhone! Touch
anywhere on the image to see the colour
of that area. Displays colour names and
shades as well as RGB, decimal and hex
values. Designed to be quick and easy to
use but make sure you take well lit photos
to get the most accurate results.
Compatibility: Requires iOS 8 or later.
Compatible with iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch

TapTapSee

By Image Searcher

Free

TapTapSee is designed to
help the blind and visually
impaired identify objects they
encounter in their daily lives.Simply double
tap the screen to take a photo of anything,
at any angle, and hear the app speak
the identification back to you (requires
VoiceOver to be turned on).TapTapSee
is helping the blind and visually impaired
become more independent in their day to
day activities.
Compatibility: Requires iOS 7.0 or later.
Compatible with iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch.

Thats it for this edition of Apps Amazing!

Remember, all of the featured Apps are
available through the Apple App store. Watch
out for more recommendations in the next
edition of VECLife.
VEClife 19

The Sports

Report With
Hannah Powis
Boccia Clean sweep

Victoria entered two teams into this years

Boccia School Games. Victoria A captained
by Liam Drummond playing alongside Robert
Ewins, Ryan Skinner and Spencer Owens.
Victoria B comprised of Amar Chidziva,
Brandon Lee-Real and Sam Bird with Sophie
Pritchett Captaining the team.
The games were a fantastic event with over
100 students from all across Dorset taking
part, both Victoria teams won all their group
matches and progressed to the semi finals
where amazingly both teams won convincingly
making it an all Victoria final. The final was a
thrilling match to watch with the players from
both teams playing to a high standard! Victoria

A won the final making them the overall winners

of the competition with Victoria B finishing strong
in second place. Fantastic work by both teams to
finish first and second in the competition with so
many competitors.
Both teams are now through to the regional
competition which will take place in Exeter in the
new year! Well done all.

Stoke Mandeville 2015

At the end of September eleven of our students

went on our annual trip to the Stoke Mandeville
Junior Games. They got to try out lots of new
sporting activities over the four days including
archery, shooting and tennis along with some of
the classics like wheelchair football and hockey.
Rob Ewins and Liam Drummond played a good
level of Boccia to take second place in their
respective group tournaments. Tom Truong
On the 9th of December two teams from
played fantastically in the snooker tournament and
Victoria competed in the Dorset table cricket
came out on top of the group to win. Robert Ewins
competition. The first team, led by, Liam
received an award overall for the person during
Drummond finished on top of their category
with wins over Dorchester Middle and Victoria the whole games that showed the greatest level of
B. The second team who finished a brilliant 3rd international potential. This is the second year that
place took part in a very close and competitive Robert has won this award! Well done Rob!!
game against Victoria A in the final match!

Table Cricket News

PE at VEC: Unit Focus

As part of our unit focus this term students

have been learning about hunts, trails and
orienteering skills. Several of the classes went
to Moors Valley Country Park to explore one of
their many trails. In between sheltering from the
wind and rain the classes went looking for all
kinds of aspects of nature on their way round been developing co-ordination skills and working
as part of a team.
and managed to find a variety of interesting
In the Spring term, classes will be focusing on
items. We have more recently be playing a
variety of balloon sports where students have target games and racket sports.
20 VEClife

The

Why I L ve Radio
I was sat in the Radio Station one morning
presenting the breakfast show, a knock on the
window turned out to be Charlotte Olive. She
came in armed with a couple of pages of script
exclaiming she wished to tell a story live on air
and she wanted to do it now!! She told me to
record it as it happens.
She went on to read a word perfect story. She
finished and told me she wanted some London
Street sound FX and a bell during the lottery
win segment of the narrative and with that she
was off leaving me gobsmacked, shell shocked
and feeling like Id been visited by Lord Sugar!!
My point is that a year ago Charlotte was shy
of speaking on the mic. Now shes writing,
performing and producing her own stories at the
drop of a hat!! Knowing what she wants!! This is
evidence to me that Vibe Radio is working. That
it is promoting confidence in our students! Go
Charlotte Olive!
Charlotte is not the only example of confidence
and creativity. Ben Povey has written and voiced
two stories now with help from Laura at Youth
Club he has completed another episode of Alien
invasion. On hearing Episode 2 with Music and
Sound FX Samuel Langford said he thought it
was better writing than the current Dr Who. (High
praise coming from the biggest Dr Who fan in the
school!)
Joel Bathe-Taylor recently completed his Arts
Award using his love of Radio. Vibe secured an
On Air Interview with Gabriel Prokofiev (BBC
10 pieces Composer), he voiced the jingles for
the show, took part in a Mastermind style quiz,
a DJ masterclass and spoke of why he made

The Bournemouth Collegiate radio project

his choice in a way that moved his teacher
Belinda emotionally.
Josh Houchen also produced a 10 pieces
section for his Radio Arts Award but his Ace
is that he has successfully taken to the VIBE
Breakfast show with his own style and wit.
Filling Harrys shoes must have been quite
daunting. Shoot the Rooster with Josh is the
name of his new show.
Akira Jackson the One take Jingle Guy
comes in to VIBE once a week after school
with minutes to spare before Resi Radio. He
records jingles like switch off fortnight, class
BE jingles and Big Brother. He has a real
flair for this!! Go Akira.
To Tom Truong and Joanne Sibley and
Sophie Young for their excellent assistance
teaching radio during the Bournemouth
Collegiate Community project VIBE says
a huge thanks for being so great with their
students!! Class CN have produced an
amazing Radio Drama Johnies Blitz. Its so
good it should be in the shops for Christmas.
Class LB have voiced a fantastic story
Magic Train Ride and this was used as
the soundtrack for their excellent film at the
Harvest Festival (nice editing Amy). Lets
not forget Cinderella, the Staff Radio Panto,
proving that the Radio has improved staff
confidence too!! ( A little too much in Sean
Moggs case!!) Only Joking Moggy!.....Im off
to panto now Oh! yes I am So all of you
have a nice Christmas and I will see you in
the new year!
VEClife 21

Sing, Dance, Act, Play.

Creative
News-Round

Arts

With Belinda Ellicott

Encore For The BJO

After last years successful visit from

Bournemouth Jazz Orchestra to launch
Friends of Victoria Education Centre, we were
pleased to welcome them back on Monday
8th June. It was another fantastic evening of
live music played by top class professional
musicians, this year also joined by our very
own Harry Bassett. We were brilliantly
supported and even ran out of chairs! The
evening raised 858.04 and would like to
thank everyone who supported the evening.

A Shrektastic day out

Arts in Education

Our amazing students achieved the

following Arts Award results in the last
academic year: 1 Silver, 28 Bronze, 12
Explore and 6 Discover plus we have
around 8 to enter for Explore after half term.
Harry Bassett achieved Music GCSE grade
B and is now studying at Bournemouth and
Poole College, Music BTEC joining us
here at VEC as a volunteer supporting the
Music department and working towards a
Gold Arts Award.
We have increased our offer of Music
Therapy and Resonance Board sessions to
a day and a half a week for each. Kate has
been looking at data and all the students
who attended these sessions last year
progressed beyond their expected targets, it
will be interesting to see if this is consistent.
22 VEClife

The ever popular BJO

LB Have Shrek of a Time

For their Creative Arts studies Class LB visited

the Mayflower to watch Shrek.They had a great
time joining in with songs and dancing, especially
to Im a Believer at the end of the show. They
were also very intrigued about using the special
binoculars to see the action on stage just a little
bit closer. It was a lovely way to end the term and
we cant wait to visit the theatre again.

Hort Donates Funds

Victoria Horticulture has just contributed 400 to
the music department to buy equipment. The Hort
Crew are very involved with Friday morning music
and radio sessions with Mike. Thank you!

BSO Sing and Sign

This year the BSO once again performed

concerts at The Lighthouse for students in Key
Stage 2 and we were fortunate to take three of
our classes to take part in this. But this year they
also streamed one of the concerts live to schools
and so four more classes were able to enjoy the
event too. We learnt some body percussion to join
in with a piece of music called Stomp and also
learnt a song that had been written especially
for the concert that we sang and signed with the
whole of Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. We
all thoroughly
Spencerenjoyed
Home the
on experience
the range and cant
PTO
wait until next year!

Ex-Students Shine in ReMix

This summer I attended ReMix Golds collaborative
performance with an AUCB student at Bournemouth
University. Three of our former students were
involved. David Young was the choreographer,
Clarissa Hustler and Hugo Lucas-Rowe danced with
Hugo also composing the soundtrack. David is now
working in London for the Graeae Theatre Company
an amazing achievement.

Familiar Faces! Dave, Hugo and Clarissa

DJs Itching to Scratch

DJ White in da House!

Mikes a Sound Guy

Mike Whitlock has just returned from
Soundbeams Soundability training
in Kent, having run workshops and
demonstrations showing the impact that
these sessions have on our students. As
a result we may be sharing our practice
with more schools and music providers
including David Ashworth, who has been
involved in the creation of the BBCs 10
Pieces music initiative. Mike has also
picked up some new skills that will help
develop practise here.

We Had a Ball!

As part of our Arts Award studies this year, the

music group are looking at different ways of making
music. Inspired by Gabriel Prokofievs Symphony
for Turntables and Orchestra, the students have
taken part in workshops to learn some of these
skills, ready to incorporate into their own work later
in the year. Students were also lucky enough to
interview Gabriel Prokofiev on the schools VIBE
radio show, in between his filming for the BBC and
flying off to Portugal to perform.

Festival, Best of all

This year saw another wonderful harvest festival

with contributions from all classes within the school
showing a real variety of different themes and
approaches. We had films about different food types,
songs about harvests and presentations about those
less fortunate than ourselves and a lovely reminder
about war time rationing that resonated very strongly
with all the different remembrance events happening
around the country this year. The students and
staff were fantastic at bringing in food for those
less fortunate than ourselves and Amy was able to
deliver a lovely parcel to The Poole Food Bank.

This years Leavers Ball had a flavour of the

wild west, with many of the attendees dressing
up in cowboy style outfits. We had a fantastic
ice sculpture provided by Crystal Ice Sculptures
featuring a banjo and an amazing live performance
from the band Pronghorn, who had just performed
at Glastonbury. There were the usual features, the
presentation and slideshows of our leavers and
the vote for the Prom King and Queen this year
Harry and Charley, a disco and the Abi Punchard
performed Come What May on the soundbeam and
Scott performed a One Direction song to provide
everyone a time to reflect on friends who couldnt
be with us on the night. Another great fun evening Do you think they are enjoying themselves?
and a lovely way to celebrate our students end to
their school life at VEC.
VEClife 23

ssroom
ClaCatch-up
ies
sroom activit
s
la
c
s
rm
e
t
at this
A look back
s to Pergins
w
o
b
in
a
R
m
fro

This issue
s

Rainbow

Class BE

Pergins

Arne
Class JW
Explorers
Furzey
Green Island

Class LB

Rainbows Nordic Adventure

By Hilary Stewart
Rainbows have been making a weekly visit to Norway in
their Culture sessions this term and have enjoyed learning
about the language and lifestyle of the country. Every
week we have practised our basic Norwegian phrases and
have been very impressed with Amabel, who has learnt to
understand the My name is phrase, inserting her own name
at exactly the right moment every time!
George choosing his colours
We have wondered at the Northern Lights and have recreated the effect with hand and finger
torches. Music and dancing have played a large part in our lessons and we have taken part in a
Norwegian Hat Dance, which involves kicking or hitting a hat off the stick, lots of fun. Rainbows
have also had the opportunity to experience Norwegian style art and we have been very busy
making some Scandi style decorations with students choosing from the colours and patterns
available to decorate their wooden hearts.
We still have a few more trips lined up but soon we will have to pack up our sledges and get ready
for our Spring term journey. Were off to China so wed better hunt out our chopsticks!

Up, Up and Away

By Jo Allen
The Rainbows class went on an amazing
trip up in the Bournemouth balloon. This
term we have been learning all about
journeys, travel and Transport and our focus
has been on hot air balloon journeys. Our
new favourite book is The great balloon
hullabaloo, we have travelled with Simon
the squirrel and Rodney racoon through
space to buy underpants, honey, bread and
cheese!

Enjoying the view

Rainbows have been singing along to Up,
up and away in our beautiful balloon with
Belinda and for our balloon lesson.
24 VEClife

The Intrepid Rainbows Students

Diwali Celebrations
By Margaret Humphreys and Shonia
Shonia went to London to celebrate Diwali.
Diwali (or Deepavali, the festival of lights) is
an ancient Hindu festival celebrated in autumn
(northern hemisphere) or spring (southern
hemisphere) every year. Diwali is one of the
largest and brightest festivals in India.
She really enjoyed going to London with her
whole family. Shonia saw the prime minister as
well. She enjoyed the fireworks and going to the
familys favourite restaurants.
Shonia just couldnt stop laughing. She
especially liked going to Westfield shopping
centre which is so huge. Shonias uncle is a
head of department in a kitchen in Taj hotel
London. He got a chance to meet the Indian
Prime Minister personally as he was the one
looking after all food preparations. He is in chefs

Shonias Uncle: Centre, in white

uniform next to Mr. Modi. The family were so
thrilled to know he has been voted the 9th most
powerful man in the world by Times magazine,
and Shonias Uncle got complimented for his
nice food and a pat on the shoulder by him. So
proud.

Explorers Visit Santa

By Beth Winter
We all had a wonderful time visiting Father
Christmas. Going through the winter wonderland,
we saw Reindeers, Penguins, Snowmen,
Rabbits, and lots of beautiful Christmas trees,
covered in snow. Father Christmas was so kind,
All the children received special presents, which
they opened back at school. The children (and
staff) have all promised to be very good and to
stay off the naughty list!! Special thanks to Terry
and Amy for taking us.

LB Go Back in Time
By Lisa Boyes
During the Autumn term, Class LB
have been studying the Victorians in
our topic of Travel and Transport. On
10th November we had a fantastic trip
to Scaplens Court in Poole where the
students were able to take part in a
range of different activities with Mrs
Crumble, who we met there. We had
a wonderful experience and all of the
children enjoyed going back in time.

Saad gets to grips with a Mangle

VEClife 25

Class JWs Autumn Term

By Sally White

What a fun term we have had in Class JW!

The topic for this term was transport. The
students have been getting stuck into various
activities such as making chocolate space
rockets, creating cardboard box racing
cars and listening to sensory stories. New
students Naseem and Brooke joined our
class in September and are settling in well,
so what a pleasure it was to take them on our
first trip out of the school year to Beaulieus Izzy particularly enjoyed herself and carried
National Motor Museum.
Class JWs Bobby Bear around for the day.

Brooke and Izzy became ladies when they

tried on old fashioned hats as worn in the
olden days for motoring and they certainly
looked the part. Alfies favourite part was
squeezing the horn really loudly making him
chuckle with delight.

In October we had harvest festival

preparations and the students enjoyed a
few trips to the supermarket to film for their
assembly contribution In My Trolley. Holly
was in charge of gathering produce and did
some brilliant steering around Tesco.
Meanwhile Harrison has been sticking to the
topics theme guiding his power chair in and
around school using his head switch. Well
done Harrison!
James preferred the broom as his mode
of transport when getting involved in one
of the sensory stories The Room on the
Broom. He dressed himself up as the
witch and surrounded himself by cuddly
characters from the story that all look like
they enjoyed it too.
Isabelle was in her element whilst
enjoying messy play. She loved the
feeling of the gelli baff in her hands and
didnt want to stop. It is such a pleasure
to have Isabelle in our class with her
gorgeous smile and infectious giggle.
26 VEClife

This term Holly has done some amazing work

on her Eye-gaze and has progressed really well
with her literacy and numeracy showing us all
there isnt much that she cant do. Those of you
that have seen Holly in action know how far she
has already come and we are certainly looking
forward to seeing what she does in the future.
Holly has a great sense of humour and often
likes to tell jokes on her Eye-gaze which are
actually much better than Bruce Forsyths! Keep
em coming Holly!
Naseem has impressed us all by his work on the E-tran. He uses eye pointing to select his choices
and has chosen in one session to play with bricks, build a tower and then knock it down. Great
work Naseem.
The Class JW team would like to thank all those that have worked with us and our students
this term. We wish you a very merry Christmas and hope you have a lovely break. The
question is Have you all been good boys and girls?

Arne Shop Til They Drop

By Hilary Stewart and Vicky Slingsby

Class Arne had an exciting trip out in early
December, travelling from school to the Dolphin
Shopping Centre in Poole to practise and
develop a whole range of life skills.
Students travelled in pairs by bus, supervised
from a distance where possible and made their
way to a pre-arranged meeting point on arrival
in Poole. After a short briefing, students (and
supporting staff) went off in groups to explore the
shops. Sophie and Ben had a successful visit to
Sophie takes a break from retail therapy
Primark, whilst Charlie and I had some business
would
expect.
to attend to at the Post Office. Jacob,
Once safely back at Carmel House, students
were able to reflect on their achievements and
how much they had enjoyed the day. Some had
been very anxious about buses and crowds
and others were uncertain about money.
However, with fantastic support team Arne on
the case, everyone did brilliantly, making small
but important steps of progress towards greater
independence, confidence and understanding
and thats what its all about! Thank you to Arne
We travelled in pairs by bus
students and class support team for making it
such a good day.
Abi, Charles and Connor also found things to
buy. Everyone met up again at lunchtime and
Abi and Jacob tuck in
we went as a whole class to have lunch in
McDonalds. The staff there looked after us very
well and everyone was happy with their food.
After another foray into the shops, when Tom
made some last minute purchases, it was soon
time to start the process of returning to school.
Students waited patiently for buses and behaved
impeccably throughout the day just as we
VEClife 27

Because Were Worth it

By Hilary Stewart

P16 Life skills lessons throughout the autumn

term have focused on personal care, hygiene
and presentation and lessons have involved
several visits from experts and weve also been
out and about ourselves, researching toiletry
and beauty products.
Class Arne had a really fun session with makeup and shaving demonstrations from Charlotte
Clarke and Eddy Milne. Charlotte has previously
achieved qualifications in various aspects
of beauty care and was able to explain the
processes of skin care and applying make-up
in the correct order. She very bravely invited a
volunteer to add the finishing touch by applying
her lipstick and Tom Troung stepped up to the
mark!
Eddys shaving demo was really interesting
and he was able to give students lots of tips to
achieve the best possible results. We all then
had a go at shaving a balloon and miraculously,
no one popped it!

This is harder than it looks..... thinks Tom

We were lucky enough to have visits from
Margaret Botterill, a hairdresser (who just
happens to be teacher Kathryn Webbs mum.)
She gave us lots of information about hair
products, how they affect our hair and the risks
we need to be aware of. Ebony Robinson in
Pergins was also lucky enough to be Margarets
model for the day with stunning results.
Ebony before.....

Close shave: Eddie demonstrates

and after.....

Arne, Furzey and Pergins also received visits

from Jean Houston, oral health promoter based
with the community dental service. She brought
with her a huge range of items models to
show how our teeth should be cleaned and
how they can decay, adapted toothbrushes and
various types of toothpastes to name but a few.
Everyone found her presentations fascinating
and we were all horrified to learn that one bottle
of Coke contains ten spoons full of sugar!!

Oral hygene with Jean Houston

28 VEClife

Finally, both Arne and Pergins classes went out

on a trip to Boots to investigate the huge range
of toiletry products available, to increase our
product awareness and also to assess
the accessibility of some product
packaging. We also compared
prices and worked out which
products were the best value
for money. This was quite a
challenge as we had to look
carefully at the different
sizes of products and
check prices labels for
The glamourous
the cost breakdown.
Sophie

Its been a very interesting term, during which we have

all learned a lot. P16 classrooms should now be full of
beautiful, fragrant students who all know how to look
after their hygiene and beauty needs. Hopefully, therell
be lots of lovely smellies in Christmas stockings this
year!
Charlie looking fabulous

Furzey Fundraise

By Kathryn Webb
Furzey Class loved spending their work
experience week at Holton Lee in July so much
that they wanted to spend more time there
because it is so peaceful and relaxing so as part
of their Work Related Learning this term, Furzey
Fun at Holton Lee
Class are raising money to be able to stay for
a couple of days in the accessible cottages at Christmas CD! Dont miss The Furzels version of
Holton Lee in April 2016. They have been very Hokey Cokey and I Wish It Could Be Christmas
busy making warming soup to sell at lunchtime Everyday!!
and making craft products to sell (we can still
CDs for sale from Furzey Class for a donation
take orders!) and have even produced a
towards our Holton Lee fund!

PSE in Class BE By Class BE

Reece having fun at Homebase

We walked to Homebase for our Personal, Social

Education (PSE) lesson. We went to get some
Christmas decorations for our classroom. We also
got some Hyacinthus pots so we can give the plants
to our families for Christmas. We liked going to
choose the decorations we wanted for the classroom.
The staff in Homebase were very helpful and helped
us get the Christmas tree we were looking for. We
enjoyed checking the moving Christmas toys to
make sure they were working. Reece particularly
enjoyed helping Tony enter in to the Christmas spirit.
It was fun!!!

G.I. Recycle and Explore

Green Island have had a productive autumn
term, planting up bulbs and choice winter colour
from the Horticulture department, using the
compost we made last year. It is very lovely to
reuse and recycle, and we would like to thank all
the worms who have helped us.
One of our topics this term has been exploring
things we do in different areas of the house.
My favourite was going to sleep, as we sniffed
relaxing lavender, and snuggled up with cocoa
and fluffy dressing gowns to listen to a bedtime
story. Ahhh.
As you can imagine, the bathroom was also a hot
favourite, and some in class tried shaving, while

others had face creams and pamper items,

with the relaxing white noise of a bathroom fan
and various switches of loo flushes etc.
One of our challenges this term has also
been to start trialling some new cues and
photographs for activities, places and people
around school. Thanks to Jon for his help with
the class photos, and Ingrid, for her patience
while we guided her on a tour of the school.
Next term we are looking forward to working
more with Chloe Wright, our new Occupational
Therapist.
A huge thank you to the splendid Green Island
staff team who deserve a jolly good holiday.
1

VEClife 29

Le Franais Victoria

Par Madame Stewart

Do you still have nightmares about learning
French at school? Did you have to recite
verbs and listen to strange recordings through
headphones?
Hopefully not but rest assured, thats not how
modern languages are taught these days.
I recently had the opportunity to talk to Governors
about Modern Foreign Languages (MFL) at
VEC and we thought that parents may also be
interested in learning a bit more about what we
get up to in lessons.
Students in
classes LB,
CN & BE
currently have
one lesson
of French per
week and there
is also a Post
Thumbs up for French
16 Spanish
option group
running this year due to popular demand. As for
next year, who knows? there is currently interest
in Key Stage 4 to study German in Post 16 next
year!
In lessons, we do a huge variety of activities. We
often learn new vocabulary through presentations
and songs and play lots of games to practise our
knowledge. To put our skills to the test students
sometimes go out and about around school to
conduct surveys with staff in French. For example,
we recently completed a survey to find out how
staff travelled to school as part of the autumn
term Travel & Transport theme. Students enjoy
using their French to achieve real communication
and love listening to staff respond in French too!
(The staff usually need a lot more help than the

And Finally

Ryans French writing skillst

students!)
As students progress into Key stage 3, there
is greater emphasis on sentence building
and using more sophisticated structures.
However, we still have lots of fun playing
around with the language to build skills and
confidence.
Sensory students in Rainbows class also
have the opportunity to hear different
languages as part of our culture sessions
when we make virtual journeys around
the world to experience different lifestyles
and cultures. Recent journeys have been to
Australia, Peru and Norway so we are very
well travelled.
I have always loved learning languages and
have been lucky enough over the years to
acquire knowledge (in varying degrees!)
of French, German, Spanish, Italian and
Russian. I am passionate about passing
my love on to my students and I hope that
comes across in our lessons. If you would
like more details about MFL at VEC or would
like to know how you can support learning at
home, please feel free to get in touch. If you
are a French speaker and would like to come
along to lessons, please contact me as that
would be fun!

We received a poem dictated by former student Lucy Willers to her Mum, who has sent it in to share:
Wake up get in my chair,
I walk my dogs in
sometimes I think life isnt fair.
Rain or sun and Ive always
Help me I cannot move.
got my Mum.
Please care.
So if you see me out sitting in my chair
My head feels bad
Please talk to me.
And a lot of people make me mad, when
Its just a chair. Just ask me
They hurry me it makes me sad.
Why and dont stand and stare.
Using the computer
All I ask is Do you care?.
Makes me feel glad.
VEClife 30

Advertisements

Pooles very own unique down home Small Festival

ST ALDHELMS HALL and GARDENS
Friday 22nd and Saturday 23rd July
After the very successful Beer and
Bluegrass 2015 festival, we are continuing
with the principles that Beer and Bluegrass
was founded on and what you all loved
about last years Festival. Simply superb
Bluegrass, Country Blues and Jug Band
music from some of the best bands around
the world. Then we have our very own Beer
and Cider Festival with over 35 Real Ales
and Ciders. Last year one of our range
of beers, Tiny Rebels Cwtch was voted
Best Beer of Britain and lets not forget our
fantastic Home Cooked Burgers and Hot
Dogs and new for this year Chilli to go!

Victoria School have kindly agreed to be

our Charity Partner for 2016. We are very
pleased to be associated with much needed
fund raising for the School.

Great Bluegrass and Americana bands from

USA Europe and the UK
Over 30 Real Ales and Ciders and Home
Cooked Food.
Email: info@beerandbluegrass.co.uk
www.beerandbluegrass.co.uk

Ho!
Ho!
Horticulture!
Open Monday to Friday 9am-3.30pm
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 shop is our unique
way of interacting with our 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.

Seasonal plants and items including shrubs,

perennials & pots of ready planted bulbs as
well as primulas & cyclamen.
Please note we will be closed for Christmas from 17th
December to 4th January.
1

VEClife 31

Phone: 01202 763697

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

life Issue 13 Winter 2015

Compiled, written and edited by Jon Godber unless otherwise stated. Victoria School, Winter MMXV