News

The Sensory Playground - May 2011

The new sensory playground is almost complete and the final touches are currently being carried out. We hope that we will be able to hold our grand opening in the next few weeks and finally open the playground to the school and wider community.

We anticipate that use of the playground for individuals, community groups and schools will be made available through a registration process. It will therefore be open to all children with disabilities in the borough.

Our vision for the playground has always been to create a place where families and groups will be able to spend time together without the usual stresses of attending public play areas. The three play areas include a Sand Zone, Water Zone and Play Zone (including trampoline, play panels, storytelling chair and stage area). We hope that work on a wheelchair accessible toilet and changing cabin will commence shortly.

There will be many opportunities to play but also lots of seating for picnicing. The three areas are all totally secure and surrounded by 1.5 metre high fencing. The playground will provide an exciting experience for children but, we hope, a relaxing, worry-free experience for parents/carers.

We are very grateful to Aiming High for Disabled Children and Veolia Havering Riverside Trust and to the Parents and Friends Association for their financial support for this wonderful community project.


Specialist Status Locality Lunches - May & June 2011

As part of our school specialist status, along with the Havering Speech, Language and Communication Service, we are hosting a numbers of lunch events for school staff in the borough that support children with speech and language difficulties. The purpose of these events is to raise the profile of the Language Resource Centre at Corbets Tey School and to promote the new model of an integrated speech and language service in Havering.

We have successfully held two lunches and have welcomed over thirty staff from Havering schools to date. We will be hosting five more lunches over May & June.

Lunch has kindly been provided by one of our parents, Gill Portch, and also pupils from Palm Class as part of their Mini Enterprise Initiative. The quality of the food has been of the highest standard and we would like to say thank you to Gill and to our TAs Anna and Lynette for organising the catering for us.


School Performance - Annie - March 2011

The school performance was considered a complete success and the children were wonderful as usual. We hope you all enjoyed it as much as we did.

Thank you to all staff who worked so hard to make it happen


Romford Golf Club Fundraising Event - September 2010

A very successful fundraiser Golf Day was held recently at the Romford Golf Club. An auction was held during the evening, which raised a huge sum of money which will all be used to benefit the children at the school.

We are so grateful to all those who donated items for the auction and for the raffle and who gave so generously. Special thanks to Eddie Fowles for hosting the auction, to Colin Carpenter for organising this event every year and to Grant Beglan, the PFA’s new Patron, who generously donated many items to the auction and was also involved in much of the bidding.


Our Marathon Heros!

Vicky Moriarty and Graham Pitt were fantastic on Sunday and we would like to say a very BIG thank you for all of the time and effort they put in to prepare themselves for the marathon on our behalf.

We were so proud that they both finished the race.

Graham Pitt finished in only 3 hours 51 minutes and Vicky Moriarty crossed the finish line in only 5 hours 53 minutes.

Thanks to all who came to cheer our runners on and to all those who have sponsored Vicky and Graham.


Investec Bank Present a BIG Cheque at School Assembly

Alison Gardiner and Phil Wells from Investec Bank visited the school on Wednesday to meet the children and staff and to present a large cheque for £3622.
This is the total that the bank have donated so far to the Library Project. Jackie Mudford wrote to the bank some months ago describing her plans for developing and improving the school library facilities. As Phil had supported the school in the past, the bank were able to support this new project. We have been very grateful for recent donations to our school totalling £4852 from Investec Bank, Liddell Solicitors, The Claire Louise Memorial Fund and Michaels Cleaning towards our library project. These funds have already begun to make a difference to our school library with further developments to be made in the near future such as adding a wall mounted touch screen LCD, new computer, interactive story CDROMs, new seating and hand puppets.


5K Adidas Womens’ Challenge in Hyde Park

There were 4 ‘runners’ in Hyde Park on Sunday 6 September raising funds for the school. They were Julie Colgrove, Emma Marston, Tracy Fisher and Michelle Robinson. Well done to you all and thank you to their kind sponsors.


Havering East Rotary Club Annual Abseil

Thank you and well done to Debbie Barker, Moira Meade and Luke Dowdall for their brave 120 foot abseil down the YMCA building in Romford on Saturday 5th September. Debbie dressed as a maid and Moira was a bee complete with wings.


September 2009 - Investec Continue to Support the School

Investec Bank has generously donated £3,122 to update the library facilities at the school. We are so grateful for this bank's continued support. Thank you to Phil Wells for introducing the school to the bank. The PFA will now be able to re-design the structure of the library area so that it is more appropriate for the children using it. Also a new computer and new interative reading software will be installed which will provide more reading opportunities for individual and small groups of children.

We are very grateful for this generous donation.



Fun Day Event - 4th July at the White Heart Pub, Upminster

Thank you to Michael Preston who has raised a further £1000.93 towards his target of £5,000 at the Family Fun Day at the White Heart Pub in Upminster on Saturday. Michael will be trekking up Kilimanjaro in October and is busy training for this event as well as fundraising for the benefit of the school. We are very grateful to him for his wonderful efforts.

Michael has a Just Giving Fundraising Page at www.justgiving.com/michaelpreston1 where you can sponsor/make a donation.


Equity Brentwood Fun Run - 15th March 2009

We are pleased to report a successful fun run on Sunday with a total of 17 runners raising funds for the school.

Their chip finishing times were as follows:

  • Graeme Leversedge (0:25:04)
  • David Bright (0:28:35)
  • Gary Cumbers (0:28:44)
  • Susan Cumbers (0:28:45)
  • Vicky Roper (0:28:26)
  • Halldora Donoghue (0:30:20)
  • Ashley Bonner (0:33:11)
  • Jon Lee (0:33:13)
  • Sam Allen (0:33:12)
  • Rhian Edwards (0:33:13)
  • Alex Stroud (0:34:56)
  • Sarah Young (0:34:58)
  • Debbie Barker (0:38:23)
  • Sandy Warry (0:40:33)
  • Sue Hillier (0:47:10)
  • Jackie Mudford (0:47:10)
  • Grace Long (0:47:11)

Well done to Graeme Leversedge for running the fastest of the Corbets Tey runners and to Rhian Edwards for winning the best dressed runner award (see picture).

The school team were mentioned in The Essex Chronicle Website

Thank you to all parents, friends and staff who have generously sponsored this fundraising effort.


Investec Support the school

A big thank you to Investec Bank for their £500 donation to benefit our children. This donation was initiated by an employee of the bank, Phil Wells, who has supported the school in the past and has previously donated a signed England Rugby Shirt.

We are very grateful for this generous donation.


SPEAKOUT at the Queen's Theatre

Speakout! is a brand new opera written by the students of Corbets Tey School, working with English Touring Opera.

English Touring Opera has been working intensively and creatively with Corbets Tey School for nearly 3 years. Speakout! is a tremendously exciting culmination of this work: students will create their own opera based on the themes of communication and identity. The resulting new opera will be performed at the Queens Theatre in Hornchurch on June 23rd 2009. The Queens is one of the UK’s leading repertory theatres.

Speakout! explores issues of communication, speech and understanding. ETO is creating a story which has these themes at its heart.

Happiness goes missing – is it lost or stolen? The story will lead us through various adventures, with the help of signposts and guides that lead us onwards to the truth behind the problem.

The professional ETO team includes, along with a top director and composer, multi-skilled actors, singers and players. The story will also be brought to life with animation, film, lighting design and puppetry.

At the heart of the production are the students of Corbets Tey themselves, and the things that they want to communicate to an audience.

PUT THIS DATE IN YOUR DIARY, 23RD JUNE AT 7PM - TICKETS AVAILABLE FROM THE QUEEN'S THEATRE BOX OFFICE ON 01708 443333
www.boxoffice@queens-theatre.co.uk


Phil Wells, Investec Continues to Support the School - March 2009

Thank you to Phil Wells from Investec, London for the kind donation of a signed England Rugby shirt to be auctioned at a later date. Proceeds will be given to the Parents and Friends Association to contibute to the rennovation and update of the school library.


Steve Eldridge Visits the School With a Large Cheque Donation - October 2008

Steve Eldridge of Elite-Direct.Com in New Road, Rainham came to school on Wednesday 1st October to join in a school assembly. He presented a amazingly large cheque of £13,000, which he raised at a charity golf day at Brickendon Grange Golf Club in Hertfordshire for the benefit of our school. This money will be used to benefit our pupils learning. We are so grateful to Steve and his associates who have supported the school for many years.


Havering Rotary Club Sponsored Abseil - September 2008

Nine Staff, parents and friends of the school overcame their significant fears to successfully abseil down the YMCA Romford on Sunday 14th September to raise funds for the school. Well done to the abseillers, thanks to all who came to support them and to all of their sponsors, including Liddell Solicitors in Gidea Park who donated a fantastic £250.


Motorvations 4 x 4 Off Road Experience - September 2008

A group of 17 Corbets Tey pupils and their siblings were treated to an excitingly muddy ride in off road jeeps at Stubbers in Upminster on Monday 1st September. The weather stayed fine and the children enjoyed a very bumpy ride on two purpose built courses. Young people were allowed to practice their driving skills in the dual control jeeps on a flatter ground course. Some parents also braved the mud to participate including our own PFA Chair. Thanks to Motorvations for providing this activity completely free of charge for our children and their families.


Click here to view photographs


Official Hydrotherapy Pool Opening Event - June 2008

Corbets Tey School held its official Hydrotherapy Pool Opening Ceremony Event on Friday 6th June 2008. The School, Governors and Officers of Parents and Friends Association hosted an event to celebrate the recent successful completion of a £300,000+ rebuild and refurbishment project, which has provided the school with specialist swimming and hydrotherapy facilities. The new pool includes LED sensory lighting provided at cost by the pool contractor Hydrospec Ltd.

In the morning, the longest standing Officer of the PFA, Mrs Jean Challis, invited guests that had supported the school from the distant past. Over the course of the day, the school was visited by over sixty people including local dignitaries; the Mayor of Havering, Mr John Clark, Angela Watkinson MP, Cllr Gillian Ford as well as representatives of charitable trusts and foundations that have financially supported the pool project. Also represented were local schools, local groups, societies and charitable committees as well as individuals who have supported the school over a number of years. The afternoon commenced with an address by the Headtacher, Mr Colin Arthey, who welcomed the attendees to the school and announced the afternoon’s proceedings. Subsequent speeches were by Mr John Parker, Chairman of the School Governors, and Mr Eddie Fowles from the Romford Golf Club. The party was then led through to the new pool where the Mayor cut the ribbon to officially open the pool.

A performance by the Corbets Tey School Signing Choir followed with singing and signing to three songs; Abba ‘Thank You For the Music’, Robbie Williams ‘Angels’ and Heather Small ‘Proud’. The Mayor then addressed the audience. He said “This development has transformed the facility into a wonderful resource that will benefit all of the pupils in a huge variety of ways. It will be used for early swimmers across the age range as well as enriching other areas of the curriculum. It is hoped that a range of children and potentially adults from the community will also benefit from this specialised facility.” Food and drinks were then provided in the school hall.

The support of the school’s Parents and Friends Association has been essential in the successful fundraising for the pool development as well as other projects around the school including providing support for specialist school status, new playground equipment, after school clubs, classroom equipment and resources, learning resources, soft play and sensory equipment, and other building projects. The association provides valuable collaboration with the school in various ways to enhance provision for the children at the school.


Verbal Behaviour Conference - March 2008

Over 100 delegates attended a three-day, verbal behaviour conference organised and hosted by Corbets Tey School at the Thurrock Hotel in Essex on 12th, 13th and 14th March. The conference was conducted by Dr Vincent Carbone, a Board Certified Behaviour Analyst with over 30 years of experience in designing learning environments for people with autism & development disabilities. The workshop provided an introduction to the Verbal Behaviour approach, which has been used sucessfully at Corbets Tey School for over four years in a specialist class where staff apply an intensive Verbal Behaviour strategy to children who have the most severe communication difficulties in the school.

The conference was attended by parents of children with autism as well as delegates from schools, speech therapy services and local authority departments in the Borough of Havering, surrounding boroughs and from boroughs across the country such as Lincolnshire, Yorkshire and Leicester. Some delegates travelled internationally from Ireland, Switzerland, Germany and Nigeria.

Vincent Carbone provided a clear introduction to the Verbal Behaviour approach which was illustrated with film clips of children being treated at his clinic in New York. These film clips provided a visual, practical representation of his work and demonstrated the approach in practice.


London Trip - February 2008

A lovely time was had by all who attended the outing to London inspired by Gill Portch. The children all behaved perfectly and it was a beautiful sunny day.

The group travelled on the overground Train, DLR and Bus (carefully avioding the tube trains due to a child suffering from tube phobia) and they eventually reached the London Eye (via McDonalds).

They were given their own pod and had a fantastic view of the city. Then it was time for ice creams and drinks before the trip home.
Click here to view photographs


September 2007 - Sponsored Abseil

On Sunday 23rd September, fifteen brave staff and their husbands, parents and friends of the school, despite being very frightened, all successfully abseiled down a 120 foot building at the YMCA Romford.
Click here to view photographs
Click here to view video
It was a really lovely day thanks to the supporters who came to cheer on the abseilers. The encouragement of the crowd was hugely appreciated and made the event a really supportive, team activity.
Sponsor money is still being collected but it is expected that a considerable sum will be raised for the school. Well done to all those involved. A team for next year is already being discussed. Watch this space and newsletters for details!!
July 2007 - Specialist School Status
Corbets Tey School were delighted to have recently been accepted for Specialist School Status in Communication and Interaction effective from September 2007.

This marks the start of a new and exciting phase for the school. The additional funding that specialist status will provide will enable the school to develop facilities to better support pupils and their families. It will also enable the school to build on specialist internal practice more fully and work externally with a range of local authority schools and services.


June 2007 - London Borough of Havering Environmental Awards
Corbets Tey School has been awarded a runner-up place for Havering in the London Borough’s Environmental Award. A number of factors influenced the judges decision, one being that the whole school was involved. We were awarded a prize of £1000, which will be spent on various environmental activities around the school.
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