Parent/Carer Activities
Hello Everyone, My name is Catherine Swindlehurst and I am the Parent Liaison/Safeguarding officer here at White Ash Primary School.
Parent Workshops & Events
Our Parent Liaison Catherine arranges many wonderful events and activities for parents to attend. Information workshops happen throughout the school year and cover topics such as Autism, toileting, challenging behaviour, communication, food issues, sensory play, Makaton and many more. Outside agencies such as Family Fund, Carer's Link, Barnardo's and Sleep Clinic practitioners can and have been invited into school on many occasions. These are booked on a need basis. If you feel there is an agency that would really benefit you and your family, please don't hesitate to contact Catherine and this could be arranged.
Various coffee mornings, social gatherings and informal meetings are also arranged and well attended by many. These are good opportunities to meet other parents. share stories, seek friendships and help gain confidence.
For more information on these please check letters/emails that you receive. If there is a topic you would like to see addressed in a workshop please feel free to contact her.
Parent Days Out
Catherine also provides day visits for parents to attend; child free! These trips are decided by parents and will happen up to 3 times per year. Trips so far have included Blackpool, Cheshire Oaks, Trafford Centre, Skipton, Fleetwood, Manchester and Kidz To Adultz North in Manchester and The Autism show. . Places are limited on days out so be sure to send back the reply slip ASAP to avoid disappointment. School requests a small donation to cover the cost of the event / fuel for minibus. Unfortunately only parents can attend these days out. No siblings or other family members are allowed to attend for insurance reasons.
The school bus is used to take parents who wouldn't normally be able to access such events. All parents are welcome and Catherine is there to support if needed throughout the day.
Parents 'Join the Class'
Eagle Class invited their parents/carers into school to join their Outdoor Learning session. Eagle class have been learning about 'Water, water everywhere' and continued this theme within their Outdoor Learning session. First, we took part within a water game transferring water from one bucket to the other using a plastic cup. Pupils were split into 2 teams and worked together to empty their buckets as fast as they could. Next, our pupils painted a water scene using blue paints. And finally, pupils chose songs to sing with their peers and adults using a choice board. We had a lovely morning in the sunshine with our parents! Thank you for coming into school to have fun!
ICT 'Parent Session' for EYFS parents
On Thursday 8th February 2024 our Reception parents came along to our ICT Sensory light room session so they could see how the children interacted with the range of technology so early in their school life. Parents and their children also explored the Omi mat together and used switches to picture build, show cause and effect and drag and drop apps. They also joined in with MOVE to music as the children worked on their physio programmes. It was a wonderful morning had by all.
Class Robin PEEP Session
On February 7th, Class Robin invited their parents/carers into class for a spaced themed snack and chat. We had lots of fun making cosmic popcorn and fruit rockets. We had even more fun eating them! We used our communication mats to make choices for the fruit we wanted and were very polite speaking to our special visitors. As the sun was shining we had a walk together around our outdoor learning area. When we returned to class we made either a planet or rocket suncatcher to take home.
Eagle class PEEP session
Eagle class invited our parents in to join our LOtC session on 27th Feb 2024.
Continuing with our topic 'Our Garden' we started by exploring flowers and planting sunflowers. Then we looked at vegetables that may grow in the gardens and 'dug' these up from the soil using our trowels. Lastly, we listened to the story 'The enormous turnip' sat in our Zen garden. It was a lovely morning with lots of our parents joining us.
Owl Class Peep Session
For our Peep session in November 2023 we focused on Learning outside the Classroom and one of the challenges "I can make something to help animals in the wild. It could be a bird box , hedgehog house or a bug hotel". In school we already have a bug hotel in the forest area which was looking slightly run down so Owl class decided to give it an update. We planned what we were going to add/change to the bug hotel with the children, staff and parents. We then went out to the bug hotel to make the changes with the help of the parents.
EYFS PEEP Session - May 2024
On Wednesday 9th May 2024, EYFS welcomed families to join in our learning for the afternoon. The afternoon was based on the seaside, linking to our big question 'What is it like to be beside the sea?'. Activities included making summer drinks, creating summer scenes and making ice creams in the mud kitchen. We then finished with a PECS picnic to celebrate our amazing communication skills. The afternoon was enjoyed by all!
