Spring Newsletter
2018
Dear Parents,
Welcome to the first newsletter of 2018. Both Park House School and Tram House
School have had an exciting start to the new year, with the move into our respective
buildings. We are all feeling more at home as the schools take shape and the pupils
and staff become accustomed to their new surroundings.
We’ve had an extremely busy term to start the year. The Spring Dance took place at
the beginning of February with pupils helping to make the refreshments, producing a
range of baked goods for all dietary requirements. The pupils played games, danced
and had fun with their peers.
In Geography Week, the pupils celebrated as a whole school community the broad
nationalities of our pupils and staff. Pupils participated in a range of learning
experiences which included trying national delicacies, understanding different
languages and learning about different cultures through art, music and dance.
Pupils from Park House School have also taken part in a joint art project with pupils
from Eaton House the Manor School; back in September BeyondAutism were chosen
as one of 2 charities that Eaton House the Manor School is supporting. The project
involved pupils from both schools meeting at Park House to work on collaborative art
pieces which were to be sold at auction. The art gallery was a great event and it was
fantastic to see the joint work being sold in and amongst the other pieces their pupils
and staff created.
Tram House School also hosted the ASDAN Awards ceremony, celebrating the
qualifications awarded to our sixth form pupils. Parents and pupils were also invited to
attend a Careers and Pathways event where representatives from various
organisations and service providers gave information about how they can support
young people through Post 14 education and beyond. Our teachers are working hard
to continue to make new links with local businesses in order to provide multiple work
experience options for our older pupils. The BeyondAutism café, an enterprise
project, has seen further developments this term and pupils are now preparing a
range of food for their peers and some staff once a week.
We have continued our working relationship with other settings and hosted staff from
other schools to moderate competencies using Inter-Observer Agreements (IOAs).
Moderation of teaching took place in February as we invited our partner schools to
observe lessons with us. We had a conference call with the Head of Snowflake
School regarding the School Improvement activities, who then met with us in
February to discuss further how we can develop the concepts of data management
and assessment. Key documents have been shared as exemplars of best practice.
Pupils have been on a variety of different school trips this term ranging from learning
to play steel drums in a library to bowling, karaoke, and trampolining. Park House
School went on a whole school trip to Walton Firs Activity Centre where the pupils
took part in a range of activities including: low ropes, bouldering, adventure course,
and giant games.
World Book Day happened a little later than planned, due to the closure of the school
during the adverse weather. However, although slightly delayed, it was celebrated
with gusto at both schools. Pupils and staff dressed up as favourite characters from
books, listened to and read stories as well as completing tasks based on their class
book. Awards were given for best costumes and most creative costumes.
There was much excitement in March as we had the Mayors of Richmond and
Wandsworth visit both schools. The Mayors were very impressed with all of the hard
work by pupils and staff, commenting on how on task they were and the relationships
between everyone across the schools.
Spring Newsletter
2018
Still to come this term is the Spring Concert at the Anchor Church Hall. For those parents with pupils in Song Club,
you can expect to see a range of singing and dancing performed by pupils and staff involved in Song Club. We know
it is going to be very successful and everybody is looking forward to performing.
Mother’s Day activities will be taking place slightly later than planned this term, however, pupils will soon be making
lovely gifts to send home for their mums. Pupils will be painting artificial flowers and then choosing their favourite
oil-based scent to add to them.
Jack Petchey nominations have recently opened for staff and pupils to vote for two pupil winners (aged 11+). The
winners will be announced after the Easter break and each will receive £250 to spend on an activity, class trip, or
new equipment of their choice. Good luck to all our pupils.
A few of our pupils will also be taking part in a table cricket competition; this is an inter-schools tournament run by
Surrey Cricket Foundation, who have also been sending sports coaches to BeyondAutism Schools to support and
train our pupils. It will be the first time that a BeyondAutism team will be entering a competition of this kind. Let’s
hope we bring home a medal!
This term has flown by and we are all really proud of the pupil’s efforts and are looking forward to seeing all of their
achievements in the summer term. Have a fantastic break everybody, stay safe and we will see you all in April.
Kieran Bird Jon Ascot
Head of Park House School Head of Tram House School
Governors Update, Ian Hunter
I would like to introduce myself as the new(ish) Chair of Governors. I would like to thank Kate Swann for her
immense contribution as Chair in 2016-17. I am delighted to join the Governing Body and assist with the
development of both schools. My experience includes being Chief Executive of a small group of schools based in
west London and a business consultant. I have personal experience of autism within my family and this has
prompted my interest in getting involved with BeyondAutism. I look forward to meeting as many parents and carers
as possible at various events over the terms ahead.
We have had some changes on the governing body with much respected and admired Frank Brennan departing in
December after completing four years’ service. His wise counsel will be much missed. We are looking to appoint a
replacement governor later this year, ideally with Health and Safety experience. Please do let us know if you might
be interested in serving. We have also welcomed Jordana Lyons as a new staff governor and I look forward to
working closely with her over the next few years.
The governors have been active undertaking regular learning walks to monitor standards and practices in the
classrooms. We have also been focusing on safeguarding and have been working closely with Emma Price to
ensure that the schools are safe and nurturing environments. Our priorities this year include streamlining reporting
to better track progress and attainment. We will also be looking at staff welfare issues and seeking to identify how
we can continue to attract, retain and develop the excellent staff we have. Our commitment to ABA is paramount
and we will be working with Kieran, Jon and Tracie to ensure that the experience of each and every pupil is as
beneficial as possible. I would be delighted to hear from any parent or carer who wishes to contact me. I can be
reached at ianhunter@beyondautism.org.uk.
Spring Newsletter
2018
Term Dates 2018
Summer 2018
Term starts: Monday 9th April
Bank Holiday 7th May
Half Term: Monday 28th May–Friday 1st June
Term ends: Friday 27th July at 12:30pm
Autumn 2018
Term starts: Wednesday 5th September
INSET days 3rd & 4th September
Half Term: Monday 22nd October–Friday 26th
October
Term ends: Friday 21st December at 12:30pm
Upcoming School Events
1st Half Term
Therapist coffee morning (25th April)
School Photographer (2nd May)
British History Week (8th–11th May)
Summer dance (16th May)
Parent coffee morning (23rd May)
2nd Half Term
Fathers Day (13th June)
Parents evening (11th July)
Sports Day (18th July)
Give as you Live
Planning your summer break? Shop through Give
as you Live to raise free funds for BeyondAutism
simply by shopping online at no extra cost to you.
Visit www.giveasyoulive.com/join/beyondautism to
find out more.
Staffing and Recruitment
To see a full list of our school staff and their qualifications,
take a look at our new staff page:
www.beyondautismschools.org.uk/about-us/our-team
We’ve had a number of staff join the team since January
2018! A big welcome to the following ABA Tutors…
Domitilla D'Asaro Biondo, Shanna-Lee Thompson, Giulia
Gloria, Dayna Murphy, Kassie Pender, Bryony Ward, Anna
Palka, Pierre Raphael, Iliana Dekastrou and Moriah Chedick.
We’ve also had a number of internal promotions since
January. Say hello to your new Cover Tutors: Charlie
Feigen, Chelsee Maloney, Serena Salamino and Zakiyyah
Hussain. Your new Instructors are Rachael Hlomador,
Hannah Deakins and Catrin Price. Well done to all, we hope
you are enjoying your new roles!
Bozena Ziolo has joined Izabela as a cleaner at Tram House
School. Melissa Garzon, who used to work as a Class
Leader at BeyondAutism from 2010–2014, has been
appointed as ABA Supervisor in Indigo class. We have also
appointed Holly Cowlam as the new Supervisor in US1
class. Holly used to work as a Senior Tutor at BeyondAutism
from 2012–2015. We have expanded our Therapists team
with Kiri Porteous starting as Occupational Therapist and
Laura Maasland also starting as Speech and Language
Therapist.
Chloe Jorgensen will be going on maternity leave at Easter.
Karen Talty will be covering her leave. Lucy Christie,
Marketing and Communications Manager, went on maternity
leave in February. Leanna Baker is now covering her
maternity leave.
Naomi left BeyondAutism as Development Director back in
August 2017. Since then we have been reviewing our
fundraising strategy and have now appointed Mike Calver as
our Fundraising Manager. He joined the team on 5
th
March
2018.
We are sadly saying goodbye to the following ABA Tutors
this term…
Rosie Benge, Efstathia Paraskevopoulou, Nadia Richards,
Thalia Evans, Clemence Grelier, Laura Sala and Tamara
Rubio Cires. Maria Maneja, who worked here last year, will
not be returning from maternity leave. Carla Oliveira, ABA
Instructor, will also be leaving us on 9
th
March to pastures
new. Thank you for all that you have done for our learners at
BeyondAutism and well done for all your achievements!
We are also saying farewell to Penny Deakin, Vice-Principal
of Post-19. David Anthony will be returning to BeyondAutism
as Head of Post-19! We look forward to seeing David again
after Easter. Chloe Watkins, Senior Speech and Language
Therapist will be sadly leaving us as is Kath Boulter, HR
Manager with Andy Whyte being promoted from the role of
HR Advisor.
Spring Newsletter
2018
Eaton House the Manor School partnership
In September BeyondAutism Schools were selected by Eaton House the Manor School (by Clapham Common) as
a Charity of the Year alongside Great Ormond Street Hospital. They have run several fundraisers for us already
including a bake sale and a collection at their carol concert in December.
This term the opportunity arose for Park House School to do some collaborative work with Eaton House. In
February Eaton House were hosting an art gallery for their parents where they were going to sell the pieces of art
that they had been creating in class. There were individual pieces that each pupil created alongside larger pieces
that were to be auctioned off. A group of Eaton House pupils came over to Park House School and they worked
together to create 4 of the larger pieces of art that went on sale.
The art gallery was a great evening and the art on show was wonderful. It was fantastic to be able to work
collaboratively with the school. The snow hampered our plans to do some more joint work for World Book Day but
we’re looking forward to working together in the near future.
ASDAN Awards Ceremony 2018
This term, Tram House School held their ASDAN Awards ceremony. Over the last
two years a group of Tram House pupils have been working towards their
Personal Progress qualification. One pupil from our Post-19 provision also
attended the ceremony to collect his Personal and Social Development
qualification.
ASDAN courses provide an engaging curriculum that empowers students through
personalised learning and choice. Learners develop a range of skills on the
course from teamwork to communication and from research to problem-solving.
Pupils tried different activities to increase their independence such as gardening
and taking public transport in the community. One pupil engaged in a mini-
enterprise project to fund a class trip to Brighton. He chose a cupcake recipe,
designed a poster, and went around classes selling the cupcakes to raise enough
money to take his class to the seaside for the day.
We are very proud of all of our pupils for gaining their qualifications and for all of
their hard work over the last two years!
Spring Newsletter
2018
Careers Fair
Earlier in the term Tram
House School held their
annual Careers Fair. It
was a great opportunity
for parents and pupils
to meet with a range of
organisations and
services who support
people through Post 14
and beyond.
We are grateful to the following for coming to the event and
taking stands: BeyondAutism Post-19, Can Do Project,
Orchard Hill College, Home From Home Care, St Piers
College, Dayspace, The Gate and The Camden Society.
If you would like any further information from the event then
you can email tramhouseschool@beyondautism.org.uk for
further details on any of
the stalls.
Thank you to everyone
who came along to this
year’s event and we
look forward to next
year’s fair.
Spring Dance
In February
BeyondAutism Schools
held their termly school
dance. This time round it
was done separately with
the new Tram House
hosting its first dance!
Pupils had the option to bring
their dancing clothes into school
for the day to party in style.
There were different party
games and dancing from start
to finish. Some of the pupils
doing ASDAN New Horizons
and Personal Progress helped
to organise the event by buying
ingredients and preparing the
food as part
of their mini-enterprise project.
They made a selection of
different cakes for everyone to
try and were on hand to serve
them to their peers.
The music for the event was
chosen by pupils and some of
them took the microphone to
sing along to their favourites.
Geography and Language week
This term’s themed week was Geography and Language. There was a different
country to focus on for each day of the week. The countries chosen were France,
China, India, Canada and Brazil. Each day pupils were shown a PowerPoint about the
country to learn about the different countries. They learnt about the traditional cuisine
of each country as well as their significant cultural landmarks.
On each day pupils learnt about the languages spoken in the different countries and
had the chance to learn a few words such as ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’ in the varying
languages. French was a particular favourite for some of the classes, with pupils
perfecting ‘merci’ and ‘au revoir’.
Pupils then tried different foods and decorated the national flags whilst listening to traditional music.
Spring Newsletter
2018
Mayoral visits
During the spring term we have
had two mayoral visits, from the
Wandsworth and Richmond
boroughs.
Councillor Lisa Blakemore,
Mayor of Richmond, and
Councillor Leslie McDonnell,
Mayor of Wandsworth visited
both Park House School and
Tram House School, touring the
schools with the Heads of
Schools, CEO and Chair of
Trustees, discussing the benefits
of our ABA approach and the
progress that the charity
is making.
It was great to welcome
them into our schools as
we are extremely proud
of the work that we are
doing and it was a
fantastic opportunity to
show off our facilities and
teaching methods.
World Book Day
BeyondAutism
Schools’ World
Book Day
unfortunately had
to be postponed
from it’s original
date on 1st March
because of the
snow. It was
rescheduled to
12th March and this didn’t stop some of our
pupils and staff alike dressing up like their
favourite book characters.
As well as reading and listening to different
books throughout the day the pupils
participated in different activities based on
their favourite books. They made dream jars
to celebrate the
Big Friendly
Giant, had a tea
party with scones
as they enjoyed
Alice in
Wonderland and
made masks of
the Gruffalo.
Class trips
All of the classes at Park House School went on a joint trip this term to Walton Firs Activity Centre in Surrey.
The pupils took part in a variety of activities ranging from foraging in the forest for branches, sticks and leaves
to make a shelter, to Frisbee Golf where you have to throw a Frisbee into hoops that hang from the trees, to
getting lost in the maze! All of the outdoor activities fitted in nicely with this term’s theme of sport and exercise.
US1 went to Rotunda Bowl in Kingston to fit in with their theme for the term of sport. The pupils really got into
the bowling and by the end some were bowling without using the ramps as assistance.
US2 and US3 visited Earlsfield Library to enjoy interactive stories and scavenger hunts based around our
favourite books–Alice in Wonderland amongst others. Linking to the termly theme of music, a steel band came
to perform and the pupils had a turn on the drums learning to play the instruments as a group.
Sixth Form 1 and 2 went to Flip Out to build on the term’s theme of sport. Pupils jumped on their own or chased
each other and had a go at slam dunking a basketball from a trampoline. After Flip Out the pupils went to a local
community café where they chose and bought their own lunch.
Spring Newsletter
2018
A word from the charity
Tracie Linehan, CEO
This term has simply flown by. It has been great to see our older pupils settling into Tram House School, bringing the
new building to life. We are planning the official opening for the summer term and will get the date out as soon as
possible.
The charity continues to grow and develop the services we offer; most notably: Outreach, Training and Early Years.
We have delivered another 3 week Early Years workshop for parents, together with their children and I am delighted
to say that we have secured funding to expand this provision into a full-time service. We are providing Outreach to a
number of mainstream schools and successfully delivered the Introduction to ABA course to 12 delegates. The team
of Associate Consultants is steadily increasing in number bringing a breadth of experience and expertise ensuring
we can respond to the variety of needs of schools and settings.
Post-19 is beginning to report outstanding achievements against individual outcomes. One parent states that her
son’s developing independence skills are having a positive impact at home with him no longer requiring prompting to
complete self-help tasks in the morning; meaning she can be getting breakfast ready and sitting enjoying a cup of
coffee! We have a steady flow of referrals for September placements.
We have welcomed Mike Calver, our new Fundraising Manager, replacing Naomi Glancy. Mike will be working hard
to determine the fundraising strategy to ensure we have the ongoing resources to achieve our 5-year strategy. We
will be saying goodbye to Penny Deakin, Vice-Principal of Post-19 and welcoming back David Anthony as Head of
Post-19. Kath Boulter, HR Manager is also moving on and Andy Whyte has been promoted to this position. With
change comes new and exciting perspectives and I am as ever, looking forward to leading our dynamic team
towards achieving year 3 of our strategy ensuring that we empower people and launch lives.
Challenge Events
See the different challenge events we have on offer below:
Nightrider London: 9th–10th June. 50km or 100km cycle through the London streets when the rest of the city
sleeps! £39 registration and £175 minimum sponsorship.
Royal Parks Half Marathon: 14th October. Picturesque half marathon through London’s royal parks and major
landmarks. £35 registration fee and £400 minimum sponsorship
If you would like to take part in any of our challenge events please speak to Dan Thurman on 020 3031 9705 or
email fundraising@beyondautism.org.uk to find out how to get involved.
Quiz
BeyondAutism’s annual quiz night will be taking place at Wandsworth Civic Suite on Wednesday 9th May. There are
still tables available for what should be a great night so get in touch with events@beyondautism.org.uk to reserve
your table. £35pp in tables of 10.
Outreach and Training
The Outreach and Training Team will be running another Introduction to ABA/VB training course in June. We would
like to offer this 4-day training to all BeyondAutism parents at a discounted price of £150 instead of the original £250
price. The course will run on Friday 8th, Friday 15th, Friday 22nd and Friday 29th June.
