Enterprise/Money Management

We decided to use the money we had raised to invest in purchasing our very own  personalised Enterprise hoodies. This involved the students creating a logo and designing templates for a hoodie. 
We have been learning about the importance of ‘identity’ and having a representation for ourselves and our projects. We will wear our new hoodie uniforms in school and out in the community with pride!

Enterprise/Money Management

Upper Sixth have completed their first Enteprise project in the Autumn Term. Students decided they wanted to create a project that would raise money and awareness to a charity. The group decided on following the National Coffee day theme, which would include selling hot drinks and homemade shortbread biscuits. Students also made a small token gift of a ribbon for each customer served. The students decided to donate the profit to Breast Cancer Now. We raised a fantastic £60 to charity. On behalf of the class - thank you once again for supporting our Enterprise project and being involved in raising money for this amazing charity. 

Today we were visited by Jo from the MND Association. We were able to present her with our fantastic donation of £160 to the charity. It was a special moment together, and a wonderful opportunity to share memories about Rachel as she was at the centre of our fundraiser. 

A massive congratulations to all the students for working incredibly hard from start to finish, and for raising such a brilliant amount of money to MNDA. It was certainly worth making all the pizzas!

Well done Upper Post 16. 

Enterprise/Money Management

Today Upper Post 16 have created homemade pizzas for staff lunches. The students made the dough, personalised the pizza boxes and prepared a side salad to accompany their pizzas. 
The students have decided all the money raised will be donated to MNDA in memory of a very special lady who will always remain close to our hearts. 

Vocational Options: Beauty

This week the students have had a very productive time in the ‘Beauty’ class. Students have been practising the skills for maintaining healthy nails and have even had a go at painting each others nails 

Travel Training

This week the students used a public bus to travel to a transition morning at Bedford College. Students had the opportunity to practise crossing the roads and using the pedestrian crossings correctly.
The students showed huge progress in confidence when communicating with the bus drivers and managed to complete the process with minimal support from staff. 
 

Vocational Options
 

The students in Post 16 have the opportunity of choosing a vocational course of their interest. At the moment the courses available are:

• Childcare
• Horticulture
• Art
• Beauty

In horticulture students have been working hard to create a mini allotment in the back garden of our Life Skills bungalow. They have grown a range of seedlings, sown bulbs and the allotted area should contain a mixture of sweet corn, cucumber, pumpkin, potatoes, carrots and leeks by the end of the summer term.
 

We are also encouraging the wildlife and nature into our garden by students creating bug hotels, bird feeders and maintaining healthy and safe hedgehog shelters.

Travel Training

This week we had a School Crossing Patrol Lady visit us in school. It was really interesting to ask her about her job and the students had lots of brilliant questions to ask. This activity has really helped us to understand more about her responsibility and the skills and qualities needed for this type of job.

In Travel Training we have been learning about the different crossings and how to use them safely. Students thoroughly enjoyed acting out different scenarios and showing what went wrong and how to respond appropriately with the support of a trained School Crossing Patrol Lady. 

Travel Training 

Travel training gives our students the opportunity to develop confidence and independence in the community. In Post 16, our students work through the following:

• Using a pelican crossing
• Using a zebra crossing
• Crossing without lights 
• Shopping for items in the community
• Having a meal out with friends/peers
• Dealing with an unexpected incident in the community 
• Using a bus
• Using a train

So far, Upper Post 16 have been learning about different types of crossings. The students have been really interested in finding out all the differences between the pelican, puffin, toucan, zebra and pegasus crossings.

We ventured out into Kempston and have been exploring all the different crossings. Students were able to practise crossing safely and as independent as possible.

Enterprise/Money Management

Upper Post 16 have worked hard in nurturing a selection of plants in Enterprise. Some plants have been grown from seeds and others were kindly donated from a local garden centre. This week we took our gift wrapped plants to sell on the stall at Kempston Market. We had lots of interest from the public and even managed to sell everything!
We raised a fantastic £114! 

World Book Day

Post 16 thoroughly enjoyed focussing on Matilda by the very talented Roald Dahl for World Book Day this year. 
We have been learning about the author Roald Dahl and collectively we managed to find out lots of interesting facts about his life and what inspired him to be a writer. Reflecting on the story of Matilda, we talked about the magical power she discovered and began to think about what magical powers we would like to have and why. The students came up with some fantastic ideas and it was really lovely to hear them share their imaginative and creative thoughts with each other.
To finish our really lovely day for World Book Day - a group of students made a delicious chocolate cake so we could indulge just like ‘Bruce Bogtrotter’ from the story. Some students fully embraced in the activity and got very messy indeed! 

Careers Fair

Post 16 students embraced the opportunity of attending a careers fair this week. The students were able to visit each stall and seek advice from lots of different  providers and organisations they were interested in. 

Enterprise/Money Management

This half term students created a project based on  the theme of Valentine's Day. Students created a packaged item called 'Love in a bag'. This consisted of one large chocolate coated heart shaped shortbread biscuit with small plain biscuits and some love hearts for a little extra treat. All the students worked incredibly hard in making lots of biscuits and successfully selling to our Ridgeway community. 

We made 100 packaged 'Love in a bag' items and are thrilled to say that we have sold all 100 - giving us £87 profit.

Upper Post 16 are still undecided with what to do with some of the money raised, this could include purchasing something for their social area, the Post 16 outside area or even towards a trip out or treat. 

We look forward to updating you on the final decisions! 

In the meantime, a very big thank you for your continuous support - it's very much appreciated! 

Upper Post 16 have been testing their painting skills this week. As a class we are renovating our outside area and decided we would try to make our own colourful planters. We contacted a local car garage and requested the use of any unwanted tyres and were lucky enough to be given 6.
We have been learning about the types of jobs that would require these decorating skills. Students also suggested appropriate grooming and dress wear for this job and also what equipment would be needed. 

Computing - Social Media Platforms and Wellbeing 

Upper Post 16 students have been working on a piece of coursework about Social Media Platforms. Today students have created newspaper articles to make others aware of the influence of Social Networking and to give support or advice in different situations. 

On behalf of everyone in Upper Post 16 - we wish you a truly wonderful and magical Christmas!

Enterprise: Students have been working hard to create a Christmas item to be sold at Kempston Market. They were all incredible working on the stall and managed to sell a fantastic 60/80 boxes to the public. Thank you to everyone who came to support us! 

Our Year 14 students have visited Bedford College for a transition morning. They travelled to the college via public transport. Lots of fantastic skills achieved for this activity:

• Exploring bus timetables to support our journey - including how much for a bus ticket.
• Communicating confidently with the bus drivers there and back.
• Handling money: paying for their tickets.
• Working out a route for getting on and off the bus.
• Awareness of road safety when walking from bus stop to the college and on return to school. 

Upper Post 16: Enterprise

All the students have worked exceptionally hard during this autumn project. The students decided they wanted to create a Halloween Enterprise Project and together they chose to make 'Gingerbread Halloween Mummies'. 180 biscuits were made and decorated and looked fantastic!

Thank you to everyone who supported our project. We raised over £140.00! 

Life Skills - Working in the bungalow

Upper Post 16 have been busy learning practical life skills in the bungalow. Students have been visiting the local supermarket, following basic recipes, and making hot drinks. We have even started creating our vegetable patch for growing some home grown vegetables in this academic year.