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An October Update

Dear Families and Friends,

It’s amazing to think that in a blink of an eye, we have now reached the October half term! Where have the last 6 weeks gone?

As you will know, the governors have appointed me as Acting Headteacher. I am thoroughly enjoying the new opportunities and challenges this role offers me and it’s great to have the support and encouragement from our dedicated team of staff, our parents, governors, the local authorities and of course, the pupils.

We started the new academic year by welcoming 12 new pupils and their families to the school. It was also time to welcome 12 new members of staff, all of whom have settled well and are contributing to life at Brookfields School.

Shelley Upton and Catherine Bernie have been working with Sara Attra to develop our new and exciting Initial Teacher Training initiative, The Berkshire Teaching Alliance (BTA). Through this scheme we are training teachers of the future. There are 16 on this programme, 10 based in mainstream schools and 6 based in special schools. The programme is going incredibly well and it’s fantastic to see how it’s already impacting on special needs teachers of the future.

You will recall that last academic year we built a playground for pupils with complex needs in the secondary school. This term saw the construction of an amazing climbing frame. The pupils have loved exploring the towers, bridge, scramble net, slide and the fireman’s pole. Not only have the pupils enjoyed it, but so have some of the braver members of staff and visitors to the school!

Those of you who have visited the school in the last week will have noticed that we are having some building work done. Safeguarding at Brookfields School is a high priority for governors and staff alike. We are therefore reconfiguring the reception area to ensure that visitors and members of the public cannot access pupil areas, as they can now. It is hoped that the work will be completed by 20^th December.

As you know, Sara Attra will be leaving us at the end of this term to take up her Headship at Addington School. At the end of September, we held interviews to appoint to the post of Deputy Head. We had seven applicants for this role and we short listed and interviewed four people. The interviews and selection process involved the governors, staff and pupils. As a result of an intense selection process, I am pleased to announce that I have been able to appoint two Deputy Headteachers; Jo Farley, who many of you already know, started her role as Deputy Headteacher on 30^th September and Debbie Mallam, who is currently Assistant Head at Langtree School, will be joining us after the Christmas break.

Towards the end of the last academic year, we appointed a Fund Raiser to the school, Charlotte Wilshire, who has been doing a sterling job in writing bids and securing funding to support a number of projects at the school. So far, Charlotte has raised a total of £10.000 to fund a gazebo to be attached to the new playground. If any of you are interested in learning more about how you can help raise funds, please contact Charlotte.

We would like to say a HUGE thank you to Mr Clark, parent of one of our pupils, and his team of firefighters for their amazing feat of pulling their 3.5 tonne Water Rescue Unit 56 miles across Berkshire. Mr Clark and his team are kindly donating some of the money they raised have raised (£1,753) to the school. A great effort!

Thank you also for all the kind and generous food donations given to our Harvest Celebration Assemblies. The food will be distributed to local people and families by ‘Readifood’, a charity run by the Faith Christian Group.

I hope you all have a good half term break and we look forward to seeing the pupils back in school on TUESDAY 1^st NOVEMBER 2016.

Brandon Mills
Acting Head Teacher