Milestone Academy Newsletter

Principal's Welcome

Dear Parents and Carers,

Module 6 has been a time of coming together and celebration at Milestone. We had our first Summer fair for two years and it proved to be the most successful one ever. With the new Teepees, wheelchair access and huge range of stalls families and staff had a great day. We even had our own pantomime in the Teepees which the students loved!

Milestone is a unique and special place where we not only provide an education for our students but care and support for our families, sharing some very challenging times. With this in mind we have finally completed renovations on our memorial garden. The area now contains a grass area with planters and ornaments surrounding a wildlife area and pond. The result is a beautiful oasis of calm! In addition to this the new memorial tree on the wall outside of the lower dining hall now has the bronze leaves secured with the names of those students and staff that we have lost and fondly remember. Thank you to our Friends of Milestone for their efforts with this project, it is one that is appreciated by us all. After such a successful year it is with sadness that I announce the departure of Ruth, Jenny and Jenny from the Friends after many years of dedication and hard work they are taking a more leisurely approach to life. They have assured me that they will remain in touch! We are delighted to announce that Sarah Spiers has bravely taken on the role of chair and we have a group of new parents who have joined the friends. Please do get in touch if you would like to join this wonderful organisation. It provides a lifeline for us as a school to community events and fundraising to provide those things for the pupil which enrich their experience in school. More importantly for you as parents and carers it provides a group of like minded people to link and network with, please come along and enjoy the benefits of being part of this group.

We sadly say goodbye to some staff at the end of this term including Liesl Anderson our Satellite Director at Wilmington who is retiring. We thank Liesl for her leadership and commitment to our Wilmington Satellite and the students in her care. She has been exceptional in her dedication and skill and will be greatly missed. We wish her well in her new venture.

We also say goodbye to Tracey East who has been a teacher at Milestone for many years. Tracey has been an outstanding class lead in our Brook pathway and we will all miss her very much. Tracey is retiring and we wish her well.

We welcome several new teachers including Sonia Sharma, our new Vice Principal who will be leading Secondary Phases. Terry Brock will be returning in September as our new Vice Principal leading the Primary Phases. We congratulate Noleen Donaghy who will become the Assistant Principal for Phase 4. The internal promotions have opened up opportunities for others to step forward and take on new leadership roles as phase leaders. We congratulate Sarah Holliday, Catherine McHugh and Maria Steer on securing these new positions and welcome back Samantha Joliffe from maternity leave.

Finally we congratulate Janet Tidmas in her promotion to the position of Deputy Principal, strengthening the already outstanding leadership team we are blessed to have.

It remains for me to thank you for your ongoing support, commitment and participation in our school community. I have thoroughly enjoyed working with you all and wish you a safe and enjoyable summer break. We all look forward to seeing you and your children when you return on Friday 2nd September.

Sarah Goosani - Principal

Phase 2

We wish all our wonderful Year 6 pupils all the very best on their learning journey as they begin their secondary education. We are also saying goodbye to Jessica Simonds, Jade Freeman and Emma Holmes. We wish them the very best on their new adventures.

We are very proud of our pupils' achievements this year and their results are reflected in their hard work and fantastic attitudes. The staff at Milestone work tirelessly to ensure our pupils are the best they can be. Thank you Phase 2!

We aim to make learning fun and memorable, here are just a few of the highlights and cultural capital activities we organised in 2021/22…

• Zoo lab

• Swanley, Springhead and New Ash Green park

• PMLD activity day

• Trip to the local cafe for breakfast

• Reading at the community library

• Buying toys in the local charity shop and snacks for class at the Co-Op

• Buttercups Goat Sanctuary

• Farmer Christmas at Broadditch Farm

• Morrisons and Sainsburys cafe

• Arty Party

• Meeting Bunnies

• Jeskyns Park Superworm Trail

• Jubilee Party

• Safer Internet Day (Bigfoot Arts Education) - Boo Gets Cyber Safe

• Howletts Zoo

• Lullingstone Roman Villas

• Hollywood bowl

• Bluewater nature trail

• Polhill garden centre

• Jungle party and jungle themed sensory circuit

• Bubbleologist

• Ice cream van

• Camping staycation

Woodland Class have been to the jungle this term, We have met and made many different animals along the way. Some scary, some small, some scaly and some tall. In cooking we have been cooking lots of different jungle treats. Including worm and mud pie, Tiger brownies, mud hut cupcakes and explorer pasta salad.In topic we have made bubble wrap Crocodiles, Textured snakes and feathery toucans. ETC has been fun using the foot spa and fans. At the beginning of term we had our activity day, We joined in with messy play, hook a duck, water play and sensory stories.

All of Woodlands have been super learners this term. Enjoy a lovely summer break!

Mountain Class have continued to develop their swimming skills, visiting Fairfield swimming pool each week. It has been fantastic to see such an improvement in confidence and skills in all the students. During our Write Dance sessions we have been focusing on our gross and fine motor skills to improve our handwriting, writing labels and sentences for various jungle pictures. Mountain class have enjoyed participating in beaming stars gymnastics sessions this term, working on their balance and coordination to complete a circuit. In maths we have been using measurement to see who is the tallest, the smallest, the heaviest and the lightest. We then decided which jungle creatures fitted these categories. Mountain have excelled at their counting and love the number songs we sing in class. These has helped with the balance scales weighing - working out how many cubes would balance familiar objects. This hot weather means lots of outside water play looking at the capacity of different containers.

Forest Class have enjoyed this term’s topic, ‘It’s a jungle out there’ and they have really enjoyed their Geography and Art lessons. The pupils have enjoyed making their own jungle display outside their classroom and learning about different animals that live within the rainforest. They have also had fun making 3D rainforests inside shoeboxes and having the opportunity to explore different textures and materials. They have continued to work hard on their ILP targets throughout the term and they have been engaging well in their RWI sessions. Forest class have also thoroughly enjoyed their cookery lessons and they have been working hard on their skills of working with others and turn taking. The pupils have enjoyed making rocky road, flapjacks and lemon cakes. The pupils have been working hard on their instruction following during PE sessions and they have enjoyed going on the trim trail and other pieces of equipment outside. They have also continued with doing the daily mile.

Orchard Class have thoroughly enjoyed this term’s topic of It’s a jungle out there. In geography, we have learnt about the different levels of the rainforest and the animals which live there and enjoyed sensory experiences outside in our forest schools area. We have made lots of different animals in Art to make a jungle display. In science, we have been learning about states of matter and completing lots of investigations and experiments to change the state of matter from liquid to solid and solid to liquid. Making our own chocolate bars has been one of our favourites. This term, Orchard class have continued to improve our gross motor skills through Beaming stars sessions, football and our PE lessons too. Read write inc phonics sessions have continued to help us with our knowledge of sounds to enable us to further our skills when reading and writing CVC words. We have enjoyed making the most of the nice weather and completing lots of our learning outside. Our teddy bear picnic has been one of our highlights from term 6.

Coast Class have created wild animals using our bodies during art and explored the sounds of safari animals. During topic we have had a wild animal themed carousel. Exploring different art, Environmental Control Technology (ECT) and edible tuff trays. Our favourite theme has been monkeys and apes, where we made banoffee monkey jars and explored different greenery. For our sensory story this term we have shared Coast Jumanji. Our photos made it to the big screen, then we had to complete different ECT activities to escape the jungle. We used all of our senses to win the Gems including tasting the kings ‘mud pie’ and activating switches to scare the angry elephants and lions. We absolutely loved our trip to Swanley park, especially the splash zone. We have all worked incredibly hard on our Individual Learning Plan targets and have enjoyed doing this in the sunshine.

Canyon Class have been on a sensory circuit through the jungle as part of our activity day and had a jungle themed party with games. We also had the chance to watch ‘King of the Jungle’ theatre performance in school. In our art and topic sessions, we created a class rainforest display incorporating our geography targets. Canyons then took pleasure in creating their own shoe box jungles and making clay jungle animals to put in them. We have also taken part in outdoor learning sessions each week exploring different plants, flowers and insects. Our cooking sessions this term have been based on ‘Bake Off!’ so we have made plenty of delicious recipes including swiss roll, blueberry butterfly cakes and rocky road. During the hot weather, Canyons made use of the outside area and had a large water play session and water fight with the adults. We linked personal skills targets to this activity for dressing and undressing independently as well as target practise! Community participation this term has entailed venturing to Springhead Park in Northfleet on the school bus. We have had lots of fun exploring the two parks and developing our gross motor skills. For a great end to the year, Canyon class thoroughly enjoyed the class trip to Buttercups Goat Sanctuary where they got to stroke and feed the goats.

Meadow Class were very lucky to visit Howletts Zoo this term, fitting in with our Term 6 topic ‘Into the Jungle’. We enjoyed touring the zoo and watching the monkeys and elephants interact with us and each other. It was a very warm day and we finished off with ice cream and slush puppies. Meadow class have continued to enjoy and make progress in RWI this term, with lots of the students now saying it is their favourite lesson of the day!

Science has been a term of messy experiments - great fun learning about non-Newtonian fluids and seeing which objects sat on the top. One student straight away saw the relationship between the cornstarch Oobleck and quicksand. I love Meadow’s curiosity and great questions. Here is the link to making your own Non-Newtonian mix https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/oobleck .

We have also been baking this term. We have made a variety of jungle themed foods. The cheese straw snakes were esssssssspecially good. Have a lovely summer!

Michelle Hilton - Phase 2 Director

Phase 3

Viking Class Viking class had a fantastic (and very hot!) last term! Pupil's have enjoyed working outside during horticulture lessons and kept our garden and vegetables watered and weeded. The pupil's have been working on their independent writing skills during our creative writing lessons. Some of the stories they've created have been absolutely incredible! During maths, we've been looking at mass, capacity and volume and transferring these skills to following instructions for recipes in our cooking lessons. We had "Fantastic Fred" come in to give us a performance about the importance of mental health and what we can do to improve our own. In a Nutshell Theatre Company came in to perform "Treasure Island" and our pupil's were able to ask questions about acting and what was required to become an actor. For our activity week we had a visit from a barrister who talked to us about equality and the law. We also learned about the history of pride and made our own colourful banners for our afternoon march around the school. All the pupil's particularly enjoyed our visit from the "Creepy Crawlies" company who taught us and let us hold different snakes, spiders, scorpions and lizards! Viking class team wish all parents and pupils a fantastic Summer break!

Saxon Class Saxon class has been learning all about the wonders of the world this term. From going to the beach, to New York. We have had a wide range of activities including sensory stories and designing our own artwork. Saxon class have been exploring different textures of foods and creating their own dishes based on the topic of the week.

Aztec Class It has been a busy summer term in Aztecs. On Monday afternoons each of us have enjoyed visiting Fairby Grange Residential Home, socialising, singing songs and playing games with the residence. Aiden even thought one of the ladies looked like the Queen. We have also walked to the coop each week to buy our ingredients ready for our cooking lesson on a Friday, so far we have made fish and chips, coloured biscuits and cheesecake. We have all enjoyed reading 'The Jungle Book' and written some great character and setting descriptions. The hanging baskets we made in our gardening lessons last term, all sold really well at the School Fete. All students enjoyed the Sports Day and managed the transitions and changes really well, it was great to celebrate the event again after so long without it. Aztec class tried their best at the different events and demonstrated an excellent attitude and great sportsmanship. During activity week, students have looked at 'People who changed the world,.' this has included looking at social justice and equality, supporters of climate change, learning CPR and recovery position providing a speech to 'dragon s den' about inventions they have made and lastly looking at how transport has impacted and changed our world. Our party on the Friday afternoon was fantastic and students enjoyed 'trucker's' foods cooked by each class.

Roman Class have had a wonderful Term 6, bringing to a close a fantastic year together, full of many fond memories and lots of personal and academic progress to celebrate. Students have continued to work hard upon their individualized learning plans, within target time lessons and by generalising skills through the topic of 'Wonderful World'. Through multi-sensory learning activities we immersed ourselves into the topic with sensory journeys to the beach, city and woodland. Our regular co-curriculum and activity week provided fantastic learning opportunities alongside our Phase 3 peers, such as meeting the animals from Creepy Claws, a visit from our friends at Snowfields Academy, accessing the bouncy castle and of course a party!

We would like to wish our students, their families and carers the most wonderful summer!

Jurassic Class have enjoyed exploring the topic of ‘Wonderful World’ this term and we have had fun completing a variety of activities through Art, Topic & cooking lessons. We have taken advantage of the warmer weather we have had this term and we've had lots of fun outside visiting the sensory garden area & polytunnels; completing nature trails, planting seeds and exploring the wonderful nature around us in our local environment. A real highlight this term has been sports day, which the whole class thoroughly enjoyed! It was wonderful to see Jurassic Class joining in with a variety of fun games & activities and also for them to enjoy this with their families and class peers. A huge well done Jurassic for your hard work this term, I hope you and your families all have a wonderful summer!

Tudor Class have explored giant conch shells from the beach, Ciaran can hear the waves. George has had a go trying to ride a bike and Yannis thought it was fascinating cracking an egg when we were cooking. Our Topic has been visiting the beach, New York, and the Jungle. In cooking, we have made key lime cheesecake, hot dog buns, fish fingers, and many other recipes based on our topic themes. I am amazed and immensely proud of the Tudor class this year and the amazing progress and the ingenuity of each individual in their journey, it has been an absolute pleasure to work with these inspiring young people and I wish all the students and families a lovely summer.

Kyle Marsh - Phase 3 Director

Phase 4

Dear Families, as we end this academic year, I wanted to thank you for your consistent support and engagement. As always, this term has been incredibly busy with activity weeks and the welcome return of residentials. Following on from the Term 5 newsletter, we have a few changes to the Phase leadership team for September with Liesl Andersson, our Satellite Director at Wilmington, retiring and my move to Vice Principal. As such, Noleen Donaghy-Parkhouse has successfully been promoted to Assistant Principal for the Phase, Nicola McCarthy to Satellite Director at Wilmington, with Sam Jolliffe returning from her maternity as Phase Leader. I'm sure you will all join me in thanking all the staff across the Phase especially Amy Mercer for her exceptional leadership as both the Behaviour Lead and interim Phase Leader and Liesl Andersson for her many years of exceptional teaching and leadership at Milestone - we wish Liesl a very happy retirement. We also wish all of our leavers the very best for the future and their next steps in life - be that social provision or further education. It has been an absolute privilege to lead Phase 4 and I hope you all have a safe and happy summer.

Terry Brock - Phase 4 Director

Dover Class excelled in another busy term. Our topic has been sustainable energy where we have looked at renewable energy sources, made our own wind turbines and created some bubble blowing paintings. As part of our independent skills we have been completing outside jobs to make our outside areas flourish, cleaning pots, watering plants and weeding. We have also taken trips into the community to purchase our school snack, cooking ingredients and practise our money management skills by purchasing a snack and drink in the cafe. Then practising our ICT skills by typing recipe cards and instruction sheets for our creations. Dover class also competed in Sports Day which they thoroughly enjoyed, the running races were a firm favourite bringing out their competitive sides and racing with their parents was something they still talk about.

We have also been working on place value and measurement in maths, using a range of manipulatives including Numicon to help with number recognition.

It's that time of the year where we have to say goodbye to some of our students and we wish them all the best for the future and hope everyone has a lovely, well deserved break over the Summer.

Eynsford Class Eynsford class has had a very successful and productive Term 6. Eynsford class had a very active term and students took part in and enjoyed Sports day, completing a carousel of activities. Their favourite activity was the soft play area within the large Teepee, this proved to be a firm favourite. Eynsford have thoroughly enjoyed their PE lessons, consisting of trampolining, and focusing on their balance and coordination skills, as well as using up lots of energy.

Students in Eynsford class have also been continuing their independence skills and have been helping to look after and care for their classroom, and have undertaken ‘jobs’ at the end of the day to help tidy up.

Eynsford class have also been getting ready to say goodbye to some of their friends in class and across the phase, who will be leaving us at the end of this year, and are sending well wishes their way for their future endeavours.

Canterbury Class really can’t believe that we are nearing the end of another school year. We have had a busy term with students completing transition visits to new provisions, our sports days, activity week and various offsite visits.

Our allotment area has flourished under the care of our students and staff producing more strawberries than we can eat, rhubarb, onions and potatoes. We have been utilising this produce during our Food and Nutrition lessons. We have made good use of the lovely weather to work outside whenever possible. The students have enjoyed completing our PE lessons outdoors and using our adapted bikes.

It is with great sadness that we say goodbye to some of our year 14 students, many of whom have been with us for many years. We all wish them and their families well in their next adventure.

Leeds Class have been creative with their Art skills this term. Following our topic of sustainable energy we focused on Natural land. We enjoyed our Seaside stories where we could use our senses to explore props such as ice cream, salt and vinegar on our chips, candy floss and the noises of the fun fair, the seagulls and the waves of the sea.

We are at that time again where we say goodbye to two popular characters of the class and we wish them good luck for the future. Our class will be very quiet!!

Leeds class also experienced the PMLD activity morning which was a lot of fun and everyone was able to access their favourite activities. There were a lot of parents who joined us and pupils were able to mix within phases.

Scotney Class have had another busy term. The students have participated in weekly out in the community visits, where we have been visiting the local shops with a shopping list to buy our snack and cooking ingredients followed by a drink and snack outside the local bakers! This has been a highlight of their week this term! During topic lessons, we have been looking at sustainable energy and completing lots of fun art activities. The students particularly enjoyed blow painting to create a windswept paint picture.

Sports day was very successful this year and the students participated in a variety of different activities. They all enjoyed the bowling activities and rolling balls down the tubes.

We would like to wish our year 14 students leaving us at the end of this term all the best for the future and hope you all have a lovely summer break!

Scotney Class team

Amy Mercer - Interim Phase 4 Leader

Horticulture News

It has been a busy term! We have harvested a lot of our produce (garlic, onions, potatoes, peas to name some) which both staff and students have enjoyed eating. We have been kept busy weeding & currently watering.

On Friday, 4th July, the Land based studies students went on a trip to Hall Place Gardens. We looked at the different types of garden there & the students learnt why the people living in the house would’ve had all these gardens. We spoke to the man cutting the topiary which was very informative.

It has also been lovely to teach students in Phase 1 and 2, as well as Phase 3 main site. Phase 1 has explored the garden with their senses and planted tomatoes which they are responsible for looking after. Canyon class has been exploring the Forest School area.

Kirsty Wiseman

Horticulture teacher