Unity Newsletter. Year 7. Year 8. Mr Lowe Dylan Ord. Mrs Peet Steven Childs and Emma Richardson. Mrs Clark Keiran Broad and Mason Blandford

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1 Unity Newsletter Part of St udent S up port at Biddick Sc ho ol S port s C ol lege Year 2, Issue 29 24th May 2013 We were delighted that even more students chose to stay this year at our annual Unity Centre sleepover. Well done to Emma Richardson, Dylan Ord, Emma Slater, Callum Hulse, Matthew Mason, Connor Francis, Keiran Broad, Sean Curry, Leon Swinney, Jack Sayer, Michael McNally and Keiran Hennessey. Staff who stayed were Mr Heaney, Mr Jackson, Mrs March, Mrs Clark, Miss Herron and Mr Lowe. We had a great time. More information inside. Year 7 Mr Lowe Dylan Ord Mrs Peet Steven Childs and Emma Richardson Year 8 Mrs Clark Keiran Broad and Mason Blandford Mrs Metcalf Sean Curry and Connor Francis Miss Marshall Emma Slater and Callum Hulse Mrs March Matthew Mason and Christopher Robson After the half term break there will be a change of keyworker for Year 7 and 8 students. This is due to the need for staff to also support our new Year 7 students during transition events this last half term. Keyworker arrangements for year 9 students will remain the same with Miss Herron and Miss Huggin continuing to support as usual. 1

2 In Social Skills, inspired by Mrs March s mug, Emma and Steven began to think of acrostic poems for the word Autism. Steven is going to draw his while Emma is using publisher. In English, with Miss Sturrock Steven continued with his rewrite of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory from Charlie s point of view. Steven has done some excellent writing!! In Science, Dylan looked at electrical circuits and how they work. In Mr Bowles Science class he learnt about Acid Rain - what causes it and how it affects the things it comes into contact with. In History, Dylan learnt about the Holy City of Mecca. The class found out that Muslims are expected to travel to Saudi Arabia at least once in their life (if they can afford it) to complete a pilgrimage. Dylan asked lots of well thought out questions. He seemed amazed at the thought that 3 million people visit Mecca at once! During Curriculum Week in P.E Emma took part in a Distance Challenge in the Fitness Suite. She worked in a group against other teams to see who could travel the furthest distance. Emma made a good contribution to her team and really pushed herself. Emma and Mrs Clark played cricket (with a soft ball!), tennis (with a soft ball!), badminton and their favourite... Hula Hooping!! On the afternoon they had a lot of fun dancing to different types of music...mrs Clark loved Emma's great dance moves! Anti Bullying Alliance - Give us a Break Thank you to those parents and carers who sent in your feedback on your satisfaction with break and lunch times in school. We compiled a booklet using your feedback and describing our arrangements for lunch and break times and sent it to the Anti Bullying Alliance who have put an excerpt on their website as an example of good practice in schools. We plan to put the booklet in PDF form on the school website in the near future for those of you who are interested. An link to the page on the antibullying website: 2

3 This week, Sean, Emma, Callum and Connor have started cookery with Mrs McNally as part of their DT lessons. After half term they will be cooking a Victoria Sponge cake and should have the ingredients listed in their planners. (see below if necessary) In PE with Mrs Egdell, Emma continued practicing serving over arm in Tennis. She found this tricky at first but persevered and is getting the hang of it now. In Music, Sean and his group continued writing their blues song before performing it to the rest of the class. Mr Dunstan thought the group s lyrics were really good! In Dance, Sean learnt a street dance routine with the rest of his form. He also learnt some of the names of the moves. After half term the class will be learning some break dance moves and working in groups to create a pop video. Matthew, Sean, Emma and Callum continue to work very hard in Mrs Watson s Maths lesson. They have been working on symmetry and concentrated very hard using the mirrors to help them. They have recently completed their Year 8 assessment with Mr Jackson. Mrs Watson also reports that they have worked amazingly well and with enthusiasm in their weekly IT lesson on the My Maths website. If you are interested to see how they are doing, the school login is: Login: Biddick Password: Chart Then every child has their individual login which has been noted in their school planner. In Citizenship, Mason and Keiran have been looking at different crimes and the class discovered that it was a crime to spit, to litter and to not have a TV License to name a few. In English, Keiran has continued to work on his Darkside Board game along with his group members. In MFL Matthew and Keiran were looking at different celebrities and using different French words describing what each celebrity was wearing. In DT Keiran and Mason have moved into Cookery. Mrs McNally gave a demonstration on how to make a Victoria Sponge Cake, all class members had an opportunity to assist in the making of the cake. Keiran helped Mrs McNally stir in the different ingredients. Keiran, Mason, Connor, Sean, Emma and Callum will be making a Victoria Sandwich Cake in their Monday DT lesson ( Tuesday 4th June for Keiran and Mason) Ingredients: 150gms Margarine 150gms Sugar 150gms Self Raising Flour 3 Eggs 2 Tablespoons of Jam 1 Tablespoon of Icing Sugar A tin to take their cakes home. 3

4 This week in Geography, Leon, Jack and Michael were looking at local, national and international solutions to global warming. All three boys worked in pairs to decide the advantages and disadvantages of each solution. Good partner work was displayed in this lesson with great communication. In English, Michael, Leon and Jack have been doing a practise exam paper so that they are more aware of the type of examination that will be coming up next year. In Social Skills, on Monday, Jack, Michael, Leon and Keiran were discussing the sleepover that they were all attending on Wednesday. The boys made a PowerPoint listing things that they may be worried about when staying away from home and things that they might enjoy whilst at the sleepover. Kester had a French exam on Monday afternoon and came out of it feeling really happy with the work he had put into it - even though Kester joined us later the year, missing a term and a half of Biddick lessons, he gained a distinction! Well done Kester! Biddick Annual charity day 2013 Mrs stone, mrs ditchburn and mr shell would like to thank everyone for your support and efforts on our recent Charity Day: We had everything this year from friendship bracelets, penalty shoot outs, sponge PE, sponsored silence, French speaking all day, hook a duck, skittles, guess the sweets in the jar, back waxing, guess the balloons in the car, stocks, guess the teacher and many, many cake stalls to name a few. In fact Mary Berry would be extremely proud at the amount of cakes that were made and sold over a few weeks! Without the full support and backing from school staff, home and the students, we would not have raised an astonishing...wait for it 3423!!! That's right !! Beating last years total by some considerable amount!!! 4

5 The American Psychiatric Association (APA) has revised its diagnostic manual, known as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM). The fifth edition (DSM- 5) was published on 18 May. The DSM is one of the two main international sets of diagnostic criteria for autism. It is influential, but it is not the main set used in the UK. This article looks at the key changes in DSM-5 relating to autism and Asperger syndrome, and what The National Autistic Society (NAS) thinks about the changes. What does DSM-5 say? Diagnostic criteria are revised periodically by a team of experts, taking into account the most up-to-date research. DSM-5 includes some changes which could affect the way diagnoses will be given to people on the autism spectrum. However, it's important to add that although DSM is influential, the main set of criteria used in the UK is the World Health Organisation s International Classification of Diseases (ICD). We don t expect that there will be any immediate changes to the way that autism and Asperger syndrome are diagnosed in this country. Here are some of the main changes in DSM-5: In DSM-5, the terms autistic disorder, Asperger disorder, childhood disintegrative disorder and PDD-NOS have been replaced by 'autism spectrum disorder'. For many people, the term Asperger syndrome is part of their day-to-day vocabulary and their identity, so we understand concerns around the removal of Asperger syndrome as a distinct category from the manual. All individuals who currently have a diagnosis on the autism spectrum, including those with Asperger syndrome, will retain their diagnosis. No one will lose their diagnosis because of the changes in DSM-5. The previous use of three areas of impairments has been reduced to two main areas: social communication and interaction. restricted, repetitive patterns of behaviour, interests or activities. Sensory behaviours are included in the criteria for the first time, under the 'restricted, repetitive patterns of behaviours' descriptors. The emphasis during diagnosis will change from giving a name to a condition to identifying all the needs that someone has and how these affect their life. DSM-5 has introduced 'dimensional elements' which give an indication of how much someone s condition affects them. This will help to identify how much support an individual needs. DSM-5 includes a new condition called 'social communication disorder' (more details below). 5

6 What does the National Autistic Society think of DSM-5? The new diagnostic criteria The NAS welcomes the overall approach to streamline diagnostic criteria and make them simpler, to develop dimensional measures of severity and to recognise the full range of health problems someone is experiencing, as well as any other factors that impact on their diagnosis. Severity levels We had a number of concerns regarding the severity levels at the proposal stage, including: the level of details consistency of the levels in relation to the diagnostic criteria the absence of key areas, including sensory aspects, within the severity levels. the criteria for the severity the linking of a clinical diagnosis to recommendations of support may create expectations for people on the autism spectrum that services will be provided when this will not always be the case (at least in the UK), due to high eligibility thresholds or because decisions about such support may be taken by professionals who have no relation to the diagnostic process. creating a direct link between a clinical decision over diagnosis and a recommendation for support could affect clinical impartiality. In the UK we are aware of situations where clinical professionals have felt under pressure from their employers to under-assess needs in order to ration limited resources. While there have been improvements in the final version of DSM-5, we believe that the complexity of the presentation of autism spectrum disorders means that the severity of impairment can only be assessed on an individual basis. It must not be linked to simplistic recommendations for support. Asperger syndrome and other sub-groups Our experts, Dr Lorna Wing and Dr Judith Gould, submitted a paper to the American Psychiatric Association, jointly written with Professor Christopher Gillberg. The paper called for a stronger focus on social imagination, diagnosis in infancy and adulthood, and on the possible under-diagnosis of girls and women with autism. The authors recommended that sub-group names for particular autism spectrum disorders be kept in DSM-5, including a description of Asperger syndrome, to make it very clear that this continues to be a part of the autism spectrum. Early in 2010, the NAS asked for people s views on the proposals so that we could also respond to the APA. We said that any changes could have an impact on people s sense of identity, and that it would be important to consider the views of people with an autism spectrum disorder when revising the manual. We also said that it would be important to recognise when people on the autism spectrum have to make a considerable effort to manage in a 'neurotypical' world - even if they appear to cope on a superficial level. Social communication disorder The APA has created a new diagnosis of social communication disorder. This is characterised by difficulties with verbal and non-verbal communication that cannot be explained by low cognitive ability. It includes difficulty in learning and using spoken and written language, as well as inappropriate responses in conversation. It does not include restricted, repetitive patterns of behaviour, interests or activities. The disorder limits effective communication, social relationships, academic achievement or occupational performance. From our experience of assessing people with social and communication disorders, we believe that communication problems are rarely the basis of difficulties with social interaction. Moreover, our assessments suggest that in fact these people usually do have restricted or repetitive behaviours and interests, but have been able to mask them, particularly if they are more able intellectually. Therefore we believe that this group is a sub-group of people on the autism spectrum. When the aim of DSM-5 is to avoid having autism sub-groups, we do not believe it is helpful to have created this additional diagnosis of social communication disorder. 6

7 The National Autistic Society have launched a new campaign, Push for Action, that the NAS had launched. You may be aware that this year, the Government will be reviewing if they themselves, as well as local councils and the NHS, are doing enough to ensure adults with autism get the everyday support they need. That support might include things like help with washing and dressing, finding a job or getting a diagnosis the basic support we know that so many adults with autism need. In 2009, a unique law, the Autism Act, was passed to make sure that support reached all adults with autism who needed it. But we know that councils and health bodies in our area have not done enough to end the wait for support. We are going to be pushing for action over the coming months but we need your help and support. Working together we can push for more action across the North East and help secure the support from the Government to make that happen. The more of us who sign up, the more chance we have securing the changes we want to happen locally. More details at We will see the students after our half term break. School reopens on Monday 3rd June. The bike ride to Beamish will take place on Wednesday 5th of June - weather permitting, British summertime being unpredictable. Your child will need own clothes suitable for riding a bike (sports type clothing, trainers), a backpack, packed lunch and adequate drinks for the ride. They will also need a waterproof cagoule or similar. If you have not yet paid the 5 donation for the sleepover (apart from the students who brought their own food in and did not eat the food provided) could you please send it in to school on the Monday after half term? If this is difficult financially then please mention to Mr Jackson or your child s keyworker. Have a lovely half term break and we all cross our fingers for sunshine - or at least no rain! 7

8 This Wednesday we had our annual Unity Centre sleepover, with various activities on the Wednesday and Thursday for those students who slept overnight. Once everyone had arrived and put their bags away Mr Heaney asked students to work in groups using Google Earth to work out which route they thought that we should take on our walk to Penshaw Monument. After discussing the various routes, we set off... 8

9 Mr Heaney planned all of the activities during our sleepover and we send him a big thank you. He also brought his Springer Spaniel Bud who joined us on the walk and was extremely well behaved. He was very popular with most of our students who enjoyed talking turns to walk him. 9