Staff and students at Weston’s Hans Price Academy (HPA) dressed in yellow to raise awareness of a charity which helps young people look after their mental health.

Hello Yellow is an event staged on World Mental Health Day, and is organised by Young Minds, the UK’s leading charity fighting for children and young people’s mental health.

The charity is working to create a world where no young person feels alone with their mental health, and all young people get the mental health support they need, when they need it, no matter what.

The team at Hans Price embraced the event by inviting staff and students to dress up and have fun with a yellow photo booth set up for the day to support the cause. They also had the opportunity to engage with the serious meaning behind the event, and encouraged and start having conversations about mental health.

Hans Price staff have also been focusing on support students’ mental health during Learning Family activities, while students also attended a themed assembly.

Special Educational Needs Coordinator Kerry Mullinder organised the Hans Price event. She said: “The staff at Hans Price are passionate about raising awareness for mental health and have a number of provisions and interventions to support their students.

Staff, students, and Friends of King’s Oak Academy took on a monumental week of gruelling physical challenges to raise money towards a long-desired school minibus

The King’s Oak Academy Active Challenge week saw staff and students take to an exercise bike to complete the equivalent of the 837-mile Land’s End to John O’Groats route, before hitting a rowing machine to complete the 220-mile length of the River Severn. They also used a treadmill to cover the 71 miles they would have to travel to visit all sister schools within the Cabot Learning Federation.

By hitting the 1,250-mile total, the King’s Oak team raised an amazing £1,890 – nearly double their original £1,000 target.

After school on Friday, the Friends of King’s Oak held the Active Challenge Finale in the school canteen and offered students the chance to take part in more fundraising activities. They included hook a duck, topple a teacher and lucky dip, while there was also a tuck shop that served hot and cold drinks and much more.

In total, £3,905 was raised from the whole day of fundraising at the Kingswood school.

This has now been added to other fundraising efforts – and support from local businesses, including Pam James Consultancy which donated £1,000 – to enable the school to order a new minibus.

Katherine Ogden, Principal of King’s Oak Academy, said: “Following the pandemic, we have been working hard to ensure that our children are able get out and go on trips or participate in wider enrichment activities. This is because we know these opportunities are crucial to deepening the learning experiences and help to create lifelong memories for children as they progress through their time in education.

“The Active Challenge fundraising event was a remarkable team effort from the Friends of King’s Oak (PTA), our children and staff who worked together to accrue some impressive distances on the treadmill, rowing machines and bicycle whilst also raising money to help us order a new minibus so we can continue to organise these important enrichment activities for our children in 2024.

“Thank you very much to everyone who has supported us throughout our fundraising efforts. It has been heartwarming to see how well our school, parents and residents work together to support the children in our community.”

The highly-respected Royal Navy and Royal Marines outreach team visited King’s Oak Academy recently to work with pupils and students on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) activities.

This week-long project saw 350 students from the Kingswood school’s Years 6, 7 and 8 spending time with the Navy and Marines, who sent four different personnel each day.

Students were given numerous tasks throughout the week that included building telecoms structures out of giant Lego and designing, creating and launching rockets made out of classroom materials.

Pupils also had the chance for a Q&A session with the team, where they also heard about the important humanitarian work the Navy and Marines carry out across the world.

Chris Nathan, Head of Year Seven and organiser of the visit, said: “It has been brilliant seeing our students complete such a wide range of STEM challenges and explore potential career pathways for the future. I would like to thank the Royal Navy and Royal Marines for taking the time to visit us here at King’s Oak Academy.”

Fireworks and a dance parade were among the highlights of a packed day of celebrations to mark the 10^th anniversary of Wallscourt Farm Academy (WFA).

More than 400 students from the present and past joined a packed day of celebrations at the Bristol school to commemorate the landmark.

The day began with a cake baking competition, in which pupils had to design and make cakes that celebrated the academy’s 10^th anniversary. The competition was fierce, and the judges had the very difficult decision to judge the winners. Later that day the cakes were sold to raise funds for the Friends of Wallscourt Family, who will invest the money back into the academy.

In the afternoon, all pupils staged a parade for families which included a dance routine and live samba drumming. Pupils created a magical sight for spectators by dressing in their house colours and wearing eye-catching headdresses.

The day ended with the main event, with academy staff and students being joined by families and the local community for an action-packed celebration. The event included a helter skelter slide, bungee trampolines, food, face paints, and henna painting. A memorable and remarkable day of festivities was rounded off by a spectacular firework display.

Charlotte Black, Principal of Wallscourt Farm Academy, said: “It has been a truly wonderful day of celebrations.

“Our learners and teaching teams have been busily preparing for the parade over the last few weeks. They wanted to showcase everything that makes WFA great: rights and responsibilities, 21^st century learning skills, future leaders and one learning community.

“The parents and learners have been buzzing about the day. The parade and the fireworks were our absolute highlights, but of course our learners stole the show.  Here’s to another 10 years!”

Extra pupil capacity has been added to specialist school The Sky Academy in Taunton after a £4.9million expansion was formally opened.

Invited guests from Somerset Council, academy staff and governors, and representatives of the school’s parent trust Cabot Learning Federation attended a cake-cutting ceremony to unveil the extension this week.

The state-of-the-art building includes six new classrooms, breakout rooms, a science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) room, kitchenettes, and an activity space.

This expansion has enabled The Sky Academy to take pupils from years 5 and 6 and help increase their chance of long-term success beyond education.

Work on the project – funded by Somerset Council and carried out by Willmott Dixon – has taken two years and has been carefully planned to have the maximum positive impact on pupils’ learning.

This is important for The Sky Academy, which is a specialist school for boys with social, emotional and mental health (SEMH) needs and speech, language and communication needs (SLCN).

It is currently the only school offering this specialism within the local area – as a result, its pupils attend from a wide catchment area.

The project also saw contractor Willmott Dixon work with students to teach them construction skills like bricklaying. Students took to the task so well, Wilmott Dixon later offered one of the Sky Academy students an apprenticeship at another local site, the Digital Innovation Centre in Taunton.

Speaking at the opening of the new block, The Sky Academy’s Headteacher Bex Jones told guests the expansion reflects a commitment by all parties to ensuring the right specialist provision is available for children with SEND within the communities that they live.

Bex Jones, Headteacher at Sky Academy, said: “We are very proud to be at the heart of Somerset’s SEND improvement strategy for young people with SEMH needs. This new facility has further enabled us to provide the aspirational challenge, nurture and education that Sky has become known for – championing the success and life chances of all children.

“We look forward to the next stage of this collaborative journey, alongside other schools within the Cabot Learning Federation Somerset hub.”

Councillor Tessa Munt, Executive Lead Member for Children and Families, said “At Somerset Council, we are committed to providing equal learning opportunities to all young people. It is fantastic to see this important project completed, ensuring even more children in Somerset can benefit from a specialist learning environment close to home.”

What began as a learning process for a Weston-super-Mare mother and daughter has turned into a YouTube channel with more than 11,000 subscribers and inspired a book dedication by author Dame Jacqueline Wilson.

Nikki Holt’s daughter Lucinda was born with Down syndrome, which meant she had difficulty communicating with her mum during her early years.

This prompted Nikki to learn Makaton, a unique language programme that uses symbols, signs, and speech to enable people to communicate. It supports the development of essential communication skills such as attention and listening, comprehension, memory, recall and organisation of language and expression.

The connection it enabled her to build with Lucinda – now aged nine and thriving at Uphill Village Academy in Weston – inspired her to grow her skills, and she now teaches Makaton across schools in the area.

Nikki went on to launch YouTube channel Makaton With Lucinda, where the mother and daughter duo began by filming a word and sign of the day. Initially it was for fun – but its popularity quickly grew. The channel has now exceeded all expectations, with in excess of 11,000 subscribers.

Among them is renowned author Dame Jacqueline Wilson, who used the channel to research Makaton for her latest book The Best Sleepover In The World. Not only did Jacqueline draw inspiration from Nikki and Lucinda, but she also dedicated the book to them.

Nikki clearly recalls her early efforts to communicate with Lucinda, and the joy of the initial breakthrough using Makaton signs.

She said: “Communication with Lucinda was hard. I knew as soon as Lucinda was born that communication was something that she was going to find difficult and something that she was going to need extra support with. I was determined from the start that I would help her as much as I could, I didn’t want her to struggle.

“Lucinda is a visual learner; it is one of her strengths. So, with signs and symbols being visual – and using them alongside speech – it was the perfect combination for her natural learning style.

“The joy when Makaton opened the door! I had been signing with Lucinda for a long time before she actually signed back. The first time she did, I nearly burst with excitement! She was in the kitchen with me, sat in her little chair watching me cook dinner. I gave her a slice of cheese to keep her going while I was cooking – and she looked up at me with her beautiful big blue eyes and signed ‘more’!

“First of all, I wasn’t sure if she had – her early signs were quite subtle and easy to miss. I asked her for clarification, and she did it again! I gave her another slice of cheese, and there it was again! More! And again! And again! I think she probably ate close to a block of cheese that evening, and I was absolutely ecstatic!

“As soon as she realised that by doing these little signs with her hands, she was being understood, it was like a little light switch. All those signs I had been doing with her she had been taking in like a little sponge. Her communication exploded from that day on. Her speech gradually came along too and now is fantastic – and this is thanks to Makaton.

“Lucinda and I have always been really in tune with each other, and our bond is really something very special – and even more so since seeing her going through heart surgery – however, I do feel that Makaton has really given us some lovely bonding moments together, sat snuggled up on the sofa watching Singing Hands DVDs, signing songs and stories together. These are all really precious moments to share together for us.”

The joy of those early signing exchanges led Nikki and Lucinda to grow their use of Makaton, before opting to share their experiences – and tips for others – via a new YouTube channel.

Nikki continued: “We started our channel when Lucinda was about four. Having seen firsthand the difference Makaton can make, I was really keen to do something to raise awareness and spread the word. So we began recording ourselves doing a sign and putting them on our social media pages and YouTube.

“She has always loved doing them and I love watching some of our earlier vids and seeing how much her signing, her speech and her confidence has blossomed.

“Her little personality just shines through the clips, and she loves watching them back too. I have received some lovely messages over the years – things like parents saying their child signed for the very first time while watching Lucinda, to schoolteachers getting in touch saying they put our signing videos up on a screen in class or assembly and everyone signs along with us.

“When I started doing these videos I thought a few people may watch them on their mobile phones and have a go – I didn’t ever think we would be on a big screen in a school assembly. I am now a Makaton tutor teaching in schools, preschools, charities, organisations, and it is all inspired by my girl.”

And the surprises did not end there. Children’s novelist Dame Jacqueline Wilson – renowned for creating characters like Cookie and Tracy Beaker – reached out to Nikki with some unexpected news.

Nikki said: “My first contact was an email out of the blue from someone called Lizz who said she works with Jacqueline Wilson on the PR for her children’s books. This email explained that Jacqueline Wilson had a new book out called The Best Sleepover In The World and that she had dedicated it to Lucinda and I – OMG!

“The email explained the book had a character in it who was non-verbal and was a Makaton-user. She said that Jacqueline Wilson had wanted to do some research into Makaton for developing this character and had used our channel to do this.

“This email totally blew me away – a book dedicated to my girl! I am so, so proud of Lucinda; she is literally changing the world. To have a dedication in a book like this is beyond anything I could imagine, and to have Makaton out there in a mainstream book is just amazing.

“I later that day found a Netmums podcast where Jacqueline was being interviewed, and she actually named me and Lucinda. She actually said that she was ‘besotted with Lucinda’.

“The most beautiful thing is Lucinda has no idea how amazing she is, or what she has achieved and inspired. She just carries on sparkling and shining like the amazing little thing she is, and literally has no idea. I hope when she is older, she will understand what she has achieved and feel super proud. I know without a single doubt in this world that I am proud of her – I could pop! She inspires everything I do, and I have found my dream job because of her.”

Author Dame Jacqueline Wilson says Nikki and Lucinda’s videos were a big inspiration for a character in her new book.

Dame Jacqueline Wilson said: “I’ve recently written a book called The Best Sleepover In the World about two sisters, Daisy and Lily, who are determined to make their sleepover the best ever. Lily is non-verbal and uses a wheelchair, but now she’s learned Makaton at her new school she can communicate brilliantly, make jokes, and help her sister get the better of a nasty girl who’s plaguing her.

“I obviously had to learn a little Makaton myself and discovered the brilliant ‘Makaton with Lucinda’ videos on YouTube.

“I adore Lucinda and her lovely mum Nikki. They’ve taught me so much – and every single time I watch a quick clip I cheer myself up. All power to them – and the fantastic Uphill Village Academy and the Cabot Learning Federation.”