Newsletter 8th July 2022

8th July 2022

Dear Parents/Carers

Community goes extra miles for Mill Water

Our wider community rallied together to support Mill Water at the annual Bicton 10k race on Sunday. Organiser LMEvent donated proceeds from the race in return for us providing the marshals; plus our PTFA ran a cake stall and local organisations joined forces to provide support.

Budleigh Salterton Lions Club President Richard Allen said, "We were delighted to be able to help out at this family-friendly fundraising event for Mill Water School. We have supported the school in the past and I am sure that the Lions will do so again in the future. The staff, governors and parents do a wonderful job preparing their children and young people for the future".

In total £250 was raised on the day for extra resources and activities for pupils. Thank you to everyone who donated cakes, volunteered to marshal and provided support.

Devon County Show

Class 8 worked hard to create these brilliant vegetable creatures for the Devon County Show. The boys had a great day.

Kingfisher Award

This term Classes 7 and 10 have been taking part in the Kingfisher Award. As part of the award they have visited Stantyway Farm, Otterton and took part in a number of different activities from grinding wheat to make flour to birdwatching! As part of the award they have been learning about where different foods come from and created a presentation and posters based on what they have learned. Both classes have been working very hard on this and we are proud to announce we won the Highly Commended award! Well done Class 7 and 10!

Amy and Sophie were able to take part in the award ceremony with their family which they thoroughly enjoyed. Apparently Amy led the other schools in a rendition of Happy Birthday which buoyed up the crowd no end.

Music and art workshops

Pupils enjoyed a week of interactive music and art workshops with the Eye Music Trust, thanks to its partnership with Budleigh Music Festival.

They learnt how to compose music using a range of computerised sensors and to perform sound and light displays in response to the colours of their personalised artwork.

The school has enjoyed a close relationship with the music festival, including opportunities for pupils to have a sensory experience in the Colourscape Dome that is on Budleigh Green again this year. Funding for this year’s activity for all pupils has been provided by the Arts Council and Mill Water School PTFA.

It will culminate in a free exhibition of pupils’ work at Budleigh Salterton Public Hall on Sunday 10th July, 11am-4pm. Everyone is invited to attend. There will be a ‘quieter’ time for Mill Water at 11-11.30am, prior to the event being open to the public.

Tesco Visit

The children in Class 5 had a wonderful experience in Tesco in Exmouth during one of their out and about visits. They were invited to select some fruit and eat it in one of the store’s meeting rooms, followed by a behind the scenes tour. Pupils also went shopping for items and had great fun being shown how to work the checkouts and scan items through.

Fiddle and drum show

Last week the whole school was treated to a melodic performance by fiddle and vibraphone players Harriet Riley & Alex Garden. Pupils enjoyed participating in the dynamic and inclusive workshop, which was organised by the charity Live Music Now and kindly funded by Mill Water School PTFA.

Parent Forum

Elaine Letten from the Preparing for Adulthood team is offering some sessions (for parents/carers of pupils in Year 9 and above) to help introduce and find out more about the 'hot topics' in adult social care such as Mental Capacity and Deprivation of Liberty. This will also be an opportunity to ask any questions. The first session is planned for Tuesday 20th September, 1 - 2pm, at Mill Water School. This will be an Introduction to Preparing for Adulthood. Please do attend if you can. The PowerPoint presentation will be available afterwards for those who cannot make it. To confirm your place and for further details, please email: movingon@millwater.devon.sch.uk

Moving on fair

Our recent Moving on Fair was a great success, with 10 providers and nearly 40 parents and carers attending. The opportunity to speak to providers face-to-face, meet other parents and take literature away about different settings was all appreciated in the feedback that we received. One parent expressed, “This fills me with hope that my daughter will go on, following Mill Water, to live a full and independent life.” Thank you to Kathryn Edmonds and Mill Water staff who helped set up this event, which we hope to repeat again.

Help with the cost of living

The Government has now announced ‘cost of living support’. 
Anyone struggling can find out what help and support is available here

Lower-income householders across Devon are invited to apply for free energy efficiency improvements to their homes worth thousands of pounds, thanks to new government funding.