News

Jonathan Furness presented at the TES Show in London on the theme of 'Building Self-Esteem through Digital Creativity' to a mixed audience of teachers, SENCOs and headteachers.

Using examples of interesting and creative artefacts created by the students at Stepping Stones School, Jonathan demonstrated how using this approach has shown significant progress in the self-esteem of our students.

Two examples used, included: Sailability film, produced for the local sailing club for children and adults with impairments. Also, Shark Attack animation.

Jonathan used an extract from the book, Painted Bird, and made a connection to how children who are seen to be different have their confidence slowly destroyed by the constant impact of others around them, in much the same way as the painted bird suffers at the beaks of the surrounding birds which peck away until death.

Jonathan showed how a small school can have a worldwide audience looking in and that this contributes to students feeling good about themselves. In fact, Stepping Stones, arguably, has a far greater community involvement than some of the large secondary schools in the UK, using Internet technologies.

Slides from Jonathan's presentation can be viewed from here.

Many of these slides included videos and animations that can't be played from here. Jonathan also used several other resources on his computer, which aren't included in this download.

If you wish to discuss this presentation further, please contact Jonathan on 01428 609083,

or email... jonathan at steppingstones dot org dot uk

HemiHelp is holding a Music Workshop at Stepping Stones School in Surrey on Sunday 21st October 2007

If you'd like to come to the Stepping Stones Music Workshop, please fill in our online form to register your interest. We've also got more workshops planned in Manchester and Cardiff, so check back soon for updates!

HemiHelp has been holding Music Workshops since winter 2006, and they are proving a hit with children and parents alike. "We were given a very accessible introduction to all the main types of instruments by the extremely talented workshop team, and then all participated in putting a performance together that included percussion, voice and wind instruments," said one parent after a workshop.

Read more about what parents and children think about our Music workshops

"The HemiHelp music workshop scheme was set up to encourage children with hemiplegia to take a further interest in music, and to discover that they are able to become involved in musical activities and also able to play musical instruments," says Sally Motley, HemiHelp's Music Workshop Co-ordinator. You can find out more about the workshops involve on our About our music workshops page.

Stepping Stones is a school for children with mild disabilities / hemiplegia, in Surrey.

Our forthcoming Christmas Disco will take place on 15th December 2007. Please contact the school if you are interested in coming along.

Details are below.

Nearly 200 children attended the Stepping Stones Activity Day on Sunday 9th September 2007. Despite the event being later in the year, we were treated to a very warm, sunny day as the photographs from the event will testify.

Activities

The range of activities on offer this year were more varied than ever before. Children as young as 5 were able to choose from:

Take a look at the photographs that were taken on the day, and if you were there on the day, see how many times you can be spotted in a photograph!

The day doesn't happen without the significant contribution of all the helpers, of which there were close to 100 people supporting the event.

Sponsors

Oasis Solutions were the main sponsor, along with many of its additional supporters, many of whom are Oasis clients:

Ace Office Supplies Bob Pheasant Bouville Art Shop Clarity COINS Durable UK Cowans Direct Jacksons Office Base

Office Gold Runnerprint Steelite International Taylor & Co The Burden Group The Wilky Group Total Objects UKOS

Txt message your thoughts on the day...

Several parents commented on the day using our txt messaging to web service... 07811 636738, which is still running today. Please keep messages to no more than 160 characters which is the equivalent of one txt at a time. You can send more than one however!

 

Your txt messages...

 

	I was touched by the effort that so many people gave for the enjoyment of my three children. They loved scuba diving! Thank you all.
	received: 11 September 2007 10:37

	An amazing day that has given us new hope 4 our son max.first time we had been in contact with any other parents of hemiplegic child.it was such a help. A big thank you 2 larry and his team. Alison fiore
	received: 10 September 2007 11:52

	What a fantastic day! Thankyou so much for this day - it was wonderful for georgie not to feel different! Thankyou again julie
	received: 9 September 2007 16:42

 

 

 

NB.

Sending a message to this site is just like sending a message to a friend or relative and therefore so is the cost. Txt messages will be charged at your standard network rate.

Mobile phone numbers are stored by the UltraSMS software, but aren't displayed anywhere on the website and will not be used for any other purpose.

Win an iPod Nano!

Sponsored by OASIS, suppliers of software to the distribution industry.

Download the Competition details

Aim

To prepare a T-shirt design that depicts the Stepping Stones Activity Day and can be
worn by the helpers on the day so they are clearly identifiable. Your designs can be
hand drawn or computer aided, your entry must include both a design and a slogan.
Your design must fit on an A4 sheet and may be in either landscape or portrait format.
You may use a maximum of 3 colours (black counts as a colour).

Prizes

Overall Winner:

• the overall winner’s design will appear on t-shirt worn by all the helpers at the
  Stepping Stones Activity Day on 9th Sept and on the T shirts given out as gifts to all
  the children who attend the day.

• You will be able to choose the colour of the t-shirt from a selection
• You will become the proud owner of an iPod nano !!

All Age Group Winners:

• 1st Prize: £15.00 arts and craft voucher
• 2nd Prize: £10.00 arts and craft voucher
• 3rd Prize: £5.00 arts and craft voucher

All your entries will be displayed in a gallery at the Stepping Stones Activity Day 2007 in the OASIS marquee. All prizes will be donated by OASIS limited www.oasissolutions.co.uk

To Enter

1. The competition is especially for children who have Hemiplegia or cerebral palsy.
2. Entrants must send in completed entry of t-shirt design by post to: Jonathan Furness, Stepping Stones School, Tower Road, Hindhead, Surrey. GU26 6SU or email jonathan@steppingstones.org.uk.
3. Entries can only be accepted with full name, address, date of birth, telephone contact number.
4. Entrants must be under 17 years of age on 9th September 2007.
5. Entrants must have designed the t-shirt themselves.
6. Unlimited entries are permitted but each entry must be accompanied by details of the entrant’s full name, address, date of birth, telephone contact number.
7. Designs that are offensive to any person or group, or that contain any words or graphics that are lewd, or that are inconsistent with, or disparaging will be disqualified.
8. Your entry must not contain any trademark or copyrighted images protected by any third-party.
9. Copyrights and all the other intellectual property rights of the winning entries will be transferred to and owned by the organisers of the Stepping Stones Activity Day, without any further compensation or payment.
10. Entry via post will involve standard postage charges.
11. Competition opens on 1st July 2007 at 0900 and closes: 14th August 2007 at 23:59.

Today was focussed on building digital animations on the theme 'disappear'.

A range of ideas were presented and children had lots of fun experimenting and letting their imagination run wild. Here is just a selection of what children produced on the day:

Animation

Watch Revenge to the Slug. Produced by Ryan (age 13)	Watch Duck and Snail. Produced by Alfie (age 8)
Watch Pikachu Melts a Man. Produced by James, Sam and Thomas. Pikachu Melts a Man (low quality) | Pikachu Melts a Man (higher quality).

Digital Video

A group also completed their digital video work, tasked with the need to produce a film using a single adjective as the stimulus for their work....

Watch Death by Zombies (low quality) | Death by Zombies (higher quality).

Can you guess the word they chose?