Hazel Class

Welcome to the Pink Class page

Pink Class is a Secondary Sensory Class which focuses on academic learning as well as life skills activities. We have seven children ranging from Year 8 to Year 11. Alongside our curricular learning, we have lots of opportunities to take part in developing our Social Communication skills and our turn-taking abilities. We do a lot of activities around the preparation for adulthood with our pupils to ensure that they are the best prepared they can be for life after The Mendip School.

This year Pink Class are starting their academic qualifications in English, Maths and Science. The pupils also have one Options session a week in which they can choose to either take part in Animal Care, Hospitality, Gardening or the Duke of Edinburgh Award.

Every day, we have Class cafe, we pay for and make our own snacks, usually toast and fruit. We also watch Newsround every day and enjoy discussing the various topics in the news.

Our Staff

Heather Wright

I am the class teacher in Indigo Class. I have worked at the Mendip School for 5 years and before that a long time as a mainstream Primary teacher.  I enjoy walking my 2 dogs in our beautiful countryside, paddle boarding, travelling and gardening

Irena Berzina

I have worked at The Mendip School for 7 years.  I enjoy gardening at home and with our students.

Summer term 1 – Learning Overview 

Summer term 2 – Learning overview

English – Writing for a purpose – trips and visits 

Numeracy – Money, time, calendars, and timetables 

Science – Physics – Energy stores, transfers, and waste 

ICT  – Multimedia presentations and online safety 

Humanities – My place in the world – map skills 

Art – Craft Learning how to form plans using mood boards. Introduce new textile techniques like tie-dye, weaving, fabric design. Emphasis on colour theory and pattern. Experiment with materials. 

Food and Nutrition – Picnic Favourites 

PSHE – Changing and Growing , Sex Ed 

PE – Athletics 

Autumn Term 1

We have had a busy first half!  We have been finding out about each other and it has been great to see new friendships forming. We enjoy a variety of sensory activities every day including sensory circuits and we have got flexible seating to help us move and regulate. We have been focusing on place value and addition in Maths, we are becoming far more independent and resilient with our work.  We pay for items in our class café every day and we are starting to develop our understanding of the value of money.

In Topic we have learnt about Evacuation, Rationing and The Blitz during World War 2, we enjoyed creating Blitz pictures that are displayed outside of our classroom. We have been out and about on the minibus to Tesco, parks and walks and we are looking forward to Cycling at Odd Down again.

Spring Term 2

This half term started with Book Day, we had so much fun visiting different classrooms, we made potions, found ‘Where’s Wally,’ played pranks like ‘Dennis the Menace,’ Made ‘Harry Potter’ spells and lots more!  We have enjoyed lots of trips out visiting Rodmore Farm Milk Parlour, Shepton Mallet Library, Tesco, Charity Shops, Odd Down Cycle Track and walks in the beautiful countryside.  We have been thinking about future possible jobs that we might like to try and we’ve been gaining work experience in the school café.  In Maths we have been working on money and we’re getting very good at finding the cheapest items in Tesco!  We’ve been typing letters and learning about the different features in Microsoft Word in English and ICT.

Spring Term 2022 

This half term we have been researching different leisure activities that are available in our local area, via the internet, and exploring the features of leaflets and posters that give us information.  We have learnt about how to use persuasive language to present our ideas to the class.  We were then able to vote if we agreed or disagreed.

In Maths we have been practising our multiplication facts, we have been using multiplication to solve real life problems.  In Science we have been learning about different forces and we have been investigating forces through lots of practical investigations.

We really enjoy cooking and we have been focusing on using the hob, we have made mashed potato, pasta and sauce and Omelettes.  We are getting very good at peeling and slicing vegetables.  We’re very lucky to have a life skills room at school and we have focused on hoovering, mopping and changing a duvet.  We are hoping that our students are showing off their skills at home too!  We have visited Tesco to buy our cookery ingredients and local charity shops to find more games and jigsaws for the classroom.

One of our favourite activities this half term has been trampolining!

Some recent photos

Autumn Term 

We started the term with lots of fun, sensory games and activities to get to know each other!  Our topic focus was The Stone Age, and we enjoyed reading a variety of fiction and non-fiction texts to gather more information. We painted on cave walls under our desks and made Stone Age weapons.

We have learnt about the structure of letters and we posted letters to our friends in the class.

We enjoyed getting out on a variety of autumnal walks (especially ones that involved water and mud!).

On a Friday we have an ‘Options’ session where we can choose if we would like to take part in ‘The Duke of Edinburgh Award’, Manufacturing, Expressive Arts, Football or Animal Care.  In Manufacturing we have made coasters and 3D nets, it has been very exciting using all of the big machines.  In Duke of Edinburgh, we have been completing our volunteering, and we have been participating in a lot of litter picking in the local community.