Staff Blog: April
Each month, a member of our team at Perseid contributes to our staff blog, sharing with our community different aspects of the Perseid School experience, ranging from teaching practise, therapies, the importance of enrichment and strategies used every day within the school.
April 2025: Becky Sanderson: My role as Educational Visits Coordinator
As Educational Visits Coordinator for the Upper School, I oversee the wide range of off-site curriculum opportunities for our pupils. This aspect of my role involves lots of exciting parts such as researching different venues, hearing about new opportunities and also lots of logistics such as planning minibus allocations, checking risk assessments and planning staffing.
We have partnerships with many local organisations including sports venues, community sites, libraries and other attractions. We are also members of the Surrey Special School Sports Association (SSSSA) which enables Upper School pupils in particular to access a wide range of age appropriate, authentic sporting opportunities.
Our pupils gain so much from spending time in their local community and further afield. This is such an important part of pupil’s preparation for adulthood, teaching key skills such as using money, accessing public transport and safely exploring new places. Off site visits enhance our curriculum. They are carefully planned to link to themes and topics covered in school and give our pupils further opportunities to explore and embed their learning in other contexts.
We have off-site visits regularly. Below are just a few examples from this year alone.
- KS3 weekly visits for Creative Curriculum
- 6th form weekly visits for Sport and Leisure
- KS4 and 6th form groups go offsite weekly for swimming
- Year 7 access weekly horse riding
- Various other visits throughout the year for drama, music and sport.
This year’s highlights include various medals from sports competitions, including gold for boccia! It is brilliant to see the pupils proudly wearing their Perseid sports kit when representing the school.
We are really looking forward to the community production some of our pupils are currently working on with King’s College School, Wimbledon. This involves weekly visits to King’s and King’s students also coming to Perseid. The pupils all work together to produce a piece of drama which is then performed at the end of term.
