Rathore School

20/10/2026

📚✨ Book Week is underway at Rathore School! ✨📚

Our Book Week celebrations kicked off yesterday with a wonderful storytelling session led by John from EA Library Services, who shared his passion for literacy, books and the magic of storytelling with our pupils! 📖❤️

In today’s increasingly digital world, it was lovely to see the power of a good story bringing children together, creating opportunities for connection, communication and engagement.

A huge thank you to John for bringing stories to life and to Miss Davidson, our Curriculum Leader for Language and Literacy, for organising this lovely experience.

📚 Celebrating the joy of books and the power of storytelling!

20/10/2026

💻 FREE Online Parent Talks – Kids Coder Club

Want to better understand your child’s digital world? Kids Coder Club is offering two FREE online talks for parents covering:

🌐 Online safety, digital wellbeing & healthy technology habits
💻 Coding, ICT, AI & future digital skills

📅 Wednesday 21 October – 7.30pm & 8.30pm
📅 Saturday 24 October – 11.00am & 12.00pm

A great opportunity for parents and carers to learn more about supporting children in an increasingly digital world.

👉 Register for the free talks

20/10/2026

📚 Book Week | AAC Awareness Month 💬

A powerful read that challenges us to think differently about communication.

This week, we’re recommending Ido in Autismland: Climbing Out of Autism’s Silent Prison by Ido Kedar to our staff, families and friends.

Written by a young nonspeaking autistic person, this remarkable memoir shares Ido’s experiences of growing up with his understanding and abilities often underestimated because he could not communicate through speech.

Through his journey towards communicating using a letterboard and technology, Ido reminds us of something incredibly important:

💙 Not being able to speak does not mean having nothing to say.

A thought-provoking read that reinforces the importance of AAC, presuming competence and ensuring every young person has a voice.

📖 Available to purchase on Amazon.

19/10/2026

CASH FOR CLOBBER – MAKING A DIFFERENCE! 💚👏

Our School Council have been busy organising our Cash for Clobber initiative, and what a fantastic success it has been! 🌟

A huge amount of unwanted clothing and textiles has been collected, raising valuable funds for our school. These funds will go towards purchasing resources and equipment to enhance our pupils’ teaching and learning experiences. 📚✨

19/10/2026

💛 Parenting Week 2026 💛

📅 Monday 19 – Friday 23 October

This week we are celebrating all of our amazing parents and carers and recognising everything you do each and every day to support, encourage and care for your children. 🌟

Parenting can bring wonderful moments as well as challenges and Parenting Week is also a chance to highlight the support, resources and connections available to families.

Parentline NI has put together a range of activities and resources for the week. You can explore the Parenting Week Guide below.

From everyone at Rathore School, a huge thank you to all our parents and carers for the partnership, commitment and support you give throughout the year. 💙💛

We’re on the countdown to Parenting Week 2026!

📅Monday 19 – Friday 23 October
There's a host of events and activities from groups and organisations, celebrating and supporting parents and carers and helping to make connections.

Check out our Parenting Week Guide to see what’s happening each day https://buff.ly/0mLyaPj

19/10/2026

🤟 Makaton Sign of the Week – THANK YOU! 🤟

This week at Rathore School, our Makaton sign is “Thank You”. 💙

Why not practise it at home together?

🏠 Try using the sign when:

Someone gives you something 🎁
Someone helps you 🤝
At mealtimes 🍽️
Someone does something kind 💕
Saying “thank you” at the end of the day 🌟

Encourage your child to use the sign alongside the spoken words “thank you” whenever possible.

Little opportunities to practise throughout the day can help make communication part of everyday routines. 💬🤟

16/10/2026

🌟 A Wonderful Start to Our Play Link Partnership! 🌟

This week we were delighted to welcome pupils and staff from Windsor Hill Primary School to Rathore School for the very first session of our exciting Play Link partnership! 💚💛

Our pupils had a fantastic time meeting new friends and playing together in a welcoming and supportive environment. The session was a wonderful opportunity to develop communication and collaboration skills, build confidence and begin forming new friendships through the power of play. 🧩🤝

A huge thank you to everyone from Windsor Hill Primary School for joining us and helping to make our first session such a positive and memorable experience! 🥰

This is just the beginning and we look forward to many more opportunities to learn, play and grow together in the coming weeks. 🌈✨

Here’s to new friendships, shared experiences and lots more fun ahead! 💚💛

16/10/2026

🎃👻 Rathore School Halloween Hooley! 👻🎃

🧙‍♀️🕷️ Get ready for a spooktacular day at Rathore School! 🕷️🧙‍♂️

📅 Friday 23rd October

We’re looking forward to celebrating Halloween with lots of fun and spooky smiles!

Fancy dress is welcome! 🎃

Children are invited to dress up in their favourite Halloween costumes for the day. However, we completely understand that not everyone feels comfortable dressing up, so children are equally welcome to come in their school uniform or their own clothes. The most important thing is that everyone feels happy and comfortable! 🧡

🐾 Supporting a wonderful cause 🐾
As part of our Halloween celebrations, we would welcome a £1 voluntary contribution in support of our chosen Charity of the Year, Assistance Dogs NI. 💛 Every contribution is greatly appreciated and will help support this fantastic charity.

We can’t wait to see everyone’s Halloween outfits and enjoy a fang-tastic day together! 🐕🎃👻

15/10/2026

🌟 Staff Training – Celebrating Our Amazing Teaching Assistants! 🌟

This evening, we had the pleasure of coming together for a fantastic staff training session dedicated to our wonderful teaching assistants! 💙

What made this session particularly special was that it was planned and delivered by members of our very own teaching assistant team, sharing their knowledge, skills and experience with colleagues. It was a wonderful opportunity to learn from one another and celebrate the expertise within our own team. 👏

Our workshops covered:
✨ The Role of the ASEN Teaching Assistant
💙 Medical Needs and Intimate Care Procedures
🤝 An Introduction to Makaton

A huge thank you to Jackie, Tracey, Alison, Helen, Deirdre, Nuala and Danielle for the time, thought and dedication you put into planning and delivering such fantastic workshops. Your knowledge, enthusiasm and commitment to supporting both our staff and our young people shone through! 🌟

We are incredibly fortunate to have such a dedicated team who continually strive to learn, grow and provide the very best support for our children and young people.

Thank you all for sharing your expertise and making this evening such a valuable and inspiring learning experience! 💙👏