Read the latest Gesher Gazette below! Please click on the link below to view the PDF
Click on the link below to view the latest Gesher Gazette:
Autism Is Not Political – It’s Human
by Danielle Petar – Assistant Headteacher: Inclusion/SENDCo at Gesher
Like many people working in education and in the wider neurodiverse community, I was dismayed to hear recent comments by global political administrations linking autism to the use of Tylenol (paracetamol) during pregnancy. These claims have been strongly refuted by experts across the world.
Over the years, we’ve seen far too many myths about autism and other neurotypes such as ADHD—many of which have thankfully been debunked. But the persistence of misinformation is damaging. It undermines science, years of research, and, most importantly, the tireless work of the autistic community who have fought to break down stereotypes and have their voices heard.
Prominent autistic content creators spoke to Sky News after the claims went viral. Chelsea Webster, founder of The Autism Support Group, warned that such comments risk shifting the narrative around autism—from one of support and understanding to one that promotes fear and avoidance of diagnosis.
This is a dangerous path—one that views autism as something to “cure” or “eradicate.” As Ellie Middleton, autistic author and content creator, powerfully stated:
“I can’t take my autism out of me and have it fixed.”
Her words remind us that being autistic is not separate from who a person is—it’s how they think, feel, and process the world. It’s intrinsic to identity and should be recognised and valued, not “fixed” or “treated.”
This highlights the importance of understanding autism through the voices of those with lived experience. We should amplify autistic voices, not speak over them.
At Gesher, we hold that belief at the heart of everything we do. Our community—students, staff, families, and governors—celebrates the richness of neurodiversity. Every neurotype, whether neurotypical or neurodivergent, brings something valuable to our collective experience.
As part of our ongoing commitment to inclusion, all staff receive regular training throughout the year to deepen their understanding of neurodivergence. This training is delivered by people with lived experience—voices who can speak authentically about their strengths and needs. Whether through listening to our students, colleagues, or guest speakers, we ensure our learning is guided by those who truly know what it means to be neurodivergent.
This work extends to our students too. At Gesher, we support young people to understand who they are, find their voice, and advocate for themselves—first within school, and later as adults in the wider world.
So, what can we all do?
We can listen. We can learn. And we can give young people the tools and space to do the same—to be proud of who they are, to speak up for themselves, and to know we will always be their champions.
Read the latest Gesher Gazette below! Please click on the link below to view the PDF
Click on the link below to view the latest Gesher Gazette:
Pupils excel at this exceptional school.
We are thrilled to announce that Ofsted has for the third time rated us as Outstanding in every area. Inspectors highlighted that “pupils excel at this exceptional school,” acknowledging the highly personalised and holistic support we provide for our students. This achievement is a testament to the incredible dedication of our staff and the hard work of our students, as well as the strong relationships we foster with our parents and the wider community.
The inspectors noted, “the school has developed an ambitious curriculum that expertly meets the varied needs of its pupils.”
We’re proud that the report reflected our Project-Based Learning approach, stating that “most subjects are taught through well-considered projects that engage and excite the pupils”, and noting how our projects “offer real-world contexts and practical experiences, helping our students develop crucial language and communication skills”.
We believe every child deserves an outstanding school experience; a huge thank you goes out to everyone in our community who has supported us on this journey so we can make this happen.
Read the latest Gesher Gazette below! Please click on the link below to view the PDF
Click on the link below to view the latest Gesher Gazette:
Relationships, Belonging and a Network of Joy
Polly Ross
This is a story about a boy, his teacher, a wooden tree and a school full of love and learning. It reminds us that learning can and does happen anywhere and any way in a school when the culture is right.
Our School
Shefford Lower School is a large lower school in Central Bedfordshire with a significant SEND register. We don’t believe in an approach to SEND in which learners should either be in a specialist environment or a mainstream school. So, we have adapted our learning environment and teacher-student relationships to support a wholly inclusive mainstream specialist environment accessible to all young learners in our community.
We further believe that progress can take many different forms and that all children have an entitlement to leave us with every step, however small, recognised, captured and celebrated.
When I was young, my mother gave me a wooden Christmas tree. When I became a headteacher, with an office, I brought it into school where each December it was displayed, decorated and lit. By last summer it was looking tired and I kept reminding myself to throw it away.
Peter’s story (not his real name)
Peter is a young learner who receives a high level of adult support due to his complex needs. These include a significant speech delay, autism, social communication needs and self-care needs.
One day Peter came in because his Teaching Assistant wanted to mention something to me. As he waited, Peter saw the tree gathering dust on the top of a cupboard and gestured that he would like to see it. I had no idea that this would be the beginning of something magical!
Peter decorated this sad little tree, and then returned the next day, then each day, several times a day, beginning to talk as he did it, presenting it joyously to me and showing it to everyone along his way as he proudly walked it around the school en route to show his teacher.
He had found something in the school which brought him (and many others) joy. This tree was subsequently to become a powerful tool in his speech and language development. The creativity flowed and anything and everything became a potential decoration, from a kitchen spoon to flowers from the forest, bringing warmth and amusement to all.
After this had been going on for a month or two, someone suggested keeping the tree in Peter’s classroom as I may sometimes be in meetings,.This was until we realised that walking down to my office and saying hello was an important part of it!
The ritual continued. Peter’s confidence grew and his speech and language seemed to be coming on until one day he came in and said: “Hello Mrs Ross. Can I have the tree please?” A clearly enunciated sentence!
Reciprocal Joy
I started to take photos of this tree my mother had bought me and sent one to her to let her know it was not only still going strong but, in fact, supporting a child with additional needs to thoroughly enjoy his experience of school. My mother responded, telling me how beautiful it was, and so it continued. He would decorate a tree, show it to all around the school who would smile, share it with me and it would also make my mother’s day!
Just before his annual review I sent all the photos to his teaching assistant to share with his family at the meeting, following which she sent this reply:
Oh Polly, thank you for these pictures, they are really great. I will print them off for his review next week. He makes my day and fills it with joy every day–whether it’s through watching him carefully decorating his (your) beloved tree, some work he has done, learning he has remembered, or new vocabulary he has said to me. 🙂 Thank you for always being so supportive and welcoming when we come to see you. Helen
Educational Reflections
We realised, of course, that this had also been an exercise in relationships and belonging; Peter’s relationship with the TA and the pride she took in working with him and watching him grow. This, allied to the knowledge she developed about his interests through safe talk, had supported him to be successful. It has also facilitated relationships with other pupils and adults – and with me through his friendly visit each day.
This story is also about joy, which all learning should bring: the joy Peter brought to those around him in walking his tree through school; or that his TA gets from working creatively alongside him and making a difference; or that he brought to my office and many a meeting held there – and even the joy he brought to the lady, a retired art teacher, who had once given her daughter a small wooden tree.
Polly Ross is Headteacher at Shefford Lower School in Bedfordshire.
Professional Prompts
- In the ‘Welcome’ editorial, we said that relationships and belonging would be two of the sub-themes of this How does Polly Ross’s piece illustrate these themes?
- What are ways that students’ beliefs, interests and passions can be incorporated into the school context?
- How can school leaders be more engaged and connected to students on a regular basis?
Read the latest Gesher Gazette below! Please click on the link below to view the PDF.
Click on the link below to view the latest Gesher Gazette:
Jewish Studies Role – Teacher or TA to Teaching Route
(KS2/KS3 teaching/support within a creative and amended curriculum)
Part-time with flexible working hours
Required for: ASAP
Working Days: Monday- Friday
Pay is based on experience: MPS for qualified teachers, UQT for unqualified teachers and TA salary based on roles and responsibilities.
Gesher School is a unique all-through school that provides a specialist, meaningful, and functional learning environment for young people with special educational needs. These needs include language, communication, and social-pragmatic difficulties. We specialise in autism spectrum challenges (ASC).
Young people are at the heart of Gesher School, where we foster a sense of belonging and community. Our school offers a happy, safe, friendly, and stimulating environment in which young people are supported to learn, interact and have fun. We believe that all young people have the potential to achieve, but that every child is individual and requires a tailored, young person-centred approach to learning.
The Gesher approach is warm, friendly, and nurturing. Emotional health and resilience, as well as developing young people’s independence and learning, are at the core of our vision.
To deliver and achieve these outcomes, we want to add a confident, enthusiastic and highly motivated Jewish Studies KS2/KS3 educator to join our expanding team at Gesher as a teacher and/or teaching support. This post would suit a passionate, dynamic and adaptable individual who ideally has experience teaching and leading within a SEND environment.
This post would suit someone passionate about creating meaningful personalised learning that meets all individual needs and interests. The right candidate would be open to working within a transdisciplinary team, including teachers, therapists, teaching assistants, parents, and carers.
It would be desirable for the candidate to have experience designing/delivering interactive learning opportunities that focus on engaging students and connecting them with their faith. In addition, the candidate would need to be an upstanding role model of positive morals and values to help the students build confidence in their sense of self and become builders of meaningful relationships.
This position offers fantastic opportunities to develop your skills as a practitioner within an innovative, supportive and collaborative team environment.
We can offer you the following:
- Paid half day Friday closure in the winter months
- 12 weeks paid holidays plus paid extra Jewish holidays throughout the year
- Monthly well-being events and inset days
- Additional days off awarded following long service
- Protected time for planning and preparation
- Regular social opportunities
- A Competitive salary
You will be a fully integrated and integral member of the whole school team. See us in action here: https://vimeo.com/407682934/a9a6af1bc8 and http://gesherschool.com
Being part of our learning community, you will be able to use your creativity and shape the way our school provides excellent learning opportunities for our young people.
For further information, please visit www.gesherschool.com.
Please email [email protected] for an application form and any further information.
Interviews will be organised on a rolling basis. This ad may be withdrawn if a suitable candidate is identified.
Diversity is a core value of Gesher School. We believe the power of diversity enriches all of us by exposing us to a range of ways to understand and engage with the world, identify challenges, and to discover, design and deliver solutions. As such, we actively encourage people from a variety of backgrounds to apply for roles at our school.
Gesher School is committed to safeguarding young people and staff. Successful candidates will be subject to an enhanced DBS check.
The Post Holder Will:
- be passionate and secure in their Jewish knowledge and confident with differentiating and personalising Jewish learning
- be comfortable supporting or developing skills to plan and deliver high quality hands on learning within a supportive team environment
- be comfortable with reading, writing, speaking and teaching basic Hebrew
- be a proven, successful team player with excellent motivational and interpersonal skills
Main Areas of Duties and Responsibilities
- To work within a team to deliver high quality Jewish Studies learning across KS2 & KS3
- To promote the Jewish ethos, values and middot throughout the school and be a personal and professional role model for our students
- Planning and supporting the implementation of Enrichment Days (school celebration of festivals), Tefillah throughout the school day and Shabbat/Havdallah/Chagim assemblies
- To support children with their Hebrew Reading.
- To work alongside the teaching and learning team to accelerate pupil progress and raise attainment
- To support teachers with building cross curricular links, embedding Jewish learning within the projects.
- To support the implementation of the B’nei Mitzvah program at Gesher.
- To engage in performance management and attend training and meetings as part of professional development.
- To keep informed of the latest Jewish Education trends and implement appropriate strategies/schemes through training staff.
- To develop established and new partnerships beyond the school to support curriculum learning and development within the Jewish Community.
- To liaise with parents and support them in their child’s Jewish education
- To carry out responsibilities/duties with regard to Equal Opportunities, Safeguarding and Health and Safety Policies.
For further information, please visit www.gesherschool.com.
To apply, please complete an application form that can be found here: https://gesherschool.com/about-us/join-our-team/.
Please, complete and return your application to [email protected]. CVs will not be accepted.
Interviews will be organised on a rolling basis. This ad may be withdrawn as a suitable candidate is identified.
Diversity is a core value of Gesher School. We believe the power of diversity enriches all of us by exposing us to a range of ways to understand and engage with the world, identify challenges, and to discover, design and deliver solutions. As such, we actively encourage people from a variety of backgrounds to apply for roles at our school.
Gesher School is committed to safeguarding young people and staff. Successful candidates will be subject to an enhanced DBS check.
This summer term, Gefen and Rimon worked on an exciting project about minibeasts, a topic that has a real-world impact! We looked at different minibeasts, studied their life cycles and other interesting facts about them. This topic had a strong science focus, including venturing into our field area at school and the park to investigate the minibeast habitats and classifications. We will looked at how important it is to look after minibeasts which links to our big question ‘How can we protect and support minibeasts in our local environment?’ During the second part of our project, we presented our scientific knowledge about minibeasts by creating presentations and then acting as scientists to either present live or on video for our exhibition at the end of the term. This supported our speaking and listening skills.
Teacher’s Reflections
“I think this project went really well. The pupils in my class have created some truly incredible work. For instance, their insect posters are amazing, and I am so proud of their draft and critique process to create truly outstanding pieces of work. The most challenging part of the project was trying to collect data about the different types of insects we saw. Roxbourne Park is hard to find insects in, and I think that collecting data might have been a secondary focus instead of a primary one, and therefore, I wouldn’t do it again.”
– Kathlenn McEnallay
Students’ Reflections
“I like seeing the butterflies” – Eli F
“I learnt about life cycles of minibeasts” – Eli C
“ I enjoyed the seed planting” – K
This summer, students explored how art can reflect and reshape communities by studying the concept of negative and positive communities across English and the arts. Through novel studies, they analysed the features of disconnected or struggling communities and wrote powerful descriptions to capture their atmosphere. They also looked at how different forms of artistic expression—such as murals, poetry, and protest art—can bring people together and inspire change. Their final pieces combined writing and visual art to showcase how creativity can be a force for unity, empathy, and hope.
Teacher’s Reflections
“This project has been a real highlight of the term, offering our students a meaningful way to explore complex social themes through both creative writing and visual art. One of the most rewarding aspects was seeing how confidently they engaged with the concept of community, especially their ability to reflect on what makes a place feel united or divided. Their descriptive writing showed real growth in vocabulary and empathy, and their final art pieces were powerful and personal. The feedback from the summer fete, where we displayed and sold some of the studentsʼ work, was overwhelmingly positive. Many visitors commented on how thought-provoking and beautiful the pieces were. In hindsight, we would have loved to expand the sale beyond just the fete, perhaps through an online platform or gallery-style exhibition, to give students an even wider audience. Overall, the project successfully blended literacy, creativity, and real-world themes in a way that truly resonated with our students and the community around them.”
– Aymane Hamidi
Students’ Reflections
“Learning new things like the difference between a thriving community and a depleting community” – Aaron
“My highlight was making my artwork with lots of skulls. My skull artwork was really fun to make” – Gavriel
“The project taught me about art communities, and being a part of a community that you work in” – Bobbie
