Information for Parents and Carers
At John Grant School we are always looking for new ways to include our young people in local and national initiatives.
In 2024 we signed up for Empathy Lab. This is an amazing company which supports schools across the country to deliver and support young people to develop their understanding of Empathy through the reading of quality books.
Empathy Lab - defines empathy as the ability to understand and share other people’s emotions and perspectives.
This can be a really tricky thing to develop for many of our students. Due to their neurodiversity and developmental stage, many young people develop this a slower rate than others or they absolutely do have empathy but show it in a different way.
The school has dedicated 3 weeks a year to work on Empathy Lab. Each Empathy Week has a topic- Diversity, aging, loss, etc. Students take part in activities and read books related to these topics. We encourage external speakers in such as authors, charity representatives and sports people.
The students have gained a huge amount from these opportunities and never fail to surprise us with their engagement and understanding.
Moving forward into Academic year 2026-2027- we will be sending home an information sheet with the dates and topics we will be covering during our empathy weeks. We will include practical and fun activity ideas for you to try at home. If you are able to do any of these at home or any other activities related to the topic, please do let school know. If you can send in pictures or photos too we would love to see them!
Each student in Secondary and FE have an Empathy lab journal. Anything you send in can be added to this too.
If you would like to learn more- please have a look on the Empathy Lab Website- https://empathylab.uk/
Or contact Heidi Alexander Deputy- Headteacher or Hayley Fraser- Literacy and Communication Lead in school.
Child Exploitation and Online Protection Command
CEOP is a command of the UK’s National Crime Agency and is tasked to work both nationally and internationally to bring those involved in the production, distribution and viewing of child abuse material, to the UK courts.
If you would like to know more on the subject or are looking for some advice please click the link below for the Parent Info site.
Norfolk SEND Partnership Update
N.S.P has a tribunal workshop for special educational needs & disabilities for parents wishing to appeal their final Educational Health and Case Plan.
For more details please click the link below for the leaflet.
Norfolk SEND website
A new website has been launched by Norfolk County Council revolving around various aspects of SEND. The site can be reached by clicking here.
Autism-friendly Film Screenings
Did you know that Cinema City in Norwich holds regular autism-friendly screenings of family films?
Autism-friendly screenings are film screenings, especially for people on the autism spectrum and their families, friends and carers. Some people with autism are sensitive to sound and light and they can find going to the cinema difficult.
During Autism-Friendly Screenings lowlights are left on in the auditorium and the volume of the soundtrack is reduced. It is fine for customers to move around, make noise or take a break during the film.
For more info, please visit the website.