Birch Wood is a very special school with a community focus and a drive to be ambassadors for the wonderful world of special education. We believe in celebrating diversity and difference and enabling all our students to achieve their personal best! This year we are launching the very first Birch Wood 10- a 10 mile walk or run to raise money for our school. With the funds raised we are hoping to upgrade our outdoor play equipment and to refurbish and restock our library. You can support this special first event in 3 ways:

1. Sign up to complete the Birch Wood 10 on September 25th - you can sign up HERE: Birch Wood 10

2. Join us at Family Fun Day being held on the day of the BW10

3. If you can’t take part or be there please sponsor me to complete the course with a mixture of running and walking.

All schools had a very difficult time during the pandemic, but special school communities were hit particularly hard due to the increased vulnerability of the students and the continued need for specialist equipment and staff who became harder to access. Like many special schools Birch Wood remained open for vulnerable students through this difficult time and made extensive efforts to support families in the home however we could. This was largely due to the commitment and dedication of staff and through partnership with our fantastic families. Undoubtedly, everyone was impacted by this pressure and the ongoing concern we all had for how students might decline over time. It was a period of uncertainty and challenge across the country, but in many ways the story of special needs children and young people went unheard. This is why the Birch Wood 10 is important to us, it’s about physically coming together to proactively do something to improve our school for these special young people and to celebrate our community in Melton and beyond, which has been so supportive. It is also a chance to re-charge and refocus on mental and physical wellbeing through exercise. I’m definitely not 10 mile run ready, but it has given me the motivation to refocus on nutrition, strength and exercise. I started running again in June and signed up to ‘The Six Pack Revolution’ – a 75 day nutrition and exercise program on July 11th and it’s been brilliant (hard, but brilliant). I plan to run as much as I can and walk the rest. With every step I will be reflecting on our students, their families and our staff – all of whom remain an inspiration to me through any challenge.