Wow, the weeks are blending into each other! There is so much going on here at Dean Street in both Key Stages. Last week we saw Luke Ambler speaking to staff and students in our Activ8 Groups. Mr Greenway does amazing work in our Group running Andy’s Man’s Club. Mrs Tootill and I supported this cause on World Suicide Awareness Day along with Mr Tootill and other supporters..
Mr Greenway, continue the great work for this great cause; we hope that in the future our students at Spring Brook can also benefit from this support. A big thank you to Mr Greenway for his dedication, he goes above and beyond with this work – you will always be supported by our Spring Brook family.
The last few weeks have been as busy as ever with lots of fun learning happening here at Spring Brook Academy. The Nurture Group have been working very hard, well done boys!
The boys have tried really hard this week to work together as a team. On Tuesday mornings we are visiting Hollinwood Academy’s soft play area. This week all the children had a great time, as did Miss Headland, our class TA..
The group have been looking at the population of different countries in Asia during their Humanities lesson, with the boys looking for unusual facts. In Maths the boys have looked at rounding numbers and are accessing the AQA Maths scheme and the group have used Interlock blocks to solve Maths addition problems. They also made a tarsia puzzle using addition problems, with all of them producing a great piece of work..
In our Living Skills lesson the boys wrote instructions for how to make a cup of tea….these were then followed with some unusual results. They realised after we had made their drinks how important it is to make sure that instructions are clear!
James wanted to put the milk in the cup..
Harry couldn’t decide which spoon to use..
Harvey only used warm water and forgot to stir it..
Levi wanted to add the whole bag of sugar..
Leo must make his own brews at home!
During the Food Tech lesson the boys made spaghetti bolognaise and they tried hard to work independently following instructions from staff. Each of the boys made a tasty dish to take home..
They worked well as a team at the end of the lesson, washing up and tidying the kitchen..
This week the boys have designed their own pizzas and made them following the recipe and with the help from staff. All of them couldn’t wait to eat them!
In Science the Nurture Group have been looking at the senses this half term, with the boys each making a model of an eye and answering questions in their books..
In Maths the group have used Interlock cubes to subtract numbers, with some of the group moving on to use decimal places in addition and subtraction..
In English the boys wrote stories using a description of a character and have continued reading the book ‘Holes’. The group watched the film and now want to read more often.
The boys have finished their picture frames using Hama beads and added their own photograph before taking them home..
In Food Tech the boys made flapjacks following the recipe, they worked independently for most of the time producing great results..
Thanks boys for a great week!
Well done Key Stage 3 Nurture Group – those pizzas and spaghetti bolognaise looked yummy (not to mention the flapjacks!)
Mr Mullin’s class have also been busy at work….
An incredibly busy week for SBA3 and our budding journalists. As promised (and just in time to be sent to print) the boys have produced an excellent set of newspaper articles based on our Norman topic. They have worked exceptionally hard, not only in producing an initial draft but also showing a level of commitment, desire and skill in editing their articles throughout the week. The task has also helped develop their typing and computing skills. I am sure you will agree that the boys could easily fill the void left by the unfortunate closure of the Oldham Chronicle.
Well done class, you should be proud of yourselves!
The boys have given me permission to publish their work on this blog – thanks, boys. Let’s read these fantastic articles from reporters Lee..
..Wayne.. 
..and Lewis..
Our award winning journalists!
Elsewhere across the curriculum, we have discussed whether it is possible to be happy forever. This led to a wonderfully open and honest debate, with the class offering a high level of maturity and exploring not just happiness but a wide range of emotions.
In Geography the class have been brushing up on their independent research skills using a computer to identify the endings of place names and their meaning before locating them on maps provided. To their shock, they discovered the internet could be used for something more than going on games…
Finally, in Maths Lee and Wayne worked together to build a Norman Motte and Bailey castle using Base 10 before identifying how many thousands, hundreds, tens and ones were used..
Fantastic work and effort Mr Mullin’s class, we are both very proud of your achievements as we are sure your parents are too!
Now over to Mrs Young’s class….
For the last few weeks we have been working really hard on decimals in Maths. We have practised converting the written words to decimal numbers, matching their value with column cards and comparing different ways to write each of the decimal (units and tenths) problems. This week we have focused on comparing and ordering numbers up to 3 decimal places.
In Geography, we have learnt about hills and the mountains in the UK. We focused on the differences between them and which parts of the UK have the most hills and mountains. We also found out that there are several mountains in the UK that were formed by volcanos that are now extinct.
In History, we have finally met the three contenders to the throne in 1066. We heard them speak and we tried predicting if Harold Godwinson, William of Normandy or Harald Hadrada are going to be the King of England.
This week, Science was all about finding out what type of clouds are out there and how they are actually formed. We carried out an experiment which all our boys were quite excited to take part in. We used a jar and filled it up with hot water. We waited for a minute and poured most of the water out, leaving the jar steaming hot inside. We lit a match and kept it near the rim of the jar and dropped it in. The last step for us was to cover the opening with ice cubes wrapped up in a bag. After a few seconds, our cloud jar was formed! It was quite a ‘hands on’ lesson and we all really enjoyed it.
In Citizenship, we talked about gun laws in the UK and America and made a reference to the Las Vegas shootings. We watched a documentary about American society and how divided it is when it comes to the fundamental right to own a gun. Nearly all the boys disagreed with the second amendment and decided that owning firearms did not make people safe and was actually causing more damage than good. It was a very powerful lesson which made the boys see that owning weapons in modern days is actually immoral and worrying if possessed by the wrong type of people.
Literacy was all about handwriting practice, how to improve it and remain consistent. All the boys started to settle in with their writing neatly task and the lesson actually made the class really relaxed. We also worked on our spellings and corrected our number words spelling mistakes across our Maths books.
A great week in Mrs Young’s class.
Mr Page has also had an interesting week…
This week in English, SBA1 have been building on our work from last week, about finding and using information, to read some challenging texts. We have been reading about astronauts, their training and their commitment and their personal qualities – as well as all the benefits that their hard work brings them!
In Maths we have been looking at the perimeters of shapes, both regular and compound shapes, and we have been focusing on accuracy of measurements when using a ruler.
My class and Miss Brown’s class joined forces on Wednesday to compete in a city wide basketball tournament at Manor High School in Sale. The team was part of a larger squad that had team members from across the Academy Trust. We finished second in the tournament, narrowly losing in the final to a very talented (and tall!) team that included some Year 10 players too!
Well done Spring Brook, 2nd place is great, especially considering you have played against some very tall Year 10s!
In Year 9 Miss Brown and her group have also been busy…
This past two weeks the Year 9 class have been exceptionally on task with their academic learning. Each pupil was directed to take home individual research tasks, to create posters surrounding the national British Standards. I do have to say I was that impressed with their work efforts and the production of posters that we dedicated a classroom display based upon their work..
We have also adopted the 1066 theme this week by making pies made of only cheese and onion as the pupils discussed how foods made from meat in these times would have been too expensive to produce, only those with wealth would have benefited from this extravagance (good point raised, I thought).
Because of the work ethic within the Year 9 classroom we decided to reward our students with a trip to the local celebrity based gym Collihurst and Moston in Manchester – Bugzy Malone is a huge idol for the kids in our year group and the gym just so happens to be where he trains too!
All in all, after starting back into the new school year as Year 9s, this class have adapted very positively to the new classroom and staff and I am very proud to say are working hard and progressively towards achieving high standards of work. Keep this up, Year 9 little super stars..
An amazing few weeks here at Spring Brook Academy, as we settle into the new term I am beginning to feel a positive change. It has been great to welcome our CEO Mr Quinn to the team and to discuss further changes ahead in order to support the needs of our pupils further.
I would like to say a personal ‘Thank you!’ to Mrs Coulbeck for being on the frontline here at Spring Brook Academy. Mrs Coulbeck is our new receptionist, she started with us a few weeks ago now and is doing an amazing job..
Miss Kansik, our new Key Stage 3 Pastoral Manager, joined us this week and she has made a really positive start. Welcome to the team!
We have been in discussion with some of our neighbours here on Dean Street about an exciting community project where neighbours and pupils can work together to improve our allotments. Louise, one of the residents, has approached Mrs Tootill and I and asked if this project could be possible. I think it is a great idea, not only can we work together as a community but the pupils and families of Dean Street can get to know each other in a more positive light. I will raise this with our Trustees later this month and hopefully this project can be launched.
Mr Hopkins has a report for us on PE…
The Key Stage 3 pupils have been learning and improving their football skills so far this half term but this week they experienced what it would be like for a footballer to train in the gym. In their PE lessons this week all the pupils took part in a gym session designed for premier league footballers to improve strength in all areas of the body. They performed 3 circuits of 10 different exercises – 5 upper and 5 lower body – with each set becoming harder. Everybody performed really well and with some encouragement completed the workout..
This session not only improved our pupils’ fitness but also engaged them in learning gym etiquette, weight training technique, teamwork and the names of different muscles.
Lewis has been working hard on the trampoline over the last two weeks and has managed to learn and perform an almost faultless ‘swivel hips’ move and complete his first ever front somersault!! Well done, Lewis..
To end the week I took a group of boys and their teachers for a little treat for the most improved behaviour – yes, Mr Mullins and Mr Bocking have improved their behaviour tremendously since the start of term!!
Well done chaps, I can’t think of a better way to end the week than with pupils who have earned a treat for improved behaviour. I’m very proud of you boys, you have made some positive choices this week. We also went for a walk in the park..
..and Connor and Wayne befriended a tabby cat..
Have a lovely week everyone,
Miss Rodgers
Head of Site
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