One week left to go, where on earth has this half term gone!
Class 1 have had a varied week with some children doing their SATs, so it’s been different for them. They have had a Science focus to their afternoons and have been concentrating on Electricity and in particular, building circuits. Mrs Elliott set them a challenge as to who could make their bulb shine the brightest. They tested different things including the length of wires, different batteries and how their circuits were constructed. I think we have some budding engineers in there!
If any of our families are avid walkers, then don’t be surprised if you bump into Mr Cruz and Mrs Shortall on the hills. This week they took advantage of the amazing weather to take their Local Area study to Blackstone Edge. Mr Cruz has noted how lovely it is to see the progress they’ve made with these outdoor ventures. At first, they walked together and the children sometimes wondered ‘what to do’. No such thing now though, they support each other with the physical aspects of the walk, ensuring that no one is left behind, they talk to people in smaller groups that they might not ordinarily mix with at school but importantly, they are also learning to enjoy the solitude and the satisfaction that being outdoors can bring. A real benefit to everyone’s physical and mental health. They certainly love the outdoors in Class 2!
When back in school, they have continued practising their Yoga and are looking forward to Katie seeing their progress when she is back with us on Monday. They’ve also had a go at Thai Chi this week, which has helped them to think about, and slow down, their breathing. It’s been really good to see children not only taking part, but enjoying the sessions – inside and outside of the classrooms.
Class 5 have done lots of super learning this week. They have been making new colours by experimenting with food dyes – they were very careful with them and used all of those muscles in their fingers to operate the syringes too.
They’ve used Numicon to help them solve some Maths puzzles and are becoming really skilled at recognising the numbers the different shapes represent.
The outdoor area has already given us so much more than we imagined. The children are playing together, learning how to handle conflict, solving problems and doing some academic learning. You can see our younger pupils here using the chalkboards to do their Maths lesson.
Class 7 have gone fish crazy this week! The boys had asked if we could have a fish tank in school and if I could give them £150 to buy it and all the kit they would need. Well, as much as I like fish, we just don’t have that money to spend on a whim and I was also interested to hear about who would look after them etc… Not to be deterred, they set to action to put their case forward. They have researched the fish they would like to keep to find out what they cost and what is involved to ensure we keep them well and healthy. Jayden has come into his own during this project, as both he and his Dad keep fish at home. They have costed out what they would need in Maths and looked at ways they can save money. They have contacted local businesses to share their plans and to see if they would ‘sponsor’ any of the items we needed. I must say, I’ve been really impressed! The impact of all this is that one of their requests resulted in somebody donating a superb fish tank and Amber Pet Supplies of Norden donated all the items you can see which was incredibly generous of them.
They have bought and washed their own gravel to reduce the cost of that and have even designed and made their own backdrop to save buying one. I think ours looks much better!
All that’s left now is to buy the little fishes, which I‘ve said school can help out with. A very productive week Class 7, well done!
Mr Hopkins was very pleased with our Year 6s who teamed up with the Year 7s for a joint triathlon event at Alexandra Park today where they did very well..
Finally, Mrs Shortall, Mrs Makin and myself visited Westmorland School in Chorley this morning to see the work they are doing with their iPads. They are four years into their journey and it was great to share ideas and get some valuable advice on next steps. The children there are similar to our own so it was wonderful to see the iPads in action there and look at examples of the exciting things they do. Thank you so much to Ruth who was very welcoming. She has also agreed to come and deliver some training to our staff team and visit our school, which we very much look forward to.
Following on from this, we’ve also been contacted by the team of Apple trainers to see if they can send a school from Milton Keynes to see what we’ve been doing with the iPads – of course we said yes! It’s a real ‘pat on the back’ for the staff and children that all of their hard work is being recognised.
My last bit of football news for the season….WE WON AT WEMBLEY!!!!! Now promoted to the football league where we will be facing……Oldham next season. Exciting times.
Have a great weekend,
Miss Thomason
Head of School
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