Month: October 2024

A Wonderful Day in Whitby

Scott Grason-Taylor

The Pioneers took a daytrip to Whitby. For many it was their first school trip and their first trip on a coach and what a trip it was. There is so much to learn and so much to do. The Pioneers carried their own lunches and water bottles and looked after all their own kit. This is quite an achievement considering the many locations we visited.

Walking around Whitby is fill of risks and we assessed them before, during and after our trip, The  Pioneers did a great job negotiating the narrow pavements and the pedestrians.

We talked about fishing and boat building before crossing the bridge for story and a snack in the Little Fox Bookshop which was fantastic. 

Whitby Catch answered all our questions about what was for sale on the fish counter.

We spotted the new lifeboat in the water before visiting the old lifeboat in the museum.

Lunch was eaten in the Fisherman’s Mission which added to our learning.

We walked up the hill to the wonderful Whitby Museum where the awe and wonder was palpable. There was so much to see and we were made very welcome.

This was a very wonderful day out – Eight very happy kilometres together!

A busy start to the school year!

Scott Grason-Taylor

It has been a busy start to the school year for Leaders. 

In history, our focus is Black History. We have learned that the first recorded Africans living in Britain were recorded in the Roman period and explored evidence of the Aurelian Moors from Hadrian’s Wall, and the ‘Bangle Lady’, who was found buried in a sarcophagus in York. We have also explored the lives of black people in the Tudor period through exploring art work and letters from the time to learn about John Blanke. 

In art, our focus is painting. We have explored the work of Esther Mahlangu, mixed colours with acrylic paint and used painting techniques to block in geometric shapes. We are looking forward to creating our final pieces very soon. 

In geography, we have been focussing on plastic waste. We have learned about what it is and why it is a problem. Following this, we explored what can be done to reduce plastic waste and considered what could be refused, reduced, recycled or repurposed. Using the ideas from our discussions, Leaders created plastic pledges. Earlier in the half term, we also conducted litter fieldwork in Stewart Park in Middlesbrough. 

Inspired by our work on plastic and our theme of ‘Small Steps, Big Change’ Leaders have written free verse poems about plastic waste in the sea, using a range of similes, adjectives and personification. The published poems are amazing!

 

Learning Outdoors

Scott Grason-Taylor

Learners spent the day in the forest this week. The sun was shining and the experience was delightful. It was a beautiful autumn day, the leaves were falling around us and we were able to spot signs of autumn and colour match the leaves we found. This consolidated our science topic around seasons wonderfully. 

Also in the forest, we were able to collect some descriptive language to inspire our poetry writing. We used our senses and recorded the things we saw, felt, heard and touched. Our poems are about our wonderful Earth, so being outside in the forest was the perfect place to gather inspiration. We are excited to write our poems and will keep you posted once they have been published.

We were delighted to attend Church on Friday to celebrate our Harvest Festival with families. Learners performed a song ‘Thank you for everything’. We sang confidently and it was clear how much we enjoyed the words in the song, it was lots of fun!

We are looking forward to our trip to Whitby next week, which will be consolide our history learning in class. We will be visiting Whitby Museum, the marketplace and spotting the sculptures around the town. The weather looks settled and we are excited to go.

We are looking forward to welcoming families into school this week for a reading workshop/event, to share the important aspects that make up reading. We will also have some resources from our Little Wandle, Catch-Up and Fluency programmes too.

Learners will also have a drama session next week, which we always really enjoy!

Learners are such enthusiastic learners!

 

 

Let There Be Light

Scott Grason-Taylor

The Pioneers talked about the Christian Faith, the Bible and how Christians believe that God created the world in 7 days. We looked at a number of versions of the story – a beautiful book called Let There Be Light, a Children’s Story Bible and a short video clip. We spotted the main features of the story and as we did this Mrs Hogarth and Miss Greaves drew out our story map. This was wonderful to do together as the adults were put on the spot to demonstrate their drawing skills!

In the book it finishes with the line, “God has put love into everything in creation, especially you.” We talked about how special and how unique and loved everyone is and the Pioneers added the people they love to their story map.

We went off to our tables and clipboards to produce our version of the story. God’s duvet had a cross on it and a variety of favourite animals took their place in pictures.

The Pioneers then took their chance to retell the story using our maps. They showed great confidence and strength to retell to the class. The Pioneers are magnificent.

Ahead of our Harvest Festival, we recapped on our knowledge of parts of a Christian Church using vocabulary to describe this-pew, aisle,alter, cross, candle and vicar.

Fossil Fun!

Scott Grason-Taylor

This week Adventurers went on an exciting journey as we investigated the world of fossils while exploring the three main rock types: igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic. The children identified each rock type and its unique property, whilst creating their very own fact file based on fossils and their formation. We discovered new key vocabulary such as sediment, fossilisation and palaeontologists. Adventurers class then created their very own fossils using bread to represent the different layers of rock. 

Sustainable Development Goals

Scott Grason-Taylor

What amazing learning and future proofing.  Discoverers have been investigating the Sustainable Development Goals, linking this with their geography fieldwork by investigating plastic pollution.

They have been trying to understand why each of the goals is needed and what impact this will have on the future of our planet.  An important area of discussion was climate change and how small steps made by the children at the school could have a big impact, making a difference for the future.  All the children have made a plastic pledge and they are looking into further areas where they can make changes.  Children have been so inspired by this topic that they have taken their learning beyond the classroom, picking up litter from their local communities.

#bethedifferenceyouwanttoseeintheworld

 

Marvellous Multi-skills

Scott Grason-Taylor

Learners enjoyed a fun afternoon at a community sports event this week. We spent our time jumping, throwing, catching and running. Learners are great friends and have amazing team spirit, they cheered and supported each other through every activity.

Elsewhere in the classroom, we have been learning more about Islam. This week in RE we have been finding out about mosques and what happens inside. Learners always have open and meaningful discussions in RE and are fascinated to learn about different religions and their important traditions.

In English, we are looking closely at poetry. We have been enjoying a poem called “What is the sun” by Wes Magee. We have been writing expanded noun-phrases and alliteration in order to use these in our own poetry. Our poems will focus on our amazing earth and the natural wonders within. To inspire our vocabulary, we will visit the forest on Monday and be experience nature first-hand. 

We are busy practising our Harvest song, in order to perform in our Harvest Service in St John’s Church later in the week. It is always a happy celebration and Learners are excited to sing together.

Learners have such enthusiasm about their learning and are always so keen to come into school each day! This is such a joy to see. Learners, you are awesome!

Making Comparisons

Scott Grason-Taylor

The Pioneers have maths at the centre of everything they do. They are constantly comparing and counting and looking at what is around them. This week we have used butterflies and buttons, blocks and sticks. We have drawn pictures to represent our thinking and tested out new symbols and vocabulary. There is a lot going on.

The focus is clear and their organisation is wonderful.

 Thank you Pioneers for a wonderful week of Happy Learning!