Welcome back after half term, I can’t believe how fast this week has gone! We have welcomed more new pupils into Key Stage 3. It has been really lovely to meet you this week and to hear the positive feedback from your families..
Welcome to Harvey S. and DJ. I can’t believe how excited DJ has been to join school. Harvey’s Mum, Gemma, commented on how calm school was and she was impressed that everyone was in lessons and on task.
We also welcome Mr Molloy who has joined our staff team. Mr Molloy will be working on our vocational curriculum and he will also deal with some pastoral work in Key Stage 4. Here he is with his dog Stanley who is only 2 and not fully grown – Mr P said he was like a dinosaur!
Leo said that in the future he would like to learn how to do a hand stand. Mr Kemp kindly offered to show Leo how to do this and walked on his hands in my office!
In Art, Key Stage 3 have been creating Abstract Pop Art Self-portraits. All the pupils have been doing really well and even the staff have joined in..
This week, Year 9 have had an excellent return back to school after the half term break. They have created some amazing pieces of work and put them to the ultimate test! In Science the class have been exploring our universe, they have each planned and created their own rocket ships after looking at how gravity works and forces..
They each used different environments to test the validity of their creations and competed against one another as to which ship stayed in the air the longest, whilst exploring different materials and their use in aerodynamic dimension..
Year 9 have also been privileged to have a visit from Jo who works with the MIND team focused on looking at mental health management and mindfulness. The group really engaged with the activities Jo set up for them to do and seemed to fully benefit from the methods which she used to calm and relax them after a period of social time.
This week has been a very positive week all round, the class have bonded very well together after their return and are eager to start creating their next little gifts on the approach to Mother’s Day. Well done again Year 9, growing up and maturing fast. Miss Brown x
Over to Mr Mullin’s class..
Our class blog has previously mentioned how the boys’ poetry work could rival the works of Shakespeare. Well, this week they have well and truly entered the world of all things surrounding the man himself and, in particular, Romeo and Juliet. They were shocked to discover that behind all the flowery words and poetic language, there is many a phrase that we still use today (although the term ‘idioms’ did take some getting used to – either that or they really do think I am an idiot…)
In Maths, they have worked well in identifying squared and cubed numbers and applied this knowledge to more difficult questions. It was wonderful to see them sharing and modelling different methods and techniques to help segment the harder tasks..
Meanwhile, in Geography, the boys took it upon themselves to see who could name the most European Countries. Their football knowledge certainly lent itself well during this task!
On Tuesday, we also celebrated Shaun’s birthday. He kindly provided enough cake for not just the class but the whole school..
A positive start to the new term, I am sure it will continue. Well done, everyone.
Over to Mrs Young’s class…
This week in Literacy we learned a few interesting facts about the Brothers Grimm. The boys were very surprised that the writers created the stories, which originally were not meant to be read by children but aimed at adults instead. We also analysed the characteristics of Grimm’s Fairy Tales and had an introduction to the story writing toolkit.
We have started to work on our fine motor skills to hopefully improve our handwriting. The boys loved creating patterns on peg boards, kneading slime with bits of Styrofoam in it and also using scissors to cut alongside more complex patterns..
In Maths, we learnt how to apply short divisions correctly, using a bus method. At first, everybody seemed to be daunted by the task but towards the end of the week we finally got it!!!
In Citizenship we talked about Amelia Earhart and why she became famous. We tried to investigate various theories about her disappearance by looking at the evidence and shared our ideas out.
In History we looked at different cures being available during the Great Plague to fight the disease. It varied from using religious superstitions, fruit and veg, leeches, butter, posies to urine and faeces. It was quite a memorable lesson as everybody was disgusted with the ways such a serious disease was treated in Stuart Britain..
What a way to end a busy week. Wayne and I went to the Cat-a-tonic cat café in Oldham. I have never been so relaxed at the end of a busy week and Wayne – well, look at the smile on his face. The cats loved him and he loved them. The therapeutic power of animals will never cease to amaze me. The cats were called Picasso (he was the big male cat), Bertha, Frida, Marie and Georgia. Bertha and Frida both loved Wayne..
This weekend I will be studying – yes, studying! I am doing some research into Secondary Trauma and Workplace Stress with ACEducation. Learning is not just for school but for me and it is important that I model lifelong learning to our pupils.
Have a great weekend everyone,
Miss Rodgers
Head of Site
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