Welcome back to the Spring Brook Key Stage 3 blog… it has been a while since I have written a blog. This is a sign of how busy we have been here at the academy. We have had our internal management boards where we looked at all of our students’ progress. We have met with trustees to plan already for growth in our school ready for the next academic year. We have had meetings to discuss timetables and staffing ready for next year and we have had work done on our building ready to accommodate a new class of Year 9 students after Easter.

During this busy time we have also been approached by 2 different schools who have heard about the great work that we are doing with our SEMH students. They have asked for our support and advice around therapeutic approaches in supporting students. We spent a lovely morning with colleagues from Nelson Primary School sharing good practice.

We had Pancake Day – I think Dylan wanted to smother as much Nutella as he could onto his pancake!

The Spring Brook team spent a day training with Commando Joe’s team building and learning about how we can enhance our curriculum offer. A big thanks to Mike Hamilton and James for the day. As you can see from the photos below we all really enjoyed the day..

Angus came to school to see Wayne. He loved the day and he especially loved playing with Ben, Mr Daly’s dog..

Wayne, you really did tire Angus out!

We did World Book Day and the prize for the best costume went to Mrs Young..

Her class have been working hard..

In English, we have been learning and practising new set of spellings of common exception words. We have tried guided reading, where the boys had to read the text and answer questions..

There were also a few revision tasks to check the children’s ability to distinguish tenses. They boys did quite well with that task..

Maths was based on using arrays to divide; task cards and concrete manipulative to introduce the notion of division. The wide range of support available during lessons helped some children massively as they finally visualised the idea of splitting items into groups to divide..

In Science we focused on identifying different types of volcanoes; their features and how to identify them. We also started to make our booklet about them and different volcano facts..

In Citizenship we have learnt about the meaning of fake news; their possible damaging effects and how to recognise a potential untrue piece of information to be able to make informed choices in any type of situation..

In our Topic lesson we have focused on the fall of the Aztec empire; its causes and effects..

Miss Price’s class have covered lots of work this term..

In English the students are continuing to read Goodnight Mister Tom. They have been checking their understanding of words they might not know. This has enhanced their understanding as we continue to read..

Miss Price went on some training and found different techniques to help the students with waking up their left and right side of the brain. The students loved this activity and some were more competitive than others..

This term we have been focusing on converting time from minutes to seconds and hours to minutes in Maths. The students have enjoyed completing more active activities, for example time trials of matching the times together. The students have made good progress so far!

We’ve made lots of interesting dishes in Food Tech. Our meatballs, pasta and tomato sauce were a big success – the final product looked pretty delicious and some students just could not wait to get stuck in!

Due to it being Pancake Day last week, the students had the opportunity to create their own. It was a new experience for some of them! We had a flipping competition and I lost count of how many times they were able to do it..

In topic we have been covering different European countries. As part of this, the students have been able to explore the culture of these countries. These experiences have included food tasting and creating objects linked to the country being taught..

Harry created an array of different pieces of fruit with the clay in Art. Harry was extremely proud of this art work and could not wait to show people..

 

The boys have really enjoyed their boxing sessions (and even made a new friend…..)

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Wow boys, the food tasting looked great! Well done also in today’s assembly for all of your achievements.

Over to our Nurture Group…..

The boys have enjoyed their classroom breakfasts before starting work..

In class this week the boys have worked hard in English and Maths. The group have been working out money problems using different ways..

They have also been working on fractions, using Base 10 to work them out..

We made the most of the good weather before the wind and rain struck and had a trip to Heaton Park. The boys had a great afternoon..

Daniel has been working on a bike project with Mr Newton and Miss Davies, he has made a great start to this. Last week the boys completed their two day Bikeability Level 2 course, well done boys!

In our food technology lesson we made sweet and sour chicken which looked and smelt amazing..

In our Science lesson the group have been looking at bugs and their habitats. We have made the house and started on making the insects..

The students have also been working hard with their literacy and social emotional activities in the Reflection Zone..

Finally, we would like to say thank you to all of our families for supporting our chosen charities. Here is a certificate that we have received from Children in Need..

Today we have been busy raising money for Comic Relief. We have had lots of fun wearing red..

I would like to end this blog with a quote that has made me think this week:

IF ONLY YOU COULD SENSE HOW IMPORTANT YOU ARE TO THE LIVES OF THOSE YOU MEET…THERE IS SOMETHING OF YOURSELF THAT YOU LEAVE AT EVERY MEETING WITH ANOTHER PERSON ~ Fred Rogers

And….for Sunday 17th March 2019

Happy St Patrick’s Day to all our Irish family and friends from us all here at Spring Brook Upper

St. Patrick’s Day Blessings
Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig!

Miss Rodgers
Head of Site

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