“It is in your hands to create a better world for all…” Nelson Mandela

As we approach Black History Month here at the academy, I would like to thank Miss Crossley for this wonderful display that she has created in our games room.

Lots of the classes will be exploring resources for Black History Month and using resources like the educate against hate pack. Here at the academy we try to encourage tolerance and understanding between our differences.

It was lovely to go around our classrooms this morning as we do every Friday morning to celebrate successes with our learning and behaviour. In Mr Mullins’ class some of the boys openly talked about a conflict solution situation this week that they openly resolved themselves. This show great maturity and self-regulation boys – well done. It is also a reflection of how far you have come on your journeys here at the academy.

Well done this week to Theo for getting Senior Leadership Pupil of the week. Both Mr Southerington and I are aware Theo of how hard you have been trying around school, showing respect and setting good examples for others. Dawud was chosen as Pastoral Pupil of the week. Well done to both of you boys.

Let’s have a look this week at Ms Power’s class..

This week in SBU3 we have been looking at the sinking of the Titanic. In Science, we investigated which items sink, and which ones float. We then had a very competitive competition to see who could make the most buoyant boat, well done to Isiah whose boat held 64 coins, 4 glue sticks, 3 bottles and 5 pens! We then talked about what features make boats more or less stable.

We also looked at the rusty condition of the Titanic’s hull after years under the sea, and investigated the deterioration of metal in different solutions.

In food tech, we made a range of cupcakes and practised our weighing and measuring skills. Unfortunately we don’t have any pictures of the finished products as they disappeared so quickly!

We have been playing games and thinking about how we can work well as a group in SBU3, getting to know each other better and building relationships within our class.

In English, we have been refreshing our spelling and phonics knowledge and practising our throwing at the same time by using phonic sounds as targets.

 

Well done SBU3! ~ Ms Power and Mrs Culhane

I love how pleased Maisie and Ariz were to receive their awards in assembly, Isiah less so! Great achievements this week in SBA 3. Over to Miss Crossley’s class who celebrated Jacob’s birthday with a party on Friday afternoon. Happy Birthday to you Jacob. This class have had a great week. On Thursday they set off having never seen a waterfall before. Let’s have a look at what Mr Hopkins has to say about their adventures..

This week has been a great week both indoors and out for physical activity at Spring Brook Upper School. The John Muir Award this week saw Miss Crossley’s class take a turn to explore the local countryside in the style of the Scottish explorer himself. Their challenge was to find a hidden waterfall out in the depths of a forested valley. Along the way there were many challenges set for them including climbing trees, crossing the river 4 times and making numerous leaps of faith!! It was fantastic to see some brilliant teamwork as the class helped each other during these challenges, making sure that we could all achieve our targets.

Finally after some hard scrambling we found the waterfall and of course had to stand underneath it!!!!

Amazing achievements everyone, I think you represented John Muir well!

In PE lessons indoors we are still focusing on team challenges and fun related games to encourage our pupils to enjoy physical activity again after being limited in their opportunities since March. Our Year 9’s are really developing amazingly as cricketers and Miss Crossley’s Year 7 class somehow completed an incredible challenge in the gym this week. I set the class a team target to perform 4000 repetitions on 10 different exercises in our gym in one hour. As the clock ticked down they all absolutely blasted the final minute to complete the challenge by 6 repetitions!! Ending with a total of 4006 they were exhausted but what a pleasure it was seeing them all encourage each other and work so hard together to achieve the team goal – great achievement everyone!!

Mr Stewart’s class had the fortune of some good weather this week and so we continued our outdoor learning through orienteering in their PE lesson. This was their first time and I couldn’t believe how quickly Beth and Kyle could identify the features on the map and then orientate themselves in the outdoors. They both quickly understood the task and completed the courses they were set with myself and Mr Pryce trailing behind struggling to catch up!! Well done and on to more difficult courses next time I think!!

Mr Stewart’s and Mr Coldwell’s classes have busy back at school as well..

This week in SBU 4 we have been continuing our Titanic team of work. Last week they cooked ‘Chicken Lyonnaise’ off the 1st class menu on the Titanic and this week off the 2nd class menu the children cooked ‘Curried Chicken with Rice’. The latter was a huge success with the children asking for the recipe to make at home. 

SBU5 have been studying Oliver Twist, we have spent time learning about Cockney rhyming slang and old London accents. Dawud and Kieran particularly enjoyed this and was able to share with the class. Cooking with week was also very successful with Kieran winning the curry king title.

Don’t forget that on Friday 9th October students and staff can wear something yellow for #HelloYellow Day and a £1 donation to support the charity Young Minds #HelloYellow awareness day.

Wow, I can’t believe how quickly this week has gone. Another wonderful week of learning at Spring Brook.

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

Miss Rodgers
Head of Site

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