Out and about with Mr Hopkins! (11.11.22)
It’s been a busy few weeks here at SBU, with lots of outdoor activities to update you on.
We’ve had Miss Crossley’s class, who hiked up and across the moors to discover the Singing Ringing Tree near Burnley. It is an incredible art installation overlooking the town made up entirely of pipes, and true to its name it was howling in the wind when we visited it!!! Along the way we saw lots of different coloured sheep and other wildlife too! Well done for a long, hard walk!
Miss Crossley’s class also trekked out to the Hope Woodland on the Snake Pass to investigate the Forestry England site and see first-hand the destructive power of the weather. The day before saw our area hit by high winds and a big storm which caused a huge amount of trees to come down in the woodland which was both spectacular and made us all realise the damage that weather can cause.
Miss Crossley’s class also travelled over to Manor Park in Glossop to explore the park area and, more importantly, get competitive at golf! We saw some great fair play, turn taking and appreciation of the creativity taken to build such an interesting crazy golf course!! My favourite was definitely the snail!
Miss Crossley’s class went over to Stalybridge as they had been tasked by Stalybridge Town Team to tidy up the flower bed outside of the train station. The class were amazing during this community project as they cleared, weeded and trimmed the bushes back ready to return in a few weeks and plant some flowers for the winter. Well done for all the hard work everyone!
Building up to Remembrance day Miss Crossley’s class hiked around Strinesdale reservoir to get to some half buried, hidden air raid shelters. They climbed down into them to have just a small experience of what it might have been like sheltering from a potential bombing raid back in the war. It raised a lot of questions about living conditions and the war which was great to have a conversation about. Well done everyone!
Elsewhere, Mr Stewart’s class endured the ‘hard route’ set by Mr Hopkins to get up to the huge waterfall at Middle Black Clough. This involved a huge amount of teamwork and it was great to see our pupils giving each other the help they needed to complete the quest. This was rewarded with the chance to stand under the waterfall and then have a go at a natural waterslide in the river! Amazing to see our pupils enjoying the fun that can be had in a natural environment.
Our vocational curriculum for the year 9’s is going well this year with pupils opting to experience different vocational pathways for 3 afternoons a week. One of these pathways is a sports analysis pathway and our students were lucky enough to visit Trafford Golf Centre where the head of centre Pete Styles introduced them to the golf coaching studios and the equipment they use to help golfers achieve their potential. The students were then lucky enough to have a coaching session with Pete using the technology and coach each other in the high tech surroundings. Thanks go to Trafford Golf Centre and Pete for giving up their time for our students.
As part of the mountain/trail biking pathway for year 9 our students build up their skills of bike handling and riding on different terrains before we tackle the trails. This involves some careful training using the pump track and mountain bike skills track at Clayton Vale. Once pupils are confident and safe enough on the various terrains then the pupils can learn about riding long distance tracks in public risk assessing potential challenges and choosing correct routes. The pupils have been excellent so far and safety and bike handling skills have improved dramatically. Well done!
Mr Hopkins