Class Four

Nature Journaling in Class 4

 in Class Four / Science by

What a lovely sunny afternoon! The perfect day to get outside and enjoy the nature around us 🙂

Today, Georgina from the CDEC visited us to teach us about nature journaling. The first thing we needed to do was look very closely at the world around us. What kinds of biodiversity (different types of plants and animals) could we find?

We started with plants, finding all sorts of wildflowers and grasses in the green spaces near us – the community garden, the play park and the field. Then we had a look for living things – a wonderful variety of bugs, spiders and minibeasts.

Our task was to then look as closely as we could. What did we notice about their looks? Their smells? How they moved? We recorded these observations through drawing and writing, creating pages filled with our observations.

I certainly enjoyed myself – try it in a green space near you and see what you can find!

Lancashire Police & Crime Museum

 in Class Four / History by

As the school year draws to a close, Class 4 have managed to sneak one final trip in! This time, the Lancashire Police and Crime Museum. This outing was not just a break from routine but a fitting conclusion to our in-depth exploration of crime and punishment throughout history. The museum visit provided a tangible connection to our studies, making the concepts we had discussed in the classroom come alive.

Set in the former prison of Lancaster Castle, the building itself, steeped in history, set the tone for the day. Walking through its doors felt like stepping back in time, as we were greeted by exhibits showcasing the evolution of crime and law enforcement since the establishment of the Lancashire Constabulary. The museum’s extensive collection included everything from Victorian truncheons to more modern policing equipment, giving us a comprehensive view of how crime, punishment and policing have evolved.

A particularly engaging aspect of the museum was its focus on local developments in policing and crime. The museum highlighted significant events and figures in Lancashire’s law enforcement history: we explored exhibits detailing the region’s notorious criminals and landmark cases from the local area.

And of course, we loved dressing up in some police equipment ourselves!

Year 6 Light Up Science!

 in Class Four / Science by

This week in Year 6, our budding scientists embarked on an electrifying experiment to investigate the relationship between bulbs and brightness in a circuit!

The challenge? To see how the number of bulbs in a circuit affects the overall brightness. Equipped with batteries, wires, and an assortment of circuit components, the students were eager to put their scientific thinking caps on.

Diligently following a scientific method, they meticulously constructed circuits with varying numbers of bulbs. With each creation, they carefully observed the level of brightness produced.

The results were illuminating (pun intended)! The students discovered that as the number of bulbs in the circuit increased, the overall brightness decreased. This is because the same amount of electrical energy is being shared amongst more bulbs, resulting in a dimmer glow for each.

But our young scientists weren’t done yet! They took their exploration a step further by creating a table to record their observations and drawing clear diagrams of their circuits. This meticulous documentation will be crucial when they come to write their scientific reports, explaining their findings and the scientific concepts behind them.

Patterdale Hall Residential!

 in Class Four by

Many thanks to everyone who came to our Patterdale Hall assembly last week. The children have been buzzing about it ever since and the experience has gone a long way to helping us in our Geography, English and more!

There is nothing more I can say here, other than a massive thank you to all the staff at Patterdale Hall for looking after us, and the Levens staff who helped make the trip so special. Without further ado, here are the photos! (No Mrs H. video here unfortunately!)

A Trip to Ancient Egypt

 in Class Four / History by

To conclude our topic on the Ancient Egyptians, Class 4 have used ★the power of imagination★ to travel thousands of years back in time to the Ancient Egyptian Empire. Over the course of the morning, our two expert guides Laura and Adrian helped us to act our way through over three thousand years of history.

We started with the first Pharaoh of a unified Egypt, Narmer…

A student imitating the Pharoah Narmer.

…heard about who built the Great Pyramid of Giza…

A student pretending to be a pyramid.

…were menaced by the Khopesh sword…

A student holding a khopesh sword in the air.

And watched the death of the Pharaoh Cleopatra…

Students acting out the death pf the pharaoh Cleopatra.

Thanks to Imagining History for coming in and sharing the story of Ancient Egypt in such a unique, informative and memorable way!

LEGO League 2024!

 in Class Four by

FIRST Lego League Challenge - Wikipedia

Once again, the brave engineers of Levens have risen to the challenge and shown what they can do at the South Lakes First LEGO League Challenge!

The event is split into four different but related challenges – an innovation project, in which students need to come up with a design for a new piece of technology which could be a real benefit to our world; a robot design competition; a robot game and an award for teamwork, sportsmanship and collaboration.

The team were fabulous as always, and although we didn’t come away with a trophy this year, we’re told that we are definitely climbing the ranks so I’m excited to see what next year can bring already!

Networking with young Muslims from London

 in Class Four / RE by

Last week, Year 5 and 6 were treated to a live presentation and Q and A session with a group of teenage Sunni and Shi’a Muslims from Redbridge in North London know as AFABs (Ambassadors of faith and belief).  As part of their studies in KS5, these young people are involved in a project to teach others about the diversity of their faith and help deepen knowledge of their faith with primary-aged pupils from across the UK.  We were joined by children from other primary schools across Cumbria.

We have certainly deepened our knowledge and understanding of so many aspects of Islam including: the five pillars of Islam, the different branches of Islam, Ramadan and Eid, pilgrimage, prayer, dress and symbolism.

Florence – ‘I didn’t know that Muslims believe in Heaven.’

Grace – ‘I learnt that not all Muslims cover their heads but those that do choose to wear a Hijab to show respect and be closer to God.’

Eleanor – ‘I learnt more about the Kaaba being a very sacred place’ at the centre of the most sacred Mosque.’

Koby – ‘I learnt that over 3 million Muslims travel to Mecca in Saudi Arabia every year as part of hajj.

A Master Class with Nigel Edmondson

 in Art / Church / Class Four / Whole School by

Year six had a very special ‘Feel Good Friday’ today as the walked down to see Nigel Edmondson in his Levens’ studio this afternoon to kick-start our collaborative art project inspired by God’s creation.

Nigel talked to us about his work, his inspirations and some of his techniques. He then demonstrated how he uses his tools and machinery to create clay tiles.  After that, we began to experiment with our ideas using a range of objects that Nigel uses for his own pieces to create nature-inspired tiles.

We all learnt so much and feel so inspired following our special afternoon.  Year six will be working together to plan this whole-school project and act as mentors so that every pupil can explore this medium and create their own tiles.  These will be displayed together as a permanent art installation in our school hall.

Look out for more news on our project soon!

Holy Spirit Artwork

 in Class Four / RE by

Class 4 have been learning about the Pentecost in RE lessons. We have heard how Christians believe Jesus ascended to heaven so that the Holy Spirit could come down to the world and bless Christians worldwide.

But what does the Holy Spirit actually do? What even is a Holy Spirit? What does it look like? We looked at a range of artwork on the theme of the Holy Spirit, from stained glass windows, classical paintings and modern interpretations. We found that the same symbols are often used to represent the Spirit of the Lord, including the Dove and ‘tongues of fire’. We used this as inspiration to create our own Holy Spirit artwork using a variety of methods. Check out our finished work below!