We enjoyed a wonderful visit from Harold and Steven yesterday from Coram Life Education who provide our SCARF curriculum. Each class took part in workshops ranging from exploring the brain to managing friendships. Harold made an appearance in each class too! Thank you Steven for a brilliant day!
Reception, Year One and Two had a wonderful visit to the Manjushri Kadampa Meditation Centre in Ulverston yesterday. We were greeted at the temple by our guide Kerrin who led us through a guided meditation session and taught us a little more about the Buddhist faith. We learnt that Buddhists believe in living their lives built on love, compassion and empathy.
Our meditation session focused on steady breathing and everyone agreed they felt calm and relaxed afterwards! We enjoyed looking at the statues of the Gods and Goddesses, learning their names and spotting the largest dharma wheel in the building. Can you find it amongst our photos?
Class 2 have absolutely loved their last week of the Spring Term! It started with our school trip to Lytham St. Anne’s, for which the weather couldn’t have been kinder. We observed the outside and the indside of the windmill and the children produced some fantastic observational drawings of the building. The Victorian museum on the ground floor of the windmill was a great taster for some of our history learning that we will be undertaking in the Summer term. As well as learning about the purpose and history of the windmill, the volunteers from the Lytham Heritage Group, also showed us around the lifeboat museum. We enjoyed discounted ice cream from Andy the ice cream man and a lovely walk, before returning to school.
For the remainder of the week, we were designing and constructing our own windmills. The children showed fantastic patience and resilience when assembling the main parts, in order to make sure their models were stable and effective. It was another fantastic week of Design and Technology and Mrs Mason and I were were so impressed with the children’s achievements. Well done Class 2!
Class 2 have enjoyed developing their mark making skills using the media paint. They have learned about primary and secondary colours by producing a colour wheel and explored other artistic concepts such as shape and line. They have looked at work by the artist Wassily Kandinsky, and like the Russian painter, they have used music as a stimulus for their own artistic creations. Check out their exploration of colour, shape and pattern as well as how different genres of music have influenced the marks they made on the page.
The Lord’s Prayer is common to many Christian’s across the globe so we have been thinking more about it including where it came from and what it means.
Class 2 thought praying was talking to God and that people who believed in God might do it. They explained a few varied ways people stand, sit or kneel to pray. We ordered the Lord’s Prayer and discussed what some unusual words like hallowed and daily bread mean. Here we are drawing pictures around the phrases so show what we understood by them.
Class 4 explored the Lord’s Prayer differently – finding where it comes from and comparing references to the prayer in the Good News Bible in the books of Matthew and Luke. We looked at the 4 types of prayer that Christians might use – Praising, Asking, Saying Sorry and Thanking.
We then considered some deeper questions linked to phrases in the prayer with many thoughtful and honest responses that are recorded in the class reflection book.
Class 2 have had a great morning travelling back in time over 350 years to 1666 and experiencing what it was like during the Great Fire of London. Laura and Adrian from Imagining History brought us an exciting workshop involving drama and role play. We created the kitchen in the bakery on Pudding Lane and then used a range of methods from the past to try and put out the raging fire. We threw leather buckets of water at the blaze, used squirts and water carts. We even tried to create a fire break by using dynamite to blow up the burning houses but to no avail. We took on different roles including King Charles 2nd, James, the Duke of York, scared Londoners and Samuel Pepys to create a big picture of the event, then tested our knowledge with a quiz about the key facts.
What an amazing and busy time we had last week! The whole school took part in different Design and Technology projects. Class 1 were developing their cutting skills and exploring a range of different junk modelling materials. Class 2 were learning about fruit and vegetables, using their senses to explore them and then creating their own smoothies. Class 3 explored how to use a simple pneumatic system to make box monsters. Class 4 were learning about different ways to join fabric including different stictches, before designing and making their own soft toys. Each class enjoyed learning new skills, acquiring new knowledge and had opportunities to design, make and evaluate their work.
Class 4’s Soft Toys
Class 3’s Monster Boxes
Class 2’s Smoothies
Class 1’s Junk Modelling
On Tuesday we were lucky enough to receive a visit from some of the officers from Kendal Fire Station to talk to us about how to keep ourselves and others safe on Bonfire Night. We found out some interesting facts around the history of the celebration as well as some important tips about handling sparklers, being around bonfires and leaving it to adults to handle the fireworks!
Class 2 then also had the opportunity to look around one of the engines they had brought along and the equipment on board. What a lovely way to begin their Fire of London topic!
In Class 2, we been continuing to develop our drawing skills. We have learnt that to be able to draw, we need to observe closely. This week we used magnifying glasses to observe produce of the land. This combined our RE learning about Harvest of the land and sea, with learning about observational drawing of natural materials in art.
