Year 1 children had a fantastic afternoon learning about history first hand from some of the Year 1 grandparents. The children were thrilled to meet the grandparents and be able to ask all sorts of questions about what life was like when they were young. The visitors brought a whole host of artifacts including photographs, toys, books and magazines, coins, record players, cameras and even examples of their own school work. The children joined in with 1960’s crafts and made items out of paper. The whole afternoon was a buzz of excitement and wonder as the children glimpsed what life was like for a child in the 1960s. The session was a huge success and was finished off beautifully by a poem written by one of the children’s very talented grandparents who wrote a poem about what life was like when she was a child. We would like to say a huge thank you to all of the grandparents who volunteered to join us. The Year 1 children learnt a great deal and will remember this experience fondly.

To launch our new school-wide walking curriculum, Year 3 did their first walk of the year – the Hawksworth Wood and Leeds and Liverpool Canal circular. On the way, the children got the opportunity to see the River Aire, the Leeds and Liverpool Canal and also enjoyed crossing the train line at Kirkstall Forge train station. We discussed where they could catch the train to if they hopped on there, as well as the differences between a river and a canal. The walk also provided the children with the chance to practice their road safety skills. The children absolutely loved spending their time in the outdoors and they are very excited for their next walk!

Year 5 had a fantastic day at Tropical World. In the morning, the children took part in an exciting workshop in the woodlands which helped them understand the layers of the rainforest.  They also completed a minibeast hunt and learned how to estimate a tree’s age by measuring its circumference. In the afternoon, the children enjoyed a walk around Tropical World, spotting butterflies, reptiles and tropical birds while linking what they saw to their science learning about living things and their habitats. The children were brilliantly behaved and showed great curiosity throughout the day.

Year 6 invited parents and family members from the whole school to come along to their Macmillan coffee event to raise money for this brilliant charity that provides cancer support. The children were absolutely wonderful; they provided some fabulous entertainment and looked very smart in their waiters’ uniforms! On behalf of all Y6, they would like to say a HUGE thank you to parents, grandparents, friends etc for all the cake donations, raffle prizes and the fabulous support they received.  We are delighted to let you know we raised £887.80 which has now been donated to Macmillan. THANK YOU!!

Year 3 have been transported back in time 2.5 million years to the stone age. Through role play they have been learning about the hardship of being a hunter gatherer in that time. They have hunted a woolly mammoth with spears and gathered apples from the garden which they ate. They learnt what food was available in this period, what is edible and what is poisonous! Within this topic we also touched on seasonality, how we eat today, the importance of not wasting food and that it's definitely ok to eat "wonky" fruit and veg. 

Year 6 had the fantastic opportunity to climb Pen-y-Ghent, one of the Yorkshire three peaks, standing at 694m. The children were absolutely amazing and we are super proud of them. It's a tough, steep climb but the perseverance, determination and all-round positive attitude of the children were a credit to the school and to you as parents. It was so lovely to be able to walk and talk with the children and to see them chatting to each other throughout the day. We had lunch at the top and the views were glorious - we could see both Ingleborough and Whernside and even as far as Morecambe bay. We are excited to implement our Walking Curriculum throughout school and feel the children will benefit lots from the opportunities to be out in the fresh air and being active with their friends. 

As well as their sessions with Mrs Bennett, Year 1 are also working outdoors with Mrs Fletcher.  During these sessions they have been investigating our school garden looking at our plants to discover ones that we can eat.  The children have been learning that we eat different parts of plants and can identify whether the parts we eat are roots, stems, leaves, flowers, fruits or seeds. They harvested some of the fruits and vegetables to take a closer look and enjoyed sampling Springbank's finest produce including tomatoes, cucumbers, rocket and grapes. 

Year 6 went on a morning trip to Leeds Discovery Centre.  The children took part in a workshop about WW1 and had the chance to look at lots of real primary sources of evidence such as a memorial penny, which was a bronze plaque.  It was given to the relatives of every solider/sailor who died or went missing in action.  It became know as ‘dead man’s penny.’  If you heard the thud as it dropped through your door, you would know you had lost someone at war.  There were so many fascinating objects for the children to look at and find out about.  After the workshop, Year 6 had a tour of the store room, which holds over 1 million historical objects.  It was brilliant to do a history lesson off site and find out so much interesting information about WW1! 

This half term Year 4 and Year 6 are also attending outdoor learning sessions with Amanda Newham from Chevin Forest Schools.  So far they have looked at autumn and the seeds and berries available for wildlife in our area at this time of year. They have had a go at tye-dying with natural dyes and also had the opportunity to try out hammocks and slacklines. 

In addition to the outdoor learning sessions Mrs Fletcher runs, this year Mrs Bennett is also running forest school/outdoor learning sessions for Year 1 and Year 2.  The children have begun their outdoor learning by learning the rules to keep safe while working outside and also to begin to learn about some of the plants and animals we have in our woodland area. Each year group have adopted trees for the year and it is our hope that they will watch how these trees change throughout the seasons and begin to learn a bit about how they are used by humans and animals throughout the year. Year 1 have adopted a silver birch, holly and apply tree and Year 2 have adopted a sycamore, hazel and oak tree. The children have explored the woodland area through joining in games and have begun to look at their surroundings more closely with activities such as cloud gazing and sound bathing (listening to the sounds of the woodland). Over the last 2 weeks they have learnt their first knot, the clove hitch, which they will be able to practise and apply to other crafts and activities in later sessions.