Year 1 completed their first walk as part of our new walking curriculum around Bramley park. The children had a lovely time walking with their friends and enjoying the fresh air while spotting things that interested them. They stopped in a wooded area and discussed the evergreen and deciduous trees we could see including holly, pine and silver birch trees. They also visited the walled garden and the cenotaph where they learnt a little bit about why the monument was there and how people remember members of the armed forced annually. Along the way they spotted several types of birds including magpies, robins and seagulls and also the first snowdrops of the season.

Year 1 have been learning about the artist Andy Goldsworthy in their art lessons and have discovered lots of interesting facts about him and his outdoor sculptures. Part of the project is for the children to use natural materials in the style of Andy Goldsworthy to create their very own Land Art sculpture. We decided this year to combine this with outdoor learning and forest school and make the project really authentic. The children really enjoyed making their sculptures outside and demonstrated fantastic teamwork when deciding what to use within their sculptures. We think they looked absolutely brilliant and really showed off the children's creativity. Their next steps will be to use their sketching skills within the classroom to sketch part of their sculpture. 

Year 6 have been taking part in outdoor learning this half term and we have loved spending time in our fantastic outdoor areas. We have spent time listening to nature, making bird feeders, reading poetry and making structures based on the poems using natural resources, learning about different bird species and working collaboratively to make new outdoor equipment, even making our own version of Robin Wood's giant swing!

Over the past 2 weeks, both Year 6 classes have headed off to Ripon to visit the Police and Prison Museum, spending the day immersing themselves in our Crime and Punishment topics. Children spent time touring the cells, learning about transportation and role-playing a real-life case from Victorian Britain. There were some fierce poachers and some even fiercer police officers amongst us! The afternoon was then spent in the Courthouse Museum where children got to take on the role of lawyers, judges, criminals, witnesses and jurors, taking part in a mock trial which followed the exact same structure of the trials that had happened in that very same courtroom in real life. It was a fantastic experience to enhance our learning.

Year 2 enjoyed an exciting and memorable visit to Eureka! The National Children’s Museum. The trip offered a fantastic hands-on learning experience filled with curiosity, exploration, and discovery. Throughout the day, the children took part in a wide range of interactive exhibits. In The Gross Lab, they explored the amazing (and sometimes delightfully disgusting!) facts about the human body and how it works. The ‘All About Me’ exhibit helped them discover new and fascinating information about themselves, deepening their understanding of the body. In the ‘Sound Space’ gallery, the children expressed themselves through music and movement, letting their creativity and imagination run free. Meanwhile, the ‘Living and Working Together’ area gave them the chance to role-play a variety of real-world jobs, including bankers, post office workers and M&S employees, helping them learn about different roles within the community.

Year 2 had a wonderful trip to the Thackray Museum of Medicine last week. We were warmly welcomed by Florence Nightingale herself, who retold the story of her life and even commented on how knowledgeable and inquisitive the children were about her work. The children then took part in an exciting role play, experiencing what it might have been like to work alongside Florence in the hospitals and to be an injured soldier. Some of the smells from the time period were definitely not a favourite! We also explored Disease Street, where the children learned what life on a street would have been like over 200 years ago. After lunch, we explored the galleries and discovered how hospitals and medical care have changed over time.

Thank you to everyone for joining in today with our mission to wear yellow to raise awareness about cystic fibrosis.  It is a very under funded area and even though Leeds has a cystic fibrosis unit, one of our families has to fund a nebulizer themselves as the unit does not have enough and no money to buy any.  All the funds we have raised will go directly to the Cystic Fibrosis Trust for them to use to fund more research, which is fabulous.  Next time we fundraise for this cause, we will be sending the money directly to Leeds CF unit so they can spend the money on needed equipment for Leeds children.

Year 3’s Ancient Egyptian day was jam packed full of so many fun Egyptian activities. The children began their day by learning all about Egypt and examining different artefacts. As part of their Ancient Egyptian day, the children looked at the Egyptian’s method of writing: hieroglyphics. We learnt all about the Rosetta stone and how this helped archaeologists to crack the Egyptian’s writing code! The children then learnt all about the mummification process in a workshop with Catherine. We then had a go at writing their names using ink on real papyrus paper. Year 3 also looked at some artefacts such as canopic jars, where the Egyptians stored the dead’s internal body parts and a very bizarre tool that was used to pull the brains out through the nose! We finished the day learning about Egyptian weapons and the Pharaoh’s job during wars. What a fantastic way to start our new history topic, we can’t wait to learn even more!

Such a fun way to end party day with two Christmas discos!  The children had a great time, dancing the night away and enjoying time with their friends.

Year 6 went on their Robinwood residential earlier this week and the children had an amazing time!  The children took part in a wide range of activities including canoeing, piranha pool, zip wire and trapeze.  All the children showed courage when they had to face their fears and challenge themselves.  They gave everything a really good go and had fun at the same time.  We were very proud of the children for their attitude and the leaders at Robinwood were impressed with their teamwork skills and determination.  The way the children encouraged each other throughout the activities was absolutely fantastic so they should be very proud of themselves.  Well done Year 6!