To celebrate International Women's Day 2018, the whole school thought about how we can challenge gender stereotypes.   There was some super discussion about how we can unintentionally stereotype men and women be using statements such as 'Man up', 'Boy's don't cry' and 'You throw like a girl'.  All year groups focused on the stories of some inspirational women such as Florence Nightingale, Mary Kingsley (the explorer), Amelia Earhart, Nicola Adams and Malala Yousazaind.  Some children examined educational opportunities for girls around the world and were shocked to find out that there are still parts of the world where women cannot vote.  Overall it was a really though provoking day and we hope it increased the children's understanding that they can all do any job they aspire to and they all have the right to be treated fairly in every aspect of life, no matter what their gender.

We managed to stay open over all the snow days and not only have we done lots of learning , we've also had some great fun in the snow.  The children have made snowmen, snow angels and had fun snowball fights.  It was great to have lots of parents join up for fun in the snow one afternoon too!

Springbank kicked off their World Book Day celebrations this week with a visit from the author, Phil Earle.  Phil came to speak to the children about his life as an author and what inspired him to become a writer.  Phil was nominated recently for the Leeds Book Awards - his novel 'Demolition Dad' ended up in the top five for KS2 fiction.  Phil talked the children through his inspirations for writing (mostly to do with putting technology down and looking at what is happening around you!) and also how the very last thing he ever wanted to be a school was a writer - or anything to do with books! It was a fantastic opportunity to be inspired by a real-life writer and hopefully for the children to realise that anyone can tell a good story - no matter who you are! 

Year 4 enjoyed a fantastic two night residential to Lineham Farm.  Activities included an opportunity for the children to face their fears by scrambling up a climbing wall with six different challenge levels, some woodland mountain biking that included a vast array of different skill-level tracks and a trip to the depths of the woods to learn bushcraft survival skills (including fire building, shelter construction, trapping and camp etiquette). There was also a chance to learn about the farm itself, care for the animals and a night walk under the stars.

When the children weren't enjoying the activities they had the chance to relax with friends in the on-site games room and chill out in the library and lounge area.  We had a truly fantastic time and everyone came away having learned some new skills and some valuable life lessons.  Thanks go to Lineham Farm and their wonderful staff for making the experience such a fabulous one, as well as the Springbank staff who joined the Year 4's on their amazing adventure.