Welcome to Beech class
In Literacy groups some of Beech have completed studying Buddy by Nigel Hinton looking at bullying and racism before studying Of Mice and Men John Steinbeck's classic. They looked at the main characters and the themes in the book, mainly loneliness, comradeship, racism and disability, the highlight for the pupils was acting out the fight between Lenny and Curly. Other pupils have been studying Read Write Inc 'Bill Brights Fishing Trip' and 'The Yellow Lamp'. They have been looking at how words are phonically built, high frequency words, tricky words, building sentences and reading and enjoying the story. The highlight has been the significant improvement in the confidence of the group including their reading skills and spelling.
In Math's pupils have completed studying algebra before looking at area and perimeter. This included irregular shapes and patterns. They have also studied angles, triangles and angles beyond 360 degrees. They enjoyed the probability topic which included stats on roulette and cards. Some of the class have studied multiplication up to 10 times tables. They have been working hard on the concepts of times, calendar money and coins too. This includes a practical session shopping for Fridays cooking of our lunch.
The whole class have been involved in ICT research looking at places to visit locally and around the UK. They loved the 'My Favorite Holiday' topic and produced fabulous brochures. In music we have worked with Sue starting to make our own blues song from scratch including a rhythm section and our own lyrics. Some of the class have been involved in clearing up the quad and starting to plant vegetables for the allotment as the weather warms up.
We have spent a lot of time on Monday studying healthy living. This term, we have looked at personal hygiene including washing our bodies and hair. We did a survey of what products the students used to help them smell better and also looked at the effects of looking after our teeth and what products to use. As part of healthy living we looked at personal space and relationships. The students participated well in these lessons and were frank and open about what they felt was appropriate. We have introduced reflective circle times, one on our walk through Skipton Woods and one midweek where we approach positive aspects of the students day/work/relationships. These have been effective and we helped with conflict resolution . The students love the walk through Skipton Woods and along the canal, they chat and laugh all morning including to members of the public out walking their dogs .As the weather improves will will increase the distance we cover and vary the routes accordingly. The walk fits into our healthy living curriculum.
On Friday we initially cooked a shepherds pie dish before coking a stir fry for Chinese New Year. The students are involved in choosing, shopping and budgeting as well as cooking the dish. Its always well received and everyone is involved in some way during the process. We vote on what cafe to go to on Friday using the interactive white board, the students love Friday afternoon and the cafe visit. We log the money they have on a spreadsheet and the students give a description of how they got the money.
We have been to a number of external competitive sporting events including, Wheelchair rugby, Panathalon ( the class were winners), Boccia, Netball and Cricket. They have been enthusiastic participants in all of these.
