As a year group we visited Dogger Bank which is North East England’s offshore wind cluster. We learned about how companies such as Equinor are working hard to revolutionise renewable energy with wind farms using the awesome power of the North Sea wind. It was very interesting and aspirational too with lots of children learning about a range of jobs and company benefits in this industry. This trip linked well to our Geography topic ‘Energy’ but also with STEM too.
Year 4 visited Father Thompson at All Saints Church to learn about why Lent is such an important period for Christians. We noticed that the church was decorated in purple, looked at a crown of thorns and pictures on the walls depicting, the stations of the cross, which tells the story of Jesus carrying his cross and being crucified.
Rachel from Science Buddies visited year 6 in Science Week to discuss experiments linked to ‘time’. We look at instantaneous results like touching a plasma ball, quick results like how to suck an egg into a flask using a lit match and then a longer time investigation which involved the melting time of chocolate, jelly, ice and butter in hot water and observing how water walks over time.
Katie came in during Science week and Year 5 had a go at being chemists. We learned about equipment such as beakers, test tubes and pipettes and how to use them successfully to get accurate results. We were talked about acids and alkalis and how they react with the same liquid (vinegar) which was used as an indicator. We were challenged to make certain colours by using different levels of acid and alkali.
Today a scientist, Katie from Science Buddies, visited our class to help us learn more about our theme of ‘Time’. We completed three experiments with baking powder (our alkaline). One was mixed with water, one with lemon juice (acid) and the other with vinegar (acid). Then we timed the experiments, for one minute, to find out which ones gave out the most carbon dioxide and inflated the balloon to the largest size.
Katie from Science Buddies came in to work with us on activities linked to time. First of all she showed us how to operate a stop watch. We then measured some alkali powder into a beaker, measured 10ml of acid (white vinegar) in a syringe and added this to the powder. We timed how long it took to dissolve. We then stretched a balloon with a balloon pump and used a funnel to put more powder inside the balloon. Katie helped us to use a funnel to pour more of the vinegar into a plastic bottle. The balloon was placed over the top of the bottle and lifted up. We observed the balloon inflate in 1 minute.
Wow! How fantastic! Nolan and his parent completed the child-parent challenge during our school Science week that everyone was sent home with the option to do. He was so proud to come and show me the fabulous science he had been getting up to at home and said that the lemonade he made was the most glorious and delicious lemonade he had ever tasted! Perhaps he could be a lemonade entrepreneur of the future! It is wonderful when children and parents work together to take science outside of the classroom!
What a super star junior scientist!
This year’s World Book Day was focused on how children are more likely to enjoy reading when their choices are championed and we make reading fun.
Children and staff were encouraged to wear a costume relating to a book character.
For the full day lessons were focused around WBD. As part of this pupils were given the opportunity to take part in a school competition where they had to create a blurb and a front cover for a book that they would like to read. Additionally, they could enter another competition for which their entries will be sent away, this involved them design a national book token.
As part of World Book Day an author called Paula Fowler visited our school to tell us what inspired her to start to write books. She lives locally and is a self-published author of Wizard Beano and Pals.
We had great fun finding out about the two books she has written so far and finding out about the characters in her stories and how she created them. The themes of the stories are friendship, adventure, helping save the planet and looking after our wellbeing. We also found out a little bit about the book she is currently writing.
Year 5 and Year 6 visited the Vertu Motors Newcastle Eagles arena to look at how STEM is involved in everything we do in sport. We looked at data analytics and watched a video to work out shooting percentages. We then carried out our own on-court experiment where we had to shoot and work out or own percentage of shots made compared to shots taken. We also considered the effect that forces have on dribbling, passing and shooting as well as the importance of technology and engineering in developing the correct footwear.
On Friday the 8th March the winning basketball team played a semi-final game against Forest View. Unfortunately we lost and got knocked out. However, it was a great experience. We stayed to watch a Newcastle Eagles match and we all received a medal.
