WOW Learning!
As part of our Signs of Spring topic, Sailors, Divers and Cavers have been learning about a Hindu festival called Holi. We found out that Holi is a celebration of Spring, love and colours. We had lots of fun, and got a bit messy, during our own Holi Festival in our playground.
Balloonists have loved getting involved in our new topic already- Scrumdiddlyumptious! We have started the topic with a memorable experience to the farm shop! We bought some tasty food which we used to cook with, and the shop also let us try some tasters there too! We had lots of fun and enjoyed talking about it the next day too!
Adventurers have been working hard in RE this term learning about the importance of symbols. First the students looked at how logos and symbols are used in our world, eg. manufacturers’ logos. We then learned about the different symbols which represent the six key faiths (Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Sikhism, Hinduism and Judaism). The students created some amazing art work using chalk on black paper which are on display in our classroom. We specifically learned about Sikhism and how the ‘Five Ks’ are important symbols within the Sikh faith.
During our topic Playlist, Pioneers have worked really hard to learn different genres of music, showing opinion and preference in making choices of what music to listen to. We have also been doing some really hard work learning onomatopoeia words. Pioneers took the time to decorate onomatopoeia words in artist styles that correspond with the word, using their initiative and amazing knowledge, for example, splatting paint to splat music, or sprinkling glitter to make a sprinkling sound. Pioneers have been able to associate words with noises and recreate these independently.
Balloonists have been enjoying all things woodland in the classroom and outside the classroom! We have been learning all about different woodland animals and the types of dens, nests and setts that they live in! The students enjoyed designing their own dens, exploring the different materials and creating one themselves!
Pilots have been enjoying all things woodland in the classroom and outside the classroom! We have been discovering the features that make up a woodland and going out in the community to find them. Pilots have loved learning about what makes a woodlands unique and have been continuing to ask their scientific questions…why is that? What would happen if?
Key Stage 2 Woodlands
(Balloonists, Pilots, Astronauts)
This Spring term, students from key stage 2 have explored a variety of materials found in a woodland environment. Each student has had the opportunity to create some fantastic, very tactile and sensory based items of work. These include a woodland collage, a tree Bogart/owl, made with clay, a modroc toad stool. These items are going to be used in a school display within the school. Students have shown individual creativity and independent work this term.
Well done guys!
Penny.
Globetrotters and Trailblazers – King Lear
(Drama, Music, English)
As part of the Coram Shakespeare Schools Foundation Theatre Festival, students from Globetrotters and Trailblazers performed their version of King Lear to an audience at The Capitol Theatre. The process began with learning the story, then auditioning for parts, before lots of rehearsing, learning lines and practicing with costumes, hair and make-up. The students told the famous story of King Lear alongside powerful music including Stormzy’s ‘Heavy is the Head’ and Prince’s ‘Purple Rain’. Everyone loved having the opportunity to perform in a theatre and the final performance was a huge success!
Sailors and Beachcombers Class have been enjoying learning about Diwali. We have made Diwali lamps using clay, cooked samosas and practiced Diwali Rangoli patterns with Numicon. We enjoyed practicing Diwali dances and made patterns with coloured rice!
Globetrotters – Developing Community Participation Skills
The Salvation Army
Globetrotters students delivered the school Harvest donations to The Salvation Army where they were gratefully received! The staff explained to us that people in the community benefit from our donations and really appreciate them. We all felt good that we had been able to give back to our local community.
This week we prepared for our medieval banquet. We decorated shields and made invites and chose music. We then prepared mushroom pastries, chicken drumsticks in a marinade, cheese and pickles and various other medieval snacks. We then all came together to celebrate and explored a medieval village on the VR.
Sailors Topic Work
(Forest Schools, Bucket Time, Sensory Play, Literacy, Maths)
As part of our topic ‘Are Carrots Orange’ Sailors class enjoyed engaging in a range of activities from practising our mark making with brushes in coco powder to exploring leaves, vegetables and other natural items in our sensory tuff tray. We also enjoyed weighing different vegetables using our balance scales and identifying which vegetable was the heaviest or lightest! As part of our Bucket time session, we put out a pretend bonfire with water sprays! We also had the opportunity to visit Forest Schools, mark making in paint using herbs and sticks, developing our physical development through climbing and most of all enjoying playing alongside one another and having the freedom to explore!
Bird Boxes
(Globetrotters, Art, Outreach, College)
Six students from Globetrotters have been attending weekly outreach sessions at The Butterfly Project where they have made their own bird boxes. They began by designing their boxes, then cut all the pieces of wood themselves. Next they sanded the wood before assembling their boxes. Finally they painted their designed. The students loved using all of the equipment and learning the different processes involved with woodwork. The finished products are fantastic!
(Beachcombers, Sensory Story)
(Beachcombers)
We have been exploring our senses in our topic, the Scented Garden. We have been using our sense of taste and smell to explore and describe different types of plants. After learning about Helen Keller, some of us tried wearing ear defenders or blindfolds to find out how losing a sense can change how we experience the world.
We have been learning about plants and plant based diets. We were curious about whether animals eat plant based diets too so we went to Tilgate Nature Centre to find out more. We found out information from the signs and observing the animals in their enclosures. Some of us learned that plant eating animals are called herbivores and spotted herbivores, carnivores and omnivores around the centre.
(Astronauts, Literacy)
Astronauts class love to read! We enjoy choosing our own books from the library and exploring our own interests. Astronauts class like to read with adults, friends and on their own. We are always keen to read more so if you would like to volunteer, please contact the school to come and read with us!
Diwali
(Astronauts, RE)
Astronauts class created their own Diya lamps for Diwali, using clay and paint. We looked at pictures of Diya lamps and talked about the colours used. We read the story of Rama and Sita to learn about why lights are important parts of the celebration. We used pinch pot techniques to create our pots then used inspiration from our Diya lamp pictures to choose colours to paint them.
Money
(Astronauts, Maths)
In Spring term, we have been learning about money and developing our money skills. We set up a shop and chose animals we would like to buy. We used a variety of coins to make different amounts and some of us learned how to give change too.
(Astronauts)
February is LGBT+ History Month! We learned about what LGBT stands for and talked about why it is good to all be different. We looked at the pride flag and talked about how important it is to be proud of who you are. We worked independently or with a friend to make our own rainbows to show our pride!
As part of our topic, The Scented Garden, we have been learning about lots of different plants. We learned about where our food comes from and different types of diets, including plant-based diets. Astronauts class were set a challenge to make their own plant based meal! The children chose recipes they wanted to make, created shopping lists and used their money skills to buy ingredients at Sainsbury’s. In school, they followed the recipes to make plant based pizzas and pancakes!
(Astronauts, Computing, Coding)
Astronauts have been working on programming mousebots using simple commands. Some of us have been learning how to create an algorithm, a set of instructions, to tell the mousebot what to do. We have also been looking at how to spot and solve problems in our code.
Globetrotters and the Senior department had an amazing day with 'Daisy First Aid' coming in and teaching us all valuable life saving skills. We enjoyed the CPR best!
Pioneers class had the most amazing day exploring money, patterns and number on this years 'Number Day' we also loved getting dressed up and being super mathematicians for the day!
(Seniors, Trailblazers, Pioneers, Science, Topic)
Seniors have been learning about the digestive system of a cow in science! He they are creating models of the ruminant digestive system using different coloured playdough. The had great fun working together to create their models and were able to explain what each part of the system was for!
Pilots Class went to the local garden centre, as part of their new topic ‘The Scented Garden’. They explored the different plants on sale and all showed brilliant safety and independence skills in the local community.
Digestive System & Teeth
(Adventurers, Topic, Science)
Adventurers class have been learning about the digestive system. We have placed organs inside an outline of a body. Asked Jenny questions about being a dental hygienist. Practiced using a tooth brush and demonstrating good oral hygiene and have explored a balanced diet.
Trailblazers carried out an experiment to show how different drinks affect our teeth. We played pieces of eggshell in water, coffee, tea, coke, milk and undiluted squash and left them for a week! We monitored the changes each day and recorded these on our recording sheet. We found out that the eggshell changed the least in water and it changed the most in coffee- it went brown!
(Globetrotters, Art, Topic, Science)
As part of our new topic ‘Gallery Rebels’ we have been investigating how coloured ink is made up of lots of different colours. We used a process called Chromatography to separate the ink into different colours. We began by cutting kitchen roll into strips, drawing on a line of coloured ink and then dipping it into water. As the water was soaked up the ink began to separate out revealing the component colours.
Students across the school had the opportunity to take part in "Wildheart", an immersive sensory show presented by Different Planet Arts and Same Sky. The show was presented in our Studio, which was converted to a magical forest for the duration!
The show is described by Different Planet Arts as "a fun, tactile, interactive themed installation space, crafted to stimulate the senses of participants, through sound, light, colour, texture and play. Our specialist performers and facilitators will take the form of magical characters of the Wildwood who explore and animate the installation with storytelling, theatre, film, music, play and puppetry, following the lead of the participants.
The performances are aimed and tailored to children and adolescents with complex needs and SLD, but open to all. The environment specifically caters for the physical needs of participants, creating a safe, secure and creative space. We have worked closely with MENCAP, Scope, Autism Sussex, advocacy charities such as Amaze and parent groups in developing...Wildheart."
(Divers, DT, Art, Topic, Computing)
(Seniors, Adventurers, Pilots, Trailblazers, Topic)
Seniors visited Horsham term to kick off our Urban Pioneers topic. We asked people questions about why they like Horsham and what they would change. We visited significant places such as the band stand and made sketches. We also looked at the amazing art work by the station to get some inspiration for our art.