Exciting Explorations
Today, we visited The Forbidden Corner in the Yorkshire Dales. Around the gardens, we discovered a unique labyrinth of tunnels, chambers, follies and surprises. A great place to explore!
We had to work our way through the temple of the underworld, the eye of the needle, a huge pyramid made of translucent glass, paths and passages that lead nowhere, steep spiral staircases and narrow corridors. Around each corner, we found extraordinary statues. At every turn, there were decisions to make and tricks to avoid. This was a day out with a difference that challenged and delighted the adults and children alike.
Year 4 were an absolute pleasure to take out for the day and thoroughly enjoyed their day of exploration.
Take a look at a few snapshots from our adventures.
School Council elections
Our School Council elections will take place tomorrow, Thursday, 19 October. All children have the opportunity to vote at our polling station using the following instructions.
Before voting, please read the following:
- Vote once for one person.
- Place one X only on this ballot paper beside the name of the candidate you have chosen.
- Do not write or mark anything else on the ballot paper; if you do, your paper will be invalid and your vote will not be counted.
- When you have marked the ballot paper, fold the paper and place it in the box provided.
Votes will be counted tomorrow and our new School Council will be announced at the end of the day. This will be made up of two children from each class with the highest number of votes.
Good luck to all our candidates.
City of Leeds basketball
City of Leeds basketball club recently led a PE session for Year 5 and delivered our basketball after-school club in the summer term.
Here are details of their sessions available locally.
There is also a new girls-only session at Allerton High School on Monday evenings, 6pm – 7.30pm, ages 7 – 14 years. The first two sessions are free and then it is £5 pay to play.
Bonfire themed menu
Catering Agency, our school meal provider, will be running a special themed menu on Friday 03 November. Please contact the office, before Wednesday 18 October, if your child would like a school dinner on this day.
- Posh dogs in finger rolls or Vegetarian meatballs in finger rolls
- Curly fries
- BBQ baked beans
- Rocket lolly
- Fresh fruit and yogurt
Stranded!
Golden sand glistened in the sunlight, while waves gently danced upon the shore. High in the sky, seabirds drift on a warm, salty breeze.
Sounds perfect – doesn’t it?
All is not as it seems!
Seating beneath a towering, palm tree, Mr Owen wonders how on earth he is ever going to get off this solitary, desert island.
Bright and bold, the piercing fire ball blazes down on his sore, aching back. It blinds him, making him feel weak and weary. As the marooned, skeletal man clambers to his feet, a familiar scent of the salty sea catches his nose, reminding him of home. The endless fish and chip suppers he would enjoy with his treasured family, just a memory away.
Surrounded by water but not a drop to drink, Mr Owen decided to take action. He HAD to escape this unforgiving paradise!
Year 4 to the rescue!
Your task is to build a raft that is stable, secure and can float. You must ensure you choose your natural materials carefully and use your expertise to bind the sections together. Not only that, you will need to ensure that your raft will float. Test it when complete and use five marbles as cargo.
Time is running out! You HAVE to rescue Mr Owen!
After planning a raft, Year 4 selected their materials and set to work.
The children were able to secure their models using techniques such as winding, weaving, knotting and sealing.
Next, it was time to see whether the rafts would float and be able to take a certain weight. To make this a fair test we all used five marbles. We checked for balance, floating and sinking. It was a very windy day yesterday, which meant that we could also test the sails on the rafts. Mr Owen may encounter a storm or two on his journey home.
Success!
Mr Owen is homeward bound!
School council elections
Our school council elections will take place next Thursday 19 October.
In an assembly this week, our current school councillors told us what characteristics are needed to be an effective school councillor.
These included:
- use all the 8 Rs for learning
- be respectful
- help others
- be a good speaker and listener (to members of your class and in the meetings)
- tell the truth
- be confident with your ideas
- accept the views of others even if you don’t agree
- be friendly and approachable
- make good choices in class and around school
Watch out for the whole school homework this week all about the election and democracy.
Sail away!
In class, we’ve been studying the famous explorer, Christopher Columbus. Having learnt where he travelled to and how his journeys were funded, we now wanted to explore how he and his crew travelled. Year 4 looked closely at the three ships that were used for Christopher Columbus’s first voyage. We then examined some images of those vessels used on that exploration.
How were they made? Where did everyone sleep? What happened to the ship in bad weather?
This led us to thinking about how to sketch a ship, focusing closely on the shape and the size.
We explored ideas and collected visual and other information to help us to develop our work. Using these resources, we set to work on sketching the outline of a ship. To begin with, we used whiteboards and pens to follow a tutorial online. Working alongside an artist, helped to get a starting point for our own drawings. Care, attention to detail, patience and determination were just some of the skills shown during this lesson.
I’m sure you will agree that this artwork is just superb and incredibly lifelike!
We will be displaying this work in our shared area.
Posted here are some examples by the proud artists!
When complete, the children were then able to carefully add colour.
Assembly
Thank you to all who attended our assembly today.
The children have worked hard to prepare for this and have practised speaking with confidence and volume.
The song was chosen by the class and was great fun to learn! Well done to all!
Class Conscience Alley
During our Living and Learning session today, we created a thought tunnel which is also known as a ‘Conscience Alley’.
A ‘Conscience Alley‘ is a useful technique for exploring any kind of dilemma faced by a character, providing an opportunity to analyse a decisive moment in greater detail. The class forms two lines facing each other.
The children take on two contrasting viewpoints to provide a tunnel of thoughts for the character to travel through. The character then walks between two rows of children (the alley). Each side offers alternative advice representing the conscience of the character. At the end of the row, the character has to make a decision based on which side was more convincing.
We linked this activity to our class novel ‘Robinson Crusoe’. Here is the dilemma faced by the stranded explorer.
‘After weeks of believing he was alone, Crusoe spotted footprints in the sand. These were much larger than his own. Was there human life on this desert island? Considering his safety, Crusoe turned the idea of following the footprints around in his head. Was it a risk worth taking? His life could be at stake!’
As Robinson travelled through the alley, he was offered advice to aid his decision. He was given suggestions for going and for not going.
Here are just a few of the suggestions.
“Don’t go it may be dangerous.”
“You must explore these footprints they could help you.”
“I suggest you go but take your weapons.”
“It would be good to go as there may be food.”
“This is your one chance to freedom. You must go.”
“It’s not a good idea.”
“It could be dangerous!”
“I think you need to risk it. It may be a survivor from the ship.”
Robinsoe Crusoe decided it was a risk he needed to take. It may be his way off the island.
After-school clubs – it’s not too late to sign up
Our Autumn term after-school clubs start next week for 8 weeks.
We do have some spaces available so please contact the office if you would like your child/children to take part.
Clubs on offer include hockey, multi-sports, multi-skills, dance, gymnastics, cookery, Lego Club and Code Club.