Today the children in EYFS had a wonderful time going to the Junior School hall to listen to children in Years 3 and 4 sing Dear World. This song was written by Key Stage Two children in their previous expedition that explored the importance of looking after our planet.
In their current expedition the children in EYFS are learning all about sea conservation and the need to recycle plastic waste so it was a perfect opportunity to listen again to Dear World and the poignant message it has. Thank you to the Junior School for a fantastic performance, the legacy of your beautiful work lives on!
Class Five have blown me away today with their Geography skills. We started by thinking about the differences between human and physical features. We worked collaboratively to sort images into the two groups, we kept reflecting and changing our minds the more we went through the construct part of our lesson. Finally we used our learning to identify these features on different maps of Doncaster.
We were so lucky to end our week with some more experts. We welcomed Mayor Ros Jones along with the Civic Mayor of Doncaster. We loved learning about their roles and finding out even more about Doncaster. We are looking forward to using our learning to answer our guiding question for this term – Diverse Doncaster – Where do I belong?
We have been working really hard during hook week learning all about position and direction. We used positional language to direct people around Doncaster and we used Donny Dog to learn about turns and clockwise and anticlockwise.
Class 2 have been very excited about finding out about creatures that live under the sea. They wanted to make a giant octopus to display in the classroom and worked really hard collaboratively over two days to achieve the finished product. Great teamwork Class 2!
The children have enjoyed hooking into our new expedition ‘What happens where the sea meets the shore?’ We have been busy immersing our classroom and have been very creative…
The children have used their drawing skills to draw a fish. We then critiqued our work in crew, being kind and specific so we know how to make them even better on our next draft!
We’ve had a great first week back hooking into our summer term expedition titled ‘What happens where the sea meets the shore?’.
We have been reading Commotion in the Ocean by Giles Andreae and learning some really interesting facts about lot of different sea creatures. Did you know that an octopus has three hearts and blue blood? The children in Class Two do!
This stimulated lots of exciting discussions about how we could immerse our classroom to represent out new expedition. The children chose to make an octopus along with lots of other sea creatures! Beautiful work Class Two!
Being Human – Beautiful Speeches from XP Gateshead
The G29 students speeches answering our guiding question “What does it mean to be human?” is now live on our website.
You can listen again and relive the POL speeches here!
This beautiful work is also available to visitors to the QE Hospital at the Windy Nook Entrance via a QR code on the art installation. This is important work matters, raising awareness of the importance of organ donation. A work that chimes with Olivias’ concluding remarks to our POL.
“…being human is about our social structures and relationships. How we connect, understand each other and have a sense of understanding and acceptance for ourselves and others. We build our world through our memories and experience to decide where we want to go in the future. Humans grow through our community and others around us.”
XP Y9 Fieldwork to Thackray Museum
The Power of Change @ Carcroft
In Spring 2024, students from Years 5 and 6 at Carcroft School embarked on an Expedition to explore the 19th century’s impact on our lives today, examining whether its influence has been positive or negative. Students immersed themselves in the era by creating African pattern-inspired book bindings and sculptures. They delved into the work of British-Nigerian artist Yinka Shonabare to understand cultural identity and globalisation. The history case study focused on the British Empire, particularly its effects on South Africa and the Zulu people, comparing Victorian society with Zulu society and discussing the legacy of these interactions. The science component of the Expedition related these historical impacts to the concepts of reversible and irreversible changes, using chemistry to draw parallels between the societal changes and scientific processes.
The Expedition’s culmination was an art exhibition-style event where students showcased sculptures inspired by Yinka Shonabare, reflecting on cultural identity and personal, cultural, or ethnic adaptation in an ever-changing world. This final product, along with literacy-based assessments and case study reflections, demonstrated the students’ learning and understanding of the 19th century’s influence. Throughout the Expedition, a diverse range of texts, including graphic novels and classic literature, enriched the students’ experience. Despite limitations on fieldwork due to economic conditions, video calls with South African residents offered insights into the lasting impacts of the British Empire on the Zulu people, enhancing the students’ global perspective and understanding of historical legacies.
Highlights from UKS2’s COL @ Plover
In the last week of term, students in UKS2 at Plover celebrated their work from their Expedition ‘The Power of Change’. Their guiding question was ‘How did the 19th century influence our lives today?’ and their final product explored significant locations in Doncaster, creating a history trail for members of the community to follow to learn more about the City’s history.
‘How will what I do today impact the world tomorrow?’ @ Norton Infants
Last term, students in KS1 at Norton infants explored ocean pollution – contrasting clean and polluted waters and their effects on wildlife, leading to local litter collection activities and artistic recycling projects, culminating in a family event promoting the reduction of single-use plastics. They delved into the science of this by examining the characteristics of living and non-living entities, focusing on animal needs and dietary types, and assessing human impacts on ecosystems, resulting in a detailed report on local fauna. Their geographical studies spanned identifying global continents, oceans, and specific habitats, enhanced by a narrative exercise based on “Somebody Swallowed Stanley.” Art skills were honed through various mediums in creating a sculpture and alternate story settings from “The Tin Forest.”
The students’ final product drew together learning from all three of these case studies. They created these activity booklets, which contain examples of beautiful artwork and written information, and include activities for children to complete – here’s a sample of their work below!
We would like to donate these booklets to local places so that children can complete them whilst they are out in our community! If this is something that you feel you would like copies of, we can send them to you! Please send an email to [email protected] and we will organise sending them to you!
