Month: May 2022

Within Art, Class 2 have been using clay to sculpt and decorate their own clay vessel. This was in relation to one of their recent History topics, Ancient Egypt. The pupils individually researched and designed their own clay vessel to replicate the vessels which the Ancient Egyptians would have made and used to store organs from mummified pharaohs within the tombs. Once made and dried out, the pupils had an opportunity to decorate them. This was done with acrylic paints and has allowed all the children’s own artistic styles to shine through whilst reflecting the historical context of the pieces.

Today, Class 1 had their class assembly. This half term, the pupils are focusing on compassion, therefore this was their main focus of Class 1’s assembly this morning.

Together they read ‘Hugless Douglas’. This is a sweet story about a bear who wakes up one morning in need of a hug, so he goes out in search of one. This allowed for the pupils to have an open conversation about times when they felt like they were in need of a hug, and about how we can offer compassion to others when they are having a bit of a bad day, or feeling down.

This ended up with a whole class hug! It definitely got our day started off right and put a smile on everyone’s face!

Our first club of the week starts with Woodwork Club! Run and supervised by Mrs Umpleby, class 1 use their creativity and sawing skills to create their own individual wooden sculptures by using clamps, saws and hammers. Their most recent project has been making a hedgehog house together which can now be found outside in the field, where the children can check up on it regularly to see if we’ve had any visitors! 🦔

As part of their PSHE, pupils from KS2 have been taking part in Yoga session at Dent Meditation Centre each Friday afternoon for a 3 week period. This opportunity to explore how being calm, still and mindful can help pupils’ wellbeing has been very welcome.

Year 5 & 6 pupils, in particular, have enjoyed learning more about how breathing and movement can help them to develop an understanding of their own bodies and what actions they can take to promote their own wellbeing.

The school has a longstanding tradition of using this space to develop pupil’s wellbeing and we are pleased to taken the first steps in reinvigorating that tradition.

A big ‘thank you’ to the Meditation Centre for providing the sessions.

Part of our school vision is that pupils are equipped to serve others, both during their time as pupils and after they leave.

This year we wanted to review the charitable activities that we take part in, to make sure that when we do things to help others: a) we are making the biggest difference that we can, and b) we are all helping pupils to understand how they can make a difference in a sustainable way.

For those reasons, the staff and Pupil Parliament devided to choose a single charity to support throughout the year, and having decided to do that we settled on UNICEF.

As well as supporting UNICEF, which is making a real difference to the lives of children around the world, we registered to become a Rights Respecting School, which means we are building our understanding of children’s rights through the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

We are very pleased to have been awarded the Rights Respecting School Bronze Award to recognise the steps we have already taken and the actions we have planned to make sure that the whole community knows, understands and promotes the human rights that all children should have!

Well done to the Pupil Parliament who have been the steering group for this and who helped to complete the necessary self-evaluation and action plan.

During the past few weeks, Class 1 have been busy planning and conducting their own science experiment. Within science, they are looking at the ‘structure of plants’ and ‘what plants need to grow and stay healthy’. They have therefore decided to see how plants grow (starting with a seed) in different conditions. Together they agreed to place the plants in various different locations around the school, such as the windowsill, a dark cupboard and the staff room fridge. These plants have constant checks throughout the week and the KS1 pupils are recording their own findings. The class are also having regular discussions about them to promote language skills, comparing the conditions their plants are growing in and the difference in growth.

Whilst living in the beautiful Yorkshire Dales, we can’t not take advantage and get outside into the outdoors and explore! Run by Georgiana, an avid bird enthusiast and ecologist, Nature Club takes the children on adventures that connect them with the environment around them. A recent adventure included heading down to the local river, with the pupils conducting their own phosphate-level investigation to see how healthy the River Dee is and what wildlife they could find! 🐟 Many more adventures to come!