On Thursday 20th May Lower IV visited Crossley Heath Grammar School as part of their ongoing learning this term about library and thinking skills. 24 children and 3 members of staff had a very pleasant walk in the sunshine to and from Crossley Heath to visit their Learning Resource Centre (LRC).

The LRC at Crossley Heath is an area which combines a library, multi-media, magazines and newspapers, as well as linking their VLE (Virtual Learning Environment), which is a system that pupils can use to complete some of their homework on line and send it direct to their teachers. It even lets children do their photocopying and printing as well as allowing them to buy their pencils, rubbers, rulers when they might have mislaid them at home!

Mrs Taylor, who is responsible for looking after the LRC, very kindly took us through the school and told us some of its very interesting history, as well as explaining how the LRC works. On the way to the LRC, the children enjoyed looking at some fantastic art exhibitions throughout the school, which had been displayed at last week’s art show . The children were provided with tasks to complete, by finding books and magazines in a very big LRC, and asked some very interesting questions.

Charlie and Edward managed to hunt out a copy of the Rugby magazine from the LRC, which particularly made their day. James, Carmen and Hannah had fun  trying on some of the old school hats that were part of the uniform many years ago. Dylan and Angus swiftly sorted out the computer catalogue system, whilst you will see many of the other children enjoying reading books and magazines. Mrs Taylor showed Freya and Ruby a fabulous scrap book which contains cuttings and notes from many years ago when the boarders and orphans wrote about their trips and visits to local places.

 All of us had a wonderful time and were only disappointed to learn that we couldn’t spend more time at the school.

As the children enjoy playing with the skipping ropes so much, Mrs. Choy decided to introduce them to group skipping.

Queuing patiently!

It is proving very popular, especially with LIV who after initially struggling, now seem to have mastered it.

Who knows? We might try Dutch and French skipping after Easter.

In science, Lower 4 are currently working on the ‘Keeping Warm’ topic. The children learn all about conductors, insulators and measuring temperature. They recently undertook an investigation to test how good different materials are at slowing down the melting process. They were given a variety of materials such as tin foil, felt, bubble wrap and foam and challenged to keep their frozen hand intact for as long as possible. As the pictures show, some of the groups were more successful than others!

Measuring the temperature of the frozen hand.

Ouch! Broken fingers!

How can I stop this from melting?

Mmmmmm maybe these will help?

Trying out different materials.

 Maybe the bubble wrap will do the trick?

The big melt begins!

Maybe you could try this?

The children in Lower IV were extremely fortunate to spend a recent science lesson in the company of some very special visitors.  Thanks to one of our pupils, who is a big fan of all things creepy and crawly, the children were able to learn all about stick insects as part of their work on habitats.  As the pictures show, these friendly little creatures made quite an impression and got very close to some of the braver children.

This brave young man prepares to introduce the visitors to the class.

One of our visitors has stage fright!

This one seems to like our uniform!

Our guest teacher for the afternoon!

This is what a stick insect egg looks like.

Another of the friendly creature meets the class!

They really do like the uniform!

The tie is not bad either!

They really aren’t too attractive!

We have been on a trip to Shibden Hall as part of our history topic on the Tudors. At the hall we met Mistress Jane and Lady Agnes who told us lots of interesting things and showed us around the hall. We completed inventories for ’strange’ household objects and made pomanders and herb bags called ‘tussy mussies’.  We had a fantastic time and none of us wanted to leave!

Recently the children in Lower 4 have been spending time using their skills to solve all sorts of interesting mathematical problems. The photographs show the children attempting to make numbers as they would appear in a digital display, using a maximum of only 7 headless matches. They found that by working together and applying logic to the problem, it was possible to make every digit.

The children had a wonderfully exciting morning thanks to Mrs Wilson. As part of their work in Thinking, Mrs Wilson organised an orienteering exercise based on the environment. Children were given a number of clues which, if correctly followed, would lead them to a series of letters dotted around the school playground. They worked efficiently in pairs to solve the clues and complete the challenge. Teachers and staff were exhausted by the time the winning pair, Marmaduke and Jasmine, finally solved the puzzle!

Last year, with the help of the green fingered Mr. Kirkham, the children had the opportunity to make a contribution in the wonderful school garden. As the pictures show, the children recently had a chance to reap the harvest of their efforts. They were delighted that they yielded a bumper crop of potatoes.

We went on our history trip to Shibden Hall - we are learning about Henry VIII and the Tudors. At the hall we met Mistress Jane and Lady Agnes - the ladies of the Manor! We had a wonderful time, we were shown around the house, completed inventories for ’strange’ household objects and made pomanders and herb bags. All too soon it was over but we will always remember our ‘Tudor experience.’

Money Containers

The children have recently undertaken a project to design and produce their own money containers. Ideas ranged from purses and wallets through to money boxes and safes. The following pictures show some of the children taking the first steps to make their designs.

 
‘This needle threading is trickier than it looks!’

 
‘Deep concentration required to sew this material!’

‘I think I am finally getting somewhere with this!’

‘Actually, this sewing can be quite good fun!’

 
‘The first stage of our design production is complete!’