On Wednesday 7^th July, Middle IV  were invited to The Crossley Heath School, along with the Year 5 pupils from several other local schools, for a morning of fun with languages.

They enjoyed playing games in German, learning to talk about their spare time activities.  This was followed by a session of international dancing which was great fun and got everyone on their feet, and the morning ended in one of the ICT suites, playing language games on the computers.

During ‘My money week’, Middle IV pupils considered their attitudes to money through drama activities and interactive videos.  They recognised the difference between needs and wants and discussed the pros and cons of spending and saving.  They helped two children, through the medium of an interactive video, to make wise decisions regarding their finances.

A Bank of England video taught them about the history of our currency and introduced, in simple terms, the effects of changing interest rates on borrowers and savers. 

A humorous playscript gave the children the opportunity to showcase their blossoming acting skills.  Their portrayals of parents and children squabbling over money matters were highly entertaining! Whilst having fun, they explored the importance of prioritising spending and considered the consequences of different financial choices.

Congratulations to two bright sparks in Middle IV who have reached the regional semi-finals of the Junior Language Challenge, a national competition open to all primary school children.  Having spent the last few weeks busily practising Italian through computer games, they now have the task of getting to grips with Japanese words and phrases during their summer holiday, ready for the next stage of the competition.  Good luck to both of them!

Middle IV children completed the maze challenge in double quick time, but Alicia was the speediest of all!

Middle IV children put their heads together to solve maths problems.

Children in Middle IV played ‘The Water Game’, produced by Christian Aid, to help them to think about worldwide  water issues.

Between 17^th-19^th March, Middle IV made their annual trip to Robinwood Activity Centre, just outside Todmorden.  The children were very excited, since they had heard such wonderful reports about it from previous year groups, and they were not disappointed.

The children enjoyed a varied programme including archery, canoeing, bouldering, indoor caving, climbing and abseiling.  The highly qualified and energetic instructors gently encouraged all those who were a little nervous, challenging them to stretch beyond their ‘comfort zones’.  Over and over again, children came to realise that they could achieve anything with the right amount of help and encouragement, and they were able to take pride in having overcome their fears.

Everyone had great fun learning new skills as individuals and working together as teams. All in all, it was a fabulous experience - one which will live on in memories for a long time.

Ready to hit the water.         Getting up speed.       Always busy at Robinwood.

I can squeeze through                                         Don’t let go!
very narrow gaps! 

We built this ourselves!       Watch me go!                    Easy peasy! 

  How’s that for a view?!              Up and over! 

On the way to winning Team Challenge.

 Army training.                          

Now you see me, now you don’t! 

We’ve worked up an appetite!

  Going for gold.

Harnessed up and ready to climb. 

 
Where next?

Do  we have to go home today?

 
 Just a bit windy up here!

On Friday 5^th March, the children in Middle IV visited two water treatment plants as part of their study of ‘water’ in geography and science.

They spent the morning at the clean water treatment plant at Headingley, learning about how the water extracted from local rivers and reservoirs is made safe for us to drink.

In the afternoon, they moved on to the waste water treatment plant at Esholt to see how sewage is treated to protect the environment.

Both of these plants have modern education centres where the children had the opportunity to play on computer games and conduct some experiments for themselves.

On Monday 1^st March, Middle IV enjoyed a visit from two members of the West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service.  They watched some hard-hitting DVDs : one taught them the importance of having a fire plan, ready to put into action should a fire break out in their homes; and another made them understand how important it is that no one should endanger lives by making hoax calls to the emergency services.

Fire crews spend more time dealing with road accidents than with fires, and our visitors demonstrated to the children how vital it is for everyone in a car to wear a seatbelt on every journey, however short.

Middle IV had great fun performing a scene from Johnny Ball’s humorous play, ‘The Phantom Sausage Stealer.’   They rehearsed in teams, and did a fantastic job learning their lines and providing their own props.

They have now each written two playscripts, one based on a poem, and a sequel drawn from their imagination.