creation with Year 9 and 10

On the mini bus ride to Creation all of the pupils showed an interest in exploring the skate park by discussing about previous experiences of being on a scooter. When we got there all of the pupils were given a helmet and explained why they needed to wear it to protect their heads as well as scooter. The pupils enjoyed travelling up and down the various sized ramps on the scooters at various speeds. The pupils showed an interest in demonstrating their tricks of bunny hops, spinning the whole of the scooter around as they were jumping in the air or when they were stationary for practice. The pupils worked together as a group to see who could achieve the highest jump on their scooters as they took it in turns to race along the ramps one at a time. 

The pupils supported one another by encouraging their peers to have a go on the higher ramps as they demonstrated first the safety positions of where to place their feet on the scooter and their hands on the handle bars for them to accomplish the goal of getting from one side of the ramps to the other. The pupils after having a go on the scooters enjoyed running between the different height ramps as they accomplished the goal of seeing who could reach the high and low ramps the quickest. 

sailing with Year 7B and 10

Year 7B and 10 showed an interest in sailing along the Bartley Lake. All of the pupils and staff got themselves kitted up with a wet suit, waterproof coat and a life jacket. When they were ready all of the pupils gathered together as a class and watched as the teacher demonstrated the techniques they would need to use to steer the boat left, right and straight ahead, control the sail by pulling the string in tight or loosening it and which way they thought the wind was coming with one of the pupils identifying what way the ripples in the water were travelling. After the pupils made their way to the shore as they prepared their boats by undoing the sail and placing them into the water. 

When we got to the shore all of the pupils were paired up with two in a boat. After the pupils  gathered around their boats and listened as the teacher explained that the next step was for them to work together to set the sail and place the rudder down into the water. The pupils took it in turns to climb onto their boats as the staff gave them a little push along the water to start them off. The pupils enjoyed working in their pairs by travelling in between the balls and around the edge of the lake. 

While they were sailing a couple of the pairs demonstrated how to do a capsize as they began to lost control of their sail boat. The teacher explained step by step the safety instructions of how to roll their boat back up by pushing the udder back into the middle of the boat for them to swim to the other side and climb themselves back on. 

creation with Year 10

On the minibus journey the pupils showed an interest in having a go on the scooters at Creation as they talked about what tricks they were going to do and if they could bring their own scooter or "can I bring my BMX in because I have put new wheels on it and a new crank so I will be able to show you my skills".  One pupil said "I am going to do a bunny hop" when another identified what height they were going to achieve on the scooter "I am going to do the highest group, you will see me going down the ramps really quick". 

When we got to Creation each of the pupils put on a safety helmet as we talked about why they had to wear it was to protect their heads if they fell off which was described was more likely going to happen. Each of the pupils were given a scooter. They all went off together as a group exploring different sized ramps with one pupil saying "let me show you how high I can go on this ramp". The pupil went again to see if they could go any higher which they did saying " I definitely went even higher that time". 

The pupils also enjoyed taking it in turns to travel down the ramps one at a time to create a chain reaction and see who could make the highest jump. 

Year 7A walk around Worcester Woods

The pupils showed an interest in walking around Worcester Woods pretending they were in a forest. The pupils travelled along the woodland paths and through the forest trees playing a game of penny wise. The aim of the game is for the person who is taking on the role of penny wise to achieve the goal of catching their peers out. After the pupils had explored the nature reserve they enjoyed playing on the park as they took it in turns to have a go on the slide and worked in pairs to guide one another on the swings by pushing the bottom of the seat or using the strings to see how high they could reach.

walk around Castle Morton Common with Year 10

The pupils enjoyed walking to the top of Castle Morton Common where they showed an interest in talking about the various sights of the land rover testing route as the teacher explained that the area is where people come to test out the speed and function of their land rover vehicles, walking in and out as well as through forest areas, running up and down small banks, gathering around a surge tank as a group to explore any findings with one pupil saying "let''s look inside we might see a dead body" and climbing to the edge of a historic statue.   

After we had discussed historic facts about the statue we walked back down to the bottom of the hills. The pupils then showed an interest in cooking bacon sandwiches on a gas stove. One of the pupils enjoyed taking on the role of cooking sandwiches for their peers and staff members while another pupil supported by buttering pieces of bread. The pupil began to talk about his family's jobs of working in a cafe and how they cook their bacon for their customers "my mum doesn't use a gas stove she puts it on a tray and it goes straight in a big gas oven". 

DoE expedition Bronze award with Year 9 and 10

Year 9 and 10 took part in the DoE Bronze award independent expedition where they participated in a two day canoeing adventure from Bridgnorth to Bewdley on Thursday and then Bewdley to Stourport on Friday. 

On the first day the pupils were introduced to the instructor who was going to be guiding them along the river as they sat in their pairs in their canoe's while the instructor explained how long they were going to be canoeing and what techniques they would need to use to operate the movement of the canoe by encouraging the pupils to work as a team. Next the pupils and staff members carried their canoe's to the end of the shore. 

As they got to the shore the pupils and staff members began to set off by using their paddles to push themselves from the shore. The pupils communicated between each other by allocating who was going to move their paddle on the left or the right as they started to float along the river. 

On their journey the pupils and staff members explored the adventures of travelling under bridges and through rapids of different speeds. 

Throughout the canoeing journey the pupils and staff members had regular breaks where they enjoyed eating their lunch and going for a swim as they practiced using the techniques of freestyle and backstroke.

After the first stint of canoeing the next part of the expedition was to camp over in a field while they worked in their pairs to set up tents and sleeping bags as that was what they were going to be sleeping in for the one night. Next the pupils took on the role of cooking their own burgers and sausages on two gas stoves. 

The next day the pupils and staff members cooked breakfast of a bacon and egg sandwich, dismantled their tents and sleeping bags, and then set back off for the last part of the canoeing journey to Stourport. 

Primary 1 walked along Wesley Hills and explored the park

The pupils showed an interest in walking to the top of Wesley Hills. When we got there the teacher explained to the pupils that in the distance was the Malvern Hills. They communicated between one another about having a 10 metres running race to see who could run to one end and then back to the starting point the quickest. Next we continued to walk by travelling in a different direction of walking to the bottom of the hills where the pupils enjoyed running down as a group. We followed the path which led back to the top as the pupils talked about what sights they could see. One pupil said "I feel like I am in a forest with all of these trees and muddy tree rots". After the pupils enjoyed exploring the park where they worked together to climb along the wooden obstacle frame, climb to the top of the rock climbing wall and took it in turns to have a go at moving the see saw up and down in pairs.

Year 9 practicing to set up a tent for their DoE expedition

When we got to RSS the pupils each carried the tent's and the gas stove bottles. As we got to the outside area the teacher explained that the aim of the lesson was for the pupils to set up the tents individually and to then cook the bacon on the stove for a sandwich. The teacher next talked about what equipment will be involved in their tent set up kit and demonstrated how to build the shape of the tent for the pupils to then have a go at working together to set up the structure and inside covers. The teacher and staff members communicated between one another with where each of the polls needed to be threaded through. When it was prepared, the pupils watched as the frame of the tent began to form. The teacher explained how to clip the sides of the ground sheet for the visualization of where the pupils were going to be sleeping on the first night of the expedition. After the teacher showed the pupils how to dismantle their tent.

After the demonstrations the pupils involved in the DoE award communicated well with one another with one pupil taking the lead to support their peers for the goal of completing the set up as a group. 

Next the pupils began to take the tent apart as they took out the poles one by one while communicating who was going to be responsible with what jobs such as who was going to thread the poles out and who was going to put them away. When the tent was dismantles the pupils took it in turns to roll the disflatted tent as they pushed on the mat to squeeze the air out of the vents when their peers folded the pools and put it back together into the camping bags. Then we prepared two gas stoves as one of the pupils volunteered to cook for their peers by flipping the bacon over using a spatula until they felt it looked crispy while a staff member cut the roll in half and buttered for the pupil to then place the bacon inside.