Our Super Senses!
This half term we have been learning about the different senses that we have and which body parts they relate to. We got to use our senses by touching, hearing, seeing, smelling and tasting things in the classroom!
Levens School
Where in the world?
A huge thank you to everyone who sent a postcard to school over the summer. We now have a wonderful display showing a variety of places visited in the UK and the wider world. If you are going away over half term please send a postcard so we can add more destinations.
Stunning Stone Circles
Class 3 have been studying stone circles and have produced some amazing paintings using watercolours and ink. We experimented with different techniques using the paints, using different brushes and wet and dry paper. We looked closely at examples of painting and used this as inspiration for our own pictures. We practised drawing stone circles, focusing on perspective and also adding ink details to the paint.
The finished results were fabulous.
Woodmatters
Class Three had a fabulous day in the sunshine learning lots of new forest skills. We played trust games in pairs, leading our blindfolded partner to a tree. When the blindfold was removed we had to find the specific tree. Lots of communication and cooperation were needed.
Following this we made campfires, collecting twigs and using flint and steels to create fires, we then made popcorn which we all enjoyed.
Next we needed resilience and endurance to make skipping ropes. We had lots of fun skipping in the forest.
Finally we made leaf pattern bunting, choosing our leaves carefully, pacing them in the material and tapping gently to reveal the leaf shapes.
We all had a wonderful day. Thank you to Woodmatters and our amazing adult helpers.
Physical Development in EYFS
In early years, developing strength in our core is essential for our gross and fine motor development. When our new brushes arrived this week, it was a fun opportunity to get painting in our outdoor area. The children extended the activity by using their feet and hands; as well as other materials that they found in our garden to make different marks.
Celebrating Art at the County Show
Just in case you missed our display in the Learning for Life tent at the Westmorland County Show, here it is!
Last year, every child in school was involved in creating a clay tile inspired by God’s creation. They are now mounted together in a huge frieze on the wall of our school hall. They look incredible. This was a project in collaboration with local potter, Nigel Edmondson, who invited pupils to his Levens’ studio to learn some techniques and explore the inspirations for his work. He was also kind enough to make enough clay tiles for every child to work with and then fired them in his kiln.
Pupils in year five and six also explored the work of Libby Edmondson as part of their project on Lakeland landscapes by local artists. Students were really inspired by Libby’s bold use of colour in her work and like her, we used acrylics in our own creations.
We are all very grateful to Nigel for working so closely with us over the last twelve months on these wonderful projects and to Ted’s (in Nursery) grandpa for taking a day out of his very busy schedule to create our installation.
Maths in Class 2
Class 2 have enjoyed starting their first maths topic of the year covering place value. We have looked at different numbers and what they are made up of. We have also done lots of counting forwards and backwards!
Pneumatic toys
Class 3 have had a fantastic start to the school year and have been busy learning all about pneumatics. The challenge was to make a pneumatic toy! We explored pneumatics using syringes and balloons and then utilised this knowledge in our own designs. The children learnt about thumbnail sketches and exploded diagrams. We followed our exploded diagram designs when making our final product. I think you will agree they have done an amazing job!
Marvellous Music!
Class 3 enjoyed two music workshops last week enhancing our music curriculum. Cumbria Music hub provided a fantastic session using percussion instruments and we also had a wonderful singing workshop with Cumbria Opera Group. The children had an amazing time learning about the pitch and pulse of music.
Nature Journaling in Class 4
What a lovely sunny afternoon! The perfect day to get outside and enjoy the nature around us 🙂
Today, Georgina from the CDEC visited us to teach us about nature journaling. The first thing we needed to do was look very closely at the world around us. What kinds of biodiversity (different types of plants and animals) could we find?
We started with plants, finding all sorts of wildflowers and grasses in the green spaces near us – the community garden, the play park and the field. Then we had a look for living things – a wonderful variety of bugs, spiders and minibeasts.
Our task was to then look as closely as we could. What did we notice about their looks? Their smells? How they moved? We recorded these observations through drawing and writing, creating pages filled with our observations.
I certainly enjoyed myself – try it in a green space near you and see what you can find!
