Levens School

Humanities in the Early Years

 in Class One / Geography / History by

What does Geography and History look like in Nursery and Reception?  The Early Years Foundation Stage has seven areas of learning, rather than the individual subjects used within the National Curriculum. Communication and Language as well as Personal, Social and Emotional Development underpin all our learning in Class 1, but the key areas of learning related to geography and history are through the area, ‘Understanding the World’.

Throughout the autumn and spring terms, class 1 are busy (as usual) finding out about our world in a range of different contexts both in and outside the classroom. This has included: observing changes and recording data on weather in our work about the seasons of autumn and winter; learning about how animals like hedgehogs and birds adapt to the changing seasons; developing an understanding of significant national events such as Remembrance Day; retelling and sequencing events from different stories.

We enjoy adapting our curriculum in early years to follow the interests of the children too.  Our in-depth study on migration began with one pupil’s bird box that had made at home to put in our outdoor area.  This inspired further learning around why some birds migrate; what dangers they encounter; and even a trip to Leighton Moss where we spotted some examples of migrating birds.

Choosing where to locate our bird box in our outdoor area was another opportunity for some learning.  We discovered that it is best to position our bird box so that it faces North.  Deciding on the best location for our bird box involved lots of discussion, problem solving and team work.  We also learnt about how to use a compass to find North too! If you want to know anything about migration and how to look after birds in winter time – there are many experts who will be happy to help in Class 1!

RE in Class 2

 in Class Two / RE by

This half term in RE we have been learning about the Parable of the Lost Son and the messages that it teaches to Christians. We have developed an understanding of the story in different ways including, drawing, writing and role play. We really enjoyed using our questioning and inference skills to pretend to be the characters from the story as well as professional interviewers. We also thought about how Christians show their love to God. We worked collaboratively to generate and record ideas on a beach ball and then acted out the different ideas whilst practising our throwing and catching skills! We have enjoyed relating the story to our own experiences and linking it to the Christian values of Forgiveness and Compassion.

Safer Internet Day 2022!

 in Class Four / Class One / Class Three / Class Two / Computing / SCARF / Whole School by

Today is Safer Internet Day 2022, when schools and youth organisations across the country take part in a global campaign to promote the safe and responsible use of technology. Safer internet day calls on young people, parents, carers, teachers, social workers, law enforcement, companies, policymakers and more to join together in helping to create a better internet.

Using the internet safely and positively is a key message that we promote in school, and celebrating Safer Internet Day is a great opportunity for us to re-emphasise the online safety messages we deliver throughout the year.

This week, Class 1 have listened to a story about Smartie the penguin, joined in with Mummy penguin’s song and learned about what to do if we feel unsure, scared or upset by something we see online. Class 2 have met “Jessie and Friends” and explored how to share pictures online appropriately and use online games responsibly. Class 3 are and Class 4 have both looked in detail at online gaming by teaching an alien from another planet about how online games work, what’s OK, what’s not and where to get help if we need it.

We would be delighted if you could join us in celebrating the day by continuing the conversation at home. To help you with this, you may be interested in downloading the free Safer Internet Day resources for Parents and Carers which are available at: saferinternet.org.uk/sid-parents.

There are top tips, quizzes, and films which you can use at home with your child.

Some other resources which you may find helpful in supporting your child online are:

● Tips, advice and guides for parents and carers from the UK Safer Internet Centre (saferinternet.org.uk/parents-and-carers)
● Advice for parents and carers from Childnet (childnet.com/parents-and-carers)
● Reviews and information about games, apps, TV shows and websites from
Common Sense Media (commonsensemedia.org)
● Help on using parental controls and privacy settings from Internet Matters
(internetmatters.org/parental-controls)
● Information and reporting of online grooming or abuse from CEOP (ceop.police.uk)

 

 

 

Super Space in EYFS!

 in Art / Class One / Design and Technology / Geography / History / Science by

EYFS are coming to the end of their super space topic for this half term. We started with the famous story “Whatever Next!” and enjoyed role-playing a journey to space and having a picnic on the moon. Learning about some of the planets was top of Reception’s ‘What I want to learn’ list and after finding out some interesting facts, they then designed their own using a ‘wash’ effect with felt tips and paintbrushes dipped in water. We thought carefully about the colour of our planets and what they were made from – gas, rock or ice. Constellations were also a big hit; we found out that some constellations can only be seen in certain parts of the world and then recreated some famous ones on black card using chalk. We spent two weeks in total creating our own model of the solar system using papier mache and adding details to each planet; lots of sticky fun! We learnt about gravity and watched videos of astronauts on board the International Space Station, finding out that the further away from earth you get, the less gravity there is. We have enjoyed lots of child-led opportunities in provision including puffy moon painting, making craters in moon dough, designing aliens on the light panel and baking cake pops. We definitely have some budding astronauts in the making!

STEM morning in Class 3

 in Class Three / Design and Technology / Science by

Class 3 have had a wonderful morning exploring and being engineers!

They came up with lots of ideas about what engineering was. This included engineers make complicated things, they build robots, they help other people, they build and fix things.

Our first challenge was cutting an A4 piece of paper so you can fit your entire body through it. Lots of perseverance and experimenting but no luck. We thought a partner might be useful, so we paired up and hey presto – lots of success! Engineers often work in teams to help solve problems just like this.

We then were set off to build a waterproof and windproof house for one of the three little pigs. Each group had a bucket with a range of materials and, despite a bit of trepidation, all our finished products stood up to their final wind and rain shower test and the pig stayed dry!

 

 

 

Hunter Hall County Cross Country Final

 in Class Four / PE / Sport by

On the same day that our runners were competing in the Dallam Event, we were incredibly proud and excited that three of our boys from Class 4 had qualified for the county event at Hunter Hall School in Penrith.

Huge thanks indeed to parents who arranged transport and supported and encouraged our talented representatives, the running club adults were really sad not to be there celebrating the event and the atmosphere.

The course was incredibly challenging, much further than we are used to and with obstacles of walls and rivers. We await further news regarding progression, watch this space!

Well done boys!

 

Dallam Cross Country Competition

 in Class Four / Class Three / PE / Sport by

On a really cold and and windy afternoon this week, eleven tough and resilient running club athletes braved the elements and hilly course, to compete in the annual cross country event at Dallam along with other local schools.

The support and attitude could not have been bettered, everyone ran so well and tried so hard that staff and parents were just bursting with pride. A huge well done to all, not only to Charlotte, Rona and Grace who came away with medals, but to everyone who excelled themselves and had just the best of times, a day to be remembered by us all!

Liverpool World Museum

 in Class Four / History by

This week, Class 4 have had the pleasure of leaving school to spend their day learning in Liverpool World Museum! To support our Ancient Civilisations topic, we visited the museum to check out their fascinating (and often gruesome!) Ancient Egypt exhibit. We even got to “Meet the Mummy” as some lucky students were promoted to trainee priests for the day and taught how to mummify bodies.

Take a look at our image gallery below, but be warned, it’s not for the squeamish!

Barrow Raiders Rock!

 in Class Three / PE by

Fridays have become a firm favourite with Class 3 and Class 4 because of the sessions of Tag Rugby with Barrow Raiders this term. Having professional players share their expertise with pupils and staff has been brilliant and although we are only 3 sessions in, the skills of moving with the ball, passing and this week ways to evade your opposition.

Every week, everyone is engaged in mini games and challenges to develop each skill, encouraging each other and celebrating successes.

Thank you so much to Mrs Coker, an avid Barrow Raiders season ticket holder, for organising this wonderful experience for us all and to the players for running such fun and engaging sessions.

Do look out in book bags for the special free season tickets that have kindly been donated by Barrow Raiders and handed out on Friday.  This includes entry to all 13 home Championship league games! Do cheer along our coaches including winger Tee Ritson and watch out for Mrs Coker in the stands if you are lucky enough to go along. It really is an amazing atmosphere and a wonderful way to spend an afternoon supporting a local team!

Experience Church

 in Church / Class Four / Class Three / Class Two / RE / Whole School by

This week, we were treated to another of the “experience” series of events by St. Johns church. We’ve previously enjoyed experience Easter and experience Christmas, this time was “experience Church”.

Arriving at church, we found 6 stations waiting for us – each one representing a part of the church and service that the church provides. These included: the font (welcoming); the pulpit (teaching); the prayer desk (praying); stained glass windows (serving) and the altar (celebrating). At each station, we were encouraged to think about how the church serves all of these different functions. We also took part in a special activity to represent each station.

The sixth and final station was saved until the end. Everyone sat down in front of the great wooden door in the side of the church. Here, we learned that the church shares – part of the job is to share the ideas of Christianity with others. The things that we learn in church are designed to be taken out into the world and shared with others. I wonder if any of our children have shared what they learned with you?

Thanks to everyone from St Johns Church who helped to organise and staff this experience for us – it is greatly appreciated!