Extended Learning Day 2
On Thursday 21 November, all pupils in school participated in our second ‘Extended Learning Day’ of the academic year.
Year 7: Pupils took part in activities integrating MFL, Music, Art and Design and Food Technology to develop a cultural understanding of ‘El día de los Muertos’, also known grimly as the ‘Day of the Dead’, a holiday traditionally celebrated in Mexico, for time, prayer and remembrance for friends or family that have passed away. Pupils watched the Disney Pixar animation ‘Coco’, inspired by the culture, traditions and values associated with ‘El día de los Muertos’. The holiday is often associated with symbolic skull designs, or “calaveras,” so the pupils used oil pastels and pattern transfer techniques to produce colourful patterned mono-printed skull pieces of artwork. Their musical activity had pupils learning to play chords on the ukulele and enthusiastically singing along to ‘Un poco Loco,” an upbeat song from Coco’s soundtrack. Instead of honing their musical talents, some pupils created culinary delights in the form of sweet sugar skulls to represent the traditional sweets used to celebrate “El día de los muertos.” The whole day was very uplifting and celebratory, to emphasise the atmosphere of this beautiful tradition.
All pupils in years 8-11 spent time visiting a careers fair in the sports hall, finding out information to help them plan their own futures from local employers, FE and HE establishments.
Year 8 pupils enjoyed a day of business and marketing activities, incorporating design technology, mathematics, business and computer science. Pupils worked in their form groups on their ‘business’ idea, a breakfast cereal brand. They made a marketing strategy, looked at the four p’s- product, price, place and promotion. They designed their own cereal boxes, incorporated their slogans, decided how they would like to promote their product, and explored business finance. Pupils enriched their business and marketing knowledge, and built valuable skills for their future.
Pupils in Year 9 took part in a day centred around the motion: Drugs and alcohol can never be consumed safely. They took part in 3 morning sessions: preparing to debate, theatre in education and listening to a speaker from The Amy Winehouse Foundation. During the 3 morning sessions, pupils were able to use their performance skills in drama to act out a moment from the play: I Love You Mum, I Promise I Won’t Die, which tells the true story of a young boy who sadly died because of drug misuse. The Amy Winehouse Foundation session allowed pupils to listen to a firsthand account of someone’s experiences with substance abuse.
They also took part in a preparing to debate session where pupils undertook relevant research and learnt debating protocol. This gave them an opportunity to collate as much evidence for their viewpoints on issues around drugs and alcohol. The knowledge that they acquired from these sessions aided the preparation for their form debate proposals. Impressively, during the afternoon each form presented their proposals in front of the entire year group and they had the option to offer their rebuttals in response. This was a brilliant way to argue constructively their viewpoints, which they did eloquently and maturely. The winning form in the debate was 9O, with the best proposal from 9C and the best rebuttal from 9R. The most eloquent proposal came from 9S, and the most respectful was 9P. 9O and 9R presented the most articulate responses. The whole year group showed great maturity and there were excellent questions from the audience, in particular Mia Moorby, Olivia Forde and Rayyaan Batan. Finally, the day ended with a live recording of the play I Love You Mum, I Promise I Won’t Die.
Year 10 pupils took part in a science day filled with practical lessons and a session focussing on graph skills which are essential in both science and maths. Each group completed the electricity required practical for resistance in a wire and recorded their results. The pH rainbow session involved pupils learning about acids and alkalis and attempting to create a perfect colour gradient of the pH scale by carefully mixing an acid and alkali together. The colour session explored how we see and colour and pupils used LEDs to test predictions about how colours mix and reflect off objects. The day also involved active participation in the careers fair, pupils enjoyed speaking to colleges and employers.
Finally, Year 11 pupils took part in a ‘Careers Workshop’ combining three career focused events that included a careers fair; how to develop key employability skills and mock interviews. The full day’s learning itself was designed to raise awareness of future career options and for pupils to become more aware of the skills and knowledge needed to enter the future world of work. The day’s learning had sixteen local and national employers, FE and HE establishments attend the event, all potentially looking for students and employees of the future.
Pupils participated in two ‘Future U’ workshops that focused on preparing for interviews and revision skills and growth mindset. They also had time to work with the chaplaincy team looking at marriage as a vocation. Finally, all pupils were in receipt of a fantastic opportunity to meet with employers at the end of the day for mock interviews where they were given feedback on performance and guidance on how to improve for future interviews
Thank you to all staff and visitors for their hard work and support in ensuring our pupils enjoy these broader experiences, and to all pupils for their commitment and enthusiasm.
