As part of our Fairgrounds Topic we looked at some of the work by the famous painter L.S. Lowry
 

All the children had a section of the picture to copy and when we stuck them all together it looked really good!

Have a look at some of detail close up.

We used chalk pastel in muted colours to capture the style of the artist.

Lowry is famous for his 'match-stick men'.

Parent Carousel

 

 

Monday was the start of our STEM week and we had a lot of fun
making structures with some of our parents and carers.

The different groups had to choose which challenge they wanted to do then plan, cost and build it!

Engineering Challenge

 

Specifications:

Tower: must be at least 1 metre high; hold one Lego person at the top; cost no more than £50.

Big Wheel: must turn; hold 4 Lego people; cost no more than £80.

Bridge: must be at least 50cm in length; hold the weight of at least five toy cars; cost no more than £100.

 

 

 

 

Cost of materials

Art straws £1 each

Paper clips 50p each

Paper fasteners £1 each

Roll of tape £20

Pair of scissors £5

One piece of card £2 per A4 sheet

PVA glue and spreader £5

One newspaper £20

Electric circuit (with motor) £15

Cotton reel £1

Pulley and elastic band £2 (includes washers)

What fantastic results! Thank you to all the parents and carers who came to work with us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Midsummer Night's Dream

A theatre company visited us on 6th June and performed A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare - it was BRILLIANT!

Everyone joined in when there was some magic to be done.

Even Miss Whittell...

...and Mrs Driver had little parts to play!

Bottom the donkey was very funny.



 Then everyone in Swifts took part in a workshop that helped to think about how to portray different characters - Thisbe and Pyramus, a lion, a wall and even a river!

We have some VERY good actors in Swifts.

More work on Forces

 

We had a lot of fun finding about upthrust as part of our topic on forces.

First we found the weight of the object in Newtons.

Then we measured the weight again with the object in the water.

The difference told us what the force of the upthrust was.

 

 

Then we put little boats on the water to see how much weight it could hold before it sank...

We tried the same boat in salt water to see if the upthrust was greater.

 

Economics

We had a very interesting day learning all about how people and nations make decisions that affect their daily life and economic well being. It was delivered by Mrs Ledger and she helped us to understand a bit more about how people in different countries earn a living and trade their products with each other.

 We found out that lots of the things we wear and the things that we eat have travelled from many different countries. Have a look at the label on your school shirt. What is the country of origin?

 

 In the Global Trade game each group had to be a different country. The children who represented Bangladesh had limited money and limited resources - but through hard work and negotiation they managed to produce good quality goods (well carefully drawn, coloured, cut-out shapes) and managed to pay off their debts and earn some profit.

 

Quality control in the UK was very tight. If the shapes weren't perfect they were rejected. Sometimes the price the UK were prepared to pay fell because demand had gone down for a certain shape. Some people had a tough time!

 

                                   
 In this activity the bank could lend money to the poorer countries. It made us think about how  unfair the global economy could be. But at least our richer countries (USA and Austria) were prepared to pay a fair price for labour the poorer countries offered them.

Then we had to invent a new product...

 

A solar powered torch that fits on the camel's head would mean night time travel for the people of Blandia would be possible.

 

 

 

 

 

A new communication system for the people of Leafland would involve sending signals via and ICORN phone!

 

At the end everyone received a certificate.

Our visitors from the council were very interested in our marketing ideas. Some of the children were very enterprising. 

 

The day really made us think about the skills you need to be employable and successful in business. It also made us think about how times can be very hard for people who have limited resources but still need to make a living in a world dominated by the powerful countries like the USA.