We have been incredibly proud of how our Year 11 pupils have conducted themselves during their mock GCSE exams so far. These will continue until Tuesday 14th March. Unfortunately we have had to make a small tweak to the timetable which means that pupils will only need to be in school for their morning exam session on Friday 10th March, however, please note that the start time for this exam is 9:15am.
We would like to celebrate the successes of our pupils this week:
Oaks: This week the Oaks have been working on the Mexican day of the dead; they have investigated what Ofrenda is and then created some beautiful posters in response. Laura and Leo went out into the environment and created expressive abstract art in the style of Sophie Tee, an abstract artist we have been looking at.
Well done to Laura in the Oaks. 100% attendance and star of the week award for always trying her best every lesson.
Bonsais: Well done Kelvin, Maths Learning Legend of the Week and Star of the Week in English and tutor group. Keep up the good work Kelvin.
Maths: This week’s Learning Legends in Maths are Kelvin and Liam. Kelvin has demonstrated an amazing ability to convert between fractions, decimals and percentages and then use this knowledge to then compare and order them! Liam has shown resilience in tackling some tricky algebra work solving equations involving brackets; when the going got tough he didn’t give up! Miss Burrows and Miss Carty are incredibly proud of these two students this week! Well done Kelvin and Liam!
Food Technology: Chef of the Week goes to Kelvin!
All the primary site pupils took part in book related tasks all day today; the pupils listened to audio stories and wrote book reviews, designed and created character biscuits and listened to staff doing the masked reader; identifying who was reading. Pupils took part in a scavenger hunt in the outside area; finding clues to spell out ‘We are readers.’ We also held a competition to send in a photograph of reading in the most unusual place and although we had many entries, Jacob from Yellow Class was the winner reading at the swimming baths!
To promote Reading for Pleasure, staff at the Beacon Centre Secondary site have dressed up to inspire and promote reading for World Book Day. Students were not asked to participate in the dressing up event this year given the current cost of living crisis, however, the event has not gone uncelebrated with some of our teachers dressing as Miss Trunchbull and Miss Honey from Matilda, Jacob Marley from a Christmas Carol, Professor Snape from Harry Potter and A Woman in Black. Each pupil received a £1 National Book token which can be redeemed against special World Book Day books.
Pupils completed a range of maths and number challenges across the whole curriculum throughout the day to show off their number knowledge, including orienteering challenges, using measuring skills to bake cakes and their symmetry knowledge to decorate them. They made number shaped cookies which they paired up in a number bond challenge before eating them. They enjoyed the story ‘How Many Legs?’ and our older pupils successfully solved the puzzle. There were LEGO challenges set and completed and number games played where pupils demonstrated not only their maths knowledge, but also their self-awareness and teamwork skills.Great job everyone!Â
Today Red Class visited The Great North Museum. We looked at the fossils and saw the same type of dinosaur fossil that Mary Anning the famous fossil hunter had found. We were able to investigate different dinosaur teeth and we discussed which teeth belonged to the carnivores and which teeth belonged to the herbivores.
In Red Class we have been continuing with our topic of Dinosaurs. We have been learning about the famous fossil hunter Mary Anning. We know that she was one of 10 children and that she found fossils with her Dad and Brother on the beach near her home. After finishing our quiz we became fossil hunters and used our hammers and chisels (the same as Mary Anning) to excavate our fossilised dinosaur eggs. We found some baby dinosaurs inside.
Pupils in Key Stage 3 are completing a module in textiles this term as part of their STEM curriculum; pupils’ final outcome will be an apron with side straps and a pocket.
In their first lesson pupils learned how to sew; this is an important skill that maybe needed later in life! Pupils completed a running stitch, back stitch, blanket stitch and cross stitch; they also learned how to thread a needle which was rather tricky. Staff were incredibly impressed with the enthusiasm and resilience that the pupils demonstrated and believe that we may have some talented sewers amongst us!
This term students will be looking at the following key words:
Aesthetics- How the product looks.
Adornment- Something that adds decoration.
Decoration- Details that are added to make something look more attractive.
Functionality- How well the product works.
Product- The result of an action or process.
Quality- How well the product has been made.
Specification- A detailed description of the design used to make something.
Stay tuned for our final products!
Pupils have been working with Northumbria Police’s Violence Reduction Unit to educate themselves about the consequences and dangers of Child Criminal Exploitation. Pupils have been creating showpiece work to warn other people about the dangers; some pupils chose to share their messages in the form of graffiti art. Local graffiti artist Tyler spent the day in school working with pupils to bring their designs to life and we’re sure you’ll agree that the results are phenomenal!
Pupils at the secondary site enjoyed an afternoon of football today. Our Hair and Beauty students ensured that football fans looked the part with face paint and nail art and everyone enjoyed watching England’s win against Iran in their opening game of the world cup!
