Electricity Project

8th July 2024Website Admin

For the Spring term, the Year 8ʼs project will focus on electricity and electrical circuits through a science-focused project. This project is linked with our big question “How can I use past scientific inventions to shape my future?”In Robotics, students will be exploring coding and putting electrical units together to begin getting comfortable with a range of electrical circuits and how electricity runs through an object. In Science, we are exploring the world of electricity and how over time, our scientific knowledge has developed and the world of technology has advanced. We will dive into the history and progress of electrical advancements through a range of experiences and activities. As a class, we will begin our project with an electricity escape room where students will explore past inventions in fun and exciting ways. Throughout the term, we will participate in experiments, experiences such as the science museum, and creations. For their exhibition, Gevurah will be hosting their own science fair where they will display the scientific inventions they have created. We are so excited to begin exploring the fascinating world of electricity!

Teacher’s Reflections

“One of the most rewarding aspects of the project was the high level of student interest and engagement. Students were genuinely excited about the hands-on nature of the project, which allowed them to explore their creativity fully. They enjoyed the opportunity to design and create using various technologies, including the 3D printer and laser cutter. This exposure to advanced tools not only heightened their enthusiasm but also provided them with practical skills that are increasingly relevant in today’s technology-driven world. One significant challenge was embedding the project within a cross-curricular framework. Instead of being integrated seamlessly across different subjects, the project was often taught in isolation during specific subjects, which limited its potential impact and the opportunity for interdisciplinary learning. Student behaviour affected both the input and output phases of the project. Behavioural difficulties sometimes disrupt the learning process, making it challenging to maintain a consistent and productive classroom environment. Students struggled with the critique portion of the project and found it difficult to engage in this process effectively.”

– Tianna Maciver

Students’ Reflections

“My favourite part of the project was the escape room” – Jack

“I learned about using the 3D Printer and laser cutter” – Ivy

“My favourite part of the project was the science fair” – Yitzi

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Black Death Project

8th July 2024Website Admin

Over the Spring term, Keren looked at how we as a society have learned from our past. To zoom into this theme, we focused on the Black Death, comparing it to Covid-19, and what lessons we have learned from the past. Our English focus was persuasive writing and poetry; thus, we decided to use these skills to contribute to our “Horrible Histories” episode! We used our poetry skills to write our own rap battle between the black death and coronavirus, a rap which we were able to record a music video for at a professional studio. Then we used our knowledge of persuasive to create two adverts selling the cures to the black death and coronavirus, demonstrating the difference over the years. These all contributed to our episode and resulted in an amazing final product!

Teacher’s Reflections

“This Spring term, Keren embarked on a fascinating exploration of how society learns from historical events, focusing on the Black Death and its comparisons to the Covid-19 pandemic. This project allowed students to delve into historical analysis while honing their English skills, specifically in persuasive writing and poetry. The culmination of this project was the creation of a “Horrible Histories” episode, showcasing students’ creative and analytical talents. The final “Horrible Histories” episode was a testament to Keren’s hard work and creativity. Their contributions, from the rap battle to the persuasive adverts, played a significant role in the success of the project. The episode was not only informative but also entertaining, demonstrating a deep understanding of the subject matter and an ability to communicate it effectively to an audience. Keren’s work on this project was outstanding. They demonstrated a high level of engagement, skill development, and creativity, resulting in an impressive and impactful final product. Their ability to draw lessons from historical events and apply them to modern contexts, combined with their persuasive writing and poetry skills, made this project a significant success. Keren should be very proud of her achievements, and I look forward to seeing them continue to excel in future projects.”

- Aymane Hamidi

Students’ Reflections

“I really enjoyed my mindfulness workshop and I was really performing for everyone. I used my script and I really enjoyed playing my classmates games and having all the parents here.” – Moshe

“The rap was so much fun to do, especially the recording.” – Josh

“I learned a lot about the Black Death and persuasive techniques.” – Daisy

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Space Project

8th July 2024Website Admin

This term Tamar and Chitah will be looking at space and how our personalities can be reflected within a personalised planet! Students will be creating their planets and will be writing adverts to persuade others to visit. In life skills, we will be exploring astronauts and what they need to survive in space and creating our very own space food. We will also be writing about influential people in Science and how their visions have influenced the world around us. We will also be exploring people in Science during our careers week and interviewing people in a range of different careers. Finally, we will be designing our very own animation all about space and our planets. Students will learn how to use editing software and animation software to make their ideas come to life and create their very own short pieces.

Teacher’s Reflections

“I really enjoyed this project with the Year 6s as it was very much something they were already interested in. I’m very lucky to have a mixture of students who are interested in either different forms of transport (rockets included!) or art – making this project something I knew they would love. They particularly enjoyed creating their stop-motion videos and learning how to reflect on them to make their work even better. They were able to develop their editing skills, design their own space-themed stories and create storyboards online. I really liked how the project became very technology-based and how the students were able to improve and develop new skills to create their final pieces. When doing the student reflection I spoke with one of the students and he suggested creating 3D planets on the 3D printers which I think would be an amazing addition to add next time. I also think if I was to do the project again it would be good to get the students to write their stories up so they could be published into a script/book.”

– Emily Bacon

Students’ Reflections

“My favourite part of the project going on trips” – Zac

“My favourite part was working on the iPad and making the models” – Bobby

“I enjoyed making the planets and the aliens for my movie” – JJ

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Dragons Den Project

8th July 2024Website Admin

The year group was split into two groups; each group would need to create their own business. This includes a company name, slogan, business card and product. Afterwards, they would then need to produce an advert, video pitch and a business portfolio. One business was called Air Chair, their product was an Air chair that can be deflated and inflated anytime for easy carry anywhere. What made this different was the customers could customise their chairs based on any sensory needs, for example by adding toys or material texture.  The other group is called Sandtronic, and they ‘sold’ customised gaming products like controllers and consoles. Their customers would order a product and add an image or a design that they would want their product to have.

Teacher’s Reflections

“As with every project, there was a struggle in the beginning with having a clear idea of the direction in which the project would go. However, the students’ level of engagement and the passion shown during the process of this project have allowed them to collectively adapt the project to their own, and come up with a structure that would help them use their strengths in creating a great exhibition.Initial concerns were raised by some students regarding public speaking, so we adapted and came up with the idea of instead creating a video pitch for their business ideas. As well as allowing an adapted approach to the pitch, this also allowed an opening for them to develop their skills in video editing and iMedia. During the project, the students’ courage was shown as they also decided to hold a Q+A session at the end of the exhibition, in front of their peers, teachers and special guests. This challenged the fear of public speaking and the anxiety surrounding this. The students’ collaboration is what made this project a success, as they were able to fulfil many mini-projects in a small amount of time, developing skills from multiple subjects – they were able to develop a business portfolio, video pitch, and create a business around a product they came up with successfully. In the future, we would like to make our theoretical research more practical, for example by actually creating a physical sample of a product of their business.”

– Hesham Yasser

Students’ Reflections

“My favourite part of the project was the editing” – Bea

“I learned a lot about presenting” – Liam

“My favourite part of the project was creating the business portfolio.” – Woody

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Seasons Project

8th July 2024Website Admin

In Summer 1, Zayit and Seorah’s class will be working across the half term on the topic of ‘Seasons’. Our big question will be ‘What happens in the seasons?’. This seasonal-themed project will explore the different features of each season, the weather that occurs, what we should wear in each season and the changes that take place in our environment all around us. Each week we will focus on a different season. We will begin by assessing the children’s prior knowledge of what they know about Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter by mind mapping their ideas about the features of each season. Throughout the week we will be doing different seasonal sessions such as themed messy play, choosing the right clothes to wear for each season, seasonal-themed maths and seasonal-themed poetry. We will then continue adding to our mind maps throughout the week as the children’s knowledge of the features of each season grows. Towards the end of each week, the children will individually choose from the mind map which seasonal features they would like to make for our whole class seasons art collage.

Teacher’s Reflections

“I think the project went really well and the children were very engaged in it. However, due to it being such a short term, it did feel like there was a lot of content to cover a short space of time. Maybe an idea for the future would be to combine the Summer 2 plants topic with the seasons and link them in with a possible focus on different plants in the seasons and environmental changes.”

- Lucy Robinson

Students’ Reflections

“My favourite part of the project was singing the seasons songs.” – Eli

“I learned all about how to dress in all the seasons” – Seth

“I learned that in Winter it can sometimes snow” – Arj

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Word-finding Difficulties & Strategies

4th July 2024Website Admin

A word-finding difficulty is when a person knows and understands a particular word, but has difficulty retrieving it from their brain to use in their speech. This is similar to how we sometimes feel something is on the ‘tip of our tongue’. Children might not able able to find the word at all, they might retrieve a word that sounds similar to the one they want or they might produce a nonsense word. Check out this website to learn more about the signs that indicate a word-finding difficulty and how you can help support at home. The linked document below also contains prompts which we use at school to help support retrieval of the word they are looking for. 

Blanks Levels of Questioning

4th July 2024Website Admin

Ever seen ‘Blanks Level’ written in your child’s PLP target or annual review report? This refers to a language model which we can use to map and model understanding and use of abstract language. There are 4 levels which go from talking about things directly in front of you to talking about abstract ideas. Below is a video, plus one of our resources. 

Gesher’s Guide to Blanks Questioning

 

Gestalt Language Processing

4th July 2024Website Admin

There are two ways in which we may learn language: ‘Analytical’ processing and ‘Gestalt’ processing. Typically we think of language development as learning single words and building them up to full sentences – this is called analytical processing of language. Gestalt Language Processors on the other hand, will start by using whole ‘learned’ phrases, progress toward using single words, and then build their back up to more functional and ‘spontaneous’ phrases. Understanding which way our children are learning language will not only help us to understand them more effectively, but also help us to further support their development of functional communication.

Below you can find a video which explains more plus a link to one of our PDFs on the topic and a website which contains some top tips for parents.

Gesher’s Guide to Gestalt Language Processing 

Top tips for parents 

Social Stories for Going Places

4th July 2024Website Admin

Social stories present information in a literal, ‘concrete’ way, which may improve a person’s understanding of a previously difficult or ambiguous situation or activity. The presentation and content can be adapted to meet different people’s needs.

They can help with sequencing (what comes next in a series of activities) and ‘executive functioning’ (planning and organising).

By providing information about what might happen in a particular situation, and some guidelines for behaviour, you can increase structure in a person’s life and thereby reduce anxiety.