How Does My Body Work & How Can I Keep It Healthy Project

22nd May 2024Website Admin

This term Gefen and Rimon took part in a fun project based on the body. They looked at the different parts of the body and their functions and also the importance of a healthy diet and fitness regime. They incorporated interactive and sensory activities and found out information which they turned into an information body journal. This included a breakdown of the body parts and functions, how to keep healthy, personalised affirmations, as well as healthy recipes and instructions on how to do a fitness video. They used their science skills to investigate body functions and used their ICT skills to present their findings. They also created fun, healthy recipes in life skills lessons, and in PE, learnt how to keep their bodies fit!

Teacher’s Reflections

“I really enjoyed this topic and so did the students. I feel they learned a lot about things that they can carry with them for life, including food group knowledge, having a balanced diet, and all about their own body and how it works. Students loved cooking and creating recipes taken from their everyday lives, and making a food diary over the holidays really allowed them to feel a part of the project. One thing I feel the students lacked was more of a creative side as there wasn’t much art or creativity involved – I would like to make sure they get in the next project.”

– Leah Wright

“I think this project went well. It was a fun project which involved many hands on/interactive resources. The children enjoyed learning about different sports from staff members and tested them out themselves. They showed a lot of interest and asked thoughtful questions. There was a lot of information for the children to learn but I feel that some children could have been challenged by extending their learning further. It was also a project in which the children were able to apply their knowledge – thinking about what food they should eat, different food categories and why it is important to eat a balanced healthy diet.”

– Stephanie Sungtong

Students’ Reflections

“My favourite part of the project was fitness video.” – Liam

“I learned about more body organs.” – Noah

“I learned about the skeleton.” – Livi

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Jobs Project

22nd May 2024Website Admin

This term, Zayit and Seorah embarked on a journey of self-discovery during our “Jobs” project. We focused on our big question “What do I need to know and do for my future job?” This project had a Communication, PSED, Understanding the World, and Life Skills focus. The pupils explored the world of possible careers and the necessary skills that go with them. The project aimed to foster essential life skills and promote personal and social growth as well as learning important communication skills. Throughout the project, pupils created a job profile poster and their CVs, as well as art projects linked to their chosen careers. They developed their confidence with interview skills and answering questions and the project ended with each pupil having a job interview with a secondary student to share all they had learned.

Teacher’s Reflections

“The jobs project was a lot of fun and allowed all of the students in Zayit and Seorah to share more about their hopes for their future careers and learn about what their friends wanted to be when they grew up. It was great to see everyone being so involved in all of the play and learning opportunities linked to each job, for example, role-playing in different careers, a visit from a real dentist, creating art linked to various jobs and making job posters. Each child worked hard to draft and then finalise their CV, showing off their skills and what they would do at their future job. We worked hard on developing each student’s ability to answer questions and the job interviews completed with secondary students were a huge success. Next time it would be great to have more visits from adults with different jobs and engage more with the wider community about jobs for our futures.” 

– Leigh Kennedy

Students’ Reflections

“My favourite part of the project was meeting a dentist.” – Eli

“I learned about different job names and making a CV.” – Seth

“I learned about how to make a CV.” – Arj

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Space Project

30th October 2023Website Admin

This term, we had an exciting topic of Space to explore! We looked at different planets and how the universe was made up of more than just our solar system. We thought about what and how humans survived on Earth and how we could create our own colony on Mars. We thought about what humankind needed and how we could implement this into a small space. The students used measuring and construction skills in order to create their own models of their colonies for their exhibition. We also explored art that had been inspired by the universe and created our own images focusing predominantly on tones, shading, and the different colors in the solar system. In DT, we designed and created our own rockets and researched different ways we could make them fly using different mixtures of substances and saw which one worked the best. It was a very interesting topic full of planets, space, and rockets — it was out of this world!

Teacher’s Reflections

“I’ve personally really enjoyed this project as it really allowed the students to develop and promote their independence. The students really enjoyed creating their own Mars Colonies and thought strategically about what humans would need in order to survive there. I loved their enthusiasm when it came to their ideas and how they were able to individualise their plans. The students also really enjoyed exploring how rockets launched and thinking about solutions and chemical reactions to make their rockets fly. I think moving forward the students could continue developing their independence and trying to complete activities without the constant support of adults. This could be by taking the students into different rooms so they could work in smaller groups. I feel the Critique and Feedback process really helped the students understand their next steps and supported their understanding of the PBL process.”

– Emily Bacon

Students’ Reflections

“I really liked the rockets and seeing how the Mentos and Coke made them erupt!” – Ivy

“Next time I’d really like to build something bigger.” – Yitzi

“My highlight of the project was working independently to make my Mars Colony!” – Noah

“This project helped me get new ideas for my next project.” – Jonah

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Why Does The World Need Rainforests? Project

30th October 2023Website Admin

Tamar and Chitah travelled through the rainforest to learn about the plants, animals, and communities that lived within them. They first explored the contents of the rainforest, identifying their locations and unique characteristics. They learned about the crucial role that rainforests play in our planet and why it was important to support their preservation. This linked to their Jewish Studies by examining the formation of the State of Israel from a desert. Their primary focus was on the animals found in the rainforest and the threats they faced. Armed with this knowledge, they planned and wrote their own “Just So” stories featuring chosen rainforest animals. As they journeyed deeper into the rainforest, they researched the ecosystem and the various plant species they could encounter. They made connections to their own lives and discussed how they could help preserve the rainforest and combat the effects of climate change. Throughout their expedition, they engaged all their senses, constructing animal structures from recycled materials, sketching rainforest plants for their glossary, and creating a rainforest relaxation track. We loved inviting others to experience their immersive and sensory “Gesher Rainforest” exhibition in Summer 2 and were very proud to sell our “Just So Stories” book for charity.

Teacher’s Reflections

“I loved having a whole term as it meant we could explore lots of aspects and engage with learning in a deep and meaningful way. Highlights were learning about the animals and producing our own stories which we published. Trips to the zoo and Kew Gardens were amazing too and got the kids engaged and immersed. We also did an animal workshop which helped to launch the project in an exciting way. The children enjoyed learning how to use Canva as a way of presenting information and as a form of graphic design. I think this was my favourite project so far as it was so rich, and there was so much to engage the kids with. The termly timeline also gave us more scope to do more!”

– Sara Marshall

Students’ Reflections

“I learnt about the rainforest, the different animals that live there, and the different layers of the rainforest.” – Shimi

“My highlight of the project was making my monkey out of paper mache, wire and newspaper and then painting it.” – Ben

“My highlight was going to the Zoo and seeing all the lions!” – Omri

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Minibeasts Project

30th October 2023Website Admin

Our project was all about minibeasts and specifically how we can live harmoniously with them. We focused on different minibeasts such as bees, worms, ants and butterflies and found out interesting facts about them. We also thought about how we could benefit from the minibeasts and what we should do to protect them. The children learnt about the minibeasts through research, exploring outside and through trips where they saw minibeasts in their environments. The children used all the information they discovered to create a collaborative minibeast information books which included their own photos of their chosen minibeast. The pupils learnt how to sort and classify minibeasts, as well as their habitats and life cycles. We grew herbs and vegetables in our outside garden and we will use these to prepared dishes for our guests at the exhibition. We also performed a song we have learnt in music.

Teacher’s Reflections

“I think this was a great project as all the children enjoyed the topic and were able to access the information and show knowledge of the facts they had learnt. The children really enjoyed the practical activities particularly when Wild Fangs came to school and they could hold and touch different minibeasts such as millipedes which they would not see very often. They also enjoyed seeing the caterpillars grow into butterflies and collecting worms to add to our class wormery which they helped to build. All the children were able to find out information on the insects we looked at such as bees, ants and ladybirds through reading information and videos and everybody was able to produce a page about their own minibeasts for the class encyclopaedia. I was pleased that we could use technology that I hadn’t used before such as Canva for their encyclopaedia pages and procreate for their drawings. I think for a similar project it would be good to be able to teach the children photography skills so they could take their own photographs of minibeasts.”

– Stephanie Sungtong

Students’ Reflections

“I found it tricky at first, but now I like holding minibeats and seeing them. The projects helped me and I liked it, When I started it I enjoyed the sensory trays and seeing all of them, and the launch activities!”

“I thought it was good, we had lots of fun and we did lots of things. We grew our own caterpillars and looked after the vegetable garden and we hunted for worms, we also released the butterflies!”

“My favourite part of the project was going to London Zoo and the Wild Fangs visit. I got to hold a big snail, and we grew butteflies!”

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E-Safety Project

30th October 2023Website Admin

Our project focused on the importance of being safe on the internet and making people aware of different dangers that appear online. Our main focus for this project was creating an E-safety online course for both students and adults to educate themselves on digital literacy. The students also made two different types of newspaper articles that featured different E-safety issues. Students made the course fun and interactive by adding interviews, videos and quizzes.

Teacher’s Reflections

“This project was motivating, relevant and catered to students interests. Students collaborated well to make the course look visually appealing and enjoyed making different quizzes to assess learners knowledge. It was great to see students using their own knowledge and experiences as well as having debates about different topics. Time management was much better in this project but it may have been helpful for the students to see how long the course took to complete. On exhibition day, there were too many modules to get through in the allocated time. Nonetheless, exhibition day was a success and it was lovely to see students engaged and retaining information.” 

– Bethany Rentall

Students’ Reflections

“I learnt to be safe online and not to click on any links you are not sure of.”

“My highlight of the project was making a scamming slide to teach people about scamming!”

“My highlight was making the booklets for the course.”

“I learnt how to be safe online.”

As part of Gevurah’s e-Safety project, they created an interactive course to teach fellow students and staff how to be safe online. You can complete their course below!

E-safety by Gevurah Class

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Farms Project

30th October 2023Website Admin

In the Summer term, Zayit and Seorah classes worked on their first extended project across two half terms. This was focused on our topic of ‘Farms’ and linked with learning related to our big question: ‘How can I tell a story?’ The Farm themed project enabled us to learn all about farm animals, caring for animals and animal life cycles. One aspect of this was looking after eggs and watching them hatch and grow as chicks. We also explored Scratch Junior to develop programming skills and create farm scenes. The second aspect of our project developed the children’s literacy, drama and expressive arts skills as they participated in staging a performance of ‘The Enormous Turnip’. This was an incredible show for us to share with family and friends, and involved the children acting, singing, developing their costumes and props and improving their confidence and communication with a wider range of people. The children took portraits of each other to use for the show programme and enjoyed reading and writing activities linked to a variety of farm-themed traditional tales as we built towards our performance. We had so much fun in the summer term learning all about farms and stories!

Teacher’s Reflections

“The Farms project was amazing and the children gained so much confidence, knowledge and enjoyment from it. They have matured so much throughout the year and The Enormous Turnip stage show was a highlight of the year for the children, staff and families. As part of our focus on traditional tales, the children created story maps and retold a number of different stories over the term, allowing them to build familiarity and confidence with retelling in small groups, before they started work on learning lines and songs to perform for their Gesher friends across the school and families. Everyone worked together to create costume hats and props for the show and they were all so supportive of each others’ acting and singing skills. The most challenging part of this project was developing stage directions and supporting the children to learn stage presence and be focused on performing to the audience. Luckily we had a number of weeks to focus on the show staging and we were able to enable the children to do their best performance by moving from script read throughs (using visuals), to practising staging in the classroom, then in the hall space and finally on our stage. We also had a number of dress rehearsals for other classes at Gesher, before we performed our final show for the children’s families. The Farms project was a huge success and showed that Gesher has future stars in the acting, singing and entertainment industry!”

– Leigh Kennedy

Students’ Reflections

“I really enjoyed being in the show and going to the farm to see some pigs!” – Eli

“I learned about farm animals and how to look after chicks.” – Zephania

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Issue 03

13th June 2023Website Admin

Issue 03 Articles

What All Schools Can Do to Support Neurodiverse Learners

13th June 2023Website Admin

What All Schools Can Do to Support Neurodiverse Learners

With thanks to Pete Wharmby (Centre for Research in Autism and Education, CRAE Annual Lecture, 2023)

10 Things All Schools Can Do

  1. Make sure that all staff know the profile for all relevant learners.
  2. Have a mentor for each neurodiverse learner – one in which they have some agency.
  3. Educate all staff about autism – if they have knowledge, they can do a lot.
  4. Work with your community – employers need to understand neurodiversity, too.
  5. Open up the issue of difference – move it from insult to fascinating.
  6. Promote tolerance of and accommodation of difference.
  7. Accommodate idiosyncrasies (e.g. stimming, walking around, repetitive behaviours, sensitivity to noise, obsessive interests).
  8. Make the school sensitive to known or potential triggers “of stress or behaviours”. e.g.
    • Changes to routine or schedule
    • Group work
    • Work deadlines
    • Presentations
    • Reading aloud
    • Picking teams
  9. Prioritise positive relationships with learners and parents (e.g. regular dialogue with parents; support groups for parents) – working together is in everyone’s interests.
  10. Have available appropriate therapeutic strategies.

Guidance for Schools

The 10 suggestions above provide a useful checklist. They can also be used to create a workshop activity for staff that will sensitise everyone to the issue of supporting neurodiverse learners. They were stimulated by Pete Wharmby’s presentation at the 2023 CRAE Annual Lecture, and most of them were specifically referenced there. Pete is an autistic teacher, writer, speaker, advocate and author. Below are two suggestions about how “10 Things” might be used.

  1. The first is a simple “bright spots” activity, designed to identify the best of what is currently happening in all 10 areas. The logic of discussing bright spots is to build from the best of what currently happens. “What are the characteristics of this that could be applied more broadly?” and “What would be required to have more like this?”
  2. The second is an evaluative activity to identify strengths and areas for growth – what is going well (or not) and what more might be done.

Activity 1

  • Pre-arrange groups so that there is a good mix of experiences and roles in each group. Prepare a facilitator for each group – someone who will advocate for the activity.
  • In groups, discuss the “bright spots” in your school for each of the 10 items. What is the best of what you do? What are the key features of these bright spots?
  • Then, come together with new ideas being suggested for each of the 10 items, where relevant, based on the principles or features of your bright spots.

Activity 2

  • Before the activity, create sets of cards with one of the 10 suggestions on each card plus five blank cards (to add new things). One set is required for each group.
  • Pre-arrange groups (as above).
  • First, each group discusses whether they have additional ideas to add on the blank cards.
  • They then sort out their top 10 as a group.
  • Groups come together and are facilitated to create a composite or consensus top 10 across the groups (“Our school’s top 10 ideas”).

Subsidiary activity either in groups or as a whole staff:

  • Arrange this top 10 into three groups – things we do well; things we need to improve on quite a lot; things we value but are not currently ready to do.
  • Using post-it notes (green for positive affirmation, amber for creative improvement ideas, red for “we’re not close on this”), decorate ideas around the ten cards, starting with amber, then green, then, if time, red.