Anti-Idling Project

13th June 2023Website Admin

Farmington Public Schools

Grade 5

Our fifth graders took action in collaboration with the Farmington green Efforts Commission by participating in a local anti-idiling campaign. As civic-minded contributors, this was a wonderful opportunity to engage in stewardship in our town. Students have been studying how human activities impact the Earth’s sphere, and more specifically, how the burning of fossil fuels impacts the atmosphere.

As part of this project, fifth graders collected and analysed data about idiling in the west woods parking lot before and after school. They learned more about idiling from Ms. Caitlin Stern, an enivronment analyst in the Bureau of Air Management at the Department of Energy and Environmental protection.

Next, in a special appearance on the Wildcat News, Ms. Cate Grady-Benson of the Farmington Green Efforts Commission explained the charge of their committee and its campaign. She invited students to participate in a sign-making contest to promote anti-idling in our town.

In order to learn what makes an effective sign, students used several resources, including a presentation from the West Woods art teacher, Mrs. Lantange. She offered tips and suggestions on how to think like an artist while creating designs (colours that work well together, the right medium, and excellent craftsmanship).

Eight of the signs designed by students were selected by the Green Efforts Commission. Final image edits were done by a Farmington High School students under the guidance of the art teacher. The signs will be professionally printed by DEEP and posted at each of the Farmington schools and the Town Hall.

Learning Targets

As a civic-minded contributor, I can take action to protect the Earth’s atmosphere. I can promote community awareness about idling by collaborating with the Farmington Green Efforts Commission & DEEP.

Students’ Reflections

“I think it’s good to take action because there’s things in the world that we need to stand up for. Before this unit I didn’t know about idling. I’m pretty sure even my parents didn’t, but I told my parents and they haven’t been idling ever since.”

– Jahnvi

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Saving The Animals Project

13th June 2023Website Admin

This term, Gevurah’s project focused on the issue of animal cruelty and ways to combat it. They asked themselves, “How can we increase awareness about animal cruelty?” and conducted extensive research on the mistreatment of animals, including sea creatures and how they are impacted by water pollution. As a final product, they presented their findings in a symposium on animal cruelty for their classmates. The project spanned across multiple subjects including English, PSHE, DT, and Science. Throughout the term, students engaged in various activities such as creating written narratives about animals, presenting on cruelty towards sea life, designing leaflets with tips for the public to help prevent animal cruelty. Additionally, their PSHE lessons focused on community and careers, where they explored different animal-related professions and emphasised the importance of community involvement in animal welfare. In Science, students learned about ecological relationships and how they contribute to animal protection. The class even had their own aquarium to learn about proper animal care. Lastly, within DT, students learned about branding and how it can be used to raise awareness and funds for a cause. Using graphic design software called Canva, they created banners to promote a charity that they established to combat animal cruelty.

Teacher’s Reflections

Overall, this project was a success, our students were fully captivated by the topic and excited to expand on their knowledge. High points of the project included our trip to Champions Wharf Play Beach, where our students demonstrated their social action skills by handing out leaflets informing the general public about ocean pollution and helping to clear the local area of dangerous rubbish that could harm the local wildlife. If I could think of one improvement for this project, I think it would have been even more effective to have been able to explore our local habitats in science more but with the weather so cold, all the organisms had started to hibernate or take shelter. I am so proud of what Gevurah has managed to accomplish with their analysis of Animal Farm, working hard to develop their skills and writing ‘Point evidence explanation’ paragraphs. 

– Natasha Brandon

Students’ Reflections

“I thought the project was very good because the big question is very important to the world” – Poppy

“My favorite part was visiting Whipsnade Zoo and seeing a baby wolverine” – Rafael

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Graffiti Project

16th May 2023Website Admin

In the project, Year 7 focused on exploring different types of diversity and the promotion of inclusion within our community. Each student was tasked with designing and creating their own friendship bench, which they presented to the school.

To help ensure the benches accurately represented the messages they want to share, the students carefully critiqued and refined their designs. They also created original pieces of poetry that celebrate diversity.

Teacher’s Reflections

  • Creative expression was a great way to develop imagination, problem-solving skills and confidence
  • In terms of improving the project for next time, setting clear deadlines for different parts of the project is a good idea

Students’ Reflections

I really enjoyed painting the mural, it was really colourful and fun to paint!

I liked making the Eiffel Tower in Life Skills and I liked shaping the chicken wire.

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How Can People Help Minibeasts Project

16th May 2023Website Admin

In Spring Two, Zayit Class worked on an exciting project linked to their topic of ‘Minibeasts’, They focused on improving their knowledge of scientific vocabulary, how minibeasts are important to the environment and how people can help to protect them.

The main focus on their project was to develop their art and design skills by designing and making minibeast hotels. Through this task the students also worked on giving and receiving feedback about their designs.

The exhibition for the project involved Gesher’s Senior Leadership Team cutting the ribbon as part of the grand opening of the hotels.

Teacher’s Reflections

  • Engaging with all children involved the different learning and play opportunities
  • Rewarding to see all the children make great progress towards their communication targets
  • Challenging to build the minibeast hotels, however with a lot of teamwork and encouragement the children made great progress

Students’ Reflections

My highlight of the project was going to the environment centre.

The project was fun and I learnt how to make a minibeast hotel

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Natural Disasters Project

1st May 2023Website Admin

In this project, Years 5 and 6 explored the different types of natural disasters and how communities can protect themselves when they occur.

They also made their own safety documentaries to raise awareness of natural disasters. These were accompanied by stop-animation effects, posters and survival kits.

The students also created their own ‘mini-worlds’ for the final exhibition to further demonstrate the impact that natural disasters can have on communities.

Teacher’s Reflections

  • I felt we covered a huge amount of detail when exploring each natural disaster due to the longer nature of the project
  • At times it was challenging to find external visitors to talk about their experience and I would have liked to expand our reach further into the local community

Students’ Reflections

My highlight of the project was going to the Natural History Museum

The project taught me that the weakest part of the hurricane is the middle

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Why Should We Celebrate Diversity Project

4th March 2023Website Admin

In this project, Year 8 learned about the importance of diversity and then applied this knowledge to create their own comic books about discrimination. Students developed their characters and storyline in English lessons and used their Art lessons to explore different comic book styles.

Once the comic books were finished they had their very own book signing where they sold signed copies of their brand-new comic books to parents, teachers and fellow students.

As part of the project, the students also visited Watford Football Club to find out more about how discrimination can effect professional sport.

Teachers’s Reflections

  • This was a meaningful project for our students and their awareness of discrimination and diversity broadened enormously.
  • Next time, it would be good to explore other software options and some of the students found the app we used to be a bit limiting.

Students’ Reflections

This project taught me that it is good that we are all different and we should still treat everyone in a good way.

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