Spring Into Action !

We are all excited about the nice weather and the opportunity to get outside and be active more often. Group 4 have been very busy recently immersing ourselves in our farm topic.

We have really enjoyed learning about where our food comes from and linking farming practices to our favourite foods. We have learnt about what farmers do to produce the ingredients that go into biscuits and cookies. We then made our own biscuits and cookies using the ingredients we have learnt about. Triple chocolate cookies and flapjack biscuits were our favourites!

We have really tried to challenge ourselves in maths and have attempted some GCSE style questions to great effect. We are now all angle experts and are very confident in measuring and naming them. In English we have experienced writing for different audiences and purposes. Our extended writing is something we are proud of and our hard work in paying off.

This week we are learning about eggs and how they can be used in different ways. Blowing eggs to make them hollow so that we could measure the surface area was great fun. We have decorated the eggs in preparation for Easter and our science experiments later this week.

We are all excited about the Easter break and hope everyone in school and our learning community has a great half term and enjoys the spring sunshine.

Edible Farms

Last week Group 3 created their own edible farms.  Our task was to design, plan and cost their farms within their agreed budget.  A wide variety of edible building materials were available for differing costs.  Each farm needed to contain a vehicle, some animals and some crops. 

We loved designing and building the farms and all the farms came under the agreed budgets.  We then discussed how our farms would become profitable and the attractions and experiences that we could include on our farms to attract visitors.  Next we created posters advertising the farm, did comparisons between their farm and Cannon Hall Farm and some pupils completed some descriptive writing about their farm. 

We finished of the week with a visit to Cannon Hall Farm where we looked at the different animals and attractions on the farm and played on the adventure playground.

Funny For Money

Yesterday we had lots of fun activities taking place around the school.   Pupils were able to participate by either paying cash or using some of their WOW points to join in with the games on offer.

We had guess the weight of Gordon the goat,  a penalty shoot out, magic tricks by our very own school magician Mr Wardle, and a treasure hunt to name but a few.

Today pupils and staff have come to work in their wellies.  The total raised so far is £62.22.  Well done everyone!

Hedgehogs Welcome

This week in 1AM we have been working on our topic "Wiggle and Crawl" and have enjoyed being outside in the warm weather. Now spring is definitely upon us we have created a hedgehog house in the hope that we get some spiky friends to visit.

The boys have worked hard together to create the house out of different materials and have hidden it away in a sheltered spot on the farm.  Watch this space!

Wriggle & Crawl

1BS

This week in class we have further explored our new topic for this half term, ‘Wriggle and Crawl’. We have been starting to look at bugs and insects around us and completed a bug hunt in the school garden. This was quite difficult as it is still fairly cold and all the bugs are hidden away; however, we did find some and counted them for our data handling project in maths where we have started to create graphs before returning them to their habitat.

Also this week the class caterpillars arrived. We have got 5 giant butterflies and will follow their growth in the next few weeks before releasing them in the garden.  At the moment the caterpillars are very small and sleepy.  We will post pictures again when they are released!

Spring's coming to the farm

It's a busy time on the farm at Joseph Norton Academy as we get ready for spring! We have been sowing our tomatoes and peppers, planting the lettuce, broccoli and cauliflower that we sowed during the winter and harvesting our winter salad for the school rabbits, Rebecca and Charlie.

Trees have been felled with some steely determination and gritted teeth in aid of the pigs too. We have also been wombling around for unused furniture, renovating and up-cycling it for use as vivariums in the animal care room.

This week in particular has seen a great team effort across all of Key Stage 3.  They have been using left over timber from some work carried out in half term.  We have been building a chicken coop so we can introduce some new ladies to the flock. All very exciting things on the farm and spring is almost here!

Kitchen Blog

Over the last week, each group from Key Stage 3 & 4 has worked their socks off in the school kitchen. This was no simple task. Catering for up to 46 pupils each group has prepared a delicious, fresh meal of their choice that were all well received throughout the school.

Group 6 had the daunting task of been the first group to cook for the whole school. On Friday 10th they looked calm and composed and the difficult task ahead did not shake their confidence. Two hours passed like two minutes and with 10 minutes to spare they had worked well as a team to produce a traditional lasagne with garlic bread and salad. This was enjoyed by all pupils and even staff had the pleasure of trying some of the spare portions. Mr Lockwood the school caretaker had the following to say about the lasagne; “One of the best lasagnes I have ever eaten! And it was lovely and warm”.

Group 5 kicked off the following week in great style, with reduced numbers they still managed to plate up on time and the Chicken Tikka Masala was enjoyed by all; with the exception of a few of our younger pupils who found the curry a little on the hot side! But this made it all the more enjoyable for the older pupils who can regularly be seen sneaking extra chili powder into meals.

Group 3; the youngest group to don the aprons, had one of the hardest challenges. Their Toad in the Hole was the most popular dish and was ordered by 42 pupils. Served with mash and peas, this went down an absolute storm at lunch time. No leftovers could be found in any of the classrooms and this was a firm favourite with the key stage 2 pupils.

Group 4 took on a classic Italian dish in the form of spaghetti Bolognese. Despite cooking what seemed like a million strands of spaghetti, once again this went out on time and we even trialled a delivery service rather than having groups collect their meals from the kitchen. This added service element was greatly appreciated and a very nice touch, not to mention the dish was again very tasty and hot!

Group 8 are familiar with the school kitchen and have previously cooked Christmas dinner & Lasagne for the whole school. On this occasion they were tackling Burgers. With reduced numbers and reduced time, once again all pupils worked hard and the burgers were enjoyed by all.

Overall the week has been a huge success with pupils from all groups working hard and as a team to produce some great tasty dinners. We are already looking forward and planning for the next time!

New bikes

Our trusty outdoor education bikes have come to the end of their life!

Pupils in group 3 have been prompted to consider ways of raising money to buy some new bikes for everyone to enjoy. Over the weeks they have been working hard during Enrichment sessions washing cars in the car park.

The school has now taken delivery of the new bikes and everyone has been enjoying the freedom of riding them and learning new skills on control and techniques of downhill mountain biking.

JOSEPH NORTON ACADEMY RECOGNISED AS AN INVESTOR IN PEOPLE

Joseph Norton Academy has been awarded Gold accreditation against the Investors in People Standard, joining the top seven per cent of accredited organisations across the UK, demonstrating their commitment to high performance through good people management.

Investors in People is the international standard for people management, defining what it takes to lead, support and manage people effectively to achieve sustainable results.  Underpinning the Standard is the Investors in People framework, reflecting the latest workplace trends, essential skills and effective structures required to outperform in any industry.  Investors in People enables organisations to benchmark against the best in the business on an international scale.

Paul Devoy, Head of Investors in People, said: “We’d like to congratulate Joseph Norton Academy.  Investors in People accreditation is the sign of a great employer, an outperforming place to work and a clear commitment to success.   Joseph Norton Academy should be extremely proud of their achievement.”

Commenting on the award, Sarah Wilson, Head Teacher, said, “We are delighted to have achieved Gold level accreditation.  The staff at Joseph Norton are our best asset.  They are the glue that holds our school together and they work tirelessly for the children and the community we serve.  Undertaking the journey towards accreditation has enabled us to reflect on our performance, gain new insights into our practice and consider future developments that will help ensure our fantastic team can adapt and thrive into the future.”

For more information about Investors in People please visit www.investorsinpeople.com

Artwork for the KS4 Common Room

Group 7 have been working hard at On-Board to create artwork for the key stage 4 common room.  Their work involved designing the logos, spray painting the boards and then working with paint pens to create the layered look of graffiti art.

This complex art form tests a range of skills including working out the measurements of the boards and the cost of the paint.  In doing so, they also have to incorporate aspects of mathematics into their work to be able to achieve the end result.

Over the past four weeks they have really enjoyed using new materials and learning different ways of creatively expressing themselves.

Using Restorative Approaches

We are proud to have been included in the Restorative Justice Council's winter newsletter as we work to achieve the Restorative Service Quality Mark.  Please click on the image and turn to page 19 to find us :) 

A restorative school is one which takes a restorative approach to resolving conflict and preventing harm. Restorative approaches enable those who have been harmed to convey the impact of the harm to those responsible, and for those responsible to acknowledge this impact and take steps to put it right.

There is good evidence that restorative practice delivers a wide range of benefits for schools. A report published by the Department for Education gave whole-school restorative approaches the highest rating of effectiveness at preventing bullying, with a survey of schools showing 97% rated restorative approaches as effective. An independent evaluation of restorative justice in Bristol schools found that restorative justice improved school attendance and reduced exclusion rates.

If you would like more information about restorative practice in our school, please speak to Darryl Jones.

Kicking off the New Year in style

Students in Year 6 have taken up the challenge of designing a new football kit.  They decided that the school needed to update the current design to reflect the new name and Academy status.

They spent a morning discussing aspects of a customised design and investigated a variety of colours and patterns.  This allowed them to combine their ideas and come up with a winning style.