Group 3 have enjoyed creating their own luminous lava lamps in science this week. Look how bright they are!
In Group 8 we had a fantastic time at the Museum for Science and Industry, we looked at the exhibition on Graphene. Graphene is a unique new material that has been in the news recently, but which we had also discussed in class as part of our General Studies exam preparation. In GCSE Biology we dissected a lamb’s heart identifying the different chambers, vessels and valves. We continue to be very proud of the support being given to some of our younger pupils by our two School Leaders.
As we near the last half term of the academic year we are making sure that our year 11’s are happy and confident about their post 16 choices. We continue to visit colleges and providers looking at what will be their new classrooms and meeting some members of staff that they will be working with.
On Friday 5th May, the whole school took part in an Empty Classroom Day. After the success of our Three Peaks Challenge last year, this was an opportunity for staff and pupils to get out of the building and, in most cases, the school and enjoy and be inspired by the world around us.
Anyone who has seen the impact that learning and playing outdoors has on children and young people knows how powerful such experiences can be. Learning outdoors creates lasting memories, helps build a greater awareness of the environment, provides opportunities to think independently, and gets children feeling challenged and excited by learning. Children and young people are more active when they play and learn outdoors.
You can see some pictures of the day below - we know some of them are blurry but the boys are just too fast and don't want to stop for us to snap them!. We will add more pictures as soon as we are able.
Pupils at Joseph Norton Academy were excited to take part in the formal opening of their Wooden Spoon School Farm this week. Chairman of Wooden Spoon Yorkshire, Stuart Watson, cut the ribbon to declare the project open, following which the farm manager and pupils gave visitors a tour of the superb new facilities.
The farm is currently home to rabbits, goats, chickens and a host of smaller animals. Pigs and ducks will be joining the menagerie later in the year. Guests included Wooden Spoon committee members, Cllr Janet Depledge, Trust governors and Joseph Norton families and friends – not to mention all the animals.
Pupils enjoyed hosting the event and talking about the hard work they have undertaken so far this year. Member of the community Joy Lane commented: It has been a lovely day. I hadn’t realised what a valuable asset the school had for their pupils and families. I could clearly see how the children benefit from the hands-on experience of looking after the animals and growing fruit and vegetables. There was a great turn out from the school and the local community.
The school’s Headteacher Sarah Wilson said: none of this would have been possible without the support of Wooden Spoon Yorkshire. With their backing we have been able to transform a rundown garden into a fantastic outdoor learning area that will support the development of our pupils for many years to come. We are all immensely grateful.
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.
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.
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!
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!
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!
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!
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!