C24 Expert visit from architect, Leanne Stamp

Last week we had the pleasure of welcoming Leanne Stamp, the architect who designed our school, to XP East.  It was not the first time Leanne had visited the school, but she expressed her joy at finally seeing the school full of students, staff and furniture and being used just as she had envisaged!

Both 8Pioneer and 8Explorer demonstrated excellent focus during each of her two hour sessions, in which she detailed her role as an architect and explained where it fitted into a wider team; she also shared with our students the design principles behind developing a building from concept to actual use, before setting up a group activity for them to apply these principles to the design of XP East.

This week we have followed up Leanne’s visit by consolidating our notes, using marketplace activities to share our learning from the group work sessions.  8Pioneer students have each chosen an area of the design principles which interests them and 8Explorer will identify their own areas of interest next week.  Each student will use this area of interest as the focus for a piece of extended writing on how XP East was sustainably designed and how we could develop it in the future.

Many thanks to all of our students for their questions, keen interest and for demonstrating the Character Traits during Leanne’s visit, particularly those of Respect and Craftsmanship and Quality.  I really enjoyed the day and I know it was a turning point in the expedition for many of our students, as it really brought the importance of sustainability to the fore.

Working Hard on Monday Morning

Explorer worked extremely hard on Monday morning in HUMS session 1 & 3 with Mr Brown. Students annotated a model of descriptive writing about a building in Doncaster.

Look at Dakota’s work – getting smart by using her device to google define words she was unsure of and then noting it down along with synonyms at the bottom of her page.

Chris and Libby were two students who I noticed were working hard and on task. They both approached me at the end of session with pride at the work they had done!

C24 expert visit from Leanne Stamp, Architect

On Tuesday 2nd October C24 will work with Leanne Stamp, the architect who designed XP East and who is the expert for the next learning target in our Expedition, A Place Of Our Own.  We have prepared for her visit by learning new key words such as ‘innovation’ and ‘sustainability’; considered how emotion could be linked to different architectural styles; discussed heating and lighting techniques to minimise energy consumption and have written questions about her role and rationale for the design of XP East.

Watch this space to hear more after her visit!

Inspired by Doncaster’s Architecture

This week in X-Block, C24 are starting draft one of their screen print designs:

After researching the local architecture across Doncaster, the classes each created an outline of the local museum in the session today. Over the past two weeks we have been delving into the rich history of the town and its many desolate buildings. We’ve made some incredible discoveries, for instance, that the Beatles played a gig in the old Gaumont Cinema which sadly no longer exists!

I loved how some students adopted a minimalist style in their artwork today, while others worked hard to show the detail and intricacies of the museum’s architecture.

Here’s examples of Theonie’s, Aran’s, George’s and Holly’s work from the session:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love how unique they are, and I can’t wait to see what each student picks for their final design next week and to continue through this drafting process!

Miss Haughey

Energy, homes and cheese puffs: C24 STEAM

C24 have kicked off their Expedition ‘A Place of Our Own’ by considering energy use in the home (including the energy stored in a single cheese puff snack!).Our students used calorimetry to calculate the energy transferred from a cheese puff when it burns…we wonder how many joules of energy are needed to power appliances in the home? They also ‘grappled‘ with some challenging questions to give them a flavour of what we will be studying next week.

We look forward to welcoming a mystery expert to school on Wednesday 26th September to help us dig deeper into the Learning Target: I can explain how the Earth’s resources are used in a domestic context.

Both 8Explorer and 8Pioneer have been set extended study (homework) in HUMANS.  The task is to answer questions about George and Lennie, based on the opening extract of OMAM.  The work is due in on Thursday 20th September.

The questions – and other helpful resources – are available on Google Classrooms.

There is also an extension task for those students up for a challenge!

Don’t forget that all students are encouraged to stay for extended study 3.15-4.30 Monday-Thursday, where they will have access to staff and laptops to help them complete their homework.

Any questions, please see Mr Brown, Mrs Parker or Mr Ryder.

Who in the World am I? (Part 2)

During our HUMAN session today, we have completed our first drafts of our autobiographies.  We are now peer critiquing our work, thinking carefully about giving kind, specific and helpful feedback.

So, for example:

Alesha and Adam are focusing on key events (have they been developed in sufficient detail?) which are ordered chronologically.

Louis and Chloe are focusing on developing a conclusion which reflects on previous events given.

Next session, we’ll be purple polishing our work in response to our partner’s critique and then start work on draft 2.

We’ll keep you posted…

 

Who in the World am I?

This week in HUMAN, 7Explorer have started work on our new expedition, ‘Expedition 360!’

We have started to write our own mini-autobiographies ready for our final product.

With titles like:

‘The Legend. The Myth. The Boy from Donny’ by Lewis. H.

‘All About Me… Not You!’ by Ben

‘Landing on my Feet’ by Frida

‘My First Steps’ by Noah

‘The Life of Eleanor’ by Eleanor

who could resist reading further to find out more about our students and the pivotal moments they have experienced in their lives so far?

Look at the passion and focus with which they are writing – amazing!