Maple Class
Fun
Sian Peel (speel) on: Maple Class
Maple Class have enjoyed a very busy and exciting Summer Term. We have continued to learn about the seven continents in the world by making African jewellery and masks. In music we have listened to a variety of songs from around the world and decided whether it was a 'Hit, Miss or Maybe'.
Maple Class have continued to enjoy making delicious food in cooking. We have made foods from different continents, including onion bhaji's and scones. The pupils then enjoyed the scones with jam and cream.
In Science pupils have chosen and explored a variety of objects, then proceeded to make a prediction as to whether it would float or sink. We recorded our predictions and were interested to see the results. We have also learnt about density and carried out practical experiments.
In Maths pupils have been very busy learning about time and 3D shapes. Sensory learners have enjoyed choosing shapes and then exploring them.
All of Maple Class were very excited to be in the school play, “Once Upon a Fairytale”, where they were happy to see family and familiar people in the audience, watching them perform. Pupils played different roles from the Disney film “Aladdin”.
We are thankful to South Ribble Borough Council Sports Development, who visited school on numerous occasions to teach us this year’s dance for “Dance from the Heart”. For the main event we even had a visit from Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse and Elsa! Some of our pupils have also been on the school trip to Hothersall Lodge, where they have enjoyed taking part in various outdoor and indoor activities.
We hope that you all have a lovely summer and we look forward to welcoming all the pupils back in September.
World Travellers
Sian Peel (speel) on: Maple Class
As part of this term’s topic ‘Oceans, Deserts and Mountains: World Travellers’, Maple Class have been recognising and exploring the seven continents. In Geography we have looked at Asia and studied Mount Everest. The pupils have then created their own amazing interpretations of the mountain using paints, materials and flags.
In Maths, we have been looking at money. Pupils have been working on recognising each coin and understanding its value. Sensory learners have worked very hard exploring the coins and then identifying and choosing the same coin. Next term we will be looking at time and 3D shapes.
In English, the pupils have continued to improve their dictionary skills and alphabetical order. We will continue with this as we progress through the Summer Term.
Every Wednesday South Ribble Borough Council have been visiting the school to carry out 'bikeability'. The pupils have thoroughly enjoyed improving their confidence and stability whilst riding a bike. We have also enjoyed our visit from South Ribble Borough council on a Thursday for Dance from the Heart. The pupils have been practicing a dance routine and will perform this in a couple of weeks.
In cookery we have continued to explore the continents, we prepared and made delicacies from different continents. We have made delicious lamingtons from Australia and pizzas from Italy. Sensory learners have enjoyed exploring and mark making in the ingredients. We also participated in the celebration of the King’s coronation by dancing around the maypole, playing bingo, making coronation cupcakes as well as designing and creating amazing crowns to wear throughout the day. We also thank M and M Productions for a fantastic performance of ‘The Secret Garden’, which we all thoroughly enjoyed. We are practising hard for the school performance and are looking forward to performing it in weeks to come.
Japanese fun!
Sian Peel (speel) on: Maple Class
This term in Maple we have been working extremely hard! In Maths we have been learning about capacity. Pupils have been working on being able to identify different levels of capacity and predicting which container will hold more or less. Our sensory learners have had lots of opportunity to explore in water, whilst filling and emptying different containers. In English the pupils have been challenged to think about letter recognition, as we have continued to improve our alphabetical ordering skills. We have followed instructions and made items using the Japanese art of paper folding “origami”. The pupils enjoyed carrying out a Japanese tea ceremony, as we continued to learn about Japan. In the ceremony we listened to traditional Japanese music, followed Japanese rituals and tried some Japanese tea! Maple Class have also been learning about the Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, who is famous for her use of polka dots. The pupils have made some clay pumpkins and will be decorating them in future lessons. As a school we celebrated “Science Week” by learning about the topic “Connections”. Maple Class began by thinking and understanding what Science is and what it means. We then explored “Connections” by carrying out experiments looking at minibeasts and habitats. A group of students have begun to access Runshaw College. During this time, they have appeared on Runshaw Radio, where they introduced themselves and even played their own choice of song. They have explored the college and used the outdoor gym equipment. In future weeks they are looking forward to designing and creating in Technology!
Spring Term
Sian Peel (speel) on: Maple Class
Maple Class have had a fantastic start to the Spring Term, we’ve started our new topic ‘Express Yourself’.
We have been listening to different genres of music and then voicing our opinions on each piece. Some students have shown us how each genre has made them feel through dance.
In English we have been learning about the alphabet and sorting words into alphabetical order. Our sensory learners have been enjoying a sensory story called ‘Mr Big’.
We have explored 2D shapes and symmetry. The students are recognising names of shapes and their properties.
We have continued World Studies, learning about Australia and the Great Barrier Reef. Students have enjoyed learning about the animals that live in and around the reef as well as painting their own.
Maple Class have been busy preparing and baking different recipes in Cookery. To celebrate Chinese New Year, we made some delicious noodle recipes, using ingredients that some of the students have independently purchased whilst out in the community. We have also enjoyed making smoothies, crackers with cheese and fruit salads.
In Modern Foreign Languages we are focusing on Spain. We have been learning how to pronounce words in Spanish and even learnt our colours! Students have also been learning about Japan and created amazing fact files and flags. We will be having a Japanese tea ceremony in our next lesson.
IN PHSE we have been learning about first aid and the emergency services and have made emergency phone calls, so we know what information we need to give.
In the coming weeks some of our pupils are looking forward to accessing Runshaw College and beginning work experience placements.
Hope you enjoy looking at the photographs of some of the things we have been doing in class.
Autumn Term
Sian Peel (speel) on: Maple Class
Maple Class are really pleased to welcome all our pupils back to school after the summer holidays. We have welcomed one new pupil to our school and class this year, who has settled in very well. We extend our welcome to a new teaching assistant in Maple Class, Kelly, who also joined in September.
This term we are looking at the Victorians. We have already been working very hard on this topic by exploring some of the equipment, objects, photographs and documents from the Victorian era. We were very lucky to have visitors in school who demonstrated what it was like to attend a school during those times. We are looking forward to finding out how the Victorians celebrated Christmas.
Some of the pupils continue to learn life skills. They are developing their understanding of money at tuck time. They are also making their own toast, washing, drying and putting their dishes away. In addition to this Maple Class have been practising their weighing, chopping, grating and peeling skills in cookery. They have been preparing and cooking some delicious ‘dips and dippers’. Some of the pupils have even tried new foods! We have enjoyed guacamole with pitta bread, cous-cous and coleslaw. Our sensory learners have explored the ingredients and equipment.
In RE this term, we have been learning about Judaism. We have been looking at Shabbat and have been listening to some Jewish music, which all of us have thoroughly enjoyed! We continued to use and improve our cookery skills by making Jewish bread.
In Numeracy we have been looking at non-standard units of measurements. We have used cubes, trundle wheels and our hands and feet to measure parts of the school.
During English we have been looking at the story ‘Alice In Wonderland’. The children have been reading the story together and are working very hard on their sentence structure. Our sensory learners have been exploring and choosing different materials to create their own characters from the story.
The focus in World Studies this term is Australia. Maple Class have made their own passports, packing and exploring items and clothing they would need for a visit to Australia as well as experiencing a flight simulator.
We have all enjoyed our ‘World of Work Week’, where we have had fantastic and inspiring speeches, demonstrations and opportunities to explore and try activities from a mechanic, Visual Impairment Specialists, site manager, cook, hairdresser and a theatre nurses who told us all about their jobs, which we really enjoyed and would like to thank all the people who generously gave us their time.
It has been a very positive start to our school year and we are looking forward to sharing our progress in future blogs.
Class 6
Music Mosiac
Sian Peel (speel) on: Class 6
Class 6 has changed quite a lot this academic year. Seven new pupils have joined us from Classes 4 and 5 and we have a new pupil, Laura, who has come to us from another school. She has settled in really well and we hope she will be very happy here at the Coppice.
Steph is the new class teacher and we have a new teaching assistant, Celeste, who along with Ashleigh, Moira and Josie make up the staff team.
Our topic for this term is Music Mosiac. We are looking at music across the decades from the 1950’s to the present day. For the 1950’s we have focused on Elvis Presley. We have looked at the costumes he used to wear on stage and we made our own white sparkly material like the one used to make his famous white suits.
We have also been listening to a lot of his songs. One of our favourites is 'Bossa Nova Baby' which Elvis sang in the film 'Fun in Acapulco'. We have watched Elvis singing this song and have then made a video of ourselves playing along and dancing to it. Each of the students chose a musical instrument to play and they dressed up in sunglasses and flower garlands similar to the ones Elvis used to wear. We had great fun making the video and are hoping to show it to everyone in school when it is our class assembly.
