KS4 headed to Broughton woods this half term to work on their 'Fragmentation' projects with a focus on how humans breach nature. Everyone produced some amazing images and we are all looking forward to seeing their final pieces.

The whole academy visited Yorkshire Wildlife Park and, despite the rain, enjoyed their trek around the park to find their favourite animals. The learners used their maps to navigate their journey around the different kingdoms and explore the wide variety of wildlife. Many of the animals were sheltering from the rain and low temperatures but our eagle-eyed learners were able to hunt them down. The play areas were a favourite with the juniors with many of them sliding down the twister slide in the Jungle Lookout Playground. What a roarsome day. 

Our junior learners all visited Pink Pig Farm and showed excellent teamwork and respect. They walked around the animal enclosures, laughed at the dancing turkey and cooed at the adorable bunnies. They created an obstacle course in the hay bales, swinging from stack to stack with smiles and laughs all round. Annabelle and Bella helped one another on the cart track before the learners raced around the track on the pedal cars. All of the learners had a fabulous day and can’t wait for a return visit. 

This year in Science we have been focusing on Practical activities that engage and spark curiosity in our learners. This particular experiment demonstrates a number of scientific principles in a spectacular manner. The reactions show what happens when a strong oxidising agent is in a powdered form is mixed which reacts rapidly with a blue liquid to create a large Exothermic redox reaction. This reaction starts slowly doing nothing for the first 20 seconds then into a white smoke eventually culminating in a rapid release of heat and bright purple flame.

Monday 3rd June was a very exciting day for our learners at Coritani, as it was the big reveal of our refurbished reading room also known as “The Cave.”

During the day all the learners came for a peak and were immediately drawn to the beautiful ivy, entwined with bright fairy lights which lead them into the dimly lit cave! There were gasps of excitement and enthusiasm! The learners enjoyed delicately touching the ivy and lights and trying out the new seating, as well as looking at some of the books and getting into character using the soft toys.

Learning takes place in all areas of the reading room including working at tables, on the wooden stools and making use of the array of soft blankets sitting on the floor of the cave. The learners really enjoy their time in the cave and find it a safe and comforting place. 

During this half term KS4 have considered transactional writing in addition to completing a recap of An Inspector Calls. The writing at the start of this half term consisted of letters, writing to inform and writing to persuade. Leading on from this the group considered An Inspector Calls and how Priestley tried to influence the audience through persuasive language. KS4 picked a character each to focus on and then shared their findings with the group.