On Friday 21st June, normal lessons were suspended and students took part in ‘Cultural Capital day’.
The aim of these days is to expose students to different and new experiences. Whether it be increasing their knowledge of a particular topic, challenging students personally, building confidence or inspiring them to be ambitious for their future.
Each year group had a different focus:
Year 7: STEM focus on a trip to LEGOLAND
On Friday 21st June, the whole of Year 7 boarded the coaches in pursuit of an exciting day at LEGOLAND Windsor! Throughout the day, students were given the freedom to explore the park’s rides and attractions, as well as the exciting opportunity to take part in one of the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) workshops.
During the workshops, the students (and teachers!) were given time to experience a fun, hands-on and engaging session hosted by LEGOLAND’s trained facilitators, which utilise the LEGO bricks and cover key curriculum targets within STEM. There were two different workshops taking place: the SPIKE Prime workshops challenged the students to learn how to build and programme robots to respond to colours and objects in a variety of ways. The other workshop looked at the science of roller coasters, which challenged students to investigate the deeper science behind more complex designs and equations to explore how a roller coaster behaves, and the engineering involved. It is safe to say the students certainly had to engage their brains during the day!
It was an absolute pleasure to observe the students’ learning in their workshops, and to see them actively engage in the STEM subjects in a practical context. We heard words and phrases like ‘circumference’, ‘degree turns’ and ‘percentages’ being used accurately to solve problems, as well as watching the students measuring distances and time to solve their challenges. It was genuinely a joyful experience for us as teachers, to see the students so engaged in something so educational.
Of course, there were plenty of less ‘academic’ experiences! The students thoroughly enjoyed cooling down on the log flumes, driving cars round the tracks and testing out all the roller coasters. Although much more subtle, the students also had so many experiences for personal development throughout the day. They may have had to manage friendship dynamics, budget their spending money, take responsibility for their belongings as well as their actions, to name but a few.
I am incredibly proud of the Year 7 cohort of The Henry Beaufort School, they represented themselves and the school so well. Thank you, Year 7, for a wonderful day out!
Miss Townsend
Year 8: Develop their understanding of Faith in Action and the Holocaust
The Year 8’s were lucky to have 2 assemblies during the day and were very impressive with their mature and respectful behaviour throughout the day; they were a credit to the school.
First, we welcomed Winchester Street Pastors.
A street pastor is someone who is often seen on a Friday and Saturday night in Winchester City Centre caring and listening to those on the streets. They take on this voluntary role as they are:
- a Christian and is part of a local church;
- concerned for society and their local community;
- willing to engage with people, whatever their perspective on life and wherever they hang out;
- happy to work in a team and in collaboration with other agencies and projects, both statutory and voluntary.
Next we had Hillary Hodsman attend to talk about her parents' experiences of the Holocaust and how they managed to leave Germany via the Kindertransport. Year 8 was then given the opportunity to ask questions and look at various objects that belonged to her parents, like her father’s Red Cross letter.
It was a remarkable experience for our students, and they showed themselves to be well-rounded, respectful young people. They were complimented by both the Street Pastors and Hilary on how remarkable they were.
Year 9: Festival of Sport.
Firstly, the Year 9 students had an assembly and learnt about the sporting values and the importance of working together to represent their house. Students competed in football, rounders, tennis or benchball competitions and the day was concluded with a Tug of War competition. There was a fantastic atmosphere throughout the day and year 9 students really got behind their house and there were fantastic and exciting competitions across all the sports and events. The house that won each event was:
- Football – Moscow
- Handball - Prague
- Tennis - Moscow
- Rounders – Athens
- Tug of War – Berlin
The Year 9 students fully got behind the Festival of Sport and when all points were added up the results were in 1st place – Berlin, 2nd place - Moscow and 3rd place - Rome. These scores will be added to the House System.
Year 10: The Year 10s were looking at real life application of English (Language in Law), Maths (Budgeting for the future) and Science (Bad Science)
Science
The focus of the session was ‘Bad Science’. In the Bad Science activities Year 10, students were guided through activities that helped them answer the following key questions;
What do we mean by ‘Bad Science’??
What questions should we ask, as scientists, when it comes to the reporting of ‘Science’ in the media/ news/ advertising??
How can we spot ‘Bad Science’?
Students explored real life examples from breakfast to beauty products, to explore, how good science can be misrepresented for a range of purposes to help them make informed decisions in their future.
Maths:
We welcomed MyBnk, a financial charity that aims to address ‘mindsets, attitudes and behaviours to help young people form an understanding of the wider world of money’. Year 10 had the opportunity to meet a team of financial advisors and talk about some of the unglamorous, yet very important, aspects of everyday life like tax, earnings and budgeting. The aim of the session was to explore and learn about some real-world financial Maths - giving our Year 10 students a taste of the decisions to come for them in the next few years as they go on to the world of work, further education or university. A thought-provoking look at future career pathways, the impact that money has on decisions and the ins-and-outs of the UK financial system. Thank you MyBnk for a brilliant session, and for all our students who engaged and took part!
English:
On Year 10 Cultural Day in English, students examined how the skills they gain in English can lead to any future career, particularly those requiring strong argumentation and persuasion. Taking on the roles of barristers, they engaged in a challenging real-life case based on Joint Enterprise law, delivering passionate opening and closing statements to argue their positions. The students were brilliant and confident in their delivery and enthusiastic throughout their sessions – well done Year 10!
.jpg)
.jpg)
