'STEMmaville' Week
This week was all about developing our skills within the world of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths: Curiosity, Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, Creativity, Communication and Collaboration. Throughout the week the children took part in a number of different activities linked to STEM, including forest school problem-solving games, spaghetti tower challenges, coding with Micro:bits and an egg-drop challenge. There were also a number of visitors to the school, who brought exciting experiences with them: a planetarium with Kielder Observatory; Sphero robots with Dr Steve Bunce from the RGS; Story of the Earth with Newcastle University; a Smart 1 and an AMG sports car and technicians with Mercedes Benz; and 3D printing with Thorp Academy.
Not only did the children have a lot of fun, they also spent time investigating the many careers linked to STEM and had an online chat with scientists. All in all, it was a brilliant and inspiring week.
Arts Enrichment Week
Beginning with performances from the wonderful Lempen Puppet Theatre, Arts Week was all about the animals, themed around the music of The carnival of the Animals, by Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns. Each year group focused on one of the animals featured in the music and the children were challenged to use a range of artistic techniques and skills, including collage, painting, sculpture, printing and puppetry to produce their artwork. Inspiration was drawn from artists around the world, but we also studied the sculptor Antony Gormley who has often created vast art installations that reflect the diversity of people on our planet; some of us created self-sculptures based on his 'Field' exhibition of thousands of terracotta figures, which celebrated the fact that, although we are all pupils at Emmaville Primary School, we each bring our differences which are to be celebrated.
Money Matters
This week was all about the money, as we learnt all about the history and significance of money, how to manage it and what good we can do with it. The week culminated in a whole-school fundraising event, in which each class paired up with another from a different key stage to learn about and raise money for some charities. These were:
- RSPCA
- CLIC Sargent
- Gateshead Foodbank
- St Oswald’s Hospice
- Fairtrade
- NSPCC
The children worked in mixed age pairs to set up and run their stalls, collect the money and ensure everything ran smoothly. We were completely overwhelmed by the children’s initiative and creativity, coming up with the ideas for fundraising, as well as their awareness of the needs of others and drive to ensure that they raised as much money as possible for them. We raised over £2000 for the charities.
Road to Rio
This week had an Olympic feel about it, with zumba workouts (choreographed and lead by our own dance specialist, Emily Rochester), hula-hooping fitness and fun with Hoopstarz, fast-paced Aceball sessions with two Olympic volleyball athletes (Nathan French and Peter Bakare), cricket coaching with former pupil Matthew Willis, mile runs, lots of outdoor activities, flag-making and, of course, the Emmaville School Sports Day. Determination, Honesty, Respect, Passion, Teamwork and Effort? We had it all...
Is it Fair?
We celebrated our differences this week, learning about cultural, religious and physical diversity. Through activities, discussions, games and external visitors like Barnabus in Schools, the children developed their understanding of respect, freedom and equality. They explored religions and cultures from around the world, considered the importance standing up to discrimination, whether it be on the grounds of race, religion, ability or gender, and learnt that they are all important individuals who have the right to be valued and treated with respect. Education certainly is the key.