Swim Safe

Today, Year 6 travelled to Windermere to take part in a 'Swim Safe' session with trained instructors. They had the opportunity to swim in the lake after being taught how to keep safe in open-water situations. They learned what the different coloured flags mean, how to combat cold-water shock, and how to get help if they get into difficulty while swimming.  It was a super activity and the children absolutely loved it. 

Bushcraft

After their swim, the children took part in some bushcraft activities. They built fires, made dens and had a turn at making some natural art on the lakeshore. It was a lovely, relaxed afternoon and the children showed fabulous creativity and resilience. 

Whitehaven Harbour Youth Project

To contribute to the 'Adventure' element of our JASS awards, we spent the day with the people from Whitehaven Harbour Youth Project, canoeing, orienteering and baking bread on the beach.  Some of our supporters from the police and Kaefer came along to help. It was a lovely sunny day for being outside getting active.  The children really enjoyed it. A big thanks to WHYP, Colette and Rox from the Police, and the helpers from Kaefer - you made the day extra special.

Scaffolding the World with Kaefer

Representatives from Kaefer, a company supporting our JASS awards, came into class today to complete a project with the children.  Their project, entitled ‘Scaffolding the World’, involves introducing the children to the world of work. They worked in teams on various challenges, including: a landmark quiz; a ‘where in the World’ task; designing a scaffold for the World; and finally building the scaffold. The children all worked very hard and had great fun.  The winning team were successful because of their super teamwork. Well done, everyone! Thank you to Elizabeth and Ashley from Kaefer, and also Rox and Colette from Cumbria Constabulary.

Doodlebugs

Ian, from 'Doodlebugs', came into class today to talk to the children about mindset. He taught the children to be more resilient and understand that a growth mindset is preferable to a fixed one. We shouldn't say 'I can't do this', we should say, 'I can't do this yet'.  He taught them how to draw a cartoon 'Wallace' and I think they all did a marvellous job. 

Play in a Day

Lisa, from Lynx Theatre, was in school today for our annual ‘play in a day’. This year’s play was called ‘Fair Play’ and was all about the history of the Olympics. Lisa had the children do various activities so she could assess who would be good for which parts, then they started learning the play. At the end of the day, they performed it in front of the rest of the school and all of the staff. It was fabulous. We certainly have some budding actors in class. Well done, Year 6!

Arts Week

The children who came to the Year 6 classroom, painted beach pebbles. They were asked to think of things that reminded them of where we lived - it could be an animal, nature, scenery, a place, anything!  They then painted their design onto the pebble with special paint. The finished stones were varnished and then placed in the outdoor classroom. They look beautiful, and the children like trying to spot their own when they are outside playing.

Hearts Investigation

Today in Science, the children explored the structure of lamb hearts. They worked in groups to look for familiar features like the ventricles, atria, aorta, valves, septum and ligaments. I think we found some budding surgeons (or butchers!) and most of the class enjoyed this anatomical exploration.  A huge thank you to Napier's Butchers for donating the hearts - it is this community spirit that makes Bookwell school such a great place to work and learn. 

Science Week

As part of 'Science Week', Year 6 investigated the question - Is Green Really Green? This involved using paper chromatography to split green ink into its separate components.  The children used water as the solvent and were fascinated by how it carried the ink up the paper at different rates.  They went on to explore different colours and types of pen. Science can be lots of fun! 

Priory Visit (Part 2)

Year 6 went for another illuminating visit to St Bees Priory.  We learned about how the priory and associated buildings had changed since the time of Henry VIII. The children got to see the chalice that is thought to have belonged to Archbishop Edmund Grindal.  He will have given communion to Elizabeth I so it is possible that she could have drank from this chalice.  We also got to hear the magnificent organ - kindly played for us by Frank Bowler. Before leaving, we visited the 'Sleeping Child Garden' and saw the last statue made by Josephina de Vasconcellos.  A big thank you to Reverend Gibbs and Mr Rice for making this visit possible.

Boxes Challenge

James Keuchel, a supporter of the Primary Business Partnership, came into class to deliver a 'Boxes Challenge'.  The idea was to show the children that maths isn't always about numbers.  James showed them how to make boxes using 6 folded pieces of card and no glue.  The challenge was to then make a range of composite shapes from them and 'sell' them to earn money to 'buy' materials to make more shapes.  The ultimate goal was to build a large cube to sell for 'big money'!  The children had a great time and some of them discovered that they had a real talent for design and were 'expert builders'. They also developed their team-working skills, with some of the groups setting up 'conveyor belt' manufacturing! Thank you very much James for taking the time to come and work with us!

Snackshop Enterprise Challenge

As part of Maths Week, Year 6 took part in a 'Snackshop Enterprise Challenge'. The children worked in groups to choose a recipe to cook for the rest of the junior children.  They had to scale up their ingredients, write a shopping list, make the cakes and then price them competitively to sell.  They then designed a poster and we headed to the hall to see who could make the most money!  It was a great day and the children learned an awful lot about profit and loss! In total, we raised more than £35 for Macmillan.  Well done, everybody!

Games Day

To kick off our Maths Week, we invited ‘Imagination Gaming’ into school to host two games days for the children. The Year 6 children loved playing a range of games and forgot they were doing maths! It was great fun and best of all - we got to keep the games! A big thank you to Nigel, who made the day such a success. 

Topic Work

Some examples of the beautiful work the children are producing in their topic work. High standards of presentation and a great deal of pride in their books. Well done, Year 6!

'Actions have Consequences' Workshop

Today, Bookwell had some very special visitors (including some quite furry ones!). The Community team from H.M.P Manchester, who are working alongside Cumbria Police, came in to deliver their 'Actions have Consequences' workshop. The children learned lots of interesting (and at times quite eye-opening) facts, in fun and engaging ways.  They also got to meet two police dogs and learned about what their work involves.  It was a brilliant day and we owe a big thank you to Paul, Dave, Colette and Jacqui. Thank You!

Technology Day

For our annual 'Technology Day', Year 6 designed and made their own advent calendar.  Each child had to make a container for one day of our calendar.  They all made some very different designs and had great fun, cutting, sewing, folding and gluing.  We think it looks fabulous.  Pop over to the Video Resource Center to find out more.

Wheelchair Basketball

Nat Pattinson, a gold-medal winning, World Champion, wheelchair basketball player came into school today to talk to the children about his achievements as a disabled sportsman.  The children were very inspired by what he had to say and thoroughly enjoyed having a turn at playing basketball themselves.  Here are some pictures of the fun, and we also made a video of us in action.  Head over to the video resource center to watch it.

Bright Sparks Workshop

Sim, from C-STEM came into Year 6 to deliver their 'Bright Sparks Workshop'.  The children got to build and troubleshoot circuits, and explored what effect changing components in a circuit had.  It was a very interesting day and the class gained a better understanding of how circuits work.  Thank you, Sim!

100 Mile Challenge

Bookwell children are all taking part in the '100 Mile Challenge'.  To get us started, Year 6 did 16 laps of our MUGA (which equates to 1 mile). Some of the girls made it fun by doing laps in different ways: backwards, sideways, even dancing! A few of the boys ran around and actually did 2 miles in the time they had! Well done everyone!

World War 2 Assembly

Year 6 performed their class assembly all about their topic, 'World War 2'.  It went really well and the children loved getting dressed up!

World War 1

We went to the Beacon to take part in a special inter-school project (A Brave New World) that commemorates the end of World War 1. We had an activity session with Alan Gillon, who showed us lots of artefacts from the War and told us all about the trenches and the war effort at home.  Then we went to the art room and made poppies with Magda. Before lunch, we had a look at the exhibition, which showcases work from local schools - ours included!  After lunch, we walked to the archives office where Jacqueline had planned activities for us.  We learned about a local hero, Abraham Acton, who received a Victoria Cross for bravery during the war.  We also learned about how local children had helped with the war effort by collecting conkers, moss and sheep's wool.  It was a fantastically interesting day and we all learned so much about World War 1.  A big thank you to Alan, Magda and Jacqueline for their time and effort to make our day special.

Anderson Shelters

The children were asked to make a model of an Anderson shelter for their homework project.  They all approached the task in their own way and a variety of materials were used.  We think they look absolutely fabulous and the children are rightly proud of their efforts.  Well done Year 6!

Jennifer Carver Day

For our annual ‘Jennifer Carver Day’, Year 6 made Wartime Glory Buns using a recipe from a World War 2 rationing cookbook. The children researched the ‘National Loaf’ and made information posters about it. They also researched other rationing recipes and made their own cookbook using their favourites. The Glory Buns were delicious and everyone enjoyed the day immensely. We shot a video of our day - pop over to the Video Resource Centre to check it out!

The Beacon

We went to the Beacon to engage with their 'Home Front' learning activity.  Alan Gillon led the session and taught the children about what World War 2 looked like from the 'Home Front'. We learned about evacuation, the Blitz, keeping safe, making do and jobs for women. The children got to explore artefacts and answer questions before trying out a real Anderson shelter. They learned so much and had fun in the process.

St Bees Priory Visit

Today the children visited the Priory at St Bees to learn about its history.  One of our governors, Mr Rice, arranged the visit so that the children could hear of its diverse history and architecture. We recommend you visit for yourself because it really is a beautiful place of worship with so many captivating stories.  A big thank you to Mr Rice and Reverend Gibbs for making it an interesting visit.  Some of the children took the photos as we explored and I really do think we have some budding photographers!

Hockey

Our P.E coach, Dan, is teaching us how to play hockey this half-term.  Our first lesson was forced indoors by rain but we still got to practise our dribbling with a mixture of drills and games.

Squash

Year 6 are receiving squash coaching at the Falcon club. This week we learned about controlling the ball using a forehand strike.  It is very early days but some of the children are already demonstrating an aptitude for it. Well done, Year 6!