June 2014 – Lansdowne School

Year 7 London Video

June 24, 2014June 24, 2014Lansdowne School

Year 7 have started a new geogrpahy topic learning all about London. One of the aims for this project is to explore the many wonderful opportunuties and resources that we can find in our city.

Transport was one of the first areas of London life that Year 7 looked at. We researched the history of London cabs, tubes and buses. The pupils also looked at London landmarks such as St Paul’s Cathedral, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace and the Tower of London.

A large part of our London research involves the museums that we can visit in our city. Year 7 have been learning how each major museum is different, and what we can expect to find inside.

You can watch a tour of some of the treasures of London from a Year 7 museum guide in the video above.

Y8 Science Podcast

June 24, 2014June 24, 2014Lansdowne School

Year 8 have been looking at different changing states during out current science learning. We have been keen for the students to think about everyday situations, and then to understand some of the science principles that are taking place.

One example was that of a boiling kettle. Mr Peters explained how he always fills his kettle to the top whilst making a cup of tea. Miss McNie has a smaller amount of water. We asked the Year 8 pupils to think of a scientiffic way in which we could test which was the most effective method to use.

The pupils carried out a practical experiment where we boiled two beakers of water. One beaker contained a high volume of water, whilst the other had a low volume. We made this a fair test by using identical bunsen burners as the heat source. The beakers were place on top of a tripod.

Year 8 timed how log it took for the water to boil in each beaker. We knew that boiling point had been reached when we could observe the water evaporating up the side of each beaker.

Our results were recorded in a bar chart in our science books. Our conclusion was that a low volume of water is quicker to boil than a large volume. The students were asked to display this data in an accurate bar chart that contained the correct gague on each axis.

Keys words for this experiment were: evaoration, boiling, high volume and low volume. This is all part of the learning intention to encourage scientiffic language and allowing the pupils to form their own conclusions.

You can listen to one of the Year 8 students talking about his science work in the recording below.

listen to ‘Year 8 Science’ on Audioboo

Year 8 Humanities

June 24, 2014June 24, 2014Lansdowne School

Year 8 have been researching the Georgian period as part of our humanities work. We started off by considering what we mean by this particular historical period. We defined it as the timeline from 1714 – 1830 when George I, II, III and IV were the English Kings.

The pupils have looked at many aspects of Georgian life. These include the clothes and costumes that were worn. We have compared these with the clothes we wear today.

Medicine has also been a major topic. Year 8 have completed an exercise where we had to decide if it was true or false when presented with a statement about Georgian medicine. An example was that crushed snails were used by the Georgians to cure a stomach upset. This was true!

We have also looked at the relationships between the Georgian Kings. Year 8 researched how George II was the son of George I. The new King didn’t want to take over from his father though as he enjoyed the party lifestyle. We have found out how he also preferred to be in Germany rather than England.

All of this information has been displayed in some colourful posters that they Year 8 pupils have created. We wanted these to communicate clearly all the knowledge that we have learnt.

You can listen to one of the students sharing this knowledge in the recording below.

listen to ‘Year 8 Georgian History’ on Audioboo

Year 9 PSHE Research

June 24, 2014June 24, 2014Lansdowne School

Our PSHE work in Year 9 at Lansdowne School has involved the students researching and preparing a subject that they would like to learn more about. The teaching staff are keen to find out what the personal interests and ambitions of each pupil are. This will help us to develop future teaching.

We asked each Year 9 class member to prepare a presentation on thier chosen topic. The subject range was diverse: healthy eating, staying safe online, how to become a games designer, how to prepare a CV and job interview techniques, what is the management structure at Argos, how to buy products at Argos and how to save money.

All students have researched their area online. A PowerPoint presentation has been prepared which we will then share with the rest of our class friends.

This PSHE task has been a very useful exercise in helping to understand the personal development of each pupil, as well helping them to improve their own presentation skills.

Y10 PE Photo Gallery

June 24, 2014June 24, 2014Lansdowne School

Year 10 are coming towards the end of the PE syllabus for this year. The pupils have learnt many skills since September. These include hockey skills, improving techniques for net sports and a number of new games that involve how to make the most of space.

The pupils recently took part in a full on game of competative football. We asked Year 10 to remember the many tactical skills that we should all now be familiar with.

Each player had another player in which to mark; individual flair was encouraged, but we know that we can play stronger together as a team. Plus playing fairly is also a key objective that we always teach at Lansdowne School.

You can see some of these skills in action in the photo gallery below.

New Choir Song

June 24, 2014July 2, 2014Lansdowne School

A new song was introduced to the pupils during a recent singing and signing assembly. What a Wonderful World has many new signs for the students to learn, as well as containing an uplifting message.

Miss Shelton and Mikita introduced the new signs for some of the words that are new to us. Some help was provided by a couple of Lansdowne School Choir members. We encourage the Choir to take leadership during these assemblies and to help out all pupils with the singing and signing.

Luka from Year 8 was named as the Star Signer of the Week. As a reward Luka selected Waving Flag as the next song to sing in the assembly – a timely choice given the current football World Cup.

listen to ‘Singing and Signing Assembly’ on Audioboo

The assembly came to a close with Miss O’Leary handing out the indiviudal achievement certificates for each curriculum subject.

Emotional Leaver’s Assembly

June 24, 2014June 24, 2014Lansdowne School

The Lansdowne School community celebrated the many achievements of the departing Year 11 students during our recent Leaver’s Assembly. This was an emotional, but necessary occasion. We wanted to remind the students of the many contributions that they have made to our school community.

All pupils are now ready for their next stage of learning. It is always sad to be saying farewell to students, but we are confident that they have the right skills to carry on achieving.

It was great to see the departing Year 11 students setting a high example and looking incredibly smart for their special day. All the pupils showed great maturity and were able to participate in the spirit of the assembly.

Executive Head Teacher Mrs. Adams welcomed the students and guests to the assembly. She congratulated every student and their parents and carers for all making such a positive difference to their development:

“As a school we can’t achieve any of this without you. We are confident that the pupils have made wonderful progress with their exams. We are very excited for the students. We wish them the very best.”

A series of short videos were then played. These featured one-on-one interviews with each student, reminiscing over some of their memories and favourite stories whilst students of Lansdowne School.

Class 11JP tutor Mr Peters then spoke a few words in praise of his students:

“You came to Lansdowne as children, you have grown as teenagers, and now you leave us as proud young adults. We have noticed a massive change in your development over the past year. Your level of maturity is excellent.”

Miss Karpik then praised Class 11HJ:

“It has genuinely been such a pleasure to teach you. If it has not always been wonderful, then it has been… exciting!”

The highlight of our Lansdowne Leaver’s Assembly then followed. Each student was individually invited to the front of the school hall as a staff member gave a speech about our own favourite memories of each pupil. Some of the stories were serious, many were funny. All were emotional.

listen to ‘Farewell Naseem’ on Audioboo

listen to ‘Farewell Taslim’ on Audioboo

listen to ‘Farewell George’ on Audioboo

listen to ‘Farewell Brian’ on Audioboo

listen to ‘Farewell Vincent’ on Audioboo

listen to ‘Farewell Dwight’ on Audioboo

listen to ‘Farewell Tekaye’ on Audioboo

listen to ‘Farewell Augustine’ on Audioboo

listen to ‘Farewell Nicola’ on Audioboo

listen to ‘Farewell Samuel’ on Audioboo

listen to ‘Farewell Gavin’ on Audioboo

listen to ‘Farewell Carol’ on Audioboo

listen to ‘Farewell Ewelina and Paulina’ on Audioboo

listen to ‘Farewell Farhadur’ on Audioboo

listen to ‘Farewell Shane’ on Audioboo

Miss Shelton then spoke about the contribution that some of the students have made to the Lansdowne School Choir:

“Thank you for leading the way with the singing and signing. Please do continue to use your wonderful understanding of signing and communication!”

Our special guests then enjoyed an amazing art exhibition featuring the GCSE work of the Year 11 students. The glorious weather was enjoyed as we finished off the special day with a drinks reception in the school grounds.

We would like to thank the many parents and carers who were able to come along to our assembly to celebrate the achievements of the Year 11 students. We would also like to thank Miss Karpik, Miss Jordan and Mr. Peters for organising such a special Leaver’s Assembly.

The Lansdowne message for the Year 11 students is please don’t forget us – we certainly won’t forget you! Please do return and share your achievements as you continue with your learning.

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June 9, 2014Lansdowne School

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Football Success

June 9, 2014June 9, 2014Lansdowne School

We had an extra special achievement to celebrate during a recent Singing and Signing assembly at Lansdowne School. Representatives from the school were successful at the London Youth Games Football Tournament. The girl’s football team reached the quarter-finals, whilst the boy’s team made it all the way to the final, losing 1-0 in extra time.

We joined together with our friends from Michael Tippett School and Larkhall School for the competition. The games were played at Hackney Marshes. This was a great opportunity not only to show our sporting skills, but also to work together with students from other schools.

Mr. Lee spoke during the assembly about how impressive both teams were. To make it through to the final was an outstanding achievement for the boy’s team. Both teams represented Lansdowne School with great maturity.

You can listen to a couple of the team members talking about their experience in the recording below.

listen to ‘Football Success at Lansdowne School’ on Audioboo

The weekly Singing and Signing assembly continued with a couple of popular Lansdowne songs being sung. Count on Me is always a strong favourite with the Lansdowne School Choir. Mikita was at hand with her superb signing skills; Nicola from Year 11 also helped to lead the Choir.

Miss Shelton chose Kenny as the Star Music Signer of the Week. As a reward, Umbrella was chosen by Kenny as the next song to sing.

Miss Tovey then handed our individual achievement certificates across all curriculum subject. Class 11JP was awarded the Class of the Week trophy for all the extra effort they have put into their GCSE exams.

We finished off by singing Happy Birthday to a couple of students and staff member Maria.

listen to ‘Singing and Signing Assembly’ on Audioboo

Year 7 Science

June 9, 2014Lansdowne School

Year 7 have been looking at solids, liquids and gases during our science learning for the summer term. We started off our work by thinking about what defines each of these three matters. By understanding what is unique to a solid we can then start to describe how a liquid or a gas are different.

We then set the challenge of asking one class member to think of either a solid, liquid or gas, and then ask another friend to define which category it fits into. We soon found that some matter such as a cloud can be tricky. They fit into both the gas and the liquid definition. The pupils have also been learning a solid, liquid and gas song to help with their learning.

Year 8 Drama

June 9, 2014June 9, 2014Lansdowne School

Year 8 have been using drama lessons to help develop and improve our social skills. We started off a recent session by asking the pupils what do we mean when we refer to social skills? We came to the conclusion that this means when you feel happy and confident when speaking with other people. We found out that social skills can help us to overcome any shyness.

All pupils then took part in a phone improvisation game. Miss Evans pretended to be a customer calling up various businesses. Each Year 8 member was the owner of the business. Their task was to make polite conversation with the customer, and to answer appropriately any questions.

We spoke about the skills that we might need for this: being able to think quickly on our feet, and options that help to keep the conversation going. You can listen to some examples from this drama session in the recordings below.

listen to ‘Year 8 Drama Improvisation’ on Audioboo

listen to ‘Year 8 Drama Improvisation ’ on Audioboo

listen to ‘Year 8 Drama Improvisation’ on Audioboo

Year 9 English

June 9, 2014Lansdowne School

Year 9 have started to study the text of A Midsummer’s Night Dream during our English lessons. We introduced the play to the pupils by watching some clips from the animated version of the story.

The pupils then took part in a quick quiz to help us recount some key facts about some of the main characters. We wanted to know what is the name of the King of the Fairies? Who is his wife? What happens to Bottom during the play? All pupils were able to summarise the plot and add a little detail about some of the main characters.

Year 9 will carry on with many different activities themed around A Midsummer’s Night Dream. The pupils have already started to create some posters to help advertise a production of the play. We used the ICT suite and various publishing packages to help with this task. Important information such as a fictional venue, the cost and members of the cast have been included in the designs.

The pupils will use their drama sessions to act out different scenes from the play. One of our main aims will be to understand the difference between the fairy kingdom and the world of the mechanicals.

Year 10 Music

June 9, 2014June 9, 2014Lansdowne School

Year 10 have been experimenting with timbre as part of our continued music learning. Timbre refers to the different types of tone that we can hear in various instruments or other sounds.

To help us with this work we have been watching short clips from the Stomp musical production. This show uses different tone sounds being created using the human body as the main instrument. Year 10 were surprised to see how much timbre variation we can create with our own bodies.

The students will be using these observations to help compose their own short timbre piece of music during the remaining weeks of the summer term. Rhythm and structure are the two key components for the students to focus upon. We are also keen for Year 10 to think about varying quiet and loud sounds.

We started off this work by following some actions being carried out by Miss Shelton. Eight different body actions were completed, such as clapping our hands, clicking our fingers or stamping our feet. Each action was assigned a number. All students were able to copy this action in the correct sequence. We then moved on by mixing up the numbers, yet still keeping the rhythm and structure of the timbre.

Finally we finished this introduction to timbre by adding in some drumsticks. Using the inspiration from the Stomp video the students used some tables and chairs to play a short piece together. You can listen to this early introduction to Year 10 timbre in the recordings below.

listen to ‘Year 10 Timbre Improvisation’ on Audioboo

listen to ‘Year 10 Timbre Chair Sounds’ on Audioboo

Year 11 Maths

June 9, 2014June 9, 2014Lansdowne School

Year 11 are using their maths time during their final few weeks as Lansdowne pupils to help remember many of the skills and knowledge that have been taught.

Recent sessions have included reminders about the concepts of more, less or equal. We have approached this work by trying to understand the different concepts first. What do we actually mean if we state that 5 is more than 3? How many more is 5 than 3? The pupils have completed a worksheet with many similar questions.

Other maths work has included the concept of scaling numbers. We have looked at patterns across a number of different scales such as increasing the amount by 2, 4, 5 etc.

This work has led the students to look at graphs. The numbers have been missing on the X-axis showing the scale. Our challenge was to read the graph and then suggest what an appropriate scale might be.

The maths department iPads continue to be a great attraction for the pupils. We use these towards the end of the sessions to help compliment the learning. A number of carefully selected maths apps are loaded on to the iPads to help each pupil with their own learning objectives.