Where did the last week go? For a four day week it was very busy again here at Spring Brook. Let’s have a look at what Year 9 have been up to..

The Year 9s have been exploring the local area again this week with a 4½ mile walk up to and around Rivington Pike in Bolton. Firstly they explored Pigeon Tower and the terraced gardens before moving onwards and upwards to Rivington Pike itself which was used as a warning beacon for when the Spanish Armada was approaching British waters..

After seeing the spectacular views from the Pike it was a slow meander down to the ruins of Liverpool castle for lunch..

..before walking through Rivington Country Park where the boys tried some wild garlic. They liked it so much they bagged some up to take home for tea!!

It’s been fantastic in Food Technology this week, Year 9 and SBA 1 have been little gems..

This term Year 9 are learning all about sauce, so this week we made lasagne using white sauce (gelatinisation process) and developed the basic tomato sauce we made last week into a meat sauce. The students learnt about different sauce thickening agents – flour, egg, potato and sugar. They further developed their understanding of gelatinisation after making their white sauce because the flour absorbed the liquid as the temperature in the saucepan increased, then erupted at 100 degrees and thickened the sauce.

We used a grater to grate our cheese for the white sauce and lasagne topping..

..and then layered the meat sauce, lasagne and white sauce..

SBA 1 worked really hard this week making apple crumble. We used the rubbing in method to make our crumble and the students learnt why it is best to use the finger tips and not the palm when rubbing the butter into the flour..

We used fresh apple and canned apple (convenience product) in order to evaluate the differences in taste. The students cored the fresh apple using the apple corer, peeled the apple using a peeler, used the claw and bridge method to cut the apple and stewed the apple to soften it. The students developed their knowledge of fibre sources and its function in the body..

Thank you Mrs Ebenezer, the food looked and smelled delicious! I know that Joshua’s Mum was looking forward to eating her apple crumble.

This week in the Nurture Group the boys have worked really hard..

In English they wrote spooky stories using picture cards to help with ideas. The boys worked independently and in silence, with Mark continuing to write over the start of break..

In Maths the boys have worked in pairs with Wayne helping James with number bonds using Interlock blocks. Mark and Wayne have worked together solving money problems using BIDMAS..

We have finished and displayed the bug house during our craft lesson..

The boys then choose a craft project to do – Mark painted a money box, James coloured a Minecraft picture and Wayne painted the Oldham football badge. In Food Tech. the boys made shepherd’s pie which looked amazing..

The boys worked well and tidied the sinks for staff from the previous lesson. Well done Key Stage 3 Nurture Group!

Well Mrs Walters, Miss Headland and Mark, Wayne and James, another great week of learning in your class. I absolutely love the finished bug house!

This week I have worked with two blog assistants, Ben De. and Holly W. Thanks to both of you for your help and support with the blog, let’s have a look at the information that you have gathered. Ben has observed SBA1 in PE getting ready for dodge ball..

Thanks for the photos of your group Ben, here they are in action..

Holly visited our lower school on Friday to spend more time with some of the girls down there. I was very proud of Holly who mentored Lucy from Miss Fell’s class. She looked at a social skills intervention with her in Mrs T’s office. Holly was very surprised and helped Lucy with her emotional literacy skills. The boys were excited to see Holly from the big school..

Emily was having a nice relaxing end to the day..

I saw some amazing art work in Mrs Pulman’s class where they have been learning about the Romans. The boys told me how they made this beautiful piece of mosaic work..

Thanks for sharing your enthusiasm for learning with me boys – it was a nice way to end the week!

We are looking forward to another week of learning, watch this space….

Miss Rodgers
Head of Site

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