It has been another productive week at New Bridge. The Learning Centre ‘Cooking with Nurture’ feature continued on Monday when Miss Allison was treated to a very tasty ‘Tortilla Toastie’ courtesy of Malcolm. She is looking forward to this becoming a regular treat – that’s her Monday lunches sorted for this term!

Staying with the food theme, we were invited to capture more ‘Wow!’ moments this week, starting with Mrs Gillett’s Year 14 Food Industry lesson. She was delighted to show how the students were preparing their ingredients and cooking independently..

There was more to come in E-Base 1 where the students were independently chopping, peeling and selecting their favourite fruits, an activity which they obviously enjoyed..

Miss McDonald would like to mention Joe who has been practising his independence skills when walking around the Learning Centre. At present he is walking to and from the dining room at dinner independently with a member of staff by his side which is a great achievement. Well done, Joe!

This week, our curriculum focus is on English, however, before we hand over to our English team, Mr Lyons would like to mention his highlight of the week. For those of you who know him, you’ll know he’s into his ‘clean eating’, so he’s not normally one for cakes, biscuits, pastries and the like. Friday was a little different, however. Instead of a coffee morning, we decided to hold a coffee afternoon in aid of Macmillan Cancer Research. If they wanted to, form groups could ‘rent’ a stall in our theatre to sell the cakes and biscuits they had baked or bought, with all proceeds going to the charity..

The standard of the baked goods was very high and the theatre was packed as pupils and staff descended upon it to satisfy their sweet tooth. Some forms even sent out ‘mobile vendors’ to tout their wares around the school. Sarah in Digit4ll raised over £16 from raffling a trifle – Mr Lyons made the draw and the lucky winner was Mrs Crooks! The rest of the pennies are still being counted so we’ll update you next week on how much money was raised. In the meantime, it’s fair to say it was fantastically positive event in support of a very worthy cause.

The Learning Centre also held a Macmillan coffee afternoon and Miss Allison would like to thank everyone who contributed to providing a wide range of delights for our cake stall which we’re pleased to report was a sell-out. A special mention goes to Mrs Gillett and her food industry group who helped to organise it. We will let you know the amount raised in next week’s blog..

There were more tasty treats this week but these ones were enjoyed outside over a fire – we think toasting marshmallows by the side of a stream must be the perfect way to spend an afternoon..

We were very careful and made sure the fire was properly out before we left..

This week our curriculum focus is on English and Mrs Holland would like to give you a glimpse into some of our lessons..

Year 7 have been story mapping using the ‘Talk for Writing’ process. This has been based on a picture book called ‘Journey’ by Aaron Becker. The class have been thinking about words to describe the character in the book and exploring her feelings. Soon they will begin to write about her journey and some of the magical places she may visit..

They have also really enjoyed painting their imaginative journey using upside-down table art!

In Year 8 the pupils have been studying Roald Dahl’s ‘Danny the Champion of the World’. This week we have been discussing some of the wonderful things that Danny and his father do together. Just like Danny, we then decided to try and make our very own hot air balloons. Wish us luck for next week when we will try to fly them!

Year 10 are reading ‘Leon and the Place Between’ by Graham Baker Smith, the story of a magical circus. Do you dare to step into the place between? The pupils have been making predictions about where they think ‘the place between’ is. They have been describing the circus using adjectives and are having a lot of fun practising some of the skills you might need to recreate a circus act..

Year 11 have begun this term learning about the life of an Inuit and how they survive in arctic weather conditions. We are also looking at different animals like the Adele penguin. The pupils will get to find out some gruesome facts from the last century about historic explorers in the Polar Regions..

The Year 10 and 11 pupils in the Pathways have made a fabulous start to the new academic year. They have begun writing reviews about their favourite topic, gaming. The students have each given their opinions on their chosen game. Peer assessment is becoming a crucial skill in helping them structure their writing. They are also incorporating some of the essential skills they will need to successfully complete their Entry Level and Functional Skills qualifications further on in the year..

Mrs Robinson’s English students at the Learning Centre have been researching different phobias, ordering them alphabetically and completing reading comprehensions on the subject. Did you know that the fear of long words is called Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia?

Our Learning Centre students continue to access work placement opportunities and we are looking forward to sharing their successes with you. This week, Sarah and Jordan have both started to access work experience at the Dr Kershaw’s charity shop in Oldham town centre. Here’s a report from their job coach, Mr Morrison..

Both students have been a huge help to the staff over the last couple of weeks, building and learning new skills and experiencing what working life consists of. This week they have been organising winter clothes ready to be sold in the shop. This process has included finding rejected items that may be stained or torn, quality control of the sale items making sure they are of a high standard and placing them on hangers with size appropriate tags ready to go down to the shop floor.

The students will experience new roles over the next couple of weeks around the charity shop – we’ll let you know how they get on.

This week also saw the start of the Learning Centre Student Council elections. Miss Allison was delighted to listen to the carefully prepared speeches our Year 12 students confidently presented to the whole of their year group. Here’s just a taste of their election promises:

• “I would like to be a student councillor because I would be really good at it. I have experience of doing the job in Year 10. I am a good listener and would feel confident speaking up in a meeting.” ~ Joseph S.

• “I am very helpful and would make a good councillor. If you vote for me I will always do my best and make sure the students come first.” ~ Sophie O.
• “Please vote for me to be your Year 12 student councillor. I will listen to your views and pass them on.” ~ Bobby-Joe

• “I am a good listener. I will help people. I will go to the meetings and talk about what we want.” ~ Joseph F.

We are looking forward to hearing the speeches from our Year 13 and 14 students next!

We hope you have a great weekend,

Gavin and Dawn

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