IPC learning kicks off with a series of thrilling entry points

It has been such an exciting first week back for BIS students – IPC learning has gotten off to a super start with a series of thrilling entry points!

Year 1’s new topic is ‘Hooray! Let’s Go on Holiday!” For their entry point, students came to school dressed in their holiday clothes. The Multi-Purpose room in the EYC was transformed into an aeroplane – each student had their passport and ticket ready to climb on board. They were very surprised to see a huge dinosaur romping around the EYC! Year 1 went outside and some students managed to spot the dinosaur again! On return to their classroom, they noticed dinosaur footprints all over their classroom and found several dinosaur eggs! Later on, they went out to the sandpit and became palaeontologists searching for dinosaur fossils! What a fun morning.

Year 2 started their “Green Fingers” topic with a visit from Craft House, each class took it in turns to visit the Science Room and they were tasked with making their very own terrarium – similar to an aquarium but for plants instead of fish. It is planted to look like a mini garden or forest and the students were so excited to add mini (fake) mushrooms and ladybirds to their terrariums. They learnt how to care for their plants and will continue planting and growing things over the next few weeks – ready to invite parents and teachers in to the Year 2 garden centre.

Year 3 strutted their stuff on the catwalk for their new topic “Fashion”. Students wore their favourite clothes and described why they were their favourite items. After lunch the students went up to the Auditorium, which was set up as a fashion show, complete with runway! Parents were invited to be the audience, watching the show and listening to the teachers describing why each student had chosen a specific item of clothing! The music was pumping, the lights were bright and everyone had a wonderful time! Students in Year 3 will learn about the history of clothing around the world and later on in the term will create their very own piece of clothing. 

The Year 4 corridor was transformed back in time to ancient Egypt! Students and teachers dressed as archaeologists for the day and the afternoon was spent learning about what the job entails. Virtual reality was blended seamlessly with time honoured traditions such as an archaeology dig. Students and parents designed their own masks, wrote their names in hieroglyphics, visited the Pharaoh’s tomb (which was a little bit scary!), took a virtual tour of the Ancient Egypt exhibition at the British Museum and used virtual reality goggles to observe the inside of Rameses tomb. Observational drawings of the contents of canopic jars were a little bit gruesome but an excellent day was had by everyone! 

Year 5 turned the aircon down and watched David Attenborough’s fascinating documentary on Antarctica, a marvellous start to their “Extreme Survivor” topic. After learning more about what life is like in Antarctica, they read Shackleton’s Journey, an explorer who led an expedition to Antarctica over 100 years ago. Amazingly, actual video footage and photographs of this still exists and the students were able to see for themselves the severe weather conditions Shackleton and his team had to deal with – all this in a time long before google maps! Not only is this a lesson in survival but also about leadership and teamwork. Year 5 will learn a lot about these skills as they work together to design, make and test boats which should be strong enough to hold a person! They will, however, test these in the school swimming pool rather that in the icy waters of the Southern oceans. 

Year 6 have been using their IPC topic lessons to rehearse and make costumes and props for their upcoming show “Robin Hood and the Sherwood Hoodies”. We are all very excited to watch the final production on May 11th 2021. They have worked incredibly hard to learn their lines and practise their acting skills. Later on, in the term, they will kick off their new Olympics topic with a nations parade and work towards hosting a mini Olympics for the students in Phase 1 (Year 1 & 2)! 

We hope to invite parents in to as many events as possible so keep an eye on your email and Dojo!

Kate Fitzpatrick

Head Of Primary