With the weather showing us everything from hailstones to sunshine what great work have we been up to? We have seen a lot of creativity this week taking many shapes:

• Stories
• Arts & Crafts
• Carpentry
• Music
• Videos
• Flags
• Soap
• Pottery
• Cooking and much more….
• We have also had some educational visits this week, bug hunting, maths and fitness and lots more – the usual eclectic mix of experiences and learning for our young people.

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But we start this week’s blog with an awesome story from one of our primary students. This young person we are sure has undiagnosed dyslexia; so books, reading and writing can be a big trigger. But here we have their very own story, can’t wait for the next chapter!…..

The adventures of Bumble and Bee – By OB

Bumble and Bee were ordinary cats who lived in an apartment with their owner. The owner let them out to play.

Bumble and Bee heard a strange noise from the sketchy alley. It was two evil cats named Skull and Crusher! They picked up Bumble and Bee and chucked them in a toxic lake.

But then! When Skull and Crusher walked away, Bumble suddenly flew out of the toxic waste.

Bee managed to grab on to Bumbles leg, but it was very heavy, this was because

DUH DUH DUHHHHHHH!

Bee had super MEOW strength!

Bee jumped of Bumbles leg and ran to Skull and Crusher. Bumble flew over to join Bee! They both picked up Skull and Crusher and chucked them into the toxic lake.

Bumble and Bee shouted …

“TAKE A TASTE OF KITTY POWER, WE ARE THE SUPER CATS!”

Suddenly they heard a noise behind them and realised it was Beau their grumpy sister who lived in the apartment. Beau looked at them, arched her back and hissed!

TO BE CONTINUED….

So from creating a story to creating a video using own Lego creations.

With the age of technology ‘watching’ is so much easier than reading. Books have become less popular than they used to be – so when a young person asks to go to the book shop we encourage it! Why because…reading is good for you, because it improves your focus, memory, empathy, and communication skills. It can reduce stress and improve your mental health.

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Being creative is such an important part of a young persons growth an opportunity in a safe environment to explore their imagination.

Paint pouring and graphic writing.

Paint pouring is a method of painting incorporating unconventional painting supplies that artists of all skill levels and ages can enjoy. A variety of results are achieved with this fluid painting method, depending on the artist’s style and technique used.

Getting creative outside…made from loose parts – working well as a team to create their Base

Designing our own flags.

Did you know…..A flag is a piece of fabric (most often rectangular or quadrilateral) with a distinctive design and colours. It is used as a symbol, a signaling device, or for decoration. The term flag is also used to refer to the graphic design employed, and flags have evolved into a general tool for rudimentary signaling and identification, especially in environments where communication is challenging (such as the maritime environment, where semaphore is used).  thanks Wikipedia!

Soap making. How to be creative and smell nice too!

Making shapes.

Think of all the symbols and signs we can recognise just by the shape, even without words.  Octagons are stop signs.  An upside down triangle is a warning.  Hearts mean love and stars are usually a good thing. 

Shapes are such an important first step towards literacy and math skills.  Things like shapes seem so simple and basic, yet they are teaching our children more than we can imagine.

Prepping memory jars for mod-podge. Next week Cross Stitch.

Decoupage or découpage is the art of decorating an object by gluing colored paper cutouts onto it in combination with special paint effects, gold leaf, and other decorative elements. Commonly, an object like a small box or an item of furniture is covered by cutouts from magazines or from purpose-manufactured papers

Mod Podge is a decoupage medium. It is a glue, sealer, and finish designed for craft and art projects. Like acrylic paint, it has a formula with several ingredients.

Can’t wait to see the finished product….

Pottery painting – today with dogs and Slavic pattern backgrounds.

This type of art can be very calming, helping young people with coordination, being creative in a safe place, concentrate on a single task and being able to see tangible end result.

Culinary Arts: a definition

So, put simply, culinary arts refer to the art of preparing, cooking, presenting and serving food. This may often be in the form of meals in a restaurant, but culinary arts can refer to all professions that involve preparing, cooking and presenting food.

But for our young people it is so much more than ‘art’, its learning how to move into adulthood, making more than beans on toast, being able to cook to a budget – but still prepare food that is tasty and good for you. Like the pottery painting its a great activity that ends in a tangible end result. And that chocolate cake was yum!

I think you are probably realising by now that most activities we do have a form of creativity to them.

Working within one of the world’s oldest professional trades. Carpentry is no exception, the art and trade of cutting, working, and joining timber. The term includes both structural timberwork in framing and items such as doors, windows, and staircases through to creating pieces of furniture.

So for our young people they can be creative and learn a skill that could be a career for the future. I think the smile on this young persons face may mean we have a carpenter in the making!

Some of our team have been busy stocking up on essentials for our units. We are aware that some of our young people don’t always get to have breakfast or an evening meal – so we like to make sure at each unit we have some food/drink available. Some healthy options – food that is slow releasing, but also some treats too.

Eating healthy helps a child maintain their concentration and energy levels. This helps a child to effectively learn throughout the day and be creative.

Nail Art is definitely a way of being creative, as is the beauty industry generally – here we have been learning about the skin and having our nails creatively painted.

Guitar may be a bit big but we finish our creative side this week with some music.

Neuroscientist Daniel Levitin believes music is one of the greatest ways to enter “mind-wandering mode,” the very brain state that unlocks creativity. While in this mode, you’re able to come up with innovative and creative solutions.

Out and about now firstly with a trip on the buses.

Like train or plane spotting we also have bus spotting – the interest and activity of watching, photographing and tracking buses throughout their working service lives within bus companies. A person who engages in these activities is known as a bus spotter, bus fan, bus nut, bus enthusiast. 

This young person is certainly a bus enthusiast with an extensive knowledge on the routes and knowing the bus drivers – what a great way to see your local area, enjoying the sites, meeting new people!

Visit to Jimmy’s Farm next – being quite anxious about feeding the animals at first, but really getting into it and realising the farm is more than just cows and pigs!

Visiting churches in Suffolk, Norfolk, Santon Downham and either side of the Little Ouse.

Sudbury Heritage Museum and research into ‘Simon of Sudbury’.

Discover Sudbury’s long history and strong military presence. Learning about the personal tragedy of war from a much-praised narrative memorial to the town’s dead and the part played in the war effort by the locally based 486th USAAF Bomb Group.

And who was Simon of Sudbury?

Simon Sudbury was Bishop of London from 1361 to 1375, Archbishop of Canterbury from 1375 until his death, and in the last year of his life Lord Chancellor of England. He met a violent death during the Peasants’ Revolt in 1381.

Over to Newmarket National Horse Racing Museum – do we have a horse rider in the making here?!

The National Horseracing Museum is a 5-acre site in the heart of Newmarket.

It comprises three complementary attractions; National Horseracing Museum in the Trainer’s House and King’s Yard Galleries, the Packard Galleries of British Sporting Art in Palace House, and a chance to meet former racehorses in the flagship home of Retraining of Racehorses. So much more than a museum!

A little golf driving range to keep us outside and active for this young person.

Bug hunting and counting our catch.

Working as a team, working as friends, maths, outside, being kind – lots of learning done whilst having fun.

Whilst out and about looking up and look down, you may be surprised what you will find. On this walk we found a Dragon Fly.

Did you know? Dragonflies were one of the first types of insect to appear on the planet around 300 million years ago, pre-dating the dinosaurs! Fossils show that some had wingspans of up to 60cm. That’s around five times larger than the UK’s largest living species today – the emperor and brown hawker dragonflies.

Back at base a little game of Dungeons and Dragons!

Some more traditional maths now looking at weights, earning properties of quadrilaterals, including sides, angles, line and rotational symmetry facts too.

6 miles achieved. Maths doesn’t have to be done just in a classroom.

A bit of fun fitness with Ninja Warriors today!

Over in Newmarket 2 we have continued with our tiling project and this week a more challenging task of tile cutting – super job here!

Also in Newmarket 2 some wood work projects underway.

Newmarket 1 has now had its outside gates prepared and taken away for powder coating.

Powder Coating is a dry finishing process created by an electric charge that causes a dry powder to fuse to the surface of the metal. This is then baked in a curing oven to achieve a smooth coating. It is usually used to create a hard finish that is tougher than conventional paint.

How does metal detecting work? – Metal detectors work by transmitting an electromagnetic field from the search coil into the ground. Any metal objects (targets) within the electromagnetic field will become energised and retransmit an electromagnetic field of their own.

We all know its really about finding treasure!

Some reading comprehension this morning.

The ability to process written text, understand its meaning, and to integrate with what the reader already knows. Reading comprehension relies on two abilities that are connected to each other: word reading and language comprehension

Some of our older students working together in a group session and putting pen to paper on their Human Rights project.

We carried out some drone flying this week – can’t wait for the results….

Target practice to hit number blocks. Why not be outside learning on a sunny day!

We finish this week’s blog with a picture of our motley basketball crew!

Our Ethos

No one can begin to affect the world around them until they are CONFIDENT , COMFORTABLE, happy in their own skin and have found their SPARK! We take the time to understand and develop programmes from where the learner is in the world not where we think they should be.