Month: April 2022

On Wednesday April 27th, Calder Class were fortunate enough to visit Haigh Woodland Park in Wigan.  The boys spent their time playing crazy golf, having fun at the amazing play park and exploring the woodland landscape.  

The boys were put into teams, each team was supported by an adult.  They were quite inexperienced and needed advice about how to hold the clubs.  Some of the golf stations were really tricky, but the boys all encouraged each other and offered advice regarding best places to take shots from.  One stood next to the hole for another so that he could gauge where to aim his golf ball.  Some pupils lost their golf balls in the extraordinarily tricky water station.  But they laughed it off and offered to retrieve the balls with the handy net which was available to scoop the balls out.

When we moved over to the park, the pupils played really well together.  They particularly liked the rope see-saw.  The chanted together in a Viking style as they rocked to and fro.

The class has been exploring a short film called The Wishgranter.  In the film, people throw coins in a fountain and the Wishgranter sends their wishes from his underground domain.  In homage to this activity, the boys brought in coins to throw into the lily pond.  They all took it in turns to make a wish and launch their coins into the fountain.

Since returning to School after Easter the Parlick class have been learning about the key features of castles. How the design and construction of them changed throughout the years and why castles were designed the way they are. We have been learning all about battlements, towers, moats and drawbridges and the function of these elements. We have also been learning about the importance of the local area to the castle and the geography that surrounds it. 

Today the Parlick Class ventured out to explore Lancaster Castle to identify which key features of a castle it had. If we think the castle was designed well? If the knights would have been able to defend it well from an attack?! 

The children used their key features tick sheet to identify the design elements and were able to discuss the importance of these features. They were also able to identify the geographical features, such as it being built on a hill and close to a river and discussed why these elements were important. 

Whilst at the castle we also got to explore the Witch’s cells. The children were very interested to find out more about what happened to the women that were sent here. 

Our trip has sparked real excitement within the Parlick children and they are eager to continue to learn about castles throughout the term. We look forward to constructing our own castles in the near future.