Giraffes@taddy

 As part of our Art unit, Trailblazers, Barrier Breakers the children looked in detail at a significant piece of art from each of the 10 black artists that we have been studying. Their critical analysis involved discussing various details, supported by prompt questions relating to: people, setting, story, movement, abstract forms, text, emotional response, title, arrangement, dominance, lines and edges, visual language, tonal range, light sources and shadows, colour, texture, space, viewpoint, media.

We use retrieval practice every day at Taddington to help us to remember more. Yesterday, for our new art topic, ‘Trailblazers’, Giraffes learnt about a number of black artists from the last couple of centuries. Children were given 1 artist to remember as we discussed them together as a class. Afterwards, they were given additional information about their artist and told they would need to teach the rest of the class about them at the start of today’s lesson… without notes. This caused the children to think carefully about strategies for remembering information. At the start of today’s lesson, the children were given 5 minutes to refresh their memories then they stood up and taught the rest of the class about the Trailblazer from memory. 

  In PE, the Giraffes were building their physical strength and gross motor skills.  The children were learning how to climb a rope.  The children had to be focussed in order to concentrate on their footing and hand placements. They also showed excellent team work as they worked together to support their peers.  It was certainly a challenge to get to the top, however they showed great resilience and were really engaged. 

At Taddington, we are always mindful of the Pyramid of Learning and how pedagogy affects the probability of children retaining what they have learnt. On Monday, Giraffes learnt about the Race Relations Act. We read and discussed this together whilst each making notes and prompts in-line with our own learning styles. Together on the board we created a journey represented by symbols, dates and key words as prompts. We then reviewed our learning, focusing only on the key points. Finally, everybody was given 60 seconds to teach their partner everything that they had learnt about the Race Relations Act and the impact this had for black people in Britain. 

  In PE we have been exploring different movements in gymnastics. The children have been developing flexibility, strength, technique, control and balance.  On Wednesday we had a go at different types of rolls such as forward and backward straddle rolls, log rolls and teddy bear rolls. We also got the climbing apparatus out and explored a variety of climbing techniques. This encouraged the children to boost their confidence, encourage controlled risk-taking, physical development and agility skills.