Blog: 20th November 2020 – Practically Perfect

It’s been a practically perfect week with students across the school being totally hands on!

In Food Technology, Year 7 students have been developing their cutting and chopping skills by preparing fruit salad, Year 8 students have been making and baking muffins in many different flavours and Year 9 have moved on to the main course with pasta and meatballs.

Over in Design Technology, Year 7 students are in the middle of their Blockheads projects. Year 8 students, having finished their designs for their mood lights, are putting in requests for their LED units so that the making process can begin. Meanwhile Year 9, having worked on technical drawings to figure out how to cut and create joints, are now making their MDF trinket boxes.

Up in the Science labs, Year 11 students have been investigating refraction and exploring how acids react with metals, bases and carbonates to produce salts. Chromatography, a process for separating components of a mixture, has been the focus in other classes. Year 10 students have been exploring electrolysis and are also engaged in a fully topical issue; extracting drugs from plants to make vaccines.

There have been a wide variety of sports taking place over in PE. Year 7 boys have been developing their basketball skills whilst Year 7 girls have been getting to grips with a hockey stick. Year 8 girls have been playing netball and Year 8 boys, badminton. Year 9 boys have been playing volleyball and Year 9 girls, football. At Key Stage 4, students have been playing basketball and trampolining. Meanwhile, in GCSE PE, students are starting to appreciate the finer practical points of fitness testing.

A reminder that it’s a Staff Professional Development Day on Wednesday (25th November) when students don’t attend school. Staff will be focusing on further developing our remote learning offer for students who have to self-isolate. The survey for feedback on remote learning is still open at https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/GXMZC3N

Finally, our thanks go to the Knaresborough Rotary Club who have very kindly donated ten laptops to support students in both their learning at school and at home. This generous gift will make a huge difference and is very much appreciated.

Have a lovely weekend.