Welcome to The Hub class page 2021 / 22

We are The Hub at Warren Hills School. Our teacher is Mr Burrows, and Miss Whittaker and Miss Horne are the teaching assistants supporting us in our class. The Hub is a nurture classroom, teaching the academic and life skills needed prepare children from all the years to enter their mainschool class.

The Philosophy of The Hub

The Hub is a nurture classroom, supporting children of all ages. We exist to build links between our children and their peers, and to ready them for joining their age appropriate class in school. We also provide facilities to support children from other classes in their academic and social development. To compliment our classroom based learning we spend one day every week learning outside, run a mile every day, practise yoga and mindfulness meditation, undertake work to improve our school environment, learn practical skills such as woodwork and DIY and work together to improve our social and emotional development. The Hub is spreading the word about NURTURE across the school; to parents, carers and families; and to the wider community. Please scroll down for details of our: Three Frame Day, Executive Functioning Curriculum, Healthy Body/Healthy Mind activities, Zones of Regulation and Emotion Coaching programmes.

Here is what the children have to say about The Hub:

"My favourite thing in The Hub is my teachers and the outside learning. I made a sign with Miss Whittaker. Mr Burrows helped me make a dinosaur out of clay. I like to talk about things with the teacher. Mr Burrows lets me work out how to do stuff by myself and Mr Stevens teaches us good sportsmanship. Our TAs make sure I am ok."

"The Hub likes to share and work together in friendship. I love playing conkers because you can play in friendship. I love to do things together with my friends."

"We like to help one another in cooking and everything. I like making things out of wood and I help other people. We have learned to use different tools like drills and a fret saw."

"I like to let my friends know my feelings and tell them happy things. Inside Out was awesome. We talked about feelings. Anger is my favourite."

"I enjoy being outside for a whole entire day. My favourite time of the day is when we do mixed martial arts and in guided reading I sat in a tree to read."

"One of my favourite things is going in the Calm Cave. I like playing on Reading Eggs and Khan Academy Maths in our own ICT suite."

"We have done lots of great things. We have made balloon-car-racers and did planting acorns and conkers. We do lots of great things. Last week we did a vegetable show."

"We tell stories to people and friends. Yesterday, I got to sit in the 'Once upon a time chair' under the tree and tell everyone a story about all of us going to a skate park."

THE HUB PHILOSOPHY AND PEDAGOGY

The Hub operates a Three Frame Day pioneered by The Green School in Bali to improve pupil engagement and encourage child lead learning through enquiry. The day comprises:

Frame 1: 0900-1100 The Thematic Frame of child lead topic learning

Frame 2: 1100-1200 The Proficiency Frame of teacher taught skills

Frame 3: 1300-1500 The Experiential Frame of enquiry based learning

The Hub teaches Executive Functioning Skills to underpin the teaching of the academic curriculum and develop the children's learning skills and life skills:

1) Goal Setting and Task Initiation

2) Flexible Thinking

3) Planning, Prioritising and Organising

4) Accessing Working Memory

5) Self-monitoring and checking

6) Emotional and Impulse Control

The Hub believes the adage 'a healthy body and a healthy mind' hence we begin the day with a yoga session, run for a mile every day and undertake mindful meditation every afternoon. At the start of the day and after breaks we sit down to share a healthy breakfast, fruit and drinks.

THE THREE FRAME DAY

Adapted from the Three Frame Day developed by The Green School in Bali, The Hub splits learning sessions into separate categories or Frames:

Frame 1 THE THEMATIC FRAME: Child Led Topic Learning is all about enjoying Fiction Writing but, as usual, what we are writing about is up to the children themselves! So far we have published Comedy Stories along the lines of David Walliams, Fairy Tales, Superhero stories and Murder Mysteries.

In Frame 2 THE PROFICIENCY FRAME: Skills Lessons, pupils and adults alike are practising and challenging themselves to a series of tests in handwriting, spelling, times tables and 99 club Maths.

In Frame 3, THE EXPERIENTIAL FRAME, afternoons are filled with Art, Science, Forest Schools, School Pride, Cooking, Lego Club, Game Playing and Construction Time as we Nurture social and communication skills and strengthen our Executive Functions.

RECENT ACTIVITIES

Project Work

In the Thematic Frame of the day, we lead our own learning by each choosing a topic of interest to us to plan, research and write an information book about. We have mixed hands on work such as using woodwork skills, photographing motorbikes and making scale models with designing the layout of and writing information pages to appeal to and keep our readers' interest.

ICT Software

In the Proficiency Frame of the day, as well as our classroom based lessons, we have been using Reading Eggs, Kahn Academy and Lumio Maths software to enhance our learning. All these websites are accessible from home using your log-ins and passwords and feed back directly to your teacher who can monitor your progress and set you new challenges.

Outdoor Learning

In the Experiential Frame of the day, we have been making the most of the good weather; spending lots of time outdoors, constructing shelters and ramps, role playing dramatic fire brigade rescues, learning to identify British trees and tidying the vegetable garden ready for the autumn harvest.

Cooking

In the Experiential Frame of the day,we use our classroom kitchen to prepare and serve bagels for breakfast, fruit for break-time and drinks throughout the day. Recently the children also prepared pizzas and cakes in the classroom too. we decorated the cakes with the shapes of different tree leaves we had learned about in Science.

School Pride

In the Experiential Frame of the day, we maintain the school's outdoor learning area, sow and water plants around the school, look after the fish tank in the foyer, pick up litter, weed the vegetable plots and compost the fruit break waste. As part of the school community are proud of our school environment and look after it and improve it where we can for ourselves sand others.

Healthy Body/Healthy Mind

In the Experiential Frame of the day we do lots of activities to keep our bodies and minds healthy. As well as taking regular Brain Breaks and doing Mind Gym exercises, adults and children alike practise Yoga Pretzels and Mindfulness Meditation as well as running a mile every day. At the time of writing, we have run a half marathon worth of Daily Miles.

Practical Skills

In the Experiential Frame of the day, we learn lots of practical skills which we will be able to apply in our futures. We use our hands to paint and mould objects out of clay, our work bench and tools to make things out of wood and DIY skills to enhance our learning environment. We are currently renovating an old exercise bicycle and fitting it with a desk top so that those with an excess of energy can cycle and work at the same time!

At the end of Friday, we all sit down together for a cup of chamomile tea and some Hub baked flapjacks to reflect on the highs and lows of the week and to talk about the week ahead.

The Hub helps children build a sense of belonging to the school and wider communities. Leicestershire Police invited The Hub to go on a team building kayaking day at Conkers after a visit to Coalville Police Station. A great time was had by all with rides in the riot van, kayak races and ice lollies at Conkers.

We always make sure that our topics are child led, fun filled and based in role play or experience. Here we are sitting down to a meal with Hollywood superstar Rob Lowe and his wife Davina, after planning to abduct him in a modern version of the Greek myth about Helen of Troy.

PE this term will be on Tuesday

Please ensure that your child has their PE kit consisting of a white t-shirt, dark shorts and plimsols and an outdoor kit consisting of tracksuit bottoms or leggings, a t-shirt, sweatshirt and a pair of trainers.

If your child is swimming this term, it will be on Tuesday

Payment for swimming can be made on ParentPay at a subsidised cost of £1.50 per week. Please ensure that your child has the appropriate kit of a one peice swimsuit, a swimming hat and a towel.

We Love Reading

At school, we read lots of great books, both fiction and non-fiction. We find out some really interesting facts and enjoy listening to stories.

A note from the teacher: Please would you spend some time each day reading these books with your child,

Autumn 2 2021

Journey back to a time when Gods and Heroes lived amongst mankind and discover the colliding worlds of fact and fiction in Ancient Greece. We will be investigating Greek Myths and their relevance to today's world. We will also be looking at historical Greece and the lives of common and famous people from that era. Bringing us up to the Modern Day, we will uncover the human and physical geographical features of Greece and compare them to our own country's landscape and politics.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS FROM THE HUB!

Topic Web, Autumn 2, 2021

GODS AND MORTALS

Maths

In Maths, we will be moving on from Place Value to begin applying our learning in Addition and Subtraction. For most, our methods will be evolving from using concrete objects to learning new techniques to manipulate numbers in our heads and on the page whilst our older pupils will be expanding their skill in using increasingly complex formal written methods of calculation.

We will continue to build solid foundation skills in Maths by understanding, and committing to memory, mathematical facts. There will be a daily raft of SAFMEDS, Times Tables, 99 Club, Number Bonds and Smart Chutes maths practice as well as weekly tests in all areas.

Our Topic:

GODS AND MORTALS

Ancient and Modern Greece

English

In Writing, we will use our topic on Greece as the basis of information texts about Greek gods; imaginative diary entries from imprisoned Greek heroes; written instructions for building the Trojan Horse; and persuasive letters to kings and gods. We will apply our English skills researching, note taking, labelling and writing in Geography, History, Science and DT.

Daily phonics lessons will continue to develop our Reading skills as will twice weekly Nessy software sessions. Daily spelling and handwriting practice together with application in dictation and the challenge of weekly tests help to ensure that we make progress and monitor our successes.

Understanding and Knowledge of the World

In Geography, we will be exploring Greece. We will look at Human aspects of geography by examining the geopolitical division of ancient and modern Greece. In Physical Geography we will discover Greece’s geographical features and compare them to our own country’s landscape.

In History, we will be uncovering what everyday life was like in ancient Greece. We will also be finding out about famous Greeks and the impact of their philosophies and inventions in modern life. We will be uncovering the origins and history of the Olympic Games.

Personal, Social & Emotional Development

This term we will be continuing our work on the Zones of Regulation curriculum – exploring our emotions and how to manage them positively. We will read many Greek myths and uncover the hidden morals in the tales and how we can apply them today.

During anti-bullying week, we will celebrate our physical, mental and learning differences and explore what it means to have a diagnosis like Dyslexia, ASD or ADHD. Afternoons will begin with Mindfulness Meditation, Yoga and breathing exercises.

Expressive Arts and Design

In Art, we will be learning how to sketch by building motor-skills memory, visualising shapes, appraising, deleting and overlaying lines to construct 2D representations of 3D objects. We will also use this skill in Maths when exploring shapes.

In DT, we will be designing flying machines on paper before applying our joining skills to construct models which will be tested in the field and, following re-assessment and improvement of our designs, will be used to fly a Lego-man Daedalus to safety.

Science

In Science, we will be investigating air resistance, floating and sinking; and material properties as we design and build aeroplanes and hot air balloons.

We will continue our long-term observations of the seasons in the Forest School area and the life-cycle of plants in our vegetable plot. The imminent arrival of two pet rabbits in The Hub will add to our understanding of the needs of living things.

Computing

We will use Purple Mash software to construct a 3D simulation of a labyrinth to contain the Minotaur. We will test our games and add to their designs to improve the complexity of the modelling and increase the enjoyment of those playing the game.

We will use the Internet to research Greek gods and mortals; Google Earth to investigate geography; and MSWord to produce typed work.

Physical Development

Because our topic is all about Greece, we will be trying out lots of Olympic sports many of which (like javelin and discus have their origins in martial training. We will be building our fitness as well as our powers of persistence and resilience by undertaking the Daily Mile and Beep Test training. Our weekly round of Martial Arts Memory training, Whittaker’s Wednesday Workouts, Yoga, Pilates and active Brain Breaks will keep everyone fit and healthy in body and mind.

Enter text...

Autumn 1 2021

Travel back in time to the Stone Age! This year, our first topic is TRIBAL TALES - an investigation of life in the Stone, Bronze and Iron Ages. Our History based topic will allow us to investigate how people lived thousands of years ago and we will be answering questions like: Where did they live? What did they eat? What materials did they use?

We will be using our DT skills to recreate Stone Age tools; Art skills to reproduce cave paintings; English skills to write reports, information texts, letters and fiction texts; Maths skills to plot the coordinates of archaeological finds on a graph; and Science skills to identify edible plants and their parts much like Stone Age people did when foraging.

Take a look at our topic web below to see what else will be included in this half-term's learning. As always, in The Hub, we will allow the children's interests and suggestions to direct our teaching and take it in directions which spark their interests and allow them to be invested in their learning, so watch this space...

Topic Web, Autumn 1, 2021

TRIBAL TALES

Below: Archaeologists unearthing and recording the position of Stone Age artefacts.