Creative Learning Week Blog

Day 1 - Monday

Medical Marvels - Our Creative Learning Week started dirty! We investigated bacteria on our hands as well as in prime locations around the school; these were collected and will be developed over the next few days and hopefully turn into something disgusting! The afternoon took a "careers" direction as we investigated the 350 different careers within the NHS. In groups, pupils designed adverts for their chosen career and staff were very impressed with their dedication. Every day, Mrs Baker, Mrs Melvin, Mr Taylor and Miss Egan will choose a "Medical Marvel of the Day": today's goes to LOGAN BIRCHALL

Mind How You Grow - Today we spent a fantastic day exploring the brand new RHS Bridgewater in Salford. We got loads of inspiration for our own project and looked at both the mental and physical well-being associated with gardening. We even spotted a tiny froglet crossing the path!

Victorian Life - Today we visited Black Country Living Museum to learn about everyday life in the Victorian Era. Pupils made Victorian rag rugs and looked inside Victorian shops and homes as part of our tour of the town. We also learnt about how dangerous mining was for children at this time with some explosive demonstrations!

Going Places - Today ‘Going Places’ visited the sunny seaside resort of Llandudno for an open top bus tour around the famous sights of town, plus historic Conway with its spectacular medieval castle. The group enjoyed the promenade stroll to the pier and lunch before taking the hour-long tour on the top deck, taking in views and the tourist attractions across the bay before heading to Conway where we got great views and commentary of the wall town. After a cheeky ice cream, we headed back with great memories, hoping to return for longer soon!! ‘Going Places’, continues our journey tomorrow with our preserved train ride….’

Go Outdoors – We travelled to Wales to the Eco Cabins. Lots of Team Building and fun with lots of activities planned for tomorrow! 

Art and Culture from Around the World - Despite the 7am start, pupils arrived at school full of excited energy ready to explore some of the many facets of our nation’s capital. 

After a quick bag drop, pupils visited the Natural History Museum and explored the exhibitions of the museum, then a quick snack for lunch and off to Buckingham Palace where we saw the Changing of the Guard. Even the rain couldn’t dampen our spirits! 

Tea at Gordon Ramsay’s Burger kitchen, a toddle around Covent Garden then to the Adelphi Theatre on the West End to see The highly acclaimed musical ‘Back to the Future’. Pupils have enjoyed their cultural adventure so far and the fun is only just beginning…

Year 7 PE - Today year 7s have completed a range of different sporting activities. These include, A Biathlon, Table Tennis, Quidditch, Quad Kids Throwing, Jumping and Running. The effort and enthusiasm from all pupils has been fantastic and the PE department are looking forward to seeing year 7 in the wide range of other activities throughout the week. 

Vogue – Pupils had a visit to Staffs University where we had a lecture on Fashion. We took part in a workshop which tested the fluidity of line drawing with different mediums. To finish we explored alternative ways to wear garments and created in teams our own ensemble. 

Make Your Own Movie - we looked at a range of different genres: from action, to family, to horror. Pupils then split up into teams and began crafting ideas for their short films – they came up with concepts, characters and screenplays in preparation for rehearsals today.

 

Day 2 - Tuesday

Medical Marvels was all about bones and the body! We spent the morning learning about the skeletal system and creating moving skeletons that we labelled and presented. Our second session was a carousel of educational activities including organ research, key terminology and good old ‘Operation’! It’s safe to say there aren’t many surgeons amongst us! We then spent the afternoon viewing real life accidents in ’24 hours in A&E’ and considered the treatments and the injuries they suffered. All round, a brilliant day for our budding medical marvels! Today’s “Star Worker” is jointly awarded to: DAMILOLA SAMUEL and RUBY SIMPSON.

Big Bad Boss BonanzaOn Tuesday we set about researching the fundamentals of business. The teams started to create a business plan for their chosen goods or service and decided what their USP would be. In the afternoon the teams watched some Dragon’s Den in preparation for their pitches on Thursday!

Leonardo Today we tried fresco painting (painting into wet plaster), had mixed results.   Also painted own versions of Leonardo’s Lady with an Ermine.  We started to work on ideas for our Mona Lisa project.

Year 7 PE Today the year 7s have taken part in a range of activities. The boys have taken part in either rugby or football for the day and the girls either rounders or dance. All pupils have once again put in a fantastic effort throughout the day and have well and truly worked their socks off.

Mind How You Grow We nominated two Team Leaders to focus on inside and outside activities and both Teams made outstanding progress. All ready for buying plants tomorrow and planting up the outside of school! It will look AMAZING!!

Making Your Own Movie - pupils looked at different types of camera angles and movements which they then used to create their own shooting scripts. Then they had plenty of time to rehearse and make props in preparation for filming tomorrow.  We’re really excited to see their films coming together :) 

Go Outdoors - Day 2 a jam-packed full day of water wind and all senses. Followed by a magnificent curry fest. Our final day at CAT has been a success and they have learnt a lot.

Going Places - Today our journey continued; we returned to Wales with an historic preserved 1950s railcar train ride through the beautiful scenic river Dee valley from the tourist town of Llangollen to the hidden village of Carrog. A return trip of over 12 miles taking in tunnels, quaint preserved stations, rolling green hills following the course of the vibrant babbling River Dee! We even got to see the unique bright purple Queen’s Platinum Jubilee carriage! Time for a leisurely lunch on board and a nose at the train and railway memorabilia, before leaving for another cheeky ice cream stop en route home…. ‘Going Places’, continues our journey tomorrow with a tour of historic cars and vehicles inCoventry…’

Art and Culture from Around the World - After a fabulous evening on the West End last night, pupils woke up to a continental breakfast at the hotel this morning. A quick walk to the tube and we were off to the Tate Modern. Whilst at the gallery pupils viewed lots of modern art from various artists such as Juan Gris and Paul Delvaux (some of which will be re-created on canvas tomorrow) a quick stop for lunch on the South Bank was followed by some sight-seeing around Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, Parliament Square and Downing Street. Following our sight-seeing tour, we once again rode the tube to Camden Town where the pupils explored Camden Market. An eye-opening cultural experience for many! 

Finally, we collected our bags and headed home ready for a good night’s rest and a continuation of our cultural experience with painting and recreating our own art gallery tomorrow.

Victorian Life - Today we visited the National Justice Museum in Nottingham which is on the site of a Victorian prison and courtrooms. We had a tour of the original prison cells and learnt about how awful life was in prison for men, women and children in the Victorian Era! We also learnt about individuals who wanted to improve prisons- Elizabeth Fry and John Howard. Our day was completed by a unique tour of the man-made caves under the city which people lived in during the Victorian Era and were more recently used as air raid shelters in World War Two. We had a fantastic day! 

Going Golf - Today, the ‘Going Golf’ group went to Crewe Golf Club. The club were extremely welcoming and Pro Eddie lead the sessions on Chipping, Long hitting and Putting; before putting all of the skills together to have a go on the small practice area. 

All involved gained a lot from the experience and many new golfers are coming on leaps and bounds! Fantastic attitude and behaviour was had by all.

We look forward to FootGolf tomorrow… 

Vogue - we went to Silk Museum and took part in a workshop where we looked at layering of Silk to create an image. We learned about the history of Edith Buxton, a head designer in the 20thcentury at the age of 25. We toured the original silk mill and learned the silk process from the silk worm to the final image. 

Create a Computer Game was focused on Character Development. Students spent the morning researching effective character development across previous decades, looking at what makes a video game character timeless. Students used packages such a Piskel and Scratch to develop video game characters and wrote detailed and immersive back stories.

 

Day 3 - Wednesday

Mind How you Grow - It’s been another really busy and satisfying day. We began by researching plants in the four house colours, to go in the big flower bed by the main entrance. We tested the soil and were glad to find that it is neutral/slightly acidic, which is perfect for most plants. We then went to Garners garden centre in Silverdale, where we met one of our students on work experience and her brother, who told us where to find the plants we needed. The group split into four teams, one for each house colour, and with a budget to find suitable plants. After lunch, we planted up our new herb garden in an old sink, topped up all the beds with soil, and marked out the planting areas. We planned where each plant will go, and can’t wait to plant them tomorrow.

Victorian Life - today our feet were firmly in school but our imaginations were taken back to the East End of London in 1888 as we investigated the Jack the Ripper murders! Our interactive street tour really brought out the detectives amongst us! The second half of our day was spent making our own afternoon tea, the best Victorian invention! Pupils worked together to make sandwiches, Victoria Sponges and strawberries dipped in chocolate. We then enjoyed our creations on Mrs Till’s vintage China and felt VERY posh! Everyone was fantastic today and worked together so well!

Going Places - Today the ‘Going Places’ journey continued; we stayed in England being sent to Coventry! The Transport Museum in fact, with a national collection of Coventry made historic and preserved vehicles, ranging from late 1800s early bicycles up to the most recent electric Jaguars! The group had a free-flow tour of all 14 galleries each containing a decade of British and Coventry vehicles, from famous marques such as Triumph, Singer, Humber, Talbot, Rootes, Jaguar and even Peugeot! Various magnificent and rare cars and bikes were on display with plenty of information to help. We also covered events in Coventry’s history such as the wartime blitz and rebuilding, it’s part in the iconic Italian Job film, the victorious FA Cup winning tour bus and World Speed record car Thrust. Pupils bought souvenirs and took plenty of photos of the displays, before heading home. ‘ Going Places’, continues our journey tomorrow with interactive learning at Manchester Science and Industry Museum…

Make Your own Movie - On Wednesday, in Make Your Own Movie, we made props and had final rehearsals before going out and filming on location around school. All of the actors, directors and cinematographers were amazing. The films are coming together nicely - tomorrow will be the final stage, where the teams will edit their masterpieces! 

Medical Marvels - Day 3 was the pièce de resistance of the week with the Medical Mavericks coming into school to deliver their interactive, practical workshop on a number of different medical processes. We learned that Luca was brilliant at balancing, that Ellie-May had perfect blood pressure and Dylan was always going to be a “small man”! The hands on element of the session was exciting and helped to develop skills and knowledge around a different area of the medical profession. We spent the afternoon reflecting on the morning and recording our results. The Medical Marvel of the day today was: AIMEE PRICE!

Big Bad Boss Bonanza - On Wednesday the BBBB team have created marketing and advertising products for the goods and services. All teams created a business card to hand to the ‘Dragons’ on Thursday! They created posters, websites, leaflets, radio adverts and much more. We even had a visit from Mr. Morgan (head of business) who gave them some advice and lots of praise 😊 They are almost pitch ready for the Dragon’s Den tomorrow! 

Leonardo - Today we made dioramas of the Last Supper, then transferred final Mona Lisa designs to a canvas

Go Outdoors - Day 3 by far the nicest, purest, fun filled day. We woke up at the crack of dawn, packed our cases and headed to the beach. Tired faces and grey skies we thought it was going to be a wash out. But the sun came out and within minutes Archie L set the standards high on how to enjoy yourself and ran for the sea. Everyone enjoyed themselves even Sammy B got himself on the sand!!! Finished the day off with tasty fish and chips, pool and arcades. Goodbye Wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 it has been a pleasure and the kids have been AMAZING.!!!

Vogue - Today we visited Stoke on Trent college and took part in hair and beauty workshops. We learnt how to curl, braid and create a finished look in the hair department. In the beauty department we created festival looks with glitter, learnt how to prepare and paint nails including nail art. We were even treated to a demo on theatrical makeup and shown how to create a bruise, burn and cut using make up. A great day enjoyed by all!

 

Day 4 - Thursday

Big Bad Boss Bonanza - Thursday was pitch day for our Big Bad Boss Bonanza team! Firstly, they made sure their business plans were flawless and they had all their marketing materials ready. Some teams utilised the kitchens making props for their pitch; pancakes, milkshakes and cocktails! All teams presented their business ideas beautifully and the Dragons were so impressed with all of them. Special thanks to our Dragons: Mrs. Melvin, Mr. Whitehead, Mrs. Dean and Miss. Holdcroft. (And of course, Mrs. Allen as a last-minute addition!) 

The winning teams were:

3rd place: Delicactus (Marius, Andrew, Spencer and George) 

2nd place: Pancakes and Milkshakes (Ria, Rhianne, Liberty and Lacey) 

1st place: All 4 Paws (Hope, Rubie, Keira, Tallula, Lexi, Ashleigh, Georgie, plus Y10 Ethan and Jack) 

Medical Marvels have had another exciting day today! We spent this morning analysing our pulse rates at resting point and during exercise. We used this data to give us an indication of our health and fitness levels. Elliemae Smith was deemed the fittest athlete in the class – although her counting was questionable! After our investigations into heart performance, we had the opportunity to dissect an animal heart and brain. The budding surgeons amongst us (Jayden M, Logan B, Lewis S, Damilola S and Ruby S) were brilliant at carefully cutting into the organ for real! This afternoon, we completed our day by creating information yet presentable organ profiles. And the Medical Marvel of the day was awarded to: LUCA MULLEN

Leonardo - Today we started to paint our final Mona Lisa designs… Also made some Ishihara colour plates to catch out MC (who is colour blind).  Best one was by Chloe Gordon.

Mind How You Grow - Today was the big day and we spent the morning planting out. Our main border now has a range of plants that represent the colours of our Houses – Bannister, Elgar, Shakespeare & Newton. Everyone worked really hard and we are all really pleased with the outcome. Tomorrow is our last day and we will be putting the final touches to our outdoor space and will be looking at the mindful aspect of gardening.

Vogue - Today we went to Black Country Living Museum, we had a whistle stop and then took part in a rag rug making workshop. We discovered that women would cut up worn out clothing and fabrics into strips which they would feed into the holes in hessian sacks to create a rag rug. This would be used to keep them warm or to lay on the bare floors of their homes. They did this as a necessity but also to occupy their minds when they had any free time. We soon found out that it takes a lot more skill than you think.

Go Outdoors Day 4 Never forget the simple enjoyment of water and sunshine. Paddle boarding, Canoeing and Kayaking gave so many laughs to all the kids and staff. The staff at Astbury Mere couldn’t thank us enough for such grown up kids that just got stuck in and had fun. Best day by far 💦🛶🚣‍♀️☀️

Going Places - Today the ‘Going Places’ journey continued; we stayed in England but moving up North to ‘rainy city ‘,  Manchester!! The Science and Industry Museum, where they showcased the historic and revolutionary development of the city based on the industry of cotton spinning and the steam engine, with various collections covering the expansion of both the city’s wealth and global importance in the 1800s… After a brief visit to the gift shop where pupils bought historic souvenirs such as bouncy balls and slime (!), the group watched an interactive performance highlighting the industrial revolution and various inventions Manchester was famous for, most notably the cotton ‘spinning Jenny’ which led to mass textile production-we then had a very informative talk and demonstration of the various looms and weaving machines before heading off to lunch!! The tour then continued with a visit to the very interactive ‘hands on’ Experiment gallery where lots of fun scientific activities where put through their paces by the group!! We walked back to the coach taking in the atmospheric surroundings of historic industrial Manchester before heading back home. ‘Going Places’, completes our journey tomorrow with maybe the highlight of the week a ‘flight’ to RAF Cosford…

Victorian Life- Today we went to explore the Mansion and gardens of Tatton Park as part of our investigation into the lives of the rich and poor during the Victorian Era. Pupils were amazed by the rich decorations of the dining room and state rooms, the vast parklands and the beautiful gardens. We were impressed by how much the Egerton family (who owned the estate during the Victorian Era) tried to make the lives of their servants easier by being one of the first houses outside of London to have electricity! And installing a lift! We had a lovely, relaxing day surrounded by the best the Victorian Era had to offer. We didn’t want to leave!

Make Your own Movie - On Thursday, Make Your Own Movie got to the penultimate stage of the film-making process: editing. Miss White and Miss Durrant were really impressed with their editing expertise and can’t wait for the pupils to showcase their creations at our film festival tomorrow, where coveted Oscars trophies are up for grabs!

Art and Culture from Around the World Today we visited the seaside town of Llandudno. The aim of today was to explore British seaside traditions from the Victorian era. A stroke along the promenade was followed by a quick watch of the Punch and Judy show (a must for any trip to the seaside). Following the show, a stroll along the pier, trip to the amusement arcades and chips by the seaside for lunch was the order of the day. In, perhaps typical, British style the weather worsened as we visited the artisan chocolate shop before heading home. Tomorrow we will make dishes from around the world from Iceland to India.

 

Day 5 - Friday

Leonardo - Today we finished our Mona Lisa paintings, some pretty good work

Then a big old clean up

Make Your Own Movie - On Friday, Make Your Own Movie celebrated the hard work everyone had put into their short films with our showcase and Oscars ceremony. Staff around school were invited to watch pupils’ films and vote for their favourite. Awards were also given based on their hard work and efforts across the week. 

Best Actor

Macauley Edwards

Best Director

Olivia Garnham 

Best Cinematographer

Luke Sawyer

Best Editor

Izzy-May Mitchell

Best Costume

Jake Morrey

Best Promotion 

Luke Pullin

Overall, the winning film of the week was ‘The Perfect Day’, created by Saira Ahmed, Jake Morrey, Macauley Edwards, Olivia Garnham and Isabelle Springett. 

For our Oscars afterparty, we had snacks and pupils got to vote on the film they wanted to watch at the end of the day.

Vogue - Today we had our hair styled by hairdressers from Sista Hair and Beauty ready for our pamper day. We have been able to paint our nails, face paint and create fashion accessories such as designing our own canvas bags and making our own friendship bracelets. A great end to a fun week!

Going Places - We landed at our final destination on ‘Going Places’ at RAF Cosford! The fantastic venue with hangars full of historic aeroplanes and airways related artefacts, including the Stoke-on-Trent designed world famous Spitfire, plus numerous other WW2 aircraft and vehicles! The group enjoyed tours of the Cold War exhibition and planes of WW1. We lunched in the Crew room and continued our tour with inactive simulators and 4D theatre! Pupils completed a quiz and bought souvenirs from the gift shop before departing back home in first class!

All enjoyed the week of going places and learnt a lot about the history of Britain’s transport development!

Mind How you Grow - We have spent our last day adding the finishing touches to our flower beds. We made giant labels to show which House is represented by each section of the main flower bed. Garden club will soon be adding signs which will tell you the names of all the plants. We also made fact sheets for our plants and will be putting these, along with a timeline of the week and some before and after pictures in a new display – watch this space! Finally, Friday afternoon was all about mental health and wellbeing, as we researched the health benefits of gardening and painted pebbles with a garden theme. Mr Whitehead and Mrs Rutter have been incredibly impressed with how hard all the students have worked, and with their teamwork all week. They should all be very proud of the huge difference they have made to our school.

Medical Marvels - We completed our week this week with a visit from an A&E nurse who brought with her some medical equipment for us to try: we checked oxygen levels and listened to heart beats as well trying our hands at bandaging and casting. Lots of career exploration and a brilliant question and answer session that gave us a first-hand insight into the role. We ended the day awarding prizes for those who have performed consistently well across the week. Today's MEDICAL MARVELS were: RYAN STRINGER and LEWIS SIMPSON.

Week Award Winners:

Medical Marvel of the Week: Logan BIRCHALL

Y8 Winner: Aimee Price

Y9 Winner: Lewis Simpson

Y10 Winner: Ellie May Jones

Advert Design Winners: Damilola and Ruby

Advert Runners Up: Jayden Middleton and Lewis Simpson

Big Bad Boss Bonanza - Friday was our rewards day for a week of working hard and pitching yesterday. The Big Boss team spent the day at Alton Towers enjoying the rollercoasters! Rain was expected but we were all prepared with coats and hoodies; everyone had a lovely time 🤩 What a week!! You’ve all been amazing! 

Year 7 PE - Today the year 7 pupils have had their final day of activities including: Quiddich, Longball, Long jump, vortex throw and finally a sports quiz. They have been fantastic this week and have demonstrated some great enthusiasm, effort, and sportsmanship. 

 

Go to top