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Led by Bleasdale class, pupils from across the school took turns in cycling for Children in need. Over the course of the day an impressive 35 miles was covered raising £127 at the last count. Some tired legs were joined by big smiles as the sense of achievement took over. Whilst this was occuring back at school Parlick and Fairsnape class headed off to the local park to run a mile. They returned exhausted but full of pride at their efforts. A wonderful day has been had by all and all for a good cause!

Calder Lodge School pupils leaving flowers at Dalton square, Lancaster. This was followed by signing the book of condolence at the Town Hall.

Queen Elizabeth ll 1926-2022.

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.

On 23rd March Bleasdale Class visited Heysham Barrows to look for older buildings from an early time period. This has strong links with the subjects they have been focusing on in class, which is on archaeology from Stone Age – Iron Age. During the visit they participated in lots of walking, having discussions about the older buildings and this led onto the students reflecting on traces left behind from previous structures and the layers of ground being older because of how low they sit in the ground. After this we visited Half Moon Bay Beach to excavate some sea class and to collect stones in preparation for painting them once back at school. Whilst on the beach they made some stone structures, which they enjoyed! On the way back we dropped off our collection for the Ukraine appeal. 

In Fairsnape class we recently visited Greenlands Farm Village near Carnforth. We are learning about where our food comes from and what we need to keep us healthy. In conjunction to this we are looking at the life cycles of animals and new life. Whilst at Greenlands Farm we met the new born lambs and goats and took turns in feeding them from a bottle. We also met the new born chick and observed the eggs in the incubator. 

We stroked the guinea pigs and rabbits and fed them carrots. We also named one of the bunnies, naming him Thomas. After a fabulous visit we finished the day off at the park; running around and scrambling up the climbing frame. We are looking forward to learning more about animals and how their life cycles throughout this term.

During Spring Term 2022, Calder Class’s topic was ‘Australia’.  We explored the continent, it’s history, geography, culture, customs and wildlife.  

On January 26th, Australians celebrate ‘Australia Day’.  One custom associated with Australia Day is to spend time with family and friends on the beach sharing customary food.  The class made Aztec biscuits and prepared meringue bases to make Strawberry Pavlovas for our beach picnic.

The class visited Heysham Beach in Morecambe on Australia Day.  The boys wrapped up warm and stayed active on the beach to keep the January weather at bay.  They participated in games such as football and throwing activities.  Some just enjoyed drawing in the sand with driftwood that they discovered on the shoreline.  

Mrs Mott found a safe place to set up the barbeque in a sheltered area to avoid the whistling Morecambe Bay winds.  Once the sausages were ready, the boys huddled together to enjoy a warm barbeque lunch.  Pudding consisted of the prepared meringue bases with a good dollop of fresh cream and a sprinkling of delicious strawberries.  Some of the boys (and staff) had never experienced a winter barbeque/picnic before.  

After they had eaten,  the boys strolled over to the nearby park.  They had full tummies, rosy cheeks and pockets full of treasure that they had discovered on the beach.  These treasures were the focus of subsequent Literacy lessons.  The boys created some fantastic adventure stories from the small artefacts that they brought back to school.

The Parlick’s class thoroughly enjoyed their recent school trip to Williamson Park. After learning about different habitats and microhabitats in science this term and exploring how different types of animals adapt to these environments. The children loved being able to observe these different habitats in person; we saw Meerkats, marmosets and even a python! It was really interesting to see how different all of the animals’ enclosures were and the different things each animal needed to survive and grow. 

Our favourite habitat to explore was the Butterfly experience! The children loved being able to see the Butterflies up close and demonstrated great care and concern when travelling around the habitat; making sure they didn’t hurt any butterflies as they explored. We were lucky enough to watch a butterfly hatch from a chrysalis for the very first time! After learning about the life-cycle of a butterfly in class it was fantastic to witness it in person. We even had to use a special mirror when we were exiting the Butterfly House, to check no butterflies were attached to our coats. 

Experiencing the animals and the environments they live in first hand really helped to develop the children’s understanding of different animals’ needs and how these are supported by their habitats. 

The children said:

“I really liked watching the butterfly in the water, I thought it was hurt but it wasn’t. It was just drinking, there were turtles in the water too.”

“The butterflies were so beautiful”

“I liked the butterfly house, it was nice and warm for the butterflies but it made me jump when they tried to land on my coat.”