A Day of Deep Learning for St. Cuthbert’s

Year 7 food tasting

3 More Image(s) In Gallery

Friday 23 October was St Cuthbert’s very first ‘Deep Learning Day’. The intention of these days is to provide opportunities for in-depth learning activities that cannot be undertaken during regular timetabled time.

Year 7 took part in a ‘Be safe... stay safe’ scheme and listened to road safety talks from a Casualty Reduction Team. All pupils took part in activities whereby they understood the importance of safety on the road. Pupils also learnt the basics of First Aid, and managed to resuscitate Miss Holt and Mrs Angove using ‘DR ABC’ and finally, all pupils were given a talk from Mr Ward on e-safety. Students watched videos regarding safety online and were taught about the significance of social media and its effect on their personal lives.

Food tasting was an exciting activity for all Year 7. Our catering company here at St. Cuthbert’s made some questionable-looking smoothies and juices, which actually turned out to be very tasty. The chocolate brownies were a winner however; the students were unaware they were actually made with beetroot! Healthy eating is an important part of our lives, by taking part in this type of tasting, students realised that actually, fruit and veg can be just as tasty as fizzy drinks and chocolate.

The theme of year 8 was 'Community Cohesion', students were involved in activities including; learning Polish, a discussion on what it means to be a Muslim from our very own Mr Ali, different religious traditions, poems and literature from other countries such as ‘Halfe Caste’ by John Agard. Pupils also had the pleasure of enjoying tasting different foods such as spring rolls, tex-mex foods and samosas. Finally students also attended a workshop with Jessica from the Red Cross and learnt all about refugees.

Year 9 had an exciting day which was delivered by the ‘Prison Me! No Way!’ team. Crime reduction ultimately starts with educating students when they are young. Prison Me! No-Way! Is a national educational charity with a core aim of raising awareness among young people about the causes, consequences and penalties of crime.

Our students took part in a drama which was centred on anti-social behaviour. We also listened to a previous offender about his history. Students were stunned at his story and understood the importance of becoming responsible members of the community.

A Higney, a student at St. Cuthbert’s, claimed: “It was really interesting to listen to the offender’s story. He had learnt from his mistakes and made us all realise the importance of following the law”.

Students also got to experience what a real-life prison cell was like. The immediate reaction from our students was a show of screwed up noses as the stench was hideous. Students were shocked at the conditions of a prison cell and were horrified at the thought of a toilet being in the same room as where you would eat your breakfast. I think we can safely say that after this experience, none of our students would ever like to be a prisoner.

Year 11 attended an 'After Year 11' event, the aim of the day is to provide students with the careers information, advice and guidance they need to make the right post sixteen choices.

The 5 sessions covered; completing application forms and personal statements, how to create a CV, common interview questions and the opportunity to apply for the courses that they had shown interest in.

Paul Ferry our Positive Steps advisor was on hand to help students make their choices.

We also had representatives from over 15 colleges and training providers who were available to answer questions about the different post sixteen options.

Students on the COPE programme had the opportunity of a practice interview with a representative of Ashley Hunter Training as part of their course requirements. Applicants for the prom committee were also interviewed by Mr Wray and Mrs Egerton.

A trainee teacher from the University of Manchester, Miss Rawsdeh took part in the day’s events and claimed: “It was interesting to see the flexibility of teachers and their skills in delivering subjects that were not their own. The staff took part in a passionate manner, which motivated the students. On the whole, I found it to be a very enjoyable day.”