All of us here at Leigh Academy Dartford would like to wish you a Happy New Year and welcome you back for module 3. In this blog you will find out what exciting learning opportunities the children had in their first week back at school.
Nursery
Little Birds were all very excited to return to the nursery after the Christmas holidays. We enjoyed showing photos of our celebrations at home. The Little Birds drew pictures to represent our time spent at home during the holidays.
Our provocation was called – “How can we help the animals in the bike accident?” The dogs were in an accident on their bikes in the playground. The Little birds had to come up with lots of ideas and suggestions as to how to solve this problem!, developing their communication and enhancing their social skills working as a team. Thinking about: “People in the community, help us in different ways”.
This term we are continuing to learn about Sharing the Planet and how people help us in our community. We are looking forward to continuing this inquiry over the coming weeks and look forward to sharing our learning with you.

Reception
The children explored the diverse materials used to build houses around the world. They investigated by looking at various types of houses through fiction books, gaining insights into how homes differ across cultures. They also explored natural materials, learning why these resources are commonly used in construction. Building on their knowledge from last term, the children reflected on what they had previously learned about houses and engaged in thoughtful discussions about the reasons behind using specific materials for building homes.

Year 1
Through a carousel of hands-on activities, the children explored the seasons and their impact on daily life. They observed changes in the weather, discussed how these changes affect animals and plants, and compared seasonal activities. The children then reflected on their learning experiences and created their own provocation questions.

Year 2
The children visited a technology museum, where they explored a variety of devices and observed how technology has evolved over time. They were particularly excited to learn about iPods! Afterwards, they discussed the purposes of various pieces of technology from the past and arranged pictures in chronological order, from what they believed to be the oldest to the most recent invention

Year 3
The children started thinking about how the laws of science can be used to solve problems. They were fascinated by magnets and enthusiastically started inventing their own mechanical grabbers!

Year 4
The children engaged in an immersive flood defence activity, simulating an emergency evacuation to provide insight into the challenges faced during a flood. Through a carousel of three hands-on activities related to rain, states of matter, and river dynamics, they explored key concepts, interactively analysed their findings and drew conclusions about the term’s learning objectives.
Year 5
We will be creating promotional material for Charity Car Wash for this term, where we will be raising money for Wells for Wheels.

Year 6
As part of this term’s provocation, the children took part in a wind turbine role play, discovered how many light bulbs it takes to change a person and they had a challenge to build a working electrical circuit with a light bulb, wires and a battery. The children then analysed what the central idea meant and created their own provocation questions.