Year 4 had a fabulous morning at Gosforth Junior High Academy yesterday. The children started out a little nervous about what it would be like but were blown away by what the school had to offer.
We started out by splitting into three groups and having a go at different activities.
One group set off to see the wonderful food technology room. Year 4 couldn’t believe they had little kitchens set up ready for lessons about food preparation and all aspects of food technology.
We learnt all about being safe and hygienic when preparing food. After that, we put on our aprons and got very messy preparing some mixture for cupcakes. We talked about the ingredients and the method as we went.
Some of us went upstairs and had a go at being crime scene investigators. A crime had been committed and we had to find out who had stolen Vector’s piranha gun! There were three minion suspects and it was up to Year 4 to solve the clues using scientific techniques and experiments.
Year 4 loved using the Bunsen burners, it was a great lesson in being safe in the science rooms. Once again, the children were amazed with the classroom designed specifically for experiments.
We tested different substances to see what colour flame they produced when they were burned, this helped us rule out some suspects.
Next, we looked at the texture and composition of different fabrics under the powerful microscopes. We had to use our observation skills to draw pictures to match each sample.
Finally, we looked at the colours within ink pens to see who our final suspect was. It was cheeky ‘Bob the minion’ who had stolen the weapon and Year 4 had helped figure out the mystery.
The final activity was a taste of the PE lessons the children could experience next year. It was fantastic to use the large trampolines and learn some poses such as: pike, tuck jump and seat drop. Miss Crowe couldn’t believe how talented some of Class 9 were at performing the moves and all the children had great fun.
With the help of some Year 8’s the children played badminton with the special rackets and net. The games were made harder by using balloons instead of shuttlecocks. This helped Year 4 to master their technique and made for some nail-biting matches.
It was a really great morning and put lots of the children’s worries to rest about moving to the middle school next year. It was clear to see how much the children enjoyed the lessons and was lovely to see some familiar faces of past pupils obviously enjoying their time at the Junior High. Thank you to the Junior High for another fantastic trip, Year 4 can’t wait for their next visit!
