Bellemoor School | Southampton

Ofsted

As soon as we get the Official Report we will publish it to all parents. I am delighted to say however that Ofsted said we are a rapidly improving school with Teaching and Learning being rated as good and they saw some outstanding lessons. The overall experience was a really positive one.

A special thank you to 2 of our governors, Patrick Douglas and Jenny Clifton, and to Kirsten Purkis, relative to a member of staff, for supporting the Year 10 exams during the Ofsted inspection. Their involvement was very much appreciated by the Learning Support Team.

Cross-curricular week, 16^th-20^th June 2008

The cross-curricular International week was a great success. Students worked collaboratively and learned a lot about International and global issues, and teachers enjoyed working alongside colleagues in a less formal setting than usual. A reporter and photographer from the “Echo visited us on Thursday and we are looking forward to some positive coverage in the local press. We would like to thank the parents of boys who generously donated football shirts and even shorts which will be sent to some of our partner schools abroad. Also, a big thanks to parents who baked cakes and sent in sweets for sale at break time on Friday which raised over £60 towards helping complete and equip a youth hostel/education centre in South Rwenzori, Uganda, where orphans and children affected by AIDS are being educated to help them prevent the spread of AIDS in their families and communities.

The children took part in the following activities:

Maths & Science: Students carried out data collection and analysis: Year 7 car pollution; Year 8 acid rain; Year 9 air quality.  Students measured ph of water in other countries and identified lichens associated with acid rain.  SO2 and NO were measured and collated and why levels vary in different countries was discussed.  Fossil fuels and nuclear energy were debated.

Technology: International food project: using power-points from our partner school in Poland as a basis, and information received from students in other schools abroad about their daily diet, students researched world-wide recipes. Students then used CADCAM to design, produce and laminate their own booklets of recipes on a country of their choice.

Expressive arts: Students investigated the impact music from around the world has had on modern Britain and produced their own composition based on Samba from Brazil/ Africa.  Art produced African masks, and totem poles. Drama investigated the morals underlying fairy tales in European countries and modernised them.

PE: Students have donated out of date football kit from their favourite teams (eg Manchester United, Sweden, Brazil). They researched the country/ city and they will send the details with the kit to some of our partner schools abroad (South Africa, Malawi and the Aids orphanage in Uganda).  Students researched sports/dance from other countries, eg Kabbadi, Taekwondo, Limbo, American football, and experienced these sports in a competitive atmosphere.

Life Sciences: Students in life sciences had two projects. They learned about the history of slavery throughout time, dating back as far as biblical times and coming immediately up to date by researching types of modern slavery such as people trafficking and child sex slavery.

Students who went to the play at the Guildhall on child trafficking in the Philippines had an input.  The objective was for students to develop their understanding of the concept of slavery and in particular the idea that slavery is a thriving ‘industry’ in the modern age that exists even in this country in the form of cheap migrant workers or illegal immigrant workers.

Our second project was to study global inequality through industry. Students learned about the disparity in standards of living in less and more economically developed countries around the world.  Again, the idea was to foster a greater understanding of just how fortunate we are in this country to have such a high standard of living compared to countries such as Brazil, where the majority of the population live in poverty.  Above all, the aim has been to allow students to begin to identify themselves as members of a global community, with the responsibility to understand and lean about their less fortunate brethren across the world.

Communications (MFL and English) promoted global environmental awareness. The students discussed topics such as global warming, saving energy, atmospheric pollution and learned the phrases for these in Spanish.  They devised environmental superheroes and cast them in plays which the boys storyboarded and acted out.  Year 9 students investigated Fair Trade which culminated in a presentation to the rest of their year group. The best entries will be submitted for the Sky journalism competition.

ICT: Students planned podcasts, learned how to use Garage Band, recorded interviews and wrote blogs about the International week.  They planned a video presentation and learned how to use iMovie and then produced a documentary.  They researched a country of their choice (flag, key-words, anthem) and produced a leaflet.  They also then produced a newsletter.

International Garden: Students have prepared the ground at the front of the school and planted vegetables, fruit and flowers, with the help of year 10 work experience students.  A Japanese garden will be planted and feature sculptures and exotic plants. This will be entered into the Southampton in Bloom competition in “A garden for learning category. 

Visit to Kew Gardens

As part of cross curricular week, 19 year 9 students, nominated by staff enjoyed a visit to Kew Gardens. In the morning there was a Maths & Environment session led by Kew Education staff where boys used different methods to estimate the age, height and canopy area of specimen trees. They also measured leaf area and presented their findings on a series of worksheets. After lunch they were able to tour the gardens and visit the Palm House and Temperate House.  The boys took many photographs and were amazed at the diversity of plants on display. Identifying plants from all over the world will contribute to our International Schools Award. Kew Gardens is well worth a visit, there are over 40,000 plants and 40 listed buildings, and next year marks their 250 year anniversary, with special events throughout the year.

Please view our pictures from Cross Curricular Week

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