New Zealand – Mr Spillane / Miss McKenna

Our Class Team

Teacher HLTA TA
Kieran Spillane / Isabella McKenna Peter Murphy Nicola Butterworth

Contact the teacher at Isabella.mckenna@abbotsleaschool.co.uk

Our Weekly News

In the boxes below, you can read about our best moments in school.
We are sharing our weekly news every Friday.

Week 23+

We have had a brilliant week in New Zealand class this week.

In Maths, the focus has been conversion between money and units using graphs.

In English, we have been reading our class book wonder. We have made story boards for the part of the book we have read and they turned out amazing.

In science, the focus is DNA so the class have been categorising traits to determine if they are inherited or environmental.

Overall, we have had an amazing last week of half term!!

Well Done New Zealand class.

Week 22+

This week in New Zealand, students have worked really hard!!
It has been national apprenticeship week, we joined zoom meetings everyday to give us information more information to have a better knowledge for students next steps.
In maths, we have finished our topic of converting units this week which students have completed amazingly!
We have carried on reading wonder this week which the class are really enjoying.

Week 21+

New Zealand class have had a fun but tiring week this week.
Students have really enjoyed taking part in swimming this week and have had tons of fun.

Also, New Zealand class celebrated Chinese new year this week by completing activities. Students thoroughly enjoyed watching the dragon dance on Wednesday.

For project lessons this week New Zealand class placed their insect houses, they previously made, into the forest schools area and are excited to see what bugs they attract.

Overall, Students have had a fun busy week!!

Well done New Zealand Class!!!

Week 20+

It has been a wonderful week for New Zealand class!! We have enjoyed swimming this week and can’t wait for next week.

For project, we have made insect houses and put them into our forest school and we are going to check on them to see which minibeasts are living inside.

In maths this week we have been looking at time and reading timetables. We have carried on reading out class book wonder this week and completed some activities around it.

Week 19+

We have had a brilliant week in New Zealand class!! We have been focusing on measurements this week and converting these measurements from cm to mm and metres. In English, as a class book we have been reading wonder and completing comprehension regarding the parts of the book we have read. LFC came in on Wednesday for PE where we had a mini class football tournament. We really enjoyed our trip to the world museum on Thursday, where we looked at the mini beasts for our project lessons.

Week 17+

This week we’ve had a short but busy week. We were straight back in to PE lesson 1 to wake us all up after the holiday. Thankfully in the hall to dodge the cold!

We welcomed our new teacher, Miss McKenna to class as well and we did ‘All about me’ PowerPoints to introduce ourselves. We are studying Jules Verne’s ‘Around the World in 80 Days’ in English this term and researched how Liverpool looked in the time the story was set.

For Maths we are studying units of measurement and how to convert from one to another.

We also saw the first snow of 2022 from class on Thursday!! We were very excited.

Week 15+

This week class NZ have been getting into the Christmas spirit.

We enjoyed our Christmas carousel activities, particularly the bits we could eat! We have finished off our Cirque du Freak work in English as well as finishing off our work on perimeter in maths.

For ICT we were looking at functions in Excel and also designed Christmas cards on the laptops.

We really enjoyed the talent show this week and a big well done to Bobby, who stepped in at the last minute and produced an amazing performance on his guitar.

Definitely a winner in our eyes for the courage he showed to stand up and play in front of people. We are excited to be going to the pantomime on Friday, as well as seeing the nativity in school on Thursday.

Week 14+
Week 13+
Week 12+
Week 11+

This week in NZ we have been busy with reading! We have been enjoying Cirque Du Freak by Darren Shan and exploring the amazing creatures he has created.

We have looked at the effect of language on the reader and created some comic strip versions of the chapters. In Maths we have been continuing practising our multiplications.

In Science we have been learning about the nervous system and reaction times. We did an experiment testing our reaction times and the effect of glucose on the system.

In PE we have a great time playing dodgeball with the LFC coaches.

Well done everyone!

Week 10+
Week 9+

We have had a really busy week in New Zealand class.

In English we have started reading our new class book ‘Cirque Du Freak’ written by Darren Shaw. The students were tasked with predicting what they thought the book was about just by looking at the front cover and reading the blurb – there were some very good guesses! We have also had class discussions about the difference between ‘fact’ and ‘opinion’.

In maths, we have been working on Arrays and Multiplication.

In PE we took part in circuit activities, focussing on how our breathing changes with the more physical activity we do.

In Science we looked at the ‘circulatory system’ and its major functions and how we can keep our own hearts healthy.

We have also discussed what is going on in the news, especially regarding the COP26 conference which is being held in Glasgow at the moment. The students were passionate about how important it is for the world leaders and everybody else who lives on our beautiful planet to try to keep climate change under control.

Have a great weekend everyone!!

Week 8+

We have had a busy week in NZ. We have been honing our punctuation and proof-reading skills in preparation for our mock exams in English.

In Maths we have continued studying fractions. In Science we have been looking at the effects of alcohol on the body. In food tech we made bacon and pea salad with dressing. On Thursday we enjoyed visiting the Liverpool Careers Fair.

 

Well done everyone!

Week 7+

This week in NZ we have finished reading Frankenstein.

We completed comprehension activities and also watched clips of the original Frankenstein from 1931. We compared and contrasted versions of the story and enjoyed the performance of Boris Karloff!

In Maths we have been exploring fractions and looking at halves and quarters. We have been finding fractions in different shapes and have started looking at fraction problems. We have also learned about the festival of The Day of the Dead how and where it is celebrated and created some sugar skull designs.

In ICT we have been working on our ICT Microsoft Excel skills, entering data in the correct cells and working out the riddle!

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

Week 6+

This week we have been studying Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, we thought up some of our own covers for the book and had some excellent ideas!

We also used the ‘creation’ section as inspiration for our own piece of descriptive writing. We used the senses to bring our work alive just like Frankenstein’s monster! In Maths we have been predicting number sequences and practising word problems. On Science we tested our knowledge of the digestive system by using a model to place the parts in the correct place.

Well done everyone and have a great weekend!

Week 5+

We have had another busy week in NZ! We have been learning about making our descriptive writing more exciting by using alternative vocabulary. We looked at rides in theme parks, imagined what it would be like to ride on them and wrote a description of them.

We also took part in the Reading is Magic festival on Tuesday and listened to some amazing poets. In Maths we have continued practising our column addition and subtraction. Some of us have been working on SENECCA mastering our algebra skills. In Science we continued studying the digestive system, we learned about the journey of food and conducted an experiment to see how we get nutrients from food. On Wednesday we also did our sports session with LFC building on our teamwork skills.

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

Week 4+

We have had a very busy week in NZ!

We have been learning all about the heart and the circulatory system. On Monday we dissected a sheep heart and explored its structure. It was gruesome stuff but very interesting to see first-hand how things look. We also did a science experiment testing the effects of exercise on heart rates.

In English we have been studying the play ‘Our Day Out’. We discussed the plot line and watched the film version on the play. Then we analysed character traits. We have also been practising our handwriting in preparation for our exams.

In Maths we have been practising column addition and subtraction, then we have been applying these methods to work out Maths word problems.

In ICT we learned about coding in the gaming industry and practised coding ourselves.

In PE we trained with LFC, practising our passing skills then played a match.

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

Week 3+

Monday was Roald Dahl Day. The students in New Zealand class looked at extracts from some of the authors most famous books and then looked at the images associated with the story. We then discussed what the role of an illustrator was and how important Quentin Blake’s pictures are in making the stories come alive. The students then spent time doing their own drawings in the style of Quentin Blake – with some fantastic results!

 

In Maths we are looking at subtraction, starting with 2 digits and then moving on to 3- and 4-digit numbers. In food Technology we made butternut squash risotto, the students worked well together in their small teams, showing some great communication skills. In English we focussed on our reading comprehension, focussing on how to read and respond to questions.

 

In PE, we joined together with Australia class to welcome LFC in to school. The students enjoyed showing off their football skills and also engaged in some basketball fun. It was a really enjoyable session and we are looking forward to welcoming them again next week.

Have a lovely weekend!

Week 2+

New Zealand class have had a busy first week getting to know their new class mates and settling into KS4. Staff and students have been discussing their aims for this school year, what they want to achieve and what they would like to do in the future college or sixth form. Our class-reading book this term is ‘Our Day Out’. The students have been answering questions about the book and revisiting homophones.  Physical education this week was testing our fitness and we will review this each term to see if our fitness improves. Food technology this term we will be roast dinners and this week we learnt how to prepare and cook roasted vegetables for part of our roast dinner. Have a lovely weekend.

Links to open sessions at Hugh Baird College and Myerscough College for September.

https://www.hughbaird.ac.uk/events

https://www.myerscough.ac.uk/whats-on/online-course-advice-morning-february/

Our Resources

< Back to previous