Letters, life skills, and learning: highlights from Class 6

As part of this term's English focus of letter writing, Class 6 opened the 'Fairmead Teen Advice Service'. This was an exciting hook which provided fantastic opportunities for the young people to send and receive letters to characters from our focus text 'Simon VS the Homosapien Agenda'. Using a journalistic framework, our young people worked in the allocated departments: formatting, graphics, content, introductions and problem solving. 

Furthermore, one young person was tasked with being the 'hot-line operator' and being responsible for receiving the incoming communication before sharing it with the rest of the team. Using the Talk for Writing approach, and through the activities of hot seating, re-enacting and reading chapters from the book, we immersed ourselves into the world of the characters and plot, giving the young people a deeper comprehension of the issues characters faced, and an opportunity to use their own similar experiences in the problem-solving process. To end the unit, the young people created a shared letter of response to a character in the text before working independently to apply the skills they have practised over the half term. 

Class 6 have also spent this term developing essential life skills by researching, planning, cooking, and evaluating a meal during their Life Skills lessons. They explored different recipes, considered nutrition and budgeting, and worked collaboratively to plan their dishes before bringing their ideas to life in the kitchen. Throughout the process, they built confidence, independence, and teamwork, while also reflecting on what went well and what could be improved next time. We hope that everyone enjoyed tasting their creations just as much as they enjoyed the learning journey.