The theme week for Key Stage Two in the Autumn Term 2024 was around community. We want the children at Rise Park to understand how they can impact not just the school community they attend, but the local community the live in as well to make a different to theirs and other people’s lives. Each year group was given a different focus linked to community and we are so proud of what they have produced and cannot wait to see the impact of their hard work by the end of the year.
Year 3
Year 3 looked at the community within the Rise Park School and they started by completing a walk around the school to identify areas that they felt needed improving, linked to their geography fieldwork skills.
The first area they identified was the outdoor space opposite the year 3 classrooms and the children felt they wanted to brighten up the area for parents and carers when they collect their children, and for the lovely Year 3 children to look at when they go out to play. They decided that the concrete slabs could be improved by painting mural of the amenities and greenery in the local area. The children have designed their own murals and are currently in contact with, Hannah Webster, a local artist, who they are hoping will come into school later in the year and help them bring their designs to life!
On top of these brilliant designs, the children have written to the school governors to request items on the playground or the field that they feel will improve the appearance of the school community. This includes new bins to keep the areas tidy and school equipment to improve play at play times. Hopefully, they will hear back from them soon.
Year 4
Year 4 looked at the local community just outside of the school to see what difference they could make to that area. They started by putting their geography fieldwork skills to use and completed a litter survey of the local area. They used their maps to put a green cross for the location of bins and a red dot every time they spotted litter. You can see in the picture below that there were clear litter hotspots!
To remind people that we need to put litter in the bins, the children have created colourful eye-catching posters which are going to be displayed in the local shops.
From this, the children decided to write a persuasive letter to the local councillors requesting the reinstatement of a public bin outside of the Key Stage Two entrance to school where a lot of the litter was located. Mrs Sullivan has attended a local councillor meeting and presented the letters to the councillors so we are currently waiting to hear back to see if they have been persuaded. Below are two examples of the letters produced which I am sure you will agree are excellent persuasive pieces and will hopefully help Year 4’s cause of reinstating the public bin!
Year 5
Year 5 looked at the local amenities in our community and decided to research and support Southglade library. They completed a visit to Southglade library to see all of the amazing books you can borrow for free! Some children took application forms to get a free library card so they could begin borrowing books from the library and were amazed to hear about all of the free activities the library offers – including a free crafts club every Saturday from 10:30am-12:30pm.
From this the children decided to create their own craft for children in the craft club to complete, along with a set of instructions for them to follow. The theme that was decided was Autumn and below is a selection of the fantastic crafts and instructions that the children created, combing their art and IT skills.
Alongside this, the children created evaluation cards so that they can receive feedback on their instructions and craft. Southglade library hosted Rise Park’s crafts on Saturday 9th November and we will update you with the evaluation cards once we receive them.
Year 6
Year 6 looked at how we can give back to local charities that support our community and decided to choose a charity that we, as a school, would be our chosen charity that we donate to this year. The children researched charities within Bestwood and Nottingham City and identified charities including Base 51, a charity that supports young people from ages of 11-25 with a variety of needs; Stonebridge City farm, a charity that is a city farm that provides training and education and The Toy library, a charity that supports children and families through play. Each group created a PowerPoint and Speech about each charity using all of their persuasive techniques and produced some fantastic pieces of work.
Year 6 then presented their findings to School Council who then voted for their winner.
Congratulations to the winner…Base 51. This is Rise Park’s chosen charity for the year and some specific fundraising we complete this year will be directed donated to them.
We are so proud of the impact the children in Key stage Two have completed already within the community and cannot wait to share the results of all of their hard work at the end of the year.
