This week our Y4 boys dived into their topic for the term: ‘Becoming Bedford’ – exploring Bedford’s significance throughout history and looking at how the town has changed over time.
To start them on their topic quest, the boys enjoyed a fantastic map workshop with Miss Goodman, Head of Geography. The fun activity saw the boys, in pairs, following compass directions – which relied on trust and accuracy as one boy in each pair was blindfolded! However, we are pleased to say that the boys were highly accurate and directed each other to create shapes using the compass directions (and avoid puddles!). The boys then used their new-found map skills to locate key areas of Bedford’s industry, geography and culture before planning their routes to see as many of these as possible during their learning walk on Friday.
The boys also heard a fascinating talk on refugees and asylum seekers from Ms Kashi, whose parents fled first Iraq and then Kuwait with her when she was just four months old and her brother aged three during the time of Saddam Hussein. While the family of four happily made it safely to the UK, they feared for their lives many times during their escape, and many times, chance and coincidence worked in their favour to save them. Mrs Kashi also explained how her parents found the experience of arriving and setting up a new life in a different country, away from family and friends, somewhere where you don’t know anyone and where even the cold, damp weather is strange. The boys were enthralled and asked lots of brilliant and insightful questions, all of which helped boost their English empathetic writing when they imagined that they were Syrian refugees arriving in Bedford.
The boys finished the week with a much-anticipated learning walk; the route and focus, as mentioned previously, they had created using their skills and research during lesson time. Throughout the walk, the boys wrote questions into their learning journals to guide their learning and noted what to research later in the project. It proved an exciting mini adventure and journey of exploration that allowed the boys to see Bedford in a new light.
Head of Y4, Mr Powell, explained, “This student-led, real-life-focused unit gives the boys opportunities to learn about their local area and all the exciting history, geography and culture on their doorstep. However, this is just the first step in their topic study. In due course, the knowledge and skills they gather will culminate in a collaborative presentation to Bedford Council on how to persuade people to move to Bedford. Finally, the boys’ presentations will be pitched to a select panel of Dragon’s Den investors!”