University Academy Holbeach gives pupils a fun taste of things to come

The first week of the school summer break saw Year 6 pupils welcomed to University Academy Holbeach prior to starting in Year 7 in September.

Pupils were invited to attend Summer School at the Academy for the week.

More than 100 youngsters from 26 feeder primary schools were able to experience a variety of activities over five days.

The week was designed not only to be educational and enjoyable, but also to aid with their transition into Year 7.

Each morning, pupils engaged in both literacy and numeracy lessons to help boost their learning and to bridge any gaps which may have resulted from the impact of school closures during the Covid-19 pandemic.

In literacy, pupils began the week learning writing techniques to allow them to produce their own script for a play.

Later in the week, they were able to touch and feel artefacts from the beach such as wet sand, pebbles, shells and a beach ball. At the same time they experienced the sounds of the sea and coast.

These sensory experiences inspired them to write a poem about the seaside.

In numeracy, the focus was on fractions, decimals and percentages, with games and other kinesthetic activities being used to help embed learning.

Throughout the week, learning was complemented with pupils engaging in sports activities, a music afternoon, a drama workshop run by Konflux, a tour of the school, balloon rocket making and a session in a mobile planetarium where they learnt about the universe.

Pupils were also treated to an afternoon of outdoor skills (fire lighting and building and cooking on a campfire), hairdressing in a professional salon or a film club.

James Sadd, Year 7 learning coordinator, said: “The week was a great opportunity to learn several new skills, make new friends and gain an insight into The Academy, ready for a new start in September.

“It proved to be an extremely successful and beneficial week which was enjoyed not only by the pupils but also by the staff involved, who are looking forward to continuing teaching and supporting all our new pupils in September.”