Experiential Learning

Early Years 

Key Stage 1

RAF Hendon

Key Stage 1 had an amazing visit to RAF Hendon, immersing ourselves in the fascinating worlds of flight and aviation history. The children were captivated as they learned about the pioneering pilots and how the very first planes were flown, even getting to role-play the motion themselves! We then "flew" through the decades, exploring how changes in materials and design dramatically increased plane speed over the years. The highlight? Practicing our own aeronautical skills! The children had a fantastic time launching the planes they had made, enjoying a fun competition to see whose could soar the furthest.

Windsor Castle

 Key Stage 1 visited Windsor Castle as part of their topic on Castles. They enjoyed watching the changing of the guard in the morning and spotting the features of a Motte Castle, the Keep and the Moat. In the afternoon they did a workshop about the history of castles and learned how to attack and defend castles. It was great fun and everyone had a lovely day.

St Albans Cathedral

Key Stage 1 have been learning all about St Albans and they walked to St Albans Cathedral to bring their learning to life. They spent the day learning about all the the different parts of the building and then had two workshops where they made tiles out of clay and were even able to dress up as bishops! Ms Fenner reported that the children were beautifully behaved on the trip, a real credit to Mandeville in that they were very respectful and curious about all they saw. The children have since been doing some fantastic writing about their trip in class time.

Year 3

Natural History Museum

 Year 3 had a lovely time at the Natural History Museum where they explored the volcano and earthquake exhibits. We were lucky enough to be able to stand in an earthquake simulator where we felt the earth shake beneath us. The day finished with a workshop led by volcano Barbie who showed us how different counties put measures in place to protect them from natural disasters.

They embraced the activities of the day and demonstrated our Mandeville Values and we're very proud of them.

Year 4

Verulamium

 Our two year 4 classes went on a trip to visit the St Albans Museum and Verulamium park. They enjoyed a fantastic workshop in the museum and handled all different kinds of artefacts, they even got to dress up as Romans! They then visited the Hypercourse, Roman gate and wall in the park. The children thoroughly enjoyed the day and did so well walking to and from the museum.

London Aquarium

Year 4 headed underwater to investigate the wonderful world of the ocean. An exciting coach trip took us into the centre of London as everyone spotted Big Ben and the London Eye on our way to the Sealife centre on the Embankment. 

Everyone took a deep breath and we dived in. From the first glimpse of colourful coral, past the majestic sharks and rays, through  to the wonderful world of jellyfish, the children were transfixed. All of the learning in class was brought to life as they spotted the camouflaged creatures ,read the detailed information boards and asked questions of the SeaLife rangers.

They even got to have a hands on experience with some of the wildlife. It was a brilliant trip that added so much to our topic and made memories of a lifetime.

Year 5 

Lincolnsfield Centre

Our Year 5 classes went on a trip to Lincolnsfield centre in Bushey. Dressed up in their 1940s costumes, the children were able to experience life during the Blitz, including gathering in an Anderson Shelter, 'putting out' an incendiary bomb and playing games from the period. They were wide-eyed when they were shown how they would have bathed in a tin tub in front of the fire, and especially unhappy to hear that they would have been sat in three inches of water already used by their parents! Further horror ensued when they had to sit straight-backed and stand to answer questions of their school mistress in the 1940s classroom. As they arrived back at school, many children were overheard saying it was the 'best day ever' and that they were very grateful not to have been a child in the 1940s!

 Public Speaking Competition

As we celebrated oracy across the school our Year 5 Public Speaking Competition was a real highlight, with the finalists showing incredible courage as they delivered speeches about key figures who stood for equality in front of four judges. To see them speak so enthusiastically about fairness and justice was amazing and they demonstrated the positive impact of our explicit teaching of oracy brilliantly. It was a tough competition and, for the first time ever, we had to award two winners as it was too close to call! A huge congratulations to Darien and Hamza who both spoke with passion, clarity and conviction and about their chosen figure, Martin Luther King.

Although there were only 12 finalists chosen from the two classes, it has been fantastic to see every member of Year 5 writing, editing and practising their speech before performing to their class. This unit combines key English and oracy techniques, teaching children how to manage their nerves and speak with confidence in front of an audience.

Year 6

Hampton Court

Year 6 made the journey to West London to visit Hampton Court Palace. Exploring the home of Henry VIII really brought our Tudors topic to life. The children warmed themselves by the fires in the huge kitchens and sat proudly on the high seats in the great hall. They discussed the problems of the day in the council chamber and lost themselves in the Maze.  It was a fabulous day full of curiosity and wonder.

British Museum

 

Year 6 swapped the classroom for the ancient world as they journeyed back thousands of years at The British Museum as part of their learning about The Egyptians. They explored the Rosetta Stone, many different mummies (even ones of cats, crocodiles and a bull!) and sarcophogi, shabtis and amulets. They even saw the body of a man that had been preserved in sand!

“The trip was really fun. We particularly liked the statues and it was interesting to see so many. The mummified man was stabbed in his shoulder and had been preserved in sand. It was interesting that he was still there and they found him. We learnt lots of new information, including how bodies were mummified, and found it strange that the teeth and hair were still there.”

A huge well done to Year 6 for representing the school with such curiosity and enthusiasm!

Choir

Alban Arena

Our choir joined 250 other young singers from St Albans and performed a fantastic concert at the Alban Arena. After many weeks of rehearsing and a long day of singing we think they all performed brilliantly.

 

I was so proud of all the children that stood on the stage representing Mandeville so well on Wednesday. You sang with every ounce of enthusiasm that I have come to expect from Mandeville. I was incredibly proud of the brave children who sang in the small groups and those who read so beautifully and with such expression. I really was the proudest head teacher in the room - I hope you heard me clapping and cheering so loudly! -- Mrs Longhurst

 

Local History Week

Local History Week

Every year we learn about and celebrate the wonderful history that we have on our doorstep. Local History Week forms an important part of our History curriculum; helping the children to develop an awareness of and be curious about the history that they see around them. It helps them to think about the process of change over time and question these changes. On Monday, we welcomed a visitor from the St Albans Guided Walks team who lead our assembly with an excellent whistlestop tour of the chronology of our fabulous city. Throughout the week, every year group has visited a different historical site ranging from the watercress beds and St Stephens church in Key Stage 1, to a tour of the City in Year 5. Year 4 even made it up the clocktower to discover its interesting history and some of them got caught out in the torrential rain as they were admiring the spectacular view!

Kindness Day

Kindness

 The children in our Pupil Forum came up with some fabulous ideas for our kindness challenge, all designed to build relationships and connection with each other, as well as ideas for lessons on kindness and understanding each other better. They took assembly at the start of the day and set a secret kindness challenge for everyone.