We have been busy designing, printing and sewing cushion covers.
We had to think carefully about the techniques we used and how to build up the colours. Some of us used block printing and others made stencils to add different layers. The results were really impressive and we are very proud of our work!
Here are a few examples we managed to photograph:
If you haven’t found it, you can access the Southam College Blog here.
If you have any questions, friendly students who are already at the College will help you.
In some of our maths lessons this week, we have been creating
a Viking game called Hnefatafl. Although we found out it could be played on different sized boards, it was often played on an 11 x 11 board. We discovered the number of squares would always have to be a square number and odd for the game to work. 
We had to draw out the board, measuring very carefully to be sure the board was straight and accurate and that the area had the correct areas marked on it. Some of us decided to decorate it with Viking runes or with patterns to make the game 
appear more professional. We then had to make the pieces to fit the board. We could choose to cut them from wood or make them in clay. We had to be very careful with measurements and designs to make 
sure the pieces could stand up and could be recognised was being from one team; we also needed them to fit inside the squares. The King piece was made larger than the other pieces to show its importance in the game.
One side plays with 24 ‘dragons’; the other side plays with 12 ‘axe-men’ defending their king.
We also designed boxes to hold our finished pieces. We thought 
carefully about the net for the box we wanted to make, then we 
had to estimate the volume of the pieces and decide on the dimensions we would need to make a box big enough to fit the pieces in safely. Some of us also had time to make a lid and include sections in the box to keep the pieces perfectly secure.
On Thursday we enjoyed learning some strategies to play the game successfully. We think it would be fun to have a Viking competition at some time… maybe when we visit York!
As part of our science work this term we have been finding out about the heart, the lungs and blood vessels to understand how the human circulation and respiratory systems work. We were able to look more closely at some animal hearts and lungs Seeing the lungs and the heart in one piece also helped us to see how they work together, where they are positioned in the body and how they are connected.
We were also able to 
see the chambers of the heart and see the strength of the heart muscle . We were amazed by the walls of the aorta and could see why they had to be so thick to protect the heart when the oxygenated blood is pumped out of it 
to reach the rest of the body.
If you are thinking times tables are a pain and you’ll never know them, watch the short film linked from the image below. You only really need to know 38 – the rest are either very easy (2s are just doubles, and 10s we know to move the digit one place to the left when we x by 10 and fill the empty ones space with a zero) or you can do them reversing them (e.g. 6×7 = 7 x 6 = 42). Here are the ones you really need to know!
Here’s an interesting ‘citizen science project’ you can all get involved with if you want to. British scientists from Oxford University have set up Penguin Watch. 75 cameras have been placed all over Antarctica and are filming penguins. Each camera takes a picture every hour and they want to count and describe the penguins in every picture. Since they don’t have enough scientists to help, they are asking for help from the public. You can sign up and count penguins and nests on the screen. We are also trying to find out if we can adopt a colony of penguins for the class to look at more. Click on the image to go to Penguin Watch and find out more or on the one below to see the programme about Penguin Watch. 