Both Reception classes were thrilled to take part in a STEM treasure hunt, searching for pebbles with a code on to unlock a coded message. Solving the code led them to a treasure chest full of treats, it was a most exciting activity with everyone being excellent code-crackers!

Junior 1 were doubly challenged for STEM week. Their first task was to create the longest paper chain they could, reflect, alter and refine their method and then try again. Long thin strips proved best to make a really long paper chain. The children then had the chance to make a moving toy using a CAM. Everyone worked hard to create a toy that bobbed up and down when you turned the handle. A fantastic effort by all.

Junior 2 enjoyed recreating their past year using the iMovie programme on the iPads. They practised re-telling and editing and produced some fantastic short movies that the whole class enjoyed watching.

Junior 3 used marshmallows and cocktail sticks to develop their knowledge of mathematical structures, their STEM activity was visual and tasty too.

Junior 4 have been focusing on bridges in Science, the children had built bridges producing amazing structures. They enjoyed using weights to see how strong their bridges were with some even strong enough to hold their creator.

Junior 5 took on the task of building structures too, using 10 straws and 1m of tape. Their challenge was to build the tallest and strongest structure in just 20 minutes. Their high rise results were sky-scraping.

Junior 6 took on two STEM tasks. They also rose to the paperchain challenge with their longest chain measuring a whopping eight meters. Their second challenge involved balancing books on a single piece of A4 paper using nothing but paper and tape. They designed free standing structure in the shape of cylinders, triangular prisms or cuboids. The children enjoyed experimenting with the different shapes and making their structure as strong as possible. The tallest stack of books to be fully supported by the structure was 43.5cm!

It was clear that Crackley Hall’s STEM week encouraged plenty of critical thinking and problem-solving across the classrooms.