Generous Donation from Durrington Community Cycle Project
Red Balloon Worthing was given four bikes and safety helmets donated by the Durrington Community Cycle Project. Caroline has liaised with the cycling charity to ensure we have plenty of bikes for our new Cycling Club!
Huge thanks to Mark, Ian and John from the Project who have serviced and supplied the bikes.
Our learners went on their first Red Balloon Cycling Club bike ride last Wednesday afternoon. They rode four miles along a cycle path to Shoreham and stopped for ice cream on the way back. They had a fantastic time—thanks to Caroline and Jude for accompanying them.
This week, our keen cyclists were out and about in Lancing and visited the Perch!
Maths
In Maths, the students have been problem-solving – trying to find all the unique pentominoes (a shape with 5 cubes). They then created other shapes (like a rectangle), by tessellating the various pentominoes they had made. When checking their pentominoes were unique, the students learnt about transformations and rotation.
The students have also learnt to add and subtraction fractions (with different denominators). This involved finding the lowest common multiples, and therefore the use of times table knowledge. The students then tackled real-life word problems involving fractions.
We have a new Maths teacher at the Centre. We are delighted to welcome Rachel Hamilton to the Red Balloon Team. She has joined us all the way from Scotland!
Science
Learners added hydrochloric acid to calcium carbonate and tested the carbon dioxide produced by bubbling it through limewater.
There have been some fantastic experiments taking place in the lab this year. We are very grateful for the support from Hurst College lab technicians who supply all the chemicals for our experiments.
Jamie has been busy creating a motor-powered boat. This is a motor propellor that he made by himself.
Arts
Lilley designed and made this cute fabric toy in her creative art session.
To celebrate Eid this year, Amelia brought her henna kit to the Centre. She decorated learners and staff with a range of designs and colours.
A hugely impressive shadow puppet play was performed on Friday. The script was written by Eve and the puppets were operated by Emily and Josh. The play was performed during community time at the Centre and was highly entertaining.
A group of learners went to Worthing Museum to view a new exhibition. This forms part of the Arts Award qualification as learners have to review live art exhibitions. The focus of this exhibition was the impact of global warming and corrosion of landscapes.
Easter Break and Beyond
We returned from the Easter break to discover a whole new decked area outside. This was made possible by Nick Munday, a governor and trustee, and Richard Buckingham, who built the decked area. Nick was able to source some free decking and Richard created our brand-new space complete with a wheelchair ramp. The area has been well used already with learners having some lessons outside and taking advantage of the large communal and social space.
To celebrate World Penguin Day, our learners made penguin cake bars and designed their own penguin wrappers. The purpose of Penguin Day is to celebrate the day that penguins migrate northwards.
We would like to welcome four new learners to the Centre who have joined us after Easter:
Esme
Eve
Emily
Molly
