Interactive Assembly
Ross turned the Octagon into a river with its watershed! He talked about chalk steams and the boys learnt that there are 200 chalk streams in the world and 170 of them are in the United Kingdom. He mentioned the famous chalk streams; the river Test and the river Meon, before discussing the source of the River Itchen, which starts as a spring in Cheriton and flows through Winchester and Southampton, before reaching the Solent.

Ross discussed the upper, middle and lower course of a river and the boys took it in turns to label the different parts of the river, which reinforced their vocabulary and understanding. Ross then went on to discuss human features, such as water meadows and mills, before talking about historical features such as eel houses.

Ross ended a brilliant lesson discussing ways in which the boys could save water at home. It was a fantastic learning opportunity for Year 4 and leads nicely into their rivers session this week.

Mr Halliday and I were very proud of Year 4 and Ross was incredibly impressed with their knowledge and their higher-level questioning. Well done, boys.

Year 4 Rivers Session 
Ross returned with Bethany this week, to reinforce the boys’ understanding of chalk streams. He started the session with some questions about the River Itchen and referred to his Interactive Assembly last week.

He talked about how chalk streams are formed and why the water is so clear. The boys then put some chalk into a bucket of water to see how permeable it was. They were able to answer many of Ross’s questions based on what they had learnt from their Geography lessons and from personal experience. Ross was very impressed, indeed. The boys then tested how fast the river was flowing by using a dog biscuit, tape measure and timer. They also used a flow meter stick and checked the depth of the river. The highlight of the session was the kick sampling.

Year 4 were taught how to safely collect invertebrates which live in the river. The boys were amazed to find an array of different animals from caddisfly larvae, mayfly nymph, shrimps, worms and leaches. The boys absolutely loved identifying the different invertebrates and comparing what they had found. They finished the session with a little walk in the river, taking extra care as the levels were particularly high and the water was fast flowing.

It was a truly brilliant afternoon and the boys thoroughly enjoyed their Rivers Session. Thank you to all the staff who helped, and to Ross and Bethany for making it all so enjoyable.

Mrs Blair
Year 4 Geography Teacher