Our Curriculum

Enrichment

Students at Little Lever School have the opportunity to take part in a wide range of enrichment activities. These are provided to ensure that they leave school with more than just an excellent set of examination results. The enrichment programme is designed to help them stand out from the crowd and become fully equipped for life after Little Lever School.

Enrichment is a compulsory session on their timetable. The activities we offer will allow students to try something new, explore new ideas, develop their knowledge and understanding and make new friends.

STAND OUT FROM THE CROWD!

When writing personal statements or application for college, an apprenticeship or a job, they will need to be able to talk about more than just their academic achievement.

Key skills that colleges, universities and employers are looking for include:

  • Resilience
  • Self confidence
  • Motivation
  • Organisation
  • Determination
  • Communication
  • Problem solving
  • Team working

The Little Lever enrichment programme enables students to gain a range of knowledge and develop their skills. Whether they choose to express themselves on the debating team, develop sports leadership skills or learn a new language, they are going to develop knowledge, engage with new experiences and enhance career chances later in life.

Enrichment will take place on Thursday afternoons from 2.35pm to 3.30pm for every student in Years 7-10. Year 11 students participate in English, maths and science sessions on Thursdays during same time period.

ENRICHMENT DATES 2023/24

Here are the time periods when students will be attending our Thursday enrichment sessions till 3.30pm.

  • 14th September until 12th October
  • 16th November until 14th December
  • 11th January until 8th February
  • 20th June until 18th July

What kind of enrichment opportunities are there?

Be Active

  • Boxing
  • Badminton
  • Horse Riding – this will involve a later finish time of approximately 5.30pm
  • Inclusive Sports

Be Giving

  • Social Action: Litter Picking
  • Meditation and Mindfulness

Be Involved

  • Taskmaster Club
  • Games Workshop Club
  • Magic: The Gathering Club
  • Wonders of the World: Virtual Trips

Be Creative

  • Into Film – this will involve a later finish time of 4.30pm from weeks 2 to 5.
  • Henna design and application
  • Air dry clay crafts
  • Knitting and crocheting
  • Coding Club: Scratch
  • Graphic Novels
  • Cake decorating – this will involve a later finish time of approximately 4.30pm on week 5

Be Prepared

  • Journalism
  • An introduction to football coaching
  • Debating
  • Mandarin Chinese
  • Italian
  • Bike repair and servicing
  • Sports leadership

Enrichment Reports

  • Winmarleigh Hall Residential

    We are absolutely delighted to be back running our Enrichment trips and residentials again and over the weekend 98 students from Years 9 and 10 travelled to PGL Winmarleigh Hall, Lancashire for the Back in Action residential on Friday.

    The aim was to engage students in the new schools’ values of Being Kind, Working Hard and Taking Responsibility in a different environment with different mental and physical challenges. These involved raft building (the favourite activity), vertical climbing challenges, a giant swing, trapeze, assault course and other less intensive trials.

    Everyone embraced the opportunities on offer and took part in most, if not all of the activities.

    Feedback from the students has been extremely positive, the main point being that they got to work and be with friends where they have had limited socialisation due to lockdowns and self-isolation. Many said they would encourage others to take part in enrichment such as this in the future.

                     

  • Great Little Lever Bake-Off Returns

    This week sees the return of the Great Little Lever Bake Off after a years hiatus.
    Students will be competing for the coveted title of Star Baker over a two week themed period, with a brief in their heads and a recipe at hand. To start us off on our first “cake week”, students chose the theme of “Halloween” so what better way to get us started than with some ghoulish bakes, and as always, Mrs Craven’s brain cake!
    Remember bakers: On your marks, Get set, Bake!
  • Bake-Off's Scary Treats!

    Last week our Monday afternoon Bake-Off enrichment club was tasked with producing a Halloween themed bake.

    We had some wonderful creations which you can view in the photos attached. Well done to all our bakers!

       

  • Debate Club: Mock Parliament Debate Feedback
    Last week, Little Lever celebrated Parliament Week by hosting a Mock Parliament Debate! The motion debated was ‘it should be a legal requirement to provide a form of ID when opening a social media account’.
    Students across year groups attended and provided some professional and very challenging arguments – it was a very close call, however, our opposition team won!
    It was incredible to see some fantastic preparation go into these arguments and we cannot wait to see what happens in future debates!
    Well done to Sophia Magari, Joshua Psujek, Joshua Poynton, Ryan Cain, Lucas Haslam, Brooke Higgins and Thomas Webb.
  • Eco Bake-Off

    We are loving the creations made this evening at our Bake-Off enrichment club. This week’s theme is COP26 and the environment. Check out the photos attached of the brilliant bakes!

  • CAMP English Coniston Residential

    Thirty-three students attended Camp English this weekend taking up the opportunity to stretch themselves in the subject but also take themselves out of their comfort zone on Coniston Water in the Lake District.

    The day started at pre-dawn with an optional fitness bootcamp by Mr Chamberlain.  In the dark and fog, he created a vicious circuit of exercises where students needed to work together to beat the teachers.  A massive credit for those students dragging themselves out of bed to meet the challenge.  Apologies to those woken up by the shouting and cheering!

    English activities started at breakfast, with students testing their knowledge of their core texts over cornflakes and orange juice.   Who could complete their pyramid first in “The Scrooge and Cereal” Competition was a fiercely contested affair.

    The day’s activities though got a lot damper and colder as everyone braved the water on a freezing November day!  Ghyll scrambling, kayaking, canoeing and quite a bit of unintended swimming was the theme of the day.

    Tom Hotchin’s, one of the Year 11 mentors said “the water was absolutely freezing but it gave you such a buzz. It was fantastic to see everyone giving it a go and pushing the limits of what they thought they could achieve”.  

    Every student tested their physical and mental endurance working together to finish every activity!  Whether developing new skills with a paddle or testing the limits of their bravery while jumping off a waterfall, everyone learned something!   (Images 4-8)

        

    The team effort was continued into the evening with meals being served and plates washed up together.  The icy waters of Coniston gave everyone a good hunger!   English activities continued into the evening with creative writing and English Bingo.  Students also used their surroundings to develop some amazing Gothic descriptions that they can use in lessons!

  • Creative Careers Visit to Manchester Central

    On Tuesday Year 10 got the opportunity to explore the Creative Careers exhibit at Manchester Central.

    Some really happy faces and our students took away a host of new ideas about careers in creative new technologies and some great freebies!

  • First Aid Enrichment Update
    This week our Year 10 First Aiders practised bandaging and sling skills in their Emergency First Aid at Work club #RealWorldSkills
    Everyone had a great time and did a fantastic job!
  • Technology Club Design and Build 3D Printers

    Students who attended our Technology enrichment club designed and constructed their own 3D printer. Astonishing work from Callum Green, Matthew Barron, Lucas Eatough, Aaron Rowland, Kaitlyn Foster, Nathan Gaskell, Poppy Lawrenson and Joseph Bolger.

  • DofE Rivington Hike

    Mud was the order of the day when 85 year 9 – 10 students visited the area around Anglezarke reservoirs to complete the first practice walk of the DofE season. After some heavy rain in the last week, many of the tracks and fields has become somewhat boggy to the extent that shoes were lost and students stranded past their ankles in deep and squelchy sludge.

    For those that had not chosen to heed the wise advice of wearing boots, trainers became an obstacle in themselves. Flat grips gave poor traction and poor lacing meant the mud often won.

    Despite these trials the day was an overwhelming success. All of the 85 students who attended got round the 15km route in approximately the right timescale. Along the way they encountered and enjoyed open fields, animals including sheep and pigs as well as the various mounds of their waste!

    For entertainment sticks were adopted and named with their journeys (and deaths) documented through posed photos. There was also a hill rolling competition and some singing of show tunes.

    All of this is in preparation to take on the much bigger challenge of the two day and one night practice expeditions taking place at Waddow Hall in Lancashire over the next two months. These walks will be shorter but students will be carrying their 65l rucksack weighing approximately a third of their bodyweight and supplying them with a tent, sleeping mat, stove, clothes and food. If you want it, you have to carry it!

    Key lessons learned:
    • Get some decent grippy and waterproof boots
    • Sort out a group you can live with
    • Expect the ground to throw up a few surprises
    • Pack wisely – get the bag and practice packing and carrying it – don’t let your Mum or Dad pack your bag – they won’t be carrying it!
    • Pay attention to the map – errors cost you more time when you could be sat at the campsite!

  • DofE Waddow Hall Practice Expedition

    Forty Year 9 students completed their practice expedition around Waddington, Lancashire this weekend (23rd-24th April).

    It was time for Year 9 to put on their big bags (stuffed with everything they would need for two days away – tent, stove, food, sleeping bag and mat) and head out into the rolling hills around the lovely village of Waddington, just outside Clitheroe.
    After an early start (8am coach from school) we arrived at Waddow Hall just before 9:30am. Within 20 minutes the first groups were on their way, heading on a clockwise or anti-clockwise route taking in West Bradford, the Green Lane ravine and the area around Eaves Hall Hotel.
    Most of the groups stayed on route most of the time and made it around the loop in around 4-5 hours. Along the way they encountered sheep in the middle of lambing season, some cows and crossed rivers in the bottom of deep valleys.

    After cooking a great range of food on the Trangia stoves our students were well fed following their efforts in the day. This gave them enough energy for an impromptu game of plate frisbee, sock ball catch and the old favourite Manhunt! It was good to see the students making their own entertainment and simply playing. We followed this with our debrief of the day and S’mores done over the firepit.
    It was a cold and windy night with clear skies and plenty of stars, so the prospects weren’t so good. However, the majority of students reported that it was OK with some sleeping in some extra clothes. Pegging out the tents with extra guy lines was a must.

    By 6am the sun was coming up and students started to awake and arise. (some chose to lurk in their sleeping bags till the last possible moment). By 10am the campsite was clear and groups were back out.
    Again, there were a few route mishaps but everyone reached the final destination, Bashall Barn, well within the planned timeframe. There were shouts of joy when the parked coach came into view and some sleepy heads on the journey back.

  • Italy Ski Trip 2022

    On the 2nd April 2022, after a year of preparation and complicated organisation, hindered by the COVID19 global pandemic and travel chaos, we were finally ready to set off on our Italian adventure.

    On 1st April, I had excitedly informed my fellow travellers that it was snowing in Bormio, our resort, 2000 metres above sea level, in the Italian Alps, and climbing all the way to 3000 metres at the very top of the mountain. This was no April fool prank, there really was a ‘fresh dump’ of snow from the heavens, the white carpet had been rolled out for our arrival.

    After battling through sprawling queues at Manchester airport, in our bright red personalised hoodies, we finally took flight around 5pm on Saturday afternoon. The flight to Milan Malpensa airport was under 2 hours, and an adventure in itself for many students that had never flown in their lives before. The coach transfer to our hotel drove us through the night, through large valleys, long tunnels, and up winding mountain roads, until we finally arrived at our home for the week, tired but excited, at around half past midnight. We were greeted by the friendly staff, along with our fantastic host Radu, with a delicious meal of warm vegetable soup, bread, and a selection of continental meats. Not long after eating we were shown to our rooms for a well-deserved sleep.

    Early the next morning we were greeted with a picture postcard view of a stunning Alpine mountain range from our hotel window. Once up, dressed and ready to ski, the teachers performed the daily rollcall before heading up to the breakfast room. After hurriedly eating our breakfast of coffee, juices, cereal, croissants, jams, bread, meat and cheese, it was time for ski fit. Everyone was now equipped with their helmets, skis and poles, ready and raring to go into our first ski lessons of the week.

    The first day was a tough one, by mid-morning the glorious sunshine was upon us, but as lovely as this was, it meant almost everyone got quite hot and tired quickly. Beginner lessons can be quite tough, especially because it can take a lot out of you being at high altitude, picking yourself up after a fall, side-stepping up the nursery slope and skiing in the plough position for hours. Despite the physical demands, many of our students showed great resilience and after inhaling the hot lunch, with options of pizza, pasta, salads, vegetables, meats and chips, they picked themselves up for round two. That afternoon, group 3, many of whom had either skied before, or had some lessons at the Chill Factore, were promoted from the nursery slope to the button lift and the blue graded run near the hotel. Groups 1 and 2, mostly first-time skiers, made good progress too and it would not be long before they moved on from the nursery slope. After the sheer joy of removing tight sweaty ski boots, it was time for hot showers, a change of clothes and a bit of chill out time before a large hot dinner. Bedtime was around 10pm and sleep came very easily that night.

    On day two, the groups were reorganised to allow more confident skiers to move up and those that needed more support to slow down the pace a little. Again, the sun was out, and the snow conditions were fantastic, especially for that time in the ski season. Group 2 were progressing really well and had moved on to the button lift accessing the blue graded run that group 3 had accessed the previous day.
    Group 3 had really impressed their instructor and by the afternoon session of day two, accompanied by me, took the 4-seater chair lift to 2800 metres, then skied down a red graded run to another chair lift, which would take us to the top of the Cima Bianca mountain pass at 3000 metres. At this highest point for piste skiers, was the aptly named Heaven café and bar, because the view at this altitude was truly spectacular, with the awe-inspiring beauty of the Alps. Our moment in heaven was short-lived however, after a few quick photos, the instructor signalled that it was time to hit the slopes again. It was fair to say that even the confident group 3 were feeling a little out of their comfort zone coming down the wide, but steep, red graded, Bimbi al Sole, Stella Alpina and Praimont runs back to Bormio 2000. There were a few falls and a spectacular crash when Jessica flew into Neve at ‘full tilt,’ luckily, they were both fine and just brushed themselves off. This crash was only topped by a couple of wild crashes from George later in the week, with one leaving a trail of his belongings, that had fallen from his unzipped bag, as he slid sideways down the piste. I was a very proud teacher as we rolled back into Bormio 2000, the students had demonstrated real grit and determination, despite a few fears. Their nerves along with mine were tested again the next day, with a very steep, icy, run down the shaded right-hand side of the mountain, I think we were all very relieved to make it to the La Rocca bar and restaurant for one of the best hot chocolates in the world, along with a well earned rest.

    The middle of the week saw us get used to the routine of early mornings, getting ready to ski, ski lessons and mealtime re-fuelling. We regularly re-organised the groups to accommodate less able skiers that needed more time covering the basics, or that had missed lesson time due to mild illness, or fatigue. Through the week the students that were regularly skiing and making good progress from group 1, were moved up to group 2. By Thursday group 2 had made fantastic progress and were also flying around the whole mountain on the various lifts, hot on the heels of group 3, demonstrating real Little Lever spirit, with plenty of big smiles hiding achy, tired, bodies. The other staff and I were so proud of where they had got to in the short space of time.

    Despite the fact that students who opted to stay in group 1 did not ski from the top of the mountain during the week, the majority had overcome some major fears and physical challenges throughout the week, and were able to confidently handle blue graded runs and had even sampled the steep red graded runs before they went home. This demonstrated their strength of character, which made the other staff and I incredibly proud of their efforts.

    It wasn’t all just skiing though, it was also about the other life chances and opportunities that don’t exist in our everyday lives. The view at the previously mentioned Heaven café and bar was too good for everyone not to visit while we were there, so all 30 of us took the James Bond style cable car to the top of the Cima Bianca pass and were treated to delicious hot chocolates topped off with cream. A good hour was spent admiring the far-reaching panorama, committing it to a memory that would not be forgotten in a long time, with some students not wanting to leave the view and come back down to the hotel.

    What is a trip abroad without souvenir shopping? One afternoon we decided to finish ski lessons slightly early and take the 8-seater bubble car lift down into Bormio town at 1225 metres, where we visited the old town, to buy keep sakes, gifts, ice creams and cakes. Our time there, unfortunately, was short, as we had to make sure we didn’t miss the last bubble cars back to Bormio 2000 and our hotel.
    At the end of the week, we held the big slalom ski race, which was hotly contested by some of our more advanced skiers, who were setting a fiery pace down the course. As the names were called in order of slowest to fastest run, it was revealed that Amelia had won the race by fractions of a second.

    On the final evening, before we were due to leave, we held an award ceremony, with prizes awarded for ‘Best Skier’ (Amelia), ‘Best Crash’ (George), ‘True Grit’ (Jacob) and ‘Most Inquisitive Mind’ (Daniel). All the students were congratulated however for their impeccable behaviour, they had really shown the best of themselves throughout the week and were fantastic ambassadors for the school, they had made the other staff and I incredibly proud to be their teachers. The students then enjoyed the rest of the evening, as they had all week, chilling out, playing in the games room, chatting, playing cards, dancing, singing karaoke and having fun.
    Sadly, all good things come to an end, our coach arrived at 1.30am, we piled our cases on and boarded in the dark and rain, before being waved off by our host Radu. With sad faces, but happy memories, we made our way down the windy mountain roads, back through the large valleys and long tunnels on our journey home.

  • DofE Silver Award Practice Expedition at Waddington

    Forty five Year 10 students completed their practice expedition around Waddington, Lancashire, with a real mix of weather.

    This time it was Year 10 who were out in Waddington to complete their practice expedition. After some heavy rain on Friday night it was a little soft underfoot in places but the weather generally held up and some students even caught the sun.
    With our brand new coloured rucksack covers the team set out on clockwise and anti-clockwise tracks on a 12.2km circular route, with groups crossing over somewhere around the middle. It was easy to track the groups from afar, especially the ‘rainbow pride’ group in their multi-coloured packs.

    Most of the groups stayed on plan and on time (1 group mistakenly adventured into Clitheroe on the wrong side of the river but found their way back) and got up and around the hillside. They will have seen some amazing houses including the multi-million pound Cob Manor estate and Eaves Hall Hotel, even walking across some lawns (on official footpaths).

    There was a tricky stream crossing where a few got a wet foot and only one mishap of a fall into the shallow water (cue uncontrollable laughing from their teammates and Mr Foulkes and Mr Harte slipping and sliding everywhere while trying to pull them up!) and several interactions with cows.

    All groups got back to camp well within the timeframe expected and were blessed with a dry and sunny campsite. Tents went up and there was plenty of time for a game of ‘jumpers for goalposts’ football (using nice new raincovers!). It wasn’t exactly City vs Liverpool but it did the job in tiring most of the students out.

    All the group threw themselves in to the challenge of cooking dinner on the Trangia stoves. There was a vast array of Super Noodles complemented by beans on toast, pasta and sauce and even the odd sausage. Gadgets of the evening was the stove-top toasting rack and the self-stirring hot chocolate mug.

    We lit the fire once more and students enjoying making s’mores provided by Mrs Craven.

    It was much warmer than the last time we were here and apart from the hoot of some local owls it was a pleasant evening for people to socialise and have some fun. It did come to light that there were 5 girls trying to sleep in one tent so a spare was quickly erected using the lights of the Land Rover and they could spread out.

    The sun was up at 04:57 and the drizzle had arrived so most students were awake early. There had clearly been issues for some in actually getting decent sleep but as this was the first time camping for many this was not surprising. There were some grumpy heads that’s for sure.

    The first group were away by 8:30 and made good progress on the linear route to Bashall Barn. All groups were there by 3:30 so it was a good day of walking with great weather. There was a bit of a delay in the coach arriving after the road being blocked but we were back at school just after 5pm. Students went home to rest and dry tents. The next expedition in even longer!

  • Students experience working with a professional chef

    Hospitality & Catering students in Years 9 and 10 and Year 7 experienced a fantastic learning day last week with professional chef, Stephen Woodward from Chartwell’s catering company.

    Year 9 and 10 students learnt how to make a shape fresh pasta. They were also treated to a demonstration of two sauces and were lucky enough to get to try them with their pasta.

    Year 7 made some delicious flapjacks and thought about how they could adapt and change them with fillings and toppings.

        

    The Year 10 Hospitality and Catering class made fantastic patterned swiss rolls. They were able to practice lots of different skills such as piping and making a whisked sponge. Their final swiss rolls were fabulous.

       

    Everyone worked really hard throughout the day and have prodcued some amazing creations as you can see from the photos. Well done, everyone!

     

  • Languages Trip to France 2022

    Over the weekend of 2nd to the 5th December, our Language department took a group of student linguists on a residential trip to France.

    Setting off early on Friday morning, they arrived at their beautiful home-from-home, a splendid French château in the early evening. After having a lovely dinner, students took part in Château Olympics!

    Day two was filled with French culture! They had a lovely visit to the local town followed by visiting some of the best Christmas markets in the world! They topped the evening off with a fantastic light show at the cathedral in Amiens.

    On Sunday students headed to Disney and were blown away by the magical Christmas theme. Lots of our students told us it was the best day ever! They had snails and frogs’ legs for dinner – our students were so happy to try new things this weekend!

    This morning they rounded off the trip at a traditional French chocolate factory before heading home.

    Our students have been a credit to the school and we’d all like to thank Ms Rogers for organising a brilliant experience for our students.