Friday, 11th November

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Due to bird flu we have had to move the chickens into the shed.

We have been observing where they lay their eggs so that we can put nesting boxes in the right place and hopefully stop the eggs rolling off the table!

We were thrilled when they laid in the wheelbarrow tray and other boxes we put in.

Lana was very resilient as she got flapped in the face and Elodie wasn’t initially keen as ‘It’s staring me right in the eye!’

They both returned from the second visit laughing and carrying feathers.

Badges this term are: hammers and nails, hacksaw, scratches and scrapes, dirty knees, gentle hands.

Today the children learned how to use a hammer and nails safely and produced some stunning string art, really beautiful.

“I hurt my finger with the hammer but I bounced back and believed in myself” (Brogan)

“Resilience means jumping out of hurt things and carrying on.” (Alan)

“If my mum misses me, she can look at this nail heart and play the rubber bands like a guitar. That music will make her feel better.” (Benji)

“This pot is all about nature: scented rose petals and pungent sage.” (Elodie)

Wednesday, 9th November Year 2

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A collaborative re-cycled materials art installation project will thread through this term.

Last term in class the children learned about French artist Bernard Pras.

Teddy told me, ‘He uses recycled things that people don’t use and then he makes collage.

Grayson added, ‘Yes, he uses toy cars to make hair’ and Harley added, ‘He uses natural materials, like rocks sometimes.’

In Earthclass today we also started looking at the works of artist, Michelle Reader, who makes figurative sculptures using found and recycled objects.

After research and discussion, the children started planning their ideas and considering what objects and materials they might use.

This project will also consolidate their science learning: Materials and their Properties as we revisit that vocabulary.

Friday, 21st October Year 4

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Today was all about apples: picking them, scratting them, pressing them, enjoying their naturally sweet juice, baking them and spicing them up – not to mention celebrating them and their unadulterated wholesome goodness.

Following that I taught the children how to play Viking Chess or Kubb – kind of a cross between bowling and horseshoes.

Rather than use skulls and bones, we just used Jenga pieces.

This is such a fun game but the main objective was to celebrate team work and consider what that really means.

They talked about strategy and were supportive of one another, collaborating really well.

I’ve handed the wooden blocks back to their owner now, so we will just have to make our own pieces from scratch.

Year 3, 19th October

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After a nature walk to find interesting and unusual natural objects to print with, the children learned about relief printing.

This involved carving a potato, to leave the raised ‘relief’ and scribble, scratching and carving into polystyrene and then printing.

The children explored different paints and discussed what methods worked best and which ones they preferred.

“I did a relief print of a flower in a window. The last one was perfect!” (Fergus)

“I made a wooden sculpture with wooden discs. Look, it lifts up!” (Adam)

Some of the children made bows and arrows:

“First we used a bow saw to cut the hazel wood.” (Eleanor)

“It was flexible but not too flexible. We measured our arm and it also needed to be the thickness of our thumb.” (Jessica)

“We tied paracord to each end of the stick after we’d made a hole and pulled it tight. So, the perseverance of this is…don’t give up when your bow and arrow doesn’t work, just try again! The further back you pull the further it goes and the more momentum it has.” (Florence)

Zienna and Honey banged heads today. “We have been resilient because we both hurt ourselves. Even though it hurt we still carried on.”

“No pain, no gain!” (Vienna)

“Even if you have pain, you can focus on the good stuff and know it won’t hurt for long. That made us feel better. We can distract ourselves. Maybe look at nature?” (Darcy)

Year 4, 14th October

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Today’s focus was learning how to out up rope ladders, along with the knots that are needed.

Ayaz and Jessie mastered these and were able to help others.

“I re-created a swing using the rope ladder. Instead of have a middle rung I took that out and sat on the bottom one and swung holding to top one.” (Jessie)

“I learnt a knew word today: succulent means juicy.” (Romi)

“I made a broom and a swing. First I had to ask for help as I struggled. After that I mastered it and then helped others.” (Paula)

“Today I made my own swing and remembered my memories from when I was five years old in Bulgaria.” (Koko)

Mrs Parsons brought us a hairy, bright green caterpillar with black and yellow markings, which we identified as being the larva of the transverse moth.