12 minute read
Young Tribune
from Village Tribune 133
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The trees have arrived. I love the thought of the meadow showing its gift in the coming year/s. Residents and friends moved this forward In October of last year. Lots of hard work removing established grass, planting seeds and creating great seating areas.
Trees get planted (ideally) in the dormant season, which is November for us. With full engagement and planning with Ailsworth Parish Council, trees were ordered to participate in the ‘Queen's Green Canopy’ a national initiative to celebrate the Queens Platinum Jubilee. Thirty arrived in early November and sourced via the woodland trust. Ok, no-one promised big trees. These could politely be called saplings or whips. Almost 15 inches tall at the largest, the smallest 6 inches. On the plus side, small trees live longer than big brutes planted which do not always get watered. Trees and meadows are not necessarily good bedfellows as leaves create too much goodness when rotted which wildflowers struggle with. We planted the trees on the other side of the field. I / we reckoned that we would wish to involve as many people as possible. With a little communication, the local primary school coordinated by Mrs Green, (surely a made up eco name!) gladly arranged in conjunction with other teachers and half a dozen of us on a rota to do the 15-minute walk to the recreation ground and back with around 25 children x 6 year groups. Pre-school and reception planting done at base. It mainly went to plan; the children genuinely loved being involved in getting mucky fingers, moving dirt, sprinkling root growth (magic) powder, filling in holes, supporting with canes and wrapping rabbit guards and mulching. I feel for year 6. The last to go. The weather looked fair untill we arrived. A stinging blizzard of sleet and rain lasted just 15 minutes - enough time to freeze and drench every one of us! We will shortly be having plaques showing each year group's planting areas. We will have identification for each tree. Field Maple, Silver Birch, Wild Cherry, Rowan, Hazel and Oak. I also ordered larger trees, three to 4-years- old and these were planted between the babies to spread the impact.
The Oak Arrives!! We wanted to support the village celebration by planting a celebration Oak. With support from Sutton Parish Council and Mike Horne of the Langdyke Trust, we arranged to transplant a 12-year old-tree. No easy feat as it turned out. Sutton had planted numerous trees some years ago and were wanting to thin some of them. With a help of a mini-digger, trailer and car we transported our (and a tree for Marholm) to its new site. Much digging and staking later I am confident that it has survived the move. I am very proud that we have done so much in last than 12 months. At times, it feels impossible to influence climate change. This though seems so positive. Thanks to all the helpers.
John Clare Primary School
December seems a very long time ago now, but it was a very exciting time at John Clare and one we will remember for a very long time. Sadly, we had to cancel our trip to the Victorian town. However, to help the children understand the Victorian way of life, we had a Victorian Day in school, this allowed the children to learn through an immersive experience, dressed in costumes from the era. In the morning, the children were shocked when they arrived at school, to see fairground rides on the playground, it then started to snow to add to the whole experience for both children and parents/carers dropping them off. Throughout the day, the children used the rides and had a fantastic time. In between times, there were many different activities including: baking bread; printing Victorian Christmas cards; visiting the museum of artefacts that we have in school and those kindly lent to us and in class activities. The day was magical and one the children will remember for a very long time. Torpel children showed their enterprising skills by making products to sell at the Victorian Christmas Fayre.They made Christmas cards; Christmas crackers; lucky dip; hot chocolate cones and many other delightful products. The fayre was a great success, raising money for charity through their determination and hard work. Santa also found some time in his busy schedule and managed to pop into school, to chat to every child and give them a present. Buttercross have had a fantastic start to the year. They were very excited to find some mystery footprints in the classroom and spent a lot of time investigating them and measuring size, different animals and footprints. They have enjoyed reading the class book ‘ Bedtime for Monsters’, writing their own monster stories and making their own monsters. Over this term the children have been focusing on challenging themselves and problem solving. Year One and Year Two, Woodgate Class, went to Ferry meadows to take part in map reading, mapping and orienteering activities! They made us all very proud of them and they enjoyed it very much. They used quadrats to create their own maps and practised map reading skills in orienteering to crack a code at the end. For some of the children this was their first school trip and their first time on a coach! Broadwheel are really enjoying their history topic about 1066 and beyond. They have been learning about heirs to the throne when Edward the Confessor died with some children hot seating different roles. In English the children are enjoying ‘I was a rat!’ by Phillip Pullman. They are really enjoying the humour and are writing letters inspired by the book. In Science the children have been exploring States of Matter and having fun pretending to be particles in the school hall. They went on to measure the weight of gases by measuring fizzy drinks. Swaddywell this term are reading Varjak Paw by SF Said. The children are absolutely loving this exciting story and have used it as inspiration to write their own adventure stories. They have focused on the use of speech punctuation and using rich descriptive vocabulary. In Mathematics they have been focusing on multiplication and division skills, using the bar model for support. Later this month, the Year 5 children will be taking part in Bikeability training which they are very much looking forward to!
In January, we had the help and support of PECT to develop our school field. We started planting our new orchard, and also put trees on the school field to provide shelter and shade when they mature. Every child took part, digging holes, estimating size, measuring the space for a tree and finally planting it. We look forward to watching them grow, knowing that in years to come the children will see them develop when they play on the field, recognising the tree they planted. We are looking forward to the spring, warmer weather and lots more outdoor learning opportunities to share with you in the future.
Inquisitive minds wanted!
With their exciting timetable of activities Helpston Playhouse are giving children memorable experiences and the chance to learn new skills
The start of the new year has brought with it lots of fun, exciting and creative changes to the Playhouse. Not content with our recently awarded ‘Outstanding’ Ofsted rating we’ve launched our brand-new timetable of after school club activities and they’ve gone down an absolute storm with the children!
Mondays are all about getting up close and personal with nature in our Forest School class. We’ve been painting with mud and made natural paint brushes from twigs and leaves. The children have even had the opportunity to make their own campfire (supervised of course!) and were able to toast marshmallows and
cook beans on it. Most recently they made their own ‘pet’ hedgehogs using a block of wood that they hammered nails into to make the spikes. On Tuesdays we head into the wonderful world of science. The children created their very own paper windmills and got to put them to the test on a blustery afternoon- they were thrilled to watch them spinning with speed in the wind. Next, we decided to try and ‘see’ sound by creating an experiment that allowed the children to see sound waves in action.
Wednesdays is Cinema Club where the children get to enjoy lots of great movies and themed activities. We loved watching ‘Pirates in an Adventure with Scientists’. Afterwards we all worked together to make a huge, Helpston pirate map- it stretched across the entire Playhouse floor! The children had lots of fun role playing being pirates and hunting for the lost Helpston treasure. On Thursday it’s den building time. The children have made some incredibly creative dens, both with tree branches and ones covered with tarpaulin for when the great British weather strikes. The dens have led to some fantastic role play. One of the den’s was a fortress where it was being protected from the Barbarians! Another was transformed into a classroom for our many budding teachers to ‘teach’ in.
On Thursdays our older children get the chance to try their hand at stop, start Lego animation. We’ve had some wonderful films created. Jewel thieves seem to be a popular theme and last week the children went all Wallace and Gromit and made supporting characters using playdough. Finally, we end the week with our Friday baking class. We’ve made everything from cake pops, pizza pin wheels to scones and tortilla quiches. Not only are the children learning some fantastic life skills they also get to enjoy the fruits of the labour as a tasty snack afterwards!
There’s also been plenty going on in the preschool. We were extremely excited to have a visit from Lisa and Emma from Peterborough Reads, The National Literacy Trust, in January. They presented a lively story time session for the children followed by a passionate literacy talk session for parents. They reinforced all the key messages we share and strive for such as working in partnership with parents and raising awareness of how important children's early opportunities are, not only at preschool but at home too. Their focus is on three specific areas for promoting children's early literacy skills, these are chat, play, read. A top tip they shared is that if you are reading, your child is likely to want to mirror this skill! Pick up a book a magazine or paper- anything will do.
We’ve also been busy learning how to take care of our teeth. We have been talking about how often we should brush our teeth and shared key words such as ‘cavities’ and ‘sugar’ with the children. There’s even been role playing at the dentist too! The children enjoyed using our large teeth model to practise teeth brushing and we added shaving foam to create a super fun toothpaste. The children have been helping feed birds this winter by making bird food pizza and cake. They used knives, safely and cut up apples, tore bread and scooped seed; counting and comparing sizes as they went. They created a pizza and we talked about the slices being in half and quarters. The children also had fun creating a layered bird food cake. They all sat patiently and waited to see if the birds would come. There was lots of excitement when we had a visit from a pigeon and a robin. The preschool children have also been busy baking, and all helped to make some delicious cupcakes. We learnt about where the ingredients come from, and we’ve been working hard on our weighing and stirring skills. To celebrate Chinese New Year we tried eating noodles with chopsticks. The children also made some beautiful Chinese lanterns using their scissor skills. There are so many more fun activities planned for the children this spring and we can’t wait to see our lovely garden come alive again. The spring bulbs, and summer vegetables the children planted in autumn will soon be bursting through the soil and brightening up the play area once again. As the days get lighter and longer we can’t wait to spend as much time as possible outdoors sharing with the children joys of spring.
Northborough School
The Planet Protectors have been busy again making sure that our school is as eco-friendly and waste efficient as can be.
We had a meeting with PECT, who we have an Eco Charter with. Here Euphemia is helping Year 1 children sort items into the right bin. The Planet Protectors will lead the school in making sure we are as waste efficient as possible in the coming half term. We have started a Friday Tuck Shop to raise money for books for class. As we were celebrating Chinese New Year, Year 3 cooked some delicious noodles to sell. Their parents also made some tasty treats for us all to share. We raised £133.25. Wow! This great day was made even better when the Foundation Stage children came dancing around all the classes dressed as a Chinese dragon! What fun!
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