This term has been very busy with the allotment and our Golden Ticket Eco trips but we have had great fun!
Allotment
On Wednesday 29th June I took 4 children from Prep 6 to the allotment for the Britain in Bloom allotment competition judging. The weather was definitely not kind to us and it rained heavily throughout the morning.
The judges were very impressed with our progress as they had seen the allotment last year before any work had begun. We are hopeful that we will be awarded a prize but we will have to wait until September to find out!
Well done to all of the children who have worked at the allotment so far. I am extremely proud of the progress we have made and you have worked incredibly hard.
The allotment will continue all year and I will be taking groups of 6 every Friday afternoon on a rota basis from the Prep forms. The EFA have kindly bought us waterproofs to allow us to work in most conditions which is fantastic! If your child has not been to the allotment yet they will be going next term. It is a brilliant experience for your children and they learn many things without even realising it!
It is really important that your child is wearing suitable clothing (PE jogging bottoms and purple school hoodie) and wellington boots. Each week the group will be notified on the weekly bulletin so keep an eye out for the allotment information.
If anyone has any wellies (child sizes) that are no longer needed or your child has outgrown please can you pass them onto me to support our outdoor education programme.
View photos from our allotment visit below.
Conkers (Prep Forms Golden Ticket Eco Trip)
On Thursday 30th June our first 16 Golden Ticket holders set out for ‘Conkers’. We had an action packed day from the moment we arrived.
We took the train to the discovery centre then headed straight to the barefoot walk. After rolling up our trousers we were off, encountering many different surfaces on the way (some were kinder to our feet than others!). The water was freezing and the mud extremely squelchy. I think some of the children had no feeling in their feet as they managed to race around the trail without even a wince of pain! Me and Miss Machin however, took it a little more cautiously. After that we went to explore the interactive discovery centre. We really enjoyed playing in the treetops area which was pretty dark. Another school were there and a child had lost his wellie but had no idea where! The incentive of an Eco merit was enough to encourage us to join the great wellie hunt. After about 20 minutes we located it in a very hard to reach place, but persistence paid off and we reunited the child with his wellie much to the gratitude of his teacher.
After that we had our lunch which proved entertaining as there was a very cheeky Canada Goose who was very interested in our sandwiches. My lunchtime was spent on Goose patrol!
Next stop was the adventure play area which was great fun. There were lots of different areas to play on, including a rather large climbing frame and slide. Time flew by far too quickly though and before we knew it we had to be at the canal basin for our canoeing activity. Once togged up with our buoyancy aids we listened to the safety instructions and boarded our boats in team of 4 or 5. Almost immediately we were challenged to race each other. This was fine until we had to work out how to steer. After that we made our way along the canal, ready for another race. The blue team had obviously canoed before as they won almost every time! By the end of the session we were exhausted. We had an amazing day and didn’t want to leave!
Photographs from our Conkers trip have been uploaded to the Image Gallery.
The Monkey Forest (Reception and Key Stage 1 Golden Ticket Eco Treat)
On Tuesday 5th July we left school for another Eco Golden ticket treat. This time for 16 children from Reception, Form 1 and Form 2. We arrived at the monkey forest, very excited about the day ahead. We started the day playing at one of the play areas (whilst on route to the toilets!) before entering the monkey enclosure. Within a few minute we saw our first monkey who was quite happy sitting there passing the time of day. It was fascinating watching how the monkeys peel their fruit, just like we do. We were also very lucky to spot a baby monkey who was only 4 weeks old. It kept cuddling into it’s mummy which was adorable. There were guides dotted around the forest who gave us lots of information about the monkeys and they seemed to know each monkey by appearance. It was incredible. There was one extremely cheeky monkey who kept trying to get really close and the keeper had to keep chasing her away. We were trying to get a glimpse of a baby that was only 3 days old but the parents kept her huddled away from everyone for safety.
After that we had our picnic, this is always a highlight of any trip! Then we played on the second play area whilst pretending that we were monkeys -sliding down the fireman’s pole and hanging from the monkey bars.
We finished the day by going to watch feeding the monkeys!
We had an amazing day but we were all very tired.
Photos from our Monkey Forest trip have been uploaded to our Image Gallery.
Julie Heyhoe
