Note: pictures for Equality and Endurance to be added on Friday PM.  

Oooooooh…the little blue-tit eggs hatched today (Wednesday)…we think there are about seven chicks…I’m sure they’re going to keep mum and dad busy for the next few weeks!  If you fancy a look, pop into the library and see them on the big screen!

In TB, Lower School children have started their session with a stone-age hunting / cooking experience; a parent kindly supplied us with a couple of skin on, organs in, recently harvested wild rabbits, which were used to teach the children how to skin, section and cook a wild animal – something stone-age man was pretty good at!

During the preparation, the children had the opportunity to hold and examine lungs, a heart, the diaphragm and kidneys, and they were told information about how these organs worked.  We also looked at the joints, bones, ligaments and tendons of the animal and we discussed how these worked. 

Children who thought the cooking experience wasn’t for them explored leaves in the wood and then undertook leaf-rubbing, being set the challenge of using a range of leaves to create a rubbing monster!

Following this, children undertook three challenges: making and adding daub to the wattle walls of the round house; exploring stone-age monuments of the UK and making model representations of them; making horse-hair paintbrushes, studying cave-art and making imitations thereof on our concrete wall. 

Upper School have kicked off their sessions with a challenge to find the perimeter and area of a series of rectilinear shapes constructed with carpet tiles, each made to a different scale with different units of measurement. 

As the challenge progressed, it was interesting seeing how different children organised their working on the page, and the amount of different mathematical knowledge that was needed in order to be successful – if children weren’t secure in the basics, it was difficult for them to achieve in the challenge, even if they understood what was required of them!

Following this, some children painted Odyssey puppet-heads and selected, marked and cut material for the clothing (sewing next week), others carved and painted Rota boards, with the remainder exploring and making Greek pottery using clay. 

The boys and girls in Team Endeavour gave local legend Mr Wilby a wonderful surprise this morning ahead of his special birthday.

Thank you parents and children for helping make his 30th Birthday a special one.

(He's had a very tough paper round) 

Well done to the boys and girls receiving awards in today's Achievement Assembly for their effort and hard work in class this week.

Sports Badges and Music Awards were also presented to children who have represented the school in 3 or more competitions or taken part in musical events.

A record number of children took part in last night's AVSSP Cross Country Competition at Eyes Meadow in Duffield. 

Although the course was flat, the distance proved a real challenge and it was wonderful to see all of the children pushing themselves to complete the course- a great example of determination, resilience and fortitude.

What a lovely week it has been with the children…if a little chilly on Tuesday (wooly hats back on)…

Exciting news…we have nesting blue-tits in the courtyard web-cam bird-box!  There is a screen in the library on which the comings and goings can be watched – I think there are at least 7 little eggs in the nest!

Children have started their sessions this week with a photo trail – 39 photos taken in 3 different areas of school – the children had to be observant and find as many of the subjects as possible. 

After HC and story, Lower School have had their final rotations around round house construction, axe making and tree spirit crafting.  The round house is coming on really well and, once mixed with sand, horse-hair and chopped straw, the clay is drying hard as concrete on the wattle walls – we are experimenting with filling in the cracks with fresh clay as they appear and this seems to be working nicely. 

Upper school children have rotated round Odyssey cooking and mapping, with Rota board-game making being added to the menu (a game a bit like noughts and crosses played by the ancient Greeks). 

Making the game Rota has involved casting a board in Plaster of Paris, marking a perfect circle to a radius of 7.5cm and then dividing said circle into eights, using a protractor (we took the opportunity to remind ourselves of mathematical terminology relating to circles).  Additionally, we made our pawns using clay – next week: aging, carving, painting and playing.