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. 

Well done to the boys and girls receiving certificates and awards in our Achievement Assembly. You have worked hard and demonstrated a positive attitude throughout the week.

Note: Endurance and Equality photos to be added on Friday.  

What a glorious week it's been so far in TB - engaged children and wonderful weather...what more could one hope for?

So...Lower School children started their session as Stone-Age Hunting-Scouts (SAHS) - they explored the wood in search of Stone Age Animals and once found, they had to write two descriptive sentences about each creature...they then reported their findings back to the tribal elders who would later decide if there was anything worth hunting out and about (this sneakily supported English work with a focus on capital letters and full-stops).  

Following their HC and story, we then carouseled round axe making, tree-spirit face crafting and round house construction.  

With the round house, we have the walls of two structures built in hazel and willow (wattle), and have today begun applying the daub mix - clay, water, sand, horse hair and chopped straw...the children have loved doing this as it is very messy work!

Thanks to Lilly Rogers for the horse hair and Ady Spencer for the clay!

Upper School have started their session with a collage challenge - with a partner, they had to precisely follow 13 written instructions to make a collage.  The construction required knowledge of specific natural resources and accurate ruler useage as well as many of the YOU22 attributes including Problem Solving, Precision and Collaboration.  Once made, children scored each other's efforts out of 20 and gave feed back.  

Following HC and story, we then undertook the Odyssey Cooking Challenge (OCC), mod-rocked our Odyssey puppets or undertook a mapping and modelling activity to show Odysseus' journey around the Mediterranean (lots of atlas work and map interpretation needed here).  

A wonderful afternoon was had by 10 KJS girls at the AVSSP Tag Rugby festival at Amber Valley Rugby Club.  

The girls played in a few un-scored, friendly games and undertook a few drills to hone their skills.  

Thanks to AVSSP for organising another great event and to parents for supporting and picking up!