Fantastic Forest Learning – What a Busy Morning!

Our first session in the forest this year with not a moment to waste.  The sun was shining and Leaders were smiling – ready to enjoy learning in the forest – little did they know the amount of learning in store!

Over the course of the morning our learning was varied: French months of the year; mapping using gridlines; Roman numerals; fire safety; fire lighting; Kelly kettles; singing in parts and rounds.  

We couldn’t miss a hot chocolate of course, the treat at the end well tended Kelly kettle and very busy morning.  A fantastic morning Leaders – you were brilliant. 

Reading Together

We had the great pleasure of welcoming the Leaders to read and sing with us. It was so lovely to see the care and consideration offered by all. The children are all familiar with each other after sharing lunchtimes,playtimes and Collective Worship. We began the session by singing our favourite,”Little Bunny Fou Fou” and then we quietened down to finish the day with a shared story. The older children wrote in the reading record of their younger friends,to note their visit and the book they shared.

Happy Sleights School Family

Autumn Sunshine

This week we have done  a lot of learning outdoors in our beautiful village and school grounds. The addition of some new bricks and some Hi-Viz Vests have brightened up our already popular Big Building.  The building tools have been used for the purpose of surgery. I have been invited to numerous appointments to have treatment. The treatment has most often been having my leg chopped off at varying intervals.

We have cut down some of our lavender to dry for playing in the dough over the winter and we have started to gather the apples from the trees to make crumble in the next few weeks.

We took a few trips to the forest too and it is just the best place. Our pockets were full of forest treasure. On return to the classroom we have counted and compared,looked carefully and found out more. So much learning.

We also walked up to the Church together and walked through the beautiful Church grounds. 

Happy Autumn.

Building With Magnets

The addition of a box of magnetic rods and a selection  of pots,pans,colanders and trays caught the interest of many. Some wanted to build high.Others were interest in testing out the materials. Some of  the pots looked like they should be magnetic and were not. This caused some discussion and ‘trial and error’ experimentation continued. The ‘attract’ and ‘repel’ of the magnets held the attention of many. It really is like magic to watch. The language used was spectacular, as was the team work required.. Over the day the play changed and developed and it was so exciting to watch.

Goodbye, Mrs Vicar!

On 23rd September, the whole school gathered in St. John’s Church to say goodbye to Mrs Vicar (Reverend Veronica Carolan). Reverend Veronica begins her retirement after many years of faithful service and the school was so pleased to be able to mark this special occasion. The school shared songs, poems, readings and their heartfelt thoughts on Mrs Vicar. See the gallery for a snapshot of the service.

Choosing a Book

Sharing wonderful books happens all over the place in our classroom. Baskets of selected texts are all over the place to dip into and relax. There is a big box of books that the children can pick from to take home and share. Special books are often highlighted by the Pioneers as favourites.

Each day we read two books and then discuss which is the best. Initially I placed two baskets for the children to chose one book or the other but they made it clear that they needed to be able to place a vote for liking both books. Democracy! We now have three baskets.

It is so beautiful to see children sitting together and by themselves looking at books. Some have been spotted reading to each other. Others have been pretending to be the teacher and sitting in my chair reading to their friends,modelling my behavior. If you listen carefully you can often hear the words from the text that they have committed to memory. We are so well supported by lovely reading volunteers who offer their time to sit and read and chat about books. The Pioneers are always keen to chat about their stories.

Next week we will visit the library to extend our book choices

Happy Reading

A Bigger Sandwich

The last lot of sandwiched were fine but not really big enough so we tried to upscale. The rolling pins were big and heavy and very nice to roll. We needed quite a lot of jam and a fair spread of butter. The children were very good with the tools,using a spatula and some big spoons,a knife and a fish slice.

The finish product was enjoyed on the steps of Explorers Classroom. It was so nice that the children chose to sit together to eat.

No wasps attended.