Category: Pioneers Class

We continue to be delighted by collage. This week we added our painted paper to our willow lanterns and onto wet strength tissue paper. We had additional single colour paper to combine in our collage. The Pioneers used cutting,ripping and crumpling to add a variety of textures.

We also had a go at combining colour , exploring how wool worked. One Pioneer identified that the strands needed to look like candy floss and this was the perfect comment to get everyone started on the right road. This took patience and focus and control. 

While working we listened to Carnival of the Animals and the variety in the music certainly changed how we worked!

The atmosphere in Pioneers was wonderful as we explored new building materials, how to join them and make strong and stable structures.

Using dry willow, we made tripods joined with paper tape. One of the Pioneers recognised that this was a similar structure to the ancient Egyptian pyramids. Another Pioneer described this process as “very satisfying.” They worked together to make three frames before beginning the wonderful work of putting on the wet strength tissue paper to form a skin. We will add our collage tissue paper once it has all dried. The final shapes are fabulous.

We then moved on to building with a huge selection of cups and the collaboration and cooperation we a privilege to observe. They began setting out structures individually but then moved to all work together on one big building suggested to be a castle with doors and windows and the addition of carpet. We used the words hollow, stable, base, arch and structure.

The tidy up process was wonderful and all the resources were collected and sorted to explore further with the addition of flat paint mixing sticks.

The Pioneers have shown perseverance and tenacity in their approach to music this week. It is very tricky not to bang on your woodblock  or play your new  chime bar while waiting for your conductor. The Pioneers want to explore and find out and it is very tempting to take your chime bar apart to explore the features! This is all part of the learning. We started our explorations with clapping and tapping before using the untuned percussion and then adding in the chime bars. The focus built up over our sessions and there was wonderful collaboration.

We opened the windows to allow the parents to hear our wonderful sound at pick-up time!

Maths happens all over the place in Pioneers and always involves stuff-things to subitise, count, compare, move around and measure. It is a noisy process with lots of chat and articulation of thinking. There’s lots of comparing and repeating how you did it and if there might be an answer. What appears initially straightforward is actually really complex and we need time to think and do.

Some incredible discoveries were noted when using a ruler then moving to looking at a powerpoint on how to measure with a ruler. The Pioneers were not satisfied that the graphics were accurate and were frustrated, understanding that small differences can make a huge difference.

During the week, Pioneers were observed using stuff to make connections and talk about odd and even numbers and their links to doubles. 

Congratulations on a wonderful week of learning.

In geography, fieldwork is obviously a priority and when making maps we have to do the research. To begin with we looked at how we would represent our environment on a map. We identified items on a prepared map before drawing a map of our own, very familiar classroom. Next we went on a information gathering tour of our site. Managing a clipboard and a pencil is a skill in its self and we all did very well on that.

We are familiar with how to make a pictogram from our work last term so we repeated this to gather information to make a map of our site. We stopped to record a various places around the school, checking that we were not making double recordings when classrooms were seen from different locations.

It was so lovely to be able to use the field to kick off our Athletics for the term. We began with a great warm up being able to use the space and run. We discussed managing sprinting mixed with fast walking to manage pace. Everyone was able to feel their heart beating. We stopped to talk about how we can encourage each other and also discussed finding your own pace. It is not just about overtaking.

We moved on to a circuit of jumping, slalom and hurdles, working together to share space and equipment which is always a challenge.

We finished our session with a relay race. These have become more complex over time and the Pioneers always enjoy the challenge and the competition 

The wind blew and the parachute gave us a nice little upper body workout!

Happy Learning

We picked a beautiful day for our visit to St John’s church and the walk together was a real treat. 

Before our visit we discussed the features of a Christian Church and we knew what we were looking for. From a data handling perspective, Year 1 made a pictogram to help gather and organise their information.

Once we got up to church we walked together spotting the features and discussing their purpose. We then split into smaller groups to look more closely and take time to question.

We located and discussed:pews, the font, the aisle, the altar, the pulpit, the lectern, the bible, the organ and many candles,crosses and statues.

We looked carefully at the content of the stained glass windows focussing particularly on the image behind the altar showing the crucifiction.   At this time of year the cloth on the altar is purple and linked this with the colour on our Worship Table at school and the church liturgical calendar. We noted that there were no flowers in church either.

We finished our session with a parable from the bible, also shown in one of the windows-The Shepherd and the Lost Sheep.

Such a lovely way to spend an afternoon of wonderful learning.

We continued our work in Design and Technology,exploring wheels and axles. During our exploration we began to see how cogs worked together. The addition of some longer pieces of wood allowed the Pioneers to build on a bigger  scale,working together to secure long pieces.

We built a tower from the left over parts of a wardrobe. This formed a platform for our ramp (a carpet inner tube) We ran the trains down the tube and had a discussion about friction.

Some intricate structures have been made this week and we will continue to develop these next week.

The Pioneers planned a trip to our local park and we needed to risk assess the route after looking at it on a map. We noted trip and slip hazards, parked cars and discussed the shape of the road. 

After watching a road safety video in the classroom, we rehearsed what we would do when out on the road.

The weather was not kind to us for our Field Trip but the Pioneers battled on through the sleet and the rain. We discovered the pavement surface indicating where it was safe to cross. 

The Pioneers love to cut and stick and create and in Design and Technology we have been looking at mechanisms and creating our own. Our initial designs were simple but soon became personalised, combined and complex.

The Pioneers are aware of how to keep themselves safe when cutting card and paper and making holes, placing a blob of blu-tac behind.

On World Book Day, Pioneers worked with their families to create pop-up pages and they were simply stunning.