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The Pioneers have been scientists, planning an experiment, making predictions and recording results.
After reading a book called,”Who Sank the Boat?”, we needed to find which materials would float or sink when put on water. We made our own version of the story and then made a list of objects to test. We started with the question,”Will It Sink?” Lucky for us the -nk digraph is on our planning this week! We could segment and blend all of the words on the list which was fabulous.
We filled the water tray with nice warm water and then tested, recording our results as we went. The Pioneers noticed that some objects floated but once they added extra weight it sank to the bottom. A paper bag floated but when they added a cup it sank.
Fabulous learning and so much discussion. Well done Pioneers

The Pioneers like to make their mark. They can do this in many ways. The classroom is well stocked with a variety of pens, pencils and crayons and the Pioneers know what they like. The most popular addition this week was a set of silky crayons, a bit like lipstick and these cover the surface with a rich, glossy colour. They made an impact!

Inspired by Van Gogh’s Starry Night and our solar system, we explored colour mixing and shape.

We drew and cut out circles and little fingers got a good workout.

It has been a glorious week in Pioneers.

We have had a fabulous week of learning in the classroom and outside. The weather is turning colder, wetter and windier but this did not deter the intrepid Pioneers. We did lots of heavy lifting to move our pumpkins and all the kit we needed to make Forest Soup. We looked closely at the dried sunflower heads and extracted the seeds to add to the soup along with our pumpkin seeds from last week

In the classroom, we read the recipe and then got our kit on and went off to get the job done.

Pioneers filled their bags with forest treasure and mixed and added till their pumpkins were full. The collaboration and conversation were wonderful to observe.

We realised that we could write lots of words and the excitement was incredible-rock, mix, stick, top, mud. Everyone added writing to photographs and celebrated being a writer.

Happy Learning

The Pioneers had some heavy lifting to do to move the pumpkins to the pumpkin patch. This was great fun and everyone managed not to drop their pumpkin and some of them were enormous!.

We read the beautiful Pumpkin Soup and realised we could read some of the words, which was so exciting. We added the characters to the Pumpkin Patch-cat, duck and squirrel and lots of bugs. The addition of bugs allowed us explore more vocabulary to read and write-a big bug, a fat ant and a kid bug were all suggested.

One Pioneer wanted to know what was inside the pumpkins so we cut them open and had a good rummage around. We watched some timelapse video showing the growth of the seed so we have dried our seeds to plant in the spring.

The Pioneers really enjoyed decorating the pumpkins with pins and shapes and matchsticks and leaves. The focus was fabulous.

Next week, we take the pumpkins to the forest.

The colours and textures of Autumn have proved fascinating for the Pioneers this week. We have worked indoors and out to collect and to select a variety of leaves and seeds to compare and consider.

We read a selection of books to fill us up with ideas and questions-Leafman, The Little Old Woman and her Coat and Little Red Hen Makes Pizza.

We created our own leaf collages. We made wonderful peg sculptures with leaves and dough and conkers and acorns. We made woodland pizza with conkers and sticks and sunflower seeds, harvested from last year’s sunflowers.

Thank you for a wonderful week of learning.

The Pioneers retold the story of The Enormous Beetroot using puppets and Beanie Babies and two buckets of beetroot. Back in the classroom they drew the characters and added labels-man, cat, rat, dog, bat and bug or ant. This was wonderful to see. We also drew storymaps to help us retell the story together.

It has been a fabulous week, using our magnificent indoor and outdoor spaces, making the most of the autumn sunshine.

Thank you Pioneers. It has been a wonderful week of happy learning.

The Pioneers loved exploring pattern this week. We have continued patterns with two colours and a variety of shapes. This initial work was focussed and we worked for an extended period trying out different combinations of loose parts. The Pioneers were so good at sharing the resources and the space. This was a wonderful way to end a fabulous week.

The Pioneers are settled in to their classroom and the learning is theirs. They know where everything is and are confident to ask if there is anything they need. 

They write and read and cut and stick. They build and explore, making comparisons and combine their selection of loose parts. At times the classroom is noisy but if you wait a few moments you will notice the change when the play focus changes and there is quiet and concentration. At the busiest times, it is so wonderful to look around and listen to the groups of play and learning. Learning is not tidy!

Happy Learning

Friday afternoon was really exciting. We looked at Google Earth and spotted the road and the river. We discussed the things to see in Sleights and then got going with some building. Even Sid the Cat had a go on the whiteboard! His paws caused a problem however.
We moved the furniture back and filled the space with boxes and tiles and sheets. The focus was fabulous and everyone explored in different ways. It was a pleasure to stand back and watch all of the interaction and decisions.
We discussed chimneys and how many were on different buildings. We discussed the river Esk and going over bridges. We talked about the railway line next to the river.
Some Pioneers began drawing maps and added the word ‘map’ which was a fantastic step.
Next week we will build and photograph from above to create maps.