The children had a wonderful surprise when they returned to school this week, following the half term break. During the holiday, some new playground equipment was installed, and we now have a fabulous "outdoor gym" on the school field!
As you can imagine, everyone is thoroughly enjoying using it, and getting fit into the bargain! Many thanks to the Home School Association who worked so hard to raise the money to buy this for the school - this is where all the pennies that were spent at school fairs and fun days have been used.
It was a golden autumn day on Monday, and the school grounds looked really beautiful in the sunshine. The children all had a lovely time kicking through leaves - at least before Mr Wise got around to sweeping them all up...!
Hedgehogs Class busied themselves carving pumpkins, and made a wonderful Hallowe'en display outside their classroom.
There was more Hallowe'en spookiness at lunchtime, when on the menu there was a choice of "Green Monster Feet" or "Bats" for dessert!
On Wednesday, children in Foxes and Deer enjoyed a trip to the Natural History Museum in London. Our topic for this term is "Extreme Earth", so they were all very interested to find out more about the geology of our planet, by visiting the "Volcanoes and Earthquakes" show.
The children had the opportunity to investigate volcanoes and earthquakes, through interactive demonstrations, film footage, games and exhibits. Best of all though, was the Earthquake simulator room, where the children became part of the action, finding out how it felt to live through an earthquake, and discovering more about the challenges faced by communities in this situation. They learnt about monitoring and predicting seismic activity, and discovered how best to protect buildings against such catastrophic events.
They also had the chance to look around the other exhibits, and enjoyed looking at the displays of minerals and fossils. As usual, our children were very well behaved and sensible, and everyone really made the most of their visit.
Back in school, children have been working hard with the usual variety of exciting work going on in the different classrooms. Hedgehogs have been doing lots of measuring, while Squirrels Class have been learning about directions - left, right, clockwise, anti-clockwise and so on. Badgers Class meanwhile, have been making Salvador Dali inspired melting clocks from clay!
Otters have made a start on their Christmas crafts and activities... with just a few week until the big day, everyone will soon be focusing on this, and the school will be full of glitter and tinsel in no time at all!