Learning outside the Classroom

This week we intended to have as many lessons as possible outside of the classroom.  Well the weather was not kind!  However, many classes have still taken up the challenge.  The front garden has many new plants, the pond has been dipped, the village green has been measured and the materials used to build your houses have been studied!  It has been great fun and many classes will be continuing the outdoor learning theme throughout the term.

Oak Class

In Oak class the children have been playing with sand and water and practising their counting on and counting back skills using leaves. They have been learning about team building whilst perfecting their football skills. Miss Beesley said that the children in Oak class set an excellent example of good behaviour when they were visited by children who attend Cabin and Pre-School.

Hornbeam Class

The children in Hornbeam class created tree elves and fairies using clay, leaves, twigs, daisies and buttercups which they had collected from the school field. They examined trees and bushes that are growing on the school grounds including the beautiful Indian Bean tree in the front garden which incidentally is a protected species. They talked about the differences between deciduous and evergreen trees. The children also collected leaves of different sizes and shapes and made beautiful rubbings and they were lucky that the sun shone when they spent time with Year 3 lying on the field and looking up at the sky. They wrote a poem about how this experience had affected all their senses.

Beech Class

Beech class have had a wonderful week despite the unpredictable weather. They have been looking at materials in the school grounds to prepare for their science topic. On Wednesday Deborah Jones visited the class and showed the children how to weave willow into fish. Keep an eye open for their display which will go up shortly. Today the Beech class giant came to life, he walked around the playground and peeped into Maple class and surprised the children. The Beech class children measured their giant and thought that maybe he needed a school uniform.

Ash Class

Ash class have been investigating light and shadows as part of their learning outside the classroom. They carried out a traffic survey to find out when the road in front of the school is busiest. They collected leaves from the front garden from a variety of trees and used them for printing.

Rowan Class

Pupils in Rowan class collected leaves and when they were back in the classroom they did some observational drawing. Budding scientists conducted experiments with test tubes, pipettes and various edible and natural substances.

Maple Class

Maple Class have had a good week getting outdoors as much as the weather has allowed! They went out investigating angles in the playground and school, and planted out their seedlings in the front garden. A big thank you to Mrs Martin who accompanied the class on their ‘Angles and Turns’ walk around Woodcote on Wednesday. We tossed a coin to decide whether to turn left or right and named and estimated the angle of our turns! On Friday, the class went to the Recreation ground to identify different species of tree. They measured the circumference of the trees and used the data to work out how old and how high the trees were. We are aiming to be out and about next week as well; hopefully the weather will be on our side!

Willow Class

Year 6 are on their way home from what has been a fabulous (sometimes soggy!) week at PGL in Torquay.  Mrs Hunt went to see them on Wednesday.  When she arrived they had just completed some raft building and some had been on the Giant Swing!  They were all in good spirits and had plenty to tell her.  They had lunch together and we can tell you they were being very well fed!  Later in the afternoon they made buggies from poles and barrels. Mrs Hunt got photographic evidence of Mrs Wornham and Mrs Jones competing on the Vertical Challenge and shared an abseiling session with Mrs Bodeker and her group.  She was even cajoled into taking a turn at Archery!  We look forward to welcoming them back this evening when we are sure we will hear plenty more about their week.

School Photographs

The school photographer will be in school on Friday 16^th June to take class photographs.

Community News

Open Farm Sunday – June 11^th

Nettlebed Farming Club and the Hatt family invite you to Coombe End Farm, Whitchurch Hill, RG8 7TE for Open Farm Sunday. You can see a working farm in action and finish your walk with a cup of tea and a bun. The farm is open between 12 noon and 4 p.m. The Hatt Family will collect donations for Helen and Douglas House in Oxford.

FOWPS

Summer Fair

The summer fair will be held on Friday 30^th June between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. and we would be very grateful for stall donations. Items required are as follows:

Bottle Tombola: bottles of anything, e.g., soft drinks, alcohol, bath goodies, food stuffs etc. All bottles must be unopened and well within their use by date.

Jolly Jars: Jam jars filled with items such as sweets, chocolates, little toys, and small stationery items. NO NUTS please and all items must be well within their use by date.

Cakes and biscuits: Anything suitable for selling in the café or as a whole cake. No NUTS please.

The collection point for these items is the first chalet in the playground. Each house team has a collection crate below their name poster. There is a prize for the house team that collects the most, so please give generously!  Please put your donations in your child’s house crate (rather than giving them directly to the class teachers) so they can be totalled up for each house. Please could the items be brought in on the following dates:

Bottles: Tuesday 5 June onwards

Jolly Jars: Monday 12 June onwards.

Soft Toys: (teddies) Monday 19^th June onwards.

Cakes and Biscuits: 30^th June ONLY please.

Woodcote Rally

The Woodcote Rally organisers are looking for volunteers to help with marshalling the event. If you are able to help please let Carla know and she will pass your details to the organisers. FOWPs receive a donation from the rally proceeds for helping out. Marshalling timings are split throughout the weekend as follows:

Friday evening from 6.30 p.m., Saturday morning and afternoon, Saturday evening from 4.00 p.m. Sunday morning and afternoon from 9.30 a.m. and Sunday afternoon and early evening from

4.00 p.m. The Rally organisers ask for a minimum of 3 hours from each volunteer and if you help you will be given free entry to the rally on the day of your marshalling with food and drink provided. Each marshall is required to attend a Safety Briefing which are held on Friday 7^th July at 7 p.m., Saturday 8^th July at 9.30 a.m. and 1 p.m. or Sunday 9^th July at 9.30 a.m.

Diary Dates