Primary 1 exploring a water stream at Dry Mill Lane

As we were walking along the path at Dry Mill Lane a staff member talked about how the path the pupils were walking and running on use to be part of a train track as some of the pupil started to explore the floor to see if they could see any parts of the railway left behind. One of the pupils enjoyed seeing how big of bubbles they could make by exploring the different body movements of either running and waving it as high as they could reach or blowing into the bubble tube with a big breath. 

While we continued to walk we noticed a bench with writing and a picture on it. The pupils identified the picture as "there is a tree and a train".

After the bench we found a forest pathway which lead to a bridge as the pupils enjoyed walking through the stream seeing what animals they could see. We walked to another stream where the pupils and staff took it in turns to skim stones in the water to see how it travelled and how many plops they could create. 

Primary 2's walk around Paper Mill

 

The pupils enjoyed walking around Paper Mill looking at different signs about what animals live in the stream or in the trees. The pupils showed interest in have running races along the grassy paths seeing who could get to the gate and back to the staff the quickest. One pupil explained how quick they were going to run saying "I can run as fast as the fastest man in the world".  While we were walking the pupils saw a waterfall and talked about where the water begins and the speed to how it travels with one pupil saying "can you see it falling to the bottom of the stream it is going really fast" and another asked the question "why does it start from the top". We started to talk about the water cycle. 

walk to the top of Kinver Edge with Primary 3

The pupils explored the variety of sights as they walked to the top of Kinver Edge. The pupils talked about how tall the trees were saying "they are so tall they are nearly to the sky" and as they were walking some of the pupils went off in a group taking part in running races to see who could get to the end of the path the quickest. The pupils also enjoyed travelling to the top along the steps as some of them engaged in counting how many steps there were or exploring different body actions like jumping from one step to the other or walking two steps at a time with one pupil saying "I don't have to walk each step my legs are long". 

walk around Arrow Valley with Year 8 looking at the sights

The pupils had the option of either walking around Arrow Valley or playing a game of football. The pupils chose as a group to walk and then play a small game of football between staff and pupils. As we were walking the pupils talked about what animals they could see such as a mongoose and played a game of eye spy naming the first letter and seeing what object or nature it matched. When we got towards the park the pupils separated into two groups where one group took it in turns to kick the football back and forth between one another as they formed a group circle and the other had a go at exploring the exercise equipment's of standing on a treadmill as they moved their feet and arms up and down in a parallel motion or moving two wheels in the same or different timing of one first and the other after to see who could move the quickest.

Year 9 using their navigation skills to explore Paper Mill's stream.

The pupils showed an interest in walking through the stream as they talked about what height they thought the stream would be when we got to the spot with the pupils saying "it isn't going to be deep, it wasn't last time we came i remember it went up to my waist". As the pupils walked along the path and through the mud and grass they identified what they could see saying "why are those people putting tree branches into a pile" as I explained it was for them to later on burn and turn into ash. 

As we got to the stream the pupils enjoyed travelling through the water in a variety of ways such as "I am not going to dive into the water it is too deep" or one pupil lifted their legs up high saying "this helps me to not get my feet stuck at the bottom of the water". The pupils also used the body of the trees to support their weight as they helped one another to move from one side of the stream to the other. 

As we were walking back to the minibus the pupils talked about the temperature of the water saying "it was soooo cold, feel my hands they are freezing" when another explained "I just dived into the water that my whole head went in and now my clothes are so wet". I asked the pupils their feedback on if they enjoyed the water as a majority of the group replied with positive reflections saying "I liked seeing how far the stream went because I could see a tall waterfall at the end" when another said "I enjoyed using the tree branches to help move along the water that when I got half way I decided to turn back". 

Year 7B's sight seeing of Kinver Edge

 

The pupils showed an interest in walking around Kinver Edge looking at the different sights of a cliff, robin sat on a tree and enjoyed walking to the top of the hill travelling in a variety of ways such as running races to see who could get there the quickest or walking up stairs counting how many steps there were. As we all got the top each pupil stood and talked about how tall the buildings were "they look so small down on there on the ground" and what colour the clouds and sky was one pupil saying "there are loads of planets past the clouds like Jupiter, Saturn, Mars and many more". 

making a fire and team building with Year 7A

Wednesday morning, 7A worked together to build a fire using paper shreddings and dry wood. They cooked marshmallows and played card games around the campfire. 

After safely extinguishing the fire, 7A took part in a team building game of the floor is lava. The game involves successfully moving themselves from A to B without touching the floor using various objects such as wooden planks and tyres.

making tree huts with Primary 3

The pupils showed an interest in walking along the paths of Tiddesley Woods where they enjoyed finding the biggest sticks they could with one pupil saying "this is my walking stick". The pupils had a competition to see who could find the tallest stick with one explaining the height of their's as "I have found a stick which is nearly as tall as me". 

As we were walking we found a forest woodland area where the teacher explained to the pupils what they were going to make and then separated them into two groups with the encouragement to work as a team for the completion of a tree hut.

The pupils worked together to find big and little sticks as they helped one another by two pupils carrying the stick both at each end and placing it onto the big trees which were their base. The pupils communicate between each other in a positive way as they selected who was going to find the sticks and who was going to create the shape of the tree hut while also acknowledging who was struggling and offering a helping hand saying "would you like to help me go around the forest to look for really tall sticks". 

As the pupils were starting to finish off their tree hut's they all gathered together in one big group to see which team would be the winner. After the pupils played a couple games of tracker where one pupil said "let's hide in the huts we have just made they won't see us in there".

Year 10 walk around Clent Hills

The pupils showed an interest in walking along the paths and in and out through the trees. One of the pupils enjoyed taking pictures of the various sights such as the scenery or what signs they could see. One pupil said "look I found a bird on a rock".

 

The pupils communicated about what animals or objects they could see for example; "look there are four horses" as we continued to talk about if any of the pupils had done horse back riding before. As we got half way the pupils showed an interest in taking a picture of the group and staff saying "this is a good spot with the view in the background". 

After we walked back to the minibus we travelled to RSS where the pupils played a few games of basketball seeing how many hoops they could achieve while participating in a competition of staff verses pupils. One of the pupils enjoyed looking back at the pictures  describing the shared experiences of the walk "look can you see the picture I took of a bird it was sitting on top of a high branch" and "here is a picture of the sky it looks so far away". 

Year 7A Building a robot in DT

 7A worked together as a group to build a robot in design and technology. They began with the frame using a wooden structure that required them to measure, drill and screw together the backbone, shoulders, arms and legs. 

The pieces were cut down to size on a jigsaw and attached using a combination of glue guns and screws. After the basic skeleton was assembled the pupils sanded it down in preparation for decorating next lesson. 

Year 8 making a fire and roasting marshmallows

The pupils showed an interest in making a fire in school's forest outdoor classroom using dry wood, paper and a lighter. One of the pupils enjoyed supporting the teacher by following the safety instructions of saying far back from the fire pit, putting a hand full of shredded paper in now and again and placing the wood carefully around the edges of the fire pit and in the middle to make a pile. While the pupil was setting the fire up with help from a couple of their peers the other group created their own game of seeing who could push the tyre down the hill and along the path the furthest as they each took it in turns and supported with praise from their peers and staff by cheering them on. As the fire was flaming the pupils enjoyed sharing the marshmallows as they passed the bag along taking one at a time. The pupils each found themselves a stick and said "we need to burn the end before we put the marshmallow on". The pupils also enjoyed placing their marshmallows into the fire as they watched it begin to toast the edges until it was the colour of their liking. One pupil said "I like when it is brown around the edges and black on the top" when another said "I like mine when it is black all the way around like it is burnt". 

exploring the hills of Habberley Valley with Year 9

The pupils sorted themselves into two groups where one group showed an interest in walking to the top of the forest hills and the other supported one another and the teaching assistants with setting up the rope swing. The group who wanted to explore the hills found various ways of travelling to the top such as walking through, in and out of the trees and climbing over the bushes or walking step by step along the stairs. The pupils found a big grass hill which followed on from the forest hills and a road. Two of the pupils walked to the end of the grass hill with one saying "I am the king of this mountain". As we walked back down the hills the group explored another side of the forest where they found a cave and sat down saying "this is our new home". The pupil stayed in the cave until the end of the lesson talking about what sights they could see and how high they were from the ground with one pupil describing the height as "I can see people down there they look really small". 

walk around Lickey Hills with Year 10

The pupils showed an interest in exploring the sights of Lickey Hills as they enjoyed finding a variety of movements their bodies could take to travel around the hills such as running to the top or walking diagonally in and out of the trees with the end goal of seeing who could get to the path the quickest. One of the pupils brought along their mountain bike and enjoyed making tracks in the mud and sharing the bike with his peers seeing how high of a wheelie they could achieve. As we were walking through mud and puddles the pupils found a pile of big tree branches with one pupil saying "I am going to sit down as I am tired and need a rest". 

When we got back to the minibus the teacher set up the gas stove and the pupils took it in turns to have a go at cooking bacon with one pupil demonstrating to their peer how to turn on the gas bottle and how much butter to put in the pan before putting the bacon on. 

Year 8 supported with the set up of the rope swing

The pupils supported the teacher with having a go at throwing the rope towards the tallest tree branch while the other pupils watched as the teacher took over and attached the rope to the branch for the set up of the rope swing. While one group was helping the teacher, the other group showed an interest in finding a variety of different ways they could travel to the top of the hill bank such as walking up the steps and exploring through the forest trees. 

The pupils after sat down on the tree stumps and enjoyed drinking a cup of hot chocolate with the choice of having marshmallows sprinkled on top or not as one pupil said "I don't like marshmallows they taste like farts". The pupils feedback for the hot chocolate was positive with a couple describing their enjoyment "this hot chocolate is really good but I do like milk in mine too" and "i really like my hot chocolate it is hot and chocolatey". 

exploring Habberley Valley with Year 9

Some of the pupils enjoyed exploring the various forest and woodland areas of Habberley Valley as they showed an interest in climbing to the top of a variety of either small or high up hills and travelled through bushes or jumped over a watering trough. A small group of the other pupils in the class enjoyed taking it in turns to have a go on the rope swing as they produced the movements of either back and forth or spinning around to guide the rope in which direction they wanted to swing with one pupil saying "I want to go as high as the sky and then come back down spinning to the ground". The pupils also worked together by helping to push each other to go as high as they could with one pupil sticking their hand out for another pupil to grab as they explained "hold my hand and we can go further back together so you can go as high as the branch".  

making a rope swing with long rope and a log to sit on with Year 7B

The pupils showed an interest in exploring a hill where they discovered big trees and began swinging from the branches. We continued walking and found a smaller hill where they engaged in running races to see who could be the quickest. As we got to the bank the pupils decided which directions they were going to take to achieve the goal of getting to the top for example; walking through the forest trees or climbing the steps with one pupil saying "I am the king of the mountain". The pupils watched as the teacher attached the rope to the tallest tree branch with another pupil showing the teacher how to throw the rope "you should throw it really high and I will catch it when it comes down". As the rope was set up the pupils took a break and sat down together to have a drink of hot chocolate with marshmallows. After some of the pupils had a go on the swing as they supported each other by demonstrating and talking through how to position their legs with both of them on each side and then to use their feet to push themselves off. One pupil advised "keep your legs out or you will stop yourself from going high". 

hot chocolate and playing tracker with Year 7A

 

The pupils showed an interest in having running races with each other seeing who could go the fastest. The pupils also enjoyed walking to the top of the hill talking about the sights and what they could see with one pupil saying "look at the view" as they pointed to the buildings which were far away from where we were standing. As we continued to walk the pupils found a really big tree and showed an interest in climbing along the branches. The staff set out a challenge for the pupils of who could reach to the other end of the branch they were sitting on. One pupil explained "I won't be able to walk along that branch it is too thin and won't hold my body". When all of the pupils were sitting under the tree they all enjoyed drinking a cup of hot chocolate with sprinkle of marshmallows on top. After they had finished their drinks the pupils played a couple games of tracker.  

Habberley Valley with Primary 1

The pupils showed an interest in having a go on the rope swing talking about what they will do on it with one pupil saying "I want to go really high" when another explained what movements they would like to make "I am going to try and spin in a circle". As we got to the bank the pupils enjoyed climbing to the top of the hill going in different directions such as walking up the steps or exploring around and through the forest trees. The pupils watched as the teacher predicted how many times it would take to attach the rope to the tallest tree branch. When the rope swing was set up for the pupils they took it in turns, with staff support, to use their feet to push and see how high they could go. One pupil said "wow I nearly touched the clouds". 

After the pupils had a go they all sat down on logs, which were placed in a circle, together in a group and enjoyed drinking a cup of hot chocolate with a sprinkle of marshmallows on top.