Primary 2 making sand volcano's

The pupils showed an interest in exploring Hartlebury Common as they talked about walking through the sand and seeing the view from the top of the hill. As we halfway walking the teacher gave the pupils the choice of travelling to the top or playing a game. The pupils chose to interact with the game as the teacher went through the rules of how to play. The teacher explained the game was like Simon says where the pupils would need to move to different areas on the Simon says command. The pupils enjoyed running to the areas as the teacher said Simon says go to zero or Simon says go to post. The pupils also enjoyed moving their bodies in a various of motions such as placing their bodies on the sand or changing directions quickly depending on the time each command was spoken.  

After all of the pupils took part in a sand sculpting challenge where they had the choice of working in pairs or individually to make the tallest volcano they could using the sand. All of the pupils talked about how they were going to make their's different to their peers with one pupil saying "look the inside of my volcano is the widest". Another pupil explained the size of their volcano as "mine is the tallest". The paired up pupils decided who was going to take on what role "I am going to scoop up the sand with my hands so we have wet sand for our volcano's eruption and their peer is going to make the body". The pupils also talked about how they had made two volcano's "this one has a road around it, I used my feet to make a circle".

cooking bacon sandwiches with Year 8

The pupils showed an interest in making their own bacon sandwiches using the stoves and ovens in the food tech room. The pupils each took a hoob as they worked independently or in groups to flip their bacon over with one pupil saying "I think mine will need to be flipped 6 times" and to watch as their pieces of bacon began to brown and potentially go crispy as one pupil saying "I like mine when it is a little burnt around the edges". The pupil's made a sandwich for themselves and for each other as well as the staff saying "would you like a bacon sandwich miss". 

Year 9 exploring the length of Dry Mill Lane's stream

While we were travelling through the forest banks of Dry Mill Lane the pupils enjoyed finding different length sticks as they talked about using the stick "to go fishing see what fishes I can find". As we got to the stream the pupils either travelled the outer layer area of the water or walked through the middle of the stream seeing how deep the water went. One of the pupil's said "half of my body is covered by water". In the middle of the long stream the pupils found a pile of big tree branches and as a group worked together to demolish the standing of the branches with the pupils holding both ends and beginning to shake it watching small pieces of the tree disintegrate into the water. One of the pupil's response to what they were going to do with the branch when it breaks free was "we are going to see how far it travels down the stream". At the end of the lesson we asked for the pupil's feedback on how they thought outdoor ed had gone with some of the responses being positive of "I really liked using the rocks to break away parts of the branches" and "my favourite bit was seeing how deep the water was using my body, it came up past my knees".

Year 7B's exploration of Dry Mill's Lane

As we were walking we noticed a sign telling us about what trail we were about to go on and what animals we might see with one pupils saying "look there's a butterfly".

As we continued the pupils talked about how deep they thought the water would be when they got to the stream by showing an interest in travelling through the water. One pupil said "is it going to come up to my knees". When we got to the stream all of the pupils enjoyed either walking in their wellies along the water bank or some chose to take their shoes and socks off saying "I want to feel the water in my toes". While they were in the stream the pupils talked about the temperature of the water descriptively explaining it as "really cold that my feet feel numb" and also explored the length of the stream identifying the depth as "wow this is really deep that I feel my whole body is going in". The pupils showed an interest in skimming stones as they had a competition to see who could make the most plops in the water. 

cooking hotdogs with Year 7A

 

At the start of the lesson the teacher went through all the safety rules which included not standing too close to the stove when the gas is lit and not to touch the middle part of the pan when the stove is on but to hold the handle while they are turning the sausages. The pupils took it in turns to each have a go at flipping the sausages over as they watched the pink sausages turn a different colour saying "are they done now they look a brown colour". As one of the pupils continued to turn the sausages over another pupil began to cut the onion into little pieces as they asked the question "are these small enough to go in the pan". 

After the pupils had cooked the food they all enjoyed eating the hotdogs saying "the ketchup and hotdog together is yummy" and "look I have onions and cheese in the roll and it tastes good but first I am going to have my sausage".  

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".