Back to school with a trip!

The children have been so busy at school this week! From learning about doubles and matching numbers in maths, to learning some new digraphs in Ash phonics and revisiting some tricky phonemes in Saplings, the children’s brains have been whirring! We also have enjoyed reading our new focus story The Tiny Seed, discussed how we can reuse and recycle materials, and explored the use of gymnastic equipment in PE.

We’re excited to welcome back some special visitors to our classroom for the next few weeks — the school guinea pigs, Snowy and Cookie! The children are always thrilled to see them and have been enjoying the chance to feed and gently stroke them. We’ve also been learning about what guinea pigs need to stay happy and healthy, and the children impressed us with how much they already knew about caring for them.

Of course, the highlight of our week had to be our school trip to Hatfield Forest…

The children were so excited arriving in school in the morning, equipped head to toe in their forest outfits. After our morning check in, the children took their seats on the coach and we set off! We spotted lots of different things on the way there from ambulances to litter along the side of the road – we are very proud of how the children have really taken on board our recent learning about looking after our world.

As we arrived at the forest, we noticed a couple of spots of rain from the grey clouds above, but that didn’t stop us from having very big smiles. We enjoyed the story The Very Lazy Ladybird, as we found puzzle pieces around the log square to match with the story as we listened.

After our story, we set off on our first activity! We used our fine motor skills to piece together some of our own binoculars; our knot-tying practice came in very handy! We used our binoculars to spot different creatures around us, from the noisy geese to the tiniest of ants.

Tummies rumbling, it was time for lunch! This was hugely exciting for the children, as they eagerly sat down to their packed lunches together. As we were eating we were contending with some very hungry jackdaws who kept trying to have a nibble of our sandwiches! Luckily, Mrs Lammin was on the case and the children got to enjoy their lunches in peace!

Having refueled, we set off along the lake for our next activities. We saw swans, ducks and geese along the path and talked about the similarities and differences that we noticed. The children did a great job walking carefully by the swans so as not to unsettle them. We spotted some little pathways hidden by trees which was far too enticing to miss, so we got our pots and tickle sticks and headed in to see what little creatures we could find. The children were so gentle as they carefully studied the minibeasts with their equipment. We found all sorts, from beetles to woodlice, ladybirds and even tiny little frogs!

We continued along the path to find an area covered with a tree canopy, perfect for getting creative! We read Leafman, which left the children feeling inspired to make their own collages using the things they could find on the forest floor. Some children chose to create their initial letter of their name with the natural collage materials and others worked together to move big logs and branches to build dens.

After all the excitement it was time to head back to school. The children were much quieter on the journey home, as they had been so energetic in the forest! Back at school, the children commented on how they enjoyed the coach journey, the picnic lunch and spotting the tiny frogs along the hidden path. We were so proud of how well the children behaved and listened on the trip, and we hope that they have a lovely big sleep tonight!