Monthly Archives: September 2016

Stocks Farm trip

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Year 5 had a wonderful day at Stocks Farm in Worcestershire on Tuesday.

The family run business is set in the most beautiful countryside and as we arrived entering the big house we could see the apple orchards!

There were hundreds of lines of apple trees, they just went on and on. We started with a very interesting talk from our host and owner Ali Capper. It was the first of many times she said how impressed she was with the class and their knowledge around pollination and what plants need to grow.

We were fortunate enough to sit between some orchards and learn how best to pick the apples, who knew there was so much science behind it! You can not just grab and apple from its branch, you must take the apple and twist so the stalk stays attached to the apple, this ensures the apple stays fresher for longer.

Class charter

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(Click to enlarge)

Kestrels completed the class charter today.

The articles that they chose from the 42 in UNICEFs rights and responsibilities were reviewed and we discussed what the children’s roles were, as well as the adults roles. We all agreed that we should be following these at Bells Farm all the time.

To show our pledge to the class charter we all then signed it ready to display in the classroom.
What do you think?

Caring for the world

Today Year 5 discussed what caring for the world meant and ways to care for it.

We made mind maps to show all the different ways that our precious world can be cared for.

There were lots of great ideas:

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As a class we then discussed what some of the difficulties were in implementing these great ideas. We realised that carrying out these ideas posed some issues.

For example it would be good to try and get more people to cycle to school or work. Politicians try to promote the ideas but this takes a lot of paperwork (something which we think should be reduced!). So it seems in trying to care for the world with one aspect, we see that another area is hindered… what could the solution be?

Welcome to Year 5!

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How wonderful to see the children back and eager to start.

Kestrels had a wonderful start to the year. Mr Johnston set them a challenge… they had to work together to cross a section of the playground. Easy? Not quite!

They had three hoops which they had to imagine were boats and they could only place them down to stand in them. No throwing or sliding them. If they touched outside the hoops they had to return to the start. The challenge was to get all of their team members across safely with these three hoops.

Teamwork was essential and the children showed this in abundance. When they realised that it was better to keep the hoops close together their speed really picked up.

Some excellent behaviours for learning were being used- Perseverance, active listening and concentration. Well done Kestrels.