Autumn
This term, we have thoroughly enjoyed our Forest School sessions! One of the highlights was a wonderful walk to Knole Park, where we collected a variety of natural resources to use in our outdoor activities. Throughout the term, the children have taken part in a range of engaging and creative experiences, including learning how to safely make and start a fire, crafting beautiful autumn wind hangers, leaf printing on clay, minibeast hunting, nature sketching, and even designing and building their very own mazes. After all their hard work and teamwork, the children were treated to a delicious jam doughnut — handmade by themselves! It was the perfect way to round off a fantastic series of Forest School adventures, celebrating both their creativity and their growing confidence in the great outdoors.
In English, we have thoroughly enjoyed learning about warning stories. This unit was inspired by our first class text of the term, The Minpins by Roald Dahl. The story tells us about the Minpins — tiny, secretive creatures who live high up in the trees and travel from place to place on the backs of birds. To help spark our imagination, we went on a Minpin Hunt in the Meadows to see if we could spot any signs of them. Unfortunately, we didn’t manage to find any real Minpins this time — but we did discover some very tiny wellington boots on our class display, which we’re quite certain must have belonged to one! We then had the exciting opportunity to write our very own warning stories. The children really embraced this challenge, producing imaginative pieces filled with wonderful vocabulary, suspense, and fantastic writing features. It’s been such a fun and creative topic to explore!
In Science, we have really enjoyed focusing on rocks this term! We began by learning the names of different types of rocks and using magnifying glasses to carefully observe their features. Some of the rocks we explored included slate, granite, chalk, marble, and many more. Next, we carried out a fun (and very tempting!) chocolate experiment to help us understand the three different types of rocks — sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous. It took a lot of willpower not to eat our “rocks” before the investigation was complete! Finally, we tested the permeability of different rocks to see which ones allowed water to pass through. We have had a brilliant time becoming mini geologists and discovering just how fascinating the world beneath our feet really is.
