Y6 Residential – Hollowford 2019

It’s interesting that the journey to Hollowford always seems to pass more slowly than the journey home – possibly because we are all awake for the whole time, whereas on the way home most children sleep for part of the way. Still, we passed the time with Top Trumps, boxes, hang-man and consequences. I love the moment when, “Are we nearly there yet?” and, “How much longer?” turns into gasps as the scenery changes into the Derbyshire hills, and the hedges are replaced by stone walls and the children start showing us that they speak fluent sheep… “Baaaah!”

The first task, once we have unloaded the bags, is to make our beds by using the inside-out duvet cover trick. It looks easy when the centre-leader demonstrates, but takes some mastery and there are always one or two children (Isaac!) who seem happy to settle for their duvet being balled into a lump in the middle of their cover.

Anyway, all the beds having been nicely made, we ate then set out for a walk to Odin’s Mine. This is a beautiful romp across the fields, over brooks and stone walls and up the hill towards the foot of Mam Tor where there is an old lead mine. We saw tiny new-born calves – and it turned out that many of the children were fluent in cow too – especially Kira.

We chatted about caves and mines, and relived parts of the Sherwood Hoodies. We stopped to watch two cows butting each other, then made our way back to the centre, nicely worn out and ready for bed.

So, now the children are tucked up in bed with their cuddlies in their hands and – hopefully – already dreaming about what they will be doing tomorrow. They are certainly nice and quiet

We had a little bit of drizzle this evening, so let’s hope the weather holds out for the week.

Mr Leicester

DT Moving Animals

Congo class children have been making moving animals in DT using crank mechanisms. Ethan explains how to make a prehistoric animal with a moving tongue!

Inter-House Maths Challenge

Fantastic News!

We now have winners of our inaugural (first) Inter-House Maths Challenge!  It is Cygnus (Blue) House!

With 206 points, they beat Apus House (Red), who had 160 points, followed closely by Aquila (Green) with 148 and Columba (Yellow) with 141.

Four children from each class went through to the Grand Final, each representing their House. Each contestant had a round of mental maths, then a timed round, to write as many answers as they could!  The whole school was in the hall to support them, so no pressure!

Daisy, one of the finalists said, ‘I felt a little bit nervous at the start. Then I was happy.

Korbyn, another finalist said, ‘The best bit was when we were actually doing the maths!

Multimedia Volcano and Earthquake Models

Year 3, 4 and 5 children have made some amazing multimedia volcano and earthquake models. Materials used include papier mâché, card, Lego … and cake!  Some of the earthquake models even moved!  (Well done all those children who used the circuits knowledge we’ve learned recently.) We particular liked those models where children had labelled the different parts of a volcano. And fantastic effort all those children who made videos of their work. We particularly enjoyed watching these. Many thanks to parents and carers.

Key Stage 1 RE Easter Day

In Key Stage 1 we had an RE day focusing on the Christian festival, Easter. We recreated the Easter garden, made Easter cards, discussed the importance of the cross and made biscuits with a cross on. We also discussed the Easter story and had an Easter egg hunt with the story on the back of the eggs. We worked in our house teams to find all of the eggs and put them in the correct order. After that we got to try a hot cross bun and eat our Easter biscuits that we made.

Year 1 Forest School Spring Day

We spent the day outside looking at the changes that take place in spring. We had a great time building dens, painting spring pictures, making bird songs, adapting our bug hotels and using our digging area.

World Book Day at Fressingfield Primary School

Fressingfield Primary School was overrun with more than 120 of our favourite book characters on Friday 8th March as the school celebrated World Book Day. Matildas, Grandpas, Artemis Fowls, Mary Poppins, Princesses, Fantastic Mr Foxes, Horrid Henrys and many, many more characters were present, all overseen for the day by Mr McGregor, Peter Rabbit’s arch-enemy!

Children from Year 1 to 6 worked in mixed-up groups on a series of fun workshops to explore some of the teachers’ favourite books. The Mary Poppins group made kites with Miss Brown. The Stickman group made wonderful stickmen, then took them on an adventure around the school with Ms Robertson and Mrs Waring. Mrs Tooley oversaw the Worst Witches as they destroyed the activity area with their stinky spells and potions. Another group created a drama of Don’t Forget Tiggs with Ms Perry which they filmed and watched back. Mrs Borrett, dressed as a giraffe, read Giraffes Can’t Dance to her group, then taught the children in her group to boogie. Mr Leicester read Lost and Found to his group and the children made wonderful clay penguins and a little stage for them to plod upon. Mrs Buckenham rediscovered her rebellious childhood and taught her group of children to write poems as naughty as those in Please, Mrs Butler. Worst of all though was the Horrid Henry group, led by Mrs Adamson, who created sling-shots, pea-shooters, stink-bombs and other horrid inventions which they merrily used on each other.

Everyone enjoyed themselves immensely, and the teachers were hugely impressed with the children’s costumes (well done mums and dads!). Let’s hope the events of the day encouraged our children to pick up another book and lose themselves in it.

Happy reading, all.
Mr Leicester

History of Medicine at the Longshop Museum!

Key Stage 2 children had a fantastic time visiting the Longshop Museum at Leiston recently. They dressed up in Victorian costumes and even brought a Victorian packed lunch with them! All through the day, they did a variety of activities, including handling old-fashioned medical objects, learning about great Victorian medical discoveries and role-play, putting themselves in the role of Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, Britain’s first female doctor! Incidentally, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson was the niece of one of the owners of the engineering works, which used to be on the site of the Longshop Museum.

Charles, in Year 5, says, ‘I enjoyed myself there, and especially enjoyed handling the objects. We looked at things like a Victorian bed pan.’

Lewis, in Year 5, says, ‘There was also a Victorian stethoscope. It made a big noise, like a dinosaur.’

Zoe, from Year 5, says, ‘I wasn’t so keen on my Victorian packed lunch, but I did like dressing up as a maid.’

Anyone who wants to visit the Longshop Museum, with their own family, can find details on their website. www.longshopmuseum.co.uk

If you would like to find out more about the life of Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, visit the website below.
BBC Bitesize – KS2 Science – Proud to be a Doctor

Hollowford 2017 Day 4

Cavers’ Fashion Week hit Hollowford today, with many of our children choosing to get involved: Christopher, Erin, Katie, Jodi, Elsie F, Jessica A, Kian, Phoebe, Declan, Elisabeth, Jessica T, Amy and Grace all took the catwalks sporting fetching all-in-one outfits, accessorised with black belts, green wellies, hard-hats, and lights. Caving itself suits some children (Kian, Christopher, Phoebe, Elisabeth and Declan) more than others, but all impressed their group leaders and guides by descending ever deeper and going to the very end despite rising panic. Erin, Katie and Jodi were especially wonderful, conquering their fears in ‘the Hippodrome’ by singing hits from the Wizard of Oz. Christopher, Elisabeth, Phoebe, Kian, Declan, Elsie F and Jessica A performed a science experiment far beneath the ground using a polo mint; they had been told that, in absolute darkness, a polo gives off a tiny spark when it is snapped in two. So, having turned off all head torches and allowed their eyes to accustom to the dark, a polo was duly snapped by each child and… nothing happened. No light. Science aside, the children were incredible, disappearing down the tiniest of tunnels and commando-crawling through muddy puddles on their tummies with me slithering behind desperately trying to keep up.

Other activities today included the High Ropes and, again, this activity suits some more than others. Step forward Elsie F, who raced up the ladders and pegs, sprung confidently off the Leap of Faith pole and was chosen to try the lean-out-challenge. She had to balance on the top whilst others climbed up, then hold on to Flis from Worlingworth and lean out as far as they both could go – impressive stuff. The other person who stood out was Grace who spent 25 minutes wobbling on the top of the pole, trying to gather her courage for the leap off. Her determination to do everything, despite her fears, has been impressive all week.

Elsie C, Nathy, Bella and Edward were also very pleased and impressed with the raft they built today which they rowed to win two races.

Many of the children have enjoyed getting to know others. Amy has really enjoyed making friends with children the children in her group and her sportiness has also been noticed; she was first up the high ropes. Mr Hepburn has talked about her cheerfulness and the way she has got involved with everything.

This evening saw the return of the Hollowford Talent Show with a variety of different ‘talents’ on show, including singing, poetry, dancing, doing the worm, throwing a bottle into the air (!), magic and ballet. I’m pleased to say that Phoebe and Elisabeth came joint first with their poem – it helped that it was very flattering about one of the judges (me!).

Fressingfield girls – Grace, Amy, Erin, Katie, Jess T and Jodi are also the overall winners of the tidiest room competition. The Fressingfield boys, despite a sterling effort to improve the chaos in their room – and a noticeable improvement in standards, came last. Oh, well.

And now, the drying room has been emptied of wet clothes, the walking boots have been given back to the centre, the caving gear has all been hosed down (by the children) and hung up to dry, the children’s things have been packed into bags and they are all tucked up asleep. Tomorrow we leave after breakfast, exhausted, proud of our achievements and happy.

Hollowford 2017 Day 3

Today we spent the day in our school group and with the children from Worlingworth Primary. As the other children set off to conquer Mam Tor, we headed down into Castleton for the altogether less challenging task of browsing the gift and sweet shops of this beautiful town. It is impressive to see how many gifts can be bought for just £10 whilst still leaving enough to buy giant gobstoppers, edible money, nerds, millions, flying saucers, chocolate rocks, toxic wastes and sugar mice from, what must be, the world’s most comprehensively stocked sweetshop.

We also climbed the steep slope to take a look at the ruins of Peveril Castle. The children loved the (slightly daunting) views of Mam Tor from the top and then distracted themselves by rolling down the grassy banks, taking photographs, waving at the sheep in the gorge below and visiting the keep.

That’s when Elsie C began her campaign: “I think I’m developing a bit of a temperature Mr Leicester, I’m not sure I’m going to be able to climb up Mam Tor… I’ve got a bit of a sore throat Mr Leicester, cough, cough… I really don’t think I should be going up there Mr Leicester, it would be considered cruelty to children if you forced me… it’s probably against the UN Convention for Children’s Rights, cough, cough.” The campaign continued throughout the final dash around the last souvenir shop, the jog back to the centre just in time for lunch, and throughout lunch itself. Cough, cough. At 1:30, as we gathered in the lounge with walking boots on, water bottles at the ready and covered with suncream to meet the guides, Elsie appeared – her face and hands covered with little red spots. Cough, cough. “You see Mr Leicester – I think I’ve got chicken pox.” She almost convinced some of the adults too, but not the wily Mr Leicester. The ‘pox’ seemed remarkably easy to rub off and Det. Inspector Bella informed us that she had seen a packet of felt tips on Elsie’s bed with the red sticking out! Dastardly!

Needless to say, all the children were fantastic on the walk – Elsie included. Declan deserves a special mention for soldiering on despite a sore knee, the results of a fall earlier in the day. Edward and Elsie F ran the last stretch, getting to the top in tied second place. Jodi kept me company as we walked and Mrs Sheldrake helped encourage some of the stragglers and we all – all – made it to the top: a fantastic achievement.

The descent was fuelled by the sweets the children had been allowed to bring with them from their morning shopping. It is interesting to observe the effects of the consumption of an entire stick of rock on an eleven year old, and both Erin and Katie were keen to demonstrate; see the photos if you’ve never witnessed it first-hand. Jessica A was certainly impressed – albeit slightly bemused. I think both girls were so full of energy they would have happily gone back up and done it all over again.

The evening saw the appearance of the Room Inspectors, and I am pleased to note that Erin, Katie, Amy, Grace, Jessica T and Jodi were joint winners of the tidiest room. Their greeting in French, the aroma of Grace’s perfume, the perfectly folded clothes and towels, neatly lined up shoes and immaculately made beds (with teddies tucked in, but arms over covers) helped them to a 19/20 (and another sweetie prize!).

And again, needless to say, I have insisted that all the children have brushed their teeth before going to bed.