St Charles, 27.01.21 & 28.01.21

The week’s theme with all classes was ‘birds’, in order to coincide with RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch this weekend.   We did our own bird watch and saw seagulls overhead; geese in the distance; and wood pigeons and jackdaws perched on nearby chimneys.  With Y3, we played a game similar to predator and prey but called it ‘cat and birds’. We decided that it’s a hard life being a bird, having to constantly watch for predators – we wouldn’t last very long.  One child worked hard on a brick birdhouse, complete with pizza slices and a sofa (made from brick, of course) which led to a discussion about how we could look after the birds at forest school; so we’re planning to make bird feeders next week.   We also went on a ‘bird hunt’ to find pictures of birds hidden around the area. KS2 classes had to match the bird pictures to written descriptions and KS1 had to match to different pictures.

Some real persistence was on show today in Y4 when one child wanted to have a go at sawing wood for a pendant.  She recognised that the act of sawing itself was not difficult, but it was was tiring.  She didn’t give up and even though her arm was aching, she was at pains to point out just how easy she found it.  It was good to see that she could make the distinction between a task being difficult and it just being laborious.  She blew into the groove, getting rid of the sawdust so she could measure her progress.  Her self-talk revealed a positive attitude to challenge.  The others immersed themselves in a game involving a king, a queen, a princess and a terrible betrayal!  There was a lot of very purposeful running back and forth and sticks were waved madly in the air. 

The infant bubble allows no time to draw breath and it was whistle stop games, bird hunt, stick decorating and table frame shelter building.  Some children did a great job of the washing up and some of them have learned how to fold a tarp. A mud hole provided an opportunity for some to make a potion, and a couple of boys worked together to build what looked like an architect-designed bug shelter. 

We continued the theme of birds with Y5/6 today.  During the bird hunt, it was interesting to observe the different approaches that various groups had towards the task.  Some zipped off straightaway, determined to be first or to be the most accurate; others enjoyed the opportunity to talk, walk and ‘work’ at the same time; while one group of four prevaricated to such an extent, that they couldn’t even decide who was holding the pencil.   Task avoidance was a theme today and there had to be some press-ganging into doing any tidy up jobs!   There was a lot of fun had by balancing on a plank of decking in the mud and of course, an encampment appeared – this time made using the tarps and a ridge line instead of the usual table frames.  We had hot chocolate and biscuits but there wasn’t much appetite for talking today.  The children always enjoy making Mr B a cup of coffee and so a couple of them chopped kindling for the ghillie kettle, using a mallet and knife, set the fire and fed it until it boiled.