Sherwood Forest Trip

Last Tuesday we went on an adventure to Sherwood Forest. When we got there we met our guide. His name was Robin of Wentworth and he is one of Robin Hood's Merry Men.  Then we listened whilst he talked  to use about robin hood. It was really interesting.

Next we went for a long walk through the deciduous forest. We saw woody, thin Silver Birch trees with rough bark and wide, huge Oak trees. We walked a little bit further and saw the gigantic Major Oak. What an humongous tree it was!

After that we made animal habitats with a guide called Becky. Our favourite habitat was the one that was made for a hedgehog because it had lots of sticks and grass.

Finally we got back on the coach and went back to school. We were exhausted! What a wonderful, spectacular day we had!

By Connie, Kaynan and Oliver C

Dig and Chips!

On Wednesday 13th April some children and their grown ups stayed after school for the 'Dig and Chip' event. We had to all wait outside of reception so Mrs Patel and Miss Coburn could give people jobs and areas to work in. 'First I went to help Mrs Patel clear the dead plants from the Sensory Square' - Amreet. 

One of the jobs was in Class 8 to make crafts for the shaded area. Jack and Jared made wind chimes and a bird house. To make the wind chimes we had to paint a wooden triangle on both sides, followed by attaching keys to the bottom to make the noisy part. Some of the other jobs in Class 8 were to make feely boards using wool, pom poms, sponges and cds. We also made things to hang from the ceiling called sun catchers. 

It was a very sunny day so lot of people chose to work outside tidying the garden areas and planting new plants. 

After all our hard work we charged into the hall to get our chip butties. What an exciting day it was! The chip butties were soft and fluffy and we couldn't wait to tuck in. 

By Amreet, Jared and Jack

The Sensory Den

After our 'Dig and Chip' event last week, we have now completed our Sensory Den and we can go and enjoy it. 

Inside, each of the walls have a theme of the 5 senses. As it is a Sensory Den we had to make sure it had things to show sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste. Outside the entrance on the sides of the hexagon we have pots of special plants called herbs which you can smell and taste - although only grown ups can let us taste them! Inside on one wall we made feely boards for people to feel the range of textures, we liked the sponge best because it was soft and squishy. On the next wall we have wind chimes that were made at Dig and Chips using keys that make a magic tingling, jingling sound when the wind blows. On the final wall we have sun catchers that make the Sensory Den look like a colourful disco when the sun shines and they reflect on the floor. 

Finally we have a super, special chair for story telling. It is made out of a Sycamore tree and has been beautifully carved into the shape of stacked books and a mystical castle. The seat part of the chair is made of an open book that says 'Once upon a Ridgeway time...', We are so excited to start using our new Sensory Den!

By Izzy, Aimen and Leianna

A special STEM assembly

After the Easter holidays we came back to school and the first job of the day was going to a surprise assembly in the hall. Miss Coburn started the assembly by recapping our STEM days throughout the year so far. What hard work it was!

Miss Coburn announced that our beautiful, magical story chair had been finished and put inside our new shaded area. She put lots of interesting photos on the screen to show us the finished chair. The whole school were shocked and amazed that the chair was already finished and looked so fantastic. 

Next we had to do a very important job. Miss Coburn explained that the shaded area didn't have a name yet, so we needed to vote. Some of the name suggestions were 'Sensory Den', 'Sensory Hex', 'Sensory Hub' and 'Sensory Hut'. After we had heard all of the names we each had a cube and class by class we went to the front of the hall to make our decision.

In friday's assembly the new name was announced. We were so excited to hear the result! The shaded area is now called...

The Sensory Den!

By Arzoo, Liyanna and Jasleen

STEM Day 3

On STEM day 3 we investigated shadows and searched for existing shading in our playground. We know that a shadow is formed when an object is blocking the light. We found that there are a few shaded areas already on the playground but not enough!

After that we showed our VIP guest (Sam from Rolls Royce) how to test materials to see if they block light. As Scientists we used scientific language to describe the materials. We know that transparent materials are not a good material to use for shading because they let all or a lot of light pass through them. Translucent materials are not suitable either as they let some light pass through. We found that the best materials would be wood or plastic as they are opaque and waterproof.

This week the builders have been working hard to fit our new shaded area (made from wood). This area will help to keep us sun safe, do more learning outside, keep us dry when it rains and give us a space to sit and relax with friends at playtime's. We cannot wait to start using it!

All of Class 8

MADD Week!

This week has been MADD! That stands for - Music, Art, Dance and Drama.

Class 8 had the challenge of looking carefully at Discussion Dolphin - that's one of our new school values. Throughout the week we had to put together a class performance to show the other classes the story of Discussion Dolphin, to show what he represents! He say's 'look, listen and share' and shows us how to be good communicators. 

Some of us were narrators, some were dancers, others were musicians and the rest of us were actors and actresses! We really enjoyed practising and performing our performance. We even learnt a new funny song!

We also had the challenge of creating a large piece of artwork in the shape of Discussion Dolphin. We used powder paint and pointillism. We had lots of time to explore the technique and to explore mixing shades of blue's and grey's. 

Our visitor this week was from West End in schools. He taught us some crazy, strange and funny dance moves and we had to dance to lots of styles of music. The girls had to show lots of attitude and the boys showed lots of style! It was very creative and fun!

Jasleen, Mia, Aiden, Zakariya, Jasmine and Grace

School Council Trip

The school council trip was AMAZING! We went on a coach with the other school council children to the council houses. When we got there we were allowed to go upstairs into the Chamber. We all had a name tag to tell us where to sit. When the Mayor arrived he showed us how to press the button to talk through our microphones. It was cool! We got to ask the Mayor questions and hold our very own school council meeting right there in the Chamber like real Councillors!

We had the very important job of deciding which shaded area we would like to buy as part of the 'Sensation Activation' Rolls Royce project. We talked about the good and bad things of each type of shading and said what we liked and disliked about them. Eventually we decided we liked the wooden shading best because it is waterproof and it will help to keep us sun safe.

After our meeting we got to see the Mayor's office! He showed us a big clock and a chair that had been sat on by Queen Victoria! We liked the swords and weapons that he had hung on his walls.

The trip was awesome and we want to go back!

Jake and Oliver P