Mrs Poll: She's back and she's been busy!

It's Tuesday 10th May and our grounds are looking gooooooood! We spent most of today with Mrs Poll clearing stones and bricks out of the raised beds ready to plant all our fruit and vegetable shoots from before Easter! 

Unfortunately some of the plants did not survive over the holidays. Tomatoes, sweetcorn and some herbs haev been wilting away from a lack of tender loving care whilst we were all away from school! Due to this, Mrs Poll very kindly brought in some of hers from home to replace them and now the raised beds are overflowing with life!

Most of the class got involved with the planting however there are still a few raised beds which need clearing out ready for more seeds...so the fun will continue tomorrow!

Over playtime more and more people came along to help out with the project - even Mr Dixon lent a hand.

In the next few weeks Sean is planning to come in and begin work on our orchard. This is very exciting and we can't wait!  Not only can you perch on the end of the large wooden tubs and smell the gill, corrriander and parsley...but hopefully soon you'll be able to pick an apple from a nearby tree and enjoy the fruits of our labour!

Play Research at its Best!

All in the name of research, we spent the morning playing in and around our new outdoor learning space. It was brilliant! We arranged ourselves into groups of four and were given different areas around the grounds to play on. We thought about all the games and activities we could play in each area and jotted them down on our clipboards.

Some of the ideas we came up with were brilliant and very unique! In the stage area below Tree Island we thought we could put on shows such as 'Padiham Green's Got Talent' or perform dances and songs. We thought about linking our play to our work and sharing our stories or poems infront of an audience too.

Deep in Tree Island there were chances to climb trees, make dens, hide and swing on the low branches. It was so much fun!

Caitlyn's group came up with the idea of playing 'I'm a pupil get me out of here'!

On the snail mound so many good ideas were discussed. The boys thought about using that space as a relaxing, chilled out place to be. They decided there was a great chance to find shapes in the clouds, bird and plane watch, read books quietly or just sit and look out across the grounds at their friends playing. 

Around the pole area games such as cat and mouse were talked about, as well as using rope or ribbons to wrap around the poles and make mazes or puzzles. If we used large peices of materials we thought we could make dens, hideouts or different rooms of a house. Tig and chasing games would be fun too.

On the paths around the grounds we decided we could use chalk to create pieces of art work or write stories. We could also write numbers on the paving slabs and throw bean bags to collect points!

         

When we returned to class we presented our ideas on large posters and shared them with the other groups. Overall we decided that the school playground and the field were great places to run, shout and be free, but the Island Project space should be an area where children can be quite, thoughtful and rest. It could be a place where you can talk to your friends, walk, play and have fun in a more chilled out way.

What do you think?