Huge well done and thank you to everyone who contributed towards our Harvest offerings this autumn. Today, our new School Councillors sorted all the gifts before setting off to King’s Foodbank in Kendal to deliver a boot full of food and drinks.
Our Reception children have been learning all about the letter ‘g’ this week. On Monday they met two very friendly guinea pigs to introduce the letter sound of the week and since then they have been learning how to recognise, say and today, write the letter g! The children loved writing the letter g on our new classroom screen this morning demonstrating good pen control and grip, as well as formation. Well done everyone!
Well done to all our participants in years five and six who have been put through their paces on two wheels this week. Following an assessment within the school grounds on Monday; all our keen and skilled cyclists ventured out onto the roads of Levens Village to develop their understanding of how to keep themselves safe on our roads. Certificates and badges to follow in one of our Friday Celebration Assemblies.
Spooky! With Halloween fast approaching, Scafell class have had a go at making their own terrifying mummies!
As we’ve journeyed through the traditions and achievements of the Ancient Egyptian civilisation, we’ve found out lots of fascinating things, but none more gruesome than the mummy.
When somebody important died in Ancient Egypt, it was very important for them to be buried in the proper way so that they could live well in the afterlife. Grand tombs were constructed (otherwise known as the Great Pyramids!), offerings of gold and food were made and bodies were preserved through the process of mummification.
We thought we’d have a go at making our own with a tomato (it turns out there’s a lot of paperwork involved otherwise!). First up we needed to wash our fruits, before disembowelling them and removing everything inside. The innards were stored in Canopic jars and protected by the relevant Egyptian God as the body moved on to the next process – drying. Our tomatoes were immersed in “Natron”, just like the Egyptians used, in order to suck out all of the moisture and dry the body completely to prevent decay. A week later our shrunken, dried tomatoes were removed from the Natron and inspected so that they could be wrapped in bandages and placed in a tomb.
From here, Scafell are in the process of also producing some excellent writing for their English and using a range of sources to develop their historical knowledge, as well as identifying when and why sources disagree on a topic.
Check out the photo gallery for some great pictures of our trainee embalmers – but please note, it’s not for those with a weak stomach!
We walked down to St John’s Church in the glorious sunshine on Thursday to take part in Experience God’s Goodness in Creation. Members of St John’s congregation lead stations for us to visit focused on Harvest and the wonders of the natural world.
Harvest of the earth, the soil, the grain, the oceans and the animals involved us in drawing, using our sense of touch, spotting things in pictures and thinking about where things come from that we might take for granted!
Many thanks to all the volunteers from St John’s who made this experience so engaging and especially to Pam whose thorough organisation ensured a smooth and successful morning.
Back at school we have made pledges about how we could make a difference and these are on our tree in the library. They are really worth a read as there are good ideas for us all. If we can each do a little bit, those little bits add up to a big bit! What might you pledge?
Thank you to everyone who came along to our first Toddler Taster session of the year in our wonderful new outdoor area. Despite the rain, we had so much fun: making creations in our mud kitchen; chasing dinosaurs; exploring in the sand; pouring water in our water-wall and dam; cutting up spaghetti; mixing colours and making patterns with paint and foam.
In Skiddaw Class we have been thinking about how our words, as well as our actions, can upset other people. Our morning involved playing some circle time games and listening to one of our favourite Mr. Men stories, We also created life-size silhouettes within in which we wrote examples of unkind things people might say to each other. Each comment was then transferred into tearing away part of the heart. Soon the heart was badly damaged and beyond repair. We considered how even the smallest unkind words can actually do so much harm to the people around us. Skiddaw’s message – think before you speak – words can hurt just as much as sticks and stones!
Following our berry picking on Monday, we have now made Autumn Jelly. We added some of Phoebe’s apples to the berries and rose hips we picked. Here is a copy of the recipe in case you’d like to make some too. Autumn Jelly Recipe
Here we are eating it! It tasted just like jam, it was delicious and sweet.
This morning we celebrated Harvest at St John’s Church, The children led the service which included contributions from every class in songs, poems, prayers and reflections on the importance of saying thank you and making extra efforts to not waste the wonderful food we have. Our school councillors will be taking all our gifts along to Kendal Food Bank so our neighbours in need in our local area will benefit from our kind donations. Thank you all for your contributions and to Rev Bryan and all at St John’s for helping us mark this important time in the church year.
We’ve been out and about in the sunshine exploring the school grounds and the wider village to find examples of seeds. We know that plants disperse their seeds using clever tricks to spread them far and wide. They use the wind, water, catch a ride on an animal, burst or shake, drop and roll or disguise the seed in a juicy berry.
We were especially looking out for berries. Some are only fit for birds and other animals to eat. A few special ones are good for humans to cook and then eat! We picked some blackberries, rowan berries and hawthorn berries as well as a few rose hips. We will be using these to make some Autumn Jelly.
We came back into school and sorted our finds. Finally we made careful observational drawings of our treasures.
