Year 1 Butterflies
On Monday, during Outdoor Learning Day, Class 2 joined Class 1 to help release the Painted Lady butterflies. Each girl watched their own caterpillar grow and change into a chrysalis, these were on display at Open Evening. Over the half term, the butterflies emerged ready to be released into the school grounds on the first day back!
As you can see from the photos the girls had a lot of fun seeing the butterflies close up and watching them fly away.
Year 1 & 2
We had great fun imprinting natural materials into clay to give our creations texture. We enjoyed our photograph hunt. Some of the objects were very tricky to find because they were close ups! We made houses for teddies from natural materials found in the field. We took photographs of objects made from different materials such as metal, plastic, concrete, porcelain, rubber and glass with IPads. We released the butterflies on the field and some of us held them before they flew away. We even spotted ducks on the school drive. We really enjoyed our lunch on the field too. Everyone agreed it was a wonderful day.
Class 3 & Reception
On Monday 3rd June The Granville had an outdoor classroom day! Class 3 had such a great day, but the best part (and the tastiest!) was the apple roasting. These are the steps we followed:
- Choose a strong long stick from the woods
- Hold the apple in one hand and twist the stick into the top
- Roast it on the bbq or fire pit for about 7 minutes
- Choose your flavour of sugar! Cinnamon sugar or plain
- Roll your apple in it
- Eat it and enjoy!
By Amelie and Jess
On Monday morning, our first activity was with Reception class. We did an egg drop! Reception had been learning about habitats and so when we were looking for materials to make a nest, it needed to be soft and malleable but also strong enough to support the egg. We went to the woods for a materials hunt, before going to the field to create our nests. We then threw them out of the window! Only one groups egg survived – many eggs cracked all over the floor!
By Sasha and Sophie
Years 4-6
On Monday, blessed with wonderful weather, the school took part in their first Outdoor Classroom Day. The school grounds were buzzing with excitement and energy as lessons and activities took place outside. Children could be found all over the grounds – on the field, in the playgrounds, Up Woods and on the terrace.
Year 4 spent the first half of the morning making fabulous dens in the woods, scouring the area for sticks, carrying huge logs up steps and assembling their dens using tarpaulins for the roof. All the dens were amazing – some even had wooden flooring made from bark or planks of wood, whilst other dens had beds, fireplaces, tables and chairs all fashioned from what the girls could find. In the afternoon, they went up to the little clearing in the woods and had a great time doing the beginning of Midsummer Night’s Dream with some instrumental accompaniment.
Both Year 4 and Year 6 did scavenger hunts round the grounds. Afterwards they all created some beautiful nature artwork on the field inspired by Andy Goldsworthy. Both classes were also able to have their Maths lessons outside: Year 4 used iPads to find different types of angles and Year 6 undertook activities measuring area and perimeter.
In French, Year 4 performed some role-plays in the cloister gardens – the amphitheatre seating gave the perfect view! Year 6 girls undertook the challenge of a blindfold ‘course d’obstacles’ – working in pairs, one girl guided her blindfolded partner through a tricky maze of Year 6 girls, all the while giving instructions in French. They were all delighted to successfully reach the end and find their ‘trésor’!
Year 5 girls created beautiful leaf rubbings and Tudor knot gardens with cress as part of their History topic. The knot gardens are still in the very early stages and once they have begun to grow, there will be photos in the newsletter – watch this space!
Using semaphore flags, Year 6 girls had great fun sending messages to each other. At the end of their session, they had a quiz where one girl sent a message and everyone else had to guess it.
Perhaps one of the highlights of the day was the picnic lunch of sausages in a roll and ice-lollies on the field for everyone. Everyone had a marvellous day and it was wonderful to watch all age groups working and playing together. We can’t wait for next year’s Outdoor Classroom Day!
