Reception and Year 1 had a misty start to the week on their first Francis Holland Foresters’ trip of the year to Wimbledon Common. They had a marvellous time outdoors getting muddy, building resilience, learning new skills and problem solving.

Reception spent the morning building mini dens for their hedgehogs, after studying the story One Winter’s Day. They learnt all about hibernation and the key principles of shelter building: retention of heat, shelter from the elements, and protection from predators. They then took these skills and built their own life-size shelters using a variety of materials such as leaves, logs, rope and tarpaulin. In the afternoon, they went on a ‘sound’ scavenger hunt, searching for and reading their tricky red words, and the phonics sounds that they are learning about in the classroom. They then used the sounds that they saw printed on leaves and built words with them. Following this, they made their own nature crowns, using materials that they had found in the forest and then had a royal parade to show off their creations. Well done Reception on your very first school trip! You all did so well, and we were very impressed. You should be proud of yourselves.

Year 1 began their day by discussing the kinds of houses that the characters from the Magic Faraway Tree would live in. They then used evidence from the story to build their own Magic Faraway Tree houses, complete with a circular house for Moon Face and a yellow front door for Silky the Fairy, as well as a living room with a fireplace! They then put their building skills to the test by building technical Ridge Line Shelters to protect themselves from the elements, using a variety of materials. They even enjoyed making pretend campfires and cooking their pretend marshmallows! They worked hard to study the knots that they needed for the shelter and displayed excellent teamwork skills. In the afternoon they went on a nature scavenger hunt, looking for different natural items and thinking up their own adjectives to describe each item. A wonderful day was had by all. Well done Year 1!

Miss Pople, Year 1 Class Teacher