News

Searching for Funghi and mushrooms at Forest School. The children took out magnifying glasses, and identification guides to see what they could find! At Forest School, children embarked on a captivating exploration of fungi and mushrooms. Armed...

A highlight of the end of term, was when Willow Class (Year 4) took their Roman shields to the playground, engaging in Roman Army drills and even picking up some Latin along the way

Our Big Build Castle construction in Sycamores (Reception and Year 1) is now nearly complete and the children have been creating some loose part shields as additional features, to enhance their structure. Next term we will be continuing our build...

The Winter Festival last weekend was a fantastic and joyous success. A heartfelt thanks to all who contributed to its magic. A special shoutout to Nadine and the Friends Committee for their exceptional efforts in organising the event. Your hard...

Sycamores (Reception and Year 1) have continued to reuse and recycle materials in their castle build. Our favourite new tool is called a pallet breaker which has made dismantling pallets so much easier! The castle is coming together! The children...

Sycamores (Reception and Year 1) went searching for animal tracks at Forest School. The children found some unusual white prints in the woods and followed the trail. They also spent time exploring animal track identification charts and thinking...

We celebrate the start of Advent each year with a beautiful lantern festival. Each child makes a lantern and we welcome the community in to celebrate the start of the festive period by lighting the tree. Well done to our children for their...

William Morris has been the inspiration for art in Elder Class (Year 5 and 6). The children looked at different William Morris designs and used them to inspire their black line work.

Chestnut Class (Year 3) have been cutting, gluing and painting, as our Anglo-Saxon settlement slowly begins to take shape. When it came to thatching our roofs, it was good fun and got a bit messy too!

Sycamore Class learnt that long ago people would not have had pens to write with so they had a go at writing letters using quills. It was quite tricky! They even used melted wax and a special sycamore leaf stamp to make their own wax seal on their...

Elder Class (Year 5 and 6) have completed their Zoetropes in DT. They have used lots of skills including measuring and cutting accurately, fitting together component parts, and designing and drawing their own moving...

In science the children in Year 5 and 6 have carried out investigations to learn about electro-magnetism. They have designed investigations, made careful observations, and recorded their results using scientific...

"Wheels on Wednesday" is the day we all eagerly await on the Sycamore calendar each month! Children bring in their bikes, scooters, or even roller skates, honing their skills and enhancing core strength and balance, building ramps and designing...

Woodwork is a continuous provision in Sycamores. A woodwork shed, with real tools and resources leads to fantastic creations every day!

On their weekly Toasting Tuesday Oak Trees (Year 2) cooked apples on the firepit. They were also very busy building on the woodwork bench and even spotted a mouse!  

Oak Trees (Year 2) have delved further into our Tudor topic and have found out about the 'War of the Roses.' We re-enacted the Battle of Bosworth field and learnt about Henry Tudor who was the father of Henry VIII. Afterwards we used red and white...

In cookery Sycamore children enjoyed making some Medieval Gingerbread. They made breadcrumbs and combined them with a honeyand spice mixture. We will be collating all of the recipes we have been using this half term and making our own class...

Each Tuesday Oak Trees (Year 2) have 'Toasting Tuesday' where they decide on a snack to make and toast or cook on the fire pit in Infant Garden. They have been busy, chopping, mixing and cooking falafel. They enjoyed choosing what to have in a wrap...

Acorns everywhere, Sycamores Reception and Year One have collected lots of acorns from the lawn and then spent some time sorting them, checking them carefully for tiny holes. The children were really excited to watch something squeeze out of the...

Sycamores have been thinking about our surnames and family crests. Some of the children and teachers shared their family crests and we looked at the different animals and symbols. We found out that the colour of the shield and the pictures all had...

At Forest School the children in Elders (Year 5 and 6) have made earth candles to remember their ancestors

Spotted at Forest School

Willow Class (Year 4) have been learning about the wool cycle and how important weaving textiles was to the people living in the Iron Age. We looked at how wool was processed into yarn and then dyed and woven together using different methods. The...

Chestnuts (Year 3) have been making pinch pots and coil pots at Forest School to fire on our upcoming Ancient Technologies Day.

One of the stories we like to listen to in Kindergarten after lunch is, The Smeds and the Smoos. This week the story has inspired our learning at the water tray, one tray was filled with Smed water (red) and the other with Smoo water (blue). What...

Sycamore Castle Build Continues Work has continued on our castle in the garden. The children have been busy nailing planks into place and showed great team work and problem solving skills. It’s great for the children to be able to put their...

Kindergarten Cooking With the vegetables left over form the harvest celebration, Kindergarten decided to make some delicious vegetable soup. Some of the children helped to peel and chop the vegetables, while others helped by tasting the finished...

This week at Forest School year one headed to ‘the land that time forgot’ or ‘dinosaur swamp land’ in the woods. We clambered down ‘the ravine’ and had fun exploring and trying not to get stuck in the mud. The children then found the perfect place...

Forest School with Sycamores!

Elder Class (Year 5 and 6) have been learning all about Victorian Britain. They have been on the first of their two educational visits to Preston Manor. They enjoyed a self-guided tour dressed in Victorian costume. In the next few weeks they will...

Kindergarten have been making the BEST bubble mixture EVER!! (that’s what the book title claimed). We gathered in a circle and took it in turns to add and mix the ingredients. Was it the best bubble mix ever?...It really was! Using the bubble wand,...

Our Reception children have been on an exciting adventure at Forest School, where they've been uncovering and identifying various mushrooms and funghi.

Willow Class (Year 4) have been looking at hill figures in our topic lesson. As well as talking about our (non-Iron Age!) local hill figure (the Long Man of Wilmington) we were particularly drawn to the Uffington Horse, a beautiful chalk figure...

At forest school we have been cooking sweet chestnuts on the fire. At Elder Class Forest School (Year 5 and 6), while the chestnuts were cooking, some children climbed trees and others whittled hazel wood to make butter knives and model...

We’re taking part in Cut Your Carbon! Helen (Forest School Teacher) and the Eco Committee have been working on an initiative through Eco-Schools called Cut Your Carbon. November is Cut Your Carbon month! Eco-Schools is challenging all young people...

Our whole school topic this term is "Long long ago". In Sycamores, Reception and Year One have been looking at castles. Last week the children were busy looking at how castles changed over time and thought about which castles would have offered...

Sycamore Castle Build As part of our whole school 'Long Long Ago" topic - Sycamores have been investigating Medieval Times and learning all about castles! To make this come to life, the children have decided to build their own castle in the Infant...

Excited to be sharing our practice with Froebelians in Poland with a lecture from Debby Hunter, our Principal! Thank you for your kind words Froebel Poland: Debby Hunter, thank you very much for your lecture. The words you addressed to us were very...

The children in Willows (Year 4) learnt how to use a shave horse and draw knife. They then used this new skill to strip the bark off some willow staves so that could then be turned into an Iron Age warp weighed loom. Working in small groups they...

Community Gardening Day On Saturday around a dozen families gathered to get started on a range of projects around the school grounds. The sun shone all morning, and we achieved a huge amount. Many parents had also generously donated plants and...

Thank you to everyone for your support for the Winter Festival. It was a fabulous day and greatly enjoyed by everyone. It has been such a long time since we have been able to share such an event and it was lovely that we could hold it in the...