Natural Art in the Woodland Garden

Year 2 were very excited to create some wonderful collages using natural materials found in the Woodland Garden but no glue or paper was to be seen anywhere! We carefully laid out our pictures and patterns made of twigs, leaves and other natural materials on the grass or in the outdoor classroom and took pictures using an iPad so that we can print them out to make a display. Our imaginations ran wild and our teachers were amazed by what we produced. We were pretty pleased with ourselves too and many of us concluded that we had surprised ourselves and really enjoyed this alternative type of artwork. We were excited to see an article about similar artwork in the National Geographic Kids magazine and Mrs W is thinking about submitting our pictures to the magazine as they are looking for examples to include. I wonder if you can guess what these creations are?

We’re back!

We have returned to school with a spring in our step despite the fact that Autumn is in full flow. We have been having great fun with leaves this week, playing in them and thinking about the way they sound, look and feel, in preparation for writing some poems about Autumn leaves. We returned to our classrooms and wrote lots of words which we will be able to use in our poems. You can see how much fun we had from these pictures!

London Landmarks

The Florence Nightingale Museum is located in London and is well worth a visit if you happen to be in London at any time during October half term or indeed any other time! It is close to Waterloo station and is situated in the grounds of St Thomas’ Hospital; there is a small entry charge. The museum is only small but is a great introduction to the story of Florence Nightingale which we will be learning about after the break.

Another landmark relevant to our Y2 topics is the Great Fire of London Monument which is situated at Pudding Lane, next to Monument tube station. If you are feeling energetic, or wish to tire the children out, why not climb the 311 steps to the top to enjoy an amazing view of London? Click here for information.

Have a wonderful half term break and don’t forget to practise on those violins and ‘cellos!

A Boot Boy and a Scullery Maid…

Having worked hard all day, Mr Grafton gathered us all together in the parlour to tell us who had been lucky enough to be appointed as scullery maid and boot boy. The new recruits were delighted but looked less sure of what they were letting themselves in for when they heard they would have to report for duty at 5.30am, 7 days a week and work until 10pm every day except for Sunday when they would be allowed to visit their parents in the afternoon as long as they had been good…
In the parlour there were lots of interesting and exciting objects to identify. Some were more familiar than others!
We returned to school happy but exhausted after our day of hard graft.

Victorian Fun and Games on the Lawn

Mr Grafton the butler decided that we had worked so hard all morning that we would have the chance to play with some Victorian toys before our well-earned lunch. We had an amazing time! There were no iPads, iPods, Ds devices or anything else electronic but we absolutely loved running around with our friends.
Ben – I liked the toys. I liked the hoops and sticks best.
Sophie – My favourite was the stilts.
Samuel – My favourite thing was playing with the cup and ball outside.
Honor – I loved playing with the hoop and stick. It was very hard to do it.
Rupert A – I loved the hobby horses – they were great fun!
Ralph – I was good on the wooden horse.
Matthew – I really liked playing with the cup and ball.
Josh – I liked playing on the stilts.
Joseph – My favourite thing was playing with all of the Victorian toys.
Grace – I liked playing with the Victorian toys. I liked the stilts. I felt happy when I got there.
Coco – My favourite thing was playing with the toys especially the hoop and stick.
Archie K – I liked playing with the Victorian toys just like the hoop and stick.
Eliza – I liked playing with the Victorian toys.

Laying the Table, Victorian style!

Our table laying task was more complicated than we first thought. It was for a light four course lunch, including a fish course and wine, so three different plates were needed as well as three different types of knives – a butter knife, a fish knife and a dinner knife. We had to be very careful with the real china plates and real wine glasses. Our senior servants (normally our teachers and TAs) looked a little nervous! We also had to fold a napkin neatly. Some of us got to try folding a napkin into the shape of a crown – not easy but look how well we did! Here is what we thought!
Sam – I liked setting up the table.
Luke – My favourite thing was setting the table because Mrs. Wallace got to say a score out of 20. Me and Oliver tried our hardest.
Marie-Anna – I really liked laying the table!
Bobby – My favourite bit was all of it! I liked setting up the table.

Anyone for Pie?

Making a pie crust proved to be a very popular activity. We were given a ball of pastry and were tasked with rolling it out and stretching it over the back of a tea plate to represent a pie. We then had to crimp the edges to look pretty and use the leftover pastry to decorate our pies. Some of us thought about what might be inside them and made pigs (pork pie), apples (no need to explain) or cherries for the top. Others simply decorated them with pretty shapes. We were rather proud of our efforts!
Here’s what we had to say about the pie making:-
Rupert O’B – My favourite thing was making the pie crust. I was scared at first but it was fun.
Candela – I liked making the pie crust!
Ellie-Bella – I liked the part where you had to make a pie crust. I felt a little nervous but then I did not feel nervous at all.
Oliver R – My favourite things were the pie crust and the Victorian toys.
Oliver C – I liked making the pie crust.
Amrita – my favourite thing was making the pie crust. I made a face and it was beautiful. I got 18 out of 20.

Washing Day, the Victorian Way!

Lots of us really enjoyed using a posser to wash the clothes and scrubbing them on the washboard before putting them through the mangle (safely!) and hanging them carefully on the clothes horse. The soap had to be swished around in the water from a special wire basket. We decided it must have been really hard work doing all the washing without electricity. Here are our thoughts about the washing:-
Poppy – I liked the washing. I was a bit afraid when I was using the mangle but I did it!
Harry – My favourite bit was the washing.
Eva – I liked the washing and using the mangle. I liked rubbing the clothes.
Alec – I was terrified when I had to do the mangle but I soon did it and I found that it wasn’t that bad at all!
Monty – I love Wisbech Castle. My favourite was the mangle. It was great fun. First I was scared then it wasn’t bad at all.
Archie W – I was scared but it was fun!

A Victorian Adventure

Yesterday was finally the day that Year Two have been waiting for – trip day! We excitedly boarded the coach to Wisbech Castle and set off for the day. It had been rather strange getting ready for school in the morning as, instead of wearing our usual school uniforms, we were wearing Victorian style clothing. When we arrived we met Richard who explained what would happen. In ICT this afternoon we used Publisher to record our thoughts and feelings. They will appear on the next few posts…

Bulb planting

Year Two have been busy planting bulbs this afternoon. We have chosen daffodils in the hope of a lovely display in the spring.
Mrs Laxton and Mrs Bain helped the children. The bulbs have been planted in the Year Two area of the woodland garden.