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Yarrells Preparatory School

We have been very busy!

The Big Schools Bird Watch 2013

Once again this year, children at Yarrells have taken part in the Big Schools Bird Watch organised by the RSPB. This event allows the RSPB to compile statistics to show how our bird populations are changing from year to year. The bird feeders around the school were topped up and various activities arranged by staff members contributed the experience and involvement of our pupils in this important initiative. Year 4 settled down for an hour to watch for any visiting garden birds. The results were a little disappointing as they only saw a total of 9 birds during the hour.

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Mrs Way mentioned that the data will still be valuable information for the RSPB and useful in maths work on data handling to make bar charts and pie charts. She also commented that the children have become experts on the green woodpecker, our school emblem, and they went on to write their own book about common garden birds.

The Reception children are especially excited because Mr Brady is in the process of setting up a bird box outside their classroom complete with an internal camera to enable the children to view the birds inside. This is in addition to one we already have outside the senior maths room that has given the children a remarkable insight into the life of some local birds.

Fairtrade

At Yarrells we are very pleased to be actively supporting the Fairtrade Fortnight. The staff is passionate about this important cause and they have been working with the children to help them understand the significance of Fairtrade.

We have held various assemblies considering aspects of Fairtrade, including one led by a Fairtrade representative. On a Wednesday morning, our Year 4 class gave an excellent presentation to the school and they challenged us to think about whether farmers, who work so hard to produce crops, are being treated fairly. Some children have attended a Fairtrade symposium with Mrs Cuthbert, and they also spoke to the school about what they learned. They encouraged us all to make the right, Fairtrade choices.

Mrs Cuthbert has brought in various types of Fairtrade tea and coffee for staff to sample, as we are deciding on our favorites to serve in the staffroom. Today we held the eagerly anticipated Fairtrade tuck sale arranged by the Student Council and it was a great success!

Older members of the school council ran the sale with Mrs Cuthbert and made a huge profit.?Children were very pleased and thought the chocolate and sweets were yummy!

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Year 5 practical activity in maths making Banana and Chocolate Chip Loaf

Year 5 made banana bread with Fairtrade ingredients. It was a success and they practiced their weighing, measuring and arithmetic skills whilst having lots of fun.

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Our Reception children had such fun in our woods one Friday. Maddy and Jill from Dorset Forest School had the children busily engaged in all sorts of activities. They began the session by reading “The Stick Man”, and the children went on to create their very own Stick Men. They used tools to craft the wood, and added their own creative touch. They then used natural materials to make homes and beds for their ‘stick people’.

Everyone was rewarded at the end of the workshop with a tasty marshmallow biscuit cooked over an open fire – yum!

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There was also much excitement generated by the discovery of an injured hedgehog and its dramatic rescue thanks to the efforts of Year 6!

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The kitchen garden was inspected for ‘Upton in Bloom’.

Four inspectors were expertly guided around the garden by Max Ghazawy and Millie Talwar from Year 1 who talked about the fennel and mint in the garden. Kira Cook and Oliver Murphy from Year 2did a great job explaining planting of the pumpkins and squash from seed. Gina Corr from Year 3 who deserves a special mention for her commitment to the Year 3 gardening club, explained to judges how the carrots and raspberries have been used by Mrs Fellows in the kitchen. Joseph Stickney did a great job describing the process of measuring the beds and rotating the crops around them. Finally, Nathaniel Merrell shared the process of planting and maintaining the rhubarb, potatoes and tomatoes. All these children deserve hearty congratulations for the work they did and the way they explained all the hard work that goes on in the garden.

We must also thank Denise Cuthbert, Erylene Andrews, Jane Turgoose (Lily Mumford’s mum), Michelle Merrell (Nathaniel’s mum) and Mrs Whitfield (Lex Grace’s grandmother) who have tirelessly worked on our gardens with children to ensure they reached the high standards expected for Upton in Bloom. The inspectors recommended we enter into the competition in our own category next year as this would gain acclaim for Upton (our local area) and the school in its own right, recognizing the hard work that goes into this.

Through all the wonderful work happening in the garden we are enabling our children to experience the wonder of cultivation. A huge thank you to everyone involved!

During summer camp this year we have raised £25 by selling the broad beans, courgettes, butternut squash and beetroot all grown by children in school to go into the seed fund for next year.?Thank you gardeners, thank you volunteers and thank you parents.

 

Apple Week

Year 4 children have celebrated the joys of the humble apple recently. These juicy fruits have cropped up in lots of their lessons, from following instructions to making an apple mobile in English to bar charts of favourite apple flavor in math’s. In science, the life cycle of an apple tree was studied and in geography, the children looked at the air miles travelled by various apple varieties. The highlight of the week was making a delicious apple crumble with Mrs Fellowes, which was enjoyed for lunch.

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