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Walhampton Update 2014

2014/2015

PRE_PREP

On Tuesday 30th September, Year 1 were visited by the Waitrose fruit and vegetable specialist team to help with our science.

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We learned about the major food groups and how we can eat a healthy diet and exercise well. We discovered how fruit is transported around the world and where Waitrose buys its produce from. It’s great to know that they try to buy produce locally and that their strawberries come from Beaulieu. They were excited to know we grow our own fruit and vegetables on site and that they are sometimes on the menu in the dining hall. The tasting session was fantastic using as many senses as we could describe the pineapple, pomegranate and mangos we sampled. The Waitrose team were particularly impressed by the thoughtful questions the children asked and the language they used to describe the fruits.

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Year 2 has been conducting an island study. We have been finding out about the Caribbean island of St Lucia and how it is different to where we live. We learned all about banana farming and the importance of Fairtrade to the farmers on the island. In class we made Fairtrade banana milkshakes and discovered how a banana gets from a farm all the way to the supermarket in the UK. In their music lesson the children composed their own songs all about a banana’s journey to the supermarket.

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Learning in the grounds 2014-2015

Mr Beaman and his Year 1 class visited the kitchen garden and they had a great time pulling out old plants, looking for seeds and studying lots and lots of resident mini-beasts.

“Enjoy the little things in life because one day you’ll look back and realise they were the big things” – Kurt Vonnegut

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As part of our Kindergarden project on hibernation, Steve the hedgehog came for a visit.

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Steve has a very soft tummy, is a very messy eater, has a bristly feeling back, not very good eyes and can roll into a safe ball!

Many thanks to Leander and Alex from Prickly Pals Hedgehog Rescue.

KITCHEN GARDEN PROJECT

Although plant growth is slowing down in the kitchen garden, there are still plenty of jobs to do. Pupils have been busy giving lavender ‘haircuts’, spotting caterpillars and ladybirds, planting broad beans, watering, picking pods off old pea and bean plants to save for the spring and, best of all, enjoying delicious tomatoes and raspberries.

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Using courgettes from the school kitchen garden, the children in the Cooking School made a delicious chocolate and courgettes loaf. And no, you couldn’t taste the courgettes at all! This surprise ingredient fooled most of our “blind” tasters who loved the texture and flavour of this wonderful cake.

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How does your garden grow 2014-2015

The gardening club harvested our prize pumpkins this week – the two champions weighted in a 11.6kg and 9.5kg which made posing for this photo quite a challenge!

We’re sown broad beans and winter salad in the greenhouse which should get off to a quick start in the mild autumn weather.

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Although it is too dark for working outside in the kitchen garden, our keen gardeners were looking forward to next year as they planted daffodil bulbs into pots for overwintering in the unheated greenhouse. When the post are brought indoors in a couple of months the warmth will make them quickly shoot up and brighten the room with their cheerful yellow flowers.

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NEW FOREST ECOLOGY

At the beginning of the Autumn Term in the Junior Department launched ACE into the Junior curriculum. The A.C>E programme aims to educate children about our school grounds, the local community and wider environmental issues. We aim to get the children excited about learning about the outdoors and to be more aware of the community in which we belong. It has three strands that are explored across the three academic terms.

A – ACHIEVEMENT – This term’s work supports independent learning and ignites our children’s curiosity and passion for our grounds. For example: Which animals choose to live in Walhampton’s grounds and why? Children will carry out their own independent project, with guidance and support from their teacher. This term pupils will also be using the DT room to make their own bird box. The approach allows each child to understand how to research a topic, apply the relevant information and communicate their findings.

C _ COMMUNITY – During the Spring Term, the Juniors will be getting out into the local community and engaging with the people, as well as learning about local charities and organisations that make up Lymington and the New Forest. We will be studying how those organisations, such as the RNLI, Oakhaven Hospice and our local museums and libraries, affect and support our community. This term children will be using their design skills by making wooden owls for “Owl Corner” to support our own Walhampton family.

E – ENVIRONMENT – In the Summer Term Walhampton Juniors are going Global whilst staying local. We will look at wider environmental issues whilst remembering how to look after our home, school and immediate environment. From understanding the life of endangered animals to waste management and pond clearing, each child will begin to understand that responsibility has an effect at home and across our beautiful planet. To ensure that this becomes a passion for our children, we will continuously focus on how each person can make a difference on a daily and lifetime basis.

ACE is a bit like a mini Duke of Edinburgh award. The curriculum allows for one ACE lesson a week; a natural step up from Forest School in the Pre—Prep. Gradually, our children will have a broad set of skills that will set them up for their next step in their educational life.

Outdoor learning 2014 – 2015

Imagine if you couldn’t go outside. How would you feel? Why go outside? Year 3 had to consider this in their English lessons. We thought about why we should go outside and what we enjoy doing. From our discussions we then wrote a persuasive argument about the benefits of going outside. This has supported our A.C.E. lessons where we have been in the grounds of Walhampton to learn about the different animals that live here.

“…to get your heart pumping because fresh air gives you energy.”

“…to explore and climb trees and build things out of sticks.”

“…to have fun and feel free.”

“…to get messy and grubby and your face dirty.”

“…to play football in a big place and make goals out of wood and a cargo net.”

“…I like exploring for insects and looking for other creatures.”

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Both Year 5 classes braved the elements for geography fieldwork to study rivers. The morning rain was so heavy that 5NR had a slightly shortened version at Ober water near Brockenhurst in the afternoon. 5SW did manage the whole day. Why did it decide to rain that hard on these two days after so much fine weather? Learning focused on the key river processes of erosion, transportation and deposition. We measured the flow rate, conducted a cross-section, found out what lives in the river and drew a detailed sketch. By being in the river, future classwork will be more relevant and understandable.

Pupils also competed in deadly serious games of pooh sticks, river walk and dabbled in a little geocaching. Look out for a certain Deputy Head out and about in our green and pleasant land engaging in one favourite pastimes! Most pupils would probably highlight the well-deserved ice cream at the end of the day as their best bit, despite the attention of a very pushy horse. All pupils were engaged with their learning and were a credit to the school. Having worked with thousands of children on school field trips, Walhampton pupils do have a particular enthusiasm and spirit for the outdoors. It was great to see some students, who might struggle in the class, with big smiles on their faces and clearly understanding the activity aim. There was not a single moan on either day, despite the river being really quite cold. We should be proud of them.

Year 5 spent their PSHE lesson at Walhampton’s water plant with Mr Hill. As part of the topic on Recycling and Waste we were learning where Walhampton’s water goes what we do to make it clean. The pupils asked some interesting questions but couldn’t quite get over the smell!!!! Thank you Mr Hill for giving up your time and being so informative. Our next task is to make ‘fire lighters’ out of the school waste paper – watch this space!

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WILDLIFE

Kitty Rawlinson’s chicks provided the background noise to lessons in the Science labs when they visited for the day, and even took part in Year 6 lessons! They are called Charlie and Wobble and have remarkably feathered feet.

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You will also be delighted to hear that Gary the Giant African Land snail and his new friend are on their way back to school (slowly!) Suggestions for names for Gary’s friend to Mrs Marshall…

 

ECO-COUNCIL

Our new Eco-reps had a first meeting full of good ideas about recycling and looking after our environment. The first messages they want to share are about pens, compost and saving electricity.

Do you know we can earn money by recycling old pens here at school. PLEASE BRING YOUR OLD PENS TO THE BOX OUTSIDE MR MORRIS’ ROOM.

Have you seen our giant pumpkins in the vegetable garden? Our secret is top quality compost (from lunchtime fruit waste and the stables) PLEASE COMPOST YOUR FRUIT PEELS AND CORES.

The summer sun is going so PLEASE TURN LIGHTS OFF.

Now that the days are shorter we are much more switched on about switching off. Every pupil has their own Eco-duty which means checking the lights in a particular part of the school every day, and earning Eco-points which contribute towards their house total for the end of term Hedges House Party. Hopefully the good practice will extend into our homes too!

We are excited to announce that Walhampton has been asked to be part of an exciting ‘Grow Wild’ project with Kew Gardens to develop our wild flower meadows – great news for our bees too!

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