Summer time

THE RAIN FELL AND LEAFY WAS VERY HAPPY




Summer colour from the 'weeds' around the school


Clay figurines from class seven


Mosaics from recycled tiles - class seven


Pirates were a big theme with the Griffin series being read. Red, Green and Blue pirates and sea horses stole the summer.


These folders will contain the works of art the kids have been amassing over the year. And their main lesson books.


Nature table - summer




THIS IS MY GNOME AND HIS NAME IS FIDDLE> FIDDLE LIKES TO GO AND PLAY WITH HIS FRIEND AT THE TREE HOUSE THEY BUILT

Apologies for the terrible out of datedness of this website. We've been so busy and i've been remiss in updating. Which isn't to say that things haven't been happening. Far from it. The kids returned to their writing over the last term and they have produced some amazingly exquisite things. Oisin now writes without having to think too much. It is astonishing to see how they take it in and give it out with such grace and with such little effort.

Writing poetry and playing with words were apparrent in the conversations that were emerging from the children. Large sheets of paper were covered in spidery scrawls with certain rhythms of words. None run for the bun - said Oisin, one day, explaining a rhyme which his group had done. Paintings took on the dreamy, hazy shimmer of summer with watercolours remeniscent of gardens after rainstorms.

Eurythmy continued apace and today, unfortunately, i missed the eurythmy performance put on by the school.

But what i didn't miss was the St Johannes bonfire, which was followed buy Sports Day.

More class seven work - the rime of the ancient mariner - the albatross and the ship. The haunting quality of the poem is captured by the artist and student Alex

Massive 3D map of Ireland as done by class five.


Part of the Olympics preparations


Plant study - laurel


History of Cardiff - Class five 10 years

Of hedgehogs and frog princes

It has been an enchanted summer. Not least because of the way the children have been slowly and sweetly begun to read and do their numbers. It is so very different from the way that i was taught and journeying with them has been a previlege. It is like watching a flower blossom in their own time. Or a tadpole become a frog. Or a frog a prince. Here are some pictures from the last week. I'm sorry i didn't take any from this week. But you can be sure, it's all beautiful.

Summer!!!

Numbers and geometry


Timetables that magically appeared over the weekend


Dressed up for the maypole


Snails and spirals


Trolls and ogres...


Taking attendance in the morning.


Recorder playing in the morning as part of verse.


When they're a little older maybe they'll play for the maypole dance!!


Queen of May's throne


Presentation of flowers


Kindergarten beautiful in flowers


Here come the boyz


Quiet appreciation from Class One


May Queen accepts the flowers


How gorgeous is that?


Enthroned and surrounded by her offerings


Class One takes to their paces



Multiplication is the order of the day as the summer arrives and things rapidly reproduce themselves. The classroom is in a mini upheaval with woodlice hotels, snail stops and spider houses. The children are mad about the mini beasts that have invaded and i am now told that there is a race of sorts to get as many of these things as possible. Oisin has begun a woodlice box which we feed with apple peelings and keep moist and dark. Zora has over fifty woodlice, we are reliably informed.

I took Jago and Oisin over to Rathlin Island and it was fantastic to hear how the maths lessons have been taking root in their awareness. They were happily subtracting and adding almost without thinking - considering that i've never ever done homework with him, it's almost like magic.

After the mid term break, they'll be back to their letters. And then by the end of June, they'll be done. I can't quite believe it. That will be class one done.

Bean bags and the secret of counting

What do beans have to do with learning maths? Put them into bags of ten and find out.

As spring springs spritely along, the children have returned to counting. As the world about them multiplies and divides they too learn how to do the same with numbers. Far from being the dull and tedious exercise which i remember in my childhood, this foray into the world of numbers is filled with colour and imagination. They put together bags of ten and have now learnt how to add mentally - and subtract as well.


Money bags!!


On the blackboard Tracey has given them exercises to do.




Into the Maths main lesson book go the numbers, money bags and of course, toadstools...




From the nature table---the blue bell fairy peaks her pretty little head.


Colour pencils line up like faithful soldiers at the ready.

Planting time

It's been weeks only because we have been off for the Easter. And last week i managed to get the class on their first late day - Thursday. They now stay back till 3 pm. The subject Tracy is doing for Thursday afternoon is gardening. Here the class are in their little veg plot.






John McCormick doing an interview with his future employees...

Last day before Easter break

Nature was the main lesson over the last five weeks. It began with the story of spring and the children prepared these beautiful books. Seeds were sown, the season was observed, eggs were painted, etc, etc.

This verse, for instance was read by the children. It is vital that not only nature is studied, but that it also informs all the other subjects that they do - in this case reading. It is this interconnectivity that is unique to the curriculum, reinforcing what is learnt during that period of time, both vertically and horizontally, thereby giving the children a deeper and more profound understanding of what is being taught.






The Easter egg tree, decorated and painted by the children.


Lis, the German assistant, left today, as her stint was over with the school. But she also left this verse which sums up Class One.


Here is Kolya's amazing gnome book!!! It should be published really...










Here are the Main Lesson results - the Spring story books.


Each child came up with two sentences of their own - and then did a drawing. In this one, Oisin said, The Mother Hen Awaits Her Chicks. And the drawing behind is a watercolour of a mother hen on her nest.


The seed trays were taken home to be tended to. Hopefully they WILL sprout.


Lining up to sing their song at Assembly.


Spring is coming!!! was sung with great adorableness and a collective ahhh!!! errupted from the audience when they had done.