Sunday Morning

On Sunday we had to have our suitacases packed and put away in the main building so that the cleaners could prepare the rooms. After breakfast everyone went into the sudio for a session with Carol, David's wife. She was running the workshop today and had organised the tables and resources. It looked like it was going to be another creative activity. Mrs Bell took a photos of the handmade stamps Carol had made as she thought they were clever. Mrs Bell loves learning from other people, which is what family learing is all about.

Carol explained the task of making murals. She wanted to included some of the William Shrewsbury special symbols with them e.g our acorn sign. Soon there was a busy air of productivity going on. Carol, David, Mrs Hunter and Jessica went around helping different tables.

Mrs Bell did some 'blogging'!

Last Night!

After dinner, we went into the lounge where we got split in 2 teams. David had organised a game of 'Play your Cards Right'. Jessica was his assistant and did a grand job. The blue team were fairly competitive, but got some unlucky cards! Everyone had fun with this, although David asked some difficult questions!

This was followed by poetry reading. Some parents were brave enough to read out their brilliant poems, some were strongly encouraged by their child. Mrs Bell hoped the parents realised how clever they been over the weekend, learning so many things about what they could do and what their child was capable of too.

Mrs Hunter read a story again this evening. It was an amusing story, and all the audience enjoyed it. After that we went over the arrangements for the next morning before thanking David for the weekend. The lace making group invited us to go and look at what they had been learning this weekend.

Parent took the children and were amazed by their interest in this craft. They asked interesting questions and noticed all sorts of wonderful things about the bobbins that are used to make intricate patterns.

The ladies were pleased with their enthusiasm and remarked on the good manners of our pupils.

The oldest lady (she was 89!) said we ought to be very proud to have such great pupils. Mrs Hunter and Mrs Bell WERE very proud.

PENDRELL HALL DINNER PARTY!

When everyone was ready for dinner, we went into the grand dining room. The adult Lace making group, who were having a weekend at the college said,

"We wished we had known we could dress up! You all look marvellous."

The girls were wearing pretty dresses, some with matching jewellery. The boys looks as if they were going to a wedding! it was very impressive. Mrs Bell tried to sit with all the girls, but the table was fully booked. So she sat with David, Steve, Matthew and Joseph. She thought she was the lucky one to be surrounded by so many handsome, smart males!

The dinner was wonderful - melon, followed by the most tender chicken with fresh vegetables and a delicious bakewell tart with custard. Joseph enjoyed his dessert very much. He thought the pudding looked like it was floating in custard.

Afternoon Fun at Pendrell Hall

The midday activity was a fantastic Number trail. David gave families some clues that entailed counting, looking for shapes and even working out hard multiplication! Maths has never been so much fun. Children were rushing from one clue to another, trying to get as much achieved as possible in the time given. It was great fun!

After a delicious lunch (calorie free, too, David assured us!), we set off to do more activities. Parents were given a break from their children. Jessica worked hard with the children to make some wonderful marzipan fruits. They looked brilliant, colourful and delicious.





Mrs Bell helped the children to make origami candy bags and a box. It was quite hard to do this but everyone coped well and produced a bag and box each. The sweets were attractively arranged for the children to present to parents later.








Parent in the meantime were creating POETRY. Mrs Hunter used a well known poet to demonstrate how similies can be used for effective writing. Parents used this style to write a poem about their children. There was some hard thinking going on whilst parents wrote! The results were amazing and did have some parents in tears! Words are very powerful and to be able to use them to describe people they love made the session emotional.




To calm the situation down, David made kites with the families. Parents had to listen carefully to instructions to help children made kites that WOULD fly in the wind.
They were well tested out - Mrs Bell heard the noise whilst trying to do some MARKING in her room. By the time she came to take photos, the rain had started and everyone was coming back in! Too late, Mrs Bell!


This fun activity was followed by learning a second language. Jessica did some Spanish with parents whilst Mrs Hunter and Mrs Bell helped the pupils to write an entry in their diary. This was followed with aerobics and some PSHE games. Everyone had a great time! Jessica then taught the children a little Spanish. They worked hard to learn numbers to ten, some greetings and some colours. Well done, everyone!

It was soon time to get ready for the POSH dinner. We couldn't wait to see Matthew and his dad in their smart shirts!

SATURDAY MORNING at Pendrell Hall

The morning dawned, nice and dry. Miss Hunter was up bright and early and managed to go for a run before everyone else was even up! What a healthy way to start a day. We needed the hearty breakfast, which was served in a buffet style to get the energy for the morning activities.

David Evans talked about the history of Pendrell Hall and then showed us around the gardens. He gave interesting facts about the Gaskell family and pointed out different things as we walked. The staff were happy to see the Building Learning Power had given children the ability to notice, make connections and ask good questions. All the learners, adults and children found the tour interesting.








This led to the Nature trail that Mrs Hunter had prepared. Families went out with clip boards to collect natural materials. The learning objective was to find something that began with each letter of the alphabet. Some letters were easier than others, but no-one found anything that began with 'Q'. Mind you, there was some VERY creative thinking going on!



All the materials were later used to make the BEST collages ever! Mrs Bell explained the need to use colours imaginatively to produce a picture that was done from sticking the things down from nature. The pupils knew we had to plan first and try different arrangements out. Harry's mum thought she wasn't artistic but felt reassured when the children reminded her that, 'Art is NVER wrong.'


The results were asbolutely amazing!

FAMILY LEARNING RESIDENTIAL - First evening!

The bus arrived, promptly! As it was a small bus, it came on the school car park. Imogen and Emma WERE ready with their suitcases - what a relief! As everyone came on time, the bus left efficiently. Michelle and Keely followed Mrs Bell in the car. The journey was quite quick although it did become very dark and wet during the journey.

When we got to Pendrell Hall, we were allocated our rooms. Some people were upstairs, others were downstairs. Harry and his mum ended up in room 13, unlucky for some! They found the room to BE interesting! Joseph and his mum had the biggest bathroom, whilst Adam's mum found their bathroom brought back memories of the days she used to be a long distance lorry driver. Mrs Bell and Mrs Hunter found this information very fascinating.

After a lovely meal of fish and chips (yummy!), we went into the studio for games that helped us to get to know each other better. The 'Choo Choo' game was very amusing, as was the 'Find your Partner' game.

The aim was to make a noise of the animal on your card, listen for the person making the same noise and go to them! You've never heard noises quite like it!

Mrs Hunter shared chocolates, and then read the children a bedtime story. After everyone had enjoyed that, they chose a book to take to their bedroom and went to get ready for some sleep. The staff prepared the room for activities the next morning before heading for to the bar for some tea! !

Maths Lesson on Fractions

On Friday 9th November the parents met with Mrs Bell. They discussed a few things related to the trip in the evening first. The children then came into the study room to show parents how maths is taught in Year 3. The learning objectives of using digits to make numbers and learning about fractions was shared.
First the group went over the vocabulary that is used with fractions. The word, 'equal' is very important as the portions have to be equal to be correct fractions. The children folded paper into sections, starting with a whole, leading onto halves, quarters and eighths. It was interesting to watch children making connections e.g they realised that 2 quarters was the same as half, and that one quarter and three quarters make a whole.

The work naturally led to learning about fractions of numbers. Mrs Bell was impressed with the knowledge the children had and all the connections they made. Parents watched and became aware of how one concept can be used to learn other things in maths. Although there was no recording, other than learning how to write basic fractions, there was a lot of new learning going on.
The session finished with the children using digits to make 2 digit numbers. Some children used a systematic approach, whilst others made random numbers. This was not a problem - the next step to progress would be to use a system to become more efficient at maths.
We finished by going over some details for the evening when we start the residential learning at Pendrell Hall.

The children were highly excited, one or two parents were feeling nervous! The bus leaves at 4pm and dinner is at 6.30pm. When Imogen's mum came to pick her up, she was yet to pack!