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!