201 - 23.05.13 - Yarm School

News from around the classes ...In the Dales with Year 3: the full story!Last Tuesday, the Year 3 children embarked of the adventure of a lifetime! For many itwas their first time away from home and parents; a big deal when you are only 7 or 8!The first hurdle was having to get through Monday’s maths and English lessons, whenall they wanted to do was join Year 4 in the Yorkshire Dales.Bags had been packed since Sunday, and Tuesday couldn’t come fast enough for them.With the minibus checked and full of fuel, bags, packed lunches, children, Miss Brysonand Mrs Jennings, the group set off towards Richmond travelling through sunnyLeyburn and Bainbridge before arriving at a soggy and hail-lashed hut in the heart of the Dales! Nothing could dampen the spiritsof the children – they thought it hilarious that Mrs Jennings forgot to close the window and they were pelted with large hailstoneswhilst trying to find the location! On arrival, the Year 4’s were returning from a walk from Alum Pot and were drenched, but theyhadn’t noticed. They were pleased to see the Year 3 group and to share news of the exciting things they had seen and done, as wellas giving them the grand tour of the hut! The Year 4 group appeared to have matured and become more independent in the 48hours they had been away: they helped organise the dining room, laying the table without being asked, sorting out the food anddrinks, and politely keeping the Year 3’s in check with table manners. They explained what would be expected of them and had sethigh standards from the start; Year 3 continued them throughout their stay.As a reward, the children were given the treat of trying wild garlic!After Year 4’s departure, the real fun started – caving! Wearing hard hats, headtorches and harnesses, the children explored a cave and an underground waterfall:amazing. Mr van Opstal and Mr Clifford were extremely knowledgeable andexplained the formations of the caves in detail. Blinking into the sunshine outside(yes, really!), head torches were switched off and a ghyll-scramble followed. Formany of the children, this was the first time they had been asked to climb a streamin wellies. The rocks were slippery and in places the children had to grip the rockswith their finger tips in order to balance on the edge of a pool of water. Despitedifferent initial reactions, all the children managed the challenge well; the teacherswere delighted with the positive attitude demonstrated and moreover, those whohad dreaded it at the bottom were beaming from ear to ear with pride at the top.Back at the hut, the children had tea, put wet clothes in the drying room and organised the sleeping arrangements. Each step of thetrip was a first for the children, even sleeping in sleeping bags for some. They wereall very well-behaved at bedtime – exhaustion and excitement might havecontributed to this!On Wednesday, the weather didn’t disappoint... it was pouring down! Once again,it didn’t dampen anyone’s spirits. Activities were arranged appropriately and wevisited a limestone kiln, where a film crew was filming a movie for the cinema nextyear – a World War II film. Afterwards, we visited a falconry centre, where theyheld a barn owl and met Vera, the largest lappet-faced vulture, aged 40, and thesmallest vulture, Wesley.The trip whizzed by and soon we were heading home on a heavily-laden minibus. The return journey was somewhat quieter thanthe journey out! The children thanked Mr van Opstal and Mr Clifford by writing them letters and making them a card. It truly wasa trip of a lifetime and one the children will remember forever.Slugs and Snails and… Reception!!Last week at Forest School, we were looking for minibeasts. This hassparked off a lot of interest in Reception and we have carried onsearching for all sorts of minibeast this week. Mrs Willis went intoher garden one evening and collected lots of slugs and snails; wewatched them moving across sheets of plastic so we could see whatwas happening underneath. The children noticed what happened ifthe snails were frightened; some of them noticed that they could seethe muscle underneath moving as the snail slid across the plastic sheet.Of course, the first thing everyone said was “Urgh! It’s slimy!”.