Recent Projects

Pumpkins with Parents

Projects established by the AEBA initiative have facilitated strengthening parent partnerships and fostering reading for pleasure with the FS2 children.  We began with reading ‘Pumpkin Soup’ by Helen Cooper which we brought to life by tasting pumpkin soup.  This had been made by gathering pumpkins grown by AEBA volunteers in the area which they had cultivated on the school grounds.  Parents/carers were then given the opportunity to harvest the vegetables needed to make their own pumpkin soup at home either for their immediate or extended family or for someone they know in their community.  The children were provided with wooden spoons to re-enact the story at home during their soup making.  They particularly enjoyed decorating these with pictures from the story.

The Gruffalo

The children in FS2 went to the local Buck Woods looking for the Gruffalo, along with their parents/carers/grandparents. After following the tracks left behind by the owl, snake and fox they came across a creature with turned out toes and a poisonous wart at the end of his nose!  Oh dear, oh no! It was the...

Gruffalo Crumble

The children in FS2 were so familiar with the story of the Gruffalo that they invited their special adults to hear them retell it with their teacher in our school orchard (which has been  planted and tended to by the AEBA volunteers).  Here they learned about fruit producing trees, sampled some delicious apple crumble then gathered some apples and pears to make their own versions of Gruffalo crumble.  The children's adults took some home to make with them later whilst the children delighted in adding Gruffalo character illustrations to bowls from which they could enjoy the fruits of their labour.

Titch

After many discussions about how we change over time, we shared the story of 'TItch' by Pat Hutchins.  

This inspired us to plant a sunflower seed and see how that changes over time and whether or not it grows taller than us. 

Beyond the 4 Walls

The children have been working closely with Dom and Buddy the dog to explore the natural world around them.   This has supported them to make  progress across the prime areas and particularly with their the personal, social and emotional development.