Planting and building!

We've nearly finished working on our Everybody writes area. On Friday, three lovely benches were delivered from B&Q, and Rachel has said that they will be sending us some more in the next few weeks! The writing area is becoming the most well-resourced part of the playground.

Today, Year 2 helped Tony (our ex-caretaker and ex-LSA) to plant all the fragrant plants that B&Q have given us. I know that Tony likes gardening, but I think he prefers it in the peace and quiet of his own home! We all enjoyed getting our hands dirty! And all of the plants survived!

Then we 'helped' Tony assemble the benches! There is going to be some jostling to sit on the 'special' benches tomorrow.

Miss Proctor

Outside lessons!

Everyone in Year 2 enjoyed their sentence work today, because it was outside in the sunshine!

After writing sentences starting with, 'At the weekend...' they then shared their work with each other. Some of them had had a very busy weekend!

They definitely wanted to write more than usual, because writing outside "feels different!"

Miss Proctor

Writing in the sunshine!

Now that the sun has started to shine, the children are really beginning to make use of the writing area.
Play leaders have been given the responsibility to look after the area, which has really helped, as the children sometimes forget to tidy up, and pencils and paper are left scattered around! Some children just seem to enjoy watching other children write!

We are still waiting expectantly for the delivery from B&Q, so hopefully it will be this week.

Miss Proctor

Pots and Plants!

We had visitors from B&Q today, with the first part of their delivery, lots of pots and plants. At the moment the area is quite minimalist, and it will be great to add a little plant life back in it again.

My class were all very excited and wanted to touch and smell everything, and are looking forward to getting their hands dirty!

Hopefully, some benches from B&Q will be delivered next week, which will mean that whole classes will be able to work comfortably in the area. All we need now is for it to stop raining, so that everyone can enjoy the area before the winter!
Miss Proctor

Shocked children!

After the news in assembly today, the children rushed into the writing area to see what damage had been done. They couldn't believe that anyone would want to spoil it! Many of them went to check that their hand was still on the tree, and were quite upset to find it missing!

Some children were still finding bits of ruined work on the ground, and were giving it to me to mend. All of them want to make the area 'special' again, to let the vandals know that they can't beat us!

Miss Proctor

The new term!

It was a little bit disappointing to find out that the area had been used in the holiday, but not in the way we expected! Lots of the things that the children had made had been ripped down or broken. Luckily, we had put all the benches away, as an older bench in the playground had some rather unpleasant writing on it! That is definitely not the sort of writing we want! It is such a shame when all our efforts are spoiled by the thoughtless few. I know the children will be very disappointed when they come in on Thursday. We will, of course, think of things we can do to make the area special again.

Miss Proctor

Writing on clothes!!!

The last day of term meant that everybody was writing... but on the Year 6 children's clothes!! It's amazing how many children want to write on a sweatshirt or a T-shirt... perhaps an idea for the next Everybody writes day?

It really was very busy all playtime and lunchtime!

At the end of the day, the writing area was used for a different purpose... to celebrate the end of another busy, eventful year. It was great to be sitting in the area that we all helped to create. Hopefully, we'll continue to develop the area next year, and use it for some outdoor writing lessons.

Thanks to all the children and adults that helped to make Everybody writes and art week really special! Don't forget to add any ideas for next year, to the blog.

Miss Proctor

Business is booming!

Sunny days have meant that everybody is crowding into the Everbody writes area. There is, of course, lots of talking as well as writing, but it's really great to see the older children spending time with some of the younger ones.

When children see me with the camera now they ask me, " Are you going to put my photo on the blog?" Everbody wants their moment of fame!

I talked to Rachel from B&Q today, and she says that they've placed an order for some benches, which will arrive in September. So, that will be a great start to the new school year, and hopefully we'll have a late summer, and will be able to use the Everbody writes area throughout the Autumn term. It looks like we might be have longer than a year at our current site, so we will really be able to develop the writing area, in lots of different ways, next academic year! We have added some 'mirrors' to the area, as suggested by one of our parents, and we would welcome any other good ideas!

Miss Proctor

Before writing comes talking!

The Everybody writes area is beginning to be used for lots of other things, not just writing at playtimes and lunchtimes. Today Blue class had their Fruit time in the area, and spent the time chatting as well as munching. And, as we all realise, unless the children can talk fluently, they will never be able to write well.

Other classes have already used it for storytime, and for quiet reading. I'm sure that we will be using it for so much more over the following year.

Miss Proctor

Writing before school!

Early morning is proving a popular time to get a bit of peace and quiet in the Everybody writes area. Later on in the day, there is not much opportunity for quiet reflection! When the novelty of the area wears off, I'm sure it will be a calmer writing area!

Miss Proctor

Visitors to the Everybody writes area!

Today, we were visited by Liz and Amanda from Asda. They brought with them a special eco puppet and an recycling game to play with the 'letter writers' from Yellow class. We were all really glad that we could say thank you to Asda, face to face, and I think they saw how much use the benches were getting, and how they have helped to transform the area.

Ellie-Mae gave them a special letter, to say 'thank you', and some lovely photos of the children using the benches. We are all very keen to develop our relationship with such a kind, local store, and hope to plan some visits next year. We will, of course, be linking these visits with writing!

Miss Proctor

A lot of rain!

A very wet day today, so all the children were confined to their classrooms, and only the local wildlife visited our writing area! But, during wet playtime in the computer suite, two children asked if they could write their own comments on the blog. So the writing continues...

Miss Proctor

A little sunshine!

The children just about managed to use the writing area today, in between all the showers!
Lots of children are bringing in notebooks, to write down their special thoughts. Some seem quite happy writing (and drawing!) on the whiteboards. At the moment, the blackboard seems to be very popular indeed!

The bench seems to be a favourite spot for friends!

Miss Proctor

Wow!

As Redbridge's Art Co-ordinator, I have been amazed at the creativity displayed by both the children and the teachers this week. The quality of art produced has been fantastic and children have had the opportunity to explore so many artists and their styles of working.

The links that have been made with writing are very clever and really brings the two subjects together.

Well done everyone!

Miss Gulliver

The following week...

It was a wild and windy day today, and the children were very disappointed that it was too wet to go in the writing area at playtime. Luckily, by lunchtime, everything had dried up and the writing area was full of customers!!

Although some children just visited briefly, others spent most of their lunchtime in the area. The blackboard proved very popular, although it seemed to be more of a 'whiteboard' by the end of lunchtime!

It has been great to see some of the parents, and children, leaving comments on the blog, and suggesting ideas. I really liked the idea of putting some hanging mirrors into the area, "to reflect everybody's hard work!" What a lovely suggestion, and one we will definitely be following up.

Let's just hope for some sunshine tomorrow!

Miss Proctor

The Finale!

The final day for Red and Purple Class saw us in a hive of activity... again!

Today we made clay snakes for our jungle. We had pythons, vipers and rattle snakes! Next week we will paint them, but the clay needs to dry first!

The children also finished the tiger, with unique stripes! Each child had a black strip of paper and thought of 'tiger' words to write on them. Then these were glued onto the tiger.

The tiger was put in the new jungle role play area, where we can all go on safari!

We made a video diary, commenting on our favourite activities of the week.

We have had a great week!

Who'd have thought that writing could be so much fun!

Rhyming String Dangles

On Thursday morning, Purple Class and their Year 5 buddies teamed up to make hanging mobiles for the tree in the 'Everybody Writes' area.

The challenge was to make as many rhyming words as possible! Some dangles were so long we had to send Lisa our LSA into the tree to find a higher branch!!!

The finished mobiles look fab and will be a useful aid to the children writing in the area.

Well done everyone!

Miss Gulliver and Mr Benson

Is it the end...or just the beginning?

When we started the project, we always knew that we were slightly restricted by the fact that we only had one more year on our school site. Therefore, we couldn't justify spending very much money. The 'wild area' had not been used for a while, (apart from mini-beast hunts!), and so seemed an obvious choice to change in some way, cost permitting! After establishing that the site could be cleared using our £200 budget, we knew that the rest of the project would have to be done with minimal cost. We had to be creative!

Everyone was involved at the early stages. We knew that we wanted to link art and writing throughout the week, and our overall goal was to create a 'writing area' in the playground. Everyone spent time thinking of ideas and resources, and these were then shared, and a rough timetable for the week drawn up. The teachers then started to fit all their ideas within this, so there was a balance of art and writing activities.

The week itself seemed to fly by, although we were all pretty exhausted by the end of it. We all feel really pleased by the way it has turned out, and as well as a great writing area, there is also lots of art work and writing around the school. We are planning a whole school walk next week, visiting each classroom 'gallery'.

I know the children can't wait to spend time in the writing area, and hopefully, weather permitting, they'll be able to do so from Monday. We'll be continuing this blog, as I know that this is not the end, only the beginning!

Miss Proctor

The end of the week!

Friday was a whirlwind of activity in all classes. Everyone was finishing off things for the outside area, and there was lots of serious stapling going on! One of my favourite touches, was the large flowers the caretaker and I attatched to the fence... made out of some old insulation material, and these large, red brillo pad type things, that used to be used on the old floor cleaner!! It's amazing how creative we've become with no money.

In Blue class we had a slightly quieter morning, writing poetry and drawing flowers, based on the work we did earlier in the week. In the afternoon we had time to reflect on how the week had gone. All the children seemed very positive, and as well as enjoying the art, had really enjoyed their writing this week. They liked the way that they could use different materials to write with, and that often the writing activities were quick and fun.

At lunchtime, the children were itching to get into the area, but they had to wait for the official opening, at assembly time in the afternoon. One of the dinnerladies said, " It looks fantastic in there. The children have worked so hard!"

During our special assembly the children were all asked whether they thought everyone had done a great job this week, and whether they would be using the area next week... the answer was a definite "yes". Everyone was thanked for their hard work, and then the children got their first proper look at the 'Everybody writes' area.

Miss Proctor

The Impact of Red and Blue

What can you get from a blue dot and a red smudge or even a red dot and a blue smudge? Be creative and you never know! Check out how imaginative we are in Year 5. We painted our 'red and blue' onto paper, let it dry and then used a felt tip to finish off the picture. All inspired by Keith Haring.


To find out more about Keith Haring click on the link

The Impact of Colour

Year 6 had a very unusual experience today. Instead of learning at their tables, they learnt beneath them! Enclosed by black sugar paper, the intrepid explorers crept excitedly into the dark cavern to experience being in the 'den'. It was incredibly cramped and the children soon felt hot. After a few moments, year 6 crawled back out into the open where they then wrote down their reactions to being in the den. One particular statement was I could feel the heat hit my face as soon as the door was closed.
Next, coloured film was positioned across a thin gap running along the top of tables. The children crawled through again. This time the effect of the coloured light had totally changed their views. The children began to write about the warmth of the sun, cosy colours and relaxing moods.
After a short chat, we realised the dramatic impact light and colour has on our moods.

What colour is the most relaxing room in your house? Which colour makes you feel happy?

Hola! Purple and Red Class go Mexican!

On Thursday afternoon, Purple and Red Class boarded their Google Earth Jet plane and flew to Mexico. Once we had all safely landed and the seat belt lights had gone off, we headed to a series of Mexican activities including...

- making our own tasty sangria (non-alcoholic variety)
- singing, counting and talking in Spanish
- dancing the Mexican Hat dance with castanets and maracas
- collaging a Mexican chilli character wearing a sombrero
- using oil pastels to colour Mexican animals, such as armadillos

We finished the afternoon with a few tortilla chips and a song is Spanish.

Adios Amigos!

Purple Class Portraits

On Wednesday, Purple Class became Year 1 for the day. Apart from getting to know their new classroom, the children had a go a sketching their own self portrait. They used professional 2B sketching pencils and kept looking in the mirrors to draw themselves just perfectly!

To help out their new teachers, the children wrote a speech bubble and stuck this on their portraits giving a little information about themselves. Miss Rimmer was very impressed with the writing!

Miss Gulliver, who also had a go at sketching her own self portrait, was astonished at the skill and high quality work produced by the 5 year olds! She also noted how the children have developed 'constructive criticism' whilst watching Miss Gulliver draw!!!

Purple and Red Class Day 2

Here we go again!!! Following the success of Monday, Red and Purple Class teamed up to share lots more art and writing activities.

We...

- wrote our own class book about walking through the rainforest,

- danced to 'Walking through the Jungle'

- decorated our storytelling chairs with story words and phrases

- mixed up as many shades of green as we could, using only yellow, blue and white paint

- made our own bookmarks

- decorated large letters for the title of the painting

- and finally... if we couldn't meet a real tiger, then we had better make one!!



A very busy day, with sooooo many art and writing activities happening. The children have been incredibly creative both in their writing and in their art work. The grown-ups have also been very creative... did you know a tiger can be created with a selection of cardboard boxes????