Problem Solving in Crew FE

10th March 2022Megan Evans

This week in Crew FE we have been continuing our focus on the Gingerbread Man and putting our problem solving skills to the test! We have been thinking of the different ways the Gingerbread Man could have crossed the river safely, and decided that a bridge or a boat would have been the best solution. 

The children have been using different resources in the provision areas to build bridges, experimenting which materials would work best and how they could make their structures stronger. We have looked closely at floating and sinking and will continue to test which which materials would work well for a boat next week.

This afternoon the children were tasked with another challenge. How could they travel across the hall when only being allowed to stand on the mats so they didn’t land in the ‘water’? As usual the children applied themselves brilliantly, quickly realising that they would need to work as a team to be successful. The challenge gave us lots of giggles and showed the true meaning of Crew.

World Book Day in Crew FE

4th March 2022Megan Evans

Well what a day in Crew FE! We have had so much fun dressing up and sharing a love of reading. We enjoyed sharing some of our favourite stories whilst tucking into a biscuit and a cup of milkshake.

The Crew FE staff came dressed as the characters from the story we are focusing on over the next few weeks, The Gingerbread Man. We have spent time this week retelling the story in different ways and the children have loved it! Why not see if they can share the story with you this weekend?

Thank you to all of our grown ups for helping us to celebrate World Book Day.

The day of Baba Marta

2nd March 2022Megan Evans

The 1st of March is Baba Marta day in Bulgaria, a holiday in which traditionally people give each other wishes for health, happiness and luck. Gifts are given between family and friends, which are usually home made and are red and white in colour.

Yesterday we received some beautiful bracelets (known as Martenitsi) from Victor, who’s family was celebrating the day of Baba Marta. We found Bulgaria on the globe, shared information about the day and thought about similar celebrations we share with family such as Christmas and birthdays. 

Thank you to Victor and family for our beautiful gifts and well wishes. 

Weekly update from Crew FE.

25th February 2022Toni Ferguson

The children have returned to school after the half term break in great spirits this week. They have been finishing off their learning on Hansel and Gretel and how as a community we can support each other.

They were very excited to play and support each other in our own class shop. We found during crew a few of the children’s parents work at our local supermarket. So as a crew we decided to role play these community heroes in our very own shop. They worked hard to share resources, and work our how many pennies they would need to purchase their shopping trolley full of items.

Next they looked at other community heroes and discussed the local bin men and council workers. We found these people really support our community to look nice and ensure the streets are kept clean. We deepened our own understanding of rubbish and recycling. We found as a crew we could recycle lots of our daily rubbish. We sorted the rubbish into the different bins.

The children used the play dough to create 3D figures of these community heroes. They looked closely at the different uniforms and how we could spot different jobs by just looking at what a person wore.

We will be starting case study 3 next week and we can not wait!

Well done crew FE, another fantastic week of leaning. X

Shop Keepers of Carcroft!

22nd February 2022Toni Ferguson

The children within Crew FE have had a brilliant time in their own class shop. They have worked hard to use their fred fingers to sound out words to write a shopping list. They had to think about all the different things you could buy in a shop. They then used this list to shop for the items using the shopping trolleys.

The children had to walk around the shop collecting the items on their lists before paying the shop keeper using pennies. We were kind to each other and supported one another by sharing the items out and ensuring everyone was able to have some shopping.

We have had a great time!

Expedition excitement in Crew FE

11th February 2022Megan Evans

This week we have been continuing our research into our second case study: what builds a community?

At the start of the week we donned our high visibility jackets and ventured out for a walk around Carcroft to explore our community in more detail. Together we made many observations such as buses and bus stops, road and street signs, shops, lamp posts and parks. The children also wowed us with their previous learning of different styles of houses, pointing out flats, bungalows and terraces. 

Upon returning to school we thought carefully about the purpose of each aspect and how they help to support our community. The children also shared their knowledge with each other by helping to answer each other’s interesting questions. Victor wondered what the poles with wires were, to which George explained that they give our houses electricity. We also reflected on our walk to help us produce some gorgeous writing!

We have also spent time exploring a range of maps and globes. The children really enjoyed looking at them and noticed interesting details such as the country borders and names of places. When looking at a map of the United Kingdom, Nolan asked how long it would take to drive from the top of Scotland to Penzance on the tip of England. The children placed guesses ranging from 8 hours to 50. Thanks to trusty Google maps we found out it would take around 13 hours! 

Later in the week we looked at places a bit further from home! We used the globes and maps of the world to look at other countries such as those that other children in our Crews are from.

What a fun week we have had in Crew FE!

EYFS Trip to Austerfield Study Centre.

3rd February 2022Toni Ferguson

The children within crew FE had an absolute brilliant day yesterday on their first school trip. After looking closely at the three little pigs during their expedition learning the staff at the centre devised several activities to further embed this knowledge and encourage the children to build on their knowledge to answer the guiding question “in a world of possibilities what would you make?”

The children had the chance to build their own houses in a real forrest using the same materials as the three little pigs. They worked in mini crews to create their structures and afterwards tested them against the blowing strength of the big bad wolf.

After lunch the children went on a trail to find jigsaw pieces which led to a story den. They were able to use a map and their orienteering skills to locate the different areas where the pieces were hidden. By listening to each other they were bale to work smart and together found pieces which made 4 jigsaws all linking to traditional story tales.

The children were a real create to Carcroft school and a pleasure to have on a school visit.

We are Builders in FS2!

25th January 2022Gemma Whitehead

As part of their expedition work this week, the children in FS2 have been learning about different professions and occupations. They have been exploring the tools that builders, plumbers and electricians regularly use and have used saws, screwdrivers, sandpaper and hammers themselves in their very own builders yard!

This week within EYFS!

21st January 2022Toni Ferguson

The children have continued to work on case study one of their expedition “Early years engineers, in a world of possibilities what would you make”.
They have focused in on the three little pigs story and the different materials the three pigs used to build and create their houses.
The children worked together to recreate the three pigs houses using the different materials before looking closely at properties and what made each material the pigs used special and unique.


We found in FS2, the material wood was strong and hard but when compared to bricks, bricks were heavy and difficult to move. Hence why the big bad wolf had trouble blowing the third house down. We all agreed bricks were a great building material.

We used different painting techniques to recreate the three houses and noticed if we used everyday objects to paint with we could create beautiful work in new ways.

During crew sessions we pledged to listen more closely to each other while also thinking about the emotions of the crew. This supported us with our expedition story retelling as we used these discussions to support our acting. We used quiet, shaky voices when pretending to be the three pigs and used gruff angry voices when pretending to be the big bad wolf.

We can’t wait to continue this story next week. 😊🐷