Today we were very lucky to be able to talk to the UK’s only Maya archeologist.
Dr Diane, who lives in Wales, has spent 23 years studying the ancient Maya. She answered lots of our questions and even showed us some Maya artefacts.
We are all very excited begin our new expedition about the Maya and chocolate!
Today in expedition the children learnt about maya mask and why they used to wear them. Here are what the children made.
Today marked the first day of our new expedition, and Crew White were fully immersed from the start. We travelled back to the Tudor period to begin building our historical knowledge and curiosity, asking big questions about what life was really like during this fascinating, and often brutal, time.
We were introduced to the intriguing figure of Hans Holbein the Younger, exploring how his portraits tell us so much about powerful people, status and life in Tudor England. The children were fascinated by how art can act as a historical source and reveal details that written records sometimes miss.
We also read about Tudor crime and punishment, discovering just how harsh and shocking the justice system could be. While some of the punishments were gruesome, this helped the children understand how fear and control were used to maintain order.
It was a gripping start to our expedition, sparking curiosity, thoughtful discussion and plenty of questions.
We are looking forward to our Tudor banquet on Thursday!
To hook into our new expedition we tried different types of chocolate. The children showed courage by trying new things even though some were very nervous!
Today we were looking at the timeline in Maya. We looked at what AD and BC stood for. AD stands for Anno Domini, which is Latin for in the year of the Lord. BC refers to the time before Jesus was born.
Year 3 and 4 enjoyed sharing their final product with children across school. We had some amazing feedback from year 5 and 6 who enjoyed completing the activity sheet.
This week, Crew White have been exploring the striking patterns and features of the Northern Tiger Cat through Art. After studying photographs and discussing what makes this elusive animal so unique, the children chose either to sketch the whole creature or zoom in on a single feature—most popular were those bold, expressive eyes.
Using oil pastels, our crew has layered colours, blended carefully, and experimented with texture to bring their artwork to life. The results are brilliant: vibrant close-ups full of detail and powerful full-body pieces that really captured the movement and markings of the tiger cat.
The class showed real focus, creativity, and pride in their work. We can’t wait to display these in our expedition products soon.
Crew Frost has loved getting into the Christmas spirt! We have been lucky enough to have a visit from Santa and receive a book each. Next we have been working hard in provision getting our decorations made for our tree and using our school logo as the tree topper. In expedition, we have been learning all about the Nativity, who is in it and why we celebrate it. We can’t wait to show our very own Nativity next week! Well done crew Frost!
This week in Crew Frost, the nursery children have been learning about the term community, specifically their local community and our school community. In these images, the children are taking part in a school community walk, where they explored the school grounds, visited other classrooms, greeted teachers, and even had a sneak peek at some amazing dance routines in the hall. This was a fantastic concrete experience for the nursery children, and they especially enjoyed waving to their siblings and people they knew. They were also fascinated by the expedition displays, which sparked so many who, what, and where questions. Well done, Crew Frost, for demonstrating excellent listening skills and meeting expectations while walking around the school!
Yesterday, Crew Gray started their third and final case study for their rainforest expedition. We began with the exciting task of designing our own picture frames as a class. Then we shifted our focus to learning how to work safely with wood tools, exploring equipment such as vices, saws, and sanding blocks. We discussed responsible handling, protective gear, and how to support one another during practical activities. We can’t wait to see these designs come to life!
