In the Spring of 2025, EYFS pupils from Carcroft Primary School studied a cross-curricular expedition ‘See how things grow’ looking to answer the guiding question ‘How do things grow and change?’.
In case study 1, the children hooked into their learning with a visit from Ian’s Farm. Ian talking about his animals, how he cares for them, and how they have grown. The children then followed this learning up with discussions in expedition, looking at the text ‘Counting Creatures’ which looked at baby animals and how they grow. After the children had focussed on animals, they went on a bug hunt with their magnifying glasses, bug pots and gloves! They found and observed lots of different bugs and talked about their life cycles. The children then explore the story ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ and the life cycle of the caterpillar. Children then re-told the story and the children in F2 used their writing skills to describe the caterpillar and the butterfly.
In case study 2, the children answered the question, ‘What happens when we plant a seed?’. They hooked into their learning by planting their own seeds and they investigated what we would need to grow a seed successfully. The children observed their seeds as they grew into beans over the course of the expedition and they talked about what was happening to them. The children then used the story, ‘It starts with a seed’ to further explore how seeds grow, and the life cycle of a seed. They learned lots of new vocabulary around seeds, and growth and change from our story! The children in F2 also looked at the story of ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ and the key parts of this story. They used the new vocabulary from the book to retell the story.
In case study 3, the children answered the guiding question ‘How can I help my body to grow?’. They learned all about physical development and healthy eating with lots of experience lessons. The children were lucky enough to have the lovely Shelley come in and do a fitness workshop with them to experience the changes in our body when we exercise. They were also able to talk about how exercising, eating healthy and looking after our teeth helps us to stay healthy.
The final product saw the children create Easter cards using their observational drawings of plants. The children were able to each take a card home to their grown ups and other cards were handed out to people and businesses within our local community.
The celebration of learning involved our parents coming into school and supporting the children to show off their knowledge of caring for plants and animals by planting up the outdoor area ready for the warmer months. We cannot wait to see how our outdoor areas blooms as they year goes on!
