RSA4 Mindfulness Garden Project

We have been exceptionally busy recently learning so much as we prepare for the building of our garden. We have explored science to help us, as well as developing our persuasive writing skills to help raise funding and gather in resources. All of the pieces are coming together and we have some great ideas. All being well, the garden will be revealed at our summer fair.

Please feel free to offer any support you can to help. The garden will be a lovely, calm space to escape and relax for parents and children if needed.

The children will gladly talk you through some of the images below to tell you all about our work so far...

Summer Term: The Feel-good Factor

Everything seems better when we are happy, but what makes us happy? 

How does the brain work and how can knowing this help us to keep our minds healthy?

What techniques are most effective at maintaining good mental health and just why is that important?

How can we help maintain and promote good mental health for us all, including our local community?

Why is it good to try new experiences and to step out of your 'comfort zone'? 

Over the summer term, we will be exploring these questions and more as Abbeywood gets the Feelgood Factor. Keep checking back to discover more. 

Our Spring Term Learning

This term we are becoming global activists, campaigners, inventors and innovators in order to help the United Nations achieve their global goals to improve our world. As well as learning, we will be changing the world. Hey, we love a challenge! The skills we will be developing are outlined below and keep checking back for updates as our work develops.

Merchandise!

A great way to spread a message is by getting people to carry your message around. We have been exploring printing techniques and have decided on screen printing as a great method to print designs on bags that you will be able to buy at our showcase stall. We made designs on the computer which we have combined into a few final designs to print. Please remember your purses and wallets when you visit on showcase day!

Spreading Our Message!

Our survey (thanks if you completed for us) shows that people do care about the environment and animals that live in it. Most people know the problems facing the planet, but there are still some creatures who are at risk that people do not know about. We have decided to give these poor creatures a voice!

We have decided to spread our message in a variety of modern and traditional ways. Look out for news of these and please come to showcase where we will be sharing all our hard work with you.

Coming soon, we will be sharing a link to our blog where you can learn more about some of the fascinating creatures we have been learning about.

Over the half-term break, some pesky visitors had left litter all over our field! We got together with Beech class to learn why littering is so bad and then decided to do something about it in the afternoon. Together we volunteered for different jobs and produced signs, chants and an advert to promote the use of litter bins and to protest against littering. We have learned there are lots of ways to spread an important message that we care about.

After researching to find out more about the goals, the children have decided they would like to focus on helping achieve Goal 15 - Life On Land. We are currently unpicking the problems facing the world in this area and will be ready to announce our projects soon.

Along the way, we have been learning some new vocabulary and a great deal about the world around us. Please talk to the children about what they are learning - it really helps them to embed their knowledge and understanding. Whenever relevant, the children will come home with a 'Talk to me about...' sticker (you should have seen some by now), so please do start a discussion. 

Our theme this term is 'On This Day'. We will be developing the skills to delve deeply into one key, but often over-looked, event in history and its impact on modern life.

At the moment we are using our detective skills to piece together the clues we have been given to work out exactly what happened on this day, making connections between the evidence we have found.

The Red Flag Law

We experienced how Evelyn Ellis felt being limited to driving at 4mph. We all wanted to go faster! A strange, Victorian gentleman (who looked a bit like Mr Reeves) stopped us travelling at speed, as we had to follow him as he warned people we were coming. 

Ellis wanted this law changed, so in the afternoon we met with our local MP...

Farmer Alun & The Angry Villagers

Yesterday, the 11th October 1895, Farmer Alun (a man who looked a little like our Mr Reeves) got the whole village together for a meeting because he wants to keep the red flag law to stop cars driving too fast.

We all had different jobs, like the coach house owners, pooper-scoopers, tanners and blacksmiths. First of all, Farmer Alun explained how tragic it would be without the red flag law and why. After he had explained his ideas, he helped us with the language of opinion and persuasion and we went off to come up with our own ideas related to our job. (By RP, MK & TE)

Letters to George Allsop (Worcestershire MP 1895)

After a visit from the Hon. Mr Allsop, we were asked to write letters of correspondence that he could share with Robert Cecil. Here is a taste. More to follow soon...

In my view, as a horse and cart driver, we shouldn’t have cars on the roads because they are actually very dangerous. For example, just last week one of my most loved horses reared with horror from these horrible beasts on wheels supposedly called “cars” and one of my fellow friends got hurt because the cart tipped over and now he doesn’t trust any horse or pony. Also, my best, bravest and most energetic horse which once loved to go out on a ride now hides out at the back of her stall and flattens her ears and bears her teeth whenever I say ride. Who wants a horse if it doesn’t like the road and won’t go on it?         (VP)