Pre-Prep have had an amazing start to the term, with their learning enriched by exploratory, hands-on adventures of all kinds.

Kindergarten have enjoyed getting to know the Farleigh grounds as they start their Wednesday walks. Last week they learnt how to walk in a line with a partner all the way to the Farleigh outdoor classroom, stopping on the way to see the swimming pool and to admire the lovely main school building. After waving at Fr Simon's house and looking at the shape of the trees, the children had fun climbing on a fallen trunk and then picked their way through the woods to the outdoor classroom. This Wednesday they explored the location of the music school, astro and Red Rice on the way to collect conkers at the front of the school; soon their box was filled with shiny treasures that the children had found. There is so much for our youngest children to see in the school grounds!

Roll up roll up; mud pies and magical potions for sale! This week the Bear Cubs and Bunnies have well and truly christened their new outside area. Follow the trail of muddy footprints out through the back door and you will find busy children mixing up a bath of conker stew or shrinking potion in our new Magic Kitchen. Meanwhile, The Barn is busy with bricklayers stress-testing new structures, whilst those fancying a peaceful five minutes (mainly the teachers!) cosy up in The Pergola which has already been adorned with DIY bird feeders. Meanwhile in The Land of Far, Far Away, a troop of palaeontologists and game keepers are busy keeping the animals under control whilst a group of Imagineers build giant marble runs for our thousands of conkers to travel through. Sticky Toffee Pudding, our resident stick insect is keeping a low profile, happily hiding amongst the generous amounts of fresh greenery his carers keep him topped up with. 

Year 1 had great fun exploring the ‘foamy waters of the Sink’ based on an extract from Traction Man. He had a special mission to search for the Lost Wreck of the Sieve, when he encounters the poisonous Dishcloth! The children loved describing what they could feel amongst the bubbles, baked beans, pasta, peas and cutlery! They then used their findings to help them write sentences, using the adjectives they came up with during the ‘sub-slime’ fun! They have also had fun exploring push and pull forces in the playground and experimented with the force of ‘wind’ using a hairdryer, bicycle pump and books to move paper fish across the classroom. In English, they have been writing their own version of That Rabbit Belongs to Emily Brown, working together to create story maps. We also had an amazing time making kites with Mr Tween, and we made our own flowers to represent St Thérèse of Lisieux and the little ways in which we’re going to help others at school and at home. The flowers were much appreciated by Fr Simon in our special assembly last Friday.

Year 2 have travelled back in time, straight into the Great Fire of London! Their History Off the Page day was packed with hands-on experiences as they took on the roles of the people who lived and worked in the city at the time. They mixed apothecaries’ medicines and diagnosed Tudor ailments, refined the art of the wily rat-catcher, learned to dip string into tallow to build candles up in layers and dressed up as sinister plague doctors, in a manner that we can all understand with a new perspective after our year of wearing masks! Examining a giant parchment map of London, they traced the path of the great fire as it tore out of Pudding Lane with ease through the cramped wooden buildings of the city, destroying all in its path in a matter of hours, despite the best efforts of the people who did all they could to douse the blaze with their chains of leather buckets, with water from the Thames. 

What a magical few weeks of learning in action!