Those elements that lead the children to say ‘I love going to school!’. These experiences are the beating heart of our planning and are carefully woven into our curriculum during the children’s five years at our school.

More than just a list to tick off, these activities layer up and build the confidence that enables our year four leavers to flourish as they set off into the wider world!

1. Ride in a wheelbarrow.
   Grab that spade and explore outside. Hold a worm. Know how to identify snowdrops, daffodils and narcissi. Have sunflower growing competitions. Plant cress and actually eat it. We have dedicated gardening areas on both school sites and expert parental support from an ex-Kew Gardener and a Willow Sculptor. We like mud!
2. Make your own CD.
   Our children have technology at their fingertips and with the help of programmes such as GarageBand we can all be Ed Sheeran. Our older children learn to record and edit music individually and in pairs. We will encourage them to think of a name for their band and design a suitably eye-catching album cover.
3. Build a den.
   During our Forest School experiences we begin by building dens for fluffy bears and then work up to building strong and stable structures for a group of children. We learn how to tie knots and cook over the fire pit. Two of our staff are Level 3 Forest School leaders and we have beautiful grounds as well as exciting explorer walks in the local area.
4. Go away without your parents.
   An absolute highlight of your child’s time with us will be the week-long residential trip to ‘Mill on The Brue Activity Centre’ which will include some amazing outdoor pursuits activities, eating food grown on their organic farm and braving one of the longest zip wires in England. Nothing beats the excitement of sharing a room with eleven slightly smelly nine year olds.
5. Explode Your learning!
   Creativity runs deeply throughout all areas of our curriculum and underpins our STEAM activities (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Maths). We want to grow the architects, designers, crafters and engineers of the future. Children are prepared to solve problems that we can’t even imagine yet. We build-in crazy science experiments throughout the year and encourage the children to think like a scientist. Asking ‘Why?’ and ‘What if?’. Everyone looks forward to our annual ‘Egg Challenge’ where we invite the children to decorate an egg as a character and build a vehicle or environment for it, incorporating a mechanism. Our learning goes through the roof!
6. Sing a solo for an audience.
   It is amazing to watch even our youngest children standing up in front of a crowd of parents and singing their line with confidence, on their own! Not a dry eye in the house. Our specialist Music and Performing Arts teachers build confidence by giving children opportunities to sing in a real theatre show, whatever their vocal talents. We regularly write and perform our own musicals learning to work as a team and be brave as an individual, stepping out of our comfort zone.
7. Be in the movies.
   We like to embrace ICT and use the powers of technology for good! From Reception the children have access to our Apple Macs, I-pads, Bee-Bots and microscopes. Apps such as iMovie help to make even our youngest children into Steven Spielberg. Our ICT experts teach children how to add music and create sound effects. Older children learn how to use a green screen. We get the playdough out and make our own Aardman-style animations. Our Year 4 children leave us with high level creative computing skills.
8. Make your Own Radio Show.
   Children have recently had the opportunity to write and record their own show for Frome FM. Linked to our work in Literacy we teach the children how to write a script and how to use technology to create a high-quality sound recording.
9. Learn a language.
   We have a number of bi-lingual children and staff in our schools which are a rich resource. Our federation likes to embrace diversity and see what can be learned from other cultures. Our resident French teacher uses French throughout the day for basic instructions alongside teaching specific vocabulary and songs as the children move through the school. In recent years we have been lucky enough to include and learn from French, Dutch, Swedish, Argentinian, Spanish, Japanese and Portuguese families.
10. Climb things and grow strong bones.
    Children start with five bar gates on our welly walks at Norton st. Philip, progressing to trees, climbing walls and the ‘Tower Jump’ at Mill on the Brue. We’re lucky with our idyllic countryside locations and are in the process of purchasing a climbing wall to add to our playground resources. Our P.E Specialist provides exciting activities such as archery, Tag rugby, cricket and dance. Classes take part in the ‘Daily Mile’ to build their fitness.
11. Jump into a story.
    Drama and acting is just grown-ups ‘playing’. We allow children the time and space to re-tell and re-enact their favourite stories. Our recent training in ‘Helicopter Stories’ means even the Reception children are able to get their stories down on paper, scribed by the adults. We believe in using drama to build empathy for a character before we sit down and write. Story-telling is embraced across the school with lots of opportunities for creative writing and spoken word performance.
12. Learn to play an instrument.
    Luckily, things have come a long way since the recorder lessons of the 1970’s. Children now have numerous opportunities in our schools to learn the ocarina, guitar, piano, drums, even the trombone. Don’t underestimate the wonderful sound that can be created by a class of 8 year olds on the ukulele.
13. Dance like everyone’s watching.
    Being able to dance is a great skill for life, not least to save any embarrassment at weddings! Dance is a core part of our P.E and Performing Arts curriculum. During their time at school children will have numerous opportunities to dance on a theatre stage with their class and to join our very popular Performing Arts Club.
14. Use real tools.
    Build a go-kart. Cook a three course meal. Maria Montessorri believed that when given sharp knives and scissors (that will actually cut things) children will respect the tools and use them with purpose. Children from three years old can be introduced to woodwork using child-sized hammers, saws and drills. We have two sewing machines for older children to use. Wood work, cooking and Forest School tools are an important part of our curriculum, particularly with the younger children.
15. Make your own magazine.
    Having a real purpose and audience to write for is important. Our older children learn to take photographs, add illustrations and create their own comic strip. They write fake letters for the problem page and answer them, create recipes and crosswords. We bring in real writers to teach them the tricks of the trade and to show that writing well is important in lots of jobs.