News and Events

Oakens – The Garden

The Oakens moved to a new venue in September and have been making the most of all the new found space. They now have their own enclosed garden area for growing which is also a great space for whittling. They brought some potatoes in tubs with them from their last venue and enjoyed cooking them on the fire and sharing them with their friends.

Discoveries – Summer Camp

The Discoveries packed their bags and set off for the Wye Valley for 2 nights. They were able to enjoy a stargazing walk, watersports and orienteering during their time there. Plus lots of time for stories and hanging out by the fire. The trip was supported by tutor Tom and some parents. All enjoyed the bunk house with no roof!

Voyagers – Chess

Irving Chernev once said, “Every chess master was once a beginner.” A game of strategy, it was known as “the royal game” from about the 15th century in Europe as it was quite popular amongst the nobility. Nowadays many from all walks of life around the world enjoy the game, including the Voyagers who have crafted their own personal chess set.

The Voyagers started by sanding down their circular wooden boards, then accurately measured out the board grid with their rulers, before painting the alternate coloured squares.

Next they had to make the chess pieces out of clay, observing the differences between each type of piece and modelling their own miniature versions. This came with its own challenges with the brittleness of the material drying too quickly. Some had to remake a few pieces, learning a bit about using the medium of clay. Afterwards an origami box was created to keep the pieces together neatly.

For an added touch, the Voyagers hammered nails on the other side of the board to help them with their times tables. Evenly spaced in a 10 pointed star formation, the string can be moved around the nails to visually see unique patterns in each times table. With the equipment all made, the next step was to understand how to play the game, so the Voyagers wrote their own instruction manual.

Finally all that was left was to enjoy playing the game with each other!

Oakens – Imbolc

Candlemas, Imbolc, or Brigid’s Day, whichever name resonates with your beliefs, the Oakens joined with the younger Hawthorns to celebrate it.

To embrace the symbolic transition from winter to spring as the days grow brighter and the chill of winter fades away the groups immersed themselves in the spirit of the season. They ventured into the woods, coming together to create a special Earth Candle that would bring warmth to the emerging seeds and sprouts, marking the promise of impending spring. The children and their grown ups sang songs and filled shells with wax in the woods and tucked into delicious baked goods the Oakens had prepared the day before.

Earlier in the week the Oakens spent time candle dipping, keeping one candle for their lunch breaks and one to take home to share with their families.

Discoveries – Geology

The first topic of the new year for the Discoveries is Geology. For the first three weeks of the term they focused on mountains, rocks, Pangea, plate movements, earthquakes, volcanoes, the rock cycle, coal, petroleum, metals and gems.

Their second week back finished with a wonderful workshop held by Mark Smalley (BBC Radio 4 presenter) and Tom Walmsley (from Nature Connection and Eco Lab), who shared with the group their geological knowledge and expertise. The children wrote poems inspired by the rock collection and, choosing a rock each, they conversed with it and asked it questions! They also learned about fossils and Tom’s pet kestrel ‘Sandy’.

To supplement this learning at home, the children needed to complete one of the following projects…

Mountain Study
Choose a mountain, or mountain range, to research. Focus on how it was formed, as well as other features. Present to the group in their chosen format (could be a poster, a booklet, a 3D model…)

OR

Rock or Metal study
Choose a type of rock, or metal, to research. Focus on its properties and origin. Present to the group in their chosen format (could be a poster, a booklet, a 3D model…).

🏆 Bonus credit was awarded for anyone that rewrites the words of a rock song to be about mountains or rocks!

The children enjoyed presenting their projects to each other using a variety of mediums and presentation styles!