The Apple Tree held its first Pride Picnic, organised by the Pippins Pride group. They ran a stall at the recent Apple Tree Summer Fair to raise funds for the picnic and artwork. It was a fun and colourful afternoon in the park enjoyed by families.
The whole Apple Tree joined together for the annual fundraising Summer Fair at All Saints in Fishponds. It was wonderful to welcome the local community in and see some past members of the Apple Tree and catch up on what they are doing now.
The Oakens organised lots of delicious home bakes and refreshments, Edens ran the crafts, Discoveries filled our tummies with veggie and vegan nachos and Pippins organised some fun games for everyone. Even the Hawthorns who aren’t due to start until September joined with watermelon and ice lollies.
Stall holders were invited to sell crafts and some of the children embraced it as an opportunity to sell their own handwork and art! And it wouldn’t be a gathering of the Apple Tree without some music and signing, all enjoyed in the sunshine.
Thank you to everyone who helped make the Summer Fair a wonderful event. We took a total of £815.18.
Saturday was a lovely day for the Apple Tree Ascension Day Walk up Nibley Knoll to see the Tyndale Monument. As well enjoying a spot of kite flying, picnic, games, exploring the tower and seeing the beautiful scenery from many vantage points.
You can read a great blog about Ascension and the idea of ‘renewal’ within the Waldorf home here.
Edens are currently learning about different types of measurements, with a focus on money for the past two weeks. They’ve all had a hand in designing their own class currency – making paper notes and clay coins, deciding on a name and what denominations are needed.
Also using clay, they’ve sculpted items that they considered basic necessities to trade at their class market stall. With money in hand and wares to sell, the marketplace was open and trading began – with some creative ways to attract customers, negotiating, keeping of receipts and hilarious up selling! The children relayed their experiences in group discussion and are keen to make improvements for the next opportunity.
As part of their Ancient Civilisation studies, the Discoveries have been enjoying making and eating Egyptian style bread. Using flour, milk, olive oil, salt and the convenience of the kitchen oven they made some bread to share and enjoy with dates and honey! Sounds yummy!
The whole Apple Tee joined together to celebrate May Day. The Edens hosted and invited The Orange Grove to be part of the celebrations which included May Pole dancing, music and storytelling.
The Discoveries children loved learning about the lower plant kingdom in their botany main lessons (fungi, algae, lichen and moss), so were set a project over the Easter holidays to continue using their green thumbs and find some joy with a growing project.
They were asked to plant something new and keep track of its growth and progress. It was kept very open, so that they could interpret and present it in their own way. They could plant beans, seeds, cress, veggies, or even a sapling. It could be done indoors or outdoors, with just one plant or many, or they could track the growth of an existing plant.
Ideas included:
Photograph its daily growth.
Take daily measurements of its height.
Do detailed drawings of it.
🪴Experiment with growing several plants in different places or with different conditions.
Anything else that inspired them!
After the holidays they returned with their findings and presented to the group what they did. This included posters, booklets, photo collages and of course, some plants!
Are you considering home-ed options for your child from September?
There are a couple of spaces left *for children born Sept 2017-Sept 2018 (minimum age 5years) * to join this new group.
They have recruited a fantastic tutor & have a great venue in BS16 lined up.
There is an in-person meeting coming up on Thursday 11th May 8pm if you’d like to find out more!
Please contact hawthornsappletree@gmail.com if you are interested 
The whole Apple Tree gathered together at All Saints Church on a Saturday at the end of March for a celebration of work. It was a glorious opportunity to see what all the children have been working on and to enjoy performances from each group.
Each group had an area to display a selection of their work from this year for their family and friends to see. It was incredible to see such a wide range of subjects, crafts and activities; especially as this doesn’t always get relayed at home!
The Pippins have been looking at the whole world and focusing on a country of their choice.
The Discoveries have been looking at the geology of a city of their choice and ancient civilisations.
The Edens have been learning about the Old Testament and working on numeracy.
The Oakens have been enjoying their mornings in the woods but also enjoying a range of nature based crafts including natural dyes and painting.
Within their individual groups the children also performed songs, poems, stories and dancing which were seasonal or represented what they have been learning this year. It was also an opportunity for the entire Apple Tree to join in song together.
A busy morning was completed with a very enjoyable lunch where everyone brought a dish to share. This was followed by a ceilidh in the hall with lots of happy faces.
The Oakens experimented using Avocado dye and iron water last week to produce these interesting paintings. I can see some secret messages being written using this method in the future!