During science week. Year 1 enjoyed a workshop on Mary Anning, the pioneering paleontologist and fossil collector. Our visiting scientist, Dr Mandy Hartley, told us how and where fossils were formed. She invited us to talk about our fossils and where we found them.  Lots of children have found fossils on the beaches of North Norfolk.   Dr Hartley demonstrated how a fossil is formed by using clay to imprint into and plaster of Paris to create a cast.  Afterwards, we went fossil hunting on a sample beach and discovered a huge ichthyosaurus fossil.  We also learnt how Mary Anning’s finds influenced Charles Darwin’s ‘Theory of Evolution’.

We joined Dr. Hartley and went on an immersive drama adventure to retell the story of Mary Anning. Through acting, listening, dressing up, and singing, we revised what happened from when Mary was struck by lightning to how she taught herself and found amazing fossils. We loved learning more about Mary’s friend, Miss Philpott! The children enjoyed this engaging workshop. Thank you, Dr. Hartley, for bringing our learning to life. Thank you to Friends for funding this activity.

Year 1 joined a Virtual School Event with Harriet Muncaster, the author and illustrator of the popular Isadora Moon series.  The children enjoyed listening to the author as she showed the cardboard models she created to help her when writing her stories.  We joined in with two drawing demonstrations, listened carefully and were delighted with our drawings. 

During the questions and answers session, we were excited when the author mentioned our class and answered one of our questions.  She told us that she enjoyed reading The Smurfs and The Borrowers when she was young.

Year 1 went to the Norwich Hebrew Congregation Synagogue to enhance their learning of Judaism and to understand what Shabbat means to Jews. It was a hugely enjoyable and informative visit. 

The children sang the Bim Bam Shabbat Shalom song which is sung as a greeting on Shabbat.  They wrote Shabbat Shalom in Hebrew, tasted challah bread, searched for artifacts, wore a tallit (prayer shawl) and a kippah (prayer hat) and discussed the items on a Shabbat table. 

There was so much to do, to see and to learn.

Year 1 had a fascinating morning learning about life in the past, especially in Wymondham.  The welcoming and informative staff at Wymondham Heritage Museum explained how shopping has changed since the 1930s and brought life to shopping experiences.  We role-played shopping in the past and discussed how it felt to queue. The children handled objects such as brushes, bags, bottles, jars, and records.  They also chose potatoes or onions, put them in a paper bag, joined a queue and waited for the shopkeeper to weigh their items. We were amazed that one side of the weighing scales showed the weight of the items and the other side showed the cost. We discussed how technology calculates the weight and cost of loose items today.

India class investigated an unexpected sound in the wildlife area. We discovered many unusual things, including shells, pink and blue leaves, and a little house. After investigating further, we found a strange blue creature beside the pond and an item wrapped in spotty paper. The creature had a tag attached to him that read ‘please look after me.’

We took the creature and the wrapped item to the fire area. When we opened the wrapping, we found a book called ‘The Bog Baby’—how exciting! 

Mrs Long read the story, and we learned a little about this strange creature. By the end of the story, we decided that the creature we had found was, in fact, a Bog Baby. We took him to our classroom and discussed what he might be and where he might have come from. Someone suggested he might have come to the pond’s surface as he was hungry.  One child said that he was a predator. Two children thought he flew here from the continents of North America or Africa.  Many children thought he got lost as they had found his home near the pond.

Year 1 had a fantastic time at Forest School.  They enjoyed making, investigating and exploring.  The children were amazed to see a newt. A very big thank you to Jackdaw Jules and Mrs Boyce for being so lovely and encouraging.

Year 1 used a variety of drawing tools to make simple marks and to practice drawing techniques. The children practiced changing the pressure and orientation of their marks to create different textures on their animal drawings. Then, the children drew self-portraits using The Postman by Vincent Van Gogh and their own photo as references.