Oxford - Day 2

The second day in Oxford has been amazing!!

After a very early start, we had a huge breakfast and then got our wellie boots on for what appeared to be the muddiest day of our lives!!

Our teamwork and communication skills were put to the test as we were blindfolded and navigated around a muddy assault course. Mrs Pape and Kian were very thorough directing each other through the extremely squelchy mud.  Then our balance and collaboration skills were required for a low rope course where we discovered Miss Dale has little coordination and spends lots of time falling off benches.

At lunchtime we had some yummy lasagne, lemon sole and cheese pastries. After that we teamed up and made shelters in the forest! Exchanging ivy and horsetail for money to buy tarpaulin and rope. The shelters were fantastic and even with a  bucket of water thrown over them, remained intact. With Mrs H's fantastic searching skills, the game was brilliant.

After some free play, we took part in bushcraft, with some particularly skilled lighting from Merlin and Ellie, and some fantastic determination from Beau. The fires were a lovely end to day 2. The children them toasted marshmallows and made s'mores, a first for Tommy!!!

The staff are all very impressed with the children for giving everything a go, tasting all the foods and being very helpful and considerate.

After TP and Mrs Humberstone had enough food to feed a small army, the children had showers and had a brief tidy, with yet another change of clothes for the girls!! Most changes of clothes award has to go to Bethy, Maisie and Millie May. Boys had a fantastic game of football.

We then had our DVD, hot chocolate and chocolate cornflake cakes. The children have now fallen asleep at an impressive speed, super excited about Oxford Castle tomorrow!!

Oxford - Day 1

"I have loved the whole day, best day ever!!" - India

Day 1 has been a hit! We started off our journey with singing, I-Spy, then more singing. Our journey culminated in a very exciting stop at the services. After a few hours we arrived in sunny Oxford. We boarded the Serafina 2nd, where we meet Peter and Mark. The children asked many questions and discovered a lot about pirates, Robin Hood and boats. And we did some more singing!!!

"My favourite part was when the boat was turning on the Thames and it looked like we were going to crash... but we didn't!!" - George.

"The cruise was my favourite part of the day" - Merlin.

We had lunch onboard and continued our cruise in the sunshine. At about 1pm, we said goodbye to Mark and Peter, and travelled to Stansfeld.

After a big task of making our own beds, we munched on some sandwiches and were told that if we didn't want to eat vegetables we didn't have to. Although all of us did!

"The best part of the day was the orienteering because we got to go off on our own and explore the woods and I learnt how to use a map" - Kian, Bethy and Millie

We then went into woods and gave orienteering a go. We definitely have some budding adventurers in Moore Class!! We navigated, explored and searched high and low looking for clues.

Dinner was a key part of the day and we enjoyed chicken, fish and some vegetables with a hot sponge and custard for dinner!!!

After, we had the much antiicpated 'Moore Class Has Got Talent'. We had singers, dancers, comedians, speed stackers and a mixture of all the above. Photos will follow.... who knew we had the next Taylor Swift and Olly Murs with us in Oxford.

Then after some hot chocolate and cookies, we played outside in our pjs!! Miss Dale showed off her excellent javelin skills and Mrs Humberstone is a whizz at running. Mrs Pape met the the paparazzi on the slide.

"The hot chocolate was delicious and the talent show was fabulous" Beau, Ellie and Tilly.

Now our explorers are tucked up in bed (although very much awake), ready for an exciting day tomorrow....

Maths Week - Day 4

We have gone maths crazy today! All the children came to school wearing a colourful variety of patterned clothing, then embarked on a carousel of maths activities ranging from tessellating fish to mirror symmetry! Two of our school governors Jenna Leight and Michael Wood arrived to join in the fun too! The afternoon involved the children from KS2 teaming up with our younger mathematicians to play their hand-made maths games. They worked really hard to explain the rules and to ensure that all of the children used the correct maths vocabulary involved and had a fair chance to win. The day was a roaring success and we look forward to tomorrows Celebration Assembly to find out who has managed to gain the highest Mathletics scores!

Maths Week - Day 2

Today, Palmer and Barton class went off to Wisley Gardens, so it was up to Cameron and Moore Classes to fly the flag for Maths week!

In Cameron Class, we started the day by taking a look at the link between fractions, decimals and percentages.  Although a tricky lesson, we all worked really hard and were able to complete the work quickly.  This afternoon we have researched famous mathematicians and created information pages to show what we have found.  Did you know that Fibonacci spent almost all his time watching chickens?!  In groups, we looked at Galileo, Einstein, Newton, Fibonacci, Pythagoras and Archimedes.

In Moore Class, we linked our Maths with our Literacy work, combining coordinates and fantasy worlds!  We had to design and create our new worlds on a grid and add details, then plot the coordinates for each place. 

The Mathletics competition is now underway, and children are busy collecting points.  Can you get the highest score and receive one of those prizes on Friday?

Maths Week - Day 1

What a fun start to Maths week!

In Barton Class, we have been playing lots of games that use 'dot dice', both in and out of the classroom!  We also had a challenging question on numberlines - one of the animals was jumping 2 leaves at a time and the other was jumping 10 - which one would get to the end fastest?!

In Palmer Class, we were investigating number sentences and how the number sentences can be moved around - we learnt a posh new word called 'inverse'!  Some of us were using number triangles to show that all the numbers are linked!

In Moore Class, the children have been group teaching subtraction on a number line - some of us learnt how to do it first and we passed on our knowledge to another group of children.  We loved being teachers and we all understood it by the end of the lesson.

In Cameron Class, we have been creating our own games to teach to Barton and Palmer - we want to teach them new things and so are going to use games to make it fun for them!  Some of us are using money, while others of us are making counting games.

This week we are running a Mathletics Challenge - the three children that manage to get the most points over the course of the week will get a prize! There may also be a small prize for all children that manage to get a certificate this week!

Tomorrow, while Palmer and Barton Class are visiting Wisley Gardens, it will be Moore Class' turn to make games for the younger children.  Meanwhile, Cameron Class will be looking at the fun of fractions, decimals and percentages using cakes and pizza!

Hardelot - Day 5

Wow, where has the week gone? It's gone so fast, but we have managed to fit so much into a short time! Today, our final day, was the first day we woke up without the help of Mrs Pape! We have adjusted to the time change just in time to come home - prepare for early mornings for the next few days!

Most children were packed before we even went across for breakfast - there were lots of us eager to get home now! Once we had eaten our fill, we headed back to the dormitories to make sure we had collected everything. Mrs Pape warned everyone there was a €1 fine for anything left behind - funnily enough every bedroom was clear when they were checked over!

After a sad farewell to Miriam and Julien we set off for Chateau Hardelot - our final visit of the trip. They had set up an exhibition all about Queen Elizabeth II, with photos from the magazine 'Paris Match'. It was actually quite interesting to see the queen at different points during her reign and to see how popular she is with the French.

We then went for a walk to burn a little energy - there is a path to the back of the chateau that takes you around a lake, it was very pretty. Next, it was off to City Europe for lunch and to buy our final gifts. We know you're going to love them...well, if they make it home in one piece that is!

We are currently on the M20 making our way back to Shoreham - the cheer that went up as the coach touched down on British soil was deafening! While on the Eurotunnel, the edible gifts seem to have disappeared - not sure what happened to those but the hyper children could be some indication!

Signing off now, thank you so much for such wonderful comments and for reading the blog - it makes it worthwhile writing it knowing that there's people out there reading it! Everyone is looking forward to their favourite meals for dinner tonight - we're pretty sure that's what we have all been promised!

- Cameron Class

Hardelot - Day 4

With our holiday almost at an end, we packed in as much as we possibly could into our final full day! Mrs Pape had to wake us all up again (they've done a great job of tiring us out!) and we had a quick breakfast of baguette before heading off to the bakery to see how the baguettes we had just eaten were made. As the baker spoke absolutely no English, Mrs Pape had to translate it all for us - who knew she was word perfect in French?! Well, almost anyway! 

After the tour we were whisked off to Boulogne where we went for a quick walk along the sea front (we were an hour early for the sweet factory!) - we tried to see the UK, but unfortunately it was too misty.  By this time the sweet factory was ready for us, so we went inside and met a crazy man and his translator, who gave us fantastic demonstrations of how to make both hard and soft sweets. It was fascinating and we found out all kind of facts - plus we now know how to make hard candy at home - so be prepared for some messy demonstrations in kitchens!  We were allowed to try the sweets we saw made; they tasted great and Billy was amazed at how quick they were to make, and how easy it was too!  Elise and Olly had a go at pouring the sweets into the mould to make hard sweets - they were fantastic and the Boss wanted them to stay and help him - Miss Salmon wasn't too sure their parents would be happy with that, but if you are just let us know and we'll send them back to the factory!  Mr Fuller, however, wasn't as good and made a huge mess of it!  It wasn't until the end that the Boss told us that he had taken part of the nozzle off!

Bob then drove us to the Ceramics Factory, where we sat outside and had lunch.  As we were early for that too, we were all allowed a run around outside before we went inside.  The boys found another zombie bunker and developed a game called 'Zombie', which was some kind of strange hybrid between Bulldog and Hide & Seek!  

We became zombies!

Unbeknown to the teachers, it was VERY muddy where we were playing, so when we entered the ceramics factory, with its pristine white floor, it became rather less pristine!   

After being handed a translation device, we started off on our tour of the museum.  We had to press numbers to find out information about the different pieces of pottery.  Mrs Pape and Jenna thought it was very interesting, and the rest of us enjoyed looking at the variety of pottery that had been made in the town.   The best part of the ceramics factory was at the end, when we all got a chance to make our own cups!  We had to use tools to help us mould and shape the clay and we were led by a lovely lady called Stephanie.  
 

Making pottery with Mr Fuller!

 The cups came out with varying degrees of success - but we'll leave you to be the judge of how great your own child's was!  Bella deserves a particular mention at this point as, not only did she make a cup, but she also managed to make a teapot and a cat figurine from the clay she was given!  She's a Henry Moore in the making!

Bella's finished product!

 Once we had finished, we all headed back to the Hardelot Centre - by this time it was so late that we barely had time to get showered and ready for dinner, but we managed!  Dinner was boeuf bourgninon, which everyone enjoyed (the cheese course was another matter - we now all smell of stinky feet!).  This evening we voted to have a talent show instead of watching a film and we have been regaled with magic tricks, a rendition of Twinkle Twinkle and an amazing dance to the Harlem Shake by some of the boys!  The great thing?  There's videos so you can all see your children's wonderful talents!!

One of the big memories of this holiday is the number of us that are card sharks - George taught everyone how to play Blackjack, Chris taught the boys poker, and there were card tricks galore!  Thaila kept Mr Fuller entertained with her card tricks for much of today's journeys - I'm not convinced they were actual tricks though, more just moving the chosen card to the top or the bottom of the pack and announcing it in a grand manner!

Hot chocolate has just arrived, so its off to bed for all of us now in preparation for our last day tomorrow - we have all had a great time but are really looking forward to seeing you all and showing you all the fab gifts we have been able to buy.  We hope you've enjoyed reading the blog as much as we have enjoyed writing it!

~Cameron Class & the teachers

Today's blog was brought to you by Elise, Katie, Billy and Miss Salmon. 

 

Hardelot - Day 3

Hi everyone!  Firstly, thank you so much for all your blog comments over the past few days, it means a lot to us and we love hearing from home.

Today started when Mrs Pape came a-banging on our doors at 7.30 - not only were we soundo until this point, but all the teachers had been too!  We think we're tiring them out - maybe they're getting old!

After a hasty dress (the boys STILL found time to gel their hair though!), we headed to breakfast where we were greeted by the taste of croissants and lovely hot chocolate.  Once we had all finished and the girls had moved their stuff into smaller rooms (apparently loud giggles at 11p.m are frowned upon by the teachers!), we set off to Boulogne market.  Theo is now sporting a new hairstyle thanks to the creative genuis of Ned and Jake!

When we eventually got there, we walked down the hill and into the Market.  We grouped up and went off to buy our lunches - the language proved difficult for some of us!  Thankfully, the teachers (and Theo) were around to give us a helping hand and we managed to buy an array of food - from baguettes to stinky cheese to a whole rotisserie chicken (well done Theo and Frank!)!  Luckily, we all managed to keep hold of our wallets this time, even Roo!

Once we all had everything we needed, we headed back to the coach to eat as it was very cold outside.  Bob, our fabulous coach driver, is very understanding and doesn't mind the crumbs!  He took us to a great spot where we could see the sea while we ate.  It was also right by Nausicaa too, so we didn't have too far to walk.  We bought quite a lot of food to share between us, so many of the boys named their sandwiches 'Man-wiches'!

After we ate our enormous lunches, we all piled into Nausicaa aquarium.  When we first entered, we were confronted by a large pillar filled with jellyfish - they were hypnotizing!  While in there, a few of us made a quick stop off at the Seychelles - the flight was a quick one and we were soon relaxing by the beach, sipping fruit juice!

We had to return to reality with a bump, although we really weren't bothered as we were able to continue our journey round the aquarium.  Next stop was the Galapagos turtles and the Shark tank!  Jenna took this opportunity to further her budding career as a marine biologist - at one point we were sure she was going to end up in the tank WITH the sharks she was so excited!  Lucy, ever the animal-lover, was equally excited and there were small squeals coming from them every time a shark broke the surface of the water!  We were all stunned by the immense size of the sharks.  It wasn't until we went downstairs that we realised there were little pods where we could see the sharks and other fish up-close - this was amazing and we all loved it.

However, the real highlight of all our days was the Touch Tank, where you could actually put your hands in the water and touch the rays, plaice and fish.  We all loved this part, other than Elise, who wouldn't actually touch any of them!  The rest of us were surprised at how soft the ray's fins were though.

 

At this point, we thought the tour was over and we headed out of the exhibition, only to find that there was still more!  A new exhibit had opened showing us the effect we have on the world thousands of miles away by dropping litter here - it wasn't very nice and made us all think.  This was also where all the penguins were, they were fab!  Luke, Mia and Olly were very excited to find that they shared birthdays with some of the penguins!  By the time we got out of seeing the penguins, we all were pining for our beds and some sleep!  The journey home didn't take long, despite the road works and we were soon back at the Hardelot Centre.

The ever-wonderful Mr Fuller took us out to play in the games room while Miss Salmon uploaded photos from the cameras (as the school one ran out of charge half-way through the day!) and Mrs Pape got her well-deserved rest!  Lots of the girls were tired though and decided to chill out in their rooms - the giggles and laughter coming from the bedrooms suggested they weren't quite tired enough to sleep though!

We forgot to mention that yesterday Mr Fuller had a rather embarrassing moment...
Some of us wanted to go and play on the rope course, so Mr Fuller took us. We manged to get it out of Jenna and Mia (the last two there) that Mr Fuller was showing off  his gymnastics skills by climbing up the cargo net and was doing quite well, but it had been raining and the ropes were slippery...before long, it all changed! Mr Fuller climbed up to the top, got stuck and ended up spinning round the net!

We are currently watching Diary of a Wimpy Kid and drinking chocolat chaud, then we're heading off to bed.

Good night for now, more to follow tomorrow after we have been to the sweet factory, made croissants and visited the ceramics museum (we've been told its more fun than it sounds!).

~ Cameron Class & the teachers

Tonight's blog was written by Becky & Elsie, with a little help from Miss Salmon again.

Erin being 'attacked' by a Megalodon jaw!

Hardelot - Day 2

Today was great!

We got off to a good start with Mrs Pape having to come round and wake all of the children up - after most of us fell asleep immediately last night. After breakfast, we set of to the town of Montreuil and the journey was much faster than yesterday - not a single 'How long?' to be heard!  We are all, however, becoming very good at the game of Pontoon, with most of the coach joining in with the game to pass the time during the journeys!

When we got to the town, we walked right around the ramparts and the teachers were quick to make sure we didn't get too close to the edge! 

All of us on the ramparts

 After, we all decided we wanted to explore a hidden doorway we found (Mia's idea!), we walked to the top of a very steep(and muddy) hill.  Miss Salmon, who before leaving the dormitories told us not to worry about our wellies and chose to wear her UGGs, slipped and slid her way up the hill, and ended up in a puddle of mud herself, with soaking wet feet and very muddy Uggs!  We all decided to paparazzi her, so there are lots of great photos and videos for when we all get back to the UK!
 

The hidden doorway we decided to explore!

Hanging about near the mud!

 
We carried on the walk after Mr Fuller guided Miss Salmon and Elsie out of the mud, and came across lots of doors in the side of the collosal walls.  The boys (mainly Chris and Jake) decided they were to keep the zombies locked away and so proceeded to knock on the doors and run away at full speed!

Chris, exploring the 'zombie' door!

 We then went back to the coach and ate our lunch; soon after that we wandered back into town as we still had time to spare before the next activity. We found a gorgeous water fountain where we bought and wrote our post cards, so hopefully you will receive them soon.

The fountain where we wrote our cards.  The sun even came out for a while!

The church was made ENTIRELY from chocolate!

Eventually, we got on the coach to the chocolate factory - the part of the day we had really all been looking forward to the most! The smell of wonderful Cacao beans being crushed into chocolate made us all go crazy, and want to eat it all up. After a while it started to smell like Marmite though, which was weird! We soon got a tour of the what the Cacao bean is and they gave us a tour of the process of how to mould and make chocolate.

Crazy Jacques showing us how to make a bunny from a mould!

It was a great way to end our Chocolate topic, and we could answer most the questions - the tour guide was very impressed! We then got the guilty pleasure of trying some that we had seen being made (the dark was the  most popular); we entered the gift shop where we tried some Cacao beans (most definitely not as nice raw as when its actual chocolate!) and bought some chocolate (for every one apart from Sean, Erins dad - sorry dad!).  Most of us managed to spend the majority of our money here, so be prepared for some great chocolate-themed gifts! 

When we got back to Hardelot, Mr Fuller took us outside and we got to play in the games room and on the low ropes course.  Miss Salmon took the role of looking after those who just wanted to chill out in their rooms, while Mrs Pape managed to fall asleep!

You will all be relieved to hear that every one of us has had a shower and changed our clothes, so we won't be too smelly when we get home!

Just finishing watching Brave (Mrs Pape's choice!), then off to bed - we know the teachers are hoping for another night like last night!

- Cameron Class & the teachers.

(Today's blog was mainly written by Mia and Erin, with a bit of input from Miss Salmon!)

Hardelot - Day 1

Bonjour tout le monde!

We have arrived here in Hardelot after what the children called a VERY long journey - George specifically told us it was 8 hours and 35 minutes after we had set off from Shoreham!

After setting off on time, and not getting caught in traffic, we thought we were on our way and all was good.  However, Mrs Pape quickly remembered that a very important document had been left at school and we had to wait at a service station for Mrs Heuston to hand-deliver it to us.  It did, however, give the teachers a chance to get some much needed caffeine!

Once we were back on our way, we made good time.  Despite the many, many questions of 'How long until we get to the Eurotunnel?' (mentioning no names - Elise and Olly!) we arrived there relatively unscathed.  Bob, our trusty coach driver, even managed to persuade the nice French man to let us on an earlier train, so we left the UK at 10.50a.m. 

The journey through the tunnel was a very quick one and many of the children were fascinated by the fact that we were going under water.  Erin and Katie were particularly interested and one of them said, confused, "But I can't see any water out this window!"  This was quickly followed by a potted history of the Channel Tunnel!  A game of 'everyone-is-it' (don't ask!) kept the children amused long enough to make the journey a quick one, and we soon arrived on the other side.

Next stop was Vimy Ridge for a little bit of history and lunch.  The children showed a real interest in the war graves and were exceptionally respectful as we looked round.  They asked many questions and it led to some very thought-provoking questions.  As a staff, we were very, very proud of the children during this time.

After this, we set off for Hardelot - the bit the children had most been looking forward too.  The journey went on a little longer than expected and there were more cries of "How much longer?", this time from Luke and, yet again, Olly!  Mrs Pape and Miss Salmon may have possibly had a little nap at this point and left Mr Fuller to deal with the bored children!

Finally we arrived at the Hardelot Centre and the children were quick to settle into their rooms.  After a little bit of trouble making beds from *some* of the children, we went with Julien to have dinner.  This was very gladly received by all the children, most of which enjoyed all 4 courses!  There are some very bloated tummies this evening!

As I type, we are sat comfortably in the main house watching 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' (I promise I didn't force them!) and winding down before what is bound to be a nice, calm, restful night.....we can dream can't we?!

Signing off for now, will attempt to put the pictures on Flickr as well as a few on here and some on the school website too.

Miss Salmon, Mrs Pape, Mr Fuller & most of Cameron Class :-)