Today Year 1 from Sedgeberrow C of E School enjoyed looking at the wheat on the farm. First we looked at an example of ripe wheat in the classroom, they then looked at seeds and finally flour. After snack the children ground some wheat seeds with a pepper mill and could see the flour inside. We then took a walk in the wheat field and they loved running along the tram lines. They then picked some grass plants which have gone to seed just as the wheat has done.

The other half of the morning was spent thinking about fairy tales and in particular the story of the ugly duckling. We thought about the ‘ugly’ dragon fly nymph turning into a beautiful dragonfly. This week has seen the first sightings of this years dragon flies. The pond dipping was great fun….if a little hot!   

The weather was glorious today as Year 3 from Bengeworth Academy came to the farm to do their Stone age topic. After the health and safety talk the children told me lots of things about their topic and what they had been doing in school. I talked to them about Stone age food. It is amazing to think wheat has been feeding man for thousands of years. The children weren’t quite so keen on the idea of eating insects….

On the farm the children mixed charcoal from my camp fire with a little olive oil and then drew cave paintings on the concrete floor of the shed. After that the children were asked to draw a story board on the silage bales using chalk. 

 

As the day was so lovely instead of making stone age round houses in the den building wood, we decided to be hunter-gatherers down by the pond. The first dragon flies and damsel flies of the year were flying around. The children were really engaged with finding the pond creatures. 

After lunch the children had some very imaginative ideas in the playwood and were very disappointed to learn that the coach had arrived to take them back to school….

A lovely but exhausting day spent hosting a ten year birthday party this morning and a party for two five year olds this afternoon. 

This morning William and his friends decided to have the whole party in the play wood. The boys were really creative as they built two ‘bases’ from upcycled materials from the farm. Both groups showed fantastic skills of team work and woodland safety. At break time we lit the camp fire and enjoyed toasting marshmallows, before the boys made the finishing touches to their base camps. 

I have had a lovely week with all the Year 1 children from Bengeworth Academy. Our topic this week has been castles. The children recently visited Warwick Castle and told me lots of things about their trip. In addition to what they learnt at the castle, I was able to tell them about the food that people would eat in a medieval castle.

What a wet day! Well done to Year 4 of Sedgeberrow C of E First School who braved the elements and chose to stay on the farm in the rain rather than go back to school early. All the children left happy although with rather wet coats. Today the topic was Egypt, today’s rain was more related to the floods of the Nile Delta rather than the dry desert sand. 

After the health and safety talk, the children told me all the facts they have been learning about Egypt. Mummification was an area of great interest. I then explained about two symbols of Egypt the flail and the crook which each have origins in agriculture. We also discussed the flooding of the Delta and how the farmers would work for the Pharaoh during the flooded months, then plough and sow the rich land left after the flood waters.  The children learnt that agriculture was very important to the Egyptians and in particular wheat.

We then played a game of ‘beetle drive’ but rather than drawing a beetle the children drew six Egyptian objects; the flail, the crook, wheat, pyramid, death mask and the Delta. The children thought about whether their team won or lost the task and why. We then braved the rain and went into the play wood to build pyramids. Each group came up with very different approaches to the task but all groups worked very well together. Then over lunch the children dried out and then played a few more team games in the classroom before having a short play in the wood.