As Friday comes around again and we are at the end of week , we can reflect on the amazing things being achieved by our children.
Hedgehog class continue to inspire us all every day with their enthusiasm and excitement about learning. They have been thinking about autumn and using some beautiful autumn colours to decorate leaves. Squirrels interviewed me this week about what it is like to be a leader. They asked some really interesting questions which really made us think and gave me a chance to reflect on how lucky I am to be leading at Dorchester St Birinus.
Fox class were lucky enough to have a celebration for amassing so many dojo points this week. They’re also loving their    guided reading book—Podkin One Ear.
Owl class have really got stuck into their science work this week. They continue to impress me with their big writing skills too….

It was great on Wednesday, that we were able to mark the end of an era for Year 6, Mrs Eacopo and myself with the children that are currently in school sitting in rows on the playground. The five Year 6 children (currently in school) shared some of their memories of their time at the school and received their prayer book from Revd Sue (other Year 6 children, we will make sure your books make it to you soon). Next, we said our goodbyes to Mrs Eacopo, who has been the teacher of Owl Class as well as our Special Needs co-ordinator since she joined us in 2016 – it has been a pleasure to work with her and thank her very much for all her hard work to support the work of the school. We wish her well for her new role. There was then a presentation by Mrs…

Today saw two groups caving and one group canoeing.  Everyone had to dig deep today as people were tired and the weather much colder.  In spite of this the children worked hard to have another great day.  The group canoeing had not only the wind to contend with but two hailstorms to canoe in, things were challenging – however the children kept smiling and never gave up – they were just a bit cold and wet at times! Luckily there is always warm drinks and lots of flapjack to help with that and a hot shower back at the centre.  The two groups caving both went to Porth Yr Ogof caves where they all had a great day seeing lots of fossils and bats in the cave.  During the day they all went through the letterbox as well as lots of other twists, turns and gaps to squash and squeeze…

 
After another good night’s sleep – it was another very windy day which saw the children beating their fears on the high ropes course and down in the caves.  Two groups spent the day tackling the high ropes course where the children really stepped up to the responsibility of supporting each other as they tackled obstacles between the trees.  We were so impressed with the way the children encouraged and helped each other to all achieve and surpass the personal goals they had set themselves.  Great fun was had on the zip wire as we launched out of the tree and on the climbing wall so many of them reached the top and rang the bell!
One group spent the day in the caves squashing themselves through a variety of different shaped tunnels.  The children were amazing in their resilience and worked superbly as a team helping each other…

Woodlands Day 2
Another fantastic day (especially with the sunny sky)  where everyone faced many fears, pushed themselves to achieve and showed a greater level of resilience. We started with a hearty breakfast of cereal, toast and scrambled egg.   Two of the groups were canoeing on the canal, it was made more challenging by the fact that it was VERY windy, quite often we would paddle round a corner only to be blown straight back where we had come from.  As well as all developing our skills in the canoe we got much better at communicating with our partner within the boat in order to make sure that we didn’t keep crashing into the bank.  Both groups showed great teamwork in getting the canoes to and from the canal – we were all extremely impressed and proud of them.
The third group spent the day tackling the climbing wall, high ropes…