Year 2 - Fever pitch farm excitement

To anyone outside of Gateway School or even Year 2, you might not have known that Monday 7 November was unofficially the longest day of the year! In Year 2 on Monday we were waiting with baited breath for…...Farm School! We knew everyone had their wellies, spare socks and Forest School kit. I had checked. They had checked. Some had unpacked their bags in anticipation. But it was only 9.30am! We had been to our fantastic and informative charities assembly, had our phonics lesson and it was now time for Maths. No, it wasn’t time for Farm School…yet!

Finally, it was time to leave! Straight after lunch, like intrepid explorers, we boarded the minibuses, with wellies in bags ready to start. For those who haven’t been to Mr Dyson’s farm it has become a place of awe and wonder. Mr Dyson has brought his chickens into Harvest Assembly, lambs in to visit at Easter and his wooden cow milking stand in for the children to use. Fortunately, Mr Dyson knew we were coming - it might have been the noise of 26 very excited children - tripping over themselves to race to the barn.

Taking our learning outside the classroom provides the children with additional resources, hands on experiences and a chance to shine in a new environment. Children are exposed to many different experiences at home and it’s lovely to see and hear them contribute so confidently in a new situation. This week we learnt what an ear of corn was, how to separate the wheat from the chaff so we could feed the chickens the seeds and how to record the different colours of Mr. Dyson’s chickens using first a tally chart and then a pictogram. We also learnt that calves have very rough tongues ‘ as scratchy as sandpaper’ (Eddie) and that new born calves keep part of the umbilical cord until it detaches, which ‘looks like a shoelace!’ (Kai)

All in a day's work for Year 2!