Greystoke Primary School

Each week we take the opportunity to get the children outside to enjoy the beautiful surroundings that we have in, and around Greystoke School.

Every Wednesday, we visit our 'Welly Wednesday Camp' deep in the forest surrounding Greystoke Castle. It is an amazing opportunity for all of our children to develop a sense of nature and wellbeing.

We aim to provide an opportunity for individuals;

to develop, to learn and to enjoy themselves

to provide a safe and non-threatening environment in which children can take risks, make choices and initiate their own learning

to help children understand, appreciate and care for the natural environment.

April 2022

Children in Key Stage 1 investigated signs of spring around the grounds of Welly Wednesday camp. The children used their observational skills and listened to and mimicked the sounds of the birds. They were very lucky to see a nuthatch fly from his nest which he had made through a very small hole in a tree trunk. While we paused on the bridge to listen to a pheasant’s call, the children had the opportunity to watch a bird hop and search the ground next to the river for insects and grubs. Once the children returned to school, they researched the bird and discovered it could be a Jay bird. Further towards camp, the children stood mesmerised watching bees working hard, travelling from flower to flower collecting pollen. Once at Welly Wednesday camp the children explored the area and collected signs of spring, they then took a closer look at what they had chosen using a magnifying glass. The children used their previous knowledge of seasons and plants to describe what they were observing to their partners.

The EYFS children were excited to visit camp today and were surprised when they discovered some small brown eggs! After much discussion the children decided these must belong to dinosaurs

March 2022

During our R.E. session we concluded our learning of Easter by focusing on the final part of the story where Jesus dies on the cross on Good Friday and on Easter Sunday he is risen. The children shared their thoughts on how they celebrate Easter including having a special meal, decorating and Easter tree and having Easter egg hunts. They then designed and labelled their own Easter gardens including the cross, the tomb and boulder.

At Welly Wednesday, the children listened to ‘The Easter Story’ before creating their Easter gardens on trays using natural materials found in the forest. Plant pots were covered with moss to represent the tomb, rocks were added to show the boulder covering the tomb, pebbles were used for footpaths and sticks were tied with wire to create the cross. We thought they looked fantastic- well done everyone.

March 2022

February 2022

Today the children continued their work investigating the use of everyday materials. They conducted a series of tests to answer the question, which material is best to transport liquid? To make it a fair test, the children used the same amount of water for each material and travelled the same distance. The children concluded that the waterproof materials were most suitable to transport liquid, especially when the material had been shaped like a bowl or cup.

January 2022

It was great to be back again at Welly Wednesday camp albeit a little chilly! We were excited to find lots of strange items hidden around camp today including a large pair of glasses, three golden eggs, lots of golden coins, some yellow feathers, an axe and a bag of magic beans! We wondered who had left these items but using our story knowledge we decided it must have been left by a GIANT!! Some children drew images of what they thought the giant might look like while others got into role and used the axe to chop down trees and act out parts of the story. We are excited to plant our bean seeds and see whether a beanstalk grows...

November 2021

This week in camp something caught our eye. As we investigated further we discovered it was a penguin! He had managed to lose some penguin eggs and needed our help! As we've been learning all about penguins we knew just what to do and used our beaks (sticks) to roll the egg and carefully held them between our feet to keep them off the ground - this was an interesting skill to master! We carefully helped Peter the Penguin to gather up the eggs safely placing them in a nest we built from leaves and sticks.

November 2021

During our session today, we focused on ’Remembrance Day’ and began by watching a short film about Poppy Day. We thought about how the soldiers fought and died to save our country and why we wear a poppy to commemorate their lives. Following this, we headed up to Welly Wednesday camp in the beautiful, autumnal sunshine! We sat down at the table by the river and created our very own poppies using wooden logs and paint. In addition, we searched camp to find a variety of autumnal items including fir cones and colourful leaves. All of the items and our poppies were used to create a beautiful mobile using sticks which we found in the forest. We think they look wonderful.

October 2021

Bonfire night and Halloween inspired our Welly Wednesday session this week. The children in EYFS learned all about the history of bonfire night, they had a go at using the fire steels and most importantly leaned all about fire safety! We enjoyed making some edible sparklers along with a drink of hot chocolate followed by time to mix up Halloween potions using items found on the forest floor. The children even managed to mix up a potion that makes teachers melt!

September 2021

The EYFS children have been learning all about autumn. They have been collecting autumn leaves on their way to Welly Wednesday. When they arrived at camp they listened carefully to the story of 'Leaf Man' and watched as their favourite leaves blew away on the autumn breeze. Following this, they used the book as inspiration for their own leaf art and created some amazing characters. Who can you see?

June 2021

Today, the children in EYFS concluded their work on 2D and 3D shape by working together to hunt for hidden shapes in the forest. With their talk partner, they worked together to describe the names and properties of the shapes they had found. They then attempted to work together to construct one of the 3D shapes using sticks found around the forest floor. This was easier said than done but the children persevered and two cuboids were successfully created by the end of the session!

The children in Key Stage 2 took their learning outside today and went on a trip to Talkin Tarn near Brampton. We started our session by ‘stilling’ and listening to the many sounds in the beautiful wooded area next to the tarn. The children then spent some time identifying different trees which included beech, birch and oak trees. They then used natural resources to measure the circumference of a range of trees before moving on to measuring accurately with a tape measure and then calculating the age of trees using a specific formula. Once we had an idea of the age of the surrounding trees we compared them to a historical timeline and worked out where individual trees fitted into important historical events. After lunch we had a lovely walk around the tarn, visiting the bird hide where, using a large key on the wall, we identified whether the numerous birds swooping over the water were, swifts, swallows or house martins. Towards the end of our walk we studied some wooden sculptures and attempted to make some of our own using bark, branches, twigs or pebbles.

May 2021 - As part of our 'Around the World in 30 Days' topic, we have been learning about India- we have thought about what the people like to eat, how they live and today we discussed what they enjoy doing. During our Welly Wednesday session, the children got involved in playing a traditional Indian game called ‘Seven Stones’ on the bank of the camp. They then enjoyed weaving using naturally found materials and finally concluded the session with some relaxing yoga.

November 2020 - This week, the children in EYFS have been finding out about the Jewish festival of Hanukkah. Today at Welly Wednesday they used sticks to make the Star of David by making two triangles and combining. KS1 children got busy practising and performing their own weather reports as part of their work in science. We all enjoyed some time to get muddy too, by sliding on the mudslide, playing on the seesaw and making mud cakes in the forest kitchen!

November 2020 - The rain didn't dampen our spirits as we embarked on our Children in Need sponsored ramble around Greystoke Castle Estate and Greystoke village. While out walking, we paused at Welly Wednesday camp and fell silent as we remembered the fallen, on this Remembrance Day. By the end of our ramble the children had clocked up just over their 3 mile goal - what an achievement!!

October 2020 - A colourful and exciting session at Welly Wednesday as children in EYFS and KS1 children went looking for the signs of autumn. What a lot of autumnal colours were seen as we hunted for conkers, leaves, acorns and sycamore seeds.

June 2021

Today, Key Stage 1 children used their map skills to get to Welly Wednesday camp. Before we left school, we found our location on the map and worked out our route to Welly Wednesday. We used our instructions such as forward, backward, left and right to navigate our way to camp. We stopped at various points along the way to check that we were on the correct route and to identify features of the landscape that needed added to the map. The children devised their map key together - identifying school, the wooded areas either side of the castle drive, the bridge crossing the North Petteril and Welly Wednesday camp. We also discussed the directional flow of the river, our discussion lead us to the river is flowing away from Greystoke Castle and through the village because there is a waterfall near camp and water can not travel up a waterfall. Once we reached camp we just had time to have fun with similes - the children had to quickly get into the correct positions - stand as tall as a skyscraper, crouch as small as a mouse, hop like popcorn popping in a pan!