Was back at The Friars Primary School in Salford last week to see how our EYFS plan was coming along and also start our next cunning plan for developing the outdoors (more of that later). I was supposed to be saying 'hello' to the staff and then getting straight outside, but…I was drawn to a PSRN focus that was going on at the back of the room. It wasn't just the hat that caught my attention (although she does look VERY fetching in it!) it was the level of engagement and the amount of information that the children were volunteering. In essence this had been planned as a PSRN activity, but it was SO much more than that. The 'witch' was … Read More
My new favourite book…Into the Forest…
I am always on the look out for a great children's book and I found this one at my good friend Pete's (mrmojowriting.co.uk) house last night! Although he does have 2 children they are now in Year 10 and Year 12 so he didn't buy it for them. Within his training repertoire, he has a really good day on using film to inspire techniques in writing for KS1 and Ks2. One of the 9 techniques that he explores is 'signposting'. In its simplest terms, children look at different film clips and texts and discuss how the director/author has built the tension and 'signposted' to the watcher/reader that something is about to happen. The children then experiment with using these techniques, first through talk and then writing. It is really … Read More