school

Education reform: a letter to Mr Gove…

Why Gove’s version of education reform is madness: Dear Mr Gove, I am enclosing a photograph of my bags on the playground this morning: Today I have my violin lesson, followed by my swimming lesson. I will have to make sure I brush my hair really well after swimming, ready for my school photo. I definitely cannot afford to mislay anything en route to the pool, or Mummy will never let me hear the end of it! You cannot see what is in my school bag, so I will clarify it for you: library books – I take home 2 …

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20 facts you need to know about head lice

I managed to escape the curse of headlice until the age of 7. Mummy thought it was because she was so meticulous about combing conditioner through my hair every time we washed it. But inevitably the day came when we had to face facts. Head lice come to us all at some point. Sadly we discovered it at bed-time, after a particularly long day – you can see here how that went! I have super-thick hair, so I spent 2 hours in a bath while Mummy practically scalped the nits off me. Such was her horror and desire to never …

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10 Rules for your first half-term holiday

So you’ve done it. You’ve completed your first 8 weeks at school, and have earned a well-deserved rest. So what should you be doing with your first half term holiday? NOTHING! That’s right, I said nothing at all. If you, like me, have a white face and shadowy eyes that owe more to 8 weeks of school than to the Halloween grease-paint, you need a break! So here are my 10 rules for your first half-term holiday: Do not pick up a pen, under any circumstances whatsoever! All writing, of any kind, is completely banned. Unless you are marking the …

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What is Forest School?

As I take leave of my Year 2 teacher, and finish the Key Stage 1 section of my educational journey, we have reflected on the diverse learning curves I have experienced with my class over the last 11 months. From a writing crisis, to the creation of an electrical circuit, my 7 year old brain has been stretched, and Mummy has been impressed. Photo courtesy of The Mummy Whisperer But thinking back to last September, there was only one question on Mummy’s mind as I made the transition into Year 2: What is forest school? With this in mind, we …

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Wot So Funee? A riddle

As you know, I have the best intentions to write intelligent, informative prose. All too often my efforts result in laughs from the adults around me. However, Mummy did a double take at one of my recent school efforts which, although funny, she thought was rather clever. Read on for a riddle by me… Do not scroll down yet! I want you to give this your best effort before you skip to the bottom, where you will find the entire masterpiece, complete with answer. In the meantime, as you wrestle with your grey cells, you can grab my badge from …

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Forest School

Hands up if you know what Forest School is? Here’s what we did in forest school this week: Found a worm Rescued that worm from being stamped on by Pippa. She thinks it’s funny, but I feel sorry for the worm, even though it looks gross Built a house for the worm, using sticks to form a teepee-style dwelling Constructed a swing with twigs and grass Checked that our teacher wasn’t noticing, before we…. Put the worm on the swing (using a stick, obviously, I could’t possibly touch an actual worm!) and gave it a push Put the worm to …

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Face Britain Kids self-portraits on Buckingham Palace

Friday night saw us making a sudden dash to London to visit Buckingham Palace. Last-minute news told us that Face Britain were staging a 3-nights-only light show projection onto the facade of Buckingham Palace. Why the need to rush down there? Well, a while ago, our class made self-portraits for the Face Britain Kids website, and last weekend all 200,000 of those portraits were pixellated into an image of the Queen, and projected onto Buckingham Palace! Face Britain portraits on Buckingham Palace See all the self-portraits zooming into the Queen’s picture? We stood for a good while watching for my …

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How to tie dye with natural colours

Tie dye done with natural colours

Our school is twinned with a school in the African town of Kano. Often during learning we talk about Kano, and the things that children learn there. Sometimes we look at photos of life there and the things which are typical of people in the town. Our teacher is quite spontaneous and loves to craft (once she filled an entire table with school glue and got us all to throw glitter at it to see if we could make a clear collage!) so when we got talking about photos we had of the people in Kano sitting around pits in …

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72/366 Photos: A fashion show

Every year at school there is a fashion show, at which children get to model lots of different items, and parents get to lighten their cheque books after a rocking show and a glass of wine. This year I was selected for the year 2 end of show dance routine. We all wore the blue and white Mary Quant-style dress and delivered our hastily-rehearsed moves to the screams, yells and cheers of family and friends. I was so proud darling. You looked absolutely stunning, you got your moves all sorted, and you modelled with a gorgeous smile on your face. …

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A short story about self-harm

There was once a little girl with a temper. A bit like the girl with the curl in the middle of her forehead. She was helpful, kind (if a bit bossy), mature, supportive, funny and clever. She was an incredibly determined little girl, who learned things fast and loved to read. One day the little girl started piano lessons. She never wanted to practice, but her Mummy sat with her and they both played together. She got stuck a few times, because learning the piano is hard. When she got stuck she flew into such tempers that she cried, screamed, …

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How children learn to read and write at school

I wrote a post recently about my loquaciousness and use of intricate words, and the irony of the fact that I don’t always know how to replicate them appropriately in my writing at school. I sailed through my reading bo0ks and declared myself a ‘speed-reader’ to my year 1 teacher. Mummy hasn’t known how to read with me, because I prefer to read by myself, or to be read to while my brain switches off: so not up for a challenge before bed! Last week Mummy was a school pupil herself when parents were invited in to discover the processes …

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Why writing is so difficult – Dear so and so

Dear GG, I didn’t really know what to do. I couldn’t fathom how to help you. You have written so eloquently in the past that I was shocked by your first effort at a book review. Simple one-liners with poor spelling – that’s not my girl, what’s happening here? I tried to suggest improvements. I was met with coldness, anger, even rudeness. You’ve had these phases before, and you always come out of them and revert to the helpful, mature and funny girl we love. Sometimes we find the reason and help you out of them. Others we never know …

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A Series of Firsts

Well I am at it again, having been tagged by lovely newer bloggers My Rusty Halos and Mad Dog Woman of Shackleford to write up my series of firsts, or my first time at various set episodes in my life. I’m not really one for responding to tags, as I mentioned in my Blogger’s Dozen yesterday, but I couldn’t resist the cheeky answers which began to creep into my 7 year old head as I read the questions: First Boyfriend: *Jonas. He was in my Reception class at school. He can skip better than any of the girls, and he …

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Inspired: Snow

Lyrics Well the weather outside is filthy, Mud and slush makes us look unhealthy. And sledges to school got stuck So we’ll spend the whole day in muck. Snow all spattered with vile exhaust fumes Has a rather unpleasant perfume. I wish it was yesterday When my Dad stayed at home to play. How I love when it’s fresh and new, When the sparkle and crunch gives a thrill. And for tea we could have fondue, Just one last run down the hill. Well for that we’ll all have to go skiing, Which requires that the school allows skiving. ‘Cos …

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Wot So Funee? The final post…

This is my final post on Wot So Funee? So it needs to be a spiffing example of my literary and phonetic genius so that I can exit this meme in true loquacious style! And if you make it to the end, I’ll let you into a little secret about where I am headed next! My teacher (let’s call her Mrs Coolcross – because she does occasionally read this blog, occasionally gets cross with me, but is actually quite cool) is a fan of craft. Craft, and the big outdoors. She has introduced us recently to Forest School, where we …

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366 Sunday Week 2

Time for my diary of the week in photos: Day 1 I finally got my full Brownie uniform. I just joined recently and my 6 is Leprechauns, which Daddy says is entirely appropriate – can’t think why. I am super-enjoying it, despite not knowing anyone there! ♥♥♥   Day 2 We are twinned at school with the African town of Kano, and we are learning about traditional african food, music, dancing and textiles. We used beetroot and turmeric to make dyes and then experimented with different ways of tying the fabrics. Waiting for them to dry now. Day 3 An …

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Reasons to be Cheerful and Thankful Thursday

Mummy is very cheerful, or so she says. I fail to see it somehow. What is it about grown-ups that makes them cry when they are happy. Grown-ups are just not normal. Take me: happy = smile; sad =cry, or at the very least grumble. Grown-ups just have a very upside-down view of the world, don’t you think? But she says she is happy. Happy and thankful, so I guess somewhere in that weird old-lady mind of hers she must be. The Bug (who started school in September and is now 4 and a half) brought home reading books today. …

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Social Stereotypes in the Playground

I have a learning partner at school, someone with whom I must discuss challenges posed by the teacher, and create – amongst other nuggets of learning – pointilism pictures. This partner changes weekly according to a random draw of named lollipop sticks. This week for the first time in 2 and a half years, I was matched with my best friend. After hurling myself across the table in ecstaticness , I reflected on the somewhat different process used for allocating playground partners, and the possible reasons. My playground partner (the person I line up with when we come back in) …

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Top 5 Photos of 2011

Over on Kate Takes 5 there is a Listography take on the year-end blog round-up post, and having seen in the New Year  for my first time ever last night (yes, I made it to midnight, and could have continued if M&D were not such lightweights) I am a little too tired to write much today. So here is my year in pictures: This took place in April in the beautiful bluebell woods of Ringshall. It is my top picture for a number of reasons, most notably that moments like this do not happen often between the Bug and me, …

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The Things They Teach in School These Days! Wot So Funee

I was having a chat with Mummy the other day about school in the olden days. She laughed when I asked her if they had school when she was young and if she went. I thought it was a pretty reasonable question given how little she knows about the things they teach in school. I am 7 and I already know more than her. This is a synopsis of several post-schoolday interactions we have had over the last few weeks: Mummy: What did you learn today? GG: Oh just Symbolism in Hindu worship…. GG: I was sad today because I …

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