Good evening!

A quick update after another eventful day at Stubbington Study Centre.

Our day began with all children sleeping in until the 8am wake up bell and some having to be woken by staff after that. After a hearty cooked breakfast, room checks and a quick hunt for coats and in one case a pair of clean, dry socks, we set off to see if any animals had spent the night in our 5*hotels (read yesterday’s blog).

Of all our ‘hotels’ set out, four still has residents…curled up fast asleep and rudely awoken by a class of 31 children staring at them. For many children this was their first opportunity to see a mouse up close and after measuring them, we spent some time studying them carefully and creating detailed sketches.

In the afternoon, it was time for ‘Earthquake’ an assault course with a difference. In teams of 8, the children had to carry a range of survival equipment around the obstacles. Their feet were not allowed to touch the floor and they had to get around obstacles that included tunnels, water swings and moving bridges.  This activity was thoroughly enjoyed by all the children, many of whom did not want the activity to finish.

Then to this this evening – The S Factor – the weekly Stubbington talent show. All week the children have been learning songs to perform, with their team, at this grand finale. The children all participated singing their team song, with actions and enthusiasm. The show was won by the Kestrels, which included some girls from Fordingbridge Juniors.

We look forward to seeing you all tomorrow afternoon,

Miss Lewis, Miss Gritt and Mr Morrison

Dear Parents/ Carers of Year 5 pupils,

We have focused on teamwork today with the activities we have completed.

This morning children had their first inspection, which required them to work as a group to tidy their bedrooms, bathrooms and drying rooms. They were scored out of 15 from the members of staff at Stubbington based on the tidiness of these areas. Most scored well, remembering how to make their beds (so hopefully they remember this when they are home 🙂 )

We then took part in an activity called ‘Eggstreme’, in which the children took part in team building activities as pictured below in order to win counters. These counters were then used to purchase materials such as bubble wrap, newspaper and butter pots. They had to come up with a design within their budget that would protect their eggs when it was throw from a catapult. All staff, including that at Stubbington mentioned how well the children worked together and showed their enthusiasm towards all parts of the task.

In the afternoon, we took part in various activities based around trees. We first collected a range of natural things in a variety of colours to represent the rainbow then compared that to a range of greens from the environment.  The children were then blindfolded with a partner and had to feel the features of one tree, then guess which tree it was after the blindfold was removed. The last activity focused mainly on learning about what trees needed to grow, the children then searched the surrounding area for clues- pictured below to answer a quiz together.

As our evening activity we looked at our shells we collected yesterday under microscopes and sketched them. Then we took part in a Stubbington quiz, and crowned a winner. Finally to end our evening we had an enthralling display and discussion from wildlife photographer Dennis Bright. The children were laughing and cooing at all of the cute pictures of foxes and owls.

Miss Lewis will be taking over from me tomorrow but will continue to update the blog.

Best Wishes,

Miss Gritt