FMfm's blog

After a very smooth journey by coach and plane, we arrived at the airport in Santander where we were met by our guide for the week, Pablo. A short coach ride took us to the hotel which was to be our home for the week in Santillana del Mar. We settled into our rooms and had a supper of very traditional Spanish paella followed by ice cream. We were all in bed very early and, despite our excitement, fell asleep very quickly.

We were awoken quite early on Tuesday in readiness to explore the city of Santander and then to enjoy time on the beach. We thoroughly enjoyed the town trail which took us through the central part of the city and ended at the cathedral. We then took a coach journey to el Sardinero, a beautiful beach where, as you will see on our photographs, we had a jolly good time!! This was followed by an ice cream treat – must be one of the best ice creams in the world. In the evening we were able to explore the village of Santillana del Mar, which is like walking back in time through narrow cobbled streets edged by very old wooden houses all decorated with lovely window boxes.

Wednesday was another early start. We visited Cabarceno Wildlife Park where animals are kept in surroundings as close to their natural ones as possible. We thoroughly enjoyed a spectacular display by birds of prey which flew so close to our heads that we could feel our hair stand on end. We oohed and aahed our way to the souvenir shop, had a picnic lunch and climbed aboard the coach which then took us to the Altamira Caves.

The caves house paintings completed 20,000 years ago. Unfortunately, the public are no longer able to go inside because it was found that people’s exhaled breath was damaging these precious works of art. So, a replica cave has been made. Despite the fact that we knew we were not looking at the real thing, the experience was very humbling. The children commented on how the paintings inspired one to want to draw. We were amazed at the high standard of the work and compared the tools and techniques at our disposal today with what was used all those years ago. We marvelled at the way the painters had to draw from memory. We felt it was such a privilege to be able to see the work and were grateful to those who had preserved the original caves. Despite the simplicity of the tools the stone age people had demonstrated tremendous creativity and we were impressed by the patience they must have had. It’s amazing to think that the original paintings are still there. We felt a little jealous that some people had been able to see the real paintings but felt that the right decision had been made to build a replica. We all kept saying “Amazing!” We had a drink and biscuit in the café to celebrate Ben’s birthday – what a way to spend your tenth birthday!

Before supper, inspired by the start of the European Championships, we had a game of football in the local park and later fell into bed dreaming of far away people and their cave dwellings.

Thursday was another cultural day. We visited Gaudi’s Capricho in Comillas. This “amazing” building is now an expensive Italian restaurant. It inspired us to discuss the meaning of capricious. The building certainly wowed us all. We were amazed and awed by its flowery theme. It had wavy and bendy lines and made us dizzy.

We left Comillas for Bilbao and the Gugenheim Museum. We had a fabulous time in this amazingly different building all listening to our own audio units. We saw the exhibition of Asian men standing in different poses but wearing the same clothes and the same smiling expression. None of them, however, had any feet. We were able to walk amongst the figures. We saw the huge puppy planted with many different flowers. A very tired group travelled back to Santander, not too tired, however, to admire the wonderful views of the sea, beaches and the mountains of Northern Spain.

On Friday, we had a much deserved lie in before visiting the local village to buy presents and souvenirs of our memorable holiday. Mrs. Wild was thrilled to meet a lady who had lived in Russia for a time and had called her dog Laika. We said “Goodbye” to our hotel and enjoyed a quick dip in the pool in Santander before leaving for the airport.

We had a great flight back to Stansted but it was a very tired group of children and staff who arrived back at school at 12.15 am on Saturday morning.

Mrs Wild, Mr. Lengden and Mr. Woodward were delighted to receive a card from one of the children which reads,

“XXXX has had a wonderful time in Spain. Thank you for taking the time away from your own lives to be with the children last week”

Do you know what? It was an absolute pleasure and a real privilege.

This week every child has created a piece of art work in preparation for our Art Exhibition on Tuesday, 24th June. Here's what they've been doing:

Year 6 created a piece of work based on the artist they have been studying for their art project.

Year 5 worked in detail looking at various landscapes with a focus on colour, we tested the oil pastels to blend new colours and create vibrant pictures.

Year 4 looked at Lowry's work and chose one to copy using charcoal.

Year 3 have created their pictures by using water colour/paint and silhouettes of Egypt as they have been studying Ancient Egypt.

Year 2 made pictures of Ancient Egyptian Gods, by colouring and shading with art pencils and making a mosaic background of golden shades.

Year 1 created a piece of work based on Monet's Water Lilies.

Foundation Stage (Nursery and Reception) created a piece of work based on Van Gogh's Field of Crows.

Our pictures have now been taken to be framed. We can't wait to see them in their final form - we feel like "real life" artists. Please come and visit our exhibition which is open to the public from 6pm.

On Saturday, 17th May, I took part in the Junior Greater Manchester Run held at the Manchester City Stadium.

When I arrived I walked around the stadium to get my bearings. I needed to find the start line, finish line and the meeting place for families.

Ten minutes before the race I joined 699 other boys in the pre-race warm up. Somehow I managed to find my friend amongst all those people.

At 12.00 precisely, the start gun sounded and we were off. It was a struggle to get into a rhythm at the beginning because we were all together in a pack.

We jogged along Joe Mercer Way towards the B of the Bang, then picked up speed round the athletics track, headed back towards the Manchester City superstore, then sprinted to the finish line, a total of 2.4 kilometres. Here everyone was given a “goody bag” which included a medal.

I was sponsored by family and friends, raising £42 for my chosen charity the “British Heart Foundation”. This charity helped my grandma a lot after she had a heart attack at the beginning of this year.

By A Year 5 pupil

Every Thursday evening after school, two of our Year 1 pupils attend Rainbows. Rainbows are aged between five and seven and are the youngest members in the Girl Guide movement.

The girls have lots of fun at Rainbows, making thing, learning new songs and playing games with the many friends they have made. They are both very excited about the first ever Rainbows’ Sleep Over next weekend.

On Wednesday, 7th May Rainbows celebrated their 21st birthday. To mark this special occasion, Rainbows across the country wore their uniforms to school. Our two girls wore their uniform at Firwood Manor for the day. They also went to a Princess Tea Party the following evening at the Church Hall where the Rainbows meet.

I am writing to tell you about some of the things we did last term.

We have had a Unicef Day for Change in which it was own clothes day. We abandoned normal lessons for the day and did lessons based on the work Unicef do. We learned about child solders and what horrible things they go through.

We had a discussion with Mrs Shaw who told us about Russia. She also showed us some pictures and some Russian items. They included some Russian Dolls that were passed round the class for us all to see. I think we all learnt a lot about Russia on that day.

Our Headteacher, Mrs Wild, brought her mum, to school to give us a talk about WW2 because she was an ARP Warden during the war. She also brought some items in to show us e.g.: medals and some photos showing people and their activities during the war. It was a very interesting afternoon and I really felt like I benefited from it.

In addition to all this there was a Mad Science Day. The day started with an assembly in the school hall on molecules and vortexes, we also learnt some rules from Generator John. Then we had fun making some slime with different chemicals like sodium borate. Afterwards, we set off a rocket in the school playground. Everybody learnt a lot about science. It was really mad.

At Firwood Manor we really care a about Fairtrade, helping third world countries to get better deals for their products. So the decision to join in on the Fairtrade Fortnight was taken by the School Council. Parents and children joined in making the fortnight something to remember. A Fairtrade stall was set up in the school hall by children bringing Fairtrade items to sell. We sold a wide range of Fairtrade stuff. In addition, we had a Fairtrade breakfast morning where we had Fairtrade hot chocolate and toast. We have also started a Fairtrade tuck day. Every Tuesday we are allowed to bring in an item of Fairtrade tuck.

We joined World Book Day, where we had to dress up as someone from one of Michael Morpugo’s books. It was harder this year to design our costumes; it was fun and interesting to see what costumes people came in. Making a Michael Morpurgo crossword or word search was great fun.

We looked at the brain in our Brain Awareness Week (BAW) and how clever it is. It has three different parts: the Reptilian brain, Limbic system and Neo cortex. We also learned how many brain cells we’re born with. Can you guess? One hundred billion brain cells and they are very eager to learn. At first it was more of a revisit of what we did last year but we learnt new things further on.

Chairperson of the School Council

Today is Tuesday and it is one of our busiest days of the week. Mr. Wild opens the door at 8.30 to let us come in. We go to our classroom upstairs and unpack our bags. We put our coats on the back of our chairs because we go swimming. Mrs. Batters takes the register to check who is here and we line up ready for the baths. With a partner, we walk downstairs and get on the coach at the front of school. Our swimming teacher is called Mrs. Sharratt. She is very kind. Swimming is really good fun but the water is sometimes cold. When we have finished our lesson we eat our tuck – Tuesday is Fairtrade Tuck Day – and go back on the coach to go back to school. When we arrive back at school we have our milk and order a sandwich if we want one.

Our next lesson is Art or Design Technology, which we have in the Art Room. We are making packages for a new Fair Trade product at the moment. After Art we go back to our classroom ready for Numeracy. Some children go to Mr. Woodward for Numeracy and some stay with Mrs. Batters. We always start our Numeracy lesson with a number game or activity like Bingo. We work in our books or do a practical activity like weighing or sorting shapes and numbers.

After all this hard work, we are all ready for our lunch. We line up and walk downstairs to wash our hands which is very important. We have our lunch in the hall and sit at tables with other children from Year 1 and 2. The Year 3 children are monitors and clear the plates and cups for the younger children. Each week, Mrs. Batters chooses a table of the week. The children on this table get their lunch first and have a Fairtrade cookie in assembly. Our lunches are cooked by Mrs. Wroe and Mrs. Harris who work very hard. We always try to have a clean plate so we can have a lunchtime merit. When we have finished our lunch we play outside or go back to the classroom to read with Mrs. Batters. There is always a lot of equipment outside for us to play with. Miss Wright, Mrs. Patterson and Mrs. Hughes look after us at lunch.

At 1.25 we come back inside for our exercises with Mrs. Batters and Mrs. Greenwood. We use the mats in the hall to do our exercises. Some of our exercises are tricky but we always have a go. They are called parachute, sea anemone, the fish and the octopus. When we have finished we line up to go upstairs for registration.

Our next lesson is literacy. We usually start on the carpet where we read a story or look at some information. All our written work goes in our yellow books, except our special writing which is called Exceptional Writing and goes in a special blue folder. Every few weeks Mrs. Batters chooses someone’s exceptional writing to go on display in the entrance hall. Our next lesson is called “Our World” which includes History, Geography and Religious Education. This lesson is always very interesting and we have learnt about Greece, ancient and modern, animals in danger and Fairtrade tea and coffee. We have been learning how to carry out our own research and have pretended to be Spartan soldiers.

At 3.10 we go into our house groups for activities. Our school houses are Elk, Fox and Raven. Our activities this half term are cross-stitch, book club and choir. We have been reading James and the Giant peach in book club and Mrs. Berry always puts on funny voices for characters.

Finally after such a busy day we go back to our classroom when there is just enough time to count our merits for the day and share a story. At 4.00 we go downstairs ready to go home or into Stay and Play with Mrs. Cluskey, Miss Wright and Mr. Lawton. After a quick snack, the younger children stay downstairs and play and the older children go upstairs into the Discovery Room for Homework Club.

By Mrs. Batters’s Class

Our Value after the holiday is "Cooperation", our Habit of Mind is "Thinking and Communicating with Clarity and Precision" and thinking skills will focus on "Dialogue".

My body is round,

I can be every colour.

I am cold as snow because I am bald.

I am armless but not harmless -

I will smash your windows!

I am legless but can fly like the wind.

Humans hate me -

They boot me down the street;

Like a fish, they seize me in a net.

If a man does a trick with his hat

While a crowd watches,

He writes famous names on my skin:

Don't pressure me too much!

What am I?

By two Year 4 Pupils

Welcome to FMfm, the Firwood Manor Pupils' Blog and Podcast. This blog is created and maintained by Firwood Manor pupils. If you want to contribute, please contact the editor at:

FMfm@firwoodmanor.org.uk

We look forward to hearing from you soon!