Focus Week - The Meadow
There have been signs of new life and colour here in the Meadow! Over the last month we have been focusing on incorporating gardening into our nurture program. Gardening is a hands-on activity that encourages sensory experiences, fosters a sense of responsibility, encourages social interaction and builds a connection to nature. The children have been enjoying taking notice of the existing flowers and smell of the herbs we have already in our little garden space and around the school.
Thanks to Mrs Callaghan, we have been signed up to ‘Grow with it’, a national programme with the Royal Horticultural society, who have asked people all over the country to grow a ‘small space with a big impact’. With the help of Mr Haylock, Mrs Callaghan and Mr Watling (our caretaker), we have created a small place outside in the garden area of The Meadow where the children have been excitedly planting Chives, Cornflowers and Cosmos. Watch this space as we practice patience and resilience while we wait to see the first shoots peak through the earth!
Year 5 and Year 1 have been planting sunflower seeds. As we wanted to be as sustainable as possible, we created flower pots from newspaper in the hope that when our seedlings are strong enough, we can pop them all straight into the ground. Newspaper is a natural, renewable material that helps to retain moisture and suppress weeds as well as adding organic matter to the soil. The Year 5 and Year 1 team will be responsible for caring for their sunflower as it turns to a seedling and then onto planting it in the soil when strong enough, a great way to build and boost our self-esteem and confidence.
Additionally, on the theme of colours and textures, The Meadow have been admiring the art of Yakoi Kusama, a Japanese artist sometimes known as ‘the princess of polka dots!’ Yakoi Kusama’s passion for art was not welcomed in her early life and it took a long while for her family to accept her passion and talent. In the Meadow we have been thinking about the resilience and determination Yakoi Kusama must have demonstrated to become the artist and inspiration she is today and how we can use these qualities in our lives moving forward. To celebrate her inspiration, we have been creating our own colorful polka dot patterns, which we have translated onto tiles using acrylic pens. The children have worked so hard to carefully think about their designs and how they will represent them on the tiles. As you can see they have turned out really beautifully!
We hope you have a wonderful Easter break and look forward to welcoming the children to the Meadow on their return.
