A Hunt for Buried Treasure . . .

The Gang were very excited when they found out that a metal detectorist was visiting. Paul, a local expert from Cholsey, arrived with his specialist kit; a metal detector, a spade and a pinpoint. (In case you didn’t know, a pinpoint is a tool that locates more accurately the exact position of a find).

We headed out into the school garden to see what we might locate.  We hoped that we might find some gold or some treasure!  Not much luck with that, but we did find a toy aeroplane, some lead pipe and lots of tinfoil. Paul explained that his most valuable find was a hammered coin from Henry VII’s reign.

Paul’s equipment was rather expensive but led to some very exciting stories: A woman had bought a cheap metal detector and went into a local field and soon the detector started beeping.   She dug down and found a gold coin! But it got better because as she continued digging, she discovered a whole hoard of gold coins.  She had to inform the landowner and the police.

Imagine what could be lying hidden right underneath your feet…this minute!

Blogged by a year 6

An Action-Packed Start to the New Term!

To kickstart the New Year, the Gang headed off to Snakes & Ladders in Abingdon, to get fit for our annual 10k Bunny Run.  Running around was very hard due to the amount of food we had eaten over the Christmas holidays!

Snakes & Ladders is a children’s indoor play area where you can be a little bit wild, running, jumping, crawling, spinning, sliding and lots of more.

For me the most challenging part was tackling the climbing nets. The nets were very sore on your feet as you are not allowed footwear. My hands also got blisters from the rough, plasticky rope.  The nets were approximately 4m high and I felt very pleased with myself that I didn’t give up.

During a game of ‘Catch’, Shaz and I were both trying to get through the vertical spinning rollers at the same time . We were running away from a ‘catcher’ but we both ended up getting stuck!

We all ended up with rosy cheeks and are inspired to get fit for The Bunny Run on the 29^th March.

Year 6 pupil.

Remember…

On Monday, The Treehouse Gang went to the Forty to pay tribute to those who have fought in wars.

We read poems and had a 2 minute silence. It was because of all those soldiers in WWII who died. The parents all came to watch us, we wore poppies and enjoyed remembering the wonderful people who gave their lives.

The poems we wrote and read were acrostic poems. These poems had ‘REMEMBER’ down the side of our pages, and each line had to start with the next letter of ‘remember’ until the word finished. It was to see who had creative ideas about the war. One of my ideas said: ‘Everywhere around you soldiers are falling’. I got to read mine out at the Forty and was really grateful for every moment of it.

Year 4

Have you heard that…

At Tiggywinkles, an animal sanctuary and hospital, they have over 300 hedgehogs! Tiggywinkles was started by a family who found an injured kestrel. When it recovered, it was still unable to fly so, they used it to help raise other baby kestrels. Gradually they attracted more rescued animals but found they didn’t have enough space in their garden for them all.  So they set about fundraising and raised over a million pounds in one year!  Which they used to start Tiggywinkles, as it is now known.

On the 16^th October the Treehouse Gang visited in order to learn more about our local wildlife.  We saw foxes, ducks, a heron, barn owls and tortoises.

We enjoyed a talk and power-point presentation about the myths and legends of some of the animals they rescue.  This is one of the myths that we heard:

One day the sun decided it wanted to marry the moon.  The sun invited all the animals on earth to come to the wedding.  Every animal came except the hedgehog. The sun went to look for the hedgehog and found him eating a rock.  The sun asked, “Why aren’t you coming?” and the hedgehog replied “If you marry the moon you will have a baby and the earth will become too hot for anything to live on. And we will only have rocks to eat.” So, the sun cancelled the wedding immediately.

We found out that hedgehog’s prickles are hollow so that they can swim and float in the river. Also, when predators (such as badgers) attack them they curl into a ball by tightening the muscle connecting one ear to another.

We would recommend a visit to Tiggywinkles.  We would give it 5 stars because it does very important work helping not only hedgehogs, but all wildlife.

Year 3 and 5 pupils.

 

Moulsford Art Exhibition…

Yesterday we went to Moulsford School to see their art exhibition. I was in a group with Cassie.

We went into the craft room and there were models of rockets and racing cars all made from plastic bottles. My favourites were the aeroplane and the jet pack.   To make the aeroplane they used cardboard to make the wings and drew on the outside of the windows.  Then they put little dobs of paint.

Cassie’s favourite was the swan.  It was so good.  The wings were made from plastic spoons, just the tips, laid on top of each other.

While we there we had to draw pictures of the models.  The older children had to find different types of art, which were on their question sheets.

I liked the art and thought it was good.

Year 1 pupil

 

Camp Treehouse 2019…

In the morning we started off with building our tepee using hazel branches for the stand. Then we placed a tarpaulin for the floor and a silage sheet for the cover.

In the evening Maurice came and lit the fire so we could stay warm.

Next Andrea came and taught us a native American Indian dance.

It surprised me that the day had gone so quickly that it was soon time for bed. Unfortunately, there was a gap in the top of our tepee and it started raining. Luckily the rain dripped down the walls so therefore we didn’t get wet.

The following morning we woke up to a heart warming cup of hot chocolate and we played some games, before beginning to pack up and get ready to go home.

Pupil aged 10

A Walk to Wittenham Clumps…

We decided to walk to Wittenham Clumps from Cholsey because it was our Year Sixes last forest school and we wanted to make it memorable. We all set off with a determined attitude towards the hike ahead of us. In groups of three we were given a map that we would refer to at points on our walk.

Our route took us up Cholsey Hill initially, but then cut off through a field.   Mainly our walk was on footpaths but at times we had to cross roads.  We crossed over a road that leads  to Wallingford and headed on a footpath past a stream and towards Mackney Farm.   By this time we were starting to feel tired but were motivated by the thought of fish and chips at the Red Lion pub in Brightwell.

We saw many interesting things on the walk including a deer, a heron and a fox running on the path ahead. After we had had a filling meal the adults decided the walk was too much for some children and that only the Year 5s and 6s would continue to Wittenham Clumps.  So the younger children took a minibus to the meeting point and waited for us to arrive.

The last part was the hardest as it was uphill most of the way and out in the open in the scorching sun. Finally, Wittenham Clumps was in sight and we all made a last push to the top of the hill.  The others greeted us and then we relaxed until it was time to head home.

I think this walk was really challenging but we all felt that we had achieved a great deal.

Year 5 author

 

 

Matilda the Musical…

Last week the Treehouse Gang took the minibus to London to see Matilda the Musical.  This was because our Year 6s will be leaving and it was a final treat.

It was quite a long journey so lots of people brought games to play on the way.  I played Hangman and others played Top Trumps.

When we arrived at the theatre we had flapjacks and cheese straws and then went inside to find our seats.

When I sat down I noticed that the stage was decorated with boxes that had letters on. As the show started they moved and spelled out the word ‘Matilda’.  My favourite part was when Matilda was telling a story to the librarian because it was quite tense, but also because they used puppets to show the characters in the story.

The set was cleverly designed and had lots of interesting things to look at.  For example Matilda’s whole bedroom could be moved forward, there were swings with really long ropes and the actors in the wings pushed in some of the set. There was lots of movement and changing scenery. In addition, I liked the costumes because they compared well with the drawings in the book.

The play has a great ending because Matilda moves in with Miss Honey while her parents went on holiday to Spain.  I really enjoyed the play and wanted it to carry on because it was probably one of the best that I have seen.

On the way home lots of people fell asleep and we arrived back in Cholsey at about 11.30.   I think it was a wonderful treat for the Year 6s and we all got to enjoy the experience too!

Year 4 author.

The New Gang are Coming…

I must tell you about two new pupils who we will be welcoming to The Treehouse in September. Our new Gang members are O and J.  They are young, so we will need to help them step up from their old schools. O and J joined us for their taster Forest School day on Friday.

To begin with they had a story and played with the train set.  After that they made paper and cardboard boats ready for the afternoon’s activity.  I think they enjoyed this because were in a small group with Shaz so there weren’t too many new faces.

Before long they went outside to test the strength of the equilateral triangle structures that the rest of the gang had been making.

After lunch we walked to the park and then we split into two groups.  O and J were in my group who were sailing their boats in the stream.  You will never believe this but J’s boat sailed away quickly and nearly collided with a bramble.  J found it funny at first but then, when the boat nearly hit the brambles, I believe he felt nervous.

I think they they enjoyed their time at the Treehouse.

Although they were tired at the end of the day they stayed smiling and I can’t wait to see them again in September.

LB Age 8

Names changed to preserve privacy.

Making Music in the Woods…

Each Friday we have Forest School and each week we pick a different location. This week we went to Lollingdon and met a musical artist.  His name is Chris Holland.

Chris taught us how to make musical instruments out of wood and he also showed us how to use the natural world as an inspiration to make sounds and music.

First we took a small piece of wood and, with a permanent marker, drew the outline of a crocodile.  Then we carved out some ridges along the body.  To do this Chris taught us a new technique called ‘boffing’.  You stick the knife into the wood at an angle and then bang it with a larger piece of wood to make it go in deeper.  Then you do it again on the other side and a small chip of wood flies out.  This makes the ridge.  I found it hard to get the knife in and back out.  When we had finished we found a small stick.  We used this to rub along the ridges to make a tapping, clicking sound.

Later Chris told us to go and find two different natural items, for example a stone and some grass.  We experimented with these to see what sounds we could make. We then made these sounds with our voices.

Finally we made up a song together and performed it using our crocodile instruments and our voices.  It was called ‘We Went into the Woods . . .’

Although the carving was a bit difficult and challenging I think everyone at the Treehouse learned lot.  For these reasons I think all schools should have a day with Chris Holland!

WR Age 10