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The great thing about being a child is that you can get away with ‘messy play’ any time. The great thing about being a teacher is that you can also get away with ‘messy play’ any time! We have had a great end to our half term. The Year 6 children have amazed us with their incredibly calm attitudes towards SATs and we have welcomed a new teacher to our team. The art work in Fairsnape Class is beautiful and Year 2 had the pleasure of watching  Mr. Gilmour ‘see off’ the cows that were intruding on their nature walk. Year 5 amazed us (again) with their Shakespeare performances and children are constantly being given Golden Awards for their care and consideration of others. The Spring Bash was superb and we give thanks for the work of our PTFA. We also give huge thanks to the parents who are busily preparing our school floats for next weekend. It has caused a slight problem for staff , however, and it ended with Mrs.Kerr visiting A&E!

When the school day is done, we regularly get together to share stories about the day but we have never roller skated in the school hall. We have now! Miss Stewart and I are wearing roller skates for the Goosnargh Festival as our Pre-School children are riding in a roller boot float. It has been 25 years since I last wore a pair of roller skates but it seems that Miss Stewart is a roller derby expert. This didn’t bother me until I attempted to skate. I can’t explain how bad I am at roller skating. You really would have to see it to believe it but I am getting plenty of practice in before next weekend. I have been told that I can hold onto the handle on the back of the trailer so at least I will have something to keep me upright! Other staff tried on the roller skates and were quite impressive. Mrs. Kerr was excellent until she twirled and fell. Nothing is broken but she has strained her wrist. Needless to say, we won’t be doing that again.

Yesterday, Year 1, Reception and Pre-School had what was described by a child as ‘the best day ever’ and it really was! We had glitter, paint, fabric, lining paper, pipettes, sprayers, water , printing tools and lots of smiles. Have a look at the pictures below…

In Pre-School, parachutes, stories, bingo and fun has continued…

Our Year 5 and 6 buddies teamed up with Pendle Class to go on a story adventure. They made clues for the younger children that linked with map reading and positional language. We had a wonderful May Procession with incredible singing coming from the children. Year 6 had a PJ film day as a treat after SATs and Fairsnape have used outdoors to undertake maths lessons in the real world. They worked together to understand how big the peach was from James and the Giant Peach and they had to use the school field as well as the playground! Hot seating, active learning and enjoyment has been had by all.

Yesterday, the day ended with a problem. Mrs Holden came to tell me that one of the chickens was ‘bunged up’ and it needed sorting out. I didn’t appreciate just how ‘bunged up’ it was until Mr Gilmour and I went to take a look. At no point at all was ‘unbunging chickens’ in any job description. When everyone else has left the school and you have to deal with urgent matters you just have to get on with the task in hand. Miss Dickinson was on her way out when she too got roped into the chicken problem. Sometimes, I presume that people who live near a farm or land are animal experts. This wasn’t the case! Like a trooper, I went in to investigate as Mr Gilmour held onto the chicken. This was a very delicate situation that was made difficult by the amount of feathers that had caused the ‘bunging’ problem! With patience, precision, water and scissors, I gently removed the exterior clot and the chicken is happy with a clean new lease of life. The chicken was not harmed in any way-it just had a little feather trim. I drove home covered in paint, feathers and a strong smell of chicken dung.

All in a day’s work and I wouldn’t change a thing. Next half term, we have St.Francis’ Got Talent, moving up days, trips, Stay and Play sessions much more to look forward to. Have a wonderful half term!