ICE COOL KIDS!

THE pint-sized youngsters at one of the borough’s primary schools showed that they had a lot of bottle — by building an igloo out of empty milk cartons.

Pupils at Badsley Moor Infant School created the outdoor structure with the help of Tony Remington, a teacher at another school.

The igloo, which was made about four weeks ago, is to be found in the outdoor play area at the school.

Laura Green, the school’s assistant head teacher, who is responsible for teaching and learning development, explained that there was a strong focus on outdoor learning.

“We do as many activities as we can using outdoor learning, for instance maths, using natural materials and creating groups of different numbers of items, and also phonics, involving finding words hidden in the garden area and playground,” she said.

“This is to make learning exciting and innovative.”

Badsley Moor also uses Forest School techniques, with teacher Marie Brammer, who works with every year group, being an accredited Forest School leader.

Children learn skills linked to the forest, such as recognising different trees and learning to tie knots, all linked to topics in the school.

The youngsters also visit Herringthorpe Valley Woods and have been to Clifton School.

A popular new addition is the new school library, which was completed just before Easter at one end of the hall.

Ms Green said: “We wanted a nice area where children could share books, work in teams and so on.

“Parents can also swap books, so it’s like a mini lending library.”

I spoke to a group of seven youngsters about the Advertiser and I was also treated to seeing their writing and pictures based on the books of Julia Donaldson, who wrote The Gruffalo and The Gruffalo’s Child.

The pupils said that they had enjoyed classes based on the different characters.

Kain Skidmore — who wants to be an illustrator — said he enjoyed reading about the articles for sale in the newspaper, while Alysia Vernon said that she would like to be a reporter when she was older.

Jersey-Lee Muffet, who had created her own book, said that she enjoyed writing, as did the classmates I spoke to.

Badsley Moor pupils showed they had the six skills which the school focuses on — resilience, teamwork, communication, reflection, critical and creative thinking and problem-solving.

To find out more about arranging an Advertiser visit to a school and featuring in the Young Advertiser section, contact Michele Vincent by emailing [email protected] or telephoning 01709 768161.