It seemed like a very long break over Christmas so in our first session back we spent some time reviewing our previous work and seeing what we remembered. It was an impressive list. In adding more detail to the group maps the next thing was to become more aware of our surroundings. With this in mind we did a series of tasks in groups and individually in and around the school looking at features of the landscape. The class had to plan this activity and decide how to get the tasks done. Some people got quite excited.

I had a student, Libbi, working with me doing some work experience. We split the tasks.My response was mainly through photos -that is my instinct, to record using the lens. Libbi preferred to use drawings. It is worth remembering that different people have different preferred media.

Below: the children used a mix of words, photos and drawings to record landmarks. At one point many of them “heard a red van” -apparently red vans have their own special sound!

After this everyone was keen to keep the research going so the class came up with some homework for themselves -things that they thought would help them with the project: