SESSION #11: – A REAL VISIT, A WILLOW CIRCLE AND SUN-CATCHERS.

It’s MONDAY and Helen came all the way from Goatstown on the bus to be with us today. She had to get up REALLY EARLY and brought a bag of willow cuttings and some soil with her.

 This is Helen with a willow cutting and shoots.

She explained that we were going to plant the willow cuttings which her Aunt and Uncle gave her. They would be planted into the soil in a circular shape and through time they would grow taller. Then we would be able to take cuttings from the originals and plant them to make the circle thicker/denser. Helen will come back to our school from time to time to check on the growth of the willow and she will weave them into a dome shape. This is a long-term project, but before we could start, we would have to go for a walk around the school grounds to find a suitable place to plant the willow.

Before our WALK OF DISCOVERY, Helen wanted to see the maps which the boys and girls had started drawing on acetate. (These would be attached to the bottom faces of the cuboids later in this session).

                                          

                   Cliodhna’s map.                                                               Kella’s map.

                                     

                           Ronan and Aoife.                          Laoise, Olivia, Tia and Caitlinn.

                                        

Helen was very interested in everyone’s maps. She thinks the boys and girls could easily become cartographers!

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The “OUTSIDE CLASSROOM” LEARNING ENVIRONMENT.

We all went outside into the lovely sunshine, and after a lengthy search, and taking lots of factors into account (space for the willow to grow, a place in which there would not be much “people traffic”), we decided on an area at the front of the school in which to plant the willow cuttings.   

          This area is used for sports and games, so it was not a suitable space for planting the willow.                             

         

                                         This is the chosen area for the willow cuttings to be planted.

  • The boys and girls had to stand together to make sure the area would be big enough for a class to fit into. 
  • Helen used the same method to mark out the circle which the children had practised the week before………string attached to a peg, but she used paint spray to mark the grass.
  • Then she had to make 50 holes in which the willow cuttings would be planted. 

     

      

      

      

      

      

 PHEW! That was exhausting!

Helen had to make 50 holes for the willow cuttings to fit into, so we went back to class to continue with the maps while she did all the hard labour! We returned when she was ready for the children to plant the cuttings. Everyone planted 2 or 3.

                                             

                             

 

          

                                        

        

          

    

        

         

     

                                     

 EVERYONE STOOD BACK TO ADMIRE THE PERFECT CIRCLE OF WILLOW!

  

The rain began to fall, just in time for us to return to the classroom.

Once inside, everyone finished off the maps on the acetate, and two of each were placed on top of each other and attached to the bottom face of the cuboid.

Helen volunteered to hang them at the top of the Link Corridor. This is a passage which connects the Key Stage 1 and 2 part of the school to the remainder of the school building. There are many windows along each side of it, and an ideal place to hang the cuboids.

                                                             

                 

                         

                                        

                                        

                 

                                                    

           

                                                    

                       

                                            

                 

                     

                      

                                              A view of the bottom face of the cuboids.

        

The LUNCH TIME bell rang, and so ended another great session.

Helen has promised to make another “real” visit before our Virtually There year ends.

The teacher (me) and Helen discussed a few ideas which may be implemented in the time remaining…………we’ll have to see. 

Meanwhile, all the children were very proud of the work they had completed, and were delighted with the many compliments they received from other pupils and staff.

THANK YOU HELEN!! We are looking forward to our next session.

 

    

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