The start of a new academic year is always an exciting time at Burton Hathow, and our first week back has certainly been a busy one. From adventures in the woods to creative exploration in the classroom, the children have thrown themselves into school life with enthusiasm, curiosity and plenty of imagination.
Spending time and learning outdoors in our woodland is an important part of life at Burton Hathow, so it was wonderful to begin the year with a whole Forest Day. The children took part in a variety of activities designed to care for, explore and creatively engage with our woodland environment.
There was willow coppicing, cyanotype printing using sunlight to create beautiful natural prints, tree cover removal and the regeneration of our bark pathways. The children also helped to create natural log borders along the woodland paths, helping to define and protect the pathways while making use of materials from the woodland itself. It was a fantastic opportunity for the children to get involved in caring for the environment they enjoy throughout the year.
Creativity continued in the classroom, where Year 3 had their first experiments with charcoal and mark making. Working with such a wonderfully messy material encouraged the children to be brave and experimental with their ideas. They were imaginative, alert and completely engaged in the process and , very dirty by the end of it!
Year 2 also began the year by looking at the way artists observe and collect objects from the world around them. Using shells as their inspiration, the children arranged and rearranged their collections before connecting them through pencil marks. There was an additional challenge: their pencils could only travel in the direction in which they were pushing a tiny shell across the paper.
The results were fascinating, but just as important was the children’s ability to look carefully at the finished artworks and discuss what they could see. They loved creating their studies and it proved to be a wonderfully thoughtful and enjoyable morning.
Years 3, 4 and 5 came together for a collaborative weaving project using recycled T-shirts. Working collectively on one creative piece gave the children an opportunity to explore colour, texture and pattern while also discovering how discarded materials can be given an entirely new purpose.
Reception also spent time in the woods, creating their own woodland webs inspired by spider webs. For many of the children, the woods are already a familiar and much-loved part of Burton Hathow from their time in Nursery. This time, the activity provided a lovely opportunity to settle into life in Reception, strengthen friendships, welcome new faces and get to know their class and teachers as they begin this next stage of their Burton Hathow journey.
It has been a wonderful start to the new academic year. In just one week we have already seen creativity, collaboration, environmental awareness, exploration and plenty of muddy hands. Most importantly, the children have returned ready to learn, discover, make memories and have plenty of fun along the way, because at Burton Hathow we believe that school should be a place where children love to learn, laugh and enjoy being together.