We understand how hard it can be to find things to do to entertain the whole family during the summer break, particularly as the weather isn’t always sunny! Here Mrs Webster, Headteacher of Pilgrims Pre-Prep suggests some fun activities that can also be educational.
At Pilgrims we believe it’s important that children continue learning even during the school holidays. The summer break is the perfect time for pupils to reflect on what they’ve learnt over the school year and expand on their knowledge. Family days out can provide fantastic learning opportunities and with a wide range of places to visit in and around Bedford, it is easy to keep your children’s minds active.
What to do in and around Bedford
Here in Bedford, we are very lucky to have so much variety and history on our doorstep.
Priory Country Park is the perfect place to visit on a sunny day. It is a national park packed full of wildlife that can be found in the lakes, meadows and woodland. With fun trails to follow, it is the perfect location for a bike ride. There is even a kite flying area and a play area for the children to enjoy. Don’t forget to check out the wildlife garden, they will be able to impress you with what they’ve learnt at school this year!
The Bedford treasure trail is another fun, outdoor activity for the whole family to enjoy. Although it is designed for older children, it’s a great way to get your little ones involved. See what they can spot as you search for clues to unlock the treasure.
If you’re looking for a day full of history, Woburn Abbey – home to the Duke and Duchess of Bedford – is the ideal attraction. You can take a tour around the individual rooms filled with antiques, artwork and 18th century furniture and then have a walk around the gardens to see what flowers you can find. The estate is even home to a red deer farm!
If your little ones need to let off some steam, Kids World is a fun soft play centre or, for something a little bit different, you could also try sledging at Snozone Milton Keynes. It’s the perfect excuse for your child to meet up with friends and burn energy, while learning how to interact with others.
Bedford library has lots of things going on throughout the summer holidays. On Monday 12 August, children can make their own animal masks or visit the library for Lego, colouring and games on Monday 2 September. The library is the perfect place to meet new people.
Also, don’t forget that Bedford Park and Russell Park are great places to visit for a walk, a bike ride or a picnic. If it’s not raining, parks are the perfect place for hours of fun. You could also take some books with you – reading is even more fun outdoors!
Activities to do at home
You don’t even have to leave the house to take part in fun, educational activities. Doing arts and crafts is a great way to spend a rainy day and it allows your children to explore their creative side. Encourage them to do some painting, create collages, draw a picture or have fun cutting and sticking – it can be as messy as you like!
Imaginative play is brilliant stimulation for your child. Find an old cardboard box and turn it into a spaceship or use toilet roll tubes and string to make a phone; the opportunities are endless.
Baking is also a fun activity. You can work together as a family to weigh out the ingredients, follow a recipe and decorate your creations at the end. Why not try our chocolate and beetroot cake?
With so much to do, we hope you have a lovely break and we cannot wait to hear about all the fun things you get up to when we return to school in September.
The 2018/2019 school year was another busy one at Pilgrims. Here, Headteacher Mrs Webster reflects on some of her favourite moments.
An award shortlisting, a school dog and another successful sport’s day – this school year has been packed full of great moments which make me proud of everyone here at Pilgrims School.
One of my best moments was introducing Jake the puppy to the children for the first time when he was just three months old. The children were so welcoming and quiet in the assembly, as Jake was getting used to his first day at school.
Jake joined us in February 2018 and over the last year he has become a massive part of school life. He greets the pupils and their parents at the school gate in the mornings and is always visiting the children in their classrooms. It’s been great seeing how Jake has helped the children to express themselves and watching the relationships they have formed with him. They love to tell him all about their day!
In June we received the exciting news that we have been shortlisted in the Independent Pre-Prep School of the Year category in the Independent School of the Year Awards 2019! This is a fantastic achievement for us as we work hard to make Pilgrims the best Pre-Prep it can be to ensure that we are giving our pupils the best possible start in their education. I am incredibly proud of everyone at Pilgrims and I am looking forward to receiving the results in October!
We are extremely lucky to have such wonderful outdoor facilities, so we decided to take some of our lessons outside last term. This gave the children the opportunity to learn more about the wildlife in our pond and they even had the chance to make butterfly catchers in the sun! It was wonderful to see the smiles on the pupils’ faces as they found their first frog!
Christmas 2018 was lots of fun too. We all enjoyed taking part in a range of festive activities, including a Christmas advent calendar quiz, a staff pantomime, Christmas crafts and enjoying a tasty Christmas dinner in the dining hall. The pupils even met Father Christmas at our elf event. Four of our Kindergarten pupils travelled to St Paul’s Church to decorate a tree as part of their Christmas tree festival. Christmas is always a fun time of year and I love enjoying the festive season with everyone at Pilgrims.
World Book Day in March was an excuse for the pupils to dress up – and what fantastic costumes we had! My favourite part was seeing the Year 2 pupils read to the younger children. Everyone had lots of fun and enjoyed some great books.
The summer term finished with sports day – an event that everyone looks forward to. This year some of the older children from Bedford Modern came along to help us out. It was encouraging to see how past pupils have grown up and watch them help our younger children with their races.
The last week of term is always a busy and emotional one. We had to say goodbye to another fantastic group of Year 2s as they move onto the next step in their education. It’s been great to watch them grow during their time at Pilgrims; they have become more confident and learnt new skills each year, and we will miss them!
Every now and again I’m lucky enough to receive a picture or a written note from the pupils and this really does brighten my day. I have had some wonderful drawings of Jake and some wonderful letters from pupils telling me what they have been up to during the school holidays. I keep them all and I love taking them home at the end of the year!
Being a Headteacher is a very rewarding job and I can’t wait to see what the next school year has in store. I hope everyone has a great summer and I look forward to welcoming you back in September.
As we begin Pilgrims’ Healthy Heart Fortnight, headteacher, Mrs Webster discusses why teaching pupils how to keep their hearts healthy is so important, even at the earliest age.
A recent study by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) revealed that around 30% of children in the UK are overweight. This is a result of several factors, but as part of the government’s scheme to significantly reduce child obesity levels over the next few years, the emphasis on healthy living and promoting sport in schools has increased.
As Pilgrims’ pupils are aged between three months and seven years, it is important to ensure that they are receiving the correct nutrition and exercise to be healthy. The children are at very important stages of their growth so, alongside the curriculum, teaching our pupils about how to lead a healthy lifestyle is at the forefront of what we do throughout the year. Healthy Heart Fortnight allows us to focus on this even more and we’re excited for what’s to come over the next few weeks.
What is Healthy Heart Fortnight?
Healthy Heart Fortnight is something we created and take part in every year here at Pilgrims. This year the children are taking part in a range of sporting activities such as ‘Kick Box’, yoga sessions, and even ‘Rugby Tots’ for the really little ones. We have even held a ‘what’s your favourite healthy recipe’ competition, with the winning recipes forming part of the lunch menu!
Our annual Sports Day will also be taking place at the end of Healthy Heart Fortnight on 5 July. Pupils from the age of 2 will be competing in a series of races, while their parents are invited to cheer them on from the sideline.
The importance of physical education
A survey by Sport England revealed that 32.9% of children and young people in the UK participate in less than 30 minutes worth of exercise each day.
Physical activity is so important in the first 10 years of a child’s life, not least because the more sport they participate in when they are younger, the more likely they will continue as they get older.
Pilgrims’ pupils are given the opportunity to learn different sports and discover which ones they are good at and most importantly, the ones they enjoy most.
During the summer months the children take part in a wide range of outdoor sporting activities ahead of sports day. This includes regular inter-school activities and events such as tennis and mini-cricket tournaments, competing with pupils from other schools.
Eating and nutrition
Another shocking statistic is that only one in six children are consuming the recommended five portions of fruit and veg each day in England and Scotland.
In order to ensure that our pupils get as much fruit and veg as possible during the school day, our catering team is constantly working to develop the school menus.
All meals are prepared from scratch each day and the team regularly substitute foods with healthier ingredients and use herbs and seasoning for flavouring to reduce the children’s salt intake.
Mrs Bhogal and her catering team will also be holding their famous ‘healthy food taster day’ during Healthy Heart Fortnight, to encourage the children to try some different types of fruit and vegetables.
Working with other schools in the Harpur Trust, our aim is to give our pupils the best start in life by teaching them all they need to know about leading a healthy lifestyle, so that they can continue to do so as they grow older.
A yearly visit from Dr Bike, bike races and bike washing are just a few of the activities pupils get up to. As part of Bike To School Week and Child Safety Week, Pilgrims’ head Mrs Webster discusses the importance of bike safety.
Teaching children about bike safety from an early age is crucial. Here at Pilgrims, we regularly talk about the highway code. As part of our Healthy Heart fortnight in the summer term, pupils take part in bike safety courses. Once they have learned how to fasten their helmet, stand up on their bike, use their brakes, cycle in a straight line and turn a corner safely, they are awarded with a bikeability certificate to take home.
As we are suitably located next to Bedford Park, many pupils choose to cycle to and from school with their friends in the summer. Bedford several bike routes the children can follow and these are displayed on our school gate.
Pupils who attend our holiday club get the opportunity to bring in their bikes and take part in bike races on the school playground. When the weather is nice, they also get to wash them too!
Last year we arranged for Dr Bike to visit the school for the first time. Also known as Mike Hanham of CycleTechUK, Dr Bike set up his mobile repair van in the school playground and worked hard at checking, tightening, greasing and re-positioning more than 40 bikes to make sure they were ready for the winter months. We now invite Dr Bike to visit us once a year so parents can benefit from his services and advice.
As Bike To School Week is June 3-7, we would like to encourage as many pupils, parents and staff as possible to swap the car for their bike and enjoy a ride to school and back.
Pilgrims parents are currently raising funds for a new bike stand for pupils and staff to use from September.
We like to teach the children useful skills and show them that riding a bike is fun and great exercise, while making them aware of the potential dangers. For more information about Bike To School Week, visit their website.
To support Mental Health Awareness Week (May 13-19), our headteacher, Mrs Webster, explains why she believes that the well-being of children is equally as important as their education
What the experts say
According to the Mental Health Foundation, mental health problems affect around one in 10 children and young people. Issues include depression, anxiety and conduct disorder and are often a response to something that is happening in their lives. The organisation’s figures also reveal that 70% of children who experience a mental health problem have not had appropriate interventions at an early age.
Children have more opportunity to access technology and social media from a younger age which can place extra stress or anxieties on them.
Good mental health allows them to develop the resilience to cope with whatever life throws at them and grow into well-rounded adults.
How do we help Pilgrims children?
Children’s mental well-being is something the school takes very seriously and we already have several initiatives in place at Pilgrims to support this.
We have Jake, our Fox Red Labrador, who regularly plays on the school field, greets the children at the school gate and brings a smile to everyone’s face. The children visit him throughout the day, telling him what they’ve been up to, and rewarding him with a little treat now and again!
We also work closely with The Mind Map, a Bedford based charity who focus on children’s emotional wellbeing and resilience and equip teachers with tools to promote emotional literacy and wellness. They have introduced the children to ‘Casey the Caterpillar’, a character the children can interact with and, in the classroom, the staff and children discuss a different feeling each week. There is also ‘Casey calm time’, giving the children the opportunity to reflect and relax.
It is crucial we encourage our children to share their feelings, particularly as mental health problems in young people are on the rise.
We recognise and understand that our children are in a vulnerable stage of their development and that’s why we work hard with our children to communicate their emotions and do what we can to help prevent mental health problems later in life.
To celebrate National Pet Month, our headteacher, Mrs Webster, explains why Jake, the Fox Red Labrador and Pilgrims’ resident pooch, is a very important member of the school.
Dogs in school can help to reduce stress in the classroom, it has been claimed.
Several recent news headlines have highlighted the benefits that pets can bring to your mental well-being, so it is no surprise they are becoming increasingly popular in schools across the UK.
Sir Anthony Seldon, vice-chancellor of the University of Buckingham, said the soothing presence of a dog in a classroom is great for relieving stress and suggested every school in the UK should have one. And we think he is right.
Jake joined Pilgrims as a three-month-old puppy in February 2018 and has become a massive part of school life. He can regularly be found playing on the school field, digging up the occasional bucket and spade left in the sand-pit and chasing lost balls around the playground.
Jake even joins me at the school gate in the mornings to greet the children and their parents. We find this is a great way to welcome the pupils and he always brings a smile to everyone’s faces. It’s the best way to start the school day!
Should all schools have a well-being dog?
We strongly believe that the well-being of our pupils is equally as important as their education.
We have invested in a range of initiatives to help improve this and work closely with The Mind Map charity to offer a range of classroom-based initiatives and parenting workshops to support the children. It is very important to encourage children to communicate their feelings, particularly as mental health issues in young people are on the rise.
With the advances in technology and the relentless pressures of social media, it is of paramount importance that children are supported from an early age to help deal with the stresses and anxieties of modern-day society.
Dogs can really help children to express themselves and the relationships that the children have built with Jake are heart-warming. Whether it’s our very little ones in Baby Room, through to our oldest children in Year 2, everyone looks forward to seeing Jake around the school, and they love telling him about their day at Pilgrims.
A new study has revealed the benefits of outdoor learning on a child’s academic performance. Our Headteacher, Jo Webster, explains why including outdoor activities in the school curriculum is important for a child’s learning and development.
According to a recent government survey (between 2013 and 2015) only 8% of children in England took part in school visits to the natural environment in an average month.
This means that, sadly, many children are missing out on the opportunity to learn about the outside world from a young age; something that, I believe, should be an integral part of every child’s pre-school and primary education.
In today’s society, we are surrounded by all things digital. Teaching our children about the natural environment and relevant issues such as recycling, saving water and global warming is incredibly important. The earlier they learn, the more aware they are about the world around them and this makes them more likely to make informed decisions later in their lives.
Research by King’s College in London revealed that children perform better in academic studies if they are able to learn in natural environments.
One of our school values is ‘curiosity’ and we work hard to create a stimulating and inspiring environment which allows our pupils to flourish; from growing fruit and vegetables, to going on sensory walks, from den-building and mini beast hunts on the field, to climbing trees – it all happens at Pilgrims!
We are also very fortunate to have our own pond and wildlife area where children can learn about plant life and pond creatures, using their research to develop their science and literacy skills. Children have been watching as the pond has filled up with frog spawn, the blue tits have returned and we hope to have some exciting video footage via our bird-box camera.
At Pilgrims we are also proud to be a Forest School. The forest school approach uses the natural environment and outdoor facilities to offer children an alternative approach to learning. The curriculum is divided between indoor and outdoor learning and is designed to encourage imagination and creativity.
As the late spring/summer months approach, we will be taking our learning outside – who knows what we will discover!
Autumn is an exciting time of year. As we begin to look forward to Christmas time, the leaves on the trees are quickly changing from green to brown and the mornings and evenings are becoming colder and darker. It is a busy time here at Pilgrims, with the return of our Autumn Tea Party, our Little Pilgrims Autumn event and Harvest Festival.
Although the weather was not at its best, and the rain did arrive, our Autumn Tea Party was a huge success. There were competitions for the children and their parents to take part in; make your own ‘Comedy Vegetable’, create a Mini Garden and, of course, our ‘Pilgrims Bake Off’ as well as circus skills to learn and tombola prizes to win. Well done to everyone who won a prize! We hope to organise some late summer sunshine next year!
Our Harvest Festival will take place on Friday 5 October 2018 and all parents of Reception to Year 2 children are invited to attend. We will find out why this time of year is so important and talk about the hard work the farmers throughout the country do to ensure we have food to eat. Our parents are always extremely generous with their donations of food, flowers, plants, fruit and vegetables and these items will be available to purchase after the assembly, with all proceeds going to the school’s chosen charity for this year, The Mind Map. Any remaining food will be donated to the local Food Bank.
Half term HOLIDAYS
October half term holidays are just around the corner, so it is the perfect time for some autumn activities. For the rainy days, there are lots of craft ideas to keep the whole family entertained. The autumn season is all about the colours red, yellow and orange, so why not do some painting? You could also tie in your crafts with Halloween and design some spooky-themed decorations for the house. What better way to impress the trick-or-treaters? When the weather is nice, long walks can be a great way to spend an autumn day. You could collect some leaves on your way and use them to create a leaf collage; the opportunities are endless!
We love the autumn term at Pilgrims as it’s the perfect excuse to wrap up warm, put our wellies on, and explore the great outdoors. We are so lucky to have a huge field with its own copse of trees, a willow tunnel, pond area and wildlife garden to explore so there’s lots for the children to discover, even at this time of year!
Why not take the opportunity to leave the car at home this term and walk to school? We are suitably located next to Bedford Park so it is the perfect opportunity to collect some leaves for your collage or spot some wildlife. Let us know what you find.
As we are approaching the end of the year and the weather is getting colder, finding things to do in the evenings and at weekends can be tricky and the go-to for many children is turning to screens for entertainment. Although this is fine for short periods of time, it is important that children are encouraged to express their creative side at home, as they do at school. So why not get messy doing some arts and crafts this weekend?
Christmas is only a matter of months away, so why not introduce creativity into your free-time by getting the whole family involved in making things? You could have a go at making your own Christmas cards this year! This is a great way to encourage everyone to express their creative side while spending some quality time together and creating something personalised. Family and friends will love them!
Making Christmas decorations is another fun way to get into the Christmas spirit and with so many different things to make, the opportunities are endless! Our favourite decorations are paper snowflakes. Quick and easy to make, they look great on your windows during December. You could also get creative in the kitchen and do some festive-themed baking. For some inspiration or assistance on how to make your favourite Christmassy crafts, this article contains some great ideas: https://www.easypeasyandfun.com/christmas-crafts-for-kids/
If you’re not ready to get in the Christmas spirit just yet, there are plenty of other ways to encourage creativity. All you need is a few art supplies, a rainy afternoon and a lot of encouragement. Pretty much anything these days can be homemade, even gift tags and wrapping paper! Perfect for birthdays or other celebrations.
For the older children, creative writing is another fun idea. While their summer holiday adventures are still fresh in their minds, asking them to write about their trip to the seaside or walk in the forest is a great way to improve writing skills. Keeping a diary from an early age also encourages a love of writing.
Encouraging children to express their creativity from an early age is incredibly important for their development; creative activities provide a huge range of developmental benefits including language and communication, social development, emotional development and cognitive benefits. This is why, here at Pilgrims, we combine inspirational teaching with a creative curriculum to establish a lifelong love for learning.
We are always keen to see what you and your children have been busy making/creating in your free time; make sure you share your masterpieces with us on our Facebook page!