The Kestrels Class Blog

Wednesday 11 March 2026 Forest School This week, the Kestrels listened carefully to the story of Easter before identifying the features of an Easter garden. Then, they used the signs of spring in the school garden to create their own Easter gardens.

Saturday 7 March 2026 World Book Day 2026 The Kestrels all looked fantastic in their costumes for World Book Day. They were inspired reading Tidy by Emily Gravett to be creative as musicians. They explored the timbre of instruments to reflect the different woodland animals from the story drawing on their scientific knowledge of materials. Then they explored the movement and noises the animals make to create their own piece of music to bring the animals to life. To help them remember and perform their compositions, they explored how they could use notation to support their performance. After composing their piece of music, they enjoyed performing it to the rest of the school as well as their adults in the assembly. What a fantastic day!

Wednesday 4 February 2026 Forest School This week, the Kestrels enjoyed experiencing the garden in the sun! First, they listened to the story of 'Room on the Broom' by one of their favourite authors, Julia Donaldson. Then they thought about which items from the book they could make outdoors. Using recycled materials, they all created their own broomstick before completing some test flights!

Wednesday 14 January 2026 Forest School The Kestrels have been very busy in Forest School again this week. After observing the changes since their last visit, they enjoyed listening to a favourite story by Julia Donaldson- Room on the Broom. Then, they collaborated in teams to search the Forest School garden for a set of characters. It was important for everyone in the group to persevere until they had found all of the cards. Finally, they had to use the characters to retell the story.

Friday 19 December 2025 Father Christmas! The Kestrels were delighted to welcome Father Christmas into their classroom! A great way to end the term and it was brilliant to see everyone using respectful manners.

Thursday 13 November 2025 Young Minds Matter The Kestrels enjoyed a lesson learning about emotions with Ellie from Young Minds Matter. Everyone learnt that all emotions are good and what they can do to control them if they get too big. The Kestrels now have a bank of breathing exercises to use if they need to control any big emotions. Later, they thought about the activities in their life that bring them joy which included spending time with friends and families, being active, experiencing nature and having time to play their favourite games. It was a great lesson to complement the learning about valuing difference they have been doing in PHSE during anti-bullying week.

Thursday 16 October 2025 Trip to Tewkesbury The Kestrels really enjoyed their visit to Tewkesbury to learn more about 17th Century houses. After learning about how they were made, they visited a house and compared it to their own home. They even got to explore toys in the past too! After learning that there was no electricity or running water and they might have to go to work when they were 8, they decided to return to their own houses!

Saturday 4 October 2025 Life Education Visit The Kestrels really enjoyed a visit from Harold to help them lead happy and healthy lives. Harold taught them about what their body needs to be healthy, what their brain needs to feel good and how to be a fantastic friend. It was great to meet Harold again!

Tuesday 16 September 2025 Rocks and Fossils The Kestrels really enjoyed finding out about fossils from a geologist who came to visit. They got to ask lots of questions and see a real fossil!

Monday 30 June 2025 Butterflies The Kestrels have been observing the small caterpillars grow and grow before turning into cocoons. When they arrived this morning, the butterfly net was full of butterflies! They carefully released them in the school garden this afternoon to enjoy the sunny weather. A full gallery of pictures is on the website.

Thursday 19 June 2025 Forest School Science This week in Forest School, the Kestrels have been learning about food chains and noticing that they all start with a plant. They have also been thinking about how living things rely on each other in their habitat for food, shelter and spreading seeds.

Thursday 12 June 2025 Forest School Science This week, it has been harvest time for the Kestrels! They picked their radishes, onions and lettuce before identifying the different parts. After deciding which parts were edible, they washed their crop before preparing them in toasted pitta breads. It was great to see everyone happy to try something new and enjoy the fruits of their labour!

Friday 6 June 2025 The Science Festival The Kestrels really enjoyed their visit to the Cheltenham Science Festival. They learnt about some amazing sea creatures on the science trail before visiting the Discover Zone. Inside, they used VR headsets, build bridges, learnt CPR, found out about energy and had a lot of fun! After lunch, they listened to Huw Lewis Jones, naturalist and award-winning author, who talked to them about bears. Now, all of the Kestrels can answer the question: Do bears poop in the wood&quest; It was a very interesting presentation and he even signed a copy of his book to put in their classroom library. A very informative and enjoyable day for everyone!

Monday 2 June 2025 New Age Kurling The Kestrels enjoyed the visit from Miss Herbert who works at Kingshill School. She brought New Age Kurling equipment for everyone in the Kestrels to try. Everyone enjoyed finding out how the equipment worked and then learnt how to get the stone into the target. Everyone had to think very carefully how hard to push the stone as well as the direction to aim. It was quite tricky but great fun!

Monday 19 May 2025 Forest School Science This week, the Kestrels have been busy exploring leaves found around the school garden. Using magnifying glasses, they focussed on the edges and surface before consulting a leaf identification sheet to name the tree their leaf came from.

Wednesday 14 May 2025 Forest School Science This week, the Kestrels ordered the stages of the dandelion’s life. They started off in a straight line but quickly realised a circle was better – “the circle of life!”

Wednesday 30 April 2025 Forest School Science This week, the Kestrels have been busy planting seeds. After observing and describing different types of seeds, they thought about the conditions plants need to grow and why seeds are planted during the spring. Then they all collaborated together to plant the seeds in the school vegetable patch ready to look after them during the term to make sure they grow to be healthy plants. Everyone is looking forward to noticing any changes next week!

Tuesday 15 April 2025 Batmobiles

Wednesday 12 March 2025 Geometry Problem Solving The Kestrels had a fantastic time solving geometry problems with Mr Ede. Everyone learnt the importance of persevering when a problem cannot be solved quickly. They really enjoyed working hard and the sense of accomplishment when they completed a tricky puzzle. It was great to see everyone collaborating so well, listening carefully and explaining their ideas clearly to solve the problems. Mr Ede's passion for the subject was infectious and everyone developed their confidence in solving new and unfamiliar problems. It was a really enjoyable day for everyone! All of the pictures are on the gallery section of the school website.

Wednesday 5 March 2025 Forest School This week the Kestrels enjoyed cooking over the fire pit. They learnt how to use the fire pit safely and then ate delicious pancakes in the glorious sun!

Wednesday 26 February 2025 Forest School Science After discussing how the weather is changing during winter, the children used bark to create woodland boats. They had to make sure it had a mast, sail and could float. This was a tricky task so they were learning to persevere when it didn't work first time. Everyone was very pleased when they achieved a successful boat.

Thursday 30 January 2025 Forest School Science This week, the Kestrels have been busy creating a stick man to help them to learn the features of the human body. They had to carefully tie the sticks together to make the body.

Wednesday 15 January 2025 Oracy Competition A huge 'Well Done!' to all of the Kestrels who chose to take part in the oracy competition this year. They planned their talk at home before delivering it to the Eagles and Kestrels. Everyone enjoyed listening to talks about wolves, dinosaurs, koalas and poetry. It was great to see our orators enjoy the experience as well.

Friday 20 December 2024 Father Christmas! The Kestrels enjoyed a visit from Father Christmas before the holidays. Everyone sat respectfully while Father Christmas handed out the presents. It was lovely to hear everyone remember to be polite and say, 'Thank you!' Before he left, everyone wished him a very merry Christmas!

Thursday 19 December 2024 Art This term, the Kestrels have been learning about textiles in art. They took inspiration about landscapes from David Hockney before using weaving skills to create their Christmas tree plates. Everyone used perseverance to learn the weaving skills and were very proud of their achievements when they finished.

Thursday 21 November 2024 Talking to an Historian The Kestrels enjoyed asking questions to an historian from the Museum in the Park to learn more about the history of Avening. They had carefully studied artefacts from the local woollen industry which helped them think of more questions they wanted help to answer. The historian found their questions very interesting and was able to do some more research to be able to answer them. Finding out more about the past helped them notice more similarities and differences between lives then and now. They finished the session by trying some weaving on the school gate!

Tuesday 12 November 2024 Anti-bullying Week As part of anti-bullying week, Young Minds Matter visited school. The taught the Kestrels about how to recognise their emotions. They also learnt some strategies they can use to manage strong emotions.

Wednesday 16 October 2024 Life Education Visit The Kestrels enjoyed finding out about their wonderful bodies with help from Harold. They learnt about some of their organs, what their body needed to be healthy and how to manage their emotions. It was great to meet Harold again!

Thursday 10 October 2024 Forest School Science This week the Kestrels have been busy measuring the rainfall in the school garden. There has been plenty of rain for them to measure!

The Kestrels Class Blog

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