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As part of our Bikeability programme, we are delighted to share a short video of a young person confidently using one of the new bikes we were awarded through the scheme. This marks an important stage in their progress, as they are now beginning to master the skill of gliding with their feet lifted from the ground. This is a key milestone in developing balance, control, and confidence on two wheels, and shows clear readiness for the next stage of learning. The young person demonstrated excellent focus and determination while practising this skill, showing how quickly confidence is building with regular practice and the right equipment. The next step in their journey will be to attach the pedals, allowing them to transition from balance and gliding into full pedalling. This will further support their independence and cycling ability as they continue to develop their skills. We are incredibly proud of the progress being made and look forward to seeing the continued growth in confidence and ability as the young people move through each stage of their bikeability journey.

This term, five young people took part in Bikeability Level 2 training, successfully completing the course and earning their well-deserved badges and certificates. The programme has helped them to develop essential life skills, including road awareness, confidence, and safe cycling techniques. To begin their training, the group practised in the school playground, where they demonstrated their existing cycling skills and took part in a range of fun and engaging activities. These games were designed to build control and coordination, including practising how to ride safely while taking a hand off the handlebars - an important skill for signalling on the road. Once they had built confidence in a safe, controlled environment, the students progressed onto local roads. Here, they learned how to navigate real traffic situations and practised using junctions safely and responsibly. This experience helped them understand how to make safe decisions when cycling in more complex environments. Throughout the course, the young people showed great focus, resilience, and enthusiasm. They worked hard to apply their learning in practical situations and demonstrated a mature and responsible attitude at all times. We are incredibly proud of their achievements and the confidence they have gained through completing Bikeability Level 2.

This term, we have focused on insects. We read two books: Twist and Hop Minibeast Bop and Mad About Minibeasts. We explored the forest school area to search for insects, describe their features and choose our favourite, before building sentences about the different insects we found. In music, we sang insect-themed songs to the beat and moved like insects. In art, we created a collaborative woodland picture and chose our favourite insects to include. In maths we used ladybirds for number bonds. To finish our English work, each young person chose an insect to research and write about, creating their very own non-fiction book.

Hello! Fox Class have had a very busy, active and sensory-filled summer term so far. In Life Skills, we introduced our new topic, Hobbies and Interests, and we have enjoyed exploring crafts, cooking and different physical activities. We have continued to show a mature attitude when out in the community and especially enjoyed our train trip to Weymouth. Everyone loved the journey and meeting Carys, Coral and, of course, the star of the show, Rupee! A huge thank you to them for all their help. In English, we brought The Three Little Pigs to life through sensory storytelling and role play activities. We have continued building sentences using colourful semantics and used communication boards to talk about the characters and events in the story. In phonics, we have been working hard on our Unit 2 and 3 sounds and particularly enjoyed playing Sound Splat! In Maths, we have been exploring patterns and sorting objects using different criteria. We have also continued developing our counting skills using money and everyday objects in practical situations. We have explored how larger numbers are made from smaller numbers and practised recognising groups of objects without counting them individually. As part of our Life Skills learning, we have enjoyed cooking a range of snacks and practising our food preparation skills, including making savoury cheese and tomato pinwheels and fruity ice pops. Have a lovely half term break — we look forward to more fun next term as we continue exploring Hobbies and Interests!

This half term, Class 6 have worked on recount writing and used magazine articles as a format to recount events from our focus text, Red Riding Hood (a 2011, young-adult reimagining of the classic tale). To immerse ourselves in the magazine environment, the. young people selected an editor-in-chief to lead decisions and thought carefully about the type of audience that would buy and read their finished articles. To develop their understanding of the plot, they all worked as a team to recount a series of exciting events from a chapter in the book before planning and writing a magazine article for the residents of Daggerhorn (the setting of our text). To add greater detail to their work, the young people developed use of expanded noun phrases and prepositions in their writing, whilst working to maintain the conventions of recount writing, such as maintaining past tense and chronological order.

Class 2 have been developing their communication skills while exploring the importance of using adjectives in their writing. Through a fun describing game, the young people practised listening carefully and giving clear, detailed descriptions of pictures. They discovered just how important good communication can be! These exciting activities have helped the class create more dramatic, descriptive and detailed newspaper articles as part of their English topic. We are so proud of their fantastic imagination and teamwork!

This term in Hedgehog class, we dove deep into the wonderful underwater world of I’m the Biggest Thing in the Ocean! by Kevin Sherry. The young people absolutely loved the story and related under the water themed non-fiction books and the wider learning opportunities through the topic. The story gave us lots of opportunities for sensory play, communication, creativity, and learning through fun hands-on activities. We practised descriptive language such as wet, slippery, big, and small, colours and feelings while encouraging turn-taking and shared exploration. We used sea creature toys, props, sensory trays and visuals, while introducing mathematical language. The young people sorted and matched animals by size, types and pattern. The amazing creatures of the underwater world were also perfect for subitising or counting their groups and characteristics. The theme also gave us plenty of opportunities for movement, music and creativity. We have a class of very keen dancers! They particularly enjoy the energetic Jellyfish Song and dance, then being immersed in a wonderful calming underwater scene with relaxing music. From ocean themed sensory trays emerged some very creative ocean creature models that we were very proud of. Something we did learn from sensory trays is that fine blue ocean powder is rather too exciting and needs to be spread EVERYWHERE! We apologise if your young person came home blue….

Class 5 kicked off the term with a mysterious "hook" - building a physical tree to guess their new class book. After pinning their predictions to its leaves, the big reveal was met with huge excitement: "The Twisted Tree" by Rachel Burge. To truly step into the story, the young people explored the unique perspective of the protagonist, Martha, by experiencing what it’s like to navigate the world with sight in only one eye. This term, the class is diving into the world of journalism. By analysing various newspapers and their key features, Class 5 is now ready to report on the eerie events of the novel through their own professionally crafted articles.

In Humanities this term, Class 5 has been exploring the world of trading and economics, with a specific focus on the UK’s global trade links. To bring these concepts to life, the young people took part in a "Keep or Trade" game - a sensory activity where they had to decide the value of an item by touch alone. There was plenty of excitement as the young people weighed up their options; while some were thrilled to "keep" treasures like sunglasses and car keys, others became savvy negotiators, choosing to "trade" items like pink water bottles and lip balm. This hands-on approach helped the class understand the reasoning and decision-making behind why countries exchange goods.

Ahead of their exciting train trips to Weymouth this May, Fox Class and Classes 1–4 enjoyed a pre-visit to the station! They had the chance to buy their tickets, explore the station, and practise reading timetables. A big thank you to the wonderful Coral and Rupee, who helped everyone learn about important safety rules and made the experience both fun and informative.

Last Thursday brought a splash of creativity as our young people in Classes 1-4 dived into the world of art as a hobby! During their visit to Yeovil Art Space, they had the wonderful opportunity to meet the talented Natasha and immerse themselves in a magnificent art exhibition. The experience sparked curiosity, creativity, and lots of thoughtful conversations about different styles and ideas. A fantastic day that left everyone feeling inspired and eager to get creative back in the classroom!

This term, our Life Skills focus for Classes 1–4 is all about exploring hobbies and interests. To kick things off, young people have been learning about the many benefits of hockey as a hobby. Last Wednesday, they had an exciting opportunity to visit Yeovil Hockey Pitch, where they took part in a fun and engaging taster session. A huge thank you to the wonderful Liz, Pip and Bill for their fantastic coaching and enthusiasm throughout the day! It was a wonderful experience enjoyed by all - with many young people already asking, “Can we come back next week?” 🏑