We took a very exciting spring delivery in time for Easter with the arrival of eleven living eggs as part of our “WoW Factor’ to kickstart our new termly focus; Animal Kingdom. Living Eggs provides life cycle education programmes that enable children to see chicks hatching from their eggs. Living Eggs commenced in 1995 in Australia and is now available in the UK, giving British children the opportunity to experience the miracle of life first hand, and allowing teachers to extend Life Cycle studies.
Our Reception children were captivated by the eggs as they observed them in the incubator and brainstormed what animals could be inside; dinosaurs, crocodiles, snakes, and chicks, oh my!
Our first arrival hatched on Wednesday morning and Miss Melissa was on hand to film this exciting part of the life cycle. As our first fluffy arrival was quick off the mark, Ms. Fi’s suggested name ‘Bolt’, which stuck. Further names followed in honour of our school houses which mark the London 2012 legacy and opening of Wandsworth Prep: Ennis, Murray, Wiggins and Ainslie.
In the end, we welcomed 5 girls and 5 boys to our brood of chicks.
The children have been fascinated to watch and learn about their development and progress, commenting, “I love the chicks. It has be so nice to see them hatch and grow.” The chicks have spent their first ten days with us and will soon leave for their forever home on local farms where they will continue to grow and thrive.
See photos of the Reception children with the chicks below:
As part of our line of inquiry during this unit, children were exploring our Big Question: “what do animals need to survive?” The children visited Deen City Farm as part of their Forest School curriculum, where they observed and handled a variety of animals. Children were given the opportunity to feed the goats and the alpacas as well as handling chicks, ducks, rabbits and owls. Having the chicks in the school has provided the children with valuable learning experiences in both understanding more about the care of animals and their life cycle, as well as provide meaningful and purposeful opportunities within the EYFS Seven Areas of Learning.
See photos from Reception's visit to Deen City Farm below:
Our Philosophy for Children lesson on Friday to complete the unit challenged pupils to work in partners, using the Lego Build to Express programme, to build their own model of the ideal next home for our chicks, taking into consideration the Big Question they have been exploring this unit. Following an opportunity to brainstorm and discuss their ideas with their partner, Reception children were each given a Lego Build to Express kit, and given the chance to actively engage in a concept model building activity. Leading the Lego Build to Express project at Wandsworth Prep, Miss Melissa commented, “using the Lego Build to Express programme is a fantastic way of engaging pupils in active learning: visual, auditory and kinesthetic and ensures that all pupils have a platform to contribute to group discussions and share their ideas. The models they build often do not resemble the concept they are exploring, yet this is the point. Each block they chose to include has a deeper meaning and helps them to conceptually explore our big questions in greater detail.”
See the children's response to this activity here.
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