Kahlo creations!

Happy Wednesday to everyone - the sun is shining and Kahlo class have been as busy as ever. Your pieces of work are a tour de force and you continue to impress us with your imagination and positivity.

Some wonderful work describing the evil Count Olaf this week; you used words to paint images of a terrifying, malicious and frankly grotesque individual. We were very impressed with the high standard of writing and will share some of your work on a separate blog post. We love receiving your writing - you give us so much to enthuse about and so much to feedback on.

In other news...Leo has started his work on balanced arguments and is presenting his research with his customary artistic flair.

Rebecca has also been showcasing her talents, and produced this intricate sketch of a ring-tailed lemur. We think you'll all agree that her careful pencil strokes have added real texture to her piece.

Sonny really wowed us with his piece on Barack Obama and he created some important, moving rules by which great leaders should govern. He also worked on this incredible portrait that I think Obama himself would love to see.

William has been taking advantage of this fantastic spell of sunshine and has taken his classroom outside! He has created the most luxurious bug hotel we have seen with dedicated floors for bees, woodlice, snails and slugs...the mini-beasts will think they've rolled into The Savoy!

Noah has been extremely busy - aside from producing some first class writing, he's been conducting some fascinating experiments on soluble and insoluble materials. We are looking forward to discussing your findings with you, Noah!

We miss you all, Team Kahlo - keep this wonderful work going and keep smiling,

Mrs Mihajlovic and Mrs Wood

Wildlife spotting in your garden!

Calling all you wildlife watchers!

Mr Forgham, a regular visitor to the school and local wildlife expert, has set up a note on his blog sharing ideas for how you can get out into your garden and look for nature.  He hopes to add a suggestion each day, before 10.30am. 

His suggestion for today is... how many bees you can spot?  Can you see different types and how many of each are there?  What other insects and mini-beasts can you see?  Spiders on the fence?  Woodlice under leaves, pots or logs?

You can find out more and see his photos of a buff-tailed bumble bee and other beautiful insects by clicking on the link below.  His photos will help you identify things and you can send photos to him too! 

https://littlehadhambirding.blogspot.co.uk

Mrs Smith will be having a snoop for bees and other creepy crawlies around her garden later, but saw all these while having a quick bird watch through the window with her cup of tea this morning!

• a pair of goldfinches - one on the look out from the branches on the tree, while the other collected bits of  dead grasses to make a nest!
• a male blackbird
• a blue tit
• a wood pigeon flying over

Goldfinch from Mrs Smith's garden (taken by Mr Smith!)

Why not create some art work based on the creatures you spot?  Or write a story or a poem about what happens to them in your garden?  

Mrs Smith would love to see photos of any wonderful wildlife you spot or of any work that you do.  You may then see it on the blog or school Facebook page.  Email them to klee@windhill.herts.sch.uk

So sharp eyes at the ready and happy spotting everyone!

Digging up the past!

This week, Year 4 have been digging up the past (literally!) to learn about life in Victorian London. Like archaeologists, we used our co ordinates knowledge to identify and record the location of some very unusual items! Afterwards, we examined historic records and pictures to identify the items as Victorian clay pipes that had been discarded in the River Thames! Finally, we sketched the items, using different techniques to create texture.

Gourd-ness Gracious!

What a green fingered bunch Harrison class were last year...so far they have harvested 2 plucky pumpkins that they grew from seed in year 4, ready to carve for Halloween!

Gardener's Delight

Moore class were busy in the garden this morning, preparing beds and planting bulbs for spring.  We also worked with the school gardener to make fleece covers for winter seeds.

Oh my gourd!

Just take a look at the Moore class pumpkin lovingly attended to twice daily by our green-fingered duo (George and William).

 It takes up the whole flowerbed!

2018 Garden Update 1

School Garden Update

The garden is full bloom as we come in to summer. A new bark path has been laid. Greenhouses put up again and are now full of seedlings.

 

Seed sowing

Years 1-6 have been sowing seeds ready to fill the school garden with colour. A mixture of vegetables and flowers have been sown.

Year	Sown
Year 1	Runner beans, Cosmos, Nasturtiums and sweetcorn
Year 2	Wild flowers, Spinach, Cosmos, Nasturtiums and Marigolds
Year 3	Sunflowers
Year 4	Pumpkins, Tomatoes and Peppers
Year 5	Cosmos, Runner beans, French beans, Nasturtiums
Year 6	Potatoes, Pumpkins, Sunflowers, Sweet peas and Sweetcorn and Marigolds
Thrive group	Potatoes and  Marigolds

 

The seeds have been germinating in the greenhouses and we have some healthy seedlings. The seedlings are growing quickly into plants that will be ready to be planted out in the raised beds in June.

Nathan Smith  
Gardener
Windhill21

Hello everyone,

As we approach the end of term and summer break here is a quick update on how things are going.

 

Seedlings → plants!

The seedlings have done very well and are now fully grown flowering plants!



Sweet Pea

Pot Marigold (Calendula)



Vegetables - are also doing well we had some lovely cabbage, radishes and potatoes. Some of the crops are not quite ready yet but are doing well.  



Cucumber

Pumpkin

 

 

Mr Robin is back.

Looking for worms amongst the Sweet Peas.





 

We have lots of ideas for the next school year and I look forward to sharing these with you all.
Thanks for reading and have a lovely summer break!

Nathan Smith
Assistant Gardener
Windhill21



Seedlings!

Hello,

We have Seedlings!

The first two weeks after Easter I went into years 1 – 6 and taught the pupils about seeds and how to sow them. I am pleased to report that they are growing really well! Some were sown direct into the ground, some in pots and seed trays that have been in the greenhouses to help germination. The seeds are growing really well and all pupils showed enthusiasm and interest in sowing the seeds and done so very well.

Here is table to show which seeds each year group have sown.

Year 1 - Hepworth	Cosmos, Courgette, Carrots and Nasturtiums
Year 1 - Miro	Marigolds, Calendula, Sweetcorn and Cucumbers
Year 2 -  Sarro, Warhol & kusama	Giant Sunflowers
Year 3 - Done & Towns	Cosmos, Dwarf Carrots, Sweet Peas and Sunflowers
Year 4 - Gormley & Moore	Carrots, Raddish and Marigolds
Year 5 - Bansky & Harrison	Runner Beans, Cosmos, Pumpkin and Sunflowers
Year 6 – Bergmann and Hong Oai	Lettuce, Spring Onions and Potatoes

Here are some pictures of the seedlings.

Sweet Peas

Sunflower seed during germination

Sweetcorn and Marigolds

Sunflowers

The greenhouses are full and seeds are starting to germinate!

Thanks for reading

Nathan Smith

Assistant Gardener

Windhill21

 

Thanks for reading

Nathan Smith

Assistant Gardener

Windhill21

Garden Update

I hope that Hope you all had a lovely Easter.  Here’s a quick update of what has been happening in the school garden and our plans for the coming weeks:

The beds are now ready and over the next couple of weeks Years 1 – 6 will be sowing seeds and plants.  The seeds will include vegetables such as carrots and lettuce as well as flowers such as sunflowers and sweet peas.  Each year group have their own raised bed in the school garden where they can plant the seedlings once they have germinated in the greenhouses.  

The greenhouses are up and ready for the seeds!

Raised beds are waiting to be planted up!

 Mr Robin Returns!

Mr Robin has been returning and is getting very friendly, finding worms on the freshly dug soil and singing a lovely bird song.  I took these pictures over Easter.

Garden Blog

Hello,    
I’m Nathan Smith, the Assistant Gardener at Windhill21! I am an ex-pupil and attended Windhill from 2006 until 2010 and am currently studying horticulture at Writtle University College in Chelmsford. I will be looking after and maintaining the school garden.
 
Since September I have been weeding and tidying up the school garden, improving the quality of the soil and planning exciting new projects. After the Easter break I will be sowing some seeds and planting with some of the pupils. Here are some of the things that I have been doing over the last couple of months. 

• Weeding
• Hedge and shrub pruning
• Soil cultivation / ground preparation
• Preparing the shed
• Leaf clearing
• Potting on the strawberry runners (stolons) 

 Box Heart
 Here is a shrub called Box that I have shaped into a heart
 

Before
 

 After

 Windhill21 School Garden Visitor

Every week since I started in September there has been a little visitor, meet Mr Robin!

 5 Quick Robin Facts

Robins can be seen across the UK in woodland, hedgerows, parks and gardens.

Robins can be seen all year round.

Robins eat Worms, seeds, fruits and insects.

Robins are from the Chats and thrushes family.

Robins live on average only for a couple of years, but a few reach quite an advanced age. The oldest known wild individual was 11 years 5 months.

Find out more about Robins and watch a video and hear a robin song on the RSPB website below:
https://www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/bird-and-wildlife-guides/bird-a-z/r/robin/

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed the first garden blog.

Nathan Smith

Assistant Gardener

Windhill21