The Orchard Gate

How many men does it take to stand around a hole in the ground, and how many women does it take to ask why? It sounds like the start of a very bad joke here at The Orchard Gate, but after a tricky and frustrating Monday for me and our homeschoolers, I had to go down the hill and ask the chaps how the roadworks were coming along. Thankfully, the chaps looking down the hole say they’re nearly finished! My apologies for Monday’s erratic start, and thank you for bearing with me.

I’ve seen some great wooden Christmas decorations, but you’ve been a bit shy on the metal decoration front! I’m expecting lots of photos over the weekend so I can see what you’ve all made.

Next week we’ll be making sewn Christmas decorations. In your support pack, you’ll find two squares of fabric and some stuffing. If you need more, just let me know. I have some left over and you’re welcome to come and collect as much as you need.

One of my favourite moments this week came from a reading lesson. We’ve been practising how to find the main idea in a piece of writing. The children told me they preferred the way we’d worked on it together. Then they went into the virtual classroom and tackled the questions on their own. Hearing that they liked the lesson made my day. Seeing them use what they’d learnt independently was even better.

This week we also took time to learn why we pause for Remembrance. We talked about what the silence gives us time to think about and why we still make room for it each November.

If you’re catching up with your learning diary this weekend, ask your child to show you one thing they can now do by themselves. A sentence in your diary, a sample of their work or a photo of what they made is enough to record that moment.

Have a lovely weekend!