Farewell to our furry friends… 🐥

31st March 2023Rebecca Kendrew-Jones

Yesterday we said goodbye to the 13 chicks we have been looking after for the last ten days. The children have been fascinated watching them hatch and develop in such a short space of time. When they left yesterday most of the chicks had started to grow their wing feathers and some were even beginning to take flight!

The children in EYFS have helped with cleaning their brooder boxes, changing their water and replenishing their food. Best of all, they’ve loved taking it in turns to hold them. We have been so impressed with how kind and gentle the children have been when handling them.

The chicks were collected by The Happy Chick Company who will now take care of them on their farms where they will produce free range eggs for the supermarkets. We wish the chicks a very happy life roaming the countryside 🐥.

It’s Bearly Believable…

30th March 2023Sarah Winkley

But yes, Norton Infant School has it’s very own Bear Cub – Crewso!

A short while ago, I launched a competition to design a limb or part of a large fibre glass bear cub in aid of raising funds for Leeds Children’s Hospital, who are currently supporting one of our families. Below is Bruce, who has found the very first bear on the Leeds Bear Hunt Trail, at Leeds Hospital whilst receiving his treatment.

We have received some beautiful, thoughtful and intricate entries for the competition from most year groups across the campus and I am very proud to announce the artists taking part in the design and decoration of our very own bear cub are…. Ava from 6SO, Evelyn from 4TE, James from 3LG, Olivia in Class 4, Isla in Class 2, Alarna in Class 1 and Lily-Mai in Nursery. As the project forms part of a legacy from our 2022 Foundation Stages Autumn Expedition of “How do we care for the bears?” Every child in the Foundation Stage and Nursery will be contributing their hand print to the final design also.

The artwork on the bear has commenced and each child has been carefully following their designs to produce an outstanding piece of art, which will be displayed in Leeds City Centre over the summer. Everyone is invited to visit our bear and take part in the Leeds Bear Hunt and feel proud that we have contributed to this fantastic event in aid of such a worthy cause. These children are activists making a difference to their community and we are incredibly proud of them. With teamwork and collaboration anything is possible! Here is a sneak peak of what has been happening….

Keep your eyes peeled for the finished bear over the coming week, before it makes it’s trip to Leeds for it’s temporary home over the summer during the trail. After the trail has finished the bear will return to us at the Infant School to live in our EYFS outdoor space as it’s forever home. There will be more fund raising events happening throughout the rest of the school year, to contribute towards the sponsorship of our bear cub, to raise money for the Leeds hospitals charity. As always your support is greatly appreciated and we are truly thankful that we can make a difference together as a community. For more information follow #Leedsbearhunt #Leedsbearhunt2023 #leedshospitalscharity

Day 4 – Our little chicks 🐥🐥🐥🐥

23rd March 2023Elouise Chadwick

The chicks have now been moved into a brooder box. They have settled beautifully into their new home.

The children have shown real care and consideration for our little chicks, which has been really lovely to see.

We are so happy watching them grow 🐥🥰

Day 3 in the Norton Incubator…

22nd March 2023Rebecca Kendrew-Jones

The chicks have started to hatch! We came into school this morning to find six chicks had made their way out into the world. Two more have joined them this morning too which the children were able to watch.

We’ll be transferring them into their brooder boxes this afternoon so they can enjoy more freedom and allow the other chicks to hatch in peace.

Day 2 in the Norton Incubator…

21st March 2023Rebecca Kendrew-Jones

We’ve noticed some of the eggs wobbling and watched the first crack appear… The children have loved taking care of the chicks so far and can’t wait to meet the first one that hatches. We’ve set up a video recording over night in the hope that we can catch it on camera 🐣.