Crew, Collaboration, Critique and Teamwork Tigers!

2nd March 2026Sarah Winkley

The last two weeks have seen the children in Early Years making large scale models of vehicles towards their final product for our expedition, “We are on the move – Would you travel by wheels, wings or other things?” Each child designed their own eco-friendly vehicle and the designs were judged by Miss Tunney. There was one winner from each crew and the children of that crew have began to work collaboratively to create and make their chosen design. The children have worked so hard to make decisions together, exchanging and suggesting ideas of how they could make their vehicles the best that they can be. Carefully choosing which materials would be the best to make their model out of, giving special thought to the eco friendly parts, such as batteries, solar panels, turbines, tanks, sails and propellers! They even took part in a simple vote to help make decisions, by placing a lolly stick on the materials of their choice.

Today as a hook to continuing to finish our vehicles the children took turns to look at each crews model. That crew presented what their model was, how it was powered and why it was good for the planet? The other crew offered critique of what they liked about the model firstly and then suggested what the model was missing to be complete. We had some lovely ideas to help enhance the models, suggestions included, “ A control panel”, “A steering wheel”, “A door”, “seats for the pilot”, “A tank” (to hold the power source), “a button to open the door”, “Windows”, “More wheels” and much more! This is an advanced skill for such young children and with careful scaffolding the children were beginning to understand the concept of critique – Well done Nursery.

Designing, Developing and Defining ‘Fun’ 🎲

23rd February 2026Laura Parsons

This week, we revisited one of our big guiding questions: What is a game?

The children began by thinking deeply about what makes a game a game. Is it the board? The rules? The players? The competition? The challenge? Together, we explored the component parts of games and generated a long list of materials we might need — boards, dice, counters, cards, questions, instructions and packaging.

Then came a lovely moment of realisation: when all of those parts come together successfully, they create one very important outcome — fun.

Explaining Our Learning

We were proud to welcome Chris Backe in to work with us. The children confidently explained what our board game is about and why we have been learning so much about Doncaster’s landmarks, geography and history. It was wonderful to see them articulate the purpose behind their learning — not just what they had done, but why it mattered.

Having a real expert in the room helped to reinforce that this work is authentic. The children are not just completing a task; they are designing something meaningful for a real audience.

Making Thoughtful Design Choices

Next, the children designed their own game cards and carefully placed them into plastic pouches. This wasn’t just a practical step — it was a design decision.

We discussed:

  • Durability — game cards need to last.
  • Protection — they will be handled many times.
  • Material choice — why plastic, rather than paper or fabric, would be most suitable.

It was fantastic to see the children thinking like designers and manufacturers, considering the properties of materials and the long-term use of their product.

Creating, Testing and Adapting

The children then moved on to designing their own boards. This involved creativity, teamwork and — importantly — adaptability.

As they began to play their games, they quickly realised that rules sometimes need refining. Some games were too easy. Some were too tricky. Some needed clearer instructions. Rather than seeing this as a problem, the children embraced it as part of the design process.

They:

  • Tested their ideas.
  • Adapted their rules.
  • Improved their layouts.
  • Refined their thinking.

This kind of iterative design process is exactly what real game designers do.

Learning with Purpose

We were incredibly lucky to spend the morning refamiliarising ourselves with Doncaster landmarks, supported by a real expert guiding our thinking. This helped the children ensure their questions, illustrations and gameplay accurately reflected the place we call home.

Throughout the session, the children demonstrated:

  • Collaboration
  • Critical thinking
  • Creativity
  • Pride in their local area

Most importantly, they showed that when knowledge, skill and imagination come together — it really does create something special.

We can’t wait to share the finished games with you soon! 🎉

An Exciting Visit from a Game Expert

8th January 2026Lauren Gate

This afternoon KS1 had a very exciting visit with a very special expert – a professional game designer and creator – who shared their fascinating world of board games with our students.

During the visit, expanded on their hook week knowledge and the children learned about the materials that go into making a board game, from the colorful cards to the intricate game boards and even the tiny tokens that make playing so much fun. Our guest also explained the step-by-step process of creating a board game, from the initial idea and design to the final product.

It was an inspiring visit that encouraged our students to think creatively, work collaboratively, and see the exciting possibilities in designing and playing games. We are definitely very excited to get stuck in with our product now!!

Thinking Like Scientists

6th January 2026Laura Parsons

This week, we discovered that for one of our case studies we are going to be scientists — and we wasted no time getting started!

Yesterday, the children took part in a materials carousel, exploring a range of different materials. We focused on developing scientific vocabulary and identifying key properties such as hard, flexible, waterproof and smooth. The children handled each material carefully, talked about what they noticed and began to explain why different materials are suitable for different purposes.

Today, we applied that learning in a more practical way. Working together, the children explored a variety of different games, thinking carefully about what materials they were made from and why those materials had been chosen. There was lots of thoughtful discussion as children justified their ideas using the scientific vocabulary they had been learning.

Class Five don’t know it yet, but all of this research is going to play a really important role in our next expedition — and in shaping our final product. An exciting start to our scientific journey!

Superhero Fun in Class 3! 

8th September 2025Claire Goodyer

Class 3 had a fantastic Stay and Play session this morning, where children and parents teamed up to create their own superheroes! In just half an hour they designed unique heroes with special powers and made colourful superhero masks to match.

It was a short but super-powered session, full of creativity and teamwork. Thank you to all the families who joined us, we loved seeing your amazing ideas!

Easter Celebrations

21st April 2025Sarah Winkley

Nursery have had a wonderful time over the past week celebrating Easter. We began the week with a puppet show telling the traditional easter story of Jesus. The children listened carefully and were encouraged to ask questions after the show or explain their feelings or opinions about the story. Some of which were; “I think it’s sad because Jesus died” and “It was mean, because they made him carry that cross up the big hill”.

During their free play we captured some of the children creating their own puppet shows about Jesus, showing they were embedding their learning in their play.

The children baked and decorated their own easter themed biscuits, using flour, sugar, butter and an egg. They carefully took turns to weigh out ingredients with support and followed instructions to mix, beat, roll and cut out their dough. The children each chose their own easter time shape cutter and colour icing along with decorations to make their biscuits extra yummy!

We also had an egg-stra special visit from the Easter Bunny himself, who had heard about how hard we have been working and how kind we have all been, so decided to bring some of our treats early! He brought us an Easter Egg and we all had cuddles or high fives! There were some very excited children and grown ups….

At home we have been working hard and collaboratively with our parents to design and create a decorated boiled egg. Some entries were a single egg whilst others were a whole scene of egg themed characters. They were all absolutely amazing, so much effort and time had been spent working together. The winners of our EYFS competition in Nursery were chosen by the Reception children, who judged and voted for all of the entries (an extremely tough job). The winners were Willow from Am Nursery for her egg filled bonnet and Jenny from Pm Nursery for her Leonardo, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. Well done girls! However a huge thank you and well done to everyone, as all of the entries were outstanding, such beautiful work and the children were so proud. Here they are…

We finished our week with lots of fun in the sunshine including an Easter Egg Hunt, the children had lots of fun.