STOP PRESS: HOLD THE DATE!

Please hold the date for Wednesday July 11th 2012 at North Road Burial Ground where we will be celebrating the lives of local people at Our Remarkable People Event.

We'll be previewing the boards for the Heritage and Nature Trails, showing off the children's hard work, finding time to talk to each other and learn more about the people who made our Southend-on-Sea what it is today and eating cake made by our marvellous local bakers.  We will also be attempting to place a flower on every grave.

Everyone is welcome and if you only have ten minutes to pop in, we'd be delighted to see you there.

A Bug's Life at North Road Burial Ground

23rd April 2012

It may have been wet and cold but we didn't care at North Road Burial Ground on Monday morning.  We were hunting anything non-human or dog that was alive in North Road and thanks to the rather wonderful Roger Payne from Southend Museum we found some marvellous specimens!

Despite the damp conditions Year 4 found bees, earwigs, snails, worms, slugs, ants, flies and centipedes.  Other students identified yarrow grass, daisies, dandelions, holly bushes, buttercups and bluebells.

Danial presents his first exhibit, the snail!  There were so many insects and animals to find that we only just go started by the time we had to go back for lunch.  We hope to do more and build on all the information that Roger gave us for the North Road Nature Trail.

With over twenty species of birds to be seen at North Road, dozens of wild flowers and insects it was fascinating to realise that this is a wildlife haven for everyone to enjoy.

Thanks do go to Roger Payne and we hope to visit him at Southend museum very soon.

Brilliant Sunshine for Pick Up Your Poo!

Thanks to Turning Tides for putting up with all of Year 4, plus our community volunteers working together on Monday.  We had a lovely day putting up posters, gardening in our new flower bed (thanks to Steve Taylor and his team) hearing stories from relatives and ancestry experts (thanks to Fred and Heather Feather, Shelley Bridge and Clare Harvey) and a very successful rubbish hunt. 

All the photographs were taken by our Year 4 camera crew assisted by our very own Alastair Deacon.  

This was a very special day so there were cakes to celebrate all the hard work that has been involved by Year 4 and their Teachers and Teaching Assistants that were polished off at a remarkable rate.

We look forward to seeing everyone soon after the Easter Holiday!

Memories, Feathers and Glitter...

 Year 4 created works of art inspired by their memories both happy and sad.  We're going to be hanging them on the Memory Tree and North Road Burial Ground next week.  There were some beautiful creations with lots of thoughtful descriptions.
 
Looking forward to seeing you all on Monday -- please remember to wear your comfortable and waterproof shoes and warm coats in case it's a bit chilly!

The Great Poo Hunt!

Results to be posted soon but it is official there are too many dog owners in North Road Burial Ground who don't pick up their dog's poo.  The Shared Spaces Club is aiming to try and do something about this with a major poster campaign, free poo bags and writing to the local media.  Anyone who wants to join in please get in touch at sharedspaces@blade-education.org.uk !

Year 4 worked hard to find the evidence that we need to change the way people think about this cemetery, finding, photographing and marking on grids so we can start removal.  Anyone needs a photograph of some poo -- we have far too many!

Photographers, Portrait Takers and Party People!

Had a great session this week with Year 4 where everyone learned to take photographs of each other.  We learned about lighting, how to use the zoom and why it's easy to take a snap but not so easy to take a portrait!

Our first ever Shared Spaces Club started with us brainstorming the Summer Event and thinking about Fantasy Parties. There were some brilliant ideas from 32 metre marshmallow towers, to designer dresses (Amber Designs) and candyfloss hats...watch this space, we'll be talking more about how we can make our Special Event stand out from the crowd.

 See you on Monday!

Sunshine and No Snow!

It was great to be with Westborough's Year 4 students in the North Road Burial Ground on Tuesday 21st February on a lovely sunny day.  Year 4 pupils became Detectives choosing the memorials that they wanted to know more about.  We'll keep everyone posted on what we find out!

Please take a look at the lovely logos that have been designed for the Shared Spaces project by Year 4 on the Blade Education website:

http://www.blade-education.org.uk/projects.html

uploaded by Michael and posted by Alastair!

Ethan wanted to know more about the Elliott family plot -- if anyone knows anything please do get in touch!

Leyla is investigating Edmund Humphrey Speller's memorial -- please tell us if you know anything about this gentleman.

Year 4 Detectives start work on Monday on finding out more about their chosen people.