Home Page

Outdoor Learning at YWJS

Spring Term 2024 - Year 6 - Native American Muddy Puddle Day

We completed 5 activities learning about Native Americans:
• Making homemade baked beans around the campfire. (Almost everyone helped make and eat the baked beans.) They tasted great!
• Making dream catchers - the native Americans believed that a dream catcher web could ward off bad dreams and evil spirits.
• Totem poles - each tribe would have had their own totem pole carved from a tree to represent their morals, values and families or important animals. We had a go with clay at making our own figures and stacking them up to make totem poles.
• Making talking sticks - an important part of native American democracy - the talking stick was held by the chief to command respect and passed around to allow everyone to have a voice in turn at community meetings
• Navajo design - The native Navajo tribe create to this day geometric rugs in eye-catching designs. We had a go at designing our own.

In the afternoon, we planted potatoes and onions to grow ready to harvest later in the year.

Spring Term 2024 - Year 5 - Muddy Puddle Day

There are three sections: Geography, Science and Art. This video is of the full day. Each section is also viewable on its own subject page.

We started off with links to our geography earthquakes work by designing our own earthquake proof buildings. We then went outside to make them out of marshmallows and spaghetti and then test them!

Later we made our own earthquake inspired cracks in the ground linked to our art work using chalks and charcoal.

After lunch we linked our work to science week. We became engineers and learnt about pendulums by making one ourselves. We then experimented with ways to slow down its swing and even explored different types of swings.

Spring Term 2024 - Year 6 - Musical Muddy Puddle Day

It was very, very cold!!!
In the morning we learnt a call and response song with Miss Swallow.
We then made up percussive sounds using our bodies that we all copied.
We created compositions where we went for a walk along different natural objects and created sounds for them. We all sang YMCA .

Spring Term 2024 - Year 6 - Musical Muddy Puddle Day Part 2

It was very very cold in the afternoon as well!
We spent the afternoon creating our own orchestras using natural and man-made instruments.

Spring Term 2024 - Year 5 - Mixed Muddy Puddle Day

During our Muddy Puddle Day we took part in a carousel of activities exploring the Anglo-Saxons, properties of materials and shape, perimeter and area.
First, we practised our map reading skills and completed an orienteering course looking for hidden shape cards to recap our knowledge of the properties of shapes. We then used this knowledge to describe shapes to our partners and see if they could draw them. We finished our exploration of shape by creating our own artwork inspired by the artist Kandinsky.
Next, we were challenged to separate a mixture of gravel, sand, water, paperclips and salt using a range of equipment: sieves, magnets and filters.
Managing to dodge the rain, we got artistic and used clay to create Anglo-Saxon brooches. To finish our busy day, we used trundle wheels to measure the perimeter of different spaces around the playground.

Autumn Term 2023 - Year 4 - Santa Dash and Muddy Puddle Day

Year 4 had a Santa Dash and did some orienteering. Some of them even dressed up (a bit).

Autumn Term 2023 - Year 6 - WW2 and Muddy Puddles

As part of our World War Two studies we made some VE Day bunting and some "make do and mend" Christmas decorations. We also played some 1940's games and mixed maths with orienteering.

Autumn Term 2023 - Year 5 - Muddy Puddle Day - Earth and Space

Exploring Earth and Space. We started off by recapping the Earth’s movement and how the Earth’s rotation over 24 hours causes day and night. Using this knowledge, we completed an orienteering course in small groups, answering questions about day and night. Next, we looked at our solar system and the planets in it. Using fruit to represent the different planets, we ordered them and created a fact file. We discussed how the planets move and orbit the sun. The children identified that Mercury takes the least amount of time to orbit the sun as it is closest to it, and Neptune the most as it is furthest away. We finished the morning off by creating some beautiful planet artwork using the planet facts to help our designs.
In the afternoon, we completed some astronaut training before beginning our journey into space. We role played blasting off in a rocket, landing on the moon and exploring space. We finished off by listening to the poem ‘The Universe’ by Warren Mbaht and considering what we could see through the window of our rocket.

Autumn Term 2 2023 - Year 4 Muddy Puddle Day - Maths addition and subtraction using the orienteering course

Autumn Term 2023 - Year 3 - Muddy Puddle Day with Art and other subjects

We began our day looking at the work of Artist, Frank Bowling, as part of Black History Month. We discussed his work and methods before putting paint to paper and creating our own impressionist pieces of art.

Our next activity had a spooky feel as were introduced to map reading. We had to navigate to points using a map of the school grounds and find the Halloween pictures.

We looked at the Egyptian game of Sennet and made our own version on the playground using chalk. Unfortunately, the rain washed the games away before we had chance to play them.

The rain didn't dampen our spirits and in the afternoon er worked in pairs running around our school orienteering course and answering addition and subtraction questions.

Autumn Term 2023 - Year 4 Muddy Puddle Day - Black History Day, Roman Maths and Art

We made Roman numerals using lolly sticks and soled problems containing Roman numerals. We wrote our answers in chalk on the playground. We also created Art in the afternoon as part of this Black History Month task:

Black History Month artwork
Choose a black person who inspires you. They could be someone you have learnt about from Black History or a famous black person in the present.
Think about their qualities and what they have achieved. Perhaps there are certain words, colours or symbols that come to mind when you imagine them?
In groups or individually, draw an outline of their portrait onto a piece of black card with a pencil. Use materials from around the school grounds to add colour or patterns to the space inside the outline. You could include images related to their life or quotes from them.
Display your creation proudly where you can look up to your inspirational person every day and feel inspired.

Autumn Term 2023 - Year 5 - Muddy Puddle Day - Ancient Greeks

Our day started with the preparation of a typical chicken Souvlaki (skewer) and a Greek Salad as part of our DT work. We used the bridge cutting technique to cut up the meat and vegetable elements of the skewer before threading them on ready to be cooked on the open fire pit. Souvlaki (known to the Ancient Greeks as 'Obelisk') were cooked authentically as they would have been in ancient times. We considered a balanced diet and the children ate their creations.

Later on, the children completed our first Cross Curricular orienteering session around the school grounds. Using a bespoke map with complex key the children had to navigate their way between control points answering questions about ancient Greek pottery as they went. All teams did brilliantly with some teams completing the course quickly and others answering the questions accurately. They covered large areas of ground on foot as the ancient Greeks would have done.

Alongside the orienteering session we also used water colours to create our own Greek temple pictures.

After lunch, we created our own Greek pots using clay and various tools. We added detail linked from our history work last week about what was pictured on Greek pottery. This included drawings of events in the Olympics and what the Greeks did for entertainment and their jobs.

Finally, we learned about the 12 labours of Hercules including the story of the Nemean lion's fight against Hercules to finish our outdoor adventure.

Autumn Term 2023 - Year 6 - Art on a Muddy Puddle Day

We spent a wet day creating 2D and 3D art using found materials. We used the work of Josef Albers and Nelson ZePequeno as our inspiration.

Summer Term 2023 - Year 3 - Another Muddy Puddle Day - with food!

First we made clock faces and tested each other on setting times. After that we hunted for clock faces around the grounds which matched our worksheets. Then, as part of our Eco Schools work we hunted out and identified natural and human-made items. Finally we sampled courgettes from the school garden. They were yummy!!!

Summer Term 2023 - Year 4 - Another Muddy Puddle Day

In the morning we used the orienteering maps to answer questions around school about time (Maths and PE).
In the afternoon, we created nature sketches practising shading in our sketch books with sketch pencils (Art).

Summer Term 2023 - Year 3 - Geographical Muddy Puddle Day

We worked in pairs and used our geographical knowledge of regions of the United Kingdom to answer questions on our orienteering course. For example: What region is to the North of the West Midlands?
We then conducted a survey of the frequency in colour of cars that passed our school. It was quite tricky to keep a count, so we used a tally table to record our results and then answered questions relating to our findings, back in the classroom, we drew a bar chart.

Summer Term 2023 - Year 4 - Maths and Art Muddy Puddle Day

Art: We carried out our printing activities outside on Muddy Puddle Day. We had already planned, sketched and painted watercolour designs of the fish we were going to print. We then made our templates using card and straws and printed them onto paper using the rollers and trays.
We also used polystyrene to etch our drawings into and printed them onto paper. These were really successful.
Maths: We used the orienteering maps to find the geometric shapes at each different number on the map and then wrote the properties of each shape on our sheet.
We created acute and obtuse angles using lolly pop sticks then compared the size of the angles by ordering them in ascending or descending order according to their size.
We drew 2D shapes on the playground or found 2D shapes around the school grounds. Then, with chalk, drew the lines of symmetry for that shape. We then drew simple shapes or found simple shapes and drew them alongside a line of symmetry.
We created different 3D shapes using plasticine and art straws using challenge cards.
Everyone enjoyed being outside in the fresh air being creative and mathematical!

Summer Term 2023 - Year 5 - Muddy Puddle Day

As part of our science studies we searched the grounds for wild life. Then we made visual life cycle models. Later on we planted plants and bulbs in the beds and in found objects. In the afternoon we watched a David Attenborough wild life film and then we made and edited our own nature videos. These videos are on the Video Resource Centre on the Children page.

Summer Term 2023 - Year 4 - Visit To Nell Bank

We spent a day at Nell Bank, near Ilkley. We were studying nature in the woods, by the river and in the ponds. It was a grand day out!

Summer Term 2023 - Year 6 - Muddy PuddleDay

We spent the day in two types of activity -
Observing and collecting data about the natural world
Designing and building a desert island in response to messages in bottles from Robinson Crusoe.
The second activity was a 'hook' to help us develop our creative writing skills.

Spring term 2023- Spring 2 Year 4 Muddy Puddle day

Spring Term 2023 - Year 5 - Muddy Puddle Day Part One

We spent our MPD developing our maths, geology, craft and art skills. There are 3 videos to view. This is Part One.

Spain Term 2023 - Year 5 - Muddy Puddle Day Part Two

Spring Term 2023 - Year 5 - Muddy Puddle Day Part Three

Spring Term 2023 - Year 6 - Muddy Puddle Day Part 1

We spent the day on a variety of musical activities. There are two videos. This is the morning session.

Spring Term 2023 - Year 6 - Muddy Puddle Day Part 2

We spent our Muddy Puddle Day on a variety of musical activities. We also got wet. This is the afternoon session.

Spring Term 2023 - Year 4 - Muddy Puddle Day

We used this Muddy Puddle Day to combine our maths with art to create geometrical artwork. We went indoors to make some Mayan style wraps and enhance our food preparation skills. Back outside we cooked and ate the wraps round the fire pit, learning more Health and Safety skills.
We warmed up playing Pok-a-Tok. This is a ball game where you can't use your hands or feet to move the ball. Challenging but fun.
We also acted out some of our Mayan stories.

Spring Term 2023 - Year 5 - Icy Puddle Day

The coldest Muddy Puddle Day yet for Year 5.
Maths: The children learned about 2 dimensional polygons (ask one of the children to explain). They made regular and irregular shapes from found materials.
Art: Inspired by Kandinsky they turned their maths into art.
History: To warm up they re-enacted the Battle of Hastings.
Science: they devised ways of separating a mixture of materials.

Autumn Term 2022 - Year 6 - Yet Another Muddy Puddle Day

We had another Muddy Puddle Day. We engaged in a variety of activities crowned with a feast of baked apples round the fire pit.

Autumn Term 2022 - Year 5H - Muddy Puddle Day with Science

See the description for the 5A video below.

Autumn Term 2022 - Year 5A - Muddy Puddle Day with Science

Although it was a rainy Thursday, we had a fantastic second Muddy Puddle Day in Year 5. We did some drama linked to space and we imagined we were astronauts on a rocket going to the moon. We searched for space themed words in our classrooms and thought of some rhyming words to prepare for our poetry big write. After that, we created watercolour solar systems in pairs and made a rocket to fire using paper and straws. We loved having a competition to see whose could go the furthest in the playground! We finished off the day with some space themed orienteering and astronaut training. During the training, we tested our speed, agility and memory.

Autumn Term 2022 - Year 4 - Another Muddy Puddle Day

On our second Muddy Puddle Day we enjoyed several activities.
We built a Roman testudo.
We also used the orienteering course for both maths and face making.
We built geometrically shaped fires using sticks and we learned some fire safety.
We also pulled lots of silly faces!

Autumn Term 2022 - Year 3 - Muddy Puddle Day - Ancient Egypt

Year 3, had a fantastic Muddy Puddle day. We began by producing collaborative abstract artwork in the style of Sir Frank Bowling. Our paintings represented our school grounds and the rain helped the paint to slide as we tilted the canvas, it was very messy but great fun.

Our next activity, was a maths orienteering course. The children enjoyed using their mapping skills, to find and solve 25 addition and subtraction questions around the school grounds.

After lunch, we were back to using our artistic and observational skills, painting a black silhouette of a tree in our playground on a sunset background. Later, we learned about the Ancient Egyptian game of Senet, we then chalked grids on the playground and played the game using sticks and stones. We finished the day with another Egyptian traditional game of Tug ‘O’ War.

Tug 'O' War

Tug 'O' war

Tug 'O' War

Tug 'O' war

Autumn Term 2022 - Year 4 - Muddy Puddle and the Romans

We spent the whole day outside. First we dyed wool using natural Roman methods. Then we worked out challenges using Roman symbols and lollypop sticks. Finally we made mosaics out of tiles. We had a fantastic time.

Autumn Term 2022 - Year 5 Muddy Puddle Day Part 1

Ancient Greek Studies. Starting indoors we made Greek souvlaki and salad which we then cooked on the outdoor fire pit. We made Greek crowns to go with our own Greek outfits. In the afternoon we explored our orienteering course.

Autumn Term 2022 - Year 5 Muddy Puddle Day Part 2

In the afternoon we made Greek crowns to go with our own Greek outfits. We then explored our orienteering course.

Autumn Term 2022 - Year 6 - Art Outside

We enjoyed four different artistic activities on our Muddy Puddle Day.

Summer Term 2022 - Year 4I - Outdoor Maths

We took our maths lesson into the playground!!

Year 3 Muddy Puddle Day Summer 2

Time flies when your having fun! That happened on the morning of Year 3 Muddy Puddle day. We began by finding clocks that had been hidden around the school grounds and telling the time in analogue and digital. We then chalked our own clocks and found sticks to make the arms of the clocks. We told the time on each others chalked clocks.

In the afternoon, we were hoping the sun would shine to carry out investigations into shadows linked to our learning in science. Unfortunately, it wasn't to be so we made our own shadow puppets and took torches outside. We then made shadow puppet stories and investigated how the size of the shadow changes depending on how close an object is to the light source.

Summer Term 2022 - Year 5 Local Trip

We went on a trip to Esholt Woods and Nunroyd Park. Our aim was to enter the domain of the woodland animals we are about to write our 'Journey' Stories about. We are reading 'The Animals of Farthing Wood' for inspiration and are about to embark on a journey of our own with our own group of animal characters. We walked through the woods, alongside the river and smelt, listened and observed. We imagined the creatures living there and witnessed nature first hand. Whilst it was a wet start to the day it soon cleared up. We thought about the dangers that our characters would face and how our stories would end on a cliffhanger. We used our sketching skills to draw what we saw and how we imagined our stories playing out. Then, we went on a scavenger hunt as part of our Biodiversity topic (Eco-Schools) to find materials to build pollinator homes with later in term - small sticks and cones for pollinators like solitary bees to shelter in and lay their eggs. There was just time for a quick game of Crow's nest which involved the Crow spotting the other children hiding in the woodland space.

After a picnic lunch, we headed off to find another area of biodiversity - this time the man-made pond in Nunroyd park. Here, we sketched and drew and watched and listened to think how the biodiversity of this are was different to that of the Woodland from this morning. We were surprised to find baby frogs and to see fisherman fishing in the pond's water. A swan and several groups of ducks with ducklings and moorhens were also observed. We noticed the different variety of plants growing here - the marsh marigold, lilies and irises which thrive at the edges in the water. It was quite a contrast to the ferns and evergreen plants under the canopy of the thick woodland where pine trees thrived.

We are all set now to start to write our journey stories using our trip as the inspiration!

Summer Term 2022 - Year 4I - Litter Survey

As part of their Eco Schools topic Year 4I did a litter survey in the school grounds.

Summer Term 2022 - Year 4 - What Is Geography?

Summer Term 2022 - Year 6 - What Is Science?

To help answer the question: "What Is Science?" we have been learning the skills that scientists use. In this video we have been learning about classification.

Summer Term 2022 - Year 4 - Science At Nell Bank

Year 4 had a fabulous day at Nell Bank. They walked through The Bluebell Woods down to the river looking at geographical features, including tributaries and ground water. Once at the river played a game of Pooh Sticks, which showed the river speed around the meander. They then looked at the physical features of rocks and stones on the beach.
The afternoon was filled with science activities including a habitat hunt and pond dipping, finally finished with a play on the wooden playground. The sun shone and it was a brilliant day!

Summer 1 Outdoor Learning Maths Year 3 Measuring Perimeter

Spring Term 2022 - Year 5 - The Battle of Hastings

Year 5 re-enacted The Battle of Hastings. (No pupils were blinded during the making of this video.)

Spring Term 2022 - Class 4I - Muddy Puddle Day

Class 4I used Muddy Puddle Day mainly to identify and build geometric shapes. They drew on ideas from Jordan Romero and mountain studies.

Spring Term 2022 - Class 6G - Muddy Puddle Day

We used our Muddy Puddle Day (no mud and no puddles this year!) to do some maths outside. This video shows what we were up to.

Spring Term 2022 - Year 6 - Muddy Puddle Day

We used our Muddy Puddle Day (no mud and no puddles this year!) to do some combined maths and art outside. This video shows what we were up to

Spring Term 2022 - Year 3 - Muddy Puddle Day

Year 3 spent time outside hunting for, and recording, 2- and 3- dimensional objects. They then made their own objects using both found materials and modelling straws.

Autumn Term 2021 - Year 3 - Muddy Egyptians

As part of Muddy Puddle Day we hunted outside for a variety of natural materials and used them to create our names in hieroglyphs.

Autumn Term 2021 - Year 3 - The Egyptians

We went outside and a great time recreating Egyptian Tug-O-War competitions.

Autumn Term 2021 - Year 4 Science - The Digestive System

We learned about the digestive system using instructions from a BBC Bitesize project. The playground was the ideal place for this experiment!

Autumn Term 2021 - Year 5A - Muddy Puddle Day

5A continued their study of the Greeks in the school grounds.

Autumn Term 2021 - Year 5H - Muddy Puddle Day

As part of Muddy Puddle Day 5H continued their study of the Greeks outside.

Autumn Term 2021 - Year 5 - Groovy Greeks

We designed some Greek inspired pottery, then we prepared some Greek food and finally we went out to the fire pit where we cooked and ate the food.

Autumn Term 2021 - Year 6 - World War II and Muddy Puddle Day Part 2

We also experienced other aspects of World War II. We looked at some precious and interesting mementos; we studied Morse code; we played wartime games; we designed propaganda posters and finally we toasted muffins.

Part 1Autumn Term 2021 - Year 6 - World War II and Muddy Puddle Day

We made our own version of an Anderson shelter and spent time experiencing a little of what it would have been like in there during an air raid.

Autumn Term 2021 - Year 4 - Muddy Puddles

Year 4 merged their study of the Romans with their Muddy Puddles day. They took part in several different activities.

Autumn Term 2021 - Year 6 - How we see objects

We have been looking at how light travels to our eyes so we can see things. We made our own videos and here they are. (Sorry about the wind noise - hope you can still hear what we are saying.)

Autumn Term 2021 - Year 6 - Den Building

As part of their World War II topic Year 6 have been studying air-raid shelters. As part of this topic they have been evaluating different shelters and then building their own.

Summer Term 2021 - Year 5 - Eco-Schools - Biodiversity - Bug Hotels

We made bug hotels and placed them around the school grounds.

Summer Term 2021 - Year 4I Eco-Schools - Litter Picking

Continuing our litter topic we went litter collecting in Nunroyd Park.

Summer Term 2021 - Year 5 - Eco-Schools - Biodiversity

We spent a lovely sunny day hunting around the school grounds for living creatures.

Summer Term 2021 - Year 3 - Outdoor Maths

We had to hunt out analogue clock faces and then convert the analogue time into digital time.

Summer Term 2021 - Year 3 - On the Allotment

We tidied up our allotment, watered the plants, gathered some crops and ........ ate them!

Summer Term 2021 - Year 6 - Pond Dipping

We have revisited our pond to see what changes there have been since earlier this year.

Summer Term 2021 - Year 6 - Eco-Schools

As part of the Eco-Schools project we have been studying water. We made some basic filters and used them to clean some of our pond water.

Year 4 harvesting and tasting their produce from the garden.

Year 5 re-creating the Carnival atmosphere of the Brazil with a musical Samba in the sunshine!

The warm weather has really encouraged the Year 4 peas and rocket to rocket!

Year 3 lettuce is ready to harvest by the children.

Summer Term 2 Year four litter picking and locating key litter areas in our school.

Summer Term 2021 - Year 6 Adventure Writing

After reading Robinson Crusoe and Kenuke's Kingdom we have been designing our own desert islands.

Year 4 enjoying planting fruit and vegetables and looking for mini beasts in our pond.

Summer Term 2021 - Year 3 Stone Age Day

Year 3 spent a whole day studying Stone Age life. These 5 videos Show them experiencing foraging, weaving, cave painting shelter building and making fire. They had a great day.

Summer Term 2021 - Year 3 - Stone Age Day

Summer Term 2021 - Year 3 - Gardening

We have been planting sunflower seeds. We will be using them over the next few weeks to investigate what plants need to survive. Watch this space!

Summer Term 2021 - Class 6G - Classifying Living Things

Using the School Pond and School Grounds as a resource we collected a variety of living things and began to classify them.

Spring Term 2021 - Year 4 - Mayan Culture

We have been studying Mayan culture. This has involved outdoor learning, history, food technology and a lot of fun!

Spring Term 2021 - Year 4 - Gardening

We planted seeds in the vegetable garden and also had a look at the tadpoles collected from our pond.

Spring Term 2021 - Year 5 Visit The Pond

Our first trip to the pond this year. We observed what was going on. Then we did some pond-dipping and collected frog spawn and tadpoles.

Spring Term 2021 - Year 5 - Orienteering

Have you ever navigated an orienteering course whilst being chased by aliens? This was the challenge for Year 5 on a sunny March afternoon. Year 5 enjoyed following a route using their map skills whilst racing against their peers. However, they had to be careful of three pupils wearing alien hats. If they were caught, they would have to hand their map over and become an alien themselves! Much fun was had by all.

Spring Term 2 - Year 5 - The End of the Anglo-Saxons

We finished this topic re-enacting the defeat of the Anglo-Saxons by the Normans.

Spring Term 2021 - 6G - Gardening

6G are growing a herb garden.

Spring Term 2021 - 6G - Shading Techniques

6G are studying the work of Michelle Hughes, the Yorkshire lino print artist. Here is their introductory work.

Autumn 2020 - Year 6 - Learning French outside

Year 4 Roman army battle formations

Year 4 used the Roman shields they made to practise the different Roman army battle formations that they would have carried out in battle. We did this indoors because of the rain.