Today in Year One we learned how to use BeeBots. We had a go at moving like a BeeBot and following a series of commands called an algorithm. It sounds far more complicated than it really is – the trickiest part was knowing our left from right!

We created our own maps featuring London landmarks and moved a toy car around the map using the same commands as a Bee Bot would. Next, we created our own algorithms using symbols for our friends to try out. Lots of us made mistakes at first but we worked really hard to debug the code and fix the problem. 

Finally we got the BeeBots out. Once we felt confident, we took on the challenge of commanding the BeeBot to move around the room without touching any of the obstacles.

Today, with the help of Mr Cunningham and his in-depth History knowledge (plus many other helping hands!), we reenacted the Great Fire of London. The children had been making model Tudor houses and this morning on the gravel car park, we assembled them to represent the narrow, tightly-packed streets of London in 1666. We lit the fire at the bakery in Pudding Lane and watched as the wind swept the flames towards St Paul’s Cathedral and beyond. Mrs Atkins threw water on the fire with a tiny ‘bucket’ but it made no difference. Finally, we cleared a section of the house to make a ‘fire-break’ and this was successful at stopping the fire from spreading further. We noticed the smells, tastes and sounds of being near a fire and thought about how awful it would have been for the people of London to be surrounded by all that ash. Hopefully your children enjoyed the event and learnt a lot too!

Today, we had a visit from Kelly from Hampshire and IOW Fire and Rescue Service. She spoke to us about what the service does and we joined in with a song and actions where we pretended to be Firefighters. Kelly talked to us about hazards in the home and things that we should stay away from. She taught us this rhyme with actions:

Matches and lighters, never touch

They can hurt you very much.

Kelly brought along a smoke alarm and showed us how to test it. We talked about how important it is to test our smoke alarms at home once a week. All the children were challenged to find all their smoke detectors at home.

We learnt that if the smoke alarm goes off at home we need to Get Out, Stay Out and call 999. We also talked about how important it is that the children learn their address so that they can communicate it to a safe person in the case of an emergency. The children have been given postcards to write to help them with this.

Finally, we got to see the kit that Firefighters wear to do their job.

Thank you for visiting Kelly – we loved it!