Meerkats class have been piloting a new approach to reading in the classroom – the whole class devouring the same book together! It’s proving to be a wonderful way to discover a brilliant new author and led to lots of discussion about characters, emerging plot and setting! The children have embraced this new way of working and it has been very exciting to see how much they have got from it!

Today, thanks to wonderful Alan at South Downs Balloons, the children had an unforgettable experience on the school field – all their senses were filled with what our heroes ‘Magpie and Pierre’ would have experienced themselves in the piloting of the mysterious prototype flying-machine! The children were hooked into their story by getting to see, hear and smell the wondrous world of hot air ballooning. It was a hands-on experience and the children had to work as a team to set up, inflate and pack down this wonderful invention!