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It has been a busy month for our Yes Futures students and team! 20 schools set off for their Play Your Part days throughout the month of November.
Our Play Your Part days are an opportunity for young people to get involved in charitable activities, to understand how charities work and how to make voluntary contributions and give back to your community.
Woodlands Education Centre set off to do some environmental work at Queens Victoria Park, located near Southampton! The team met up with Michelle, a work experience volunteer, who took the group down to the woods; saws and clippers in hand.
Mary and Niall were immediately put to work cutting down small trees! They attacked their area with relish and cleared a significant area of the woodland. We used the branches Mary and Niall cut down for fire making and shelter building. Michelle showed everyone how to build a fire in three different ways! She also showed us battery and wire wool, striking metal flints together, and pushing wood through a hole to create friction. The students were delighted to be offered some hot chocolate, boiled over a "billy" can.
Despite being a small group, the students discussed the talents areas they had demonstrated throughout the day, Confidence and Resilience were two talents the students focused on during our discussion of the day. An overall great day for Woodlands Education Centre!
Ten enthusiastic primary students from Lee- on- the- Solent Junior School arrived at Manor Farm for an exciting day ahead! They were met by a member of farm staff, who debriefed students on how to behave around the animals. Once the safety debriefing was complete, the group headed out to complete some activities around the farm.
The activities included milking a goat, feeding the animals (pigs, alpacas, cows), and grooming and walking the sheep!
Along the way, the students learned about the animals and how they were used around the farm. For example, some are for breeding and others for their milk and cheese produce. The students also learned about some of the animal's gestation periods. (A pigs gestation period= 3 months, 3 weeks, and 3 days!)
We saw great engagement with the students, the grooming and walking of the sheep was a fan favorite! After lunch, we took part in a shelter and bug hotel making session. The students worked in pairs, foraging around for the materials to build their chosen shelter or bug hotel. We saw excellent team work and imagination from everyone. The students were all very proud of their achievements and had the opportunity to showcase their shelter or bug hotel!
A fantastic job done by the Lee-On-The-Solent team!
Loudwater Combined School visited Herschel Park in Slough for their Play Your Part day! The students were greeted by the Park's manager, who introduced the students to the park and educated them on the history and its role in the community.
The students were then briefed on the task that they were about to undertake. The activities involved cutting back an area of bramble that had overgrown. The purpose of this, explained by park manager is cutting back the tall bramble allows for it to grow back thicker and closer to the ground by next year, helping the animals and insects that live in the park to thrive. The students were then given safety instructions on how to use a range of gardening tools. They chose their tools, put on their gloves and got to work!
In small groups, the students worked on a specific area, with each group setting a goal of how much they wanted to clear. Each group worked very hard, showed some excellent teamwork and communication skills and far exceeded the park manager’s expectations of how much bramble they cleared. They asked some really great questions to the park manager, engaged really well with the activity and despite the rain responded really well to the outdoor environment.
We spent the final 30 minutes reflecting on the Talents students had used that day, what they’d learnt and the skills they had developed. The students reflected particularly well on the day and recognised the importance of communication and teamwork, as well as the important role that they could play in helping within their community.
A job well done by all 20 of our schools who participated in a Play Your Part day. It is great to see everyone giving back to their community!
The Play Your Part day is an integral part of our Yes Futures programmes.
To find out more about the programmes and how we can support your students, please contact Sophie Bartlett: sophie@yesfutures.org