Abbey Hey Primary Academy and Dinosaurs

Another busy week with lots of dinosaur workshops with team members travelling to Staffordshire, Derbyshire and Lancashire.  There was just enough time to squeeze in a trip to Abbey Hey Primary Academy to meet all the budding young palaeontologists in Year 1 for a special dinosaur day.  The children in classes 1Wh, 1G and 1W have been studying dinosaurs and learning all about these amazing prehistoric creatures with the help of their enthusiastic teaching team.  Out in the playground our dinosaur expert spotted some wonderful dinosaur shaped chalk boards

Playground Jurassic Park

Fun and creative dinosaur themed playground accessories.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Dinosaur Day

With three classes to teach there was no time to lose, so it was straight into the Infants Hall to conduct the first dinosaur workshop with Miss Whitty’s class (1Wh) assisted by Miss Ahmed and Mr Jackson.  We were most impressed with the pictures that had been posted up onto Abbey Hey’s school website.  Clearly the children enjoyed themselves and they certainly had learned a lot.

Next it was onto class 1G, to visit the children in their classroom and to conduct a second dinosaur and fossil themed session.  Our dinosaur expert marvelled at the wonderful examples of dinosaur inspired writing he saw posted up around the classroom.  The children had focused on two dinosaurs, the armoured Stegosaurus and the fearsome Tyrannosaurus rex, they had been working out what these dinosaurs were like and compiling a list of dinosaur facts on flip charts.

Stegosaurus and T. rex Inspired Facts 

Learning facts about dinosaurs.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Pupils Really Engaged with the Term Topic

Teacher, Miss Ellison explained that the pupils had been really engaged with this term topic and they had loved working out just how big some dinosaurs were.  Miss Russell and Miss Farrington took plenty of photographs during the dinosaur workshop, these would help in the planned recall and recount activity that the teaching team had prepared for the afternoon.  There was even a model of a big dinosaur egg in the classroom, this topic certainly seems to have captured the imagination of the teachers.

Year 1 Children Have Been Learning About Dinosaur Habitats

Year 1 explore dinosaur habitats.

Picture credit: Everything Dinosaur

Dinosaur Habitats

A number of the classes had created their own dinosaur habitats, learning about what animals need to keep them healthy and happy.  Good job the children knew how to distinguish the carnivores from the herbivores.

In the afternoon, it was time to work with class 1W.  Miss Sarwar (the teacher), had briefed our dinosaur expert on exactly where the children were on the term topic, as a result we were able to help reinforce learning and check understanding as we explored prehistoric animals with the class.  Miss Heap and Miss Statham (teaching assistants) were on hand to help the enthusiastic children learn how Triceratops used its horns, how ammonites caught fish and the special, secret powers of armoured dinosaurs.

A spokesperson for the school, commented on the school’s class pages:

Year 1 had a visit from a dinosaur expert [Everything Dinosaur].  They were shown dinosaur fossils dating back over 150 million years.  The children thoroughly enjoyed the day and they learnt some much more about dinosaurs.”

To learn more about Everything Dinosaur’s range of inexpensive dinosaur themed toys and gifts: Dinosaur Toys and Gifts.