19.9.22

First, we outlined the challenges we might face when creating our proposal for a pizza oven.

• "It might be hard to build"

• "We might have to learn how to work together really well"

• "We will need to learn how to make a proposal - I don't even know what that is!"

• "It could be tricky to learn good arguments for why we want a pizza oven"

Upon acknowledging these challenges, we were in agreeance that we are willing to take them on! We set an intention as a group that no matter the challenge we are willing to preserver, show resilience and make mistakes.

Then, we learnt about 'The Learning Pit' through informational videos children of similar age had made. The learning pit is the process everyone experiences when they are trying something new. First, we could feel excited for the challenge, we dive right into our learning. Then it becomes tricky and we can feel like we cant do it. We then persist and ask for help, think of a different solution or complete more learning and finally we come out of the pit with our new knowledge. After deep discussion we split into small groups or individuals and shared our understanding of the learning pit through performance and illustrations. Our understanding of this idea was incredibly clear.

Next, we read 'Your Fantastic Elastic Brain' by JoAnn Deak As we read we learnt about the different parts of our brain and the different roles those parts have when we are learning. Using colour changing putty we reinforced the idea that the more we stretch our brain by trying new things the more our brain grows, changes and develops.

We look forward to using these brain skills next week as we continue on our pizza oven learning journey.

26.9.22

First, we read 'Eat your Peas' by Kes Gray. In the story Daisy's mum tries to convince her to eat her peas by using bribes, such as ice creams, swimming pools and even buying her a chocolate factory. After reading we discussed the book and how effective bribery is as a way of persuading someone. We decided that factual information and opinions are much more successful way to convince someone of your idea. We wrote a persuasive letter together to Daisy explaining the reasons why it is important that she eats her peas. We gave three clear arguments with supporting reasons and even ended up using some rhetorical questions. Read our letter here.

Then, we began to learn about our proposal. We watched a video of children talking about presenting and the skills we will need to display when sharing our proposal. Anna created a proposal to present to us, we pretended we were Daisy and she tried to persuade us to eat our peas by explaining that we should grow our own peas in a vegetable garden. The presentation included all of the elements we need to include in our pizza proposal. We used a checklist to tick off the features as we recognised them in the proposal.

Next, we began our trial persuasive letter. We are hoping to persuade Leanna and Fatima that it would be a good idea to let children cook their own Pizza's for lunch once every two weeks. We identified strong arguments and supporting reasons through thought showers and plans. We will turn these into a persuasive letter and mini proposal. We hope to gain feedback from this experience and use it when presenting our Pizza Oven Proposal, giving us the strongest chance possible.

We look forward to researching and gathering information for our proposal next week.

3.10.22

First, we looked back at the proposal to persuade daisy to eat her peas by planting vegetable gardens. We used this as a skeleton for our 'Children should be able to make their own pizza for lunch' proposal. As a team we diligently went through every slide and replaced any information to make it relevant to our proposal. Whilst also creating a lengthy list of jobs that would need to be completed before presenting on Wednesday October 12.

Then, we assigned each person a job or two and excitedly and very much independently went to task ticking these off. We had children taking portraits, creating surveys to collate data, drawing informational posters and much more.

Next, the survey team went and surveyed the other children in the school gathering information about who has or has not made a pizza before, what kind of toppings people like, would children even like to make pizzas and collating allergy lists. We received great feedback on the way we conducted ourselves while gathering the information "The Adders were respectful and spoke clearly, we knew the purpose of why they were taking a survey" "They made eye contact and stood with a purpose" "The Adders were being very kind and caring towards one another, they were asking how would like to go first, thinking of others before themselves and encouraging each other"

We look forward to a very busy week of presenting, listening to feedback and using our new prior knowledge to create our 2nd proposal 'A pizza oven will help to build rich school relationships'.

10.10.22

First, we rehearsed, rehearsed and rehearsed some more. We wanted to be sure we were confident to present our 'Children should be able to make their own pizza' proposal. With each rehearsal we spoke with greater persuasion and flow, listening to the feedback of others to help us improve our presenting skills.

Then, Wednesday afternoon arrived and we excitedly and with conviction presented in the Long Room to Leanna. We spoke calmly, clearly and with confidence. Without hesitation we jumped up and spoke when it was our turn. Sharing information on every individual and important member of our team, persuasive reasons, survey results, steps to success, price breakdowns, dietary requirements and a timeline of completing the project. We then thanked Leanna and eagerly awaited her next words. She gave great praise for our thorough and detailed proposal but also had some follow up questions for us to consider. "How are we going to be sure that each child gets the correct pizza to them?" "we can write their name on the tin foil, and bake them one class at a time!" "What will we do for those children who don't know how to make a pizza?" "We've made a poster with step by step instructions on how to make a pizza - we can show you it now if you like?" Leanna, impressed with our prompt answering asked for some thinking time before giving us a final answer (A stage of the process we discussed and anticipated).

Next, we met with Leanna again and she gave us a very large YES! We were so proud of ourselves. We discussed how prior to the proposal we felt scared, nervous, excited and after how we felt overwhelmed, happy and amazed. On Thursday morning we gleefully cooked together and made our own pizzas and devoured them at lunch time, leaving an almost empty food waste bowl. The pizzas were "delicious" "spectacular" "our hard work" "yum". And for one "I think doing the proposal is even better than eating the pizza!"

We look forward to using the momentum of our current success and experience to propose to Leanna again in our final week of this half term with our main project aim "Liberty Woodland School should have a pizza oven to build rich relationships through the school environment"

17.10.22 - Our final week!

First, we eagerly finalised our pizza oven research for our final proposal "Liberty Woodland School should have a pizza oven to build rich relationships through the school environment" . The energy in Adder Den throughout this week was incredible to feel. We were independently asking to finish our research whenever we had a spare moment. This really was our proposal and we took full responsibility for it! We each took responsibility for a heading and created a slide full of information and persuasion.

Then, we rehearsed, using our prior knowledge from last week to our advantage. We reflected on the fact that we were glad we had the experience of last week because it helped us to feel confident, settled our nerves. It also allowed us to believe in ourselves. We tried this time to keep our slide information at the front of our mind. Knowing it off by heart gave us the ability to add persuasive tone of voice and use greater eye contact.

Next, we gave our incredible proposal to Leanna. We spoke for a total of 13 minutes sharing the history of pizza, pizza ovens, where it should go in the school, how we would ensure its safe, how much it would cost, what resources we would need, how we would fundraise and so much more. There were lots of whispers of "good job xxx" "well done xxx" "you spoke so clearly xxx" as we returned to our seat after speaking.

Leanna thanked us for our proposal and said she had no further questions, incredibly we gave her all of the information she needed during the proposal. Leanna asked that we give her some time to consider the proposal, and she will inform us of her decision on the first day of school after half term, Tuesday, November 1st.