We have been learning about how a steam engine works.

What a stunning scene.

A development weekend at Brightlingsea consisted of winching Cali up the mast so that she could complete the task of marking the spreader positions on the new #1 and #2 sails before we applied patches to the kevlar and carbon fabric. Whilst she was there, she also lubricated the blocks with MacLube.

Luckily it wasn't me up the mast, or my phone!

Almost complete. The boys turned up on a sunny Saturday afternoon to put the finishing touches to the horse. They loved spray painting - it was almost as if they'd done it before some place else.. !?

Read about the winning success of the St George's Day Jousting Competition.

Besides making a plywood cut out of a jousting horse for St George's Day, we also made ANZAC biscuits. ANZAC day remembers those in the Australian and New Zealand Army Corp who fought in the 1st World War.

My nephew and I built a bird box last weekend. He wanted me to put it in my garden, so here it is. I'd quite like to refocus the webcam on the box to capture any comings and goings.

So what do you do when competing against the Headteacher in a Jenga Challenge? Win of course!

We have been trying to find a moment to play our staff match for a while now. The children looked on and became immersed in the atmosphere and tension that was present. The pupils were very supported of both players and it was a delight to see their involvement. It was another reality check for them to see that teachers and headteachers are just as competitive as the children are.

Check out the children's faces as they look on.

(Thank you to Alan who took the photographs.)

More images and explanation of the activities can be found here.

As Cracker passes the Millennium Dome a few members of the crew reflect on our involvement in designing what went on inside.

We didn't have long however as the Thames Barrier was fast approaching. Helming along the Thames requires a great deal of concentration as you avoid shallow waters around the inside bends and fast moving taxi boats which move swiftly up behind you like an Audi on a German Autobahn

Cracker leaves her Winter residence at St Katherines Dock for Brightlingsea, but not before going through the lock gates.

This is a game that we haven't played in years. Each player has a bamboo pole and instructions are given for players to move one to the left or right. They leave their poles balanced where they are and move on to catch the next one. The command "stay" means to do a full turn on the spot. Anyone who fails to keep their pole from falling is out.

A problem solving activity during our Scout evening.

We gave each group 20 garden canes and a pile of elastic bands. The challenge is to build a tower as tall as possible. It must be free standing.

This evening I accompanied 14 youngsters from Kings Road Primary School to an after-school ICT Learning Centre located at the Chelmsford Cricket Ground. It's an unusual place to find a computer lab, but in partnership with Essex Cricket Club and Essex Advisory Service, a learning centre has been established. Over 6 weeks, pupils have engaged in a variety of activities from making CDs, through to producing comic strips using Comic Life and digital video work.

Andy, who runs the centre has been impressed with the children's enthusiasm and commitment to the tasks.

I've been having problems with the central heating so I ended up
crawling under the floorboards to check for leaks.

Inspired by the Enterprise Week at my school and our brilliant idea to sell Sunflower Growing Kits, here is Max putting the kits together for members of his family. They made great little Easter gifts.

I spent a happy hour or so helping build a snowman with my nephew, Max. It all became a bit desperate towards the end as the snow began to thaw. Quite a hard lesson for any youngster to understand really.

A reminder that Winter is still here, despite nearing the end of March. Doesn't look like it will last very long however as it's starting to thaw already.

Tonight I met with both parents and pupils to discuss the pupils' progress. I was delighted that many parents reported that their children had been talking more about the work they are doing at school and the learning taking place.

It struck me that our focus on writing learning reflections on the school blog site could be related to pupils sharing the school experience at home.

Could it be that the articles that have been written on the website helps to

• focus children's understanding of what they have been learning, whether they have written the article or not.
  
• remind them of the activities that they have been engaged in.
  
• informs them about what their children are learning and therefore could be the basis of developing a conversation beyond the usual 'What did you do at school?' to 'Can you tell me what your creative story was about today?'
  

It's not at all clear at this stage that there is a link between the blogging work and pupils sharing work more readily at home, but it's something that several parents mentioned this evening.

One word. Amazing.