Spring Term Ready Steady Write

Ready Steady Write: Hot Cross Buns

Towards the end of the Easter Term, the children and staff of Branscombe C of E Primary School celebrated a special ‘Ready Steady Write’ day on the theme of the rhyme ‘Hot Cross Buns’. As well as preparing for Easter, this song linked with Class 2’s work in Music this term, in which they have been exploring and inventing ‘Victorian’ street cries. Having learned to sing and sign the rhyme and talked about why these treats are eaten at Easter time, the children explored the history of hot cross buns. They discovered that although the earliest written record of them is from the 1700s, it is thought that they have been around since Roman times and existed before the introduction of Christianity to the country.

The children discussed whether they liked eating hot cross buns at this time of year and several children explained that they were not keen on the mixed fruit and spices the buns contain. So, working in their Knot Teams, the children then used recipes to create their own updated versions of the Easter treats. They discussed which basic ingredients they would need to keep and which could be substituted and chose from a range of possible ingredients, including chocolate chips, marshmallows, orange or lemon peel, apricots, dates and cherries. All of their buns however, were marked with a piped cross on the top to celebrate Jesus’ sacrifice at Easter.

Having made and eaten buns from their own recipes, the children wrote about the experience in different ways. In Class 1, the children explored adjectives they could use to describe the buns and wrote kennings poems. In Class 2, the children wrote letters to persuade the CEOs of different supermarket chains why they should stock their alternative hot cross buns. The day was enjoyable, the hot cross buns were devoured with enthusiasm and the children produced some lovely independent writing.