Spring Term: Week 2
A much chillier week this week: Jack Frost has definitely been out and about. The children have all embraced the cold and been as enthusiastic as ever. Remembering Super Andro’s Learning Powers, they have forged ahead challenging themselves on a daily basis.
Indeed the cold, frosty weather has inspired the Year 2 children, as they wrote their own snowmen stories. The tales were told by the snowmen, as they were being created by excited children. They were really interesting and nostalgic to read. Well done for working so hard.
Children have been working very hard in Year 1 and shown such resilience and adaptability. In English they have been working on capital letters and punctuation, as well as starting to look at traditional tales. They were really good at playing a game of ‘Guess That Tale’ and wrote their own clues for others to guess. In art the children went outside to be inspired by the outdoors and paint or draw a winter scene. Well done Year 1 for a super week.
Reception have been learning about the Antarctic. They discovered which animals live there and where it is on the globe. They were also shown where Britain is on the globe and were surprised at how small it is compared to the whole world. They read the story of the Runaway Iceberg where two penguins float away on an iceberg which is melting. The children made their own penguins by cutting shapes and arranging them. In art they used ‘puffy paint’, shaving foam and glue to make icebergs on paper, ready to add speech bubbles and penguins to annotate a part of the story. In maths they have learned about 2D and 3D shapes, their names and properties. They made 2D shapes using mini marshmallows and cocktail sticks to highlight sides and corners of each shape before attempting to make a 3D shape.
This week, instead of snow, the Chaffinch and Kingfisher classes had ice everywhere. They enjoyed exploring ice as part of their Winter theme. ‘It’s cold!’ said a child, while another used the implement to dig out a dinosaur. ‘He’s trapped, Mrs Marshall, we have to save him.’ The children were curious about how different animals and natural objects had somehow frozen in the ice. They discovered that heat made the ice melt and that this made it easier to release the items that were trapped in the ice. As the ice melted, the children extended their play and used pipettes to squeeze the liquid into tubes. ‘It’s special medicine,’ remarked a child. ‘For the dinosaurs’ said another. It has been fabulous watching the children’s excitement as they have investigated and discovered ice. Let’s hope we soon have snow, so that they can make a real snowman!
It has been a week of creating activities to represent ‘Snow’ in the Nightingales – splatting white paint onto black paper for a snow affect, as well as a messy play theme using baking powder and shaving foam. It was lovely to see the children’s excited faces as they worked.
The Robins put on their wetsuits and wellies on Tuesday and had a great time splashing in the puddles. The children had a lovely time and also created their own game racing their bikes through the puddles together. They also ran their own music lesson for the children which involved lots of singing and dancing, such as ‘Shake Your Sillies Out’ and ‘The Grand Old Duke of York.’ The children loved this so much they requested even more songs, ending with ‘Sleeping Bunnies’, and had a well-earned rest!
This week, in the Sparrow classroom the children have been encouraged to complete simple puzzles. This is a super way to develop their fine motor skills, as well as their hand-eye coordination, all whilst having fun and big smiles on their faces once they have achieved their goals.
Armelle Wilkinson
Head of Pre-Prep and Nursery
