Spring Term: Week 3
Although a somewhat wet and windy week, it didn’t stop the children from working hard and trying their best. With all that is happening in the world at the moment, we started on Monday by contemplating not only how to look after our physical health but also our mental health. It is so important to look after ourselves and each other and to be good friends. With some children at home and some in school, it is especially important to try and keep in touch and to keep talking to each other. The children are showing remarkable adaptability in this respect.
This week Year 2 began a very exciting Dragon topic. The children at home and in school have been captivated by the mystical creatures and Mrs Tomsett and Miss Hassan have been so impressed with the exciting language used in their writing. All children enjoyed PE with Miss Miles-Lewis and it was great to see lots of concentration whilst trying to balance! In maths, they learnt how to add two-digit numbers using columns.
It was a busy week for Year 1 as they voted for their School Council representatives. Congratulations to Tayo Hewett and Harriet Revell for being elected. In history, the children compared different types of homes and they shared photos of their own homes. The looked carefully at these photos and then took their time to carefully create observational paintings. When they are complete, the children will use the dates the houses were built to make a timeline.
The children in the Reception class have been on a 2D and 3D shape hunt around the classroom and they painted penguins to go on their puffy paint icebergs and story sequencing. They have learnt about speech bubbles and they wrote a caption to go with their painted penguins. They read The Runaway Iceberg about an iceberg melting and then explored melting using chocolate and butter and made delicious chocolate fridge cake.
The Chaffinch and Kingfisher classes focussed on recognising their name and practised name – writing. Both classes started using a self-register board for when they arrive in the mornings and also for afternoon register time. They too have practised writing their names on their own laminated name cards. For their creative activity this week, the children had a go at junk modelling. Using a variety of recycled resources they were free to make whatever construction they liked. While they were busy glueing and sticking, some of the children were asked what they were making. Some of their answers included, ‘It’s called a slug, it’s a tiny bit scared so it’s hiding in a box!’ and ‘It’s a train’ or ‘It’s a present for mummy’.
The Nightingales were very excited to visit Forest School for the first time this week. They enjoyed going on a bear hunt too! The cooking activity was baking snowdrop cupcakes. They all worked together pouring and mixing the ingredients and finalising their creations by decorating with white icing and white chocolate chips. They were most delicious.
This week in the Robins class, water and melting ice has featured in their activities. The children painted using watercolours and had huge fun splashing in the puddles outside in their wellies and waterproofs. They also explored ice using spoons and wooden sticks to move and break the ice where they found various objects frozen inside, such as shells and pine cones. The children enjoyed a variety of stories, including Miss Fineing reading ‘Five Minutes Peace’ to them.
This week the Sparrow children have been making the most of the wet weather and have been playing outside exploring and splashing in the puddles. They have continued their mark-making work, using chalks.
Armelle Wilkinson
Head of Pre-Prep and Nursery
