Autumn Term: Week 4
In the Pre-Prep and Nursery (Chaffinch and Kingfisher classes), we are teaching the children to be aware of how they learn and aim for each child to develop a Growth Mindset. At the centre of this is Super Andro Bear, who has special Learning Powers.
Our approach is to embed these Learning Powers, so that every individual sees their intelligence as something which will grow through the adoption of the correct attitude, skills, knowledge and values. Curriculum tasks are set to develop the following intellectual character traits in all Androvians:
| Adaptability | Ambition |
| Collaboration | Creativity |
| Curiosity | Initiative |
| Reflectiveness | Resilience |
The focus this week was Curiosity. Monday morning started with assembly as usual; however there was a rather interesting item in the hall, that is not usually there. Seeing the children coming in, looking at it and wondering, set the scene wonderfully to explore the notion of curiosity. The children found many words related to curiosity and discovered how important it is to be curious.
This week, Year 2 looked at the works of the artist Paul Klee. They experimented with different colour combinations and recreated his Untitled Mannequin. They used their creative Learning Power and produced beautifully coloured artwork. A delight to see. In Forest School the children worked collaboratively in pairs to make a lolly stick 17th century house, which they then burnt on their very own Great Fire of London!
Year 1 have worked really hard this week and shown great curiosity when looking at toys from the past. Harrison brought a lovely collection in for the children to look at. Maths has been all about money. The children learned how to use a number fan for the first time, to find the coins in a coin reveal game. They have also been shopping and played money bingo.
This week in Reception the children have been looking at hedgehogs, after reading the story of The Very Helpful Hedgehog by Rosie Wellesly. They have learnt new facts all about hedgehogs being nocturnal, and what they use for protection and hibernation. On Wednesday they made hedgehogs by painting with forks and on Friday the baked hedgehog biscuits. In maths, the children have been looking at ways to record; they went on a big counting walk around the school field and recorded their findings. The children asked to make gloop and so they experimented with different textures and sensory materials. In phonics, they learned the three ways of making the sounds ‘c’, ‘k’ and ‘ck’. They came up with some brilliant words: track, black, clock, kitchen, cocoon and even their own Mrs Cracknell!
In Nursery, the classes follow ‘In the Moment’ planning. This enables the children to progress at their own speed through play and experiences following the values of the Learning Powers.
For the topic of ‘All About Me’ this half term, Chaffinch and Kingfisher children have been doing lots of activities to explore this theme. The children were taken one at a time to have their height measured and their weight looked at on the scales. They all had a go at painting their self-portraits. The children showed a ‘can do’ attitude when painting their faces and they talked about the differences in their facial features and hair colour. The children looked in a mirror to observe their features and then painted their face with some adult guidance. In circle time the children talked about themselves and their family. They also started to describe the house or flat that they live in. Each child had a turn to speak when holding Super Andro Bear, who was passed around in the circle. The children were encouraged to listen to each other. It can be a bit daunting to speak out in front of others, but with Super Andro’s help they expressed themselves really well:
“I’ve got an old house, front door and I’ve got a garden and a slide.”
“In a big long bed, giant Ted, Christmas Ted.”
“I’m a sister!”
“I live in a house, my mummy, sister and daddy live in the house. Four bedrooms.”
“Yes we do have a garden. A front and a back door. My sister has lots of teddies.”
The Nightingale class had an autumn ‘tuff’ tray out, with many items found out and about. The children showed much curiosity as they explored the crunching sound of the leaves and the textures of the shiny conkers and pine cones.
The Robin class have been using their imagination during their music lesson pretending to jump in muddy puddles. They actually had a lot of fun doing so for real, later in the week.
The children in the Sparrow class are busily creating a lovely Seasons Tree. This week, they made leaves and pumpkins to add to the display. It looks absolutely wonderful.
