Year R Squirrels
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Team Squirrel - Mrs Browne
PE is on a Thursday: come into school in PE kit. Children must have shorts and long trousers/leggings.
Forest school is on a Friday: come into school in PE kit. Children must have a long sleeved top and trousers (even in warm weathers). Forest school kits must have named, wellington boots, spare socks and waterproofs.
Library day is on a Friday: please return your library books on this day to choose a new one.
Please can I ask for all children to have spare pants, trousers, tights or socks in their bags.
Week 26 - Egg as a new life
This week we looked at a variety of eggs, some decorated and others different types of animal eggs. We talked about what an egg represents - new life. Some children said that eggs come from chickens and different birds like crows or pigeons. We talked about which animals have eggs then matched them. The children couldn’t believe how big an ostrich egg is! When we looked at the decorated eggs, we looked in detail at the patterns and pictures on them. The children said they reminded them of spring and Easter time as there were trees, flowers and rabbits on them with eggs all around. We created our own patterned eggs using shape, pictures and colours - they looked so bright and colourful!
We are busy recapping our phase 3 sounds and using them to read and write our own sentences or words to match the pictures. In maths, we have started subtraction. We discussed all the different words which mean to subtract. For example, take away, minus, less than; then we had a go at different number sentences with the subtraction symbol and worked them out using dots, our fingers or counters.
Our role-play is a flower shop where the children are busy creating their own flowers to sell at the shop. Last week, we planted a variety of seeds and after the weekend we are already seeing the shoots growing out of the soil. The children were so excited to see them grow after such a short amount of time! They are now being brilliantly responsible by giving them just the right amount of water every day.
Week 25 - Spring Observations
This week we have looked at what spring means and the different signs of spring. The children have already noticed that it is sunnier and sometimes warmer. They have also noticed more flowers on the ground, especially daffodils and buds beginning to grow on the trees. In forest school, we sat really quietly to see what we could see and hear around us. We noticed lots of noisy birds, nests being made by pigeons and the ground getting harder due to less rain. To support our learning, we planted sunflower seeds in pots around the school, talked about what seeds need to grow, and will continue to care for them daily.
Our role play was a garden centre this week, so the children were busy selling plants and using the watering cans in store, answering the phone to take orders and reading books about growing and spring.
In phonics, we are learning to write sentences with meaning using all our phonetic knowledge. We have been inspired by different spring pictures and wrote about what we could see. We used Lego to build spring models and even printed with daffodils.
In maths, we are continuing to look at adding but this time using symbols to create our own number sentences. The children are working out different sums on the ipad, interactive whiteboard and making their own using numicon, pegs and bears with the symbols.
Next week we will look at 'egg as a new life' which is part of our RE curriculum. We will also begin our new maths topic on subtraction and continue recapping all our phase 3 sounds to make different sentences and words.
Week 24 - A place called home
This week is our geography topic called 'A Place Called Home'. It is a great insight into how other people around the world live. We looked at different types of houses, such as apartments and flats, bungalows, detached and semi-detached houses. We even looked across the globe to see that some people live in wooden houses surrounded by snow, mud houses, houses on stilts in the jungle and even underground with no windows! Using photos and google maps we looked at big busy cities like New York in America to see how they live with so many people around them. To compare, we looked at Greenland which is covered in snow, not many houses or people and surrounded with land around them. They don't even have roads or cars so have a helicopter to deliver their food and other supplies.
To support our learning we drew pictures of our own houses after comparing similarities and differences in each others. Thank you to all who sent in their photos. It allowed the children to add all the details such as windows, brick, doors and even the bushes around them! Next we read the book 'My Map Book'. It is a brilliant book showing different maps of a child's life. There was a map of their dog, a map of their heart and a map of his road. This inspired us to draw a map of our bedrooms. The children added all the details such as rugs, wardrobes, teddies in certain places and even drew what was on their duvet covers! The children loved sharing and talking to each other about what they have in their bedrooms.
In maths, we have been looking at pattern. We noticed there are patterns all around us: on our clothes, in our houses and even on some animals. We then looked at repeated patterns and created our own using paint, peg boards, Duplo, multi-link and threading beads. Some of the children were about to make a repeating pattern using up to 3 colours, shapes or 3 objects.
Week 23 - World Book Day and poems
This week we have been looking at rhyme. We have read many books such as Oi Frog, Room on the Broom and Commotion in the Ocean to inspire us to create our own rhyme linked to the animals fox and dog. We have thought of our own funny sentences to write. Here are a few of our ideas:
The dog went into the fog.
The fox saw a sock.
The fox had chicken pox.
The dog sat on the log, next to a frog.
We made sure our sentences rhymed and we used our phonics and tricky words to write them. They were brilliant!
Our role-play area was a library, so the children have been busy ensuring there are enough books for everyone and that they are in the right categories! The phones have been busy with people demanding different books and forms being filled out by the librarians. Then, of course, the library is a place of calm where children have been sat down reading their favourite books.
In maths, we have begun adding. The children have shown great understanding by showing me number sentences in different ways, either by using numicon, dots on paper, numbers, our fingers or objects. In the role play library, the children have been adding up how many books the customers have taken out and how many they have to return. Outside, we have ordered number tiles and created number sentences using cones and crabs!
World Book Day and don't we all look fabulous!
Week 22 - Healthy bodies and Healthy eating!
This week we investigated ways to stay healthy. Of course, all the children immediately said, "You need to eat your fruit and vegetables!" However, we dug a little deeper to talk about the different variety of foods which are healthy and unhealthy. We discussed exercising and what would happen to our bodies if we didn't move all day, every day, then talked about drinking lots of water and having a healthy mind.
To support our topic, we drew around an animal or dinosaur's body and labelled their body parts. We also drew a healthy plate of food or our favourite dinners which have a variety of food on them. Our role play had turned into a doctor's surgery where the children have been busy making appointments, dealing with major injuries and being rushed off their feet in the x-ray room.
In phonics, our sounds this week were ur, ow, oi and er. Luckily, with all our labelling we have been able to use them along with our other phase 3 sounds.
In maths, we are using the language more and less and understanding what each number represents. We have used number lines to help us find one more and one less than a given number.
Week 21 - The King's Crown
This week was our history topic about the King's crown. We have had so much fun and packed in so much learning about London landmarks, the Queen's coronation and the King's Coronation, who the Royal family are, where the King's jewels live and how they are protected. We just about managed to fit in a Royal Banquet as we became Kings and Queens. Here is a collage of our week!
In phonics, we learnt the sounds oo (long sound), oo (short sound), ar and or. We are really getting the hang of reading words with digraphs and are starting to make and write sentences.
In maths, we learnt about odd and even numbers! See if your child can remember which numbers are odd and which numbers are even when you're out and about this half term.
Week 20 - Waves of Wellbeing
I love this week! We learn about different sea creatures and relate it back to how we can do things better to help ourselves!
First, we looked at the Northern Pufferfish with the theme 'think before you react'. Then we looked at the Pilot Fish with the theme 'Working as a Team'. Next, we looked at the Hermit Crab with the theme, 'Coping with Change'. Then finally we looked at the Seahorse with the theme, 'Keeping Calm'. See if your children can remember the strategies they suggested to help us with each theme...
In phonics, our sounds were 'ai', 'ee', 'igh' and 'oa'. We have played i spy with our sounds to pick a picture from a large variety and write the words to spy the pictures. The children independently used the sound board to find the correct sounds in the words.
In maths, we are using words such as more and fewer. We have looked at a variety of amounts of different objects, estimating which has more or fewer items.
On Thursday, as part of Children's Mental Health week, we had a special visit from the Gerald from Scarf, who talked about resilience!
Next week is our history topic, The King's Crown! It's a great one where we learn about where the King's jewels are kept and who looks after them.
Week 19 - Under the Sea and precious water
It has been a lovely week filled with water play, non-fiction books, counting fish and other sea creatures and learning different facts about sea life. Did you know that coral is not a plant, it is an animal? We learnt different facts about sharks, starfish, fish, dolphins, turtles and whales. For our writing we made a list of all the things we could see in an under the sea picture. The children are trying their best to already use the phase 3 sounds we have not even focused on yet, such as sh-ar-k and f-i-sh and s-ee-w-ee-d for seaweed. Great job team!
In phonics our sounds were sh, ch, th, and ng. Can you child think of different words which have those sounds in them? Can they make a list and write them down?
In maths, we are estimating! All this time I have taught them to count and double check their answers and now we just make a good guess?! The children couldn't believe it! We have had lots of fun to support our estimating by recording our estimations on a table, playing Kym's game in pairs with Numicon and estimating the spots of the ladybirds then counting to check if our estimation was close or not.
Take a look at our updated sensory/cosy area! We now have fibreoptic lights which the children enjoy looking at and touching. We also have a glow-up cube which the children love to draw on and touch.
Next week is our PSHE unit, 'Waves of Wellbeing' where we learn about feelings and emotions through different sea creatures. This ties in beautifully to Children's Mental Health week, which we mark as a school with assemblies, a mental health work shop (Thursday) and wear your SCARF to school day (Friday).
Week 18 - Chinese New Year!
This week has been a favourite of mine as we learnt all about Chinese New Year! We found out how it is celebrated and what people do to prepare for it. We learnt that not everyone celebrates Chinese New Year but many people who come from China or are Chinese will celebrate it. Key facts we found out were:
They clean their homes to brush away any bad luck.
Their lucky colour is red.
China is one of the biggest countries in the world.
China has a population of over 1.6 billion people.
They decorate their homes and have a big feast with family and friends.
Fireworks are lit to scare bad spirits and any bad luck.
People dance with lions and dragons in the streets.
The children have been busy writing about what they remember, playing in the Chinese restaurant, looking at fiction and non-fiction books about Chinese New Year and making dragons and lanterns.
In phonics, we have learnt the sounds y, z, qu and zz. The children are brilliant at practising the sounds! At home, can you support them to write different words with these sounds in? Can they sound out what they can hear (it doesn't have to be perfect at this moment in time!)
In maths, we have been doubling and the children have loved it! They understand that to double means having the same thing twice. We used ladybirds to make double 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10! The children then counted to find out the totals. To support our topic, we have been writing Chinese numbers by using black paint and creating dragons using numicon.
In PE, we created our own Chinese New Year dance pretending to be lions and dragons dancing in the streets on China! It was fabulous!
Next week our topic is under the sea and a discussion as to why water is precious linked to our world faith and philosophy curriculum.
Week 17 – Recycling!
This week we are all about recycling. We read a brilliant book called ‘Someone Swallowed Stanley’. It was about plastics in the ocean and the damage it is causing to the environment and sea creatures. We talked about how we can help and how others are already helping.
In our role play area, we became professional recycling sorters by putting different items in different bins. There was cardboard, plastic, toys, glass, grass and clothes. To support our topic, we all created a recycling poster to spread the greatness of recycling. The children have also had a great time building and constructing recycling trucks using blocks.
Can your child remember the words recycle, reuse and reduce mean?
In phonics, we are now on phase 3 sounds learning j, v, w, x. We have been finding words which have these sounds in and attempting to write them by listening to all the sounds we can hear when saying the word slowly. To support our tricky words, we have been finding them in lots of books and writing them down when we spot them. The children were brilliant at this!
In maths, we are learning about weight. We are using language to describe the weight of different objects to say if they are heavy or light. The children have naturally used the word balanced when things are an equal weight linked back to measuring last week, which is just fabulous. To support our learning, we have used water, pippets, funnels and cups to make the scales heavy, light and balanced. We have also been exploring the weights and numicon with the weighing scales and finally been making 8, 5, 4 and 6 in different ways.
Next week is all about Chinese New Year and already the children are excited about it!
Week 16 - Welcome back and all about Winter
Welcome back everyone! I hope you all had a happy and healthy Christmas and New Year.
To start our week back at school, we have been recapping all our sounds as it may have been a while since we thought about those… phew, we were ok!
Our topic this week is Winter observations, which was the perfect time to show off what winter can be like. We have had snow, sleet, ice, wind and rain, freezing temperatures and sunshine all in one week. We compared autumn to winter: the children noticed there were now no leaves on the trees compared to in autumn, when they were still on there but changing colour. In our forest school session, the children loved finding ice and crunching their feet into the forest floor.
In phonics, we have been playing with our winter role play, looking at fiction and non-fiction books about winter, habitats and weather and labelling clothing that we need to wear in wintertime.
In maths, we have looked at height. We have been using key vocabulary such as tall, taller, tallest, short, shorter and shortest. The children have been using this vocabulary when measuring polar bears, scarfs and drawing things tall and short around the classroom.
For PE, we have focused on balance, coordination and focus by aiming a beanbag into a hoop, balancing on a bench with a hoop on our heads and playing 'the floor is lava' with spots on the floor and jumping and hopping to the next one watching out for others (and of course the lava).
Next week, we are all about recycling. It would be great if you could have a chat with your child about how you recycle at home. We can then reflect on this Monday.
Week 15 - We made it! Our first term as Squirrels!
Wow, what a term! Well done to all Squirrels for being brilliant and resilient and for taking everything I have thrown at you (not literally) on board like a walk in the park! Thank you to all the parents and grandparents for all your support this term. It is always a team effort! Myself, Mrs Kerridge and Mrs S are overwhelmed by your generosity and thoughtful gifts. Thank you to you all, it is so kind of you. I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year. I look forward to seeing you all in the new year!
Forest school after half-term - please can you return all welly boots. They can stay at school on our welly rack. Due to lack of space in our cloakroom, please can you bring your child's forest school things each Friday rather than keeping them here. They can be kept in the children's main bags rather than an extra one. We will then send them home that day too.
You will need:
- warm coat you don't mind getting muddy
- waterproof trousers
- spare socks
Please make sure they are named. Thank you.
Week 14 - It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!
Our topic this week was, 'the birth of Jesus'. We talked about what Christmas is and why Christians celebrate it. We discussed how not everyone celebrates Christmas because of their belief or a different faith to Christianity. We read the story of the Nativity and linked it to the Nativity play they performed this week... (it all slowly began to make sense!) Next we talked about how Jesus was born a long time ago before our grandparents, but after the dinosaurs. Still quite a gap between them, but what I wanted was for them to notice they didn't have cars or phones so they had to do things very differently to how we would now.
A huge well done to all the brilliant Squirrels in the nativity this week! They were absolutely brilliant as angels and sang their little hearts out! It takes a lot for 4 and 5-year-olds to go on a stage not completely understanding what and why, then to sit down for a long time and wait! I am so proud of each and every one of them!
Library books: We are collecting back all library books to replenish the library. Therefore, no more books will come home until the new year. Please return all books by the end of term. Thank you.
Can I remind you to not allow children to bring toys/accessories in from home, even if they are just in their bags. It causes a big fuss when they get lost, broken or they just want to hold them all day.
Week 13 - We all have feelings
This week has been a great time to reflect for all the children as they have been able to share a time they felt a different emotion. The emotions we talked about were happy, sad, angry, tired, poorly, scared and excited. We also dipped into feeling confused, worried and anxious. I was very impressed that the children could explain a time they felt a different emotion and the reasons why. Some children explained that their dog made them feel angry when they get too excited and jump up at them or when their siblings took their toys away. We have read some lovely books about feelings which help us manage ways of feeling angry or sad. I have even noticed in children's conversations that they express how they are feeling and share how others may feel if they did something.
Phonics:
In phonics, we have learnt the sounds 'h', 'b', 'f', and 'l'. We only have 3 more sounds to learn in phase 2 then we will do lots of recapping and learning what sounds to put together to make words and write sentences. To support our topic we have been writing about what makes us happy, enacted a role play school so the children could be a bossy teacher like Mrs Browne, and matched different emotion faces. In pairs, we have also taken photos of each other showing a different emotion. Here are some brilliant faces!
Maths:
In maths, we have been counting out from a larger group. To do this, we counted then recorded how many 2D shapes there are, completed an I spy and count to 5 and 10, used 'find me' cards to find 10 blocks, 5 pine cones or 3 animals, and also sorted and hunted for 2D and 3D shapes.
Next week we will dip into the birth of Jesus and be Nativity ready!
Week 12 - Autumn Observations!
This week we have looked at Autumn. We learnt that there are 4 seasons in the year, which are Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter. We compared each season and then focused on Autumn. The children could tell me that the leaves fall off the trees and change colour. We found out that the leaves are changing colour and falling off the trees because they are dying and in the Spring time, they will grow again. The children also shared what clothes we wear in Autumn and how it's getting darker earlier, meaning the days are shorter.
To support our topic, in groups we created an Autumn picture together on a big piece of paper, to include animals, foliage, trees and people wearing the correct clothing, such as hats, coats and welly boots. The children have loved exploring the Autumn table. There was so much to touch, smell and talk about, so thank you to those who brought something in.
Phonics:
In phonics this week, our sounds are 'ck', 'e', 'u', 'r'; 'ck' was our first digraph, meaning two letters that make one sound! More of these are on the way after Christmas! In phonics, we have been writing about what we see in Autumn. Some of us had a picture to support our writing and others drew what they see in Autumn.
Maths:
In maths, we have been recapping what a 2D and 3D shape is. We are now comparing and finding the total of a given amount. We have been writing the total number, finding the total number and drawing the total number using dots or shapes. To support this, we played autumn bingo and the children had to count how many they had matched and how many they had left to win the game.
Next week's topic is 'we all have feelings'.
Week 11 – We are all different
We have had a lovely week reading brilliant stories all about difference. We talked about our differences and similarities such as our hair, favourite colour, hobbies, who we live with and features such as glasses and freckles. The children enjoyed designing odd socks and talking to each other about their likes and thoughts linked to our theme to celebrate difference. The children have enjoyed using Mr Potato Head to create different faces with different features on too. We also discussed the festival of Diwali and what it means to Hindus around the world. We then created our own rangoli patterns.
Phonics:
This week our sounds were ‘g’, ‘o’, ‘c’ and ‘k’. I am so impressed by how brilliantly the children are writing the sounds and making words with previously taught sounds. We have been drawing and attempting to write what makes us special. The children have drawn pictures with their families, pets, hobbies on and given great explanations as to why that makes them special.
Maths:
In maths, we are all about 2D shape. See if your child can remember what 2D means…
We looked at different 2D shapes and where in our environment objects represent those shapes. We have even counted how many sides different shapes have and wrote down the number. Within our maths activities we cut and stuck shapes to make pictures, played shape bingo and created pasta faces!
Next week our topic is Autumn observations. Please can you go for a walk this weekend and find an object while you are out and about which links to autumn. It can then go on our exploration table so the children can explore and talk about what they found.
Week 10 - Minibeasts and the question, 'Why are people wearing poppies?'
Remembrance day:
This week started with remembering those who were injured or died in the war. We spoke lightly about why people are wearing poppies, what it means to wear one and what happens to the money raised from all the poppies bought. The children then created their own poppies which they couldn't wait to take home and show you. We even managed a two minutes' silence at 11o'clock! Well done Squirrels for showing your respect; I am very proud. In forest school, we created minibeasts using clay, mud and the natural resources around us.
Minibeasts:
We learnt about all types of minibeasts using new vocabulary such as micro-habitat, camouflage, hibernation, predators and moist to describe some habitats. We learnt how they live, what they eat and the special skills they have to survive in nature. We looked at worms, ladybirds, spiders, caterpillars, ants and woodlice. We played a game where we had to guess the minibeast based on questions asked to describe it. The children did brilliantly! They also taught me a few things about what they already knew about minibeasts... and it was a lot! Great job team.
Phonics:
Our sounds this week were 'i', 'n', 'm' and 'd'. The children did a great job at remembering the sounds taught last week and used them to make words from this week's sounds. I can already see the children using their phonetic knowledge to read words without the support from pictures, which is fantastic! Keep up the good reading at home. To support our topic we drew our favourite minibeast and copied the word from a word mat. The children tried hard to match the letters and follow how they were written. We also had a minibeast small world area to explore with a variety of non-fiction and fiction books.
Maths:
In maths, we are learning about numbers and what they represent. We have been matching numbers to quantities and using key vocabulary such as bigger than or smaller than and one more and one less than a given number. To support our topic and maths, we have been threading caterpillars with a given number, creating habitats with a variety of numbered resources and making playdoh spots to match a number.
We had a visit from the Police!
We had the best Thursday afternoon with a visit from the Police! They told us what they do to help people and even dogs sometimes! We got to wear their uniform and hats, go in the car and put the lights on and even got to hear sirens! The children loved it and asked the Police some brilliant questions like:
What tools do you have and what do they do?
Do you catch monsters?
Do you go to other countries?
Next week: Our topic is 'We are all different'.
Week 9 - Welcome back and our topic this week is 'All about me and my family'
This week has been a big week of remembering and learning even more things to do with our daily routine, such as remembering our bird groups for completing activities and packing and unpacking our reading wallets in and out of our bags!
All about me and my family:
We have been busy looking at our features in a mirror then drawing self portraits, ensuring we include all we can see such as pupils, freckles (if we have them), glasses and hairstyle. I was super impressed by the detail and care given from the children to ensure their portraits looked like them. Next, we constructed and built where we live using lolly sticks, then drew who lives in our house with us including our pets! Then, using playdoh, we created the faces for different people and animals and worked in pairs to draw around each other's bodies before adding their features. The children worked really well together and took turns without a fuss!
We talked about what makes each of us special and shared with one another either our favourite toy, person, pet, place or hobby. Here is what some of the children said:
- I am special because I have a dog.
- I am special because I have a lightsabre at home.
- I am special because I really love my Mummy but I also love going to places with and without her.
Phonics:
In phonics, we have begun teaching the sounds 's', 'a', 't', and 'p'. We have found words which have each sound in, read some CVC (consonant, vowel, consonant) words and practised writing the letters. To support our sound knowledge, we have matched pictures to the initial sound using pegs and practised writing our names on huge pieces of paper!
Maths:
In maths, we are recapping our counting skills up to 10. We counted different objects then used our fingers to show the total in different ways. Using the numicon, we put them in order from 1 - 10 then 10 - 1 and also created patterns with the shapes to create bigger numbers. In small groups, we counted actions such as: jump 3 times and clap your hands 10 times. The children worked together to create their own counting, action patterns to follow.
Next week:
Next week our topic is minibeasts! We will also be touching lightly on the question, 'Why do people wear poppies?'
Week 8 - We have completed our first half term! Well done Team Squirrels!
We have had a great week making music with musical instruments, making Halloween ghosts with black paper, white paint and leaves, cutting and sticking anything and everything and even creating our own potato heads - which I have to say look incredible!
Thank you to all the parents who came to Meet the Teacher on Wednesday. It was great to see so many of you there. Attached at the bottom of this page is the PowerPoint, if you want to refer back to the slides, or you couldn't make the meeting. Remember, any questions or worries you have please do ask me.
Well done to all the Squirrels for a great start to school! Enjoy half-term, have a good rest and be ready for some learning when we come back. Our topic is 'All about me and my family'.
Week 7 - Letters u, v, w, x, y and z!! Horraaayyy!
We did it! We did our letter a day, and now we all deserve a well earned rest... In one week's time anyway... Don't worry, it will be filled with fun Halloween activities obviously linked to all of the things we have already been learning!
So this week we have been making waterproof umbrellas and welly boots, painted volcanoes, made paper aeroplanes (well, Mrs Browne had a wonderful time making 30+ aeroplanes which were then beautifully decorated by the children), re-told the story of 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' by counting and drawing what he ate each day, used play dough to support our fine motor skills AND took turns and played maths games on the interactive whiteboard.
We also made our own bookmarks for our new reading wallets which will come home after half term! We used water colour pencils so they looked bold and bright. The children spent a long time on them and took great pride in what they looked like.
For PE, we got the parachute out, which the children loved! We played a variety of games, followed instructions, sang songs and giggled the whole time. The best parts were making popcorn and running under it and getting out before it falls down.
Don't forget next week is our Meet the Teacher on Wednesday at 2:40pm! I hope to see you all there :)
Week 6 - All about the letters p, q, r, s and t... We're nearly there!
This week has been about making penguins, practising our cutting skills and using our fine motor skills to move small objects using tweezers. We have also drawn our own castles fit for a Queen, played skittles and made crowns using buttons and sequins. Some of the children drew dragons, dungeons and princesses in their castles - they were very detailed!
To support our sounds, 'r', 's' and 't', we built rockets, did so much running, collected beautiful red leaves to make trees and counted Stickman's family and seashells. The children were independently counting the objects and writing the total down - it was AMAZING!!!
In PE this week we played a game called 'Robin Hood' where, in teams, you have to collect treasure in quick time and the team with the most treasure at the end wins. Mrs Browne made the game tricky as each time the children had to do different movements such as bear crawl, jumping and running. The children were competitive and worked as a team to get the most treasure. Go Team Squirrels!
Week 5 – All about letters k, l, m, n, o
The children are really getting in the swing of things now in Team Squirrels! We have even begun practising sounds on whiteboards and playing games to find the initial sound in words.
To support our letter a day, we have been making kites, designing crowns fit for a King and practising our kicking skills using footballs and goals. As a class, we created our own lunch boxes and drew the foods which we would find in our lunch boxes. We had a variety of filled sandwiches, hotdogs, apples, bananas, grapes, yoghurts, crisps and even a pain au chocolat in someone’s lunch box! We found so many words which start with ‘m’ in our classroom, so of course we had to play with them all – mobilo, marble run, mosaic mats, multi-link. The list was endless! For ‘n’ and ‘o’ we played with numbers, did some ordering of number and found all the pictures which start with the sound ‘n’ and ‘o’ independently.
In forest school we have begun using hand drills to create giraffes using conkers. The children absolutely loved it! They learnt how to use hand drills safely and create something with only natural resources.
Don’t forget to bring your library books back every Friday to get a new one each week!
Week 4 – All about letters f, g, h, i, j!
This week we have been busy cutting and sticking flowers, drawing still life drawings of flowers and flower printing with paints. Also, we have been practising writing our names, finding pictures which start with the ‘g’ and 'i' sound, heading into forest school to make hedgehogs, decorating hearts and creating colourful ice creams!
To make our classroom look fabulous, we made sparkling jellyfish which all look happy and bright!
To have time away from the classroom to venture into a new area of the school, we have taken the children in small groups to play a variety of turn-taking games. This has given the children time to be in different places around the school, learn a bit about each other and have fun together in a smaller group.
Week 3 - Letters a, b, c, d and e
A wonderful week beginning our letter a day… and I am already super impressed! We have learnt the sounds ‘a’, ‘b’, ‘c’, ‘d’ and ‘e’. We have been making animal masks, building and climbing apparatus, adding, collage a bug, playing with the bats and balls, balancing on the balance beams, making boats float, cutting caterpillars, role play castle, cars, finishing dinosaur pictures, dancing, building dens, banging drums, designing eggs AND colouring in the Earth!
Next week –
We will also begin sending home library books Friday! Please keep them for a week and bring them back each Friday so we can exchange it for another one.
Final thing from me... Please can I ask you to label trousers and shorts, as when the children take their trousers off at random times in the day, they then don't remember if they are theirs.
Week 2 – Our first full week together!
I am so proud of how resilient, kind and understanding all the children have been. They have had to learn so much in just one week. Here are just some of the things:
- Remember how to get to the classroom each morning
- Find their peg
- Put their water bottles in the box
- Choose their lunch by finding their own name first!
- Remember where to sit on the carpet
- Remember their house colour group
- Try and remember all their new friends' names
- Learn how break times and lunch times work... and that’s just a part of their morning routine!
We have even managed to squeeze in a sneaky bit of phonics and maths and I have to say we have some great counters here! I cannot wait to get going with our formal learning. For our PE this week, we explored the apparatus to find our balance, did some throwing and catching, worked on control and taking turns safely.
Well done Team Squirrel for a brilliant, rainy first week at school! It has been great getting to know you all in your homes and now at school. Have a restful weekend and see you bright and early Monday morning - gate opens at 8.25am!
Last thing from me:
Remember school is busy and all very new for some of you. If you have any worries, questions or thoughts, do come and see me at the door at the end of the school day or email the school office. I am always here and happy to chat.
Mrs Browne
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