Early Years
Take a look at what Early Years have been doing so far this term.
Maple class PE day is a Friday.
Acorn class PE day is a Tuesday.
Acorn Class (Nursery) Autumn 1
Welcome Aspiring Acorns.
It's lovely to see all those smiley faces back for a new term.
All the children have come into the Nursery, happy and are ready to learn. This first Autumn term, the story will be 'The Rainbow Fish' by Marcus Pfister.
We have got all of our learning resources ready to go...
Aspiring Acorns have a colour table in our classroom and are first learning the colour 'blue'. The children have worked together to gathered lots of blue items from the classroom, and did really well.
Welcome done Aspiring Acorns!
The children have shown a great interest in the story and are looking forward to learning more about the characters. We have been looking at what lives in the ocean and the parts of the story with the different characters in it.
This week Acorns have had fun practicing the nursery rhymes and using all kinds of props to engage us with the singing.
We have been very busy collaging the Rainbow Fish and learning how to share and use the resources with our friends.
Acorns are really enjoying the class story. We've talked about, why the Rainbow Fish has his name, and looked at his sliver shiny scales.
The children found the non fiction books very interesting, so we added more books to the table to look at. We've looked at all kinds of sea creatures who live in the ocean.
This week Acorns class have been busy looking at Rainbow Fish very closely. We discovered the colour silver, just like the Rainbow Fish’s scales. So we decided to find lots of silver objects to go onto our colour table.
Acorns discovered the characters from the class story on the text board. We talked about all the characters, their colours, their names and who did they liked the most.
We also created some different textured Rainbow Fish by using sponges and paints. Then we added them to our ocean scene on the class windows.
During circle time, all the children really enjoyed singing more different nursery rhymes. We also pretended to be a Rainbow Fish, a star fish, an octopus moving around in the ocean.
This week Acorns have been involved in discussing the book further. We talked about, who was in the story? what are they called? and words linked to the Rainbow Fish.
The children worked together to gather lots of silver items. We found bowls, ribbons, baking foil, pie cases, silver wrapping paper, a sieve and talked about them at circle time. We also looked at the shapes of the items and how they felt.
We learnt new words linked to the book Rainbow Fish.
Acorn also enjoyed making playdough this week using kitchen ingredients. To link it to our class story, we added silver sparkly glitter and blue colouring to the mixture.
Acorns have been exploring down in the woody area this week, we’ve been collecting sticks for our puppets. While we were down there, we looked at long sticks, short sticks, different coloured, and shaped leaves.
On our return back to school, we made lots of puppets using the sticks we had found on the walk.
We also practised our fine motor skills and made rainbow coloured necklaces, bracelets, belts and head bands using colourful beads with our friends.
While outdoors in the mud kitchen, Acorns were very busy mixing with all kinds of materials. We had sand, mud, baking flour and cornflour. Acorns made ice creams, cake, pasta and meatballs.
Acorns have had fun this week, we've got into character with our story masks, used lots of words and talked about who was our favourite character from the story.
We've been visiting the small world, playing with the characters from the story and retold the story to our friends. Our favourite characters were the Rainbow Fish and the octopus.
While outdoors Acorns have been busy sharing, exploring digging in the mud and discussing what the children can see.
Our focus this week was building on the personal, social and development skills. We have been involved in lots of role play such as doctors, vets or fire fighters with our peers and exchanging language.
We were proud to create the Halloween props, made with tissues, felt pen, cello tape and sticks. The cute little ghosts were used for singing and counting nursery rhymes.
Acorns have had a wonderful time learning around the story ‘Rainbow Fish’, we have looked at lots of different ocean creatures and have been practicing the song ‘Five little Scales in a big wide ocean’. We all made Rainbow Fish cupcakes to celebrate the end of our class story.
Have a wonderful half term break Acorns.
Nursery Autumn 2 Curriculum Overview
Acorn Class (Nursery) Autumn 2
It’s so lovely to see all the children refreshed and back after the half term break. Acorns have started a new class story this term, ‘Mr. Wiggle and Mr. Waggle’
We found a box and a letter in the classroom on Halloween morning. It was a letter from the Witch asking us to look after her things. Acorns looked after her things very well, however ended up eating the biscuits…they were very yummy! So, we had to all write an apology letter to the witch…saying we looked after all your things but are very sorry for eating your biscuits.
Now Autumn is here, Acorns discovered that all the leaves are starting change colour and fall to the ground. So we all decided to collect the beautiful leaves, using our wheel burrows and brooms…we had lots of fun doing that!
This week...Acorns have been extremely productive this week with making fireworks pictures, poppies and creating The Cenotaph to mark our soldiers on Remembrance Day. We learnt how to share all our resources well.
We talked about what happens on Remembrance Day and why? but it was tricky business, we first had to find a box and collect all the resources we need to make The Cenotaph. Acorns immediately got busy to make the poppies and we finished it just in time.
Acorns painted their own poppies for a wreath to go onto The Cenotaph.
We made firework pictures, used icing sugar on the black paper and dripped the different colours onto the paper and watched the colours spread. We finished our artwork by adding some sparkly glitter to the picture, we found creating the whole fireworks scene very interesting. We talked about the noises the fireworks make and the colours we can see.
This week the Acorn have been busy with collecting the Autumn leaves and scooping them up into containers. We listened to the sounds the leaves made on the ground...they were noisy.
We leant about the Hindu festive Diwali and created Rangoli Patterns!...Acorns drew lots of beautiful patterns outside the Early Years front entrance door, to welcome all the children and their parents. We worked together and used all the different coloured chalks to draw the Rangoli patterns.
Acorns made Divas in stages, first we made Divas from salt dough, we let them dry for a day. When they were ready, we decorated them using bright colourful paints and glitter.
The children enjoyed looking at what mehndi is and looked at variety mehndi patterns, as well as sharing their knowledge on mehndi.
It has been another amazing week. Acorns have started the week with learning the story Text Map. We are finding, we really enjoy following the story with our friends.
Acorns have been so busy sharing books with their friends and repeating phases together from the book.
Acorns made a Wormy in stages, first went for a walk to gather some mud and a few leaves. We really enjoyed digging and looking for some worms.
Next, we filled the vase with sand and mud. Placed the worms into the vase with leaves and fruit peels. Acorns were so fascinated watching the worms wiggling up and down. We had a group discussion about the characteristics of a worm and what does a worm eat.
Acorns this week have been very creative and enjoyed making beautiful worm puppets. The children were very good at selecting all their own materials wanted for their puppets. We used odd socks, scissors, glue, card, glitter and googly eyes to make the puppets.
At the end, the children described their own worm, they had a mouth, some eyes, hair, ears and a nose.
Acorns have been working extremely hard and practising, the Talk for Writing text map to tell the story. Well Done Acorns! your Super Stars!
Please watch the video below.
This week the Acorns have been observing the movement in the wormy, watching the worms wriggling up and down through the soil. The children were very excited to discover some worm eggs in the soil.
We’ve very much enjoyed looking after the worms in the wormy and talked about the life cycle of a worm with our friends. Acorns are looking forward to finding baby worms soon.
We’ve been feeding the worms and talking about all things we can feed the worms to eat and the foods we shouldn’t feed the worms.
We had great fun outdoors sharing the sand resources with our friends. We were using scoops, spades, sieves, diggers, filling the trucks and emptying them.
Acorns know the Mr. Wiggle and Mr. Waggle story very well now, we really enjoy sharing phases and parts of the story with our peers.
Acorns also took part in the festive celebrations and helped to decorate the class Christmas tree. Everyone shared and took turns to chose the bauble and placed it carefully onto the branch. Our most favourite part was turning on the Christmas lights.
The Acorns have been super excited this week, as we’ve had a special visitor appeared in the classroom. During circle time, we talked about, "who is The Elf?" and "where did he come from?"
We found The Elf had been up to something different every morning, and we enjoyed discovering it. This meant Acorns had to write letters every day to Santa to let him know, what was happening in the Acorns classroom.
All the children have been practising our fine motor and creative skills to make the Christmas decorations, cards and calendars to take home.
We’ve had so much a fun this term, learning about different facts on worms too. Acorns will be learning a new story in the spring term, so we would like to bye to Mr. Wiggle and Mr. Waggle.
This week, Acorns have been extremely busy learning the Christmas songs for the Carol Concert.
Acorns we’re resourceful this week creating the calendars. We independently chose the different paints and applied all the cards. Next…we finished them off by adding glitter, and the children described the calendars as “beautiful”
The googly eyes made the children laugh this week, because they kept falling off the cards and Acorns kept finding them around the classroom. In the end, there was a happy ending and we managed to stick the eyes back on.
Acorns wish you all a Merry Christmas a looking forward to seeing you all in the new year.
Here is a video of the Aspiring Acorns practising Talk for Writing, the story Mr. Wiggle and Mr. Waggle.
Acorn Class (Nursery) Spring 1
Happy New Year Aspiring Acorns!
It’s lovely to see you all back ready for the new term.
I'm excited to share with you all the wonderful activities we've been involved with the Acorns this week, inspired by the classic children's book "We're Going on a Bear Hunt" by Michael Rosen. The children will be excited to tell you all about it!
We all went for a walk down to the wooded area, with our buckets and containers this week. Acorns were excited to collect some grass, sticks and mud to add to our class small world tuff tray.
The children talked and shared their ideas as they worked well together to gather all the materials.
The children used thin brushes to create their own picture of a bear, they were provided with black and brown paint. First they drew an outline of the bear, then painted on the details.
This term we have started to learn the RWInc sounds, ‘m, a, s, d, t’ Acorns have been visiting the sound box, with lots of objects beginning with the same sound we are looking at.
mmm...milk, magnet, mittens, mouse, mushroom.
This week, Acorns have acting out walking through the different parts of the story. We pretended to walk through the long wavy grass, deep cold river, thick oozy mud, big dark forest and the swirling whirling snowstorm.
We’ve also been busy concentrating and practicing copying the patterns in the sand trays. Then moving onto the next pattern in the tray. We did great turn taking and sharing our patterns with our friends.
In maths, we had a week of counting, we counted everything that could be counted.
Acorns had a lovely time, repeating the words from the story, using the stick puppets and sharing the small world with their friends.
This week, we have been spending more time in the outdoors book area. We have been sharing the fiction and non- fiction books to build our confidence in developing literacy skills.
Acorns have enjoyed linking the story with the sensory layers in the small world tuff tray. They have had a wonderful time with the different textures like grass, tissue/foil, mud, sticks, wood and wool.
We’ve been Mark Making, drawing lines and copying patterns by forming large movements on the electronic board. We also learnt how to operate the colour key, when using it.
In Maths this week, Acorns have practiced ordering the numerals, using them and finding on the number line.
Acorns were very creative this week! We provided the children with cold tea and large paint brushes to make maps for the bear hunt. They enjoyed spreading the tea all over the paper before we did some mark making on them.
Acorns have been building on their personal, social and development skills. We have been sharing the resources, taking turns, and talking to our friends while involved in role-play.
The children have been practising to mark make all around the classroom and outdoors, using different mark making resources and picture story maps.
This week, the children were able to select, rotate and manipulate the different 2D shapes while visiting the shape line in the learning environment.
We’ve been busy using the resources outdoors from our Maths and English sheds. It’s exciting to choose and share the learning tools with our peers.
This week Acorns have followed the story text map and worked at sequencing the story using pictures from "We’re going on a bear hunt"
The children really enjoyed making Dragons to celebrate the Chinese New Year. This activity was not just about creativity, it also helped develop their fine motor skills as they cut and glued the dragons together.
In maths, inspired by the story the children made models using different construction materials. They used the models to look through it or move things over it or under it.
Acorn have had exciting time mixing with the different textures like grass, mud, sticks and water with their friends.
Our term was a tremendous success, with the story "We're Going on a Bear Hunt". Not only did the children have loads of fun, but they also learned valuable lessons about teamwork, bravery, and the joy of exploration. Michael Rosen's book truly brought our nursery classroom to life, and we can't wait for the next term’s adventure in learning!
Acorns have learnt about different environment and the words to go with them.
We have been on lots off different walks looking for bears with our friends.
Celebrating the story at the end of term. In maths, we ordered the numerals and made a walk path.
Acorn Class (Nursery) Spring 2
It’s so lovely to see all the children refreshed and back after the half term break. Acorns have started a new class story this term, ‘Dear Zoo’ by Rod Campbell.
Our journey began with a warm introduction to the story of "Dear Zoo." We gathered in a cosy circle and read the book together. The children were enchanted by the interactive nature of the book, as they lifted flaps to reveal various animals. We discussed the animals featured in the story and their unique characteristics.
Acorns were busy painting their favourite zoo animals. We also made some food for the zoo animals at feeding time. We made the food with shaving foam, cornflour and paint. The children mixed all the three items together to create a dry texture for the animals.
This week Acorns have engaged in several activities inspired by "The Dear Zoo. We started with a craft session, where the children created their own zoo, using various construction resources. This hands-on activity not only reinforced the story's message but also allowed the children to express their creativity and fine motor skills.
As we journeyed through the story of Dear Zoo, the children went into character and were excited with the story. We learnt the phrases used by the author in the book and used them when reading out loud.
Acorns have a wonderful time putting together different zoo animals, using split pins.
In maths, we have been counting snack pieces, using the number marked bays outdoors and practised writing the numbers.
This week the children have been engrossed with making more models of the zoo, big ones, small ones, tall ones and some with additional features on the top.
Acorns are always excited to make playdough. So, we wasted no time to decide on the colour and all assisted with the putting the ingredients and mixing it all together.
The children have decided that the Zoo is closed today for repairs, we apologise for any inconvenience caused. A team of professionals are working very hard to get the zoo up and running again.
This week, children created their own ‘Dear Zoo’ story books. We talked about who were sent from the zoo, drew each animal in the book and revisited the story to check.
Another wonderful week of the class story ‘Dear Zoo’, we discussed the story and this week we have learnt the RWInc sounds, ‘n, o, g, d, h’. Acorns have been visiting the sound box, with lots of objects beginning with the same sound we are looking at.
We enjoyed the story book and observed the illustration on each page. “I wonder which animal is sent next?”
Acorns had great fun joining a snake together. First step was learning to how to cut along the lines. Next step was to glue the parts together.
The class have had an opportunity to visit the school tadpoles and observe how they use their tails to help them swim because they don’t have legs yet. We will be visiting them again over the weeks to watch them turn into little frogs.
Spring is here!
The children were super excited to find the blossoms on the branches and commented on how beautiful the blossoms looked on the tree.
Aspiring Acorns have been practising Talk for Writing, the story Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell and we are so happy to learn the whole story. Well Done! Acorns! for working so hard.
While on a walk, the children were so excited to discover some nests in the trees. It was so fascinating to see them and talk to our friends about them.
Our class story "Dear Zoo" was filled with laughter, learning, and plenty of animal encounters. Through this adventure, the children not only deepened their understanding of different animals but also developed their fine motor skills, creativity, and descriptive language abilities. Rod Campbell's timeless book truly brought the zoo to life in our classroom!
All the children ended the week, by taken part in the Easter activities. We had lots of fun creating the cards and hunting for the chocolate eggs to take home.
Acorn Class (Nursery) Summer Term 1
Welcome back Aspiring Acorns! It’s lovely to see you all so eager to learn. We've started the week with introducing the new class story, ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’
Acorns are so excited to share our wonderful journey with "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" by Eric Carle.
We have been busy learning to the use the large outdoor equipment safely in the construction area.
This term we have carried on learning more RWInc sounds, ‘b, h, c, e, r’. Acorns have been visiting the sound box, with lots of objects beginning with the same sound we are looking at.
bbb...ball...book...bike...banana...button.
The children have been involved in taking turns while playing the number games, and had lots of fun with their friends.
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Maple Class (Reception) Autumn 1
Welcome to Marvellous Maple!
The children had a fantastic start to Reception the last three days. Everyone enjoyed exploring their new classroom and playing with new friends and activities. Some of the activities the children loved this week included:
-Making pictures with paint dabbers
-Playing with the cars and trains
-Role playing in the home corner
-Making pretend food out of playdough
-Playing with water in the mud kitchen
We are so happy that our entire class will come together for a full day starting next week. We can’t wait to continue building new relationships and learning new routines and expectations. It will be a marvellous year in Maple Class!
Maple Class had a marvellous first full week of school!
Autumn 1 Curriculum Overview 2023-24.pub
Homework: review the phonics sounds sent home on Friday and the Ruth Miskin video links posted below over the next week.
The children did an amazing job of continuing to learn the school rules and expectations. They were especially eager to help one another on the various obstacle courses they created in the garden with crates and blocks. Riding on the scooters and bikes has been another favourite amongst the children! It was lovely to watch the children work on their gross motor skills while building on their relationships with one another.
This week the children learned their first five phonics sounds!
Please view the following videos below to review with your children the sounds we learned over the week:
https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/M2iUCQAh/nWpeR5G0
https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/Wj1rrFKq/jN8mAolX
https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/xxFLPQAl/jK1hRI2h
https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/CNc7rgwb/klG7PPRq
https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/cVSC6Dxv/48BlXp1J
The children worked hard on strengthening their power packs (tummy muscles)! This will lead them to becoming strong writers. Ask your child to show you sitting like a bear, meerkat, lion, lizard and penguin.
Marvellous Maple had an exciting week and we can't wait to continue our learning!
Maple Class had another marvellous week of school!
Homework: review the phonics sounds sent home on Friday and the Ruth Miskin video links below over the next week.
The children have also been sent home with a copy of the first 10 phonics sounds flash cards to practice with daily.
Autumn 1 Curriculum Overview 2023-24.pub
The children did an amazing job of continuing to learn their phonics sounds! Many children found the phonics sound mats and cards in the classroom and began to quiz each other. We are so impressed by how hard the children are working to learn their sounds!
This week the children learned the next five phonics sounds!
Please view the following videos below to review with your children the sounds we learned over the week.
https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/cv9aUgsO/FhJefXyJ
https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/8BA3DjQn/ZgLlBmq8
https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/ayVxP1Uf/4kHve191
https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/IUX5TmGa/87EVP1mb
https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/VYXoASG6/bBN088VZ
This week we practiced counting to 4! The children did a wonderful job counting various items around the classroom (including counters, leaves, cupcakes and cubes)!
Finally, the children used paint, googly eyes, pom poms and more to make collages of their very own Gingerbread Men! Be sure to check out the colourful artwork on our Wow Wall in the cloak room.
Maple Class continues to be marvellous!
Autumn 1 Curriculum Overview 2023-24.pub
Homework: review the phonics sounds sent home on Friday and the Ruth Miskin video links below over the next week.
The children continue to impress us with how hard they are working on their phonics sounds! We worked this week on blending our sounds using Fred Talk.
This week the children learned the next set of phonics sounds:
Please view the following videos below to review with your children the sounds we learned over the week.
https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/YbKgKG0C/VGC4AGu7
https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/vIwdNrtF/2ELkh6GG
https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/e2uT1CMc/tumlxbYL
https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/hxvG6ExN/9uiYMDMh
In maths we worked on counting to 5 by celebrating our stuffed animals with a 5th Birthday Party. The children had a great time setting the table with 5 plates, cups and napkins and even created their own cupcakes out of playdoh and junk modelling materials.
The children continued to explore “The Gingerbread Man” by using Q-tips to paint gingerbread men, wearing character masks to re-enact the story, making foxes out of leaves, and even exploring a tuff tray with dinosaurs and ice cubes shaped like gingerbread men. We learned about our 5 senses and used them to explore the different forms of ginger. The children also focused on retelling the story using story actions. Well done Maple Class!
Happy October Maple Class!
Autumn 1 Curriculum Overview 2023-24.pub
Homework: review the phonics sounds sent home on Friday and the Ruth Miskin video links below over the next week.
The children continue to focus and concentrate on learning their phonics sounds! We worked this week on blending our sounds using our magnet tiles and Fred Talk. The children each got to pick a Reading Buddy (stuffed animal) to keep at home for nightly reading practice.
The children learned the next set of phonics sounds:
Please view the following videos below to review with your children the sounds we learned over the week.
https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/lRsAZbYw/ceM8lrxc
https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/YBJX7mIO/hF20eQh1
https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/VNdkwLKD/ldiEZpsX
https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/Gvb7UYH1/Y9PiDjjw
This week the children enjoyed playing teacher and school in the role play area. The children taught each other their sounds, daily calendar and our class rules and expectations. It was wonderful to see everyone using kind words and including each another in their play.
We continued our literacy unit and created our own version of “The Gingerbread Man” this week. The children chose a variety of different characters for our class story version including a queen, Minion, butterfly, pirate, Spiderman, Elsa and even Batman! The children drew their own story maps for our class version and are proud to bring their stories home to share with family and friends!
Finally, we have been discussing autumn and the changing colours of all the falling leaves. The children collected a variety of autumn leaves from our playground and enjoyed telling their friends how the leaves looked, smelled and felt. We then used the leaves in our classroom to paint, hole punch and even make special leaf potion!
Another Exciting Week in Maple Class!
Homework: review the phonics sounds sent home on Friday and the Ruth Miskin video links below over the next week.
Autumn 1 Curriculum Overview 2023-24.pub
The children continue to focus and work hard on all their phonics sounds! We practiced blending our sounds using our magnet tiles and Fred Talk. The children were introduced to Fred Fingers to help them write their words.
This week the children learned the next set of phonics sounds:
Please view the following videos below to review with your children the sounds we learned over the week.
https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/DbMqdBPc/RVz2Tfcg
https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/iyWLRVkM/gZYeyARb
https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/mGxbzE39/ri6EaR8Q
https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/6mI5TKjc/1d5sdzev
https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/MFHXpajE/ThcOqBVc
This week the children were excited to ride three new bikes in the garden! The children strengthened their leg muscles by pulling their friends along on the back of the bikes. There were lots of giggles as the children cheered and encouraged one another to keep pedalling!
During story time, the children have been creating and retelling their own stories using a variety of story cards. There were multiple stories about dragons, witches, fairies, frogs and monsters. We also practiced partner talking by sharing our favourite part of “The Gingerbread Man” and what we would have done differently to get across the river.
The children are getting excited about Halloween. Leaves and sponges were used to make ghosts at the art table. Orange rice and blue pasta with fake spiders and cauldrons were available in the tuff tray to make spooky potions. The children worked on their fine motor skills by using the special scissors to pick up the spiders in the tuff tray. The children enjoyed filling up their cauldrons and dumping out the contents repeatedly.
Happy Half Term Maple Class!
Homework: review the phonics sounds sent home on Friday and the Ruth Miskin video links below over the next week.
Autumn 1 Curriculum Overview 2023-24.pub
The children have worked so hard this term to learn their first phonics sounds! Well done Maple Class! This term we practiced blending our sounds using our magnet tiles and Fred Talk, and we used Fred Fingers to help write our words.
This week the children learned the next set of phonics sounds:
Please view the following videos below to review with your children the sounds we learned over the week:
https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/9DD4O1s1/kGmOqvv4
https://schools.ruthmiskin.com/training/view/ZEzfqlp8/GUWZMgyx
The children have been excitedly preparing for Halloween through a variety of arts and crafts projects, messy play, costumes and more! The children created splatter monsters with spoons and white paint, drew scribble monsters, concocted potions out of rice and spiders and enjoyed washing and then poking holes in our pumpkins. The children especially loved doing a mystery handprint art project where they painted their handprints with turmeric and watched their handprints magically appear on the paper!
We finished “The Gingerbread Man” story this week and decided to make our own gingerbread men cookies! After putting all our ingredients in the mixing bowl, the children were able to smell the mixture and share their observations. Next, every child had the opportunity to mix the ingredients together and friends cheered for one another as we sang our mixing song. The children were so excited to bake the cookies, but unfortunately the gingerbread man ran away before we could bake him! We decorated cupcakes instead, and the children had a blast.
Thank you to all the adults who were able to attend the Be Our Best Event for maths. The children loved showing you the different math games we have been working on this term and enjoyed welcoming you into our classroom.
Have a wonderful break!
Maple Class (Reception) Autumn 2
Welcome to Term 2 Maple Class!
Homework: review the phonics sounds sent home on Friday.
Autumn-2-curriculum-overview-2023-24.pub
Please use your phone or tablet to scan the QR codes and watch the following videos below to practice Fred Talk games. These videos link to the videos we review in class.
Marvellous Maple is pleased to introduce our newest teaching support staff, Mrs Brown! We are thrilled to have her join our class and can’t wait to get to learn with her this term.
The children returned from break ready to learn! We are so impressed with how much the children have already learned and achieved this year and can’t wait to continue to grow this term. This week the children have enjoyed getting back into their school routine. We practiced using our listening ears, kind hands, following directions and being our best all week!
We will spend this term reviewing the phonics sounds previously taught last term and building up confidence in blending using Fred Talk. We will continue to challenge the children to use their Fred Fingers to segment and spell words. We will be learning about Diwali, Remembrance Day and Christmas as well as continuing to build a solid foundation in learning our numbers to five this term. Maple class is looking forward to putting on a Holiday performance before Christmas and will begin practicing their singing and dancing in the coming weeks. More information will be sent home on the time and date of our performance.
The children were excited to see one another and chat about their breaks. The children also enjoyed playing with our new extended role play school area, our new water table, our new messy/tuff trays and our additional storytelling props! The children were observed using kind and encouraging words to invite friends to play, bouncing ideas off each other to extend their play and experimenting with ramps to transport cars. Various storytelling occurred throughout the provision as children used props, the dollhouse, math manipulatives, loose parts and more to share their ideas and stories through play.
Another Exciting Week in Marvellous Maple!
Homework: review the phonics sounds sent home on Friday.
Autumn-2-curriculum-overview-2023-24.pub
Please use your phone or tablet to scan the QR codes and watch the following videos below to practice Fred Talk games. These videos link to the videos we review in class.
This week we began to read our new term story, The Baby Mouse. Last Friday, mouse holes mysteriously showed up around Maple Class! The children were thrilled to create missing mouse posters and signs to help find the (pretend) baby mouse lost somewhere in the classroom. Some friends even left food in front of the mouse holes in case the baby mouse got hungry. Then, as a class, we discussed and labelled the different mouse parts to learn more about mice. Outside, the children pretended to be the baby mouse by walking down the wibbly, wobbly lane on the balance beam. We have worked hard this week to begin to learn our new story and act it out.
Maple Class has been preparing for Diwali and Remembrance Day this week. The children painted their own poppies and created medals to remember Veterans. To get ready for Diwali, the children made fireworks out of numicon blocks, used pastels to create fireworks on black paper and cut out colourful shapes to create Rangoli patterns on paper plates. The children especially loved learning about mehndi patterns and eagerly drew their own hand designs.
Finally, this week Maple Class used their imaginations in the junk modelling area to create all kinds of transportation vehicles using glue, tape and cardboard. The children were seen zooming around the room in cars and even parking their cars on the rug for small group time. Over the week, the ideas morphed as the children used cardboard to make hoovers, spaceships, armour and more! Maple Class was so creative!
A Magical Week in Marvellous Maple!
Homework: review the phonics sounds sent home on Friday.
Autumn-2-curriculum-overview-2023-24.pub
Please use your phone or tablet to scan the QR codes and watch the following videos below to practice Fred Talk games. These videos link to the videos we review in class.
This week we continued to learn and act out The Baby Mouse. We had class discussions regarding the characters, settings, problem, and solution within our story. The children worked together as a class and proudly mapped out the story in sequential order using only pictures! Next week, we will begin to innovate and change The Baby Mouse story using ideas from the children.
In PE, Mr M. challenged the children with a variety of tasks. The children worked on their hand-eye-coordination by jumping rope and stepping through a hula hoop while moving from one end of the hall to the other end! The children had a blast running as fast as they could dodging balls and exercising their muscles!
Maple Class practised their fine motor and writing skills by writing their names this week! Each child received a name template for him/her to practise writing their name over the year as we continue to learn our Kinetic Letters and strengthen our hand muscles. The children excitedly found their names and concentrated on their best handwriting.
It has been a week full of creativity and laughter. Some of the activities the children enjoyed this week included:
Painting with watercolour
Designing and creating in the Junk Modelling area
Pretending to be vets in the Role Play area
Filling, pouring and scooping in the water table
Another Wonderful Week in Marvellous Maple!
Homework: review the phonics sounds sent home on Friday.
Autumn-2-curriculum-overview-2023-24.pub
Please use your phone or tablet to scan the QR codes and watch the following videos below to practice Fred Talk games. These videos link to the videos we review in class.
This week we innovated our class story The Baby Mouse. With the ideas and suggestions from the children, our story went from a baby mouse walking down the wibbly wobbly lane meeting a cat, dog, rat and Mama mouse to a baby sheep walking down the wibbly wobbly lane meeting a cow, frog, teddy and Mama Duck! We discussed how silly our new story was since frogs don’t eat bones and teddy bears don’t enjoy rotten eggs! The children had a wonderful time using their imaginations to help create our new version of the story!
Maple Class loved practising their maths throughout the provision this week. The children helped each other line up and order the wooden circles from 1-10. Next, the children excitedly turned the number line into an obstacle course with jumping, walking and singing of silly songs forwards and backwards to 10! Outside, the children played What Time is it Mr Fox with Mrs Patel. There were lots of squeals of delight as the children took turns calling out the time and marching/hopping/walking/running out the correct steps.
Maple Class is beginning to learn Makaton sign language! We discussed how we use sign language to help communicate with people who don’t know how to verbally talk, are Hearing Impaired or Deaf. We learned the signs for sit, stand, coat and snack. The children eagerly practised the signs with each other, and we were so impressed with how quickly the children picked up on the signs! Maple Class will be continuing to learn new signs weekly.
Happy December Marvellous Maple!
Homework: review the phonics sounds sent home on Friday.
Autumn-2-curriculum-overview-2023-24.pub
Please use your phone or tablet to scan the QR codes and watch the following videos below to practice Fred Talk games and Set 1 sounds. These videos link to the videos we review in class.
This week Maple Class began their music lessons! The children enthusiastically found the beat/pulse through clapping, stomping, tapping, dancing and more while listening to songs and nursery rhymes. Each child was given the opportunity to share what colour(s) they saw in his/her head while listening to the music, which caused great excitement amongst the children. Maple Class especially enjoyed showing off their dance moves to each other while listening to the new tunes.
In preparation for Christmas, the children have been working extremely hard on learning their holiday songs. The children can hardly wait to get up on stage for their holiday performance for friends and family (more information to be provided). Maple Class also began working on various crafts to get ready for the holiday season. The children used sponges and cotton buds to design and create their own snowman. Fine motor skills were strengthened as the children used scissors to cut out Santa hats to create personalised Santa's. Finally, everyone designed their own Christmas bauble using paper, glitter, markers and glue. The baubles were then donated to a local urgent care to decorate the facility for the festive season.
This week the children deepened their understanding of shapes during maths time. The children used their bodies to create squares, triangles and rectangles on the rug. There were lots of giggles as friends counted one another to find the number of sides in each shape. In the provision, the children used their critical thinking skills to match shape pieces to make pictures. A favourite maths activity saw the children using shape cookie cutters to dip and mix paints and then print on paper. The children took their time to work on their paintings and proudly showed off their hard work when they finished.
Reading lots of stories with Miss Hill!
Getting Festive in Marvellous Maple!
Homework: review the phonics sounds sent home on Friday.
Autumn-2-curriculum-overview-2023-24.pub
Please use your phone or tablet to scan the QR codes and watch the following videos below to practice Fred Talk games and Set 1 Sounds. These videos link to the videos we review in class.
Marvellous Maple has been continuing to get in the festive spirit this week with a variety of arts and crafts. The children used forks and Legos instead of paintbrushes to paint Christmas trees! The children learned how to use their fingers to smudge pastels to decorate ornaments. The children even used paintbrushes to paint Christmas stamps to make colourful holiday prints.
Maple Class has worked hard on becoming strong writers this week. As a class, we wrote our entire story text “Baby Mouse” using Fred Fingers and listening for the beginning sounds of words. Next, we concentrated on turning our boring statement “the elf there” into a detailed and descriptive sentence! We came up with a list of adjectives and verbs to describe our elf picture, and then we used our Fred Fingers to write our new sentence as a class (The sneaky elf baked a cake in the bowl). Finally, everyone had the opportunity to write their words and sentences in their journals. Well done Maple Class!
Maple Class has been very creative this week! The children used foam bricks to construct homes, chairs, beds, paths and more! In the Junk Modelling area, the children used their fingers to rip and cut tape to create airplanes, superheroes, cars and even pirate swords! In the tuft trays, the children enjoyed scooping and pouring hot chocolate and coloured chickpeas to create coffees, teas, cupcakes and biscuits for our pretend bakery in the Role Play area.
Maple Class has been practising for our Christmas Performance all week. We are excited to invite family and friends to come see our performance on Monday 18th December at 9:30!
An Exciting Week in Marvellous Maple!
Homework: review the phonics sounds sent home on Friday.
Autumn-2-curriculum-overview-2023-24.pub
Please use your phone or tablet to scan the QR codes and watch the following videos below to practice Fred Talk games and Set 1 Sounds. These videos link to the videos we review in class.
Maple Class had a fulfilling week of practicing for our Christmas performance, making Christmas cards, wrapping gifts and continuing to learn our maths and literacy. Last week, we set up our Christmas tree in the classroom and this week, the children worked on their computing skills by following instructions to wrap boxes. The children concentrated to cut, tape and even add ribbons to their parcels. The children then placed the presents under the tree and proudly showed off their hard work to anyone visiting Maple Class.
Maple Class was extremely lucky this week! Year 5 came to visit Maple Class with pop up stories the older children created this term. It was wonderful to see all the children come together to read and listen to the fairy tales. Maple Class couldn’t wait to listen to each story, and the children quickly bombarded Year 5 to hear more stories. We are hoping Year 5 will come back and read to us next term!
Maple Class has been hard at work creating their Christmas cards and 2024 calendars. Each child picked out paint colours and glitter to decorate a variety of stars. The children strengthened their fingers using a selection of sponges, paintbrushes and stamps to create and design their cards. The resulting projects are beautiful and unique to each child. We can’t wait to show our family and friends the artwork.
Lastly, we have been rehearsing all week for our Christmas performance! Please join us on Monday at 9:30 to watch our show.
Merry Christmas Marvellous Maple!
Homework: review the phonics sounds sent home on Friday.
Autumn-2-curriculum-overview-2023-24.pub
Please use your phone or tablet to scan the QR codes and watch the following videos below to practice Fred Talk games and Set 1 Sounds. These videos link to the videos we review in class.
Merry Christmas Maple Class and congratulations on completing your first term of school! Thank you to all the family and friends who came to watch our Christmas performance! Maple Class practised for weeks and were beyond excited to perform! We are so proud of everyone in Early Years! This term Maple Class has worked so hard to learn their phonics, maths, and writing. We are so impressed with how well Maple Class listens and follows directions, and we can’t wait to continue to grow and learn in the New Year. We hope you have the most amazing Christmas and a Happy New Year. See you in 2024.
Maple Class (Reception) Spring 1
Happy New Year Marvellous Maple!
Homework: homework will look different for each child depending on his/her phonics reading group. Please check your child’s folder daily to see reading homework. New links will be posted for Set 1 Sounds and Fred Games next week.
Welcome back Marvellous Maple! The children were so excited to come back to school and see their friends. The children enthusiastically greeted one another and eagerly shared what they did over the break. We started off the new term with a bang, using shaky eggs to find the beat of our songs during our music lesson. In the provision, Maple Class immediately began to role play as doctors and nurses, created emergency vehicles out of boxes and tape and enjoyed using green powder paint and water to decorate the dinosaurs. We can’t wait to explore and learn this term!
Working Hard in Marvellous Maple!
Homework: homework will look differently for each child depending on their phonics reading group. Please check your child’s folder daily to see reading homework. Some children will have daily books and some children will have weekly sounds packets.
Spring-1-curriculum-overview-2023-24.pub
Please see the QR codes in the following tab to practice Set 1 sounds and Fred Games.
This week we were introduced to our new story, “The Sleepy Bumblebee”. The children discovered beehive pictures all throughout the classroom and tried to figure out how they got there and who was in the beehives. Eventually, the children realised it was Mr. Bumblebee from our story! The children have been working hard on bumblebee themed projects this week, including paper plate bumblebees, handprint painting bumblebees, creating bumblebees out of playdoh and more! Maple Class is eager to learn and explore our new story this term.
The cold weather created a perfect opportunity for Maple Class to learn more about the winter season! We discussed what our garden tree looked like in the fall versus today in winter. The children bundled up and were excited to play with the ice in our mud kitchen. The children quickly discovered they could break the ice into smaller pieces if they hit or smashed the ice on the ground. Lots of mixing, hitting, and pouring occurred as the ice melted into water and the children created mud potions and soups!
An Exciting Week in Marvellous Maple!
Homework: homework will look differently for each child depending on their phonics reading group. Please check your child’s folder daily to see reading homework. Some children will have daily books and some children will have weekly sounds packets.
Please see the separate tab for QR codes to practice Set 1 Sounds and Fred Games.
Spring-1-curriculum-overview-2023-24.pub
This week Maple Class had the opportunity to watch the pantomime: “Beauty and the Beast”. The children were amazing and sat engaged watching the panto for over an hour! Everyone was incredibly considerate to the performers, and we were so proud of Maple Class for showing their respectful selves in the hall. The children enjoyed laughing, singing, and dancing along to the panto. Once back in the classroom, the children eagerly drew their favourite parts of the show.
Maple Class learned about boats, sinking, and floating this week! The children predicted whether objects would float or sink and then had the chance to test their predictions at the water table. In the tuff tray, the children explored how ice melts into water. The children used their sense of touch to feel the coldness of the ice and watched in amazement as the ice melted into water. The children loved using their fingers and hands to scoop, mould, squeeze and manipulate the resulting blue mixture.
Finally, we completed our story map of “The Sleepy Bumblebee”. Each child was challenged to draw the story map, and we could not believe how hard the children worked! The progress Maple Class has made since September is wonderful, and we are excited to continue to grow this year.
A Thrilling Week in Marvellous Maple!
Homework: homework will look differently for each child depending on their phonics reading group. Please check your child’s folder daily to see reading homework. Some children will have daily books and some children will have weekly sounds packets.
Please see the separate tab for QR codes to practice Set 1 Sounds and Fred Games.
Spring-1-curriculum-overview-2023-24.pub
In Maths this week Maple Class has been hard at work counting to ten and representing numbers to 10! The children used counters and 10 frames to represent numbers 1-10 and then challenged themselves to draw up to 10 circles! The children especially enjoyed using the dinosaurs to count on our class 10 frame.
Out in the provision, Maple Class enjoyed working their fine and gross motor skills. The children excitedly worked their entire arm muscles by sticking the suction cup toys as high as they could along the window! Some children combined multiple suction cup toys while others took a throwing/jumping approach to aiming the toys at the window. Outside, the children enjoyed digging in the sand, running and biking around the garden, and mark making with chalk! In our writing section, we introduced rhyming houses where the children had to match the picture to the correct rhyme house! In our reading area, the children pretended to be the teacher and lead the reading of “The Sleepy Bumblebee” story map.
To continue our learning about boats, the children were challenged to create and design their own boats. Some of the children cut out paper to make boats with sails, other children glued multi-coloured paper to cardboard boxes and others used tape to combine boxes, bottle lids and more! We were also introduced to the North Pole and South Pole and learned about a variety of polar animals that live in the ice-cold water and snow. After discussing how some animals have blubber to keep warm, each child had the opportunity to put on pretend blubber (gloves) to test their hands in cold water. The children agreed the blubber kept their hands much warmer in the water.
A Wonderful Week in Marvellous Maple!
Homework: homework will look differently for each child depending on their phonics reading group. Please check your child’s folder daily to see reading homework. Some children will have daily books and some children will have weekly sounds packets.
Please see the separate tab for QR codes to practice Set 1 Sounds and Fred Games.
Spring-1-curriculum-overview-2023-24.pub
Marvellous Maple has been enjoying PE this term. The children have been improving their fine and gross motor skills through gymnastics. Mr M sets up multiple stations and challenges the children to walk across the balance beams, jump over the beams, walk up the beams and to finish with star jumps. The children have been so proud of their achievements in the hall and love strengthening their whole bodies.
In the provision this week, the children have been practising their phonics with Fred the frog. The children have been encouraging each other to say their sounds and read their green words. At the arts and crafts table, the children created their own versions of the Northern Lights with a variety of paints after we continued to learn about the Artic. After discussing how to stay warm in the polar regions, the children used their computing skills to design their own scarves! The children created their own patterns to draw on the scarves and were delighted to share their work with each other.
Finally, this week Maple Class participated in Number Day! Some of the older children came to visit Maple Class and helped the children play maths games and complete maths activities out in the provision. The children loved completing the Numberblocks puzzles, making cupcakes with different numbers of candles, playing number bubbles outside, playing “What Time is it Mr Fox” and so much more. We are so proud of how much the children have grown in maths this term!
A Fantastic Week in Marvellous Maple!
Homework: homework will look differently for each child depending on their phonics reading group. Please check your child’s folder daily to see reading homework. Some children will have daily books and some children will have weekly sounds packets.
Please see the separate tab for QR codes to practice Set 1 Sounds and Fred Games.
Spring-1-curriculum-overview-2023-24.pub
Maple Class has had a busy week learning all about bees! After discussing nectar, pollination, and the importance of bees in our world, Maple Class pretended to be bees pollinating flowers and plants! Maple Class used their imagination and pretended the cheesy residue from Wotsits was pollen. Everyone spread the “pollen” from one hand to another pretending to pollinate the plants. While washing hands after, the children excitedly wondered if their hands would turn into apples, oranges, strawberries, tomatoes, or cucumbers from the pollen!
Maple Class learned how to write Instructional texts this week! We used sequential words to write the recipe for how to make honey sandwiches. Each child had the chance to follow the steps and make their own honey sandwich. Some friends decided the honey was delicious and other friends weren’t as thrilled with the sandwiches. The children even explained how to make a honey sandwich to Miss Gemma! Everyone agreed the honey was very sticky and the smell of the honey reminded them of bees!
Finally, Maple Class has been hard at work creating a junk modelling bee collage! Each day this week, Maple Class has worked on a part of the collaborative bee collage. One day the children painted pasta, the next day the children cut and glued loose parts, another day the children painted the collage and finally, Maple Class will add some decorations as a finishing touch. We can’t wait to share our collage with everyone!
A Celebratory Week in Marvellous Maple!
Homework: homework will look differently for each child depending on their phonics reading group. Please check your child’s folder daily to see reading homework. Some children will have daily books and some children will have weekly sounds packets.
Spring-1-curriculum-overview-2023-24.pub
Please see the QR codes in an above tab to practice Set 1 sounds and Fred Games.
Maple Class had a week full of culture and diversity learning about and celebrating Chinese New Year, Pancake Day, and Valentine’s Day! The children were excited to welcome two of the older students into our classroom to teach us about Chinese New Year! We were amazed to hear the girls count to 10 in Cantonese and couldn’t believe how beautiful their names looked when they wrote them in Chinese on the board! Maple Class was amazed to learn that the colour red, fireworks and drums scares away the dragons during Chinese New Year. There were lots of Chinese New Year themed activities out in the provision, such as a Chinese restaurant with chopsticks in the role play area, red envelopes to fill with pretend coins in the tuff trays, and playdough mats with the 12 Chinese zodiac signs for the children to try and create.
Maple Class strengthened their hand muscles this week by making and creating lots of playdough pancakes to celebrate Pancake Day! The children enjoyed flipping the playdough pancakes in the pans and individualising them with a variety of toppings. The children also worked their fine motor skills by using scissors to cut out different pancake toppings and gluing them onto their own pancakes.
Maple Class was full of love and appreciation for one another this week. The children created their own Valentine’s Day cards for their family and friends and moulded love hearts in the playdough using cookie cutters and heart stamps. Each child completed a special Valentine’s Day painting that will be sent home once dry. The children can’t wait to give their special paintings to their families.
Thank you so much to all the grownups that were able to attend the Be Our Best Writing event this week! The children were proud to show off how they strengthen their fine motor skills daily in class. We are so proud of how hard the children have worked this term and how much they continue to grow. Have a wonderful and well-deserved break!
Maple Class (Reception) Spring 2
A Celebratory Week in Marvellous Maple!
Homework: homework will look differently for each child depending on their phonics reading group. Please check your child’s folder daily to see reading homework. Some children will have daily books and some children will have weekly sounds packets.
Please see the QR codes in the tab to practice Set 1 sounds and Fred Games.
Spring-2-curriculum-overview-2023-24.pub
We hope everyone had a wonderful half term break. We were so happy to welcome the children back to Maple Class. We are also incredibly excited to welcome Miss S to Maple Class! The children enjoyed meeting Miss S and introducing her to Maple Class. While we will miss Mrs Brown while she is on maternity leave, she has promised to come visit with her baby.
We started off the new term by introducing our new book “Jack and the Beanstalk.” The children predicted who or what was living at the top of our Maple Class beanstalk and drew their predictions to hang up around the room. The children loved using the puppets to act out the story and enjoyed comparing the different versions of the story we read throughout the week.
Keeping in theme with “Jack and the Beanstalk”, Maple Class learned about the parts and life cycle of a bean plant. Each child worked to plant a bean seed in a cup and selected a spot by the window for their bean seed to grow. Over the next few weeks, Maple Class will water and observe as our beans sprout up and grow! The children are excited to see how tall their beanstalks grow!
Out in the provision this week, the children have been hard at work building their own beanstalks out of logs and loose parts, painting and printing with flowers and strengthening hand muscles building seeds, plants and water droplets out of playdough. At the Maths table, the children eagerly created their own Numberblocks out of cubes and shared their creations with each other! At the water table, the children worked their fingers by squirting water with syringes. What an exciting week in Maple Class!
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A Busy Week in Marvellous Maple!
Homework: homework will look differently for each child depending on their phonics reading group. Please check your child’s folder daily to see reading homework. Some children will have daily books and some children will have weekly sounds packets.
Children will visit the school library every Wednesday afternoon. Please make sure to return library books in order for your child to be able to pick out a new library book once a week.
Please see the QR codes in the tab to practice Set 1 sounds and Fred Games.
Spring-2-curriculum-overview-2023-24.pub
Marvellous Maple has been working hard this week! We began to learn about farms and the animals and jobs on farms. Each child had the opportunity to create and design their own scarecrows using paper, glue, sequins, ribbon, and other loose parts. The children were happy to share their completed scarecrows with one another and placed them next to their growing bean plants to scare away birds.
In Maths this week, Maple Class has been learning about prepositions and spatial language. The children practiced putting items above, below, under, next to, besides, in front of and behind their bodies. Next, the children were encouraged to complete an obstacle course where they went up a chair, down a chair, followed arrows and hopped across orange dots to find pretend treasure. The children mapped out the obstacle course and many friends continued to create their own obstacle courses within the provision.
Maple Class loved celebrating World Book Day on Thursday 7th March. The children eagerly showed off their costumes and enjoyed participating in a variety of special activities, including designing bookmarks, creating book covers, reading books with grownups, and reading several stories throughout the day! In preparation for World Book Day, Maple Class visited the school library! Each child picked out a book to take home and share with their friends and families. Please return school library books by every Wednesday for children to be able to pick out a new book on Wednesday afternoons.
Happy Mother's Day to all who celebrate. The children are so lucky to have such wonderful family and friends supporting them in their lives!
A Healthy Week in Marvellous Maple!
Homework: homework will look differently for each child depending on their phonics reading group. Please check your child’s folder daily to see reading homework. Some children will have daily books and some children will have weekly sounds packets.
Children will visit the school library every Wednesday afternoon. Please make sure to return library books in order for your child to be able to pick out a new library book once a week.
Please see the QR codes in the tab to practice Set 1 sounds and Fred Games.
Spring-2-curriculum-overview-2023-24.pub
Maple Class has had a healthy week learning about exercise and ways to keep our bodies strong! Jigsaw Jenie taught us that exercising gets our blood pumping and helps our bodies to grow and become strong! Maple Class practiced doing a minute straight of jumping to get heart rates elevated, and then we cooled down with lots of stretching. We discussed healthy foods to eat and support our growing bodies. The children were adamant that sugar will rot our teeth and make us feel sick, so we should only have a little bit of sugar each day. The children each cut out and pasted their own healthy eating plates and excitedly shared their creations with one another.
This week Maple Class has been learning all about textures during art! The children had the opportunity to match different textures and we learned lots of new vocabulary, including bumpy, prickly, bubbly and rubbery. Throughout the week, the children were able to use different textures to make prints and paintings! One day, the children used bubble wrap to make prints, another day the children used soft, squishy sponges to create pictures, and then feathers were even used as extra soft paintbrushes! The children were especially excited to use the 3D shapes we have been learning about in maths this week to make prints using the hard surfaces of the shapes! It was wonderful to see the individual artwork created by every child.
Our beanstalks have finally begun to sprout! The children have been diligently observing and watering their individual bean sprouts daily. We are so impressed with how responsible the children have been in taking care of their plants! We will continue to observe our beanstalks over the next few weeks before sending them home with each child to keep and look after.
An Exciting Week in Marvellous Maple!
Homework: homework will look differently for each child depending on their phonics reading group. Please check your child’s folder daily to see reading homework. Some children will have daily books and some children will have weekly sounds packets.
Children will visit the school library every Wednesday afternoon. Please make sure to return library books in order for your child to be able to pick out a new library book once a week.
Please see the QR codes in the tab to practice Set 1 sounds and Fred Games.
Spring-2-curriculum-overview-2023-24.pub
It has been a busy week in Maple Class! On Monday, the children learned about St Patrick’s Day and why it is celebrated on March 17th. The children enjoyed learning about leprechauns and strengthened their fine motor skills by cutting out, pasting, and creating their own leprechauns! During art, the children painted green shamrocks and were amazed to see their artwork fizzle when “magic potion" was added to the paintings! The children used their senses to smell, hear, see, and feel their special shamrocks.
Maple Class has been incredibly musical this week! After working hard all year to learn about pulse, pitch and rhythm, Maple Class was introduced to musical Glocks! Each child had the opportunity to use the mallet to find the beat on the Glocks. The children were amazed at how loud the small Glocks were! As we continue to practice our musical skills, Maple Class will begin to play the Glocks alongside some of our favourite songs! We can’t wait to see all the progress the children will make!
Maple Class has been learning about Fairtrade farmers this week! We learned how hard farmers work and how important it is for the farmers to get paid a decent amount of money so they can live and take care of their families. We studied the Fairtrade logo sticker and will be on the lookout for the sticker on any fruit or vegetables we have for snack time. After learning about the products farmers from all over the world produce, each child used their fingers to mould a banana, chocolate, orange, or sugar cube. Once the salt dough dries and is baked in the oven, the children will be able to paint their creations and share their hard work with family and friends!
With the warmer weather, the children have especially enjoyed playing outside! There has been lots of time spent at the sand table, cooking in the mud kitchen, blowing bubbles, and exercising muscles on scooters and bikes.
An Exciting Week in Marvellous Maple!
Homework: homework will look differently for each child depending on their phonics reading group. Please check your child’s folder daily to see reading homework. Some children will have daily books and some children will have weekly sounds packets.
Children will visit the school library every Wednesday afternoon. Please make sure to return library books in order for your child to be able to pick out a new library book once a week.
Please see the QR codes in the tab to practice Set 1 sounds and Fred Games.
Spring-2-curriculum-overview-2023-24.pub
This week Maple Class learned about a variety of different religions and festivals! On Monday, Maple Class celebrated Holi by spraying paints on a white sheet. The children enjoyed designing their own pretend Holi shirts using colourful Holi pictures and crayons. On Tuesday, Maple Class celebrated Ramadan and learned about Eid. The children were amazed that those who participate can’t eat between sunrise and sunset. Many of the children painted their own lanterns to celebrate. On Wednesday, Maple Class learned about Easter and everyone had an opportunity to design and decorate their own Easter eggs using paints and cotton buds during art. It was wonderful to discuss the different religions and festivals and to find the similarities and differences in them.
In the provision this week, Maple Class pretended to be travel agents booking holidays all over the world. Some friends decided to go to China to celebrate Chinese New Year, some friends wanted to go to Ireland to celebrate St Patrick’s Day and some friends wanted to stay in a hotel with a pool! The children were challenged to use the junk modelling area to create different transportation vehicles to travel to holiday destinations. We were so amazed with the variety of buses, planes, rockets, etc. that the children created.
We finished “Jack and the Beanstalk” this week and every child was able to take home their beanstalk plant to look after. The children also used different media to create beanstalks out of plastic bottles during art! We then wrote a letter to the giant in the story asking him if he would consider being our friend. The children couldn’t believe it when the giant wrote back saying he would love to be their friend and how impressed he has been with all of their hard work this term!
Maple Class has worked incredibly hard this term and the progress in each child has been phenomenal! We are so proud of Maple Class and can’t wait to continue to learn next term. We hope everyone has a lovely break.
Maple Class (Reception) Summer 1
Welcome to Summer Term Marvellous Maple!
Homework: homework will look differently for each child depending on their phonics reading group. Please check your child’s folder daily to see reading homework. Some children will have daily books and some children will have weekly sounds packets.
Children will visit the school library every Wednesday afternoon. Please make sure to return library books in order for your child to be able to pick out a new library book once a week.
Please see the QR codes in the tab to practice phonics sounds and Fred Games.
Summer-1-curriculum-overview-2023-24.pub
Maple Class is delighted to welcome Miss Sriramananandan back to Langland Community School! Miss Sriramananandan worked with many of the children in Nursery and is back to finish the school year with Maple Class! We are so excited to learn and play with Miss Sriramananandan!
This week Maple Class continued to learn about spring and the changing weather associated with it. After discussing the different things we see outside during spring, Maple Class used their five senses to explore the outside garden! The children were amazed to see that our trees blossomed with gorgeous pink petals over the break. The children ran around and excitedly listened for birds, felt the soft petals, and avoided muddy puddles from all the rain. It has been wonderful using our trees outside to learn about all the different seasons.
In Art, Maple Class has been learning about tone and using pencils to make lighter and darker marks. The children used the pencils to make scribble monsters while exploring with tone. The children then added eyeball stickers to complete their unique monsters! The children were also challenged to complete a 2-step art process this week. First, the children had to use a pencil to draw an outline of something. Then, the children had to use paint to fill in their outlines. We were amazed at how hard the children worked on their individual pieces!
This week the children have enjoyed playing and catching up with each other after the long break. The children pretended to be doctors in the role play area, were teachers in the school area, created farm animals at the playdoh table, designed and created various artwork, and did so much more! We are so excited for the Summer Term and can’t wait to continue to support the children as they learn and grow!
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