Headteacher: Anna Moss

Forest School

Summer and Minibeasts

We have all enjoyed longer plays outdoors and the signs of summer were obvious for all those around.  Making links to your summer story, Mrs Allen showed you how to use the minibeast fact files with magnifying glasses around the Forest School.  We also have our very own minibeast developing in the cabin as you are watching the caterpillars change every day.

Dough Disco

I’m Still Standin, Elton John

Dangerous, David Guetta

Thanks to Harris and our big Blue class friend Jack, we couldn’t have moved the dough to two completely different songs.  We have talked about Elton and his glasses and we finally got to introduce the French flag (our school language) thanks to David.

Listening Game

Who Looks Different – Elton John themed

The glasses of Elton John were a huge hit for the children and so we have all giggled at the game of Who Looks Different with a twist.  We had to use our looking skills to spot who was hiding behind the glasses?

Phonics

The helicopter sound, h

The bear sound, b

Always a favourite circle time – What’s in the Box?  Last week we had a grumpy hippo trampling all over poor Hattie, Harriet and Harris and someone eating Mrs Mander’s ham sandwich!!  This week, a chunky bear sitting on poor Bani, Benji and Billie and a beautiful ballerina twirling in a bucket.

Maths

Comparing Weight

We began by using a wooden plank and block to create some outdoor scales and enjoyed comparing the weights of friends by showing who is heavier?  Who is lighter?  This week we took this learning indoors with the “bucket” scales and compared objects around the cabin and finding heavier, lighter and the same.

Communication and Language

Summer Days and Nights

Molly and her Dad

You enjoyed sharing the summer story with Mrs Allen, spotting those signs of summer in the story and comparing to the world around you.  A father’s day story introducing Moly and her Dad had you all chatting about your own Dad and what job he does.

Music

Let us chase the squirrels

A game that made us all want to be the squirrel as they got to run around and steal the acorns from the old oak tree.  Our friends made the trees for us to climb and we all sang along.

Art

Father’s Day

We have all worked hard to create our second flower print card, for our Dad this time.  We have enjoyed sharing the photos of them and talking about them.  As always, the funniest comments appear in the card.  These are in a brown envelope hiding somewhere in the home.

Forest School

Sports Day preparation

Our mornings have been mostly spent preparing for our big event this afternoon.  A lot of work goes into getting 3 and 4 years old to the “lava” lines safely on the field.  The racing part is the easy bit!

Non Dough Disco

Music for a Sushi Restaurant, Harry Styles

After months of your choices, I finally got mine!  With our disco being outdoors, we have been clapping, slapping and spinning our blocks/hands to this catchy tune.

Listening Game

I Spy

Using our friends around the fire circle as our choices, we have enjoyed listening to and naming friends with the initial sound given.  Why not play at home next week - remember, keep the sound pure. https://youtu.be/-ZtjFIvA_fs

Phonics

The rainbow sound, r

Oooh we had some angry objects for our angry sound!  A grumpy rhino and an angry rectangle.  Can you remember why the rectangle was so angry?  We also enjoyed munching on the raisins before lunch when Mrs Franklin wasn’t watching – shhhhhh!

Maths

Number skills

A chance to check in on the outdoor table with Mrs Mander that all our Maths skills are in place.  We have been naming numerals, patterns, subitising, showing finger numbers and counting groups of objects.  All that Maths learning is coming together nicely ready to send lots of you to school.

Communication and Language

Sports Day, Nick Butterworth and Mick Inkpen

A perfectly themed story for this week as you have watched a different kind of Sports Day come to life.  It was lovely to see some of the races in the story are the same as the ones we did today.

Physical

The Trail

With Monday being a rainy day (you wouldn’t think that today!) we introduced a new area of the trail that doesn’t become slippy – the rocks. You have enjoyed creating your own buildings by stacking in different arrangements.  

Forest School

Happy and Healthy – follow my leader

In preparation for our Sporting event next Friday, we have been practising follow my leader around Forest School.  We tried it out on Wednesday as we headed over to the field and did our first “run” through!  You have also been enjoying caring for the seeds you have planted – I wonder what they will grow into??

Music

Old King Glory

To make links with our Forest School learning, we have stuck with this song as it has been key to help us follow the King and Queen.  Wearing the crown gave us an excellent idea for one of our races next week too. 

Dough Disco

Girl on Fire, Alicia Keys

I didn’t think it would work as a dough disco song as it is quite a slow song to move to, but it actually did.  Thank you to our birthday girl Oryx for choosing.  We have enjoyed some new dough actions of folding and have learnt fire actions with our arms.  The singing hasn’t been too bad either!

Listening Game

Looking – Blink for a Turn

To keep those looking skills well practised, we enjoyed playing Pop up Pirates where you had to wait to be blinked at for a turn…

Phonics

The umbrella, u

A huge thank you to you for rescuing us with our sound box.  What started off as a challenging box to find sounds for – ugli fruit, up, under – turned into one of the best weeks with all the Uncles joining us.  These are definitely coming out next week and up as our Phonics display!

Maths

More than

Matching dice pattern to numerals

As always we have two jobs to do in Maths – a whole class game for our transition from Forest School and a pairs game.  We developed our language of “more than” as we rolled two dice and had to spot and say which one had more e.g. “4 is more than 2”.  In pairs, you took it in turns to read, order (amazing job!) and turn over numbers to 6 every time your partner rolled the die.

Communication and Language

Up, Down and Around

Katherine Ayres

A story all about things growing up and down – excellent for that positional vocabulary.  The activities were the best this week though as you enjoyed setting up a picnic with all the stone fruit and vegetables and equipment.

Physical

The Trim Trail

The wooden house has been popular this week as you have enjoyed seeing how many can fit in it.  You spotted it had seen better days and got to work fixing it with your hammers (sticks)  

Forest School

Happy and Healthy – planting seeds

A walk around the Forest School looking for signs of life inspired us all to get planting our own seeds this week.  You have all had the chance to plant your seed in soil – the hard part is the next part where we have to find ways to make them grow!

Music

Old King Glory

Following on from the special celebrations last Saturday, it seemed the right time to introduce this song.  We have enjoyed choosing a King or Queen to lead the trail around the circle and choose some friends to “follow me”! 

Dough Disco

The Excavator Song, Blippi

Johan, you have surprised us all with this choice – thank you!  After some classic artists, we didn’t think Blippi would get us moving as much as he did!  We love this song.  Making the excavator shape with our arms and using our wrists to scoop the mud has certainly given us an upper body workout!

Listening Game

Spring Bingo with a twist

We played the game again but this time you really had to help Mrs Mander when her words kept getting all jumbled.  She couldn’t work out what the pictures were – was it plossom, flossom or blossom that grows on the trees???

Phonics

The elephant sound, e

Those naughty elves have made a return!!!  We couldn’t believe it!!!  We found Lucas’ face turned upside down and today, they had snipped all the pictures off our names so now we have to recognise and read our name without picture clues – grrrrr.  Our friends Eric, Elsie and Effy didn’t do the best job at keeping them out of mischief!!!

Maths

Reading dice 1-6

Making dice patterns

As we joined from Forest School, we did a little revisit to check we can read our dice numbers to 6.  Seeing number patterns like dice, numicon, in a row is something we have been working towards all year and you have almost got it.  To put this learning into practice, you worked with a friend to show the dice pattern using bottle lids. 

Communication and Language

Oliver’s Vegetables,

Vivian French

Mrs Allen made the story this week come to life as she raided her fridge and brought along her own vegetables for you to explore with your senses.  She also taught you how you can print with them!

Physical

The Trim Trail

This week we have mostly enjoyed running around in circles on the grass.  This is excellent practice for our upcoming Sporting afternoon.  It is going to be quite a challenge now to teach you running and staying in lines.  

Forest School

Go Global - Coronation

Mrs Allen has enjoyed teaching you how to make outdoor bunting using the pattern from the tree.  You have enjoyed rubbing red and blue crayons and cutting the patterns into triangles. Red and blue crates were also used to make a throne for our King and Queen of the Early Years.

Music

Whole World in his Hands

In preparation for the whole school singing event this afternoon, we have been listening to and singing along to this catchy tune. The actions were added and you showed it all off brilliantly today. 

Dough Disco

Havana, Camilla Cabello

Thank you Olena for a much slower tune to dance to.  We talked about the singer Camilla and where Havana was.  We have been squashing the dough flat and drawing with it on the ceilings with a two armed circle move. – it looks good when the body is added.

Listening Game

Spring Bingo

With Spring in full swing (that rhymes!) we have been talking about the pictures on our Spring bingo boards and used our looking skills to spot when it was called out.  We have started spotting butterflies and bees in Forest School, the warm weather is definitely around the corner!

Phonics

The cat sound, c

In keeping with the Coronation theme, we have been pulling out kings, crowns and cakes from the box this week.  We have begun practising our “sound-talking” as well – c-ow, c-oi-n, c-a-t.

Maths

Five frame patterns

The Number 6

We continued our five frame pattern work as you had to make the same pattern on the five frame that was on the picture card.  We have also been learning about the pattern of the number 6 and trying to roll as many as we can on the dice.  Seeing numbers and spotting familiar patterns are both key as we approach the end of the nursery year and you move into BIG school.

Communication and Language

My World, Your World

Melanie Walsh

A beautiful story to embed your understanding that there are different places in the world. This book explores how different these places look compared to our world.  Finding on the globe was fun too!  We will be sad to see this topic go – it has been a big hit for this year’s children.

Physical

The Trim Trail

The wobbly bridge was the challenge this week.  Climbing up, travelling across and climbing down from this equipment was tricky but we almost all have it!

Art

Coronation Crowns

To become a King or Queen, you need a crown.  It took us three attempts to complete – paint/dry, paint/dry, cut and bend.  They looked good at the show though – we hope they survive to the end of the weekend!

Forest School

Go Global

Mrs Allen has been showing you how to use the crates to make vehicles to travel the world.  Boats (bateau) and planes (avion) were the most popular.  This week, it has been all about maps as you followed the Forest School map to find the hiding squirrel.

Music

Jump Jim Joe

In the final term, our music session happens outdoors as we move into “how can we move with action whilst singing”.  We have learnt our first song called ‘Jump Jim Joe’ where we are following actions and switching to a new partner every time. 

Dough Disco

Planet Earth, Duran Duran

21 Reasons, Ella Henderson

To ensure all access this final push to get those hands, wrists and arms ready for handwriting, our dough disco now takes part in the mornings.  We have been moving the dough to Planet Earth, Duran Duran thanks to Mrs Allen and this week, 21 Reasons by Ella Henderson thanks to Maya.  We are getting ready to share a favourite with you next for our cabin celebration.

Listening Game

Kim’s Game

We have been exploring the objects with the same sound, placing in a line and seeing if we can spot the one that is missing when our eyes are closed.  You can play this game at home!

Phonics

The octopus sound, o

The box was full of a /o/ objects including some very wriggly octopi.  We were lucky to have the octanauts and our friend Oryx in there to keep them all from swimming away.

Maths

Shape sort and stack

Five frame numbers

As you joined the session, we enjoyed sorting the shapes into ones that were the same size but not the same colour.  We talked about the best stackers, the ones with more than one “flat-bottom”.  We also worked with a pair to show numbers to five on our five frames.

Communication and Language

The Snail and the Whale

The Train Ride, June Crebbin

A story about a snail by Julia Donaldson who wanted to leave his rock to travel the world and so used the back of his friend, the whale.  This week, a train journey through different places.  You enjoyed sharing you train journey stories with Mrs Allen.

Physical

The Trim Trail

As part of our transition, we are all enjoying the play and explore on the trim trail. Running, climbing and balancing on the equipment is developing all those physical skills.

Art

Go Global

Alongside the whole school, we are learning about our planet earth.  We have enjoyed making our own planet earth plates by “pushing” blue and green paint around the plate. 

Forest School

Easter Egg Hunt

To link to our story of the week, you enjoyed going on your own Easter Egg hunt in the Forest School in the rain!!!  Hiding and finding and collecting on a soggy ten frame was fun.

Music

Easter songs

We hope you all enjoyed the “sing-song” on the steps on Tuesday morning.  I am sure you would agree how they did a wonderful job – all those faces watching and they still sang and joined in confidently. 

Write Dance

Baby Shark Easter

Another themed dance this week as we have been revisiting a favourite song with an Easter twist.  See if they can remember every action! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ODaID0n3Jo

Computing

Battery Toys

A final week of term must be a reason for a toy week! Thank you for bringing in and sharing all your battery toys.  Being able to “explore how thing work” is always fun through toys.

Maths

Subitise to 3

Fingers numbers to 5

We warmed up with an Easter egg game of throwing eggs into cups and subitising how many you could see.  Saying and seeing numbers (not counting) is a key early years skill.  Matching a numeral to finger numbers was fun with a friend.  Having some “thinking” time before “showing” time helped you work out which fingers you were going to show too!

Communication and Language

We’re Going on an Easter Egg Hunt, Martha Mumford

A gorgeous story with lots of flaps to lift – always fun, whatever age you are!  You enjoyed spotting and counting the eggs throughout the story with the bunny.

Art

Easter cards

The Spring Chicken Easter cards will have now come to you (in a brown envelope) – a card that will be a reminder of a song that sticks in a loop in your head. 

Dough Disco

Jungle Boogie. Kool and the Gang

Thank you Freya – what a song and chosen by a group that we have had before!  We have been “getting down” with the dough and discoing our arms too. 

Forest School

Bunnies and Weaving

Hopping bunnies was hilarious to watch – I have never seen bunnies in wellies!  Most definitely not the easiest thing to bounce in.  Mrs Allen has been showing you how to weave with sticks to teach you how to create nests.

Music

Easter songs

We have been joining Red class for a daily “sing-song” as we have practised some fun Spring songs.  We look forward to sharing with you next Tuesday on the steps at 8.45am.  Tea and Toast will be open!

Write Dance

We’re going on an Easter Egg Hunt

A themed dance this week as we have been retelling a familiar story with a twist.  Pushing our way through the long grass and stomping through the river was fun!

Listening Game

Looking

You enjoyed going on a cabin egg hunt and collecting them for the Mother Hen who sat on them as they all hatched.  A song through role-play is always a good way to understand and remember words!

Phonics

The goat sound, g

That gruffalo squashed everything in the /g/ box this week! The highlight had to be a visit from some real life /g/ animals when Miss Kuriger brought over Gordon and Fluff for a cuddle

Maths

Doubles to 5

To make our learning stick, we have used a doubles song.  I would highly recommend you take the time this weekend to share with the children – it is a good one that they (and me) love! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2CX-jFsVtR4

Communication and Language

The Odd Egg, Emily Gravett

A beautiful story about a cracking egg.  You enjoyed decorating your own egg and matching with a friend. Always fun to have a pre story game!

Art

Easter cards

We have been “crafting” our very own Spring chickens for our Easter cards.  The children have become quite attached to them as they look adorable! 

Dough Disco

We will rock you, Queen

Thank you Mia – great choice!  We have enjoyed following the rhythm pattern by slapping that dough flat but mostly enjoyed singing into the microphone!