Autumn Treasures!

We have continued with our focus on 'Autumn' and this week we imagined that we were squirrels playing in the leaves and searching for little autumn treasures!

The children tried to think of as many descriptive words as they could when they explored their collection. 

Here are a few examples of what they said about the conker:

Bethan - "It's a circle"

Alisha - "It's round"

Oliver E - "It's bumpy"

Oliver S - "It's hard"

Then the acorn: 

Violet - "It's brown"

Gethin - "It's a tiny one!"

Thomas H - "There's a point on the end"

Sam - "It's hard"

And finally the pine cone:

Alfie - "It's like a leaf falling off a tree"

Freddie - "It's spiky - I can feel it tickling my hands"

Ruby - "It's warm and wooden"

We created some lovely autumn shades with our paint mixing and then had lots of fun making colourful leaf prints!

Some of the children were able to copy or continue a repeating leaf pattern, and these children managed to create their own repeating leaf pattern on the computer - didn't they do well!

Muddy Hedgehogs

Today we learnt that during the cold winter months some animals hibernate. We made muddy hedgehogs using materials from the woodland area. We mixed mud for the body before searching  for seed heads, leaf stalks and small twigs to create hedgehog spines. We found small stones and seeds to use as the eyes or tip of the nose.

My hedgehog is prickly

I think my hedgehog will enjoy eating this slug

Can you think of any other animals that hibernate?

A little reminder for the week . . .

• Bags 2 School are due in this Wednesday (27th November) - please leave them near the door to the main Reception, taking care not to block the doorway!

• This Friday will be a MUFTI DAY in order to raise awareness of the Christmas Fair which will take place on Friday 6th December. Donations of wine (in a screw top bottle), tombola prizes, or £1.00 contribution towards buying prizes will be gratefully received.

• The menu for the Friday 'Fun Day' Feast this week has been chosen by Elm class. Remember to check what is on offer before placing your child's order if they are having a school dinner on Friday. Thank you.

• And finally, if your child is a 'sheep' in our Nativity, their costumes are due in on Friday. Please ensure that they are labelled clearly with your child's name, and are in a bag which is also named. Many thanks.

Star of the Week!

Our Stars of the Week from last week were Ember, Noah, Harley, Archie and Ava. Congratulations and well done to you all!

Autumn Days!

This week we have been thinking about the different signs of Autumn. We wrapped up nice and warm, put on our wellie boots and went to explore the school field!

Here are just a few examples of what some of the children noticed:

Maisy - "I can see the leaves squiggling slowly. There's not many leaves"

Gethin looked at a hole in the tree trunk - "Look at that funny house! It's a window - acorns in there!"

Oliver E - "Conkers fall off the trees"

Jacob - "A spiky conker!"

Alisha - "The leaves were coming off the trees because it was an Autumn Day!"

 You can click on here to listen to a great song about Autumn (Autumn Song). What do you like about this time of year? We would love to hear about your Autumnal experiences!

A little reminder for the week . . .

• Just a reminder that the Book Fair is in school until the 20th November. It will take place in the school library between 3.30pm and 4.30pm on each of these days.

• Bike safety checks will be available during the day on Wednesday 20th November. Please complete and attach the slip sent home with your child to their bike so that it can be identified.

• The Friday 'Fun Day' Feast menu has been chosen by Beech class this week - remember to check what is on offer if ordering a meal for your child on this day!

• A few messages from the GSA - a big thank you and well done to the children who contributed to the Get Up & Do It! Campaign. You helped to raise a fantastic £450! Bags2School bags will be given out this week so get ready for a pre-Christmas clear out! The next MUFTI DAY is on Friday 29th November in preparation for the Christmas Fair.

• As we have done for the last few years, we are thinking of sustainability again this year and instead of sending cards to everyone, the children have decided to bring in a monetary donation for the "Send a Cow" charity. It would be great if everyone could bring in a donation of £2.00 per child so that we can buy gifts for the people of Africa. We do appreciate that times are hard for everyone and any donation you can make will be very gratefully received. Thank you.

And finally - please take a look at our new link to the 'Share a story, share a smile!' book blog to see what the children have thought of the Julia Donaldson books that we have been reading this term! The link can be found above the school logo at the top of this page!

Star of the Week!

Our Stars of the Week from last week were Maisy, Jacob, Jessica and Gethin. Congratulations and well done to all of you!

Mehndi Patterns!

Mehndi is made from herbs and is used to draw patterns on the skin. The children selected from crayons, pens, paint, or a combination, and created their own mehndi patterns on a hand shaped template. They then decorated around the edge of a card before adding their 'hand' to make a super 'Happy Diwali' card! 

We would love to hear about your Diwali celebrations that you have had with friends and family.

Colourful Clay Diwas!

We had lots of fun creating our clay diwas for our night lights to go in! Using a range of tools we made different patterns around the edge. 

It was the first time that a lot of the children had used clay. Oliver E said he thought it felt like play dough, and noticed how cold it was - like ice! He also predicted that "It will go hard cause it dries out"

He was right, and look how bright and colourful they were after the children had decorated them!

Which colours would you have chosen to use?

Rangoli Patterns!

Brightly coloured Rangoli patterns are created during Diwali celebrations. These decorations are made on floors outside homes and temples to welcome guests in and to bring good luck. Which different media do you think we have used on our collaborative Rangoli?

We also explored a range of 2D shapes with a selection of 'shape' Rangoli patterns! Which shapes can you see in the photograph? Can you describe them using the correct mathematical terms?

We would love to see some more symmetrical Rangoli patterns - which shapes would you include in yours?  

Happy Diwali!

 

Diwali, the festival of lights, is one of the most important festivals in the Hindu religious calendar, and marks the end of the Hindu year. We watched and discussed two great video clips about a little girl called Jessica and her family as they prepared to celebrate together (CBeebies - Let's Celebrate). Afterwards, we looked at some beautiful traditional costumes! 

Have you ever worn some special clothes for a family celebration? We would love to see some photographs and hear all about your special day.

A little reminder for the week . . .

• This week Oak class have chosen the menu for the Friday 'Fun Day' Feast! Please ensure you select from their choices if your child is having a school dinner on Friday.

• Remember it is Children in Need on Friday (15th November). For a donation of £1.00, children can come to school wearing their pyjamas! "Kidprentice" Club will also be selling Pudsey items - please send in any money clearly named in a sealed envelope. Thank you.

• We will also be having the Scholastic Book Fair in school from 15th - 20th November. It will take place in the school library between 3.30pm and 4.30pm each day. If you purchase a book, you will be given a raffle ticket with a chance to win a book worth £5.00. There are 5 to be won!

• A message from the GSA - thank you for the money brought in so far for those who took part in 'Get Up And Do It!'  Prize winners will be announced over the next two weeks. The next bag to school collection will be on the 27th November, with bags going home on Friday 22nd November.

Thank you - enjoy the week ahead!

Star of the Week!

Our Stars of the Week for last week were Maisy and Jacob. Congratulations and well done to both of you!

Remember, Remember the 5th of November!

This week we have focussed our adult-led activities around Bonfire Night!

We re-enforced finger matching and one to one correspondence with a number rhyme about five little rockets, and everyone printed five stars in the night sky - some children used a combination of silver stars and gold stars.

How many different ways can you think of to make a total of five?

It was lots of fun exploring different media to create firework patterns! We had a go with the giant chalks, paint brushes and water on the blackboard and on the ground, wax crayons, pastels and felt-tip pens on long strips of wallpaper, our fingers in the damp sand, and used scarves, ribbons and streamers in our hands to dance to firework music!

Some of the children enjoyed this so much that they continued throughout the week during their self-initiated sessions and included hand-print fireworks, painting spinning Catherine Wheels, and sprinkling on glitter!

Here are a few quotes from the children about their experiences relating to bonfires and fireworks:

Jasmine - "They were banging and starry"

Oliver S - "Ella and me saw fireworks, blue and green and purple and red and orange. It went 'pop' like a balloon"

Daisy - "I'm going to one today. I'm going to take my teddy. We have to make a Guy, we paint his face. We put him in the bonfire"

We watched a video clip about keeping safe on Bonfire Night prior to going outside to watch and listen to a Sparkler (held by one of the adults!) - we made sure we followed the firework code and kept well back. When we went back inside we created our own set of safety rules in our groups - we are going to add these to our Bonfire Night display that we have been creating.

If you are celebrating this weekend, we hope you have a wonderful time - but please remember to look after your pets as well as each other - follow the firework code and have a very safe night!

Building Bonfires

We had  a rather Wet Wellie Wednesday but this didn't deter us. We talked about Guy Fawkes and why we celebrate on the 5th of November. We then had a go at building our own bonfire. We collected big sticks. small sticks and lots of soggy leaves before pretending to light our fire. We added coloured tissue paper to resemble the flames before warming our hands by the fire!

Avery big stick!

Our fabulous fire

Mixing Mud

Absorbed in watering

A little reminder for the week . . .

• Welcome back after the half-term holiday - as always we have a very busy time ahead of us!

• Poplar class have chosen the Friday 'Fun Day' Feast for this week - please remember to check the menu if ordering a school dinner for your child on this day.

• There will be a GSA meeting on Monday 11th November at 3.15pm to discuss plans for the Christmas Fair.

• Advance notice that next Friday (15th November) will be Children in Need - children can donate £1.00 to come dressed in their pyjamas! "Kidprentice" Club will also be selling Pudsey items - please send in any money clearly named in a sealed envelope. Thank you.

• Poppies are available in school for Remembrance Day. They can be purchased from the school office with a suggested donation of 20p per poppy. Please do support this extremely worthwhile cause.

• Finally - as you will have seen in The Bell - the little 'critters' are back in school again! Please check hair regularly for signs of lice and nits, and if any are found, please keep your child at home until they are treated. Many thanks.

Star of the Week!

Our Stars of the Week from the final week of the last half-term were Ruby, Lexie-Mai, Harry and Oliver E. Congratulations and well done to all of you.