The Christmas story 

We shared the Nativity story this week and spoke about our special roles in telling this story during our Nativity performance. We know that Christians celebrate the birth of baby Jesus at Christmas time and that this is a very special time of the year. We looked at some Christmas photos. We described what we could see in each of the photos. We discussed: What do I do to celebrate Christmas? What is special about my family traditions?

This week we created a box with all of our Christmas stories in. Throughout the week we shared lots of these stories in our classes.

Our Nativity performance 

We have been practising hard to learn our lines and songs and have had so much fun performing for you all. We hope you enjoyed our performance!

Santa Dash

On Friday we all went out onto the field wearing Santa hats or tinsel and ran around the track for our yearly Santa Dash. We had so much fun!

The Jolly Christmas Postman

This week we have been learning about how a postal worker helps us. We shared the story ‘The Jolly Christmas Postman’ by Allan Ahlberg. We loved looking at the illustrations and reading the special letters inside. We spoke about Postal Workers delivering our letters in all weathers. We looked at how the weather changes through the different seasons. And spoke about appropriate clothes to wear during each of these seasons.

The Jolly Christmas Postman needed a new jacket to keep him dry in the rain. We explored different materials that jackets can be made of and chose the one we thought would keep him the driest. We tested this using water and chose the most waterproof material for his jacket.

We looked at some of the letters that had been written to Santa in the story. We spoke about Santa.

• Have they seen him before?
• Why do children around the world write to him?
• Where does he live?
• What would you like for Christmas?
• What do you think happens in Santa’s workshop?
• Why do you think Santa gets lots of letters at Christmas time?
• What would you write in a letter to Santa?

As a whole class we wrote a letter to Santa.  We all helped to segment the sounds in the words to help us to write. Santa will love our letter!

We're going on a leaf hunt

We read the story we’re going on a leaf hunt. We listened carefully to the story and looked at the illustrations. We collected lots of different coloured Autumn leaves in our forest area.

Falling leaves

• We started with the parachute spread out on the floor
• The children found a handle and pulled the parachute out flat
• Everyone slowly touched their toes, then stretched up to the sky.
• We practiced shaking the parachute. First softly and slowly, then more quickly and wildly. We practiced intermittent stopping to check for listening and control.
• We then moved the parachute like the wind.

Sometimes the wind is calm, soft and slow (we moved the parachute accordingly) sometimes it is wild and fast and sometimes it stops altogether. Now in Autumn the leaves fall from the trees and dance in the wind. 

People who help us at school

This week we invited different people from around school to talk to the children about they do. We listened carefully to how that person’s job involves helping others. We asked questions about what we heard.

• A visit from the headteacher -Mrs Bridges
• A visit from the office/site staff -Mrs. Evans and Mr. Prestwood
• A visit from the deputy headteacher -Mr. Vere
• A visit from a first aider -Mrs. Scothern

Maths -Shapes with 4 sides

We learnt that squares and rectangles have 4 straight sides and 4 corners. We are beginning to recognise these shapes on everyday items in the classroom and outside. we encouraged the children to build their own squares and rectangles.

People who help us our in community -Refuse collector

We watched Maddie’s Do you know -Bin Lorry and Newspaper. We discussed do you recycle at home? Have you seen a bin lorry? ‘Rubbish’ means anything we no longer have a use for. Our teacher helped us identify what counts as rubbish. Our teacher explained recycling means turning used materials, such as paper, into new paper that we can use again. We sorted a small selection of items into recycling bins for cans, glass, paper and card, plastic and other rubbish. We discussed how we can keep our surroundings tidy. We went on a litter pick and sorted the rubbish into recycled bin-bags. On Friday we used recyclable items to create bird feeders. During forest learning we went on a walk and hung them around school.

R.E. What times are special and why?

We bought in a photograph of us celebrating our birthday from home. We shared how we celebrate our birthdays with our families.

Our teacher asked questions to help us explain our birthday celebrations.

These included:

• Did you have special food on your birthday? What was it? When did you get to eat it?
• How many candles were on your cake?
• Did you open any cards/presents?
• Did you sing any songs?
• Did you have a party?
• Did you see friends or family and if so who? 

We looked through a celebration tub and picked out objects that reminded us about birthdays (balloons, cards, invitations, candles etc).

Friday 18th November

Today we celebrated ‘Children in Need.’

Here are some of the activities we shared today:

• Collage Pudsey bear’s face
• Paint the spots on Pudsey’s bandana
• Colour a Pudsey bear
• Count pom poms onto Pudsey Bear
• Cut spotty themed party hats
• Yellow playdough and bear cutters

World cup theme week

At the beginning of the week, we introduced a box filled with lots of different pictures and objects about football (footballer, stadium, trophy, whistle, boots, football, goal, pitch). We encouraged the children to look at and describe the pictures/objects, sharing their own ideas and experiences with the group.

We were allocated four countries in our sweepstake: Ghana, Uruguay, Korea Republic and Portugal.

Throughout the week we explored each country.

• We looked at each country’s flag and discussed what colours we could see.
• We listened to each countries National Anthem.
• We looked at where each country was on a world map.
• We discussed how we would travel there.
• We looked at what animals live in each country.
• We discussed similarities and differences among the traditions e.g., clothing.

At the end of the week, we looked at some photographs of people playing football. The children thought about who was in the photos, where they were playing and if they were having fun. We passed the football around the circle and asked the children to tell us someone they saw playing football in the photos (baby, girl, man, dog). We asked the class if everyone in the photographs was the same or were they different. We discussed in what ways were the photographs different. Why do you think all these different people like playing football? What do they enjoy about football? We encouraged the children to think about: enjoyment, happiness, teamwork, friends and exercise.

Remembrance Day

Today we watched the Poppies video on CBeebies.

We know that we wear poppies in November for Remembrance.

We learnt that Remembrance Day is the day when people take time to remember those who lost their lives in the first world war and all other wars since. We joined in with the minute silence.

Our key vocabulary:

Soldier: a person who serves in the army

War: an armed fight between countries

Battle: a fight that last a long time

Remembrance: a time that we spend remembering people who have died in the war

During forest learning we collaged a soldier’s uniform using leaves. 

People who help us in our community -shop assistant 

We talked about places where we have been shopping with our families. We discussed where we go to buy different items and our favourite shops. We played a listening and attention game with the children. We placed a number of items from a shop on a tray and covered them with a blanket. We removed one of the objects. The children had to say which one had been removed.

We introduced the ‘which shop’ shopping signs to the children. We discussed each shop and asked the children if they had ever visited that shop before and what it might sell. We looked at a shopping list. We had to find all the items on the list by visiting the different shops. We played a game and had to decide which shop we would need to visit to buy that item e.g., ‘You can buy tomatoes from Aldi’ or ‘You can buy a toy from Smyth’s.’

We worked together to write a shopping list for a tea party. We sounded out the food and drink items we would like to buy for the party and added it to our list.

Exploring Autumn 

We read a variety of Autumn stories for example, Leaf man, it was a cold dark night, leaf trouble, we’re going on a leaf hunt, little yellow leaf etc. We listened carefully and looked at the illustrations.

We went on an Autumn walk. We looked around at all the different things we could see. We talked about what we noticed and how our surroundings have changed from Summer. We took cameras on the walk. We took pictures of anything that interested us so we could talk about it the next day.

We enjoyed exploring Autumn using our senses. We provided a range of Autumn objects. We looked, touched, and smelt the items. We used different words to describe our findings.  

Bonfire Night theme day

We shared bonfire night pictures and video clips. We talked about what we could hear and see (colours and shapes). We shared our own experiences of Bonfire Night. We talked about our likes and dislikes of Bonfire Night celebrations.

We discussed ways we need to stay safe on Bonfire night and thought about safety rules. We worked together to create a set of class rules.

Forest learning

We practised getting ready for a bonfire night event. We practised zipping up our coats, putting on scarves/gloves and our wellies. We worked together to build a pretend bonfire in the outdoor area using a range of materials, such as sticks, leaves etc. We discussed the noises that fireworks make. We explored the outdoors to create Bonfire night noises using sticks, such as crackle, whoosh, pop, fizz and bang. We used dancing scarves to make firework movements in the air. We enjoyed eating hot dogs when we got back to the classroom!

Diwali theme day

Throughout the day we shared books and video clips to discover how people prepare and celebrate Diwali. We also read the story of Rama and Sita. We talked about who was good and who was evil.
We shared photographs of different families celebrating Diwali by decorating their house, cooking food, wearing new clothes and lighting up their house. They believe this brings them love, happiness and wealth.

Our activities involved:
Manipulating clay to create Diva lamps. 
Using brown paint and cotton buds to create Mehndi Henna patterns on handprints.
Using loose parts to create Rangoli patterns.
Retelling the story of Rama and Sita using puppets.
Tracing firework patterns into glitter. 
Writing Diwali cards.
Exploring light travelling through transparent materials.

An object casting a shadow.

Dressing in Saris/shirts and dancing to Diwali music. 

Halloween theme day

We read the story ‘Room on a Broom.’ We listened carefully and looked at the illustrations. At the end of the story, we read a letter from the witch. She needed our help to make some magic rhymes! We talked about the rhyming words in the letter. We looked at some magic rhyming cards and made a rhyming pair e.g. ‘A cat in a hat.’ We listened carefully to the words to make sure they sounded the same.

We enjoyed sharing our previous Halloween activities and celebrations with the class. We talked about previous costumes we had worn and activities we had completed.

Our activities involved: 

Exploring inside a Pumpkin using scoops and spoons. 

Making magic potions. 

Writing magic potions. 

Observational drawings of a Pumpkin. 

Creating spiders. 

Pumpkins, golf tees and hammers. 

Autumn 1 -People in our community

Black history month -Success and achievement

We shared the story ‘Ready, Steady Mo!’ and watched a video clip of Mo Farrah running in a race. During circle time, we discussed our successes and thought about feeling proud and happy. We talked about what we are good at e.g., swimming, drawing and painting. We went onto the field and had a running race. We all won a medal for feeling proud and achieving something!

Maths -Sorting

This week we learnt that collections of objects can be sorted into sets based on attributes such as colour, size or shape. Sorting enables us to consider what is the same about all the objects in one set and how they are different to other sets. We are beginning to identify the odd one out and explain our reasoning. We are beginning to understand that the same collection of objects can be sorted in different ways.

Our key vocabulary: Sort, same, different, colour, shape, size

How have I changed since I was a baby?

We displayed photographs brought in from home on our investigation table for the children to explore and discuss throughout the week. We talked about what we could see. We compared our baby photos to us now.

We drew children’s attention to new skills we have gained during the passage of time: sitting up, walking, talking, running, starting school etc.

Capacity

Our teacher explained that capacity is the amount something can hold. Like a cup, glass or box. We compared capacity using jugs in the water tray, we discussed and compared the different levels of water using the vocabulary: full and empty.

Our town

We looked at aerial views of our school setting. We recognised buildings, open spaces, roads and other simple features. We familiarised ourselves with the name of the town our school is located in. We looked at photographs of familiar places in our town and commented on what we noticed. We also shared our own experiences at the different places. 

Expressive arts and design 

In the creative area we've been practising different skills. 

• Using different tools and techniques (hole punching). 
• Using glue sticks independently. 
• Using scissors to cut. 
• Joining items using tape (we really enjoyed wrapping boxes). 
• Mixing colours to make different colours. 
• Using thick and thin paintbrushes. 

Our journey to school

We discussed different methods of transport that we take to school. We drew how we travelled to school on a post it note and created a class pictogram. We discovered more children walked to school and fewer children biked to school.

Cut up stories/The missing link

Somebody cut our story up into sections! We worked together in small groups to re-sequence them and used this to re-tell the story. The next day our sequence of images from the story had a key section missing. We worked together and drew and told the missing section.

A baby mouse

Our key text for the next three weeks is ‘A baby mouse.’ We drew a class story map to help everyone remember what happens in the story. We put in ‘sound effects’ and ‘noises’ to go with the story. Throughout the week we practised retelling the story several times. We used actions to support retelling and to reinforce the meaning of the story. In the reading area, we used props to retell and play at the story.

R.E. Which people are special and why? 

We commented on photographs of our family. We told our friends who were in our family photos and talked about why those people are special to us. We drew the family members who live in our house and painted pictures of our pets. 

Maths -Matching

We’ve had opportunities to find and match objects which are the same.

Our key questions: Can you find one exactly like mine? How do you know it is the same? Can you find one that is different to mine? Why is this one not like mine?

Our key vocabulary: match, same, colour, shape, size, different, pair

R.E. Which people are special and why?

This week a special box was delivered to school. We were told that we could look inside the box because there was something special inside. We took it in turns to pass the box around the circle and peek inside. We all saw ourselves inside the box. We talked about what makes us special -what are our likes/dislikes, what do we enjoy doing? 

The Colour Monster

We are enquiring into feelings and emotions. We are learning to understand our own feelings and those of others. This week we focused on the emotion ‘sad.’ Throughout the week we discussed times when we have experienced sadness. 

Clay faces 

We manipulated clay to create faces. We practised rolling, squashing, cutting and pinching. 

The Colour Monster

We are enquiring into feelings and emotions. We are learning to understand our own feelings and those of others. This week we focused on the emotion ‘happy.’ Throughout the week we discussed times when we have experienced happiness. 

R.E. What makes me special?

At home our parents helped us to create an ‘all about me chatterbox.’ At school we shared our chatterboxes with our new class and talked about our special interests and previous experiences.

A new beginning

This week we started school! Our teacher showed us around the main parts of our new classroom. Throughout the week we have been trying a variety of new activities, resources and exploring our new environment.

We have been getting to know each other, practicing our turn taking and listening skills. We are beginning to build our confidence.

Autumn 1 -All about me