Spring 1, Week 5, w/c 5th February 2024

It has been a very busy last week in Acorn class before half term. The children have particularly enjoyed exploring the outside environment, please ensure your child has a change of clothes with them in school each day as they can become wet with the changes of weather or during water play.

Our story this week was How to Catch a Star by Oliver Jeffers. After reading the story we challenged the children to choose a picture and recall and explain why it was important in the story. This encouraged the children to listen carefully during the story to then demonstrate their understanding of what has been read to them. We also enjoyed discussing our own experiences of star spotting, and creating our own stars using bubble wrap to print a pattern. During our exploring time the children have been challenged to collect as many stars as they can using tweezers within one minute.

During exploring time at the beginning of this week we have also provided a range of practical resources such as building blocks, small world animals, fabrics, paper and colouring materials. The children worked together to share the resources to create their own dream worlds. The children have also been busy using shapes to build rockets, create snowman pictures and exploring moon dough. 

In our Jigsaw group time on Wednesday, we took a flight to the future. We began by looking at pictures cards, and discussing different jobs we can do as adults. The children closed their eyes as we described their journey on a rocket, taking off and zooming through time. The children have drawn pictures and discussed the jobs they would like to do when they are older, these have included teachers, doctors, mechanics, dentists, artists and a hairdresser. 

On Friday we have been learning about the Lunar New Year, and that 2024 is the year of the dragon. We discussed that it marks the beginning of the Lunar New Year which is when there is the start of a new moon. We explored the different traditions and ways of celebrating such as dancing, fireworks, giving money in small red envelopes, different foods eaten and the lantern festival. We enjoyed creating our own lanterns and colouring pictures of fireworks and dragons. We would like to wish all of our families celebrating a Happy Lunar New Year. 

It was lovely to meet with parents during the learning reviews this week and share with you your child’s learning journey, thank you to everyone for attending. We hope you have a wonderful half term and look forward to welcoming the children back on Monday 19th February, where we will begin our new topics Dangerous Dinosaurs and Puddles and Rainbows. 

Spring 1, Week 4, w/c 29th January 2024

We have had another busy week here in Acorn class with a wonderful visit to forest school on Monday!

This week, the children have been encouraged to work on their name writing and name recognition. Each morning, they have had a chance to write their names using their name cards. They are becoming much more independent in their name writing and recognition. 

As part of our topic Starry Night we introduced our new story of the week, Peace at Last. During the story, the children were encouraged to join in with the sounds that Mr Bear heard. The children shared the sounds they have heard before and we discussed all the animals they heard in the story. The children enjoyed designing their own pyjamas that they would wear if they were to be in the story. They also enjoyed making their own Mr Bear, just like the one in the story.  

In Maths, we have continued learning all about the number 4. During our group time we played a game with the children being 4 frogs on a log. The children also enjoyed singing the song and role playing the lesson during their inside exploring. 

On Friday, the children were encouraged to listen to some bed-time sounds and identify which picture they relate to. The children also shared their bedtime routines by sharing what they do before they go to bed and they also shared their favourite bedtime stories with the rest of the class. 

Our Makaton sign this week was ‘book’, see if your child can show you this sign over the weekend. 

Next week we look forward to learning all about the number 5 and introducing a new story, How to Catch a Star. We also look forward to learning all about the Lunar New Year.

     Spring 1, Week 3, w/c 22nd January 2024

It has been another busy week in Acorn class! As part of our topic Starry Night we are discussing our daily routines. We are encouraging the children to be increasingly independent in meeting their own care needs, including putting on their coats, using the toilet and washing and drying their hands. Many of the children are now able to achieve these tasks independently, and continuing to encourage these tasks at home will further support their independence skills.

Our story this week was Owl Babies by Martin Waddell. We have discussed that an owl is a nocturnal animal and have looked at the different features of an owl, their habitats and the diet of an owl. The children have enjoyed exploring a story sack and using the props and puppets to retell the story of Sarah, Percy and Bill the three owl babies. The children have also used their knowledge of owls to create an owl collage using a range of resources. 

This week we have been encouraging the children to listen to the sounds at the start of words, and have challenged them to join in with oral blending. The children have been listening out for the sound at the start of their name, this will continue next week as we will be practicing writing our names using name cards. 

In maths we have been learning all about the number 4. During our group time we went on a number hunt around the classroom searching for the number 4. We found over 10 number 4’s on our searching including a number 4 on the clock and on our daily calendar for our year 2024. We have continued our search throughout the week finding the correct number of objects to match the numerals. 

In our role play area the children have enjoyed becoming vets, working in the veterinary surgery looking after a range of sick or hurt animals. They have been applying bandages and plasters on the animals, and using the toy medical resources to check the animals temperature and to give injections. 

On Friday we spent some time discussing the importance of brushing our teeth at night and in the morning. The children were able to identify some foods and drinks we can have to help keep our teeth healthy and that sugary sweets and treats can sometimes stick to our teeth. The children also enjoyed sharing their experiences of visiting the dentist.

Our Makaton sign this week was ‘sit’, see if your child can show you this sign over the weekend. 

Next week we look forward to continuing our learning on the number 4 and introducing a new story, Peace at Last. 

     Spring 1, Week 2, w/c 15th January 2024

We have had a busy week in Nursery, and the children have enjoyed  learning about our new topics, Winter Wonderland and Starry Night. The weather has been very cold this week and Nursery spend a lot of the school day outside, please do ensure that your child always has a warm coat, hat and gloves which are NAMED! Every child also needs to have a spare change of clothes in school. 

During our group times this week we have been exploring nocturnal animals. The children have been able to identify what animals are nocturnal and had a chance to listen to the sounds they make at night when it's dark. In PE this week, we made the classroom all dark and explored light and dark with torches and even tried to find all the nocturnal animals around the classroom. On Friday, we explored people who work at night. We spoke about the kinds of jobs people do at night, and when they would go to sleep. We also discussed that some people need to work at night to help us and keep us safe. 

In maths this week we have been continuing learning about the number 3. We focused on learning how the number 3 is made up of. We did this by playing a game in class using hula hoops and some bean bags.  To support the children’s learning during our exploring time, the children have been challenged to find and count 3 arctic animals from our arctic sea tuff tray. 

Our Makaton sign this week was ‘sorry’, we have been encouraging the children to use this sign when answering questions. See if your child can show you this sign at home over the weekend. 

We have also continued exploring the similarities and differences between day and night. The children have shared their experiences of being out when it is dark and described how they feel, and what usually happens at night time. 

Next week we look forward to exploring Owls and we will also be reading the story Owl Babies. We will also be exploring healthy teeth and the importance of always brushing our teeth. 

     Spring 1, Week 1, w/c 8th January 2024

We have had a busy first week back in Nursery, with the children ready and excited to start learning about our new topics Winter Wonderland and Starry Night. The weather has been very cold this week and Nursery spend a lot of the school day outside, please do ensure that your child always has a warm coat, hat and gloves which are NAMED! Every child also needs to have a spare change of clothes in school. 

During our group times this week we have been exploring the change of season from Autumn to Winter. We have been discussing the changes that have happened since the start of the year, such as the weather, clothes we have worn, temperatures and environmental changes. We were lucky that it has been a cold and frosty week which has enabled us to go out to explore the frost and ice around the school grounds. The children enjoyed making marks in the frost and listening to the crunching sounds as we walked across the school field, we even enjoyed a small flurry of snow on Monday afternoon. 

In maths this week we have been learning about the number 3. We have been focusing on recognising when we see 3 objects or dots on a dice. Towards the end of the week, it has been fantastic to observe some of the children using their knowledge to recognise 3 objects without needing to count each object. To support the children’s learning during our exploring time, the children have been challenged to find and count 3 minibeasts from our woodland tuff tray. We have also been busy drawing around shapes in sand, carefully counting the sides of each shape to find the triangle shape with 3 sides. 

Our Makaton sign this week was ‘yes’, we have been encouraging the children to use this sign when answering questions. See if you child can show you this sign at home over the weekend. 

We have also been exploring the similarities and differences between day and night. The children have shared their experiences of being out when it is dark and described how they feel, and what usually happens at night time. 

Next week we look forward to further exploring day and night and will be learning about nocturnal animals and discussing jobs that require people to work at night time. If you or somebody close to you has a job that requires them to work at night time, you could discuss this with your child so they can share it with their friends during our group times next week.