Spring 2 

Our topic really came to life when we had a visit from 2 real life chickens. The children were fascinated to learn that chickens have wings, that they can fly and they lay eggs, although I'm sure they were more interested when one had a poo on my knee! We talked about what animals lived on a farm and used this knowledge when sorting animals into categories. 

We took part in a whole school tree planting initiative to transform part of our school field. We joined forces with the Woodland Trust and every child was able to plant a tree, making memories and enjoyed by generations to come. It was lovely to see so many of our families attend and the children enjoyed a treat of hot chocolate to drink afterwards. A special thank you to Nova's family for all your help on the day and to our parents for supporting their children on this memorable occasion. 

Daffodils - In expressive arts and design we explored paints using tolls to create an observational painting of a daffodil. We examined the parts of a flower and talked about the colours we could see. The children were then able to independently produce a painting of a daffodil. I was amazed at all the different ways the children chose to 'paint what they could see' and they looked magnificent displayed on our gallery wall. 

The weather was very unpredictable in March. One day we were taking our coats off due to it being warm and admiring the flowers growing in our garden, the next day we had lots of rain that brought down the bamboo in our nature garden. Whatever the weather, we always make the most of every opportunity. Just look at the fun we had in our puddle suits.

In maths we introduced the children to patterns. We started off by looking at the patterns we can see all around us, on our clothes and in our homes. The children were given the task of finding a pattern and either sending it on dojo or wearing it to school the next day. We had an abundance of spotty/ stripy outfits in class and the children were proud to show everyone the pattern they were wearing at carpet time. 

We had lots of fun exploring the little laboratories' activities that were set up as part of science week. We used all of our senses to investigate the equipment and resources for a real hands, on experience. One of our little learners conducted her own experiment as part of our home learning. The awe and wonder on her face say's it all. 

In literacy we continued our work on our foundations for phonics activities. Rhyme is a big part of our focus learning and the children really enjoy being introduced to a new nursery rhyme each week. This half term we have sung the Queen of Hearts, Jack and Jill, Two Little Dickie Birds, Peter Rabbit and Hot Cross Buns. Next term we will be creating our own story maps for our rhymes and stories so that the children will be able to retell them by remembering the symbols and carrying out the actions/ saying the words. 

Spring 1

We started off our topic by transforming our room into a 'winter wonderland'. The children loved exploring our immersive area where they could explore materials and texture with our igloo tent and ice blocks. Our small world area helped the children to learn about 'artic animals' that lived in the snow/ cold conditions. Our text this term was 'Polar Bear, Polar Bear, what do you hear?' The children loved the familiarity of this story as it is by the same author/ theme as Brown Bear, Brown Bear. The children enjoyed learning the new animals and using their voices to make the different animals sounds.

Although we didn't have any snow ourselves, we were still able to explore the elements of winter when we found ice and frost outside in our garden. The children transferred their learning from indoors where they played with ice in the water tray and made marks in our snow tray to being able to do this outside with natural materials. The children used their fingers, sticks and paint brushes to make marks in the frost.

In maths we continue our work on subitising. We enjoyed the number song, 5 little snowmen standing in a row. The children had to say how many snowmen were left without counting them. For the younger children we have been counting each snowman using pointing like behaviour and encouraging one to one correspondence. 

We have also been looking at prepositions. Our little fluffy penguin helped the children understand the concepts of in, under, on top, back and front.

In expressive arts and design we have been lucky enough to have 2 very special visitors this term. The Sheffield lion dance company came into school to help us learn about/ celebrate Chinese New Year. The children were excited to see the dragon but were not impressed when he ate a lettuce and spat it back out. We also celebrated 'Spanish day' by dressing up in red and yellow and taking part in a Spanish dance. The children moved their body to changes in the music and did some lovely "ole" poses.

On the last day of term, we continued being creative by taking part in 'messy day'. The children were encouraged to wear old clothes that they could get paint on and produce a collaborative piece of work in the shape of an artist that we have covered this academic year. Our children love painting in the style of 'Pollock' so we collectively produced a painting that can be displayed in school as well as completing individual paintings to take home to their families. 

We have had a lovely, busy term and we are looking forward everything farm related in our next topic Ee-I-e_I-oh.