Hello My Little Soldiers!

What fun we have had this week with our Remembrance topic.  We have been starting every day with the Write Dance song, The Grand Old Duke of York.  As the week moved on we ended with moving and marching, pointing up, pointing down and making a “halfway” twist.  We changed the location to where our own soldiers live e.g. Grand Old Duke/Duchess of Blackwell, we changed how many soldiers were following (definitely NOT 10,000) and we talked about soldiers being girls AND boys and so had to sing “people”.  Who would have thought a Nursery Rhyme could create such learning opportunities?  In Maths we have been singing and dancing to “Ten Little Soldiers” and even managed to march in the ten frame to reinforce this arrangement.  In our afternoon Communication and Language (C&L) session, we have been talking about bugles, listening to the bugle sound for waking up (Reveille) and going to sleep (The Last Post) and talked about the importance of wearing those poppies to say thank you to all the soldiers whose job it is to keep us safe.  It would be lovely if on Remembrance Sunday this weekend the children had the opportunity to hear the Last Post to see if they recognise it.

In Forest School this week, Mrs Allen has been starting to get us ready to have our first fire.  She started the week by teaching you a game “Duck Duck Goose” to help you practise moving behind your log and around the outside of the fire circle - a key skill for all Forest School sessions everywhere.  She then talked to you about what you would need to make a fire.  You had the chance to collect some firewood around the Forest School and lay it out to dry.  The laying of the fire absorbed you – I, for one, cannot wait for our first fire.  We just need to work on Sitting Still for some children and then we are ready.  In the afternoons, you have been talking about Bonfire Night and had a chance to mix some fire colours in paint on the balcony.  Later in the week, you had the opportunity to create some firework art using paintbrush flicking and straws.

A message for the grownups, you should have received a parentapp message earlier in the week with a request for the warm winter hats to be worn by all.  Please can you ensure they come in with both a warm hat AND a warm coat as we need to keep them warm now the cooler weather is on its way!

Have a lovely weekend everyone!