Headteacher: Anna Moss

Forest School Activity

Throwing and Catching

We enjoyed a whole class ball game of throwing and catching.  You remembered the skills needed to make a good thrower and the hands you need to be a good catcher.  During your own Play and Explore time, the sand in the hot sun was very busy this week.

Phonics

The yoyo sound, y

A few more weeks to go with a final few trickier sounds! This week it wasn’t so full of objects – more pictures.  We had a yell, yawn and you.  We also had some old and new characters that tested us all – Yoshi (from Mario), Yax (from Zootropolis) and a strange looking thing called Yoda.

Maths

Counting Around – Superhero style

Boo

We continued our playground circle time Maths fun this week with the count around backwards game of “zero zero superhero”.  We counted around the circle from 10 and whoever said zero became the superhero!  We then enjoyed huddling closer as we took it in turns to choose a numeral and read.  There were some noisy ghosts in the bucket though and if you pulled one, you shouted “boo” and chased and scared us all.

Communication and Language

Ladybug Girl at the Beach

A great story about life at the beach.  Ladybug girl and her dog Bingo had fun at the beach finding lots of different things to do – building in the sand, exploring pools, flying her kite.  Can you remember which was the final activity she enjoyed doing which she was nervous about?

Fine Motor (am)

Dough Disco

Back to a classic choice from Hugo with ‘We will rock you’, by Queen.  We talked about the band Queen being from a long time ago – when Mrs Mander was a baby, Mrs Allen was a girl and Mrs Franklin was a teenager!  We enjoyed making a dough microphone to make our voices louder and squashing it flat for the guitar plectrum.    

Art/DT

Summer Fair Produce

We have added the final touches to the produce for our Summer Fair next weekend.  Come and find us on the teacher stall with your £2.50 next Saturday 6^th and I promise, it will be money well spent with the fun you can have at home with this special torch.

A message for parents – due to a request from Isla and Lily, battery toy week will return next week for one final time.  Please send your little one in with a battery toy for them to share, play with their friends.  We will be talking about how the battery makes them light up, move and make sound as part of our Computing curriculum. 

Mrs Mander, Mrs Allen and Mrs Franklin X

Forest School Activity

Clean Up

Mrs Allen has taken you to a different part of Forest School this week and you have worked hard at sprucing up the outdoor area!  The mud has been washed from the pots and pans, the sand toys have been swept down and the patio has had a much needed sweep!  I wonder how long it will stay this clean…..

Rhyme Time

Miss Polly

Our final rhyme of the year to learn and one you all knew!  We enjoyed finding the matching pair from three – head, bed, bag and suggesting silly rhymes.  We also played with words and switched in some French words – tete (head), veet (quick), knock knock (toc toc).

Listening

Who am I?

Our listening games now are all about applying all four listening rules and this is what we had to do for this game to work!  We took it in turns to turn our back to friends and listen to their voices saying “hello” and named them. It is always funny to find the voices that do not match without the face.

Phonics

The wave sound, W

The sound box made a welcome return and we continued with our initial sound work.  We had quite a lot of food in the box this week – watermelon, Weetabix, waffles and our favourite, white chocolate (mmmm).  We did have to eat otherwise it would have been melted by the wicked witch!

Maths

Counting Around

Snowballs

We enjoyed some circle time Maths fun this week as we played the “I’m still standing” game, we call this the Elton John game.  We count around the circle up to 10 and whoever 10 lands on sits down.  We were all keen to be Elton and be sang to!  We then had fun checking the reading of our numerals as we made summer snowballs and enjoyed throwing and finding around the front playground. 

Communication and Language

Fergus the Sea dog

Mrs Allen has enjoyed sharing a summer story with you about Fergus and his trip to the seaside.  He enjoyed fun at the seaside and even a trip out on the sea!  You enjoyed creating a boat with small world toys.

Fine Motor (am)

Dough Disco

Thank you Johan for one of the trickiest disco songs we have had to try and keep up with – Cha Cha Slide, Mr C.  Click on the link and they will teach you the actions.  Mr C The Slide Man - Cha-Cha Slide (Official Video) (youtube.com).  The song was excellent for testing our left and right knowledge.  

Art/DT

Summer Fair Produce

Mrs Franklin has been enjoying wrapping sticks with gold tape this week as you have been creating some Olympic produce for the summer fair on Saturday 6^th July.  You are loving making it and will make a welcome addition to your home this summer….. 

A message for parents – the summer has finally arrived and the majority of our day will be outdoors.  We do not have spare sunhats so please ensure you send children in wearing one - the Forest School becomes a very limited place when you are only playing in the shade. 

Mrs Mander, Mrs Allen and Mrs Franklin X

Forest School Activity

Sailing Boats

Mrs Allen has enjoyed teaching you all about knots this week as you have been tying string around sticks of the same size to create a raft for the fairies.  Developing these fine motor movements outdoors will improve your handwriting indoors next year.

Rhyme Time

Jack and Jill

A final push to hear and suggest those rhyming words with our last few rhymes now.  This week, it was a rhyme about a brother and sister called Jack and Jill – it was a new rhyme for lots of you.  We enjoyed finding rhyming words for both Jack and Jill – so many to choose from.

Listening

Staying Quiet(er)

As new friends continue to join and our confidence continues to increase, so does our noise level indoors.  Being able to stay quiet(er) and use an indoor voice is a key skill for school for next year.  We practised this with some quiet mornings – register, disco, introducing self.  We discovered that we have to use our eyes more to hear what people are saying.

Maths

In a Row

We revisited an old song this week – In a Row - and extended our learning.  We role played the song with small world characters and then enjoyed making teams of 7/8/9 and finding out what number we make when we add one more.  We have sound knowledge now of the two skills of “seeing number” and “counting number”.

Communication and Language

To the Beach

Miss Veillet enjoyed sharing this summer story about a little boy’s journey to the beach.  She enjoyed sequencing the vehicles he travelled in/on along the way, but the highlight was a Mary Poppins moment of jumping in to the picture to find out what you could see, hear and smell – what experiences you have all had of beaches.  The rockpool you created with her today was a highlight.

Fine Motor (am)

Dough Disco

Neave chose this week’s dough disco and what a choice – Head and Heart by Joel Corry.  We have enjoyed creating heart balls and beating them on our chest.  We have talked about reasons why our heart would beat slow and fast – never too young for your Science curriculum.

Gross Motor (pm)

Throwing and Catching

Miss Veillet has enjoyed teaching you the skills of throwing and catching with bubbles and scarves.  She taught you how to use your body to throw high and the shape your hands should be in when catching.  Throwing and catching balls is a 3-4 year old skill even though it can be a tricky one! 

A message for parents – we sadly say goodbye to Miss Veillet today as she heads off to another school to complete her journey to becoming a teacher.  The children have enjoyed her calm, kind and caring way and we have enjoyed her ability to be in three places at once due to her age.  Trainee teachers are such a treat to have as they come with their own fresh ideas that children will always remember – they will never forget her volcano! Thank you!

Mrs Mander, Mrs Allen and Mrs Franklin X

Forest School Activity

Balancing quoits and throwing beanbags

We propose some new Olympic events this year.  A race down the track with a quoit balanced on your head.  If we can manage this as we travel up, across and over logs, I am sure professional athletes could manage it too.  Forget the shotput, they need to change it to the beanbag throw – I think we’d have some contenders.

Rhyme Time

Wheels on the Bus

The rhyming pairs were fun this week with a ticket and a cricket.  For some of us a final push to hear and suggest those rhyming words.  Miss Veillet had trouble with her words and you had to help her remember the name of the colours in her pencil case and fruit in her basket.  Was it a napple, a japple or something else?

Listening

Whose disco song is this?

As we come to the end of our dough disco time together with (almost) everyone having had their choice, we enjoyed a game with old tunes - a music quiz!  We had to Stay Quiet for 10 seconds to listen to the introduction and match to a friend’s face.

Maths

Patterns

Miss Veillet has enjoyed teaching you all about patterns you can make with the resources outdoors.  You have enjoyed working in a team and on your own to create a simple ABAB pattern.  The challenge was to spot the mistake when your friend made one AND work out how to correct it.

Communication and Language

The Sports Day, Nick Butterworth and Mick Inkpen

A perfect story to match our Sports week.  A story of Sam and friends as they work their way through different Sports Day events.  I think we could write our own story with funny stories of our practice sessions on the school field – lane switching, shoes slipping off, tangled flames from our Olympic torches.

Fine Motor (am)

Dough Disco

With it being a very special birthday today, Mrs Mander finally chose the disco song.  This “just so happened” to be the same as the one chosen for Wake and Shake across the school – Waka Waka, Shakira.  As our song matched, we joined the competition on Wednesday morning and guess what???  We won the trophy!!!

Gross Motor (pm)

Sponsored Mile and Sports Day

We finally managed our mile after a lot of laps of the playground.  We have everything crossed we raise the most money as a class!  All this running meant we were all ready for those races this afternoon – what a shame the rain meant we had to postpone.  We will be ready for Friday 7^th June instead.

A message for parents – when we return after half term, we have a very special day on 16^th June.  Please could you send in a photograph via email of Dad for our display board.  For those who were with us last year, we still have yours.  We will be having some fun with these after the break and creating some special cards to make Dad smile.

Mrs Mander, Mrs Allen and Mrs Franklin X

Forest School Activity

Faces

The mirrors made a return outdoors as you used them to look at your own face and have a go at creating these with salt dough.  You took it in turns to prepare with Mrs Allen and then manipulated to create some wonderful shapes. 

Rhyme Time

One Two Buckle my Shoes

We have been picking up sticks and laying them straight as we sung along to this tune!  Our morning rhyme time sessions are paying off as we hear lots of you creating your own rhyme in your own talk, songs.  Your new teacher in September will be blown away.

Phonics

The volcano sound /v/

Miss Veillet taught her sound this week in phonics, the volcano sound.  There were some familiar sounds in the box (Velcro) and some unfamiliar smells (vicks and vinegar).  The highlight of the week has to be the use of her volcano model to create an actual real life one erupting in the Forest School on Thursday – wow!

Listening

Who is missing?

With Miss Veillet teaching small phonics groups, you had an opportunity to play the game from last week with Mrs Allen in the quiet area.  She took out our magnetic faces to help you spot who was hiding in your group.  Harris and Lachlan, wow – your looking skills in this game blew Mrs Allen away as you spotted every time!

Maths

1 more, 1 less

We took our learning outdoors with a twist on a maths game to match our lifecycles topic.  We enjoyed taking it in turns with a friend to move up and down our numeral line.  We now know the symbol for more and the symbol for less and used these to grow older and younger.  Did you enjoy being 1 or 6 more?

Communication and Language

When I grow up, Lennie Goodings and Jenny Jones

A lovely story to share to match our lifecycle topic perfectly.  Lenny has big plans for when he grows up and lots of ideas of what he would like to be.  This led to lots of conversations around what you would like to be when you grow up.     

Fine Motor (am)

Dough Disco

Georgiana was so happy to choose her favourite disco song this week – Baby Shark.  We have worked hard to change our actions to work our fingers, wrists and arms with the dough. Next week, we take our routine ‘Wake and Shake’ into the whole school to share!

Gross Motor (pm)

Sponsored Run

You should all have received the sponsorship form for our whole school Golden Mile run this week.  With us having the littlest legs in school, we have start clocking up our distance already.  Every afternoon, we are running five laps of the playground.  28 laps = 1 mile.  We can do this!

A message for parents – a reminder that Sports Day is on Friday 24^th May.  If your little one does not attend on this day, either send them in normal time and we will see you on the field at 2pm OR we will meet you on the field at 2pm and they can come and join us if they want to.

Mrs Mander, Mrs Allen and Mrs Franklin X

Forest School Activity

Frogs

It was good to see a return of our speckled frog song as you joined from Forest School.  You have also enjoyed creating your own lifecycle with Miss Veillet.  However the highlight of the week has to be the warmer weather and keeping those waterproofs in the boot room as we enjoy some summer fun in the sun!

Rhyme Time

Ring O Roses

We have been adding actions to our rhyme this week as we have circled around and swam like fish.  We have worked hard to find a third rhyming word for our string – rose, nose and ……. anyone?

Phonics

The jellyfish sound /j/

It’s a record – four friends in the sound box this week!  Can you remember who we found in there?  They had fun in there wobbling with the jelly and we all had fun eating it with our snack!  You laughed at the jester but the funniest must have been Mrs Mander trying to juggle like the jester!

Listening

Who is missing?

We took it in turns to play a game that uses all of our listening rules.  It was a two-player game with player 1 and player 2 both hiding behind the curtain.  Clues were given by all the rest of us as you took turns to work out who was missing.

Maths

Tally Time

You may have spotted our tally marks in the front playground as we started the week creating tally 5 stepping stones.  Once we picked up the pattern, we enjoyed tallying the vehicles that passed the school – luckily Blackwell is a quiet place during the day.  We did make it tally 10 eventually!

Communication and Language

Hungry Harry, Joanne Partis

This week Mrs Allen has been sharing a story about a hungry frog who was told by his mum to go and hunt down his own food.  He met some minibeasts on his journey but was quite unlucky when it came to actually eating them!  Can you remember what he found to eat at the end of the story?     

Fine Motor (am)

Dough Disco

Adelenna’s choice of King of my Castle has had us talking about the difference between a DJ and a singer.  We learnt that a DJ makes the music and this was the part we enjoyed moving to the most this week!

Gross Motor (pm)

Sports Day

As we prepare for our Sports Day in a few weeks, we headed over to the field to find the long-lined track.  From our Maths session last week, we learnt about start and finish and we found these as we walked out our tracks.  A little more work on staying in lines and not switching lanes and we’ve got this!

A message for parents – we will be having our nursery class photograph on Monday 20^th May.  If your little one does not attend on a Monday and you would like them to be a part of the photo, please send them in at normal time and collect at 11.30am or 12.00pm. 

Mrs Mander, Mrs Allen and Mrs Franklin X

Forest School Activity

Butterflies

Our caterpillars have arrived!  Mrs Allen has been sharing how to care for them in the first week as we watch them eat and eat and eat every day whilst getting fatter and fatter and fatter.  Outdoors you have enjoyed being a caterpillar at the Ugly Bug Ball and crafting butterfly lifecycles up on the balcony.

Rhyme Time

Mary Mary

We have enjoyed playing with our rhyme this week as we have been singing about some quite contrary children.  We continue to enjoy and support our friends on our rhyming journey as hearing and suggesting rhyme is our goal before we leave for big school!

Phonics

The lollipop sound /l/

Lottie, Lachlan and Lily were happy to see their faces appear out of the sound box with a lemon, a lime and a rather large lollipop.  Not as big as the ladybird that Miss Veillet brought in though – who thought you could have an inflatable ladybird!  Thank you to Alice, our Blue class friend, for bringing along some objects from home to help support our learning.

Listening

Introduce Self

In preparation for next weeks listening game (and to support our Computing knowledge) we have enjoyed introducing ourself and sharing information.  Looking at the person talking is still a listening rule we are working on – have a go at home this weekend!

Maths

Snakes and Ladders

As the weather warms, our learning takes a trip outside.  Mrs Mander and Miss Veillet have been teaching you how to play human snakes and ladders.  You have enjoyed working in pairs to roll the dice, see it/say it and jump this number.  The “obstacles” of a snake and ladder definitely made the game more fun!

Communication and Language

The Hungry Caterpillar

Of course it was going to be this story by Eric Carle as our first lifecycle story.  Mrs Allen has enjoyed retelling the story using story spoons and you have enjoyed making caterpillars with dough.

Fine Motor (am)

Dough Disco

Thank you Lachlan!  We have loved this song.  Not so much dough disco this week, more dough rock.  Royal Blood have had us strumming our guitars and banging our drums as we have enjoyed moving to “Trouble Coming”.  This is one we will always remember from this year!

Gross Motor (pm)

Hop, Skip and Jump

As we continue to enjoy our play and explore time on the trail, we have been showing off our travelling skills as we have practised our hopping and skipping across the grass.  Definitely work in progress.   

A message for parents – with warmer weather, we begin to leave the waterproofs in the boot room and head to Forest School in our home clothes and school wellies.  Please send children in wearing clothes that you do not mind getting sandy, dirty and ultimately not survive the wash.  The school wellies have seen better days and although dry, the dirt does make it inside. 

Mrs Mander, Mrs Allen and Mrs Franklin X

Forest School Activity

Hammers

You have been revisiting an old song from our early nursery days – “Johnny Hammers” with Mrs Allen.  She enjoyed teaching you how to use the tool the hammer as you have been hammering nails into a block of wood.  It is always lovely to see you take your learning into your play and explore time as you used your own hammer (stick) to repair the fences in Forest School.

Rhyme Time

Twinkle Twinkle

Hearing rhyming pairs and creating a third is becoming hilarious.  We are all enjoying coming up with the silliest rhyming “non-words”.  We are now beginning to enjoy putting these silly words back into the rhyme e.g. twinkle twinkle little mar. 

Phonics

The flamingo sound /f/

Freya and Francesca were over the moon to be in the sound box this week! We started the week with very few items but thanks to your help (your sound knowledge has come so far!), you helped to gather a collection by the end of the week.  We couldn’t believe it today when the fairy had poured flour into the whole box – lots of floury fingertips!

Listening

Spring Bingo

We have had to use all four of our listening rules as we played team Spring Bingo.  We talked about the photos on the Spring bingo board and then enjoyed covering them up with a counter.  The challenge was when Mrs Mander didn’t have her glasses on and couldn’t read the words!  Was it knees, cheese or bees on the board….?

Maths

One more

Shaker/Ten Frame Maker

As you joined from Forest School, you have revisited your ‘one more skills’ by showing one more on your fingers and linking your learning by rolling two dice and seeing (not counting!), one more.  Once we were all settled in, we have been learning about the rules of the game of snooker!  One friend has been shaking the red/yellow counter, whilst a friend has been showing this number in marks and on a ten frame! 1=red, 2=yellow.  We are starting to see a ten frame is just two five frames neighbours.

Communication and Language

The Very Busy Spider, Eric Carle

Mrs Allen has been sharing a story all about a spider who loves to weave.  You have enjoyed singing spider related songs and creating your own wool web.  It was great to see some of you chalking webs on the patio.

Fine Motor (am)

Dough Disco

Thank you Lottie!  It has taken the grownups back to their school disco days as we all danced to Holiday, Madonna - what a song!!  We made sure we had “disco ready” hair and passed that disco ball from hand to hand.  We talked about the artist Madonna and the country she comes from.  Only a few more friends to choose and then we head in to our disco medley in the final half term!

Gross Motor (pm)

Climb, Balance and Jump

During our trim trail time, we have been practising our climbing on, balancing across and jumping off the equipment.  Miss Veillet has been working on helping you step up safely and how to use your arms to keep your balance as you step across.  The two feet jump doesn’t seem to need any work at all! 

A message for parents – it won’t be long before the warm sun joins us.  Some of you are coming in in your sun caps already - brilliant.  Can you ensure the children have one ready and are wearing them on arrival for those sunny warm days!  We really do spend a lot of time outdoors during this final term.

Mrs Mander, Mrs Allen and Mrs Franklin X

Forest School Activity

Spring

We all enjoyed our Spring walk around the school grounds as we spotted the signs of Spring.  We returned to the Forest School and have been enjoying making flowers with our natural materials.  This week we have enjoyed printing flowers with forks and weaving flowers with wool.

Rhyme Time

Down at the Station and Hickory Dickory Dock

Rhyme Time is becoming our favourite time of the day!  We love listening to (and making) the sounds we might hear in our rhymes, speeding up/slowing down our rhyme and seeing if we can all name the two pictures (out of three) that sound the same.  For some of us, the final challenge – seeing if we can make up our own third rhyming word…. 

Phonics

The helicopter sound /h/ and bear sound /b/

Harvey, Harris and Harriet appeared in our box in the first week alongside a heavy hippo, a hairy horse and a hair brush/band/clip.  This week, the sound box was full as we enjoyed sorting our objects into a bath and a bed.  The ballerina and the baby had fun splashing in the bath whilst the bear was bouncing the ball in the bed under the blanket.  

Listening

Silent Circle

Quiet Feet

After two weeks at home, we were all very chatty on our return to school. Our listening games helped us to remember our school rules.  In the game “silent circle” you had to look at the photocard of a friend and swap places with them in the circle – all whilst staying quiet.  This week “quiet feet” has been all about remembering how to move quietly in the cabin and move louder outside.  We used the hand bells and maracas to help us remember!

Maths

Dice and Numicon Match

One more

Now “seeing” number patterns is in place, Miss Barron enjoyed teaching you a two-player game where you took turns to match the numicon piece to the dice.  This week, we have moved on to learning about the concept of one more.  You arrived with those superhero eyes as you were able to say how many one more makes through a screen.   Understanding that one more is the next number in the number sequence is another “school ready” skill for us!

Communication and Language

One Springy Day and

Don’t wake the Bear Hare!

As we move into our new topic of Spring, Mrs Allen and Miss Barron have enjoyed sharing Spring stories in the Quiet area after lunch.  You enjoyed watching the fox get in to all sorts of trouble in the first story.  You then enjoyed playing a game of hide and seek with him on the balcony.  During the second story you have enjoyed seeing how all the animals were planning a party for bear.  You then had a chance to play the bear role whilst the others worked as a team to ensure the bear isn’t woken by noisy objects being passed around!

Fine Motor (am)

Dough Disco

We have had two great song choices since our return from our Easter break.  Mrs Allen chose ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’ by Tight Fit.  We enjoyed sausaging the dough to make the lion’s tail and banging the drums with both hands.  Evie J chose a Christmas tune – ‘Sparkle and Shine’ from the movie Nativity this week.  Although it feels strange to be singing about Christmas Eve in the Spring, it does make us smile.

Gross Motor (pm)

Trim Trail

The trail is finally open!  We have watched the big children play on here for two terms and now it is our turn!  After Quiet Time at 1pm we put on our home shoes and enjoy running, climbing and balancing on all the equipment.  Next week we will add an extra grass activity to introduce you to a game that you may play in PE lessons.

A message for parents – as we said goodbye to our teacher training student Miss Barron on Wednesday, we welcome a new friend next week – Miss Veillet.  She will be with us for seven weeks and will enjoy taking on the teacher role during parts of our day!    

Mrs Mander, Mrs Allen and Mrs Franklin X