Headteacher: Anna Moss

Happy Friday everyone!

Well the warm weather didn’t last very long did it?  We were all back to layers, warm socks and Winter hats this week! It was lovely to chat to most of you on Wednesday and Thursday this week – we miss the contact with you all as much as you do.  Reports shared will be coming home with the children next week.

We began the week with picture clues for our Nursery Rhyme – there was a cat, a moon, a little dog, a dish and a spoon. With a little prompting, you worked out which one it was in the end!  We all enjoyed Hamish’s choice of Dough Disco this week as we have been shaking the dough (and our bodies) to Boom Shake the Room.  We look forward to Ralph’s choice next week.  Please do send in any requests the children have of favourite disco songs as it is so important our learning is led by the children’s interests – that is what Early Years is all about!  In Write Dance we have continued mark making on the tables to a favourite Maths song “Beans”.  We were even brave enough this week to introduce a “messy” mark making table so if you went home with yellow or orange hands, this is why!  In Phonics Cyril Squirrel has been singing Pattern Parrot with his rhyming pairs game – it was lovely to see some of you choosing to play this matching rhyming pairs game when you arrived.  Our Music this term is learning all about Pitch and so we have started practising changing our voices by singing, talking, whispering in a call and respond song.  During our Maths session we have been singing about full, part full and empty cups and have being learning about how numbers up to five look in the tally arrangement.  We had fun with our traffic survey outside the front of the school – I wonder whether vehicles move past your house quicker than they do past Blackwell School?  Perhaps you could have a go at tallying vehicles this weekend – don’t forget to shut the gate after four as we do not want those animals running into the road!

After lunch, in the Quiet area on the balcony we have been sharing a popular story about a monkey who has lost his mum.  We predicted the animals that we would see next and we have had fun clapping out the syllables in each characters name.  Can you remember which character in the story had four claps??  For some of you who head into Quiet Time last, we have been exploring the names further by listening to the initial sound and finding nonsense rhyming words for our animal friends.  In Forest School Mrs Allen began the week by showing you how to wrap paper around the tree and make bark rubbings with wax crayons.  A trickier activity later in the week was where you had to make your own working paintbrush with a stick, twigs and a piece of string.  It was fun to see you rise to the challenge and then when achieved, you were able to see if it worked with the paints in the tuft tray.  In the afternoons, you have been chalking mini beasts on the patio.  Nina’s bumblebee was truly impressive – mummy will look forward to seeing this in your Learning Journey later in the year.  Mrs Allen has also been shopping for some new tools for the mud kitchen and you have enjoyed baking cakes with the new bowls and wooden spoons.  For decoration, you have been grating pieces of chalk – strange but very effective!

A message for parents – there are getting more and more occasions as the weeks go on where we aren’t clear as to what time the children are being collected. Please can you ensure that you let us know via email or a message on the gate at drop off as to what time you will be collecting them if there isn’t a regular pattern.  We rely heavily on the visual timetable to watch time pass and it can throw some children (and us adults with our numbers) when it isn’t clear.  Thank you!