Snow, Sun and World Book Day Fun!
Thank you all for coming to school in your wonderful World Book Day costumes on Monday. We had a great time exploring different popular stories throughout the week and celebrating the importance and enjoyment of reading.
We were a little surprised by the snow on Wednesday! Foundation love exploring the snow, so we took the opportunity to go outside in small groups to do a bit of mark-making with our bodies and sticks.
When the sun came out in the following days, we saw some fabulous child-led learning, as the children collectively decided to work together to make their own stage using the large construction blocks. There were some amazing performers and performances!
The children have enjoyed their first week observing the chick eggs in the classroom. We’ve had lots of discussion and are working together to take care of them. We gently turn them over each day as we count them and are marking off the days until the very egg-citing hatching!
Foundation have all been working on their special cards for Mothering Sunday. F2 have been writing about why their mummies are so fantastic!
If you were able to attend the assembly, we hope you enjoyed seeing our ‘people who care for us’ artwork and hearing about all the lovely things the children wanted to share with you all.
We wish you a very Happy Mother’s Day.
Snow Closures and World Book Day Reschedule
Thank you parents and carers for your understanding regarding the school closures this week. It’s always our first priority to keep the children safe and could not ensure that this would be possible with the staff who could make it to school. We hope that the children enjoyed their time in the snow – we don’t see snow that deep very often!
The severe weather resulted in World Book Day being cancelled. The children had been so excited about coming to school dressed up so we have decided to have our own book day on Monday 05 March. Please come into school and share a book with your child. We’re opening to everyone in Foundation from 8.30am so there will be a little extra time to read a story.
Our eggs arrived safely on Tuesday and went into the incubator on Wednesday. The eggs will take 21 days to hatch and we’ll have to take good care of them. Watch this space for updates on their progress or come in and have a look for yourselves.
As the cold weather is set to stay please ensure that your child has named hat and gloves/ mittens at school every day. The children love to be outside exploring the weather and changes to the environment.
Please don’t forget to tell us about your child’s ‘Wow’ moments. Maybe it’s the first time they’ve been on a sledge or made their own snowman. Let us know what you have been up to and we can add it to your child’s learning journal.
This week in Foundation…
During our first week back after half term, Foundation have been learning about Chinese New Year through stories, film, activities and discussions.
- What can your child tell you about Chinese New Year?
- What stories can they remember from this week?
We’ve also been visited by ‘The Bug Lady’! Lots of the children were very brave, holding the minibeasts in their hands, on their legs and stroking their shells. We found out many interesting facts and were very proud of how well the children listened.
- Can your child tell you which minibeasts they saw?
- Where do the minibeasts come from?
- What were the differences between the girl and boy stick insects?
Next week, we’re looking forward to lots of ‘World Book Day’ inspired learning. Don’t forget your costumes on Thursday and parents/carers, please do join us for our Stay and Play to share a book with your child: 8.30-9.15am.
Well done…
Foundation had another great half-term of learning! Enjoy a lovely break with your family and friends and don’t forget to fill in those Time to Talk sheets (sent home on Friday), so that we can hear all about it when we return to school on Monday 19 February.
The Story of The Creation
Foundation enjoyed an incredibly fun and interactive workshop this morning, presented by Hand to Mouth Ministries.
The workshop focused on the story of The Creation, with a particular emphasis on how special all of God’s creations in nature are. The children discussed how individual and special we all are, especially to the people who love us.
Take a look at the pictures below which capture some special moments from the experience.
What can your child tell you about the story they heard today?
Pure Sounds- Phonics
F2 children have now learnt all Phase 2 phonics sounds and are moving on to Phase 3.
It’s really important that children pronounce ‘pure sounds’ when practising and using their phonics in reading and writing.
The video posted below has been created by teachers Mrs Flynn and Miss Eckersley, who teach Reception at one of our federation schools. (You might recognise Mrs Flynn!) It gives examples of both the correct pronunciation of each phase 2 sound and the actions we use in class to remind ourselves of the sounds.
Please use this video to help support your child’s learning at home.
Wonderful Workshops
We were lucky enough to experience two wonderful workshops in Foundation this week.
The charity D:side visited us at the start of the week. Through a fun and interactive session, the children were taught different ways to keep happy, healthy and safe. They discussed ways to be a good friend, the foods and activities that will keep our bodies healthy and important information about medicines: who is allowed to administer it, where medicines should be stored and why we shouldn’t touch it.
Can your child tell you some facts they have learnt this week about keeping healthy and safe?
On Wednesday, the children enjoyed their first ‘Mini-Music’ workshop led by ArtForms – Wetherby Music Centre. They had a fantastic time learning percussion instrument names/ how they are played and playing along to a beat, stopping and starting on cue. They also sang songs and played along to the tunes with the instruments. We are looking forward to continuing the music sessions over the next few weeks and developing lots of new skills!
Marvellous Mathematics!
A big thank you to all of the parents who were able to attend the Marvellous Mathematics Stay and Play this afternoon. The children are always so excited to share their learning with you and we hope you enjoyed seeing our Maths in action!
Rainy Play, Hip Hip Hooray!
The weather this week has been very grey and drizzly but that hasn’t stopped Foundation showing some amazing child-led learning.
We’ve had rainy painting and phonics on the board and we’ve seen fantastic, imaginative construction – making dens, racing cars and helicopters. The children have also been making bottle-top boats, floating them in puddles and then on the tuff tray. They’ve been experimenting with ways to make them move faster.
Who says rainy days have to be dull?!
Welcome to Spring 1!
A warm welcome back to Foundation stage this week. Children have been full of beans talking and writing about all of their lovely, festive news!
It’s great to see that the children have come back ready to learn with fantastic attitudes. We’ve seen hairdressers, show performers, dogs and dinosaurs through their independent imaginative play this week, giving us lots of exciting planning ideas for upcoming learning.
We’re beginning to trial having snack times together in Foundation. We hope this will provide another opportunity for talking and learning together. It also has other benefits such as making sure the children all have their snack in the morning (keeping up those energy and concentration levels) and that they are using ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ in their daily interactions.
PE will start again next week for F2 children. If you’ve not done so already, please return a named kit to school by Tuesday 09 January. PE will now take place on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
A letter will be coming home with your child tomorrow about our next Stay and Play session. ‘Marvellous Maths’ will take place on Thursday 18 January at 2.30pm. We hope to see lots of you there 🙂