Term 3 Week 3

I love writing this page.

Shall I tell you why.

Every weekend, when I sit down to type - I look back at the photos and it is only then that I truly appreciate how much the children give back - they are so enthusiastic, so energetic, so much fun and they give 100% to everything. Every day, I am in the moment with them and I don't always get chance to reflect on how the day has unfolded, then, when I write this page I get to sit back and marvel at what they bring each and every day, what they have achieved and what they have learnt. They really do demonstrate

"Living Life in all its Fullness"

This week......

We started our morning in the usual way - feeling flower into the pot, books in the basket and then onto mark making and letter formation. Next we head to the carpet for our poetry session, we learn a new poem every week. This week we learnt "Let's Put on our Mittens" and we already know that next week we are learning the poem "Pancakes". Straight after poetry we head into the Rainforest area for some 'writing'. Why am I telling you all of this - well it's because the routine is embedded, the children know exactly what they need to do and what is expected - everyday they become so much more independent and take more control of where they go and what they do. From last week to this, we can see the progress they have made with their cvc writing and what's more exciting, they talk about it, they know they are growing in confidence and are quite rightly excited and proud about their learning.

Monday afternoon in RE we were discussing God and were exploring the idea that people have different beliefs about God and express them using various symbols. We were introduced to the idea that some things exist and are all around us even though we can't seem them. "I know, like my cough" said Darcey, "Like love" said Miriam. We learnt about the Hindu faith, that they dissolve salt in water to explain the nature of God, in the Islam faith people use scent and perfume to symbolise beauty during prayer and reflection. The children were mesmerised by the activities - I don't think the incense stick I chose was the most pleasant smell (far too sweet) but the children liked the smell and even tried to catch the smoke to show me - they fully understood the concept being taught.

PE on Tuesday is always a highlight - I can never manage a good photo as the Robins are constantly on the move. This week we were in the jungle and the jungle was full of poisonous snakes (the tennis ball) and only the medicine (the large soft yellow ball) could cure you if you came into contact with poison!

The children were fantastic at playing fairly, following the rules, taking turns and just enjoying a lovely PE lesson - even though after 20 minutes they were huffing and puffing.

On Wednesday afternoon we were spreading, chopping and of course eating. We started by washing our hands and collecting the equipment we thought we would need including the rice cake 'base'. Next, we had a choice - soft cheese or butter for spreading and a choice of topping - cucumber, tomato or in some cases both! We were quite happy when at the end we got to taste our efforts - but also had to do the washing up too. Next week we hope to be able to get out and about on a Welly Walk Wednesday and then alternate our weeks between 'using small tools such as cutlery' and welly walking.

This week in Maths the children were learning about taller and shorter. We focussed on the vocabulary tall, short, taller and shorter. The children enjoyed comparing heights with each other. We then went on a walk around school and found objects as well as grown-ups who were taller and shorter than the children. 

With some chairs that we found, we found chairs that were shorter than the children and chairs that were taller than the children. We did have a little talk about Goldilocks. Maybe you could read this story at home if you have it.

In Art, the children  continued to think about texture. They remembered that if you add texture to your picture, it can "make it look more real". This week the children had great fun paining on a large scale using textured rollers to see what effects they made. There were starry skies and track marks, the children had lots of ideas.

With all this learning happening throughout the week, we ended the week in a relaxing manner - well why not. Listening to the children 'read' stories to each other always makes me smile and it is these moments that I treasure - it is these moments that make it all worthwhile!

Have a great weekend and see you all on Monday (with PE kits and Library books)