TERM 3 WEEK 6

Not wishing to sound like my teenage daughter here but I find myself saying.....Really????

(have we really come to the end of Term 3 already?)

The answer is simple, yes we have and we certainly packed it all in.

We started the term back in January with a light dusting of snow and since then we have been cvc writing, welly walking, subitising, making sandwiches, reading, painting, singing, heading to Church, dancing, counting...the list goes on and on. I think the best way to sum it up is we have had so much fun whilst learning and playing. Therefore, the last week of this term was going to be no different - there was more fun to be had and more learning to do.

This week, we started with a whole school Worship where Ms. Munday introduced us to Children's Mental Health week. Each year, the week brings a different focus. This year the theme was 'This is My Place' and we were thinking about belonging and how young children experience their school as a place where they feel safe, welcomed, and cared for. During Worship we listened carefully to some of our older pupils explain what they thought mental health was all about - we discussed different types of feelings and how we can feel differently on different days and in different situations. 

Tuesday was Safer Internet Day. But first we had to understand what the internet is. These were some of our thoughts.....

"I know I've got it in my house but I haven't ever seen it."

I've got it too but mine breaks a lot because someone has to come and fix our internet.

" I think mine has a battery or something - I think it is in the electric"

Mine is in my Mummy's car  - it has a map" 

"Mine is in the laptop"

All these answers are just fantastic and put a smile on my face. The children are so keen to know things, they hear new vocabulary all the time and try their very best to make sense of what they hear and it is learning like this that excites me the most.

We watched the following short video.

Hmmmmmm, this then gave us an idea. We thought we would send an email using the internet. So we decided to send an email to Ms. Munday with a 'magic word' in the email that only us and Ms. Munday would know. But how long would it take this email to reach Ms. Munday - answers ranged from 11 days to 5 minutes. We invited Ms. Munday into the classroom to tell her about the plan - she would have to head back to her office, read the email and come back to us with the 'magic word' and we would be using a sand timer to measure how long it took.

We wrote the email, turned the timer over and hit SEND......all eyes were looking towards the door and you could hear a pin drop (don't know if we could have stayed that quiet for 11 days). Less than a minute later Ms. Munday appeared at our classroom door with the magic word - UNICORNS.....WOW, that was quick! Ms. Munday even received a little round of applause! We went on to read the story of Chicken Clicking (relating to using the internet) - we have several books in school that we are more than happy to share with you at home if anyone would like to borrow them - please just ask.

Wednesday, Rev. Mike led our worship and this week he talked about the significance of Shrove Tuesday, also known as Pancake Day, the day before the Christian period of Lent begins, a time to feast and use up foods such as eggs, sugar and milk, a time of fasting leading up to Easter. This year, Shrove Tuesday will take place in the half term holidays so we decided to use our Wednesday afternoon to make our own pancakes in class. Again, we introduced the children to the vocabulary of whisk (they were close, calling it a mixer, a stirrer, and whisker), we introduced the vocabulary of weighing scales (a measurer, a clock, a weigher). We talked about the ingredients and the toppings, using a juicer to juice the lemons and off we went - mixing and measuring - Mrs Langford cooked the pancakes and we ate them....even Mrs Bell popped in, following the delicious smell down the corridor!

After half term, on our first Wednesday back, we will be learning about the Lunar New Year and will be tasting foods such as noodles and spring rolls in our Chinese banquet. During Pantomimus this week, Danielle gave us a sneak preview of the Chinese Dragon dance that Robins have been learning, it was wonderful seeing all the colourful ribbons being swayed back and forth in time with the music.

In Maths on Thursday the children thought about the days of the week. We sang a song, played a game and the children enjoyed listening to the story of "The Hungry Caterpillar" they then helped to match the correct food with the correct day. When talking with your children, please encourage them to use the vocabulary yesterday and tomorrow to support them with their understanding of time throughout the week.

In Art, this week, the children were reminded about the artist Edgar Degas who enjoyed painting people. The children also remembered that he liked to paint animals. Prior to the lesson the children had thought about what animal they would like to learn to draw. Have a look at what they wanted to do - we had cheetahs, cows, rainbow pigs! What lovely pictures the children drew and they were all very proud of themselves.

Then on Friday, we finished the week off in a similar way to how we started - whole school Worship where we took some time to pause and reflect on our emotional wellbeing. Children were invited to talk about the following statements - 

“I feel happy when…”
“I feel safe when…”

Nearly every child who spoke made reference to family, friends and adults in school,  giving a real sense of belonging.

A great end to a great term.

Have a wonderful and well deserved half term break and see you all on Monday 23rd February.

( I will be heading to Wales to see my family - my sense of belonging).