One of the children said that their favourite book was The Giant Jam Sandwich. After reading it we decided that it would be a good idea to make our own one. No wasps were invited. Fingers were sticky. Lots of discussions followed about size and shape and comparisons were made. Some liked lots of jam while others opted for less. Lots of talk and lots of learning. We made a story map to help us remember what we did.
Happy Learning
Over a busy first two days in school, our Autumn topic was launched with a focus on art. We learned about different artists (John Constable, Catherine Stephenson and David Hockney) and the styles they used for their own art. We focussed on a range of different skills with the children developing expertise in each before putting all these skills together to create part of a whole school piece of art.
Building with big and small bricks and other random items is very popular with the Pioneers. Through this construction work we have been discussing the names of 2D and 3D shapes,using positional language and learning to play in a small space with our friends. This takes a lot of skill. The children have found ways to solve problems,building chairs for themselves and for their toys. The team work has been fantastic. Some children have built towers and then compared their height with the height of the tower. Others have experimented with balancing and given consideration to the size and the shape of the surfaces they are using.
Such purposeful learning.
We are working really hard to promote reading at Sleights. Over the last few days, we have undertaken the huge job of reorganising our whole school library. Every book is now banded, so that every child can choose from a huge range of texts that interest them. We are really excited by this!
The Discoverers were the first class to then create their own classroom book collection using the newly organised texts. The library was a brilliant hive of activity, as children debated titles and battled over blurbs. The children’s genuine interest was so lovely to see and created such a buzz.
We are really excited to now start enjoying the new classroom collection!
Mr Grason
So much discovery and learning goes on outside. We have so many different little corners and open spaces to explore. The apple tree is dropping apples and they have been used to fly through some pipe pieces. Others have explored the floating and sinking of natural materials-apples,leaves and sand mainly. The big building materials are always popular and the Pioneers have been creating homes and towers and some complex slides. Turn taking and following rules are always useful skills to work on and a big group sorted out there own game of searching for hidden items. This was beautiful to watch. Digging continues in one small corner and I am told that it does wonders for upper body strength and developing muscles and flexibility in the wrists and arms-all good for developing writing…and it makes a mess.
Happy Learning
As part of our new topic ‘This Green and Pleasant Land’ the children painted part of the beautiful view from the school playground.
Over two days the children enjoyed learning lots of new skills including: colour mixing, sketching, collage, brush strokes and using different textures and tones.
They also looked at the work of three landscape artists: David Hockney, Catherine Stephenson and John Constable.
Over the first two days of School, we enjoyed immersing ourselves in art. We enjoyed mixing colours, sketching, brush techniques and making collages. We learnt lots of new skills and had lots of fun!
Wow Leaders, what a start! During PE this week Leaders have been using their skills to set up a range of activities for Learners to take part in. The children devised and set up all the activities to practice basic skills before leading small groups of Learners through it, supporting and encouraging them along the way.
Mrs Walker and Mrs Brown witnessed some fantastic teamwork and leadership skills in Leaders and some fantastic feedback from Learners about their favourite activities. Well done everyone!
Every Monday after school ,families are invited to stay and play and get to know what goes on in Pioneer Class. Each week different activities will be set out. This week we tried a bit of painting and played around with Numicon. The Russian Dolls are a big hit. It was very lovely to have time to chat and play together.
Happy Learning
To l.aunch our new topic, we started with art. What a fantastic day. All the children have used pastels and danced on paper to “I like to move it,move it” Mark making was a full body work out. We went to the forest and collected a selection of green things. On our return to the classroom we printed with plungers and mashers,whisks and cogs. It was clear that everyone was focussed and had a plan. Please pop in to see more photographs of the process.
