World Book Day
Pioneers delved into a selection of new and loved wonderful texts. This week we have been enjoying Dave’s Big Breakfast Blast Off and Dave-two books about a big fat cat and his adventures. It involves animals feeding him too many beans and the inevitable happens and Dave “blasts off” . We had great fun sharing the count down together, painting pictures of Dave and making a story map together. In the afternoon we visited our reading buddies in Discoverers Class. We brought the books and they helped with the big words. To end the day, we went into our new school library to share our last story of the day. Amelia finished the day beautifully by saying that it was the best story ever because it had a happy ending. So lovely.
Happy Reading
Spirituality Day
This was such a beautiful day. We discussed some huge questions and the answers really made me sit up and think.
Are you ever alone? Does it matter what you do? If you can’t see it,is it real? What do we need to learn? Are we part of something much bigger?
The children were given a selection of materials and they chose how they wanted to combine and arrange them. They were able to articulate why they had chosen the shapes and the colours. They talked about the circle of life,about all the pieces fitting and and resoundingly agreed that happiness was vital.
There was a quiet sense of purpose. Everyone worked together,helping each other and sharing. So good.
Making Patterns
Over the course of this week, we have been discussing shape and pattern. The children have been quick to spot repetition and can describe differences in size,shape and position. We used coloured rods,pegs and beads. The Numicon sparked new conversations about number patterns. They are very interested in odd and even and noticed the pattern with the Numicon and on the number square. This was very exciting work and I did say “Wow” quite a few times when they spotted and described patterns. That’s Maths Magic.
Kung Hei Fatt Choy
Families were invited to join our learning in every classroom of the school. In Pioneer Class, the children showed their parents how to decorate the Lucky envelopes. They used the computer to find out which animal they were. The parents drew a picture. We had a selection of spices to use with the dough and had discussed the fragrances. It was busy, but lovely.
Chocolate Mud Pies and Other Recipes
The whole school celebrated our Chocolate theme with a Chocolate Day. We went to the forest and made pies and milkshakes and chocolate brownie. We wrote recipes on clipboards and displayed them in the mud kitchen. Everyone worked together. It was beautiful learning on a beautiful day.
Reading
This week, the children have been enjoying sharing their Chocolate Cake stories. Over the last couple of weeks, the whole school has been inspired by Michael Rosen’s Chocolate Cake poem and have been creating their own versions of the text. Children have also enjoyed writing for purpose and publishing their stories.
On Thursday afternoon, the Pioneers and Discoverers had a wonderful time sharing and enjoying each other’s stories. It was a special time for everyone.
Lovely Visitors
Today was magnificent. Pioneers had a visit from David the Show Sheep and a 2 day old lamb. The children were as calm as possible and were very gentle with the lovely creatures. David liked a ginger biscuit,preferring these to the carrots. Children and Sheep behaved very well and we are most grateful to Layla’s Family for taking the time to bring them in and make the learning real. We now know that the baby only drinks milk and that she needs to be kept nice and warm. The children were fascinated by her tiny hooves. The question at the end of the day was,”When are the sheep coming back?”
So good. Such fun. So much learning.
Actual Snow
Everything had to stop when the snow started. There was nothing else that we could do other than put on our coats and get out and experience the cold. Lots of learning took place when questions required answers.
“Why is my hat wet?”
“Why do my fingers hurt?”
“How can I stop my fingers hurting?”
“Is it actual snow?”
“Can we make snow angels?” Sadly, there wasn’t quite enough snow to make angels, but we all had fun in the flurry of snow on Thursday Morning.
Chocolate Cake
Our theme for the term is Chocolate and we have chosen the most wonderful poem by Micheal Rosen as our starting point and inspiration. We have a Chocolate Shop and we have been creating bags of sweets and writing labels. We have made little chocolate buns, written shopping lists and worked on writing the verbs from the recipe. Please do pop in and admire the wonderful independent writing on our walls.