The links below give you further information about our Foundation Stage Unit. The documents clearly outline what the children will be learning about and what experiences are on offer. Key texts and songs and rhymes that we teach are included. Please click on the song links so that your children can listen to the songs at home!
In school, we follow the DfE early Years Foundation Stage Nutrition Guidance. All food must be prepared in a certain way to prevent choking. We adhere to the food preparation guidelines in the two posters below. Please ensure that all food sent in from home is prepared in the same way. Please refer to Food Safety and Hygiene Guidance from this policy which is outlined in our parent booklet. Thank you
Exploring Growing
Living and playing within a farming community, we believe it’s important to understand our local surroundings and way of life for many, so sunflowers have enjoyed a second week of our play based farms topic.
The children have continued to develop their language surrounding this, exploring the different animal names, the names of their babies, as well as different vehicles used on the farm! They have created fluffy lambs, and printed with celery to replicate horses hooves. In the sensory tray, the children have enjoyed crumbling weetabix to make beds and feed for the animals.
We have welcomed the sunshine this week too, getting outside as much as possible. We hope it stays!! ☀️
Some of the sunflowers joined their family groups this week to celebrate world book day. We've had some fantastic costumes throughout the school.
Have a great weekend
This week, Caterpillars have been reading Jasper's Beanstalk. They have enjoyed sequencing the story and learning all about what they need to make seeds grow. The children have made their own delightful cress heads and have shown that their fine motor skills are developing well. In maths, the children have been exploring the number four and the ways that the number four can be represented. To celebrate World Book Day, the children dressed up and took part in lots of fun book related activities in their family groups.
Butterflies started off their learning about growing with a visit to Saplings in the Wood. They had a lovely muddy time and even enjoyed a few smores. The children have been exploring signs of Spring and thinking about the differences between Winter and Spring. They have explored art work by Vincent Van Gogh and have enjoyed listing to the Spring Suite from Vivaldi, To celebrate World Book Day, the children dressed up and took part in lots of fun book related activities in their family groups.
Celebrating Differences
This terms focus in Sunflowers is Spring, and we have kick started this week with a focus on farms. The children have enjoyed extending their learning through the small world farm play. We have created cow prints using potato printing, and had great fun getting messy in the muddy gloop. We have explored matching the baby animal to the parent, and have been learning the correct names for the young. Watching the passing tractors during our sessions have also been very exciting.
Caterpillars have been embracing differences this week and have been talking about how they like different foods and hobbies. They have created wonderful transient art faces based on the story - It's Okay to be Different. They have created tasty looking ice creams using a range of playdough colours and their fine motor skills. They have continued to explore initial sounds and rhyming and are working really hard on their oral blending skills. What a very busy first week back! Well done Caterpillars!
This week, Butterflies have been celebrating differences and how important it is to share differences. We have been reading the wonderful story Out of the Blue. The children have been creating their own rainbow junk models of houses and have been creating drawings of colourful houses. They have developed wonderful houses from lolly sticks using their busy fingers. The children have shown their deep understanding of numbers to five as they have continued to move on in their learning of numbers - this week we have been working on the number 9 and exploring number pairs to build the number 9. The children have used a range of mathematical resources to help to demonstrate their understanding.
Stories Stories Everywhere!
The children in Sunflowers have enjoyed this terms topic, traditional tales. We have shared lots of different stories and versions of the standard fairy tales too. Sunflowers have ended the term by bringing in and sharing their favourite books from home. They’ve loved sharing these with their friends and staff. We’ve had a focus this term on small world play, extending our language and narratives as we play. This week we explored the use of the castle for the small world people. The children also created their own crowns to become princes and princesses. Have a wonderful half term.
Caterpillars have been reading one of our favourite books this week - You Choose! It has been wonderful to watch them create their own stories from the book. They have created characters and chosen settings and created their own stories to tell based on the settings that they have chosen. Their story books have helped them to be able to retell their stories to the friends and adults. It has been lovely to welcome so many Caterpillar parents and carers into school for our Progress and Play mornings. The children have loved showing everyone what we get up to! Have a very happy half term!
Butterflies have thoroughly enjoyed reading On The Way Home this week. They have explored a range of fascinating characters and the problems that they bring to the story. They have enjoyed taking part in reading the story and repeating key phrases and have also been retelling the story orally with great expression and humour. The children have created some fabulous transitional art and flying saucers - all very different and carefully completed. Butterflies have rounded the term's work on traditional stories off with a visit to Torrington Library. They enjoyed listening to stories and choosing some books to bring back to class. Have a very happy half term!
Comparing and Enjoying Traditional Tales
The children have been listening to the story of Little Red Riding Hood this week. They have had lots of play based learning; enjoying ‘picnics’ with their friends and the teddies; making cups of tea in the water; extending their play with the dolls house; and building on their understanding and use of the different toys and play opportunities we have. Sunflowers have enjoyed making their own jam sandwich with their fruit snack this week, practicing spreading and cutting the bread. We have talked about our favourite foods and created a picnic basket picture containing these.
This week the children have been enjoying the story Little Red and the Hungry Lion. They have talked about the similarities between this story and Little Red Riding Hood. They have continued to explore African patterns and have created patterns using potato printing. The children have continued to develop their mark making skills by learning to draw horizontal lines and circles. Their fine motor skills are also coming along well and they have been braiding and threading pipe cleaners. The children have enjoyed sampling pomegranate and pineapple and creating rainmakers.
This week, the Butterflies have been hearing all about the mischief of the spider Anansi. They have been reading lots of Anansi stories which are set in Ghana, Africa. The children have explored the different characters in the book and have described the setting. They have created some wonderful collage spiders and have been writing sentences about the characters and settings. In maths, the children have been learning how to write number sentences and have showed that they have a deep understanding of numbers to five. The children have explored differences between Ghana and England and have identified where Ghana is in the world. They also had a lovely time visiting The Burton Art Gallery to see their wonderful art work on display.
Exploring Ghana and Africa
“Run run as fast as you can”. This week the Sunflowers have explored the story of The Gingerbread Man. The children enjoyed retelling the story using characters in the sand; using different textures and methods to decorate their own gingerbread pictures; and enjoyed a gingerbread biscuit for snack.
This week, Caterpillars have been learning about what it is like to live in Africa. They have discovered lots about African markets and family life. The children have used their fine motor skills to create some wonderful lions. In mark making we have focused on drawing vertical lines and have used our creations for our art work. The children have enjoyed learning to sing Yellow Bird and exploring colour and pattern.
Butterflies have been learning all about Ghana in Africa. They have explored different patterns on Kente cloths and have created some fabulous art work in response to the patterns. They have really worked on their fine motor skills - particularly scissor skills to create their own Kente cloths. Butterflies have been learning all about life in Ghana and where Ghana is in the world. In maths they have been learning about the number 6. In RWI they have worked hard on their sentence writing skills.
Traditional Tales
The Sunflowers have enjoyed exploring the story of Goldilocks and the 3 bears. We’ve had a focus around this for our sensory tray, adding oats to it to feed the bears. We have been very creative this week, making our own bear faces; sticking with the oats and lots of mark making. We have also used loose parts to design our bear faces using different things. The children also enjoyed having some porridge as part of their snack this week.
Caterpillars have entered the magical world of Sleeping Beauty this week. They have made potions in Forest School and have enjoyed using their tearing, cutting and collage skills to create shields - the shields will soon be proudly displayed at The Burton Art Gallery. The children have retold the story of Sleeping Beauty using puppets and by making a puppet show. Caterpillars have been working hard on their phonics skills and are getting really confident with recognising the initial sounds in words. It's incredible to see how much the Caterpillars are developing and progressing every week.
Butterflies have been spinning and circling all week this week. Their story of the week was Rumpelstiltskin and they have enjoyed a week based on sequencing, circling and spinning. The children have created circular art work based on the famous artwork by Kandinsky. They have explored collage and layering techniques and using watercolour and oils to create circular art work. The children's art work is really developing. Their castle drawings were of an incredibly high quality due to the length of time and resilience that they demonstrated throughout the drawing process. The children thought Rumpelstiltskin was a very funny character and enjoyed retelling the story and thinking about the choices that Lily made in the story.
Welcoming the New Year with Traditional Tales
This term Sunflowers will be introduced to and exploring traditional tales. We started this week with The Three Little Pigs. We explored different construction materials to build the pigs a strong brick house. We also printed with toothbrushes to make a stick house; practised our sticking skills to create a straw house; and used shaving foam ‘cement’ to build a brick house.
Caterpillars have been huffing and puffing all week! They have been reading the story of The Three Little Pigs as part of their work on Traditional Tales. The children have explored printing, materials and textures and then created wonderful straw and brick houses using printing and collage techniques. Using puppets and masks to retell the story was a huge success! The children have used their fine motor skills to create playdough mazes to blow pom poms through. They have also focused on playing games and taking turns - it's wonderful to see how their play language and confidence is developing. A super week!
This week Butterflies have been exploring bridges and structures. They have enjoyed learning about a whole range of different bridges and materials that are used to make bridges. They have learned the song London Bridge and have enjoyed reading the story of Three Billy Goats Gruff. They were superstars at retelling the story with lots of expression and exciting vocabulary. They were able to map the three main parts of the story using a story map and made some super illustrations. The children experimented with creating sturdy structures out of various different construction kits and have also learned a range of junk modelling joins which has enabled them to make some successful junk model bridges. The Butterflies enjoyed a walk along the Tarka Trail on Friday to see the different bridges along the route.
Frozen Worlds
Sunflowers welcomed Christmas this week. We made our own ‘Christmas lights’ and started to make some special gifts for our families. The children enjoyed scooping and pouring to fill the reindeer jars; and using their fine motor skills to decorate their own Christmas tree. We explored the Christmas sensory trays, looking at the different decorations and talking about what we have in our own homes this Christmas. Some of the Sunflowers also joined the main school for a school Christmas lunch this week.
Sunflowers enjoyed our continued winter play this week. We shared the story “Snowball”. We created our own snowy scenes and learnt what an igloo is. We printed snowball pictures and made melting snowmen art too. Sunflowers enjoyed a ‘snowball’ biscuit treat for snack. With the play dough, we practised our ball rolling, building on our gross and fine motor skills, to create snow balls.
This week, Caterpillars have been exploring frozen worlds and ice. They loved making their own melted snowmen and reading the story of the week in small groups with their friends. The children have explored Winter and continued to learn about celebrating Christmas. They had a lovely time at their Christmas Dinner on Tuesday - eating their Christmas Lunch with their family group friends from across the school.
Butterflies have been investigating and exploring ice and melting this week. They have used their curiosity to make snow, ice and igloos using ice cubes and baking powder. The children have flashbacked to earlier learning about the word 'Unique' and have been creating their own unique snowflakes after reading The Snowflake Mistake. It has been wonderful to see how much progress the children have made with their writing this term - their Christmas card writing is fabulous!
Caterpillars have been learning about the Christmas Story this week by reading the story Jesus' Christmas Party. In the story all of the shepherds, angels, kings and animals wake up the Inkeeper during their search for Baby Jesus. This story has given the children the opportunity to learn about the different characters and roles before taking part in our own Christmas Carol Service. The children have been using their developing fine motor skills to decorate and make angels and Christmas tree decorations.
Butterflies have been building their knowledge about trees this week. In contrast to last week, this week they have been learning about evergreen trees and bushes. They have been reading the wonderful book Tree whicih follows a woodland habitat through the 4 different seasons. The children have created some fabulous Christmas tree craft and Christmas writing. Butterflies enjoyed a wonderful woodland walk at Melbury Woods, this gave them an excellent chance to identify deciduous and evergreen trees and bushes. The Christmas trees were beautiful!
This week the Sunflowers welcomed the wintery months. We explored different textures to create our own snowy picture. Sunflowers enjoyed the sensory experience of 'jelli snow' to make homes for the penguins. We look forward to exploring winter further next week too, before the excitement of Christmas begins!
Caterpillars have been exploring Winter and all of the wonderful signs of winter. They have been dazzling the unit with their glitter skills and have created some fabulous Christmas cards. The children have been developing their oral blending skills and have been thinking about the clothes that they need to wear to keep warm and dry in the winter. They explored snow dough and loved making snowballs.
This week, Butterflies have been learning all about deciduous trees - they have made up a new rhyme - deciduous trees lose their leaves! The children have continued to think about the changes that Winter brings. The children have enjoyed creating winter small world scenes and have shown a great deal of creativity. They are doing amazingly with their word writing and letter formation.. In maths, they have explored the properties of circles and triangles.
This week in Sunflowers we have started to prepare for the winter and the change in weather ❄️. We introduced the children to hibernation. We created warm dens for the animals in the sensory tray; created a bear using a mix of painting and sticking skills; and we practised our fine motor skills to create play dough hedgehogs. The children also enjoyed creating their own dens to sleep in.
Caterpillars have been exploring night time and nocturnal animals this week. They have been thinking about the stars and enjoyed taking part in torch night time adventures. Caterpillars have used their developing fine motor skills to create the most wonderful owls. They used printing and paint flicking techniques! In maths, the children have continued to work on their counting skills and in phonics have developed their listening skills. What a lovely week! Have a great weekend!
Butterflies have been learning all about nocturnal animals this week. They have had their investigative heads on and have experimented with making their own bats and exploring how they could use straws and string to help them fly. The children have created night time scenes and have really enjoyed developing their writing skills in the writing area. We had a wonderful beat hunt adventure during our walk to Torrington Commons. The children identified lots of signs of winter during our beautiful frosty and sunny walk. Have a lovely weekend!
A Festival of Light
Sunflowers have had a fantastic week. We enjoyed reading Elmers Colours, and reflecting this in our play. Sunflowers have created their own Elmer pictures, experimenting with printing and sticking. We have also explored a colour tray with different materials alongside construction toys to practise fitting together using our fine motor skills. As well as a colourful sweet treat! Sunflowers also took a moment to think about and remember those people who keep us safe, making Poppies to mark the occasion. To end the week, we celebrated Children In Need, creating our own spotty Pudsey Bears, some of us dressed up too.
Caterpillars have been exploring the Hindu festival of Diwali this week. The Unit has been a dazzling picture of colour and lights. The children have enjoyed learning about the celebration and how Hindu children prepare to celebrate Diwali. The children have enjoyed immersing themselves in music, art work and stories and information books all about Diwali. The children have explored the similarities and differences between the Hindu celebration of Diwali and how they might celebrate birthdays and family celebrations.
Along with the Caterpillars, Butterflies have been learning all about the Hindu celebration of Diwali. their focus has been on the similarities and differences between this celebration and celebrations that they might prepare for. They have also developed their understanding of what Hindu temples are like and how families prepare to celebrate Diwali. The children have continued to develop their clay and fine motor skills - this week making Diwa Lamps. We also enjoyed a visit to Merry Harriers cafe to learn what it is like to work in a cafe - this will help us to develop our own cafe role play in FSU.
An Explosion of Colour
Caterpillars have had a colourful and explosive return to school! This week, they have been learning all about fireworks. They have flashed back to previous learning about colour and have been exploring lots of different art processes. Mark making in glitter has also been a sparkly highlight! The children have been learning about the importance of safety when watching and being near fireworks and sparklers. They have also thought about how fireworks can affect animals and what we can do to help them. What a fabulous start to the new term!
Butterflies have been immersing themselves in fireworks, colour and poetry this week! They have loved every minute of exploring colour and the different ways that firework art can be created. They have learnt the poem Zim Zam Zoom off by heart and have created a video of their poetry recital to share with their parents. On Friday, the children visited Harbour in Bideford to deliver all of the school's harvest donations. They helped to put all of the donations on the shelves and discovered lots about the role of of foodbanks in the local community. It's been a super start to the term!
Autumn has arrived 🍁
Sunflowers have embraced the changes this week has brought. We’ve enjoyed playing both inside and wrapping up to explore outside. Outside we’ve jumped in puddles, found worms, noticed the leaves changing colour, and made some ‘soup’ in the water tray.
Inside sunflowers have been just as busy. We have created our own autumn tree pictures, looked at and drawn pumpkins, and made orange scented play-dough. We have also had great fun in various sensory trays that have helped to explore the changes autumn brings, the colours and textures.
We have had a great first half term, and would like to wish you all a very happy half term 🎃
Caterpillars have been helping the Squirrel from The Leaf Thief this week. They have continued to explore signs of Autumn and investigate what happens to the leaves during Autumn. The children have continued to develop their fine motor skills through making Autumn wreaths and scarecrow collages - the collages all had such character! There has been a very cosy feel to the week, making mini apple pies has been great fun - they were delicious! We have enjoyed welcoming our lovely parents and carers this week for Play and Progress Sessions. It has been lovely to share stories and celebrate the progress that the children have made since September. Thank you so much to parents and carers for all of your support this term. Have a very restful holiday!
Pumpkins pumpkins everywhere! The children have thrown themselves into all things Pumpkin Soup this week. They have been exploring the roles of the characters in the story and thinking about the setting and problems in the story. It has been incredible to see the progress that the children have made with their reading, writing and maths this term. The children have been showing off their writing skills by labelling an illustration from the story with words containing three sounds. They are using their Fred Spelling really well! Carving and scooping out the pumpkins has been great fun. The children used their fine motor skills to chop and blend some tasty Pumpkin Soup.
This week Sunflowers have enjoyed hunting for the bear. We have visited the outdoor learning space, and been for a walk in our local area; we even found a bear! We’ve explored different sensory experiences to help us recall the story in our play, as well as using our bodies to move around in different ways as we’ve acted out parts of the story. Sunflowers have also been practising using some of our prepositions, to place the bear under and over objects in our play.
Caterpillars have been immersing themselves in the story We're Going on a Bear Hunt. They have explored retelling the story through dance, sensory trays and activities, creating bears and creating obstacle courses outside. It's lovely to hear all of the children joining in with telling the story. The children have created fabulous bears and have continued to work on their fine motor skills of cutting and pinching. They have very much enjoyed exploring the compost and sieving and squeezing. Caterpillars were wonderfully curious during our Autumn Walk around Monkleigh. They found co many signs of Autumn and even some bears! Please remember our Progress and Play Sessions for parents next Monday and Friday. Thank you and have a lovely weekend.
Butterflies have been reading the wonderful story It's a No Money Day. This explores the themes of community and foodbanks. The story has given the children the opportunity to explore feelings and emotions associated with the story. They have explored the important role of foodbanks in the community and developed a good understanding of the meaning of the word donate. The children have thought carefully about what they would like to do on a 'No Money Day' and have drawn some wonderful illustrations to help them explain. In maths, we have explored repeating patterns and enjoyed using a Topmarks Maths online game. Butterflies are looking forward to visiting Harbour in Bideford after half term to deliver Harvest Donations from children and parents in school. Thank you for the wonderful donations, they will be gratefully received. Have a lovely weekend.
Looking after our Teeth and our Bodies
Sunflowers this week have explored our emotions, and looked at how our faces change in the mirror. We shared a story about how it’s ok to be sad or frustrated, and talked about the different ways we can ask for help to calm our bodies again. We made our own sensory bottles, using our fine motor skills to fill the bottles with glitter and beads, and pour in the coloured water. We enjoyed shaking them up, and calmly watching it dance around. Sunflowers enjoyed created different faces and making Mr Potato Head too.
Caterpillars have been learning about the importance of brushing their teeth and keeping their bodies and hands clean. They have been working on their fine motor skills and holding a toothbrush to clean the babies and the teeth models. The children have been learning all about germs and took part in an interesting pepper and soap experiment to find out what they need to do to wash their hands well. They have enjoyed reading Be Brave Little Penguin and have created their own wonderful penguins. Have a lovely weekend!
Butterflies have been learning about the importance of Healthy Eating and eating a balanced diet. They have also been exploring emotions and different feelings that they might experience and what they can do to help them or others. The children enjoyed making tasty smoothies, they chopped and prepared their own fruit and enjoyed drinking their smoothies. Butterflies enjoyed exploring Weare Woods to look for signs of Autumn and to find fairies! Have a lovely weekend.
Healthy Body and Healthy Mind
Cheese! This week Sunflowers have explored and learnt about teeth cleaning through their play. We have 'cleaned' teeth, painted with the tooth brushes, looked at our own teeth with mirrors and tried some yummy and healthy fruits. The children have learnt a new song about brushing teeth, and shared with each other who in their house helps them to make their smiles sparkling. We have used gross motor movements to mimic the circles, and up and down motions we use to brush our teeth.
Caterpillars have enjoyed experiencing and tasting a rainbow of fruits and vegetables this week. The children have been thinking about healthy food choices. They have explored printing and painting with various vegetables and have created some vibrant paintings. Threading pasta on the string has given the children the opportunity to work on their fine motor skills. The children have been exploring different sour, sweet and salty foods and using their words to describe the foods. They have created their own recipes and meals with small world items and have enjoyed talking about recipes.
This week, Butterflies have been learning all about the importance of exercise and getting enough sleep. They have enjoyed retelling and sequencing the story Peace at Last using pictures and our wonderful story sack. It was fabulous to hear them retelling the story with such expression. The children have been drawing their favourite sports and exercise and have been telling the adults all about what they do to stay active.
Please scroll down to find out what we have been up to!
Welcome to School!
What a wonderful, sunny week we have had.
Sunflowers have explored colours this week. We’ve enjoyed getting messy with the paints; experimenting with different painting tools (hands are a strong favourite!). As well as how colours change as we mix them. We’ve sorted the animals by colour, and talked about the colours we see around us in our play.
We were lucky this week to go and join an outdoor learning session too. Exploring the mud kitchen, the water cascades, having a conker hunt, and a little hot chocolate and biscuit treat too 🤩
Have a lovely weekend ☀️
Caterpillars have thoroughly enjoyed exploring their understanding of going to school this week. They have read Lulu's First Day which is a wonderful story which introduces the children to the routines and experiences of school. The children have been thinking about being a kind friend and playing kindly with their friends. The children have created the most wonderful circular patterns which are inspired by Lulu's dress that she wore on her first day at school. They used their developing fine motor skills to hold the poms and print lots of different colour. The children have enjoyed playing Guess Who? With pictures of all of the members of staff in school. They have continued to immerse themselves in learning about colours and shades through painting and their play. Have a restful weekend!
Butterflies have fallen in love with the Colour Monster this week while reading The Colour Monster Goes to School. They have considered what they need to bring to school to be ready for learning. The Colour Monster brought alien seeking goggles - the children decided they didn't need to bring these to Monkleigh! The children have created their own colour monster pictures and a large scale collage of the colour monster. The children have enjoyed carrying out a photograph trail around the school and have welcomed Mrs Reeves - Our Headteacher into class to ask her questions about what she does in school. In maths the children have been developing their sorting and matching skills using a range of objects.
Families Families Families
This week the Sunflowers have enjoyed the story Owl Babies, remembering Mummy (Daddy / Granny etc) always comes back. We have experimented with potato printing to create our own owl babies pictures, explored in the sensory tray and enjoyed sharing photos of our own families with our friends.
We have continued to settle in our new environment, develop our confidence exploring the room, and of course had fun outside in all weathers.
Caterpillars have had a truly amazing week this week and are settling in so well! They have had a wonderful week of creating family collages and talking fondly about their families and pets. The children's cutting skills are really coming along. Caterpillars have been exploring colour this week in maths and have found lots of objects in school that are different colours. The children have enjoyed music and exploring rhythm with rhythm sticks. The children have thoroughly enjoyed reading Families Families Families and celebrating differences in families. Have a lovely weekend.
Butterflies have had a wonderful week this week! They have been learning all about families and sharing lots of stories and information about their own families. They have created the most fabulous photo frames for their family photographs and are really proud of what they have achieved. In maths, the children have been matching and sorting socks, cubes, feathers and bears! The children have worked hard on their fine motor skills and have created their own friendship bracelets with beads and pipe cleaners. Their concentration was very impressive. We were also really impressed with their drawing skills when they were drawing and telling us all about their favourite toys. What a super week! Have a restful weekend!
Welcome Back!
Wow what an amazing start to the year. We have loved seeing everyone back after the summer break, and welcoming some new faces too. Sunflowers have spent the week focusing on settling in, and building relationships with both peers and the adults caring for them. Together, we have read the book ‘Goat Goes To Playgroup’, enjoying comparing our day at school to Goat’s. Sunflowers have quickly built on their confidence exploring both inside and out; experimenting with the climbing and balancing equipment; playing with the vehicles in the sand; and a favourite of the week for many, getting messy with the paints.
We are so incredibly proud of all of our Caterpillars. They have settled so well into the term. They are forming strong relationships with all of the adults and are enjoying exploring our setting and all of the experiences we have on offer. They have enjoyed stories, cuddles and playing over the week and have been reading the book It's Me! The children have created some lovely face pictures and enjoyed their first Forest School Sessions this week. Have a lovely weekend.
Wow! Our new Butterflies have been truly fabulous from the very beginning of the year. They have come into school smiling and full of enthusiasm. It has been wonderful to share their lovely timeline scrapbooks and powerpoint presentations with them and to learn lots about them, their families and their lives. The children are settling into routines and have enjoyed reading Super Duper You - this book features our motto for the year - Be Proud, Be Brave, Be Brilliant!
Celebrating the Final Days of the School Year!
Sunflowers have welcomed summer the last few weeks. We made the most of the sunshine we were treated with, getting lots of outdoor and water play in. We have continued to explore ocean animals, making our own turtle crafts through different painting techniques. Sunflowers then stepped back onto dry land, with our focus being more beach based. We have painted shells, made ‘ice creams’ and decorated sun catchers (trying to entice the sun back!). We continue to use books to help us extend our learning; helping us experience things we may not have done yet, as well as a useful tool to aid us with our language skills and recalling our own past events.
Wow what a year it has been. We’ve had lots of fun in sunflowers, and they have all made incredible achievements. We are all very proud. We would like to wish everyone a very happy summer holidays. Look forward to seeing you all in the new school year, as well as welcoming some new friends too.
As our summer term draws to a close, Caterpillars have been learning all about Brazil and the wonderful Amazon rainforest!
They have thoroughly enjoyed exploring which animals live there and learning all about them. They have been creating their own fabulous carnival masks and learning how to dance the Samba! They've been testing their balance skills by trying to avoid getting eaten by the caimans and have been developing their fine motor skills with many rainforest themed activities.
Our Caterpillars have worked so hard this year and we couldn't be prouder of their achievements! We would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a really lovely summer break!
Over the last two weeks, Butterflies have enjoyed diving into the world of coral reefs. They have continued their learning about Australia and have been learning about the wonderful coral and other creatures who live in The Great Barrier Reef. The children have enjoyed learning the compass directions North, East, South and West and the saying 'naughty elephants squirt water!' The children have used the compass to help them describe different locations in Australia.
We have been blown away by the progress that the children have made this year. We have had the most wonderful experiences and the children have been incredible to work with. We wish them all the best as they flutter off to Year 1 to continue their learning journey.
The Sunflowers have taken a deep dive into the ocean this week. We have explored the different animals in the sea with the use of water play and different books. We have built on our fine motor skills, threading onto the jellyfish tentacles and going fishing with the magnetic rods. Sunflowers have also created a colourful fish, using and extending our colour knowledge.
This week Caterpillars are starting to learn about Brazil! We have been reading the story of Tico Tango. In the story Tico Tango steals, lots of fruit from his friends. The fruit included passionfruit, papaya and mango, so the children have been trying these fruits and discussing their thoughts about them. The children have made their own fabulous Tico Tangos too! Caterpillars have also been introduced to some samba dancing and are really enjoying this! Next week we will be exploring the Amazon rainforest and learning more about the culture of Brazil!
Butterflies have been flashing back to learning from their beach visit last week and have been learning about the harmful effects of plastic pollution on our oceans, sea creatures and birds. They have read the story Duffy's Lucky Escape and have been discussing how harmful plastic can be to our ocean animals. The children have been learning about the importance of recyling and making their own fish out of plastic bottles and waste. We are looking forward to flying off to Australia next week!
Sunflowers this week have taken their learning about habitats to the woods. We enjoyed exploring the different animals in the sensory tray, painted a woodland tree picture, and used triangles of various sizes to create a fox picture. As always, having a selection of books (both fiction and non-fiction) have helped to extend understanding and vocabulary, as well as continuing to build independence with use of and the enjoyment of books. We have also learnt a new woodland themed song.
What a busy couple of weeks we've had in Caterpillars!Last week we shared the story of The Lighthouse Keepers Lunch! The children learnt the importance of a lighthouse and created their own. They also talked about what Mr Grimling might have for lunch and enjoyed making their own jam sandwiches too! Our soon to be butterflies experienced a day of fun at the Milkyway for their end of caterpillars day out!
And this week we have been sharing the story of Myrtle and the turtle. We have been learning about sea pollution and the effects it has on the ocean and what we could do to make a difference and lower sea pollution on our beaches close to home. We have been saving our under the sea animals from pollution this week and cleaning them in fresh water. We have also been drawing our own under the sea pictures. We have also been using unwanted recycling to create our own fantastic junk modelling marine animals.
Butterflies have had a very busy couple of weeks. FSU Sports Day was a huge success. They have enjoyed reading Sally and the Limpet and developing their sentence writing skills. They have explored characters, settings and problems in stories. Delving into the world of rock pools before our beach trip has also been very exciting. Butterflies had a very exciting visit to the beach and the rock pools and enjoyed exploring the habitats. Transition day went well as we waved our fluttering Butterflies off to Year 1 for the day and welcomed our Caterpillars who soon will become Butterflies!
This week the Sunflowers have been to the jungle. We have had lots of fine motor skills practice; creating a stripy tiger with cotton buds, and completing puzzles. We have created a jungle scene in the sand, and decorated a springy snake. Sunflowers have enjoyed learning new words linked to the different animals we have explored.
This week our Caterpillars have been sharing the story of Tiddler, a strong favourite amongst them! They have loved joining in with the familiar phrases of the story! They have made some play dough and have been putting their dough gym experience to the test and using dough challenge cards, this meant the children had to find ways to manipulate the play dough to create starfish, seaweed and tentacles to name a few! They have played with the under the sea jelly and sand to experience two different sensory experiences. They have been using a step by step to draw Tiddler and have created some fantastic fish as well as keeping those fingers busy through many under the sea related activities! The children have thoroughly enjoyed exploring marine animals!
This week, Butterflies have been diving into habitats and learning all about rock pools in preparation for our up and coming beach trip. The children have enjoyed reading Sharing a Shell and engaging with lots of communication and language activities about the characters and setting in the story. They are creating some excellent sentences on a daily basis now. A real highlight this week has been playing rock pool bingo! We also welcomed a visitor from South West Water who talked to the children about plastic pollution - this has really set up our learning about plastic pollution. We are very much looking forward to sports day next week!
