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Week 22 Update

We have enjoyed continuing with our story ‘The Gingerbread Man’ in Acorn class. We have role played the story using puppets on our new stage and have pretended we are the little old lady, making gingerbread in the home corner. We have also made our own ginger playdough and have LOVED playing with it! It smells delicious! We have also done a little experiment to see why the Gingerbread Man couldn’t swim across the river!

We have some new toys in our outdoor area, which we are enjoying during Busy Time and we had great fun on our trip to Cattle Country!

Week 21 Update

Our story this week is The Gingerbread Man.  We started off our learning by decorating some gingerbread – it was yummy!  We also listened to the story and learned the words ‘sly’ and ‘cunning’.  Later in the week, we will be making ginger scented playdough and will be decorating them with buttons and other little loose parts.  Lots of children are enjoying role playing the story on our new stage area and the adults have heard lots of children repeat the phrase, ‘Run, run as fast as you can’!
In Maths, we are learning about odd and even numbers.  We have learned that even numbers can be put into pairs, or groups of 2 and it is fair.  Odd numbers have one odd piece left over, which does not have a partner.
It has been incredible to see how many children are wanting to write sentences this term!  Everyone is proud of thie new learning journey book!  Keep it up Acorn class!

Week 20 Update

Acorn had a wonderful time on their school trip on Friday!  We visited Robinswood Hill and went on a minibeast safari around different habitats, such as the woodland and the pond!  We found different creatures, including worms, snails, tadpoles and newts!  Even some of the adults learned new things about these animals!  We also found a Willow tree!
In Maths this week, we have been taking away small amounts and have started to use the symbols for subtraction.
We are sharing lots of stories from different countries and cultures as part of our new topic, ‘Big Wide World’.  During our Reading Explorer session, we acted out the story of Handa’s Surprise.  Some of us also enjoyed doing this during Busy Time too!
We are loving our new stage area and have started to put on some performances for our friends!
Finally, we have started doing some adult-directed writing this week in a brand new book!  We are focusing on sentence writing and have been writing about our trip this week.  Miss Simmonds has been very impressed with our eagerness to write.  We are Positive Pandas and Determined Dingoes!

Week 19 Update

Busy Time! This is what busy learning looks like in Acorn class! In the past couple of weeks, we have chosen to do these activities ourselves: observing tadpoles, painting daffodils, name writing, number formation, making up new games with our friends, building, role playing, matching, digging, reading, along with much more! We are learning so many skills when we do this! The children are also showing each and every one of our PRIDE values!

Week 18 Update

To start off our new topic, ‘Creep, Crawl, Wriggle’, Acorn class spent their time in Wild World on a Minibeast Safari!  They found all sorts of minibeasts: woodlice, millipedes, centipedes, worms, snails, slugs, spiders – to name a few!  The children loved looking for them under logs and stumps and observed them closely with their magnifying glasses.  Some of us also enjoyed getting rather muddy in the mud kitchen!
The children have also enjoyed taking part in some taster sessions for some different sports this week.  In PE, they have been using what we have learned about straight shapes, to create sequences on the apparatus.  Miss Simmonds was very impressed with their ideas!
Finally, we have enjoyed planting our new flowers and herb garden in our outdoor area.  We are going to make sure we remember to water the plants regularly.

Week 17 Update

Mr Southwell and Miss Simmonds have been very busy this week, making the outside and inside learning environments even better in Acorn class! Look at our new sandpit! Have you noticed our new fencing too? Miss Simmonds is looking forward to having some little helpers plant some new flowers in our mud kitchen area. There is now an observational area too, where the children will be able to learn more about nature and draw what they can see. The next project is to build a stage area for performances/role play and to develop the water area. Inside, we have a brand new rug in our carpet area, so that every child has their own special place to sit. Each area has been tidied and some things have been moved around! We can’t wait to see our youngest learners enjoy their learning space.

Week 16 Update

Over the past few weeks, Acorn class have been learning about the numbers 9 and 10.  We have sorted Maths resources into those that show 9 and those that show 10.  We have also looked at how we can make 9 and 10 in different ways and have started to learn number pairs to 10.
We have also been learning about 3D solid shapes.  We now know the names of some 3D shapes, the shapes of their faces and whether or not they can roll.  Shapes that do roll have a curved surface.  Some of us decided to continue our learning in Busy Time and found 3D objects around our classroom to sort.
Our new topic ‘Animal Safari’ has been great so far.  We have learned about mammals, reptiles and birds!  We’ve also discussed our favourite animal and why we like them.  Some of us then decided to write labels to describe the animals.
We are also getting very good at using our ‘Fred Fingers’ to write CVC words and are labelling our designs in the construction area.

Week 15 Update

Busy Time!

Over the past few weeks, the children in Acorn have really impressed us with their play – where they have learned lots of new things.

Recently, the children have enjoyed exploring with the magnets. They walked around the environment, looking for things that were magnetic. They then discussed what the objects were made of and discovered that the magnet stuck to things that were metal. They were then able to predict what would be magnetic and the objects that would not, based on their material. They enjoyed telling Mr Hales all about their learning!

The children have also been practising their number recognition and ordering by completing puzzles. They have also practised number formation on our large whiteboard!

During Busy Time, the children made up their own game of football, where they made a goal using crates and tried to score!

In the construction areas, the children have been building towers taller than themselves and have made their own racing track for the cars – Can you see how they have built a barrier so that the cars remain on the track? How clever! They have also made their own vehicles and have role played an adventure.

We learn so much when we play!

Week 14 Update

This week, Acorn class have continued to learn about where food comes from.  We have learned that food has a plant source or an animal source.  Some of us chose to match food to its origin during Busy Time.
We have also been learning the story, ‘Rosie’s Walk’ and have been retelling it.  We have sequenced pictures, looked at key vocabulary and have used the small world and construction toys in our classroom to make some props!
Our second Wild World session was a cold one this week!  The ground was still frosty, even in the afternoon, but we had so much fun crushing lumps of ice!  We also enjoyed digging the ground and found a worm, a centipede and a snail!  We used our magnifying glasses to observe them closely!  We also used wax crayons to do some rubbings – these made some interesting marks!
Finally, look at how amazing we have become at cutting!  We have been cutting on the lines very carefully to complete the picture of the farm animals!

Week 13 Update

We have had a great start to Spring Term in Acorn class!
We have started our new project, ‘Ready, Steady, Grow’, which is all about life on the farm and where food comes from.  The children have enjoyed sorting foods that come from animals and plants, making collage animals for our display, building tractors, playing with the small world farm house and lots more!
During Busy Time, the children have chosen to write on their own!  Miss Simmonds was amazed!
In Maths, we have been learning about numbers 6, 7 and 8 and we are just about to start learning how to add!

Week 12 Update

Today, was our first performance of the Nativity to our grown-ups!  Wow, we were amazing!  One more performance tomorrow and then another on Friday for our older friends in school!
We are looking forward to doing lots of Christmas activities this week.  Today, we read the story of The Nativity and we will be ordering pictures and writing labels to go with pictures from the story tomorrow.  We are also being very creative with our grown-ups tomorrow when they come for Stay and Play.  We are going to be making paper chains, snowflakes, Christmas cards, Christmas wrapping paper and Christmas pictures using just dots!
We loved playing in the snow today!  Lots of children worked together to pull their friends on the ‘sledge’.  We had to hold on tight, but it was very good fun!

Week 11 Update

Acorn class have enjoyed having Willow this week, after collecting the most paw prints – we are trying to show Miss Simmonds that we are all ready to learn when we are on the carpet.
Willow did  some Christmas colouring, joined in with our phonics lessons, helped to put up our Christmas tree and played a Christmas Maths game!  He had a wonderful time and learned lots!
We’ve also had some Christmas elves in our classroom this week.  They have been busy wrapping presents in Santa’s workshop!
Miss Simmonds was really happy during Busy Time when she saw children working together to build a car and a den!  Some great learning with our friends this week and lots of excitement about Christmas!
We can’t wait to show you our nativity performance next week!

Week 10 Update

This week, Acorn class have started some work on the traditional story of ‘The Three Little Pigs’. Today, some children have chosen to build a house made of bricks. As a class, we have also sequenced pictures from the story and we will use this to help us retell the story using actions, later in the week. Some children also chose to sequence the story during Busy Time! They remembered the story well and showed great control with scissors!

Miss Simmonds was really impressed with a group of boys today, who worked hard to construct a ramp for their cars. They took it in turns to push their car, solved problems when the ramp needed fixing and were very engaged for a long time! Well done boys!

Week 9 Update

Last week, the children in Acorn class showed a keen interest in Lego, so Miss Simmonds put it in a tuff tray and lots of children wanted to build models there! They were so good that we decided to display them for a bit, so that others could see how good they were!

A group of children also spent a long period of time in the mud pit! The children loved wearing their wellies and getting INTO the pit! They spotted lots of things in there such as snails shells, seeds, stones and bark. To clean our wellies off, we splashed in the puddles!

We also enjoyed having our grown-ups in for Stay and Play. Lots of fine motor activities were out for us to choose from. We wanted to give our adults ideas of what we could do at home, to help us strengthen our hand muscles!

Week 8 Update

Acorn class have enjoyed taking part in the Really Wild Reading Festival this week!  A few children have entered our Really Wild Competition and have been reading in really crazy places!  We hope we get some more entries by the end of the week.
On Wednesday, we took part in a virtual event with the author Joseph Coelho.  He told us that he got all of his ideas for writing when he was younger.  He made close observations of the world around him and these helped him to write stories!  We then wanted to become authors ourselves, so we wrote our own books during Busy Time and drew pictures.  Miss Simmonds was so impressed with how many children were inspired to write!
This week, we have been thinking about how to be kind to our friends, as part of Anti-bullying Week.  We decided to make friendship bracelets for our friends and family.  This was great for our fine motor control.  The children showed their determination when the threading became a bit tricky!  We have also played team building games with the parachute in PE!
We are saying goodbye to Mrs Spencer on Friday.  We would like to wish her lots of luck as she starts her career as a qualified teacher!  We will miss you!

Week 7 Update

Last week, Acorn class enjoyed lots of activities linked to ‘We’re going on a Bear Hunt’. They retold the story using large construction, small world, story maps and character sticks. They remembered the story in lots of detail!

The children are also really starting to impress us with their writing and number work! Lots of children are choosing to do this during Busy Time!

Week 6 Update

The children in Acorn class have come back to school brilliantly and have remembered our school rules: be ready, be respectful, be safe.
We started the week learning about the Hindu festival, Diwali; the festival of light!  The children made their won Rangoli patterns using 2D shapes, made lanterns and created firework pictures using chalk outside.  They even used their own sound effects as they were making marks:  BOOM!  POP!  BANG!  WHEEEEE!
We linked fireworks for Diwali, to Bonfire Night and have enjoyed making our own sparklers and firework art using glitter!
Miss Simmonds has been amazed at how many children have come back to school, eager to practise their sounds and writing in Busy Time!
Super work Reception!

Week 5 Update

The children in Acorn class are continuing to enjoy their project ‘Exploring Autumn’!  They have learned about the difference between wild animals and pets, have sorted animals that live in the woodland and those that do not and have learned about hibernation.
It is our first ‘Stay and Play’ session on Wednesday and the children have been really busy learning poems about Autumn and a song about harvest.  They are going to perform these to their parents!
In Maths, the children have been using prepositions to describe where things are: under, over, in between, next to, in, on, above, below etc.  This week, they have started to learn about 2D shapes.
Every Thursday, the children do Music with Miss P.  This week, they have been naming different instruments, learning how to play them and have been listening carefully to the sound they make.  They enjoyed carrying on this learning during Busy Time!

Week 4 Update

Acorn class have had a busy week!

We have enjoyed learning the story ‘Goldilocks the Three Bears’ off by heart, using actions. We loved mark-making in porridge oats, making porridge in the mud kitchen and role playing the story in our Three Bear’s cottage. We also made our own Goldilocks characters and dressed them in fabric! We finished the week sorting materials in our classroom that are ‘hard’ and ‘soft’; just like Mummy and Daddy Bear’s chairs!

Today, we have started our new project, ‘Exploring Autumn’. We went for a walk around school and found lots of Autumnal treasures! We have enjoyed exploring them with magnifying glasses and we will continue to use them for lots of different activities over the next two weeks. During our walk, we also learned that evergreen trees stay green all year and that acorns come from Oak trees!

Miss Simmonds is also really happy that we are starting to use our sounds to write initial letters in words and some short words using Fred Fingers. We have been enjoying labelling pictures during busy time and have written stories with grown-ups about our drawings!

Week 3 Update

This week, Acorn class have celebrated the end of their topic on ‘Me and My Community’ by having a visit from the fire brigade. The children learned about how fire fighters help us. They also tried on jackets and helmets, took a seat inside the fire engine and used the hose to squirt water on the cars in the car park! The fire fighter then turned on the lights and sirens – they were LOUD!

The children have also been learning the story of ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears’, with actions. The children have really enjoyed this and have been keen to continue their learning during busy time; retelling the story in the role play, making a cottage using construction, writing their own versions of the story and LOTS more!

What a great week so far! We look forward to starting our topic about ‘Autumn’ next week!

Week 2 Update

Today is the Jewish festival of Rosh Hashanah!
The children in Acorn have learned that this celebrates a new year.  We watched a video about some girls who went with their family to the synagogue. A big horn called a Shofar was played.  It was loud!
Jewish people eat apples and honey as a sweet treat, so we did the same! Lots of children politely asked if they could have some more. It was yummy! We also learned that Jewish people eat social bread called Challah and they eat pomegranate because the pips remind them of all the Jewish rules. Some of us enjoyed trying this too!
We then created our own apple printing pictures, made Rosh Hashanah cards for our friends and coloured in some pictures using the fruits to help us.

Week 1 Update

Acorn class have had a visit from some PCSOs this week to start off their topic, ‘Me and My Community’.  The children listened brilliantly and learned how the Police can help us and how to stay safe.  We tried on some Police uniform and we were allowed to sit in the police car!  We were shown how to turn the flashing blue lights on and off! We learned lots of new information and some new words too!  We also learned the important number to ring in an emergency…999!
We then went on a walk around school to learn about the people who work in the Willow school community, what their job is and how they can help us.
What a busy first full day at school!  Well done Reception!