Reception
Trip to Great Amwell Nature Reserve
Reception class became nature detectives when we went to visit Great Amwell Nature reserve. The children arrived excitedly at school ready to become explorers for the day with their supplies in their back packs ready to go on an adventure! The weather held out for a while for us before we headed into some rain showers. Luckily the trees were able to give us shelter in between our adventures.
We spotted lots of signs of Spring along the way and took photos to remind us of what we saw. We hope to use this for our school work later on in the week.
When we arrived at the Nature reservoir we were surprised at how many birds were on the lake and used our spotter sheets and binoculars to see how many different varieties of birds we could see.
One of our favourite games we played along the way was ‘poo sticks’ over the bridge and we had great fun seeing whose sticks were the first to appear under the bridge.
Walking along the tree lined lanes and crossing bridges made us feel like real explorers and we were even lucky enough to hear a Cuckoo singing his song along the way.
After all that exploring it was time to find a spot to eat our much longed for packed lunches! Unfortunately we couldn’t sit on the grass for our picnic but we did find a hide out for us to sit in and eat our lunch which we all thought was very exciting.
Once we had refuelled we headed back to school with our empty pack lunch boxes in our back packs and made the journey back home.
The children learnt they had walked almost 10,000 steps when they got back to school – very impressive.
Fire fire!
This week in Forest School we made a real fire! How exciting! Mrs.Farrington showed us how to make a fire using kindle wood. We watched Mrs.Farrington make a fire spark using some flint and then watched the fire grow. We watched the fire flames dancing and looked for the different colours in the flames. It was quite a windy day so we had to stay a safe distance but we really enjoyed watching the wood burn. It smelt very smoky indeed!
The next exciting thing we did was to toast marshmallows on sticks over the fire. Yum! It made the marshmallows very sticky but most of us agreed they tasted just GREAT.
Tree planting
This week we took part in planting trees in our Forest School. Year 6 helped us to dig a holes and plant the saplings. It was hard work digging but we really persevered. We put a protective cover around the saplings just in case any creatures wanted to have a little nibble. We are looking forward to watching the trees grow over time.
Pancake Day
This week we read the story of Mr. Wolf’s pancakes. We learnt how to make pancake’s and wrote shopping lists to buy the ingredients to make a pancake.
Our role play area became a shop and the children had fun pretending to make pancake’s to sell.
World Book Day
The children enjoyed listening to lots of stories throughout the day and taking part in the book swap.
At the end of the day the children enjoyed sharing stories and books from the older children in the school.
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Topic
This term lots of our work will be focusing on Traditional tales. We will be reading lots of Traditional tales at story time and retelling stories using puppets and props.
This week we read the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, learnt a song about the story and learnt how to draw and paint bears.
Forest School
This week we went in search of the signs of Spring. We found daffodils growing in the wood, buds on some of the branches and even some blossom. Spring is hopefully just around the corner.
Mrs Farrington showed us how to make a fire using kindle and paper, unfortunately we weren’t able to light the fire for long as it was too windy. We are looking forward to a less windy day next time so we can light the fire and toast some marshmallows. How exciting.
Forest School
Following on from last week’s work in Forest school, the children hung up their bird cakes on the big tree in our outdoor area and made their own tent to hide in and watch the birds.
The children were very inventive and made their own bird table to feed the birds. They dug up worms, put bowls of water on the table and sprinkled bird cake for the birds to come and eat. The birds have certainly had lots to feast on in our outdoor area this week!
Maths
This week in maths we have used 10’s frames to find the different parts that make up 10.
We are continuing to learn about the Artic and Antarctica and this week an Igloo appeared in our classroom! How exciting. What a great place to sit and enjoy a story or two with a friend.
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Chinese New Year
This week we have learnt all about the lunar moon and how it marks the beginning of the Chinese New Year.
The children found China on the map and learnt that Beijing is the Capital city. They enjoyed finding out about how Chinese people celebrate their New Year, the customs and clothes that they wear and the food that they might eat.
The children listened very intently to the ancient story of how the years were named after an animal and learnt that 2022 has been named the year of the Tiger. We worked out that those of us that were 5 were born in the year of the monkey and those of us that were 4 were born in the year of the Rooster.
The children told stories of how the animals raced to cross the river to get to the other side, painted pictures of Tigers, made lanterns, used chopsticks to eat noodles and made Happy New Year cards to give to their friends. The role play corner was transformed into a house to celebrate and the children enjoyed decorating it with cards, lanterns, pictures and setting the table to sit at and celebrate eating a meal. The children listened to some traditional Chinese music and performed a dragon dance in PE that we put together ourselves.
Forest School
The sun came out for us this week and we took the opportunity to sit in the sun and do some bird watching. We took clipboards with pictures of birds to look out for and binoculars, then sat patiently watching for some birds to appear. Sitting very still and quiet was tricky but we spotted some Robins, Blue tits and a Magpie in our outdoor area. Even more exciting was spotting a Kite circling above us looking for his prey.
We then made our own binoculars and became intrepid explores looking for birds in the woods, dug up worms for the birds to come and eat and made worm pies! All good fun.
At the end of the week we made our own bird cakes to feed the birds. We mixed together melted lard with bird seed and put the mixture into moulds. It was a messy job but fun to do. Next week we will hang the bird cakes on the tree in our outdoor area and watch to see who comes to visit.
Frozen Planet
The children are really enjoying our topic this term on Frozen Planet.
They have learnt lots about the animals that live in the Artic, learnt a Penguin dance, drawn Penguins and performed a snow and ice dance that they put together themselves in PE.
This week we have read the story of Polar Bear Polar Bear What Can You Hear? By Eric Carle
The children then made up their own story using animals from the Artic and Antarctica.
We put together our own describing words for each animal and some actions and rehearsed the story every day.
The children did some excellent writing based on the story and enjoyed reading their sentences to the class.
In maths we have been learning how to divide whole numbers into parts and have been practising lots of different ways of doing this.
Phonics
It has been lovely to see the children return to school this week with big smiles on their faces.
The children have settled quickly back into school routines and are keen to learn.
We have done lots of activities involving reading and writing cvc words this week. We have seen some great work from the children and it’s so lovely to see the children proud of their achievements.
The children have been very busy in their continuous provision and we have seen some great model making with the Mobilo and the bricks.
The highlight of our week this week was making Hot Chocolate with marshmallows. Yum.
We followed some instructions to make the Hot Chocolate and then sprinkled some marshmallows on the top. It was the perfect drink to have on a cold and frosty morning to help warm us up.
What a busy week it has been this week!
At the beginning of the week we learnt all about Bonfire Night and why we celebrate it. The children made firework pictures and models and drew pictures in their books. We have been very impressed with how the children are beginning to apply their phonic knowledge, using their sounds to write some simple words.
Diwali
We learnt about the Hindu festival of light – Diwali. The children listened to the story of Rama and Sita acted out the story using masks.
We found out how Hindus prepare for their special celebration, foods that they might eat and how they decorate their houses with welcoming Rangoli patterns.
They made diva lamps using clay and made Happy Diwali cards to give to each other.
Poppies
Reception took part in their first whole school assembly this week. They sat beautifully and listened attentively to Rev Sarah’s remembrance service and showed respect. Some of the children even helped Rev Sarah by taking part in the prays.
The children have enjoyed painting poppies and making their own poppies to remember. We are going to use these to make a class display at the end of the week.
Phonics
We have been working very hard at learning our phonic sounds and practising our letter formation. It’s so lovely to see the children’s confidence grow in their abilities and to see some of the children beginning to write words in their independent play.
Forest School
It was a busy afternoon at Forest school this week. The children used twigs and branches to make spiders, make potions, crushing herbs and rose petals and lots of fun was had pretending to make soup in a pot over a pretend fire.
Some of the children enjoyed collecting leaves in a wheelbarrow and seeing who could make the tallest leaf mountain.
Literacy
This week we have read the story ‘A Pipkin of Pepper ‘ by Helen Cooper.
As a class we decided to have a go at making some Pumpkin soup as lots of us had never tried or eaten pumpkin soup before.
Would it be as delicious as the soup in the story?!?
We chopped up a pumpkin and an onion, diced some potatoes and put all the ingredients in a pot to cook. It smelt lovely but we still weren’t sure if it was going to taste good!
We poured the soup into some cups and bowls and dipped in some bread to taste it. Some of us thought it was delicious others of us preferred the bread! But we all had a little try
We have decided that it would be a good idea to plant the seeds we scooped out of the pumpkin and are going to dig over our garden when the time is right. The children were very excited at the thought of growing their own pumpkins when the time is right.
Forest School
This week we have been making the most of the lovely mild weather we have been having and have spent lots of time outdoors.
We all enjoyed Forest School in the week and learnt how to use tools to make holes in a conker. We then threaded wool through the holes with leaves and sycamore seeds.
Some of us used binoculars to explore the woods to look for birds and we enjoyed playing hide and seek behind the trees.
Lots of meals have been made in the mud kitchen and many of us have learnt to ride the balance bikes.
A new start
The children have made a fantastic start to school life at St Johns.
They have been very confident saying their goodbyes at the door to their grown up, independently finding their coat pegs and draws to put away their belongings and learning morning routines.
The children have been enjoying exploring and investigating in their new environment and have been very busy finding new activities to try.
We have played lots of getting to know you games, read lots of stories and learnt some new songs.
Most of all the children have enjoyed making new friends and having lots of fun :)
