Apples

WOW! What a great day that we have had today! Starting with the children coming in all dressed up and ready for the day, it was lovely to see their smiling faces!

We began the day with a fabulous assembly, whereby Mrs K and Mrs Webb performed to the school, and showed us how amazing the world of books can be. Mr Gibbs and Mr Bowie then told the school how they LOVED reading, which was a shock, as some people though that only girls liked reading!

We went back to the classroom where children talked about the story of 'Little Red Riding Hood', sharing all they knew about the story, including their favourite bits. Off they went in their Busy Bee time, and painted pictures of the characters, made their own books, and illustrated them. Some of the children even created their own puppet theatre and re-enacted the story.

We were totally blown away at how much writing, and role playing the children did today. Just before lunch, we had a different story where we had a 'nice' wolf, and the children couldn't believe it. We watched clips of real wolves and talked about what they are like in the world.

It has been a brilliant day - well done Apples!!!

Miss Sidney

Welcome back to 2019!

We have had a great start to the week, the children have come back in to school as if they hadn’t been away!

We have loved hearing all about what they got up to over the Christmas period, and the amazing things that Father Christmas surprised them with!

The children have been busy learning some new sounds in phonics this week (y,v,w,j) and they have been showing us how amazing they are at spotting them in their guided reading sessions too.

Could we please ask that you send your child in to school with a hat, gloves and scarf if you have them, along with their warm coat, as they have access to the outside all day, and the weather has taken a cold turn - thank you!

What a start to the new year!

9th November 2018

Today the children placed remembrance crosses outside the entrance to the Junior school to mark the anniversary of the end of First World War and to remember all our soldiers who have died in wars. The children were all very respectful and quiet placing their cross in the ground. Later in class we talked about why we wear a poppy. “ We wear a poppy to remember the ones that died”, Robyn said. “ People wear purples ones for the animals that died too”, Lizzy said. “ Our poppies mean thank you for the soldiers” Blake said. Thank you all for your donations, the Royal British Legion and soldiers families will be very proud of our school and our children. If you would like to see the wonderful display of crosses, ask your child to show you.

In addition, the children have been working hard across the school to create a wonderful 'remembrance' display in the school hall.

Week commencing 29^th October 2018

This week has been a very interesting and varied week...the children have designed their own Christmas card, using collage of materials and paper to cover their stockings. They spent a lot of time taking care to stick the materials on and showed a lot of pride at their final results.

We have also been preparing for Remembrance Day this week. We asked the class if they knew why we wore a poppy and Robyn very thoughtfully replied “It’s a special way to say thank you to the brave people who might have got hurt making us have a lovely life.” Both Mrs Kemp and I couldn’t have put this in a better way, but the class really took on board what Robyn had said, and so, we decided to make some poppies ourselves. We had a lot fun collaging, painting and stamping lots of different materials.

In our phonics, we have been taking the week to really make sure that we are applying our new sounds in to our learning and play. We have been introduced to ‘g’, ‘o’, ‘n’, ‘c’ and ‘d’, and we are now trying to find new objects and things around the school that begin with these sounds. We have all been trying really hard to find these sounds in books too!

PE has been introduced and we have now started to think about riding a bicycle (hypothetically of course), so we have been getting our legs really high, moving ourselves at different speeds and remembering not to knock in to anyone! It’s been a lot of fun!

Week commencing 15^th October

This week has been a colourful week, with the children focussed on colour mixing. To hook their excitement, we carried out a range of mixing colour experiments so that the children had plenty of opportunities to give their predictions on what might happen, watch as the colour took control, and discuss the changes that they were seeing.

The first experiment involved using skittle sweets and milk. First, we set out lots of different coloured skittles around the outside of a plate to make a circle. Miss Sidney then asked the children what they thought might happen when milk is poured on the plate. The children noticed that the colour moved from the skittle to the milk making a beautiful pattern. They commented “the colour is running away” and “The milk is pulling the colour from the skittles”. This was definitely our favourite experiment!

Mrs Kemp then set up another exciting experiment using water, food colouring, plastic cups and paper towels. We used 6 cups. 3 with red, blue and yellow food colouring, mixed with water and the others with a drop of water in. We then added a folded up bridge of kitchen roll to each cup so that each cup had an end of the paper in. I asked the children what they thought might happen. Max suggested “they might make different colours”, whilst William commented that “It keeps going up and up and the red makes the water pink”. Erin asked how the water moved up the paper towel. We talked about the water climbing up the paper towel and how paper towels were made from special fibers that water can travel through like water moving from plant roots to the flower.

Our third colour mixing experiment of the week, Miss Sidney got a tray, food coloring, milk, a mixing stick and some washing up liquid. Next, she poured the milk in to the tray added drops of food coloring, dipped the stick in the washing up liquid and then in to the milk. We then all watched to see what happened. Miss Sidney asked the children what they thought would happen if she added more washing up liquid. Lorelai thought “it might bubble up and explode around the classroom” whilst Maison noticed “the yellow is changing to platinum, like gold”.

Miss Sidney added more liquid to the stick and swirled it around in the milk and food coloring. She asked the children what they could see happening to the milk. Lots of different patterns started to form in the milk. As the milk contains fats, when the washing up liquid comes into contact with the milk it weakens the chemical bond between the fats and proteins and attaches to the milk forming the patterns we saw. The food colouring helped us see the patterns.

Another great experiment which the children found really interesting.

Week commencing 8^th October 2018

This week we have been spending time in our family groups (Mr Cheerful and Mr Happy) looking at the emotions of happy and sad. The children were able to look at pictures and decide which emotion a child was showing on their face, think about reasons they might be feeling that way, and very bravely, they all shared some experiences when they have felt sad and happy. All the children sat beautifully, having their milk, listening carefully to each of their friends - what absolute stars they were!

During Busy Bee time, Blake in the Apples was talking to Mrs Kemp about the birds outside, and he was a little worried that they might not have enough food. So along with some friends, they decided to make a bird feeder. With Mrs Kemp, they looked at some ideas on the ipad and decided that making one out of breakfast cereal would be great. A list was written, and off Miss Sidney popped at lunch to TESCO. We set up pipe cleaners and the cereal outside, and all the children eagerly went outside, designing feeders in to different shapes, and carefully threading the cereal on to the pipe cleaners. They were very excited to hand them up for all of our flying friends!

We have also had lots of fun this week in the role play ‘home corner, where the children have been looking after the babies, making lots of food for everyone and making important calls! It has been so wonderful to see them so engaged and taking on different roles!

The sound hunting has also continued this week. We have been making letters out of playdough, we have been forming letters in glitter and sand, as well as finding sounds around the classroom and learning garden. Let’s look forward to learning some new sounds next week!

Week commencing 1^st October 2018

This has been a week of starting new things. We have introduced the children to daily phonics, where they have been learning some new sounds: ‘s’, ‘a’, ‘t’, ‘p’ and ‘i’. We have been finding lots of different objects around the classroom and learning garden which start with these letters and on top of this, we have been learning to form the letters correctly.

All of our home learning and letter formation support can be found on the website by clicking on the ‘parents’ signpost and then choosing the ‘supporting your child’s learning’ section. You will of course receive home learning which will give you some ideas to help your child at home.

On top of the phonics, we have also started guided reading. We send time in small groups looking at a book, thinking about the following things:

• What can you see on the front cover?

• Who is the author?

• What are the pictures telling us?

• Can we spot any familiar sounds from phonics?

•  

The children then spend time with the adult answering some fun questions about what they have been reading.

I am extremely happy to see that the apples children have been taking their learning in to their Busy Bee time, as we have spotted some lovely reading going on with their friends!

In maths, we are focussing on counting to carefully, recognising numerals to 5, and understanding the wholeness of the number, and the children have enjoyed helping poor Pomme Bear to count properly!

What a busy week the children have been having!

Week commencing 24^th September

What a week!

This week was the first time that the children decided on what they wanted to learn about. We had lots of suggestions, but after a thoughtful discussion, the children agreed it would be fun to learn about transport. In particular monster trucks, cars, princess carriages, aeroplanes and hot air balloons.

We spent some time together as a class, and I asked the children if they had any questions they wanted to find out, and they came up with:

• What different types of models and makes are there? (Erin)
•  
• Who drives different transport?
•  
• Do all types of transport have wheels?
•  
• Why do you have to wear a helmet when you go on a scooter/bike or skateboard? (Amelia)
•  
• What did the first car ever made look like? (Milo thinks it was black and white)

The children have been busy making lots of different types of vehicles during their busy bee time. Some children have made boats and have been finding out if they float or not and why, and some children have been using their creativity to make cars and vehicles using paper plates and different shapes.

We had a very exciting new arrival in class this week...Miss Sidney started off by bringing in a box which was delivered to the classroom. It had a letter with it which read 'Hello, my name is Pomme Bear and I am looking for a home...I have heard that the Apples class are so kind and welcoming, so I wondered if I could come and live here please?' All of the children were extremely excited when out of the box jumped Pomme Bear and they couldn't wait to meet her. To add more excitement to the situation, the letter explained that Pomme was worried about being lonely at the weekends, and wondered if she could come and have sleep overs at the children's houses? Of course, the children were very excited by this and couldn't wait to have Pomme as their guest! I'm sure it won’t be long!

We have also been very lucky with the weather this week, and the sun has been shining, so the apples have made full use of the learning garden, just take a look at some of the pictures below!

17th September 2018

Yet again, I have been absolutely blown away by the children! They have come in to school, and have been introduced to ‘Lola’, our listening leopard, who helps us with our speaking and listening. We have also started doing some fun handwriting exercises too, which will help our finger and arm muscles to get really strong, ready for our writing.

The children have been out and about in the learning garden, exploring a range of textures in the messy tray, building different car ramps to see which go the fastest, and others have been enjoying getting their hands dirty by gardening and weeding!!

The children have settled so well, that they have already been introduced to the big playground at lunchtimes, and we are seeing lots of smiles as they play with their friends after their yummy food!

I cannot wait for next week to come around as we have lots more things happening!

10th September 2018

Oh my goodness me...what a fantastic week we have had in the Apples. I have been so impressed with how grown up the children have been, by coming in to the classroom, hanging up their coats and putting up their lunch tokens - it is a lot to remember, but they have done it superbly!!!

Throughout the week, we have been having lots of fun, and the children have been showing me their amazing puzzle skills, how incredibly they can draw such interesting pictures but most of all, I have been lucky enough to find out lots more about each and every one of the children.

We have introduced the school rules, and I’m sure if you were to ask your child, they might be able to show you the action to go with it too!! The children are all doing so well at tidying up and being kind to other children, they have blown me away!!!

I cannot wait for next week to come!!

3rd September 2018

I wanted to say a BIG welcome to all of my wonderful Apples. What a fantastic week it has been visiting you in your homes, getting to know you, your family and even some of your pets!

It was also such a great afternoon, singing songs and we were all impressed with how great you were...even the ones that you made up on the spot!

We are extremely excited to see you all again on Monday, so that you can get familiar with your classroom, find out what we are going to be doing at school, and to begin your new, fun journey into reception.

Please remember to drop off at the red gate, where I will be there ready to greet you.

Miss Sidney