Spring Term 2012-04-16
This term Early Years has been an absolute whirlwind of fun and excitement! We started with our topic on Nursery Rhymes, encouraging the children to become familiarised with a wide range of rhymes and their characters. This gave the children lots of opportunity to become more fluent speakers and learn lots of new vocabulary. Humpty Dumpty allowed us to carry out a variety of egg experiments, observing the changes that occur in eggs when they are cooked in different ways. We then acted out Humpty Dumpty with real eggs, trying to find protective covering to keep his shell safe in case he should fall off the wall again! We brought ‘Mary Mary Quite Contrary’ to life by taking a walk to our local garden centre. We bought flowers which we planted in our garden at school, and the children have enjoyed taking charge of watering their flowers. The culmination of the topic was our ‘Queen of Hearts Tea Party’ which we held on World Book Day in the playground. All parents were invited to the party to sample jam tarts and currant buns, which had been cooked in class, and we think we may have spotted some future chefs in the making!
Our next topic led us to learn lots of amazing facts about living things. We read ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ and all got to plant out very own magic beans! We also designed and created individual gardens, planted seeds and discovered what they need in order to stay alive and grow. Spring was also the perfect time for us to learn about animals and their babies, which inspired us all to produce some beautiful art and crafts, while learning the names of different baby animals along the way. Eric Carle left a very important mark on our class by means of his book, ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’. For those that are unfamiliar with the book, it has been described as having sold the equivalent of a copy per minute since its publication in 1969 and has since been translated into more than 50 languages. If anyone is interested in reading it at home, it can be borrowed from our school library; we recommend it! The children relished in the illustrations and were mesmerised by the stages in the life cycle of a butterfly. We practised counting, days of the week and our classroom displays brought the book to life before our very eyes!
Science week had a huge impact on all the children. We looked at ‘Wind in Motion’; we all made wind socks, which were hung outside, and then observed the effects of the wind on them. We also held a week of “WOW” experiments in order to stimulate interest in Science. From the moment we started with the ‘Mentos and Coca-cola Surge’, the ‘Soap Scarves’, and the ‘Bicarbonate of Soda Rocket’, the children’s interest was optimum! Secondary Science teachers also kindly gave the children a chance to visit the Science labs and learn all about chickens. Many children had not seen a live chicken before, so it turned out to be an unforgettable experience!
Next on the calendar was Sports Relief. In Early Years we held a sponsored event in which children had to try to run a lap of our football pitch. All of our students however, without exception, surprised us and ran two or even three laps! We certainly can boast of stamina in the Early Years! We also wanted the children to understand the importance of water, and relate to what it must feel like having to walk quite a long way in order to get it. We created our very own ‘Water Path’ and children had to walk with an empty bottle to the end of the football pitch, where some Year 5 children helped them to fill it with water and walk back to the beginning before being able to drink it! We think that by the end of the day we all realised just how lucky we are to have water on tap, and we all felt good for helping those who do not.
Last but not least, Easter activities as always brought a sea of beautifully decorated bonnets which we had the privilege of seeing paraded through our gardens. The egg decorating this year showed us all just how creative, and indeed imaginative our students are! Thank you to all the parents who supported in helping children to participate in these events. We held a ‘Chocolate Workshop’ in which professional chocolate makers came to school to teach us about the origins of chocolate and how it is made. All the children were able to make their own chocolate figurine which they then ate, and they were given another one to take home and share with the family. The Easter Bunny of course visited us and hid chocolate eggs in the gardens, and it really was one of those days that we wished would never end! An enormous dose of fun before the holidays and we can’t wait for the next term of fun to begin. |
Autumn 2011
The Early Years Class has had a fantastic start to the school year. All the children are now settled, happy and engrossing themselves in all of the learning, experimental and enriching activities available. We have been working within the topic “Ourselves” and have been finding out about our bodies, families, senses, favourite things and feelings.
Amongst a variety of activities we have been on a picnic in the woods with our favourite Teddy Bears, a sensorial trip to Parque La Paloma and have had a family tea party in the playground.
The Home Corner has been changed into a hospital and the children have enjoyed pretending to be doctors, nurses and patients. Injured people were transported to hospital in the ambulance and operations were performed.
The children have especially enjoyed the cooking activities. Making biscuits, sandwiches and icing cakes.
During the run up to Halloween the children made pumpkin soup, spooky bats, scary ghosts and evil witch’s spells. They all dressed up as pumpkins on the last day and everyone got on the stage to perform our Halloween songs. It was their first performance and they all did a brilliant job.
Well done Early Years! |
The children have settled into the Early Years really well and they all enjoy coming to school. We have been working on the topic of “Colours” and also learning about different animals. The role play area at the back of the classroom has been turned into a shop and the children have great fun “writing” shopping lists and buying their favourite things from the shopkeeper.
During Halloween week the children had opportunities to make pumpkin soup, pumpkin lanterns, spiders and spiders webs. ON the Friday they all dressed up as various characters and we had a brilliant day. First of all they were brave enough to get on the stage and sing their “little witches” song in front of a huge audience. Well done Early Years! Towards the end of the day we had lots of Halloween activities in the class; doughnuts on string, bobbing for apples (Daniel fell in the water), pin the tail on the cat and slimy green spaghetti worms.
We think the children have had a well deserved rest during the half term holidays and have returned to school fresh and ready for lots more exciting activities and learning opportunities. |
