Class 1

Mini-Beast Mayhem!

We have been very busy since the Easter break. The children came back to school full of enthusiasm and worked really hard last week, learning some new daily routines. In fact, we were so brilliant that we won the B.B. cup on Friday.

We currently have some caterpillars in residence, who are growing bigger every day. We have been looking at the life-cycle of a butterfly and we are waiting patiently for our own caterpillars to start making their cocoons. We will keep you updated with their progress!

Our rather tasty biscuit maths session this week has been helping the children to get to grips with addition problems.

Date for your diary:

Our 'Celebration of Brilliance' assembly is on Wednesday 6th May at 9.10. We hope to see as many parents there as possible. The children will be demonstrating some of the things that we have been doing and giving the parents a chance to get involved in some activities too.

The Thorndon Country Park trip is almost here! On Monday, please make sure your child:

• Has a packed lunch
• Is wearing warm outdoor clothes with a waterproof jacket
• Has their wellies in a separate named carrier bag (unless they have them at school already)

We can't wait for all the Gruffalo fun!

Science Week - 16th March

We started Science Week with a whole school science afternoon. Early Years were paired with year five and took part in a range of experiments to explore light and colour. We made our own shadow puppets, made colour mixing spinners and played caterpillar chaos outside, a game designed to explore the idea of camouflage. A great time was had by all students, who worked fantastically well together! We are looking forward to more science fun during the week, with the eclipse to look forward to on Friday. Parents are welcome to join their children to experience the eclipse on Friday. Gates open at 8.30.

The Singing Mermaid

The children have been looking at the book, 'The Singing Mermaid' by Julia Donaldson. World book day was a great success. The children enjoyed making a book box to represent their book. This is now proudly displayed in the library. The children also had great fun pairing up with the year 5 children to enjoy books together.

We have been looking at money this week in Maths. The children have enjoyed buying and selling snack in our snack café.

Library Visit

On Tuesday we went on a memorable trip to the library. We met a librarian who told us how we can use the library and the different books and things that we can find in there. The librarian also read us 'The Gruffalo' story by our author of the term Julia Donaldson using a story sack which was very exciting! The children were able to choose a book to take home with them if they had a library card. The children walked brilliantly there and back, we were very lucky it didn't rain! Don't forget to return you book once you have enjoyed it and then take out another!

Our book this week is 'The Smartest Giant in Town'. The giant in the story is a very kind person who helps a lot of his friends. We have been taking photographs of our friends this week and thinking about what makes them kind.

We have also been looking at different ways of making patterns. We have used the computer, shapes, colours and musical instruments to make our own repeating patterns.

Next week we will be making our trip to the library and spending the week thinking about and sharing our favourite stories and books.

You should also have received a username and password for our new online music website. The children have enjoyed singing songs and keeping rhythms and beats this week. Hopefully they can share some of the things they have been looking at with you at home.

Welcome Back!

What a wonderful start to the Spring Term. The children have come back to school bursting with brilliance. Our topic this term is Julia Donaldson's books. We are focusing on the book 'The Gruffalo' for the next two weeks. The children have had lots of fun roleplaying in our new Gruffalo Café role-play area.

We have been working this week on our questioning skills. Lots of children have brought in their show and tell toys already, the children have come up with lots of fantastic questions to ask each other! Please find the list of show and tell days for your child in the children's book bags.

Next week we are looking forward to going on a walk of the local area and exploring in the wooded area at school to compare different habitats.

An exciting home learning challenge will be sent out on Monday 12th, you might need to get your gardening gloves on!

Best Wishes,

The Early Years Team

Thank you all for coming to watch our Christmas Show. The children thoroughly enjoyed themselves and we hope you did too!

Next week will be a fun filled Christmassy last week! Our class Christmas party is on Wednesday 17th in the afternoon. Children can come in all day in their party clothes. Please make sure these are sensible to wear outside.

The class have been working hard to collect 20 marbles for a reward. The children chose a pyjama day as their reward which will be on Friday 19th. The children can come in in the morning in their pyjamas. Please make sure they are wearing sensible shoes and are warm for going outside too!

Best Wishes,

The Early Years Team

Christmas is here at Wyburns!

This week we have been very busy getting ready for the Christmas Show. Please bring in the children's outfits as soon as possible, ready for our dress rehearsal! The show to parents is on Monday 8th December at 2pm. Please find tickets in the children's book bags. We hope you enjoy a mince pie and a cup of tea afterwards while we get the children changed .

This week we have been continuing with our 'Dear Zoo' activities and have been very busy. We have been learning lots more sounds, experimenting with different weights and scales and have started practising for our Christmas play!

The children all looked fabulous in their superhero costumes today! Don't forget the Winter Disco is in class on Friday. They can come into school wearing their party outfits, ready for a fun filled afternoon of party games and treats!

Best Wishes,

The Early Years Team

We hope you have had a lovely half term! We have gone animal mad this week as our focus is on the book ‘Dear Zoo’. We have been learning lots of things using this book such as writing letters, to the zoo, practising writing our names, making enclosures for animals and much more! The home corner has been transformed into a zoo where the children have been carrying out some brilliant role play. We have been practising getting ourselves dressed and undressed for P.E. Perhaps you could practice getting changed at home? Those buttons can be very tricky!

Best Wishes,

The Early Years Team

Have a great half term holiday!

The children have worked really hard this half term, learning the school rules and settling in to school life. We have managed to earn 20 class marbles and will enjoy a class party tomorrow to celebrate. We will see you back at school on Monday 3rd November. We are looking forward to an exciting Christmas term, rehearsing for our Christmas production which will now be on Monday 8th of December at 2pm.

A Very Wet Week!

Although the weather this week is proving to be rather soggy, we are still having lots of fun in Early Years. We have been testing out our wet weather trousers and jackets and enjoying splashing in puddles!

Our book this week is 'Monkey Puzzle' by Julia Donaldson. We have been thinking about baby animals and matching them to their parents. We have discussed all that we have learnt since we were babies and have been thinking about what we would like to be able to do when we have grown up a little bit more. Ideas ranged from learning how to do the washing up to flying a rescue helicopter!

This week's sounds are 'i, n, m, d' - the children are starting to practise blending sounds to have a go at reading words. Words the children could have a go at include - it, at, sit, sat, tip, tap, sip and pit.

Next week we will be reading the stories of Elmer the Elephant. We will be exploring colour and pattern and looking at shape.

The children have had a lovely week exploring the book, 'Giraffe's Can't Dance.' We have made our very own model of Gerald the Giraffe. Hopefully you will come and meet him next week when you are invited to pop in after school to have a look at your child's Learning Journal and have a chat with the EYFS team.

Next week our book will be 'The Tiger Who Came to Tea'. We have some exciting projects for the children to get involved in next week. We will be making tiger cakes and will be selling them after school to raise funds in order to adopt our own tiger from WWF.

We will be starting Phase 2 of Phonics. The sounds for next week will be s,a,t, and p. Don't forget that there is a Phonics Workshop available for parents who wish to know more, on Thursday 9th October.

Best Wishes,

The EYFS Team

Go Wild!

Next week we are starting our topic on Animals. The first book we will be looking at is called 'Giraffes Can't Dance.'

During the week we will be thinking about our feelings, discussing our favourite parts of the story and our favourite characters. We will be making lots of music and of course doing lots of dancing!

In Maths we will be comparing heights and using language to compare sets of objects, e.g. less, more, fewer, larger, smaller etc.

We will be continuing to look at rhyming next week. Have lots of fun making up your own silly rhymes at home.

Home Learning will be sent out on Wednesday to be completed by the following Wednesday.

What a brilliant first week!

Thank you to everyone for their support and hard work during this first week at school. The children have been amazing! We are really proud of them all. We are very excited about the year ahead.

Please check this page for updates on the things the children have been learning. This week we have been working hard to learn the school rules and routines. We have been able to share some chatter bags and will continue to do this over the next week or so. The children have been learning where to find the equipment they need for their chosen activities and have been practising good listening behaviour on the carpet and getting used to which groups they are in. We are getting to know all the children a little better and finding out what amazing things they know.

Next week we will be looking at rhyming skills, playing rhyming games and singing and reciting rhymes. We will also be practising our counting skills, number recognition and having a go at writing some numbers. We will be thinking about the things that we are good at and celebrating these things.

If you haven't already done so, please return the Tapestry registration form detailing your email addresses, so that we can start sending you updates and photos of your children. We hope to have this up and running by the end of next week.

Reading books have been sent home for you to share with your children. These first books are without words so that your child uses their language skills to describe what they think is happening in the story. Please use the prompt sheets for ideas of questions you could ask your child as you share the book.

You should also have a blue 'Home Learning Journal' in your child's book-bag. This will detail which group they are in and will be updated every Wednesday with some home learning tasks.

Kindest regards,

Mrs Adkins and Miss Milner