Autumn 1

5/09/22 Harry Potter

Nursery and Reception enjoyed a Harry Potter themed day. They created wizard hats for snack and turned sticks found in our outdoor area into wands! 🧙🧙‍♂️

13/09/22 Roald Dahl Day

Nursery and Reception looked fabulous on Roald Dahl Day and enjoyed exploring the story ‘The Enormous Crocodile’. Children painted crocodiles and wrote a character description using lots of adjectives. We then opened our very own ‘Chocolate Factory’ and created some delicious treats for snack! 🍫

15/09/22National Dot Day
Children celebrated National Dot Day by reading ‘The Dot’ by Peter Reynolds. They were introduced to the Japanese artist ‘Yayoi Kusama’ who is well known for her use of polka dots. Children created their own dot paintings using various sized circles and used bingo dabblers to decorate their name cards.

18/10/22 Pets

This week we had two visits from a snake and a lizard! We have been talking about our pets and two lovely family members came in to show us their pet and talk about how they care for them. 🐍🦎

24/10/22 Pumpkin Art

Children have had lots of fun exploring the artist ‘Yayoi Kusama’ who is known for her artwork using ‘dots’. We studied her famous Pumpkin Sculpture and were inspired to create our own artwork. Children explored making dots into real pumpkins by hammering golf tees. We then used air drying clay to mould our own pumpkin models and painted them using dot patterns! 🎃

Autumn 2

1/11/22 Diwali

Children have been Learning all about Diwali- The Festival of Light. We have learnt about ‘mehndi’- a body art tradition where intricate patterns are drawn onto the hands and arms. Mehndi is part of the celebration of Diwali, but it’s also said to be a general good luck charm. Children designed their own mehndi patterns which look great on our ‘celebrations’ display. They also made clay diyas- In Hindu tradition, the lighting of a Diya is an important part of prayer and it signifies purity, goodness, good luck and power. Children learnt about Rangoli patterns. A rangoli is a colourful design created on the floor.  The patterns are traditionally made on the floor utilising powdered quartz, coloured rice, flour, sand, or chalk. The purpose of rangoli is to feel strength, generosity, and it is thought to bring good luck.  Children used glitter and collage materials to create their patterns. Children also enjoyed sampling coconut Barfi sweets which are often served during Diwali celebrations. 🕉

07/11/22 Kandinsky inspired Firework Art

Children enjoyed talking about Bonfire Night and the different coloured fireworks they saw in the night sky. We talked about the sounds, smells and shapes in the night sky. We looked at the artist Kandinsky and used his style to create firework pictures using swirly circular shapes and lines in black and coloured felt tip pens.  

9/11/22 Chocolate Apples

Children enjoyed making chocolate apples to celebrate Bonfire Night. 

14/11/22 Night and Day

Children have enjoyed learning about night and day. We have talked about routine activities that we do during the day and those we do at night. We have also explored nocturnal and diurnal animals using story books, non-fiction texts and lots of sensory activities. Children have explored light sources and made some cosy dark dens! Children used their whole bodies in a fun, messy play session to create firework ‘explosions’ in the night sky!

11/11/22 Atkinson Theatre

Children had a wonderful time visiting the Atkinson Theatre to see ‘Room on the Broom’ based on the story by Julia Donaldson. This was a wonderful way to celebrate our recent topic all about Julia Donaldson texts which we’ve been enjoying as part of our weekly book activities. We all had a fantastic and magical time! 🧙🧹🐈🐶🐸🦜

14/11/22 Shadows

Children have enjoyed learning about shadows. They learnt that a shadow is created when an object is placed in front of a light source and prevents the light from passing through. It creates a dark area or shape on a surface as a result. Children enjoyed creating their own shadows using torches and an overhead projector! We discovered that the closer to the light source an object is, the bigger the shadow will be. This is because the object blocks more of the light.  The further away the light source an object is, the smaller the shadow will be. This is because the object blocks less of the light. Children enjoyed drawing around the shadows and were even inspired to send in shadows they had made at home!

23/11/22 Starry Night Artwork

Children enjoyed creating their own interpretation of Van Gogh’s ‘Starry Night’ using a range of materials and techniques. They painted on foil and explored colour mixing, using different shades of blue to create swirling shapes which gave their artwork a real winter feel. Children also used play dough and loose parts to represent the shapes and colours of his famous painting. 

1/12/22 Family Breakfast 
Children had a wonderful time celebrating the first day of advent with a delicious family breakfast! Our wonderful chef prepared an amazing full English breakfast which we all shared together whilst listening to festive music. What a wonderful start to December. 🎄🎅🏼

5/12/22 Penguins

We have had lots of fun exploring penguins and the Arctic. We have used tools and warm water to free penguins from ice in the water tray, used a balloon between our legs to ‘waddle’ like a penguin and played lots of games to reinforce our new learning. Children have been learning about Emperor penguins and the fact that they have a layer of fat underneath their skin to keep them warm. 
Each child had to wear a ' blubber' glove filled with lard. Next they had to immerse their hands in water with added ice cubes. Then we counted how long they could keep their hands in the cold water. Finally each child took off the glove to see which hand was warmer. We all agreed that the blubber glove kept their hand warm!

19/12/22 Christmas Party 

Children had a great time at our Christmas party! They sang songs, danced, played pass the parcel and enjoyed some delicious party snacks. 🎄🥳🎉

5/01/2023 Spring 1

Happy New Year! We started the new year with a science experiment by mixing baking soda vinegar and glitter to make our own bubbly to toast the New Year. The children all had great fun and noticed that when the baking soda mixed with the vinegar the magic happened. The gas carbon dioxide was made just like lemonade.

New Year Experiment

6/1/2023 New Year Party

The children received an invitation to a NewYears Party. As a class we planned the party and made lists of the food and drink needed. Some children had a real good go at writing their own invitations and party food lists. Later we had our party food snack, party games and we watched Big Ben chime midnight in London. What a great start to the New Year!

13/1/2023

Melting ice experiment.

We asked the children to help rescue the toy animals who had become trapped in the ice. They were able to predict what might happen.

First the children came up with ideas as a group to help break and melt the ice. The tables were set up with the ice blocks and hairdryer/ hammers /salt/ warm water. The children worked in groups and moved on to the various tables to have a go at each method to melt the ice. After the experiment the children discussed which method worked to melt the ice the best. They agreed that the hairdryer melted the ice the fastest but all the methods worked.

19/01/23 Northern Lights

Children have been learning about the Arctic. Today we read the story, ‘The Lights that Dance in the Night, by Yuval Zommer. This story explored the beautiful ‘Northern Lights’ which we then used as a focus for our art work. Children used bright coloured pastels and a smudging technique to create ‘dancing’ lights in the Arctic sky.

Spring 2 Traditional Tales

Goldilocks and the Three Bears
Children enjoyed retelling the story using dress up costumes and props. Super story telling everyone! 

21/02/23 Pancake Tuesday

Children enjoyed reading, ‘Mr Wolf’s Pancakes’ and then making their own! They followed a simple picture recipe and enjoyed exploring different toppings!

23/02/23 Teddy Bears Picnic

Children had a lovely time for our Teddy Bears’ Picnic which linked well to our story of the week, ‘Goldilock’s and the Three Bears’. 

St David’s Day 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿
Children enjoyed learning about Saint David. We located Wales on a map and looked at the Welsh flag, talking about how the red dragon is a symbol of Wales. Children also used their senses to explore and paint daffodils and we talked about how they are a popular emblem of Wales, especially on St David’s Day. 

02/03/23 The Gingerbread Man

Children enjoyed following instructions to make their own Gingerbread Men! We used our senses to explore the ingredients and talk about how they changed as they were mixed together. Children had lots of fun experiencing the whole process, especially decorating and then eating them! Luckily, our Gingerbread did not escape from the oven! 

7/03/23  Signs of Spring

As part of our RE topic, children enjoyed going on a walk around our school grounds to look from signs of Spring.  Children talked about the weather changing and observed changes in the environment including buds on the trees, daffodils and crocus flowers growing.  Children also talked about blossom trees they have seen on their walk to school. 🌼🌺🌱

08/03/23 Boat Challenge 

Children made fantastic boats using a variety of materials including plastic containers, wood, cardboard and recycled lids. We put them to the test to see if they would get the Gingerbread Man safely across the river!

11/03/23 Science Experiment 

Children enjoyed exploring materials and predicting which one they thought would make a good roof for the Gingerbread Man’s house and help keep him dry during wet weather! Children placed a Gingerbread Man biscuit in a cup and placed a different roof on top- foil, felt, plastic, paper and tissue paper. They then sprinkled water on top. We found that the paper and tissue paper ripped and let the water through- the poor Gingerbread Men were all soggy!! The felt also absorbed the water and dripped through onto the biscuit. Children concluded that the best waterproof materials were plastic and foil. However they also agreed that the foil was very thin and would rip easily! 

9/03/23 The Three Little Pigs

Children enjoyed making house pictures and models using a variety of materials. Children explored which material would be the strongest and we used a hairdryer as the ‘Big Bad Wolf’ to see if he could blow them down! We found that the wooden blocks were the strongest. 

16/03/23 Little Red Riding Hood Experiment

Children explored which material would be best to make a new cloak for Little Red Riding Hood. They thought carefully about cold and wet weather and wanted to find a waterproof material. Children had lots of fun squirting the cloaks with water to test their predictions! 

20/03/23 Little Red Riding Hood Challenge

Children made some wonderful baskets using various materials including foil, plastic tubs, hangers, boxes and string. They enjoyed sharing their creations with the class and testing how strong they were by carrying picnic food. 

21/03/23 Mondrian Inspired Artwork 

Children have looked at some of the work of artist Piet Mondrian this week and have had a go of creating their own masterpieces. They used rulers or black strips of card to make bold lines before painting the spaces using primary colours. 🎨🖌️

22/03/23 Stay and Play

Children had a lovely time exploring activities with family members. We also had wonderful yoga sessions to help develop children’s body awareness and mindfulness. 

31/03/23 Easter Cakes

Children had a great time making delicious Easter nests which we ate at snack time! 🐣🍫

Summer Term

We have been learning about bees and how they make honey. 🐝