We have been learning about different celebrations and why some people celebrate Easter, Eid and Diwali. The children have been busy making lots of things to celebrate Easter and we have also been reading about Easter. Take a look at some of our pictures and our learning from this week!
Nursery children engaging in physical development activities experience numerous benefits for their overall growth. Through play, such as running, jumping, climbing, and playing with balls or other equipment, children develop their gross motor skills, coordination, balance, and strength. These activities also promote social interaction, teamwork, and communication skills as children engage with their peers in play settings. Physical activities in nursery settings contribute to a healthy lifestyle, fostering habits of regular exercise and movement from a young age. Help your child to go on long walks with you and take them to the park as much as you can.
Nursery children have been engaging in writing with chalk outside, this activity can greatly benefit their physical development. As they grip the chalk and make marks on the ground or chalkboard, they are refining their fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. The act of writing with chalk also encourages children to use larger arm movements and engage their shoulder muscles, promoting gross motor development. Additionally, writing with chalk in different positions such as standing, kneeling, or lying down helps enhance their balance and spatial awareness. Home learning – children can have a go outside in the park drawing using chalk.
Take a look at what we have been doing this week. We have really enjoyed going outside into the big playground and having a run! We have also been sharing and taking turns with our friends. Everyday we learn through our play. We love to dress up, play on the see-saw outside, read books and play with playdough. During circle time we have also been talking about what our favourite fruit is and we have been continuing to learn about healthy eating. For your home learning… can you draw your favourite fruit and bring it into school to show your friends?
This week we have really enjoyed learning about Easter and what celebrations are. We have started to read the story ‘Were going on an egg hunt’. The children enjoyed painting their own egg, designing a large egg using tissue paper and going on an egg hunt. In Maths we have been learning to write our numbers to 10 and counting backwards/forwards. The children have been working very hard on their number recognition skills. In phonics we have been working on recognising different sounds, reading rhyming stories and singing lots of songs. We have been continuing to work hard on recognising and writing our own names. Please continue to help your child practice writing their names at home.
Here is the link for our story of the week: We’re Going on an Egg Hunt Read Aloud – Children’s Book 🥚 (youtube.com)
Thank you for your support.
Nursery Team
Last Thursday, we enjoyed a lovely day out to the National Portrait Gallery located by Trafalgar Square. As we’ve been learning all about the Tudors in history, this was a perfect opportunity to have a closer look at some of the significant individuals from this period.
We have especially enjoyed getting to know more about King Henry VIII. We took some time to study one of his portraits by Hans Holbein the Younger, a German artist. We studied Henry VIII’s pose in the portrait. He stood with his feet wide apart and planted firmly on the ground. This was a powerful pose to reflect his status as the king. His clothing also reflected his wealth as did many portraits commissioned in the past.
Here we are taking a learning walk through the gallery, reading the information by the portraits, sketching the portrait of Henry VIII and extending our knowledge of the Tudor period in Britain.
We would like to thank the wonderful parents who came along to support us on this trip. It was a pleasure having you joining our learning for the day.
Here are some of the sketches of Henry VIII we drew at the gallery. We aimed to capture his pose and posture, as well as his clothes.
As part of art this term, we focused on portraits. This was linked to our history as we studied portraits of famous Tudor monarchs. We looked closely at elements of portraits such as objects, expression, clothing and pose, and then explored how the portraits communicate mood, feelings and ideas.
Following our class trip to the National Portrait Gallery, we had a go at drawing self portraits in different poses. Have a look as some of our portraits here:
This week in Year 5
This week in Year 5 we are continuing to study North America learning about the different countries and biomes that exist within the continent. As part of this Language we are practicing use figurative language to describe and developing synonyms for common words like big and pretty.
In Maths we have been working with fractions. Comparing and converting so they can be easily worked with. Fractions are closely linked to Timestables and we suggest children use Times Tables Rockstars to support their learning in class.
As part of the LAC topic we went to The Horniman Museum. The trip was to support our learning about North America and we saw many artifacts from the continent.
Notices
PE kits needs to be brought in but not worn on Tuesdays
Reading Records need to be brought in Monday and Friday with 3 tasks being completed each week. Children should be practicing their reading every night and benefit from discussing what they are reading with adults.
This week children and staff wore wearing their own pyjamas and shared their favourite bedtime stories.
We also read and explored the features of different poems before writing our own.
We had a lovely day celebrating World Book Day! It was a fun filled day where the children came into school wearing their own pyjamas and spoke about their favourite bed time stories. We also read lots of classical children’s stories such as: The Tiger Who Came To Tea, The Hungry Crocodile, The Gruffalo and many more books. The children also enjoyed designing their own potatoes with their favourite characters printed on top using colouring pens, we also designed our own story books and created our favourite characters using playdough outdoors. Thank you for all your support at home!
