The week before last, the children learnt about the Chinese New Year. Initially, the Fledglings recapped the Chinese New Year story and discussed the twelve animals featured in the Zodiac. The highlight of our week was making spring rolls, which also involved tasting a range of fresh vegetables including baby corn and mange tout. During Art the children created a large 3D dragon which formed the centre piece for our Chinese display. They then used their imagination to paint one of the animals from the zodiac. Cutting skills were put to the test whilst making dragon masks and Chinese lanterns.
Comparing lengths and learning how to use rulers when measuring string and lines was central to our Maths activity. The children showed a great understanding of how to accurately use a ruler.
During storytelling sessions, we looked at both sentence and storytelling structures. ‘Story Mountain’ guides, were used to show that the stories included characters, places, a theme, events, culminating with a conclusion. The children used pictures as prompts during the storytelling session and we also discussed the roles of illustrators and authors. “Greta and the Giants” was the focus this week, which is a story that celebrates the young activist Greta Thunberg. This inspired the exploration of environmental issues and the importance of respecting and listening to each other and being able to voice our views.
The Fledglings looked at newspaper articles about environmental issues and each group worked collaboratively agreeing on a message they would like to share with others. This activity extended our teaching of British Values but also encouraged the children to study photographs, notice details in pictures and use descriptive language.
They continued to work on measuring during Maths, using tape measures to measure each other. Literacy sessions continue to develop the Fledgling’s phoneme knowledge, identifying initial, end or middle sounds. Many of the children are blending words and beginning to write labels and captions. In Science, the children explored natural and synthetic materials and were encouraged to describe them. Recycling was also discussed which led to conversations about decomposition. Over the next couple of weeks we will observe how things decompose.
Weekly News and Show and Tell continue to be very popular. Please can we remind you to upload a short note on Tapestry about their weekend. This can be used as a prompt for the children to elaborate and share their information with each other. These activities really do encourage the children to develop their vocabulary and conversational skills.
Polling Station The council is using the Fitzhugh Clubroom for the Mayoral election on Thursday 7th May, therefore, we will not have access to the building. Instead, we will spend the morning on the common exploring nature and learning in the environment. Unfortunately, there will be no afternoon school but those signed up on a Thursday may attend another session in lieu.
End Of Term Concert We welcomed feedback on the date change of the Leavers’ Concert and we are delighted to confirm that in order to accommodate everyone there will be two performances - on Thursday 2nd July at 11.30 am and Friday 3rd July at 11.30 am. Please save the date and confirm which performance you would like to attend.
Finally a big thank you to Trini and Christina for organising last Tuesday’s Nutritional Talk, the feedback suggested it was a big success. We are keen to host similar evenings and would welcome parent views about any subjects which would be of interest.
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