Blog 1 - 15th September
Welcome to Apple class' first blog of 2023-2024.
Every week we will talk about what we have been learning and we will upload all of the fantastic pictures which show the children's learning in action. However, we are still waiting for some photo consent forms to be returned before we can do so. We hope you enjoy reading the blog and sharing it with your child.
Over the past couple of weeks, Apple class has been very busy! The new children have settled into Nursery life fantastically and the children that have stayed on have been excellent role models for them. The first two weeks were all about following new routines, taking turns, making new friends, getting to know each other and becoming independent learners. Well done to all of the new children for making such a fantastic start.
This week we have begun our topic, Mavellous Me! As this is our first topic of the year, it will centres around the children, something which they know so well. We've started to think about what we look like and what makes us unique and what makes us different from others. Our key vocabulary has been all around our facial features (nose, mouth, ears, eyes.) We also extended this to include cheeks, eyes lashes, eyelids, eye brows and nostrils.
To help learn about what we look like, we've had lots of circle time discussion about what makes us different to other people and have then recorded this on paper in the form of self-portraits. The children enjoyed looking at themselves closely in the mirror and we encouraged them to talk in sentences to tell me about what they could see. To continue this learning, next week the children will enjoy making "silly" faces in the tuff tray. They will use a selection of materials to help them.
As well as links to our topic, the children have had lots of opportunity for other learning. In the creative area the children have had the chance to practice their scissor control (please keep this up at home).
In the malleable area the children have been developing their fine motor skills by manipulating playdough to roll and shape it to make faces.
We have also spent lots of time outside this week and importantly have encouraged the children to dress themselves independently (putting on their own coats and wellies to play in the mud!). A lot of children still struggle with this and need lots of support to have a go on their own first and then ask a grown up when they are really stuck. We will continue support the children to be resilient so that they can be independent learners. When outside, the children have loved climbing the adventure playground, riding on the bikes, exploring the water and mud in the mud kitchen and enjoyed our writing shed.
To support the delivery of phonological awareness this week the children have thoroughly enjoyed making and using their 'big ears' to listen for environmental sounds (see photos below!) You can continue with this at home over this weekend, wherever you are stop and have a listen and see if your child can listen to the simple sounds and noises around them.
We have had an extremely busy few weeks and the children have already learnt so much. Thank you to everyone for arriving on time so that we can start the day promptly. We will be closing the gates at 8.55am for safeguarding reasons.
A sign up sheet for the mystery reader is now up and running! Please pop you name down if you would like the opportunity to come in and read a story to the class!
A few reminders:
- Please NAME ALL SHOES, CARDIGANS AND JUMPERS. If they have names missing it makes it extremely difficult for us to find missing items.
- Please bring in a named water bottle
- Please bring some spare changes of clothes, underwear and socks for your child in case of toilet and messy play accidents
- Can I ask all parents that haven't already, please bring in a pair of wellies to school for outdoor play on wet days. We only have so many spare pairs!
Have a great weekend everyone and enjoy the last of the summer sun!
Mrs Farrar