Autumn 1: Me and my Family

W/C Monday 11th October

The children loved the Three Bears last week, so we are continuing with that theme this week.

We practised collage skills to create our own bears! We needed to select the appropriate materials and use the glue to stick them down and bring our bear to life. 

We received a letter from Goldilocks - she apologised for breaking into our classroom and spilling the porridge. She explained that she has no pennies and wasn’t able to buy any breakfast. The children suggested we made breakfast for her - some yummy toast! We followed the instructions very carefully to make our own toast! The children worked brilliantly to independently use the knife to butter and slice their toast. We observed how the bread changed as it was toasted - commenting in its appearance and texture. 
 

In Maths, we have been practising careful counting. We have practised counting using our fast number eyes (subitising), by listening (e.g. claps or drum beats) and finally, touch counting. We all made our own counting wants to touch objects as we count them! We are counting experts now! 

In recognition of Black History Month, we have been learning about Rosa Parks. The children showed excellent curiosity as they were told the story of Rosa Parks and how unfair the rules were for Rosa and other people of colour. The story helped us to reiterate a very important ethos we learn in RZ - we must all have a kind heart. The children sorted different scenarios into “fair” or “not fair” - we were amazed at how brilliantly the children spoke about and understood the scenarios. 

Friday 8th October

We have really enjoyed exploring our first sounds in Phonics (Fred-time) this week! On Friday, we out our recaps on the first time to recap all the sounds we had learned this week. We are excited for next week’s new learning! 
 

Thursday 7th October

Today, we enjoyed learning and talking about us and our relationships. We started the day by reading the Colour Monster - the children loved it! This helped us to talk about our feelings and sparked discussion about who can help us when we aren’t feeling our best. We then drew pictures of the people who can help us, and we also discussed why we are special. We reminded ourselves that even though we all look different and may have features that are different to other people, the only thing that matters is having a kind heart. 

Wednesday 6th October

We have been using the golden words, “tall” and “short” when building houses for our teddies.

Tuesday 5th October

In PE, we recapped last week's skill - jumping and learned a new skill, hopping. We all discovered that it's quite tricky to hop, so we are working on our balance one on foot first which will help us with our hopping. Our resilience was great though - we all had a go at doing it!

Monday 4th October

Look! Someone has been in our classroom over the weekend and made a mess in our home corner! Who could it be? Looks like we need some RZ investigators to look for clues. The children used iPads to photograph the evidence, they took fingerprints, drew pictures of the evidence and talked to other children (and people on the phone!) to discuss who it could be.

W/C 27th September

Our theme has been Houses, and in Maths we have explored comparing amounts using “more” and “fewer”. We started the week by practising our printing skills using sponges to create our Christmas Cards ready to be ordered and printing for December! Following on from the arrival of a Robin on Friday, we chose to use robins in our design! 

We enjoyed exploring homes from around the world, and using different materials to construct them. 
 

We have continued to show how brilliant we are at working cooperatively, taking turns and sharing. The children are always displaying our school values of enjoyment and resilience within their play. 

One of our families had discovered a wasps’ nest at their house and kindly brought it in for us to see! The children were fascinated by it, and commented on how soft and delicate it was. We discussed how wasps make their nest, and were all very curious to find out that they are made from chewed wood! 

Friday 24th September

Before we had arrived at school today, Mrs Margaret had discovered a Robin in our classroom! Mrs Margaret and Mrs Schofield worked very carefully to help the robin get out of the classroom and back to it's nest safely. They did take a little video for us to see! We decided that the robin had been watching us, and after seeing what superstars we are, wanted to come and be in RZ! Unfortunately, children only in RZ but we have made some pictures and messages for robin red breast to say hello!

We have been scientists observing 'germs'. We know it is important to wash our hands and not put toys in our mouth. When we put our finger in the germs (pepper) the germs stuck to our finger but if we had soap on our finger the germs moved away and our finger was clean. When we passed a banana around we observed what happened to the glitter germs, we all ended up with the glitter germs on our hands! 

Wednesday 22nd September

We have been exploring matching in Maths. We began by matching objects based on colour, shape or size and now we are matching numerals to the correct amount. We have tried to use the words "same" or "different" when deciding if the objects match. Later in the week, we moved into sorting into groups. Each object in the group had to have something in common e.g. being the same colour, shape or size. The children had a good go at working independently and using the iPad to photograph their groups. 

Friday 17th September

We love playing in the outdoor classroom! 

Our first ever music session. We spoke about what music is - how we can dance, sing or listen to it and even make our own using our bodies, voices or instruments! The children were fantastic!

Thursday 16th September

We have enjoyed talking about ourselves. We have painted portraits. We used the frame to help us understand that a portrait is just our face, and we looked closely to make sure we used the correct paint to match our skin tone and features. We then used our fingers to paint our features, again paying close attention to detail for our portraits to look like us! We are very proud of our hard work and take pride in it being displayed in our classroom!

Wednesday 15th September

We have been practising creating repeating patterns to decorate borders. We all did a great job, super concentration and enjoyment!

Tuesday 14th September

Today, we had our very first PE lesson! We played some different games in the hall; we had to move in different ways and make sure we had lots of space around us. Then, we spoke about why exercise is important. The children thought about how exercise helps to make our bodies grow and makes our bodies strong! We changed our pumps, and when we are feeling even braver, we will have a go at changing our clothes too!

Friday 10th September

A super week! Our first full days at Primary school. We have done SO well, especially so as the weather has been very warm! We have been developing our PSED skills - taking turns, sharing resources and having a go at things we haven't tried before!

Thursday 9th September

 Now we have all started school, we each have our very own special carpet space! We do a great job to remember these and show our super “Give Me 5” sitting. 🖐🏽 We spoke about how we all have a right to listen and learn, so we know that showing super sitting is a way of respecting others and making sure we are listening and learning.

Friday 3rd September

Another wonderful day! See you next week RZ superstars! 🌟💜 We are doing an amazing job at being resilient in a new environment! We have discussed how we can play fairly, taking turns and welcoming others into our play.

Thursday 2nd September

Wow - what a super first day we have had! Lots of smiles and happy faces! We can’t wait to welcome you back tomorrow! It is great to see the children develop confidence to come into their new classroom. We have enjoyed lots of different books, such as "When a Dragon goes to school" to support our understanding of and transition into Reception at Pendle Primary.