Week 3
Our new topic this term is called “Kings and Queens.”
The children will explore the world of royalty through a range of engaging stories and activities, using key texts as a stimulus for our learning!
The children will explore non-fiction texts about castles, learning about their features and purpose.
Through our history learning, we will discover what a monarchy is and learn about coronations. The children will have the exciting opportunity to act out their own coronation, bringing their learning to life through role-play.
In Science, we will be exploring plants, animals and habitats!
In RE, we will be discussing special places that are meaningful to us. We will also learn about the Christian church, exploring why it is a special place for many people and what happens there.
We have been learning all about castles. Some children even made their own castles at home—well done! It was wonderful to see so many fantastic features, including moats, drawbridges and battlements. We have been using these in our construction play too, building and exploring together.
In PSHE, we have been learning about how to keep our bodies and minds healthy. We read the story “Find Your Happy” and talked together about the things that make us feel happy. The children enjoyed sharing their ideas and learning how to recognise and talk about their own feelings.
In PSHE, we have been learning about how to keep our bodies and minds healthy. We read the story “Find Your Happy” and talked together about the things that make us feel happy. The children enjoyed sharing their ideas and learning how to recognise and talk about their own feelings.
We loved designing and making our own castles this week! The children carefully cut out the battlements, showing great scissor control, and used a fun printing technique to create a realistic stone effect on the walls.
We had great fun playing Beetle Drive this week. The children rolled the dice and quickly coloured the matching body part, racing their friends to see who could finish first. They showed brilliant resilience and growing confidence with subitising skills as they recognised numbers at a glance.
We’ve been busy creating our own minibeasts for our assembly next week. The children carefully drew and coloured their creatures, paying attention to patterns, shapes and tiny details!
The children have been practising their cutting skills using a knife and fork. We talked about switching hands and using a strong, steady hand to hold the food still while the other hand moves the knife back and forth to cut. This helped develop their independence, coordination and confidence at mealtimes!
In maths this week, the children have been learning numbers up to 20. We explored number compositions, talking about how numbers can be made in different ways, such as 10 and 4 making 14. We also enjoyed playing Snakes and Ladders, helping the children to recognise numbers to 20 while taking turns and counting carefully. We also used the game Place Value Basketball on Topmarks to help us practise!
The children have been busy making their very own stories this week! They enjoyed writing their own ideas as well as using familiar stories such as Jack and the Beanstalk for inspiration. We also loved making our own little booklets by carefully folding paper, helping to develop early writing skills, creativity and fine motor control.
This week we focused on numbers to 15. The children practised careful counting to 10 before moving on to build and understand the teen numbers, such as 10 + 1 = 11. To bring our learning to life, we made beanstalks by threading leaves and counting each one as we added it.
We made our very own harps this week. The children used elastic bands and explored how each band made a different pitch when plucked. It was a brilliant way to build our fine‑motor skills too as we stretched and wrapped the bands around the tubs.
We have really enjoyed planting our own beanstalks! The children learned what a plant needs to grow and are very excited to watch their beanstalks get taller over the next few weeks. We’ll also be writing our own instructions on how to grow a beanstalk.
This week we carried on exploring Jack and the Beanstalk. The children loved creating their very own beanstalks, using a variety of collage materials like tissue paper. We talked about tearing and scrunching the paper to make leaves, building those fine motor skills along the way. Some children even chose to draw their own castle at the top of the beanstalk!
In PE this week we’ve been practising our hopping, jumping and skipping. We talked about how a hop uses one foot, a jump uses two feet, and a skip is a fun combination of both. It was great to see the children giving each movement a go with such enthusiasm. We also revisited skipping with a rope, building on the skills we learned during our skipping workshop last term.
We had a very exciting visit from Mrs Hailwood this week, who came to bake with us. The children made their very own bread and were fascinated to learn about the secret ingredient — yeast. We talked about the special job it does, helping the dough to grow and rise. The children then shaped their bread using different techniques, including having a go at plaiting. It was a lovely hands-on experience and the classroom smelled amazing by the end!
In maths this week we’ve been ordering numbers to 10. We started by practising on a number line, then had a go at ordering numbers that had been mixed up. The children loved cutting out leaves to add to our beanstalks, combining their fine motor skills with their number knowledge.
We’ve been enjoying the story Jack and the Beanstalk this week. The children made their very own beanstalks using playdough, carefully squeezing, pinching and rolling the dough to create tall stems and leafy vines. They loved comparing the sizes of their beanstalks and confidently used story vocabulary such as huge and gigantic to describe their creations.
We’ve been on the hunt for tricky words this week. The children used magnifying glasses to look carefully and closely as they searched for the hidden tricky words in the picture. Once they spotted them, they read each word and then wrote it down.
We’ve been loving practising our cursive handwriting this week. The children have been working hard on the letters from our long ladder family, focusing on smooth, flowing movements and careful formation. They showed great concentration and pride as their confidence grew with each letter.