We have had such a busy and exciting few weeks in cherry class!

We have been learning all about Easter and Spring. We have learnt about how Christians celebrate Easter and shared the true meaning of Easter. The children have been on Easter egg hunts, decorated Easter eggs, written Easter lists and explored Spring through sensory trays. 

The children learnt about toys from now and the past. We read the story 'Lost in the toy museum'. The children explored real toys from the past and looked at pictures too. They compared old toys to new toys and wrote about what they could see. They also had a 'toy day' where they brought in and shared their favourite toy from home. 

We read the story 'Jack and the Beanstalk' and the children have been learning songs to perform to the parents during their class worships next half term. The children retold the stories through role play and by making books. 

In Maths we have been learning to add and subtract numbers using concrete resources and also have been learning about measurement. They have measured and compared lengths, heights and weights using practical resources. 

The children have been loving the woodland area over the last few weeks. They have made and toasted their own flatbreads, made nature eggs, nests and been on an Easter egg hunt. We also collected frogspawn and watched them grow into tadpoles. 

This week in Cherry class we have been learning about people who help us. We have been discussing different jobs and people's roles they play in keeping us safe and helping us. 

We had a visit from the fire service on Tuesday. The children were very excited to go inside the fire engine and spray the hose! They learnt about what fire fighters do and got to see their uniforms. The children were interested to find out what they should do if they hear a fire alarm and they learnt a song to remind them never to touch matches and lighters. 

The children have loved role play this week, including a fire engine and a doctor's surgery. They have been acting in role in the uniforms. 

The children have used their knowledge to label the uniform, write captions about people who help us and write thank you cards. 

They have been making fire engines and creating fire fighters out of junk modelling. 

In Maths this week they have been exploring doubles. They have been making doubles using concrete resources.

We have been revising the sounds that we learnt before half term in phonics sessions. 

This week in Cherry class we have been learning all about space. The children have been immersed in the learning and have loved finding out new and interesting facts by reading and listening to stories, exploring videos and images and through their play.

They have been using role play to go on space adventures in the small world and in our role play area which has been a space station. The have been using appropriate vocabulary such as "comets and meteor showers". 

The children have been writing within their play, creating space passports and making maps of space. 

The children have been very creative this week- they have been using printing to print planets, stars and they have also used their cutting skills to create astronauts and space pictures. Lots of children made rockets out of junk modelling and explained how they made them. 

In phonics this week we learnt the sounds "er and air". They have been reading longer words such as 'ladder, better, carrot' They have also learnt the tricky words 'pure, sure and all'

In Maths we have been continuing to learn about subtraction. They have been interpreting and solving subtraction number sentences using concrete resources. 

What a wonderful 2 weeks back we have had in Cherry class! The children were very excited to talk about their Christmas experiences and the toys they got for Christmas. 

We have been learning all about seasonal changes over the last two weeks. Thinking and exploring nature outside and the changes in the temperature and weather we see. We have also been exploring nature changes in our woodland area, thinking about plants and animals we are seeing when we go there. 

We have been reading the story 'Lost and Found' by Oliver Jeffers. The children had the surprise of a penguin arriving at school. They were very interested to find out more about Penguins and Antarctica. They have been labelling penguins, creating penguin fact books and writing about 'cold places'. 

Our role play area has been a hot chocolate cafe. The children have loved acting in role in the cafe and writing order forms and paying with plastic money. 

In Maths we have begun learning about addition. They have been solving addition problems using concrete resources and learning about the = and + symbols. 

In phonics the children have learnt the sounds "ai, ee, high, oa, oo, oo, ar and or" over the last two weeks. Please remember to read with your child regularly and record this in their yellow reading records. 

The children have been exploring winter through sensory tuff trays and have been creating using multiple resources. They have made winter wonderlands, using paints and chalks, penguins using printing and exploring gradient and shades. 

The children have begun PE - please remember that they can wear their P.E kits on a Friday to school. 

This week in Cherry class we started with 'Advent day'. The children learnt about what advent meant and why/ how Christians celebrate advent day. Each of the children drew their own advent pictures to be opened each day of December for our class advent calender. 

The children took part in Knife and fork training, where Chartwells came in to teach them how to use a knife and fork safely. 

We read the story 'the snowman' and the children then drew a picture of their own snowman in drawing club. The children have been labelling snowmen, explaining and writing instructions on how to build a snowman and writing lists for Santa for posting. 

Our role-play area has been transformed into a Santa's workshop. The children have enjoyed acting in role as cheeky elves building toys, designing and wrapping toys.

In Maths, children have been measuring, ordering and comparing sizes of objects and pictures. 

In phonics, we have continued to consolidate the digraphs; ch, sh, th, ng, and nk. The children have been writing simple words and sentences containing the sounds they have learnt. 

Cherry class have been very busy practising for their Christmas Nativity worship for the parents. Thank you for bringing in their costumes this week! We are very excited to show you!

This week in Cherry class we read the story 'Baby owls' and we had a little baby owl in the tree with a letter for us. We have been looking after the baby owl as it was scared because he missed his mum. The children have been making the owl nests and creating art work of owls.

We have begun 'drawing club' this week. The children all drew a picture and setting for Baby owls. As this progresses, the children will begin to apply their phonics and maths to enhance their drawing club pictures. 

In phonics the children have learnt the sounds qu, z and ch. They have been reading words containing these sounds. When two letters make one sound, we call this a digraph. The children have also learnt the tricky words "go, no, to". 

In Maths we have been consolidating the children's knowledge of finding one more and one less than numbers within 10. They have been using concrete resources, number lines and drawings. 

The children have been writing labels for owl parts (beaks, claws, feathers), they have been retelling the story of 'Baby owls' by writing words or phrases for pictures. 

Our role play area this week has turned into a vets, linking to our recent visit from Brent Lodge animal hospital. The children have loved acting in role as vets, receptionist and pet owners. They have been caring for our sick animal teddies very well- giving them injections and wrapping bandages.

Next week we will be walking to the post box to post our Christmas letters to Santa. Please don't forget to bring in a stamp!