The children have had a busy and fun-filled half term. We began the half term learning about winter and seasonal changes. The children have been experts at spotting signs of the change in seasons. During our woodland sessions each week we have really seen a change through winter and that early signs of Spring are right around the corner. The children have been noticing plants including snowdrops and bluebells and have been very excited to find so many frogs in the ponds!

Following the children’s interest in winter and cold places, we learnt about Arctic animals, including penguins. The children loved learning facts about penguins and they created fact books, labelled pictures and retold the story using captions of ‘Lost and Found’ by Oliver Jeffers.

We then moved onto learning about ‘Space’, following the whole school’s upcoming Art Gallery theme of ‘out of this world’. The children have been in awe and wonder, asking questions about out of space. We have watched videos, read a variety of high quality texts including both fiction and non-fiction. The children designed a pair of pants for the aliens in ‘Alien’s love underpants’ and they also wrote about what they could see in pictures, applying recently introduced vocabulary. We have continued to have ‘drawing club’ sessions twice weekly which give the children the opportunity to respond to a text with a picture and phrase of their choice. The children’s drawing skills are improving and we’ve seen the interest in texts flourish this year. The children have created space artwork to sell at the Art Gallery next half term using a range of techniques such as printing and marbling.

As we approach half term we have been learning about pancake day and valentines. The children have taken part in a range of linked provision activities to expand their understanding.

In RE our big question this half term is ‘What makes us unique and precious?” We have been exploring what makes each of the children unique, including their special talents and interests. They brought in pictures of them as a baby to discuss how they were precious when they were born and how they have changed.

In maths we have continued to follow the NCETM mastering number programme. The children have been consolidating their understanding of the composition of numbers within 5. We have been counting up to and beyond 20 and comparing amounts within 5.

In phonics, the children have now been taught all of the phase 3 sounds. We will now assess the children this week to see if the children need time to consolidate these sounds further or if they are ready to move onto phase 4 phonics. Please continue to read with your children 3-5 times per week with their phonics book and then also read their library book to them each week. Evidence suggests reading with your child regularly and them reading to you increases their vocabulary, confidence and ability in reading.

This half term we have begun weekly PE and Music sessions which the children love! In PE we have been learning about getting into safe spaces, moving around in different ways and balancing. In Music we have been learning to keep a steady beat to well known nursery rhymes.

After securing a grant and fundraising money we have now invested in a range of equipment, including new large construction, balancing and climbing, a reading teepee and a mud kitchen! The children have absolutely loved the new additions to our outdoor provision and we look forward to using this even more as we enter Spring. 

We hope all our EY families have a relaxing and fun half term together and we look forward to welcoming you back afterwards.