Spring 1
Friday 13th February
Kung Hei Fat Choi! This week the children have been finding out about Chinese New Year and linking their learning to what they know about how other special times are celebrated. After discovering that red symbolises good luck, the children made and decorated paper lanterns and enjoyed playing in the Chinese restaurant role play area. They were very excited to see 'dragon' dancing and wanted to make their own cardboard dragon head! To round off our learning, each class had time in our D.T. kitchen to make Chinese stir fry. The children used a pictorial recipe and worked in teams, sharing the jobs and making sure everyone was involved. They experienced the skills of chopping, tearing, mixing and grating. We were so impressed by how sensible all the children were and how they all had a go at using chopsticks to eat their meal. The children were super chefs!
Friday 6th February
This week there were lots of busy fingers practising letter formation, writing in play and constructing things, using all sorts of resources. The children have enjoyed our Talk for Writing learning so much that we are seeing some wonderful stories being made up in our Story World corners! The children have learnt lots about what makes for a gripping imaginative tale and their super imagination means they can show their stories with rope, fabric and wooden figures.
Friday 30th January
There was great excitement on Monday morning when the children entered their classrooms to find a visitor had left some huge paw prints! There were lots of suggestions as to what had left these prints, with most of the children thinking of....a polar bear!
This has led to the beginning of our learning about polar regions and to finding out more about these wondeful animals. Finding the polar region on a globe, led to lots of questions about the whereabouts of countries the children have visited. This led to some curiosity about maps!
We learnt about a famous polar explorer from history; Ernest Shackleton. The children were fascinated by the story and how we know it it true because a photographer was on board The Endurance, who recorded it all. There was some enthusiastic role-play after this, with a crew assembling to board The Endurance and excitement about 'getting stuck in the ice!'
On Friday our wonderful P.T.A. put on a disco for EYFS! There was music, disco lights, dancing, refreshments, magic and even some snow! The children and staff had a fantastic time!
Friday 23rd January
The cold weather this week didn't put the children off playing and exploring outside! It was super to see some collaborative, self-devised games going on, with lots of turn-taking. The children decided to have a drawing game, where they had to guess what each other had drawn!
They have also been busy applying what they have learnt to their play in imaginative ways. In the Potion Kitchen, they children played at a phonic game of making a Silly Soup and stirring in lots of things beginning with 'ch'. They particularly liked the combination of chocolate and cheese!
The children were fascinated to hear about quills, while learning the sound 'qu'. They were inspired to have a go at writing using a feather and think about how people used to write in the past.
Friday 16th January
As part of our Talk for Writing unit, this week we had a visit from some very special visitors. Two beautiful owls came to see us; a barn owl and a tawny owl. They came from Barleylands in Billericay. The children sat very well and understood that they needed to be quiet and calm in their bodies, so that the owls would feel happy. It was very exciting to see them swoop low over the children's heads! The children learnt a lot and asked some interesting questions.
The owls' visit inspired some great art work. Some of the children painted some observational pictures of the owls, while others recreated the textureof their feathers by painting with forks!
Friday 9th January 2026
The EYFS children returned to school on a snowy day full of energy and excitement for the new term! We made the most of the snow as it was the first many of our children have seen. We wrapped up warm and had so much fun in the snow on our field.
The snow inspired some snowman drawing and art. The children also enjoyed discovering lots of ice in our outside area and investigated how they could help it melt.
In Talk for Writing, our new text is a version of The Owl Babies and the children loved being owls swooping outside!
In Maths, we have been practising recognising a quantity without needing to count and using this knowledge to play dice games, involving turn taking and counting on.
What a full first week back!
