WELCOME TO WOODLANDS
We are two Reception/Year 1 classes: Hedgehogs and Dormice. Our teachers are: Mrs Anna Blake, Mrs Sophie David, Mrs Katherine Bryson and Mrs Dana Pickford.
Autumn 1 2024 Class News
Dormice
Our new Reception children have settled in wonderfully, and we are immensely impressed with them! We have already experienced and learnt a lot together.
As budding writers, we dove into the magic of Drawing Club! In Drawing Club, we listen and respond to stories, and begin to build up our fabulous writing skills.
Our first Drawing Club story was The Enormous Turnip. We handled some real turnips, listened to the story and learnt some new Vibrant Vocabulary to accompany our play. We had great fun re-enacting the story! We learnt that it doesn't matter how big, small or strong you are, only by working as a team could the characters pull the turnip out of the ground.
Mrs Bryson then drew one of the characters, the mouse. There's always some magic in Drawing Club, so today Mrs Bryson's mouse had a special button. It was an 'a' button (the children helped her form her 'a' with "around the apple down to the leaf"). When you pushed the 'a' button it turned the mouse into a turnip!
The children loved coming to the Drawing Club table to draw their own interpretation of the mouse character and to inject their own magic with some imaginative buttons! We had a 't' button that sent the mouse to jail, an 's' button that turned the mouse into a Halloween mummy, and a 'c' button that turned you into a cat!
Summer 2 2024 Class News
Ahoy there mateys! It’s been a rather piratical few weeks for our EYFS children. It all started when Miss Gerrard found a mysterious message in a bottle left on her desk. It was from The Night Pirates! They had entrusted some treasure to the children, who had to follow the map to find the hidden gold. They also found in the chest a copy of a book called 'The Night Pirates', which became our new Drawing Club text! The children loved responding to the story through their writing.
As geographers, we have been practising our map-reading skills by hiding our own messages-in-bottles and marking their location on a map. We have also learnt to show features on a map, and describe a route, when creating our own treasure island maps.
As scientists, we explored what materials made for successful ships, as we created our own pirate galleons using old bits of recycling. The children really impressed us with their problem solving skills; redesigning as they realised their ship either sank or couldn’t catch the wind.
Summer 1 2024 Class News
To deepen our understanding of the world, we have been comparing life in the UK to life in Kenya. We have learnt about many similarities, such as a national love of sport, as well as many differences such as the language and the types of wild animals.
We spent a few days preparing to go on safari by making binoculars (practising our joining skills), animal masks (practising our snipping skills) and constructing a jeep (working as a team and problem solving). Finally, we were ready! We all had roles - either driver, tour operator, tourist or animal. We booked our tickets with the tour operator, spoke about what animals we wanted to see (most of us wanted to catch a glimpse of the famous Big Five) and off we went. We saw giraffes nibbling on the grass, a pride of lions sheltering in the shade, a meerkat on a hilltop and many more. We can't wait to return to Kenya!
Y1 children in Hedgehogs have been exploring! We checked our digital photography skills by applying filters to our photos and taking photos of our friends. We showed our maths knowledge by clearly explaining to our partner how we arrived at the answers. We tested materials for strength, waterproofness and learnt new words: transparent, translucent and opaque. We can't wait to see what we will be learning about next half term!
Spring 2 2024 Class News
Year 1 Hedgehogs have enjoyed their learning this half term.
We started exploring pastels in art - but we have also been practising being a good friend and helping each other with the aprons!
In science we looked at our class plants to find ones that grow in hot and dry countries and ones that would normally grow in wet, hot conditions. We are so lucky to have so many interesting plants in our classroom!
In maths, we are looking at addends and sums. We started exploring inverse operations as well.
In computing we are learning how to take a good digital photograph - we experimented with landscape and portrait positions and made sure the subject of the photo is in the middle of the frame.
What a fun-filled few weeks the Reception children have had. Our highlight, of course, has been World Book Day. We love reading here at Beech Grove, so to be able to dedicate a whole day to our love of reading has been really special. The children wore some fantastic outfits and shared their favourite characters with their friends. We also loved being able to wear something comfy, and we spent much of the day creating some cosy reading nooks and dens in the classroom and garden, and spent extended periods delving into the worlds inside our books, snuggled up with blankets, cushions and friends.
Spring 1 2024 Class News
Year 1 Woodlands children visited Wellington Monument to finish their learning about Arthur Wellesley. They were able to share their history knowledge with the lovely volunteers at the monument and we were even lucky enough to go inside the big green door and walk around the bottom of the three sided obelisk. They couldn't believe how tall it was when they looked up! They were also able to go on a nature walk through the woods which linked really nicely with their science topic on plants.
Autumn 2 2023 Class News
A definite highlight of this half term was our visit to the Methodist Church for a Christingle making session. We had so much fun! The children learnt more about the Christmas story and will be able to tell you what each part of the Christingle means.
Thank you again to Waitrose and the Methodist Church for sponsoring this event.
Autumn 1 2023 Class News
What an exciting first half term!
We have started the year with our new class story of 'The Three Little Pigs'. One of the pigs visited us in the school hall and gave us a challenge of building a house that even the big bad wolf can't blow down. We used all the construction materials in the classroom to achieve this and 'blew' on the houses to make sure they were sturdy enough. As writers, we are getting accustomed to using handwriting lines, and learning grammar through the use of 'Colourful Semantics'.
As mathematicians, we have enjoyed the 'Mastering Number' programme, where we all work together to subitise, compose and compare numbers. We used ten frames, rekenreks and Hungarian dice patterns to show our understanding of number bonds and composition of numbers.
As scientists we are learning about animals, including humans. We looked at the life cycles of various animals, including our teachers, and named the young and the adult creatures. Did you know a baby hedgehog is called a hoglet? We also completed the first one of our three nature walks. We recorded the weather, including temperature, looked at the types of clouds and changes in the natural world that occur in autumn. We saw stratus clouds covering the whole sky and some of the deciduous trees starting to lose their leaves.
In history, we looked at toys across the ages. The children explored toys from the past and compared those to the toys they play with today. We noticed that the materials used to make play things have changed, but rarely the type of toys. We love teddies, puzzles and vehicles just as much now as the children from the past. We loved taking part in the toy workshop, from the Somerset Heritage.
We enjoyed the 'Alice in Wonderland' performance, in the school hall. The children were inspired by the colourful, eccentric characters and decided to design their own! We wrote lists and descriptive sentences but most of all, we enjoyed designing extraordinary outfits for our characters.
In computing, we have been practising typing in our names so we can log on to the school platform. Our knowledge of capital letters was tested and proved very useful!
2022/23 Class News
Summer 2 2023 Class News
EYFS
Can you believe we are at the end of our first year at school? What a lovely experience this has been for the 2023 cohort. We enjoyed teaching the children so much, thank you for all your support!
In the last three weeks of this term, we have enjoyed a variety of events. Without a doubt, the school trip to Court Farm and the sports day were the highlights of the summer. We are very proud of how brave and competitive the children were during sports day, taking part in a great range of events. Many have set their PB (personal best) to be beaten next year!
Our trip to Court Farm was amazing! The children loved everything - from the coach travel to the tractor ride. They have proven to be very knowledgeable about where our milk comes from and thoroughly enjoyed the milking demonstration at the farm. Members of the public approached the teachers on three separate occasions, commenting on how well behaved, polite and respectful the children were. They were very proud to show the 'Beech Grove way' outside the school gates!
In class, the drawing club writing tasks have taken over our literacy sessions. Magic is sparkling from every page: the unusual words unlock the character's powers, the clever mathematical codes help them to shrink or disappear. The children are confidently approaching their literacy tasks, and many are writing sentences with capital letters and full stops - ready for Year 1. As mathematicians, we have been busy learning about AB, ABB and ABC patterns.
Singing has boomed in our unit as we are preparing for the summer concert this Friday. This year, the songs are particularly catchy, and the melodies hard to forget, so prepare for a great foot-tapping event!
The transition sessions went very well, despite some of the children feeling slightly nervous at the start. The Year 1 teachers loved their new classes, and both commented on how lovely and respectful all the children were. Good luck in Year 1, everyone! We will miss you!
Year 1 Hedgehogs
The end of the year is quickly approaching and it is hard to believe it has all gone so fast! In our Jigsaw lessons, we have been talking about changes, not only in our bodies as we grow, but also in skills and learning. The children are more than ready to enter their new year group. We have enjoyed teaching our Hedgehogs this year, we will miss you lots!
Our last three weeks of school have been full of fantastic events. First of all, we had the terrific trip to Fyne Court, where we practised our geography skills. Thank you so much for contributing to the cost of the coach; it was such a wonderful experience for the children that wouldn't have happened without your financial support. It is hard to ascertain which of the activities was the most enjoyable: the pond dipping, the sketching, visiting the bug hotel and the sky glade, playing the secret wooden instruments or the butterfly and bug hunt? To be honest, just playing with our friends after lunch, in the beautiful setting was as lovely as the guided tasks. Great thanks to our volunteers, Mrs Locke and Mrs Smith for helping out.
The sports day was another enjoyable event this half term. The children showed superb sportsmanship, cheering each other on and setting many PBs (personal bests) to be beaten next year. We are particularly proud of those of our friends who felt nervous about joining in the activities but did so anyway! Well done!
The end of the year is the time of closing and summarising of the units taught. We have looked through the science units on plants and were surprised how much new knowledge we now have. We also summarised the learning in geography; using the school trip data gathering exercise, in pond dipping, as one of the examples. We still need a bit of practice to use a compass, so if you are planning any trips or walks in the summer, please take one with you.
We are very lucky to have had a few sports coaches in lately. This week, the children were taught skills needed to play cricket. What great fun this was!
In art, the children have enjoyed re-visiting their drawing skills, which they will now use to make carbon paper mono prints. We are happy to see that, with practice, the children are less worried about what their final pieces look like and more focused on the skills and exploring of media and tools.
Summer 1 2023 Class News
Reception children
What an exciting end of the half term the children in Woodlands Reception have had! The Evil Pea ransacked our classroom and kidnapped the toy food from our supermarket!
The children designed and made traps to catch him, and they then created their own set of instructions so that other people would know what to do.
The children looked at lots of other examples of instructions in the world around us, e.g. recipes and craft books. They learnt that all good instructions have two sections: 'What we need' and 'What we do.'
In the second part of the half term, the children loved hearing lots of poems in class and watching some poets reciting their work. The children learnt a poem called Caterpillar Garden and practised using actions and expressive faces to entertain the audience. Finally, they performed our poem to other classes.
As scientists, the children observed the life cycles of tadpoles and butterflies in the classroom. What an exciting opportunity to comment on changes in the natural world!
As mathematicians, the children enjoyed making up addition and subtraction stories. We have also looked at number systems beyond 10. The children particularly enjoyed naming and constructing with 3D shapes, such as cuboids and cylinders.
Finally, we have all loved the extraordinary historical event of the King’s Coronation. The children made a royal post box and sent the King lots of kind and supportive messages. They loved performing in the school celebration – thank you all for coming!
Year 1 Children
The children in Year 1 Hedgehogs loved the exciting second part of this half term. We made delicious fruit kebabs, learnt about robot algorithms and worked out how people communicated in the olden days.
Our DT project couldn’t have gone ahead without your kind support – thank you for the contributions towards the variety of fruit the children have used. The imagination of the children had no end – they created fruit wands, fireworks and rockets. We had a lovely picnic outside the school and enjoyed all the exotic flavours.
As historians, we explored the history of communication, from cave paintings to mobile phones. The children were astounded to see the old-fashioned telephones with dials and cameras. We learnt a lot about the founder of the World Wide Web as well. However, our favourite activity was coding a message using the Morse Code.
In computing, the children programmed a floor robot using commands set into algorithms. They used their mathematical knowledge of positional language to predict if the algorithm would be correct, before running a test.
In Maths, we are focusing on place value to 50 as well as exploring measures; length, height, mass and capacity. The children loved the sessions, as lots of practical outdoor activities were completed.
We are also very proud of our amazing stories based on the warning tale of ‘The Kassim and the Greedy Dragon’. The children made up their own versions, including a scary setting and a monster. Well done, Hedgehogs!
Spring 2 2023 Class News
Reception children
What a fantastic half term we have had. The children are becoming increasingly independent and risk-taking with their learning, which is wonderful to see. One of our highlights has to be our "Henry the Hedgehog is Missing!" workshop run by Carymoor Environmental Trust. Not only did the children need to be detectives to uncover and analyse the clues, but also learnt about animals' diets, habitats and seasonal changes. We also celebrated World Book Day with some wonderful activities and very impressive costumes!
As scientists, we celebrated British Science Week with a whole day being scientists - we learnt how the senses are connected to different body parts, and went on a senses walk around Wellington Park. We also conducted an experiment to find out what happens when you dunk a biscuit into a warm drink. Because we are fantastic scientists, we drew a picture and wrote up our results so that others could learn about what might happen if you dunk your delicious biscuit into your hot chocolate!
As writers and story tellers we have learnt and innovated The Gingerbread Man. We have told our own versions of the story to our friends, including one Gingerbread Man who ran into a haunted house and met a spider under a bed, a bat hanging on a gate and a ghost in the kitchen! We are getting better all the time at using our story language, such as "Early one morning..." or "Suddenly...". When writing, the children increasingly select their own resources, using the 'red' words around the classroom and sound mats to help them.
As mathematicians, the children have been working hard to add and combine two groups of objects. Some children can recall their number bonds so well, they can just 'see' the combined number of two groups of objects in their mind. We have also been learning all about the numbers 9 and 10. We have been using 10 frames, counters, numicon and our fingers to explore ways of making these numbers.
As historians, we have studied the story of 'Dogger', by Shirley Hughes. The children were surprised to learn that 'in the olden days' parents couldn't just go to the shop to buy a dressing up costume, because there were no supermarkets! The children have been studying their own history, and making timelines for their own lives to show how they have grown from a baby, to a toddler, to 4 and 5 year olds.
Year 1 Children
The second part of the Spring half term welcomed us with a great World Book Day. The children showed off their writing skills by describing the character they were dressed up as and we created a beautiful string of bunting with reading recommendations for our friends.
Our geography topic on The Gambia inspired the children; we are all still singing the continent and ocean songs. We had a chance to remind ourselves what physical and human features are and to compare The Gambia to the UK in terms of climate, landscape and wildlife. As an addition to this, we are creating African masks, which were inspired by the work of three Gambian artists. We learnt a lot of drawing skills and implemented them into our final product in art lessons. We found the warming up exercises very interesting - especially the blind drawing!
We particularly enjoyed the science day with biscuit dunking experiments. In the final assembly, we presented the knowledge of a rare local butterfly, the large blue, which has been re-introduced in the South West after complete extinction in the 1970s. The children told the whole school about the connection of the large blue butterfly with a certain type of red ants, and how these cannot survive on turf which is too deep.
In music, and interestingly also in computing, we have been learning about pulse, rhythm and pitch. The children performed an African piece during the Easter assembly and used Chrome Music Lab to compose their own musical arrangements. The children are much more speedy logging in and typing, which means we have more time to focus on the software we are using.
In RE, the children had a visit from the local reverend, who carried out some craft workshops connected with Easter. The activities were brilliant and helped the children understand the Easter story.
Finally, the children have been perfecting their ball skills in PE this half term. Combined with the daily runs we are now doing before each maths session, the children are getting lots of opportunities to keep healthy. Staying healthy was our topic in Jigsaw this half term - the children are now experts at explaining what humans need to thrive.
Spring 1 2023 Class News
What a great half term we have had in EYFS! The children were very interested in the weather so we explored ice in a variety of shapes and sizes. We ran scientific experiments by placing chunks of ice in various places and recording the melting speeds.
Our story of 'The Three Billy Goats Gruff' has changed into a variety of tales: we had the three black cats and the big, bad pig or the three pigeons and the wicked witch. The pupils have a good understanding of how 'bad' characters are shown in stories and what words to use to describe them.
Our learning of numeracy has been boosted by the 'super maths' sessions. The children are very fast at subitising now (seeing the number of objects without counting).
We have celebrated Australia Day by making fairy bread in class. It was delicious!
Year 1 children have had a great half term. We have completed our instructions unit in literacy and commenced a great story called 'The papaya that spoke.' The children are getting so much better at writing accurate sentences and composing texts for different audiences.
We have been observing and recording weather in science lessons. This provoked lots of discussions about the influence of humans on our planet and climate.
As mathematicians, we enjoyed not only our regular maths lessons but also the 'Super maths' sessions - the mastery maths. The children have explored the composition of numbers, including doubles. They are getting super speedy at solving equations, including missing number problems.
In computing, we have been exploring Word as an editing programme.
We thoroughly enjoyed the museum workshop about two of the famous nurses - Florence Nightingale and Mary Seacole. The children got a chance to become Victorian medics and examine a range of artefacts. Hearing Florence's voice was a highlight of the session!
We enjoyed our visitors during the enrichment week. A GP talked to us about the importance of keeping healthy and cleaning our hands. But the most amazing visitors were the alpacas!
Autumn 2 2022 Class News
Autumn 1 2022 Class News
What an amazing half term the children at Woodlands have had. Their first half term as part of Beech Grove School community has been such a successful one!
The children seem to have mastered the daily routines and therefore we have been able to commence our lessons promptly.
The children explored a variety of skills and knowledge through our Marvellous Me topic. We learnt basic chronology by talking about ourselves and our families. In the home corners, the children looked after babies and can narrate how babies change when they become toddlers. It was interesting to talk about different types of families and what family life might look like in different countries around the world.
As storytellers, the children are getting used to the Talk for Writing story maps, actions and the structure of a literacy unit. We started with Humpty Dumpty; the innovations for this text were truly amazing! The children then moved onto the traditional tale of The Little Red Hen whose unhelpful friends needed to learn a lesson. The children loved acting the story out using masks and puppets.
In maths, the children explored size and pattern, using mathematical vocabulary and showing their knowledge in different ways. We also continued the work on sorting objects using a variety of criteria - and being able to explain their choices.
In RE, the children enjoyed learning about each other and how we are all unique in the things we believe and like. Jigsaw Genie has helped us to react to a variety of situations that might occur during the school day; for example, how to let our friends know we would like to join a game - or not! The children have started to use the Zones of Regulation to let us know how they are feeling.
The outdoor area has been well used for large projects such as potion making, mud pie bakery and large constructions varying from castles to boats.
Thank you all for talking to the children about school in such a positive way - they are all so happy to come to school and learn!
What a fantastic start to Year 1 our little Hedgehogs have had! We are so impressed with the way they've accepted the increased pace and volume of directed lessons - and how well they are doing!
As mathematicians, we explored the composition of the numbers to 10, compared them using the 'greater than', 'less than' and 'equal' symbols. We used ten frames, part-whole models and number tracks to prove our thinking and solve a variety of reasoning problems. The children have commenced the journey to Maths Mastery using NCTEM materials - we call this lesson 'Super Maths'.
As writers, we have completed two texts this half term; a fiction tale of 'Little Charlie' and a recount of Charlie's diary. The children have learnt to construct a correct sentence, including a verb in the correct tense, a capital letter and a full stop. We are starting to understand that a reader needs a level of detail to imagine what the setting/character looks like. The children are starting to add adjectives to nouns in order to paint a picture in the reader's mind.
As historians, we completed a journey in time to 1666 when a huge fire devoured a third of London. The children have learnt that the best historical evidence comes from eye-witnesses. We compared London now to London in the 17th century, which helped us to understand why the fire spread so quickly and was so destructive.
As designers, we worked on wheels and axels this half term. Our final product was a moving fire engine and we enjoyed designing and making it. Our evaluation stated that a better sticking agent than masking tape, would have been more effective at holding the axles in place.
2021/22 Class News
Summer 2 2022 Class News
The children in Woodlands are all ready for the move to their next class: they have spent two mornings and three afternoons with their new teacher, did some lovely art ready for a welcome display in September, and listened to some memorable stories read at the end of the transition visits. After completing the end of year assessments, we focused on our art week and enjoyed two visits from local artists. In addition to willow sculpting and using inks for collages, we also used online programmes to create digital portraits. We learnt about Pablo Picasso and made some cubist style portraits. We cannot wait to show you our fantastic artwork!
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All of the children in Woodlands have completed their final story making session and will come home with a story map to tell you. Some of the children have started to write up their stories in their books - please continue writing and reading over the summer. Year 1 children have finished their story of Pirate Tom and have also invented a story.
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In maths, we consolidated our knowledge of repeating patterns in Reception and capacity in Year 1. We enjoyed playing maths games using dice and also on ipads and laptops.
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We went to the Methodist church as a part of our RE unit on special places. The children had a chance to compare the church to the mosque that they have been learning about. We love our visits to the church - thank you, Mrs Smith for organising them.
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We cannot wait for the summer holidays.
Summer 1 2022 Class News
What a super summer term we have had so far!
The children in Woodlands have learnt a lot about sustainability and our beautiful world. We have learnt about electric cars and how they are less damaging to the environment. We were surprised to hear (or not!) the sound of the electric engine. This gave us a chance to discuss road safety, and how important it is to look as well as listen, as we might not always hear a car coming.
The children learnt about 'green' energy and used water to move a water wheel in their play. We have also been very good at recycling and reducing the use of precious resources. We loved reading "Who swallowed Stanley?" and "George saves the world by lunchtime".
We have been focusing on team work and creativity this half term. The children used a variety of media and materials to create zoos and stables, and places from Buckingham Palace to Bangladesh! The children worked together and showed us they can now solve any disagreements, listen to each other and act on advice from their peers and teachers.
As historians, the EYFS children learnt about Queen Elizabeth. They arranged photos of the Queen from when she was a little girl to now - using the knowledge of how humans grow from our previous learning. Year 1s found out lots about two famous explorers: Christopher Columbus and Neil Armstrong. They compared their achievements and listened to a witness - Mrs Keates, who watched the moon landing on television at our school when she was a little girl!
As scientists, EYFS children continued to explore the seasons during our weekly welly walks. We observed changing areas of our local park - every week something new appears! This half term, we spotted ducklings and cygnets as well as a plethora of flowers. Year 1 children commenced their new topic on materials and carried out some experiments to explore the metals (that can be shiny or dull) and to find out how heat can change materials.
As creators, EYFS children made crowns, flags and boats using recycled materials on our tinkering table. This developed into huge houses made from cardboard boxes! The children also explored printing to consolidate their learning about patterns in maths. Year 1 children learnt about joining fabrics in DT - we will be making a pirate puppet soon!
Our literacy text this half term was a very useful one: we learnt how to persuade. Year 1s successfully persuaded Miss Tomasik to have a picnic and a play in the park on the last day of term. Reception children wrote a letter to the Head teacher asking for a school pet. We are waiting for a reply, Miss Joyce :-)
Reception children truly amazed us with their use of new vocabulary learnt from our persuasion text. 'You look stunning today, Miss Gerrard,' or 'This is a breath-taking view' - are just a few of the phrases we heard they using.
Spring 2 2022 Class News
In Woodlands, the excitement rocketed when we went to visit the planetarium in school. The children enjoyed the whole experience, mostly the unusual acoustics of the dome - as well as the visual representations of our solar system.
The children have been practising their writing quite a lot recently, inspired by our reading unit based on non-fiction books. We are hoping to publish a book all about spring (as we now know a lot about seasonal changes). Each child wrote a page of their interest; information about the weather, things we see in spring and new life beginning to happen. Our aim is for each child to be able to write a short sentence with gaps between the words (finger spaces) by the end of EYFS. A lot of practice at school and at home will be beneficial - please continue to support your children at home.
The children are getting quicker and more proficient at making number bonds to 10. They are using mathematical vocabulary such as 'more than' and 'less than' to compare numbers. This week, we started to learn about 3D shapes and to describe them using vocabulary such as faces, vertices and edges.
Year 1s in Woodlands have been working hard on their independent version of the instructions. Some wrote about how to grow a vegetable but some chose a magic bean as their theme. Their sentence work is improving - we will be learning a lot more grammar next half term, paying attention to the word classes (verbs, nouns and adjectives) and using the correct punctuation.
We have finished our topic on plants in science this week, with an assessment that showed clearly what we had learnt about parts of the plant and its functions, the growing cycle and what seeds need to germinate. The children have impressed us with the knowledge they have retained.
Woodlands Plant Sale will take place in the first week after half term. If you have any plants that you wish to donate, please bring them to us after Easter.
Thank you for all your support and have a lovely break.
Spring 1 2022 Class News
This spring we have had a lot of fun! The children have progressed hugely in their reading, writing and maths. Their handwriting and ability to record is improving with practice, and we all seem to have learnt how to persevere when tasks become harder.
As writers, we have completed innovations to our first text, 'The Sheep and The Goat', and learnt how to describe goodies and baddies in stories.
We have also started our new poetry unit - we will be writing a colour poem.
As mathematicians, we have been exploring the composition of the numbers 7 and 8. We also combined two groups to see what the total was - we call this adding. The children enjoyed their lessons with the teacher and then showed us their understanding in their play.
Our role-play corner was very popular - it transformed from a space ship into a police station and now a hairdressers!
The children negotiated, organised and explained so they could play agreeably together. Great interpersonal and language skills have been practised.
The children at Woodlands were visited on Monday by the police officer Chandler Hallet. Chandler told the children about his job and how to become a police officer. The children had lots of questions about fast police vehicles and chasing baddies. Chandler also told them about his job helping people and making sure everyone in Wellington feels safe. He will be back soon to read the children a story. Thank you for visiting!
Autumn 2 2021 Class News
The children have really enjoyed the nativity performance, becoming more confident as the rehearsals continued. The singing and acting was marvellous and we can't wait to put the recording together for you all to watch at home.
Our welly walk took us to town, where we looked for the signs of Christmas celebrations. We spotted lights, wreaths, decorated trees and signs asking Santa to 'stop here' - but the most incredible surprise awaited us at St John's Church! We saw many angels lining the path to the church. Some children wanted to return in the evening to see the display illuminated.
In Maths, we have been exploring 2D shapes - we learnt that combining two squares will give us a rectangle and that a diamond is called a rhombus.
Year 1 children have worked super hard on their new text - the non-chronological report on Rudolph! We found out about the role of a title and subheadings in a non-fiction text. In maths, we have been finding a difference between two numbers using a variety of strategies: finding a part in a 'part-whole' diagram, jumping on a number line or using our fingers to count on. In geography, the children have been learning about the four points on the compass and how to draw an accurate map. Lots of hard work, Year 1s, well done!
As part of our key stage one topic, 'Animals Including Humans', the children enjoyed a visit from 'Animals 2u', where they had the opportunity to handle and find out about a variety of animals. This inspirational visit helped to reinforce the key scientific knowledge the children have been learning this half term.
We hope you all have a wonderful Christmas, enjoy the break and see you in January :-)
Our Woodlands children did an amazing job rehearsing and performing their nativity. We hope you enjoy it:
Please click here to view the video
Autumn 1 2021 Class News
In Woodlands, we have been innovating the story 'Stuck in the mud'. In reception we have loved using the post-it notes to introduce our characters and were great at re-telling the new tale. In year 1 we have started writing our stories and are proud of our finished pieces!
In maths in reception, we have explored the idea of 'same' and 'different', comparing a variety of objects (some of which we collected on our 'Welly Walk'). We have also started to sort objects according to a chosen criterion e.g. shape or size. Sid the Snake has been helping the children to measure length - we discovered two and a half boys are just as long as Sid.
In Year 1, we have been learning what number is one more/less than a number given.
We have started using sand timers to help us take turns and build our patience. They seem to be working very well at helping us to get on.
This half term, we have been introduced to the story of 'The Colour Monster'. We will be talking lots more about our emotions and how to recognise them in ourselves and others. The colours in the story correspond to the colours of the 'Zones of Regulation', which the whole school uses to support our understanding of emotions and how to manage them.
2020/21 Class News
Class News Summer Term 2021
The EYFS outdoor area at Beech Grove has been undergoing small but exciting changes. The children and the staff have been working tirelessly to create more natural spaces, where communication, team work and imagination can flourish. Our goal was to spend as little as possible and to use natural/recycled materials where possible.This required a lot of leg work but the effects are astounding! The parents/grandparents, local Wellington Seed & Plant Swap Facebook group and Transition Town Wellington (TTW) have been extremely helpful and generous. So far, a Woodland Hideout, Dinosaur World in tyres and a Bee Diner flower bed have been created, in addition to our wonderful mud kitchen. The children planted up the Bee Diner using seeds donated by TTW during our nature study of bees. We are hoping the recycled horticultural fleece (also donated by TTW) will keep our seeds warm and spark germination so bees can have a snack in our garden. Recycled tyres were filled with peat-free compost and planted up with herbs donated by members of staff. Now, when the dinosaurs roam the land, a lovely scent of mint and thyme fills the air.
The Woodland Hideout has been a wonderful new addition - the unused area behind the shed is now extremely lively, with 'beans cooked over the fire', shanties sung after dinner and musical instruments sounding a wonderful tune. We still have big plans - a loose parts (shells, conkers, sticks, bricks, reels) maths area is being prepared as we speak. We are gathering logs and willow to create more interesting spaces and hoping to make a bug hotel soon. We are also thinking of planting up a few plain stretches of grass so we are on the look out for plants/planters as well as wooden cable reels that can be turned into small tables. This week the children will be selling plants they have been growing from seed for the last six weeks. We are hoping to raise enough funds to buy a sturdy wooden picnic bench to encourage 'chatty times' and writing outdoors. If the funds stretch further, we would like to buy a set of wooden planters so the children can grow (and eat!) their own food.
BEE HAPPY
The children at Woodlands celebrated National Bee Day today. We learnt about pollination and how important bees are for our lives (it is not just about honey!).The children explored the beeswax provided by a Wellington beekeeper and painted hexagonal honeycomb pictures using a bubble wrap printing technique. Mrs Smith filmed a wonderful clip of her husband's bee hives and she brought in the beekeeping suit for us to look at.We had a special delivery from Transition Town Wellington; bags of bee-friendly seeds to plant up dinner for our very important friends - the bees. We worked as a team to dig and rake the soil, build a cage to remind us where the seeds are planted, and finally to scatter the seeds. Fingers crossed we will have a wildlife meadow ready in no time! Thank you all who helped us to have such a wonderful day!
Class News Spring Term 2021
The children are in awe of the fossils and bones they’ve discovered in our investigation station. They observed and noticed a lot of detail in the rabbit skeleton, the three get and ram’s skulls and the ammonites. They used their observations to create fantastic bits of art work for our display.
In the Woodlands unit, the joy of learning couldn't be any more evident! The children have returned eager to learn, play and interact with their friends and us teachers (who have been missing the hustle and bustle of a full classroom!).
The mud kitchen has been a huge hit with everyone - we have had pancakes, pies, soups and snacks cooked for us this week! The children are wearing school waterproofs and wellies to access the muddy restaurant. Thank you for being so understanding about the pesky mud on the school uniforms - the children are certainly making memories here!
This week we focussed on reminding the children how to navigate the complicated web of human interactions - we talked about kind words, kind hands, turn taking and sharing. We are very impressed with how the children have settled back in and how they are getting so proficient at solving their own social misunderstandings.
We have introduced the Zones of Regulations to help us see how the children are feeling, and to help them express this. In a simple view: we have four zones - Red (angry, overexcited), Yellow (worried, excited), Green (calm, ready to learn), and Blue (tired, sad). Over the course of this half term, we will be helping the children to identify which zone they might be in, and help them to regulate their feelings accordingly - acknowledging that all feelings are good as they are letting us know what is happening around us. For example, someone might be feeling angry because something unfair has happened.
We are still working on settings in stories, using The Gingerbread Man as a model text. Soon, the children will be changing the story to let the biscuit free, running across the icebergs and deserts. We are starting our literacy books as well, so any help you can give us at home with writing words, lists, captions and sentences, would be highly appreciated.
Please help the children revise the first set of special friends - sh, ch, th, nk and ng as a lot of the children seem to be a little confused at times with those sounds. Lots of oral blending as well, please (you say ch-a-t, the child 'guesses' the word and says 'chat')
In Maths, we are continuing to learn all about the number to ten but also to say the numbers in order reliably to 20 and beyond. Please could you do a lot of counting with the children at home, making sure their pronunciation of teen numbers is correct i.e. that there is definitely a 'teen' at the end, and not 'ty'.
Finally, a great thank you to all of you home schooling teachers for the great work you have done since January. Now that the baton is back in our hands, we can do all that is possible to make the remainder of your child's time in Reception as meaningful, purposeful and fun as possible. Thank you.
Class News Autumn Term 2020
The Children in Dormice (or Hedgehogs) followed Lydia Monks, the famous children’s illustrator in a drawing class of Hefty Hugh and Lanky Len from What the Ladybird heard on holiday story by Julia Donaldson. Look at our art!
ALL ABOUT OWLS
The children in Woodland unit were visited today by the world-famous explorer and writer, Professor Know-It-All. The professor has heard about the nature study the children complete every week and as he's an expert on owls. He visited the children to promote his new information text All About Owls.
The children were inspired and spent the afternoon doing observational drawing of a barn owl. They also learnt a new art technique - collage - and applied it to create beautiful posters for our display.
PUMPKIN FUN
Our children have had a wonderful time with seasonal produce this week. They carved, chopped and diced pumpkins and then followed a recipe to make the most delicious pumpkin soup!
Just another day of fun in our Woodland Early Years Unit
We are delighted to share with you our EYFS policy and philosophy. Please click here to view.
