In English, we have been continuing to build our Phonics knowledge of single letter sounds and digraphs. The children are continuously using these phonic skills in other areas of learning including our afternoon sessions.

In Writing, we complete this as a small group. Some groups are now independently writing simple sentences with the key features (full stops, capital letters etc.), the children have now been taught to check their own learning against a success criteria to make their own learning has been successful.

In Shared Reading, we have been learning about the book ‘Handa’s Surprise’ by Eileen Brown. This book is based in Africa so we looked at African culture and how it was different to us here in the United Kingdom. The book helped us understand subtraction as it links with fruits being taken and also the different animals that Africa has compared with the UK. We used our phonics to help read the story, predicted how the story will end, adapted the story and changed key parts to make it our own along with describing our favourite parts and explaining why.

We also listen to two stories a day by our EYFS staff, these are a mix of popular stories by modern authors or traditional tales that help us understand the World and basic concepts.

In Maths, we have now split into two groups – One group going over the different ways of making numbers up to 5 and another group looking at the composition of numbers up to 10. The two groups are continuously stretched through Maths Challenges and new learning. The majority of the class will soon be looking more in depth into numbers beyond 20 as we push for our Early Learning Goals, especially looking at the patterns we can find within number. In Shape, Space & Measure, we were learning about weight from heaviest to lightest, classifying the objects from heavy and light and then also putting things in order. We even had the chance to make predictions and weight our own items using traditional balancing weighting scales.

In Theme, we have been looking at plants and all their different parts. We accessed this in learning time then consolidated our learning in provision where we could access the learning again. This also linked to our Forest School learning, where we made a bug hotel. In our theme learning, we also learnt about our local environment going on walks around school, following maps and even visiting a famous Burnley landmark ‘The Singing Ringing Tree’.

In Jigsaw, the children have been learning about being healthy. We discussed what a healthy diet consists of. Making the choice between healthy and unhealthy foods, they even created a healthy meal choice. We now understand that exercise is a part of a lifestyle and also how to keep ourselves safe within the local area (Stranger Danger). We also enjoyed our healthy eating week which included eating different fruits from Africa and making healthy smoothies.

In RE, we have been learning about the Easter story. The children have listened and created pictures of the stations of the cross of the most significant parts of the holy story. We discussed the difference between then and now and how we knew that Jesus really was the son of God!

In Fundamentals, we have continued to practice and refine our 5 Fundamental movement skills: Running, Jumping, Hopping, Skipping and Throwing & Catching. We have also been using the gymnastics equipment to build our confidence using equipment during PE and soon we’ll be on the climbing frame testing our upper body strength – exciting!

In Art, we were using clay to design, create and then paint our own pots, this linked to the story of Handa’s Surprise. We were successful in creating our pots which we got to take home once they were painted.

In Dance, we were learning about Bollywood Dancing. We viewing Bollywood dancing at a traditional wedding and then listened to some Bollywood music. We then created our own dances using these moves – It was great!