Safari Stu visits Foundation 1

By Mrs C Kingsman21st March 2017

On Monday children were visited by Safari Stu as part of our Ears, Tails and Whiskers project. He brought a wide range of animals with him which included giant hissing cockroaches, a variety of snakes, a tarantula, a skunk and a chameleon.

Children showed true scientific curiosity with the animals handling many of them and asked about what they ate, how long they lived for and what they felt like.

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A box of hissing cockroaches

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A python

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Tarantula time!

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A colourful chameleon

The next day we recalled which animals we saw and what facts we remembered. Outside we built a safari park for our small world animals.

 

Learning through Dear Zoo in Foundation 1

By Mrs C Kingsman5th March 2017

Foundation 1 have thoroughly enjoyed their story Dear Zoo this last two weeks. They have learnt the story and the song, talked about the difference between animals we see in the zoo and animals that make good pets. They have showed a good understanding of why a lion or an elephant would not make a safe pet in our homes.

The children have been painting animals from the story and creating zoos by using the small blocks and small world animals. They particularly enjoyed watching a video of Mrs Kingsman’s dog playing with her toys and sharing information about their own pets in circle time.

Don’t forget to send pictures of your pets for our pet board!

 

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Sharing the story and creating our zoo.

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Role playing walking  a dog.

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Painting the ‘scary snake’ from the story Dear Zoo together.

Next week we will be moving on to the story and rhyme Little Rabbit Foo Foo. We will be practising rhyming for our phonics too and playing games such as match the rhyming words to help children grow their ability to rhyme.

At home you could play rhyming games, listen to rhymes on YouTube and make up your own rhyming strings and rhymes.

Happy rhyming!

Foundation 1 complete their Project on Journeys

By Mrs C Kingsman12th February 2017

Dear Parents,

this Sping term was a short term and a very busy one! Your children have shown a higher level of participation throughout this term. They have enjoyed learning our stories, been creating art and models relating to the stories and shown a maturing attitude towards their learning which has become more focused and purposeful.

Next term we will move on to a new project entitled ‘Ears, Tails and Whiskers’. More information to follow when we return to school. If you have a pet at home please send your child in with photos so that we can talk about them during the project. How do you care for them? What do they need every day? Where do they sleep? Etc

🐶🐱🐰🐭🐠🐺🐍🐈🐕🐇

Lastly, have a restful half term holiday and don’t forget to send your children in with some photos of activities you do in the holiday in their talking bags.

Chris Kingsman

Project learning in F1

By Mrs C Kingsman16th January 2017

For the last two weeks children in Foundation (Countess Way) have been reading the story The Train Ride. We have talked about journeys we have been on, by using the train, and which other ways of travelling there are, from cars and buses, planes and even boats.

The children have created maps to show their journey from their houses to school and coloured, painted and made trains. They have especially enjoyed role playing train rides and have taken it in turns to be the driver, passengers and the ticket collector.

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The children have grown their understanding of ‘journeys’ and that they can be long, but may also be very short and that some journeys are made on foot.

This week we have moved on to we’re going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen where we will explore the journey the characters go on to find the bear. More on what we do for our learning later this week.

 

 

Christmas decoration making with Foundation Parents at Countess Way

By Mrs C Kingsman6th December 2016

Thank you to all the Foundation parents who came into school to help us make Christmas decorations over the last two days. Your artistic skills have been noted!

The children enjoyed decorating the tree and the room too. We will send out the decorations that have been made next week.

We look forward to welcoming even more of you to our Christmas performance next week!

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Exploring Ice in Foundation 1

By Mrs C Kingsman25th November 2016

The children in nursery explored various size ice blocks this week. They explored how the ice felt and how hard it was to change, even when banging it using playdough tools. We learnt that ice is water that has got very, very cold and so become ‘frozen’ but that it melts easily in a warm place like our school building.

Many children experimented with different ideas of how to melt the ice faster by either breaking it into small pieces, touching it with our warm hands, mixing it in bowls or pouring warm water over it. Some great problem solving! See our pictures below.

Well done to Indie who continued her learning at home by freezing water to make her own ice cubes. I am informed that she is going to make different flavour ice cubes next, now that’s what I call yummy science!

Next week we will continue our project by moving on to the story Stick Man by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. As part of their learning we will read the story and identify all of the different ways the stick could be used.

You could support your child’s learning at home by playing a game to find things made out of wood. There are also a variety of animated versions of the story on YouTube you could watch and join in with. If you feel like getting creative you could go for a walk and collect some sticks to make something out of…have fun!

 

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Owl Babies inspired learning in Foundation 1

By Mrs C Kingsman19th November 2016

This week we have been reading the story Owl Babies by Martin Waddel. The children have been learning the story and joining in with what the owl babies say in the story. They even used our puppets to act out the story.

Many of the children have been getting creative and drawn owls, or made owl models. They have made use of the natural feathers to create their owls. (See the pictures below.)

As part of our learning we have been exploring what owls eat, how they make their nests and what feathers feel like. Next week we will continue our learning by investigating other animals that live in the woods such as foxes and badgers. We will also look at animal babies and how some are like their parents and others are very different.

Please support your child’s learning by talking to your child about different animals that live in the woods and explore where they make their homes e.g. In the trees or underground in burrows.

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Playing, Exploring and Learning in Foundation 1

By Mrs C Kingsman22nd October 2016

This week, the children in Foundation 1 have been exploring by drawing and making marks on large paper with felt tips and pencils inside and painting with water and brushes outside. 🖌🖍✏️

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Children also enjoyed explored their physical skills by practising their batting, catching and rolling skills…

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When we return we will begin our Project Bright Sparks with the story Whatever Next!  To help your child’s learning you could find out about space and planets in the universe. 🚀

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Don’t forget you can add your own pictures of what you do during half term week on Tapestry. 🚴🏊🏾🎱⛸ Just log in using your personal username and password and add an observation. We look forward to reading what your children have done and will use these to help your child talk about their holiday week in grouptime.

Until then, have a great break! ⛱

 

 

The Expert in anything was once a Beginner…

By Mrs C Kingsman24th September 2016

Our ‘experts’ for the future have begun their journey in foundation this week. The children have been very involved exploring the learning spaces inside and outside. They are already beginning to learn and follow some of the rules and routines for grouptime.

Parents, you should all be very proud of how smoothly your children have settled and dealt with their new environment this past week. It is a reflection of how well you have prepared them for this next phase in their life.

Staff have already begun to post observations on Tapestry for you to view. Just log in using the email sent to you with your unique username and password and enjoy. Don’t forget you can add your own too.

Next week the foundation teams will continue to welcome more children in to nursery as part of our phased settling in period. We hope you are all looking forward to it as much as we are!

🙂

(Title quote from Helen Hayes)