Sealegs Puppet Theatre

Rob and his amazing puppets visited our school last week and we watched his interactive show Tales from the Farmyard.

It was a magical, musical affair which captivated all of the children and supported their listening and attention skills as well as their retrieval and inference skills.

Children were able to use their existing knowledge of classic songs like Old MacDonald and stories such as The Little Red Hen to join in and understand what was happening.

It was also a wonderful opportunity to pre-teach concepts and vocabulary about the farm which the nursery children will explore further in the spring term, and consolidate the reception children’s knowledge.

What do people celebrate and why? Learning about Diwali in the EYFS

Today we had special visitors to help us learn about Diwali Festival of Lights.

Our visitors Jan and Vicky follow the Sikh religion and talked to us about how they celebrate. We have also been watching videos about a family who follow Hinduism. We looked at diva lamps and the embroidered Indian suit that Jan wears to celebrate when she visits the temple. Jan brought in food that she had made and would eat to mark the festival and we were able to taste it.

We sang a song about candles and used stem sentences to support our conceptual knowledge of this celebration. We have also read a range of story and information books in order to develop our understanding.

“Some Hindus and some Sikhs decorate their homes with lights.”

“Some Hindus and some Sikhs give presents such as sweets.”

“Some Hindus and some Sikhs clean their homes to celebrate Diwali.”

A Visit From Nurse Sophie

Children have access to a wide range of role-play resources in the EYFS. They can use these in order to develop their vocabulary, imagination and story-telling skills. Our Home Corner is a constant feature in our setting in order for all children have access to nurturing, homely resources that reflect their lives and culture and those of others.

Practitioners enhance the role-play provision to link to the overarching theme during each term.

The Doctors Surgery has just opened in order for children to develop, use and apply their knowledge of the human body, as we focus in on ‘Our Unique Selves’ this term.

Practitioners plan cultural capital experiences, carefully at key points, so that children can access and use resources purposefully. Today Sophie the nurse visited. The children learnt about her uniform, equipment and role. They learnt new vocabulary such as patients, stethoscope and prescription and the meaning of these words by exploring resources and singing repeated songs.

Dental Nurse visit in Reception

Today we have had a visit from Zoe, the dental nurse, to remind us of good toothbrushing habits.

  • Brush twice daily
  • Use a pea sized amount of toothpaste
  • Brush for 2 minutes
  • Visit the dentist every 6 months
  • Spit – don’t rinse
  • Avoid sugary foods and drinks

The children loved practising cleaning the dragons teeth!

Jolly Phonics Assembly: Working with our Parents to give our Children the Best Start!

Today our parents were invited to an important assembly all about Jolly Phonics.

The children in Reception and Year 1 helped their parents to understand how Jolly Phonics is taught by saying the letter sounds and doing the actions. They sang the Jolly Phonics alphabet and grapheme phoneme correspondence songs.

Parents were then told about our scheme and strategies so that they can support their children to read at home. They can also look forward to watching weekly phonics videos made by our teachers, showing which GPCs the children have learnt.

Rock Kidz

We enjoyed our visit from the Rock Kidz who reminded us that WE ARE AWESOME!