Spring 2022
Early Years
Spring Term 1 2022
We are delighted to be back at school continuing our learning and developing and extending our skills, knowledge and understanding. This half term we look at 'People who help us' and we have lots of exciting things planned...please follow our journey below. Attached are the plans for this term, for both nursery and reception.
We have had a fantastic start to the new term and our new topic. The children are enjoying being back at school and we have welcomed some new children into our setting too. We have been working hard and this week we were lucky enough to be visited by both a doctor and a nurse, as part of our People who help us topic. We learned about the roles and uniform and we got to use some of the equipment...we particularly enjoyed being real doctors and nurses wearing our aprons, gloves and masks! The children asked and answered lots of questions and they listened carefully to our visitors. Who knows, maybe some of them will be the doctors and nurses of the future...
This week we went on a visit to Harraby East Fire Station. We were met by Blue Watch (Matthew, Brian and Tash) and they showed us around the station. We saw the fire engines and equipment and we had a chance to climb on board too. We talked about fire safety and what we should do in an emergency. We heard the siren and we saw how high the ladder went! Our visit was fantastic and we learned so much, a huge thank you.
As part of our learning this week, we made the most of the fine weather and went in search of early spring in our school grounds - we found some definite signs that it is getting warmer and things are waking from their long winter's sleep. Birds were singing, snowdrops were poking through and catkins were blowing in the breeze - the worm under a log was the centre of attention though! Great hunting Nursery and Reception.
We finished this week with a visit from PCSO Jackson. We learned all about how the police can help us, we looked at her uniform and enjoyed dressing up as a police officer. We went inside the police van and we all covered our ears when the sirens were turned on! Thank you to Rochellle, we enjoyed our visit.
That was a busy week....we celebrated Chinese New Year and enjoyed some dragon dancing in PE. We had a fantastic visit from Mari, a local vet - we all got stuck in with our gloves and put our hands inside the pretend cow, thank goodness we only found chocolate eggs and nothing else! We started our mini-topic on birds as part of the RSPBs Big School's Bird Watch and I am sure the birds in our school wildlife area will be very grateful for your bird feeders when the temperature drops this weekend. A super week Early Years...enjoy a well-earned weekend and come back ready for lots more learning next week.
Spring Term 2 2022
It was lovely being back in school this week and we were all very excited about starting our new topic, Minibeasts. We talked about the bugs we might find in a bug hotel and we look foward to creating one of these this half-term. We also talked about Lent and created an Easter display in the school hall. We learned about different ways of making 10 in our maths lessons and the children have learned some catchy songs to help them remember these. Roll on the spring weather...
There has been lots of excitement in Early Years this week, starting with Shrove Tuesday where we wrote instructions for making a pancake and then enjoyed eating pancakes for morning snack. We learned about bug hotels and enjoyed designing our own and Friday ended with World Book Day 2022! The children looked fantastic dressed as their favourite adjective and the Book Swop and Extreme Reading Competition were a huge success! A fantastic week everyone, well done!
Full steam ahead with our minibeast topic this week and the classroom is now home to some interesting creatures....we have frogspawn, slowly turning into tadpoles - I think they might be swimming around the tank by Monday, and caterpillars fattening themselves up ready for the start of their transformation. The children have loved making our very own Rockcliffe CE Bug Hotel! They worked incredibly hard, lots of team work and muscles were needed to build a magnificent home....I am sure it won't be long before our new neighbours move in.
Lots of growing and changing in the classroom this week, our frogspawn are very happy and we have really enjoyed watching them as they progress through their cycle. I think we will need some volunteers to look after them during the Easter break, we might come back to frogs hopping around our classroom. We have also been closely watching the caterpillars and this week they changed into chyrsalises. We are prepared for the next phase and the chrysalis station is in the net....watch this space closely!
As part of the Great Big School Clean 2022, little teams of Early Years helpers decided to dust off the gloves and hard hats and pick up the rubbish from in our school grounds. It definitely looks much cleaner, well done and thank you.
So as we approach the Easter holidays, our Minibeast topic draws to a close...the tadpoles have happily been re-homed for the holidays and the cocoons have gone home with Mrs Donohoe, in the hope that they will turn into butterflies - fingers crossed.
What a fantastic topic, with lots of outdoor learning and hands on activities. The last week of term was a busy one, with our Easter Service at Rockcliffe Church and the completion of our minibeast hotel. On Friday afternoon, we welcomed parents into school to see their child's work - it was lovely to see you all and share what we have been doing. I think the highlight of the week had to be the visit from the shepherdess and spring lambs though - too cute!
Have a well earned rest everyone and we'll see you back soon - Dinosaurs Beware!
