A Visit From Val and Maisie- 25/05/2023

Today, we had some very special visitors in Elephant Class. Val brought her dog, Maisie, to see the children. Maisie is a very special dog, she has underwent extensive training to become a therapy dog! She is very gentle and patient. Maisie loves getting lots of strokes and, she sits really still when getting her fur brushed. The children are always calm and relaxed after a Maisie visit.

We Rescued A Hedgehog!

Today we helped rescue a hedgehog from our outdoor area. One of our lovely Elephant children discovered the hedgehog while completing a chalk drawing on the floor. The poor hedgehog was entangled in the net of our basketball hoop. Luckily, we managed to cut the netting off the hedgehog before placing it in a cardboard box, to keep it safe. We called The British Hedgehog Preservation Society who came to take the hedgehog away to get checked over. Thankfully, after all the checks, they have informed us that all is well with the hedgehog, and, they will return it to us so that we can release it safely.

Such an exciting morning! 

Road Safety!

We have had a couple of important visitors in school recently, teaching the children all about road safety. They gave lots of demonstrations, explained all the dangers that they might face when crossing a road and told the children how to cross a road safely. The children each had a chance to act out a scenario to help them to remember the important message they had been taught. They had such a great time! 

The King's Coronation Celebration

All the children in Elephant Class had a wonderful time celebrating the King's Coronation. They took part in lot's of activities, including a scavenger hunt around school! The children had to find pictures of the Royal Memorabilia that would be used during the Coronation. After that, the children enjoyed a party with their friends in Panda Class. They listened to music and ate the snacks they had made in our DT lesson.

Week Beginning 02/05/2023 - DT

In DT this week the children prepared snacks for our Coronation Celebration. They each took it in turns to weigh out the ingredients that we needed to make cupcakes. Then, each of the children helped to mix the sugar and butter together before adding both the flour and milk to make the cupcake batter. Not all of the children liked the feeling of the electric whisk as they were using it, but, they all gave it a try. Next the children combined the ingredients for our buttercream icing, again, using the whisk to make it soft and smooth.

The children also made their own sausage rolls using puff pastry and sausage meat. They all did an excellent job rolling the pastry around the sausage meat and putting them on the tray ready to cook. We are looking forward to eating our homemade, delicious, snacks tomorrow during our class celebrations. Didn't they all do a superb job?

Animal Story-Animal Encounters 27/04/2023

The children in Elephant Class had such a wonderful experience interacting with a range of exotic animals yesterday. We has a visit from Dawn, from the company, Animal Story- Animal Encounters and her wonderful animals, the children met a;

• Skunk named Fudge
• Red Footed Tortoise named Cherry
• Rosy Boa Snake named Rosy
• Lesser Tenrec named Niffler
• Crested Gecko named Spike
• Giant African Millipede named Millie
• Blue Tongue Skink named Minki

Dawn gave us lots of interesting information about the animals that she showed us. All the children either held or stroked each animal, they were very brave and they sat superbly. The whole class loved it! Which animal would you like to meet?

Week Beginning 24/04/23 - R.E

The children have listened to the Easter Story together as a class this week in R.E We talked about how Jesus was betrayed by a friend which made him feel sad. The children each took a turn to stand at the front of the class and communicate what makes them sad.

Week Beginning 22/04/23 - English

In English this term we are reading the book, 'Paddington and the Marmalade Maze'. To start our story, we first looked through the book and learned the Makaton signs for some of the words that appear most often. The children listen to the story at the beginning of each lesson, and use the Makaton signs that they have learned, they all do such an impressive job!

Week Beginning 17.04.2023 - P.E

This week in P.E, Elephant Class have moved around an assault course in a variety of ways. The children jumped, walked and ran, trying to complete the course in the quickest time that they could. The children really enjoyed this lesson and many of them asked for a second and third try to beat their score!

Week beginning 27/03/2023 - Maths

This week in Maths we have focused on money. The children looked at a variety of coins and notes and worked hard on recognising them. We set up a shop in class and the children had the opportunity to 'buy' items using either coins or notes. The children had lots of fun during this lesson!

RED NOSE DAY 2023

The children in Elephant class have had a wonderfully fun time celebrating Red Nose Day! They have participated in lots of activities throughout the day and they have enjoyed some independent play with all of our toys in class.

World Book Day 2023

Elephant Class had such a wonderful World Book Day. The children looked amazing in their costumes and pyjamas. Throughout the day the children listened to a variety of stories, and they read their books to an adult too. The children had fun stuffing their own jacket potatoes with delicious fillings, as a nod to one of our favourite stories, 'Supertato'. The children enjoyed a range of fun activities and we even managed to squeeze in some time to watch an episode of 'Supertato'.

Week beginning 27/02/2023 - Maths

Welcome back! Elephant class have had a busy week so far and the children have worked their socks off. In Maths we are concentrating on counting and place value. To start our lesson we practiced counting on through song, everyone did a lovely job and joined in brilliantly. For the lesson, the children were given a plate with dots on, each child counted the dots and matched it's total to the number place card. 

Week beginning 13.02.2023 - DT

This week in DT we have made pancakes! The children used a range of equipment to accurately measure out the ingredients, mix the ingredients together before each flipping their own pancake. It was so much fun! There was an array of toppings to choose from for the pancakes, chocolate spread, strawberries, golden syrup, lemon juice, sugar and squirty cream. The squirty cream was a firm favourite amongst the children. Which topping would you choose?

Week beginning 30/01/2023 - R.E

In RE this week the children in Elephant class have listened to familiar religious stories. The first story we listened to was, 'The 7 days of Creation'. The children showed great listening skills throughout the story and sat beautifully whilst it was playing. After, they each took it in turns to order the story as best at they could remember. Great job Elephants! 

31/1/2023 - Library Service Visit

The children in Elephant Class were very lucky today, they enjoyed a visit from Joanna, that works for our local library service. The children relaxed in the sensory room and listened to a story read by Joanna, she used plenty of exciting props for everyone to explore which the children loved. Then after our story we went back to the classroom to create a picture using lots of lovely arts and craft materials. How great do they look? Well done everyone.

31.1.23

 Elephant class has had a move around! We have changed the classroom layout to help incorporate play more into the curriculum and give the children more freedom to explore the different areas of the classroom. We have a reading area, a home corner, a building corner, a small world area and a big area for messy play next to the door! 

Week beginning 23.01.2023 - History

In History this week the children in Elephant class have look at toys from the past. We talked about the differences in toys from the past and the toys we have now. The children each took turns guessing how the toys worked and what they did. The jack in the box, was a particular favourite.

Which toy would be your favourite?

Week beginning 23/01/2003- English

This week in English we have started our new story, The Gruffolo's Child. The children have listened to the story each day, and have completed a wide range of work in relation to our story. They have decorated their own version of the, "big, bad, mouse" and labelled it. The children have also answered multiple choice style questions about the story using Communicate in Print. Lastly, our Elephants have role played the story, they did such an amazing job. 

Week beginning 16/1/2023 - Maths

This week in Maths our lovely Elephants have worked hard counting and sorting. Each lesson the children have sorted a variety of objects by colour, then counted them up and saying the total. The children have also used dice, cards and dominoes to add up the combined totals they had. Great job Elephants!

Week beginning 16/1/2023 - DT Chinese New Year

This week in DT the children in Elephant class have learnt all about the food eaten during Chinese New Year. They enjoyed exploring the foods using their senses and each helped to cook the food before eating it. All the children tried using chopsticks to eat their food too, they all did such a great job! The noodles were a definite favourite of ours, what is your favourite Chinese food?

Week Beginning - 9/1/2023 - English

This week we have done lots of work on our class story, The Gruffalo. The children really enjoyed acting out the story! On the afternoons we did some more science work as we again looked at changes by buying ingredients, looking at them and then using them to make an apple pie! 

Week Beginning 4/1/2023 - PSHE, Science & DT

Happy New Year! We hope that you all had a lovely break over Christmas.

The children in Elephant Class have worked really hard this week and produced some wonderful work. Our afternoons have been filled with PHSE, DT and Science, which the children have really enjoyed so far.

Our topic this half term in PHSE is all about belonging to groups. As a class we have talked about the different groups we belong to, such as, school, sports clubs etc. As a class we got to know each other a little better by playing games together and working together with our friends.

The topic for Science this time is, Materials and Changes through the scheme of traditional stories and rhymes. This week we looked at the story, Simon the Pie Man. The children looked at lots of ingredients used to make a pie and using their senses described how they felt, smelt and tasted. We talked about how the materials changed as they are heated and cooked, and how they change into something else.

It's all about the topic of food in DT this term. This week the children have listened to a story, A Teddy Bears Picnic, and, as a class each chose a food they would like to take to a picnic. 

Please enjoy some pictures of the children working hard this week.