What have we been up to?

Autumn Term 1:

Chestnut Class have had a busy first term, getting to know us, each other, the classroom, the school, the routines and expectations and that is just the start of it!

In addition, they have been introduced to Bug Club Phonics and Numberblocks, Forest School sessions, Music and PE.

And, finally (although this is not an exhaustive list) they have been having fun!

The term also included activities around creating ‘All About Me’ books, discovering nature and the changing seasons, roleplaying families/homes, creating artwork to express their interests, taking turns to talk and listen to each other in ‘show and share’ sessions and listening to lots of stories and poems.

Autumn Term 2:

This term we will be focussing on festivals and celebrations. We have been looking at the similarities between different customs and religions and how people experience certain events across the world.

Week 2 - Chestnut Class participated in a remembrance service and learnt about the significance of poppies. We also began finding out about the Hindu festival of Diwali and how some of the celebrations compare to those experienced during Bonfire night. The children have been creating firework pictures, rangoli artwork and are in the process of making clay diva lamps.

Week 3 - This week we have been focussing on the Christian celebration of Christmas. The children have been told a variety of versions of the Nativity and this will help the children to have ownership of their script for the Christmas Play. They have also been choosing the characters they would like to be and thinking about what they might say.

Other news – We enjoyed discovering frost and ice in our outdoor area and this led to a science experiment about freezing and melting. We later observed a robin singing in our wild area that we encouraged by using a bird song app. The children were also excited to see our new reading swing chair, which was kindly bought by the PTA. Thank you!

Week 4

This week we have been working on the Christmas Play script ready for our rehearsals next week. The children have all contributed, suggesting phrases and writing captions that have helped to form the script. Each child will have a short amount of dialogue and narration to learn and will be practising in the hall most days leading up to the dress rehearsal. The children watched a previous FS Nativity production (current Year 5 class) and were keen to know what to expect. We also showed them the stage and discussed the need for costumes, props, microphone, lights and backdrops to make the performance special.

Other news – The children all busily made advent calendars to start the lead up to Christmas next week. Each child will get to open their advent calendar and have the choice of either a chocolate smartie or savoury cheese star as a little treat with their fruit or vegetables at snack time.

We have also entered a portrait competition after creating pastel self-portraits following our ‘This is Me’ project. The artwork will be displayed alongside the now decorated clay Diva lamps at the end of this term.

Final Weeks of Term

It has been a wonderful (and busy) lead up to the end of term, culminating with an incredible Nativity performance from Chestnut Class. We were so proud of all of the children who certainly lived up to their potential and delivered their best show of all. It was so good that it blew Mr. Poote away (sorry to have alarmed any members of the audience who were not expecting him to fly off his chair!)

We also showcased some of our artwork for this term; with clay divas from our Divali celebrations, self-portraits from our ‘All About Me’ project and some characterful hedgehogs from Forest School.

The children also earned another row of pants on the line for all their hard work in the rehearsals, ending with a class party for their treat on the last day (in their PJ’s!)

We hope that you and your children have a special Christmas and hopefully manage some rest before we start the new term.

Wishing you all Seasons Greetings and a Happy New Year.

Mr Poote and the FS Team