The children have been excellent at organising their belongings in the morning, hanging coats and blazers up carefully on pegs, putting snacks in trays and contact books in the correct place.

This week the children have enjoyed playing games together and exploring the classroom and outside space. They had quite a competitive game of skittles between the Sparkles team and the Speedy team, where they loved keeping score and took turns very well. The children have also been painting, building, colouring, sharing stories and using their imaginations in the roleplay area and small world area.

The children decided on their own classroom rules on Thursday and we had a good discussion about why it is important to have rules. The children understood that to learn to the best of their abilities, they need to feel safe and happy at school. The children had lots of ideas about ways they could help others feel safe and happy, and we wrote them together on large paper. All the children then wrote their names at the bottom to show that they agreed with the rules that were decided upon.

The children have been learning about feelings and sharing how they feel about their first days at school. We read the book, The Colour Monster goes to School, and the children found it very funny that he was doing all the wrong things! The children then coloured their own colour monsters and we discussed how to use our feelings board.

Lunchtime play has been a new experience for the children this week as they are now playing with the main school children out on the paddock, rather than in the Nursery garden. The children have enjoyed having lots of space to run and play and loved seeing their older brothers and sisters.

We have been talking about ourselves and noticing similarities and differences. During the afternoon the children have started their self-portraits and have been looking carefully at their hair colour, skin colour, eye colour and facial features in the mirror and mixing paint (with a little help) to get just the right shade. These portraits will be placed in pride of place in Form 1 and help build a sense of belonging for the children.

On Friday, the children enjoyed their music, gymnastics and French lessons and everyone joined in with enthusiasm!

It has been a fantastic start to the term and I hope the children are all looking forward to a full week next week and the start of clubs and swimming lessons.