We started this week with a special carpet time from Mrs Nelson who taught us all about self-portraits. Mrs Nelson showed us how to use the mirror to look at our features and helped us to create the right paint colour to match our skin tone. The children were excellent at mixing colours and looked carefully to notice all the different features to include, including teeth, eyebrows and cheeks! They carefully chose different materials to stick on, experimenting with shape, size and textures. Their self-portraits look fabulous and are now proudly hung on the wall as a lovely introduction to us for everyone who visits the Transition classroom.

Some children have also been making playdough faces or loose parts faces in their play this week. We used the mirror to explore what different feelings look like and the children came up with some crazy characters, using the materials to show their own feelings.

On Tuesday we began learning all about different habitats. The children had some excellent suggestions about what the word habitat might mean and came up with some super examples, including trees and the snow. After exploring lots of different habitats and the special animals that live there, the children set off to create their own habitats in their play. Whilst some children helped me to sort the animal pictures into the correct habitat, the others were working hard creating a savannah in the sand pit, an ocean in the water tray and an ice house for the polar bears in the small world. After we’d finished, there were still a couple of tricky animals that we weren't sure about so we thought up some questions to ask the rangers on our trip to Hemsley Conservation Centre next week.

While the sun was shining, we decided to investigate our own habitats at school. During our exploration, we found lots of signs of woodland habitats, including log and leaf piles, trees, nests, and minibeasts. We then had a lovely play in the Paddock using the Pirate ship and the adventure trail. Mrs Nelson and I have been so impressed with the children's resilience and confidence this week when using the equipment. Each time the children are pushing themselves further, determined to reach their goal. They really are growing into strong, independent children.

We practised our creative skills this week in Literacy as we designed our own habitats. The children first helped me to describe some different habitats, then they worked together as a team to design their chosen habitat, using photographs to help them think about the different features to include. They had some fantastic ideas of the different materials to include and even had a go at making 3D structures. Some children also had a go at using flash cards to add labels to their drawing too! I was very proud of their perseverance and determination as they copied each of the letters to make the words, naming the sounds as they wrote them.

As part of our phonics lesson this week, we listened to lots of different animal sounds, trying to recognise which animal it was coming from. We enjoyed listening to loud and quiet sounds, seeing if we could copy them with our voices and the musical instruments. We also learned our new single letter sound u this week. The children came up with some interesting words beginning with u including umbrella. We had a go at using the playdough to make our u sound and practised forming it in the sand and on the chalk and whiteboards. We also used the letter beads to make different words and enjoyed arranging the magnets to make our names.

This week, we have also loved creating castles in the sandpit, cooking chocolate pie in the mud kitchen, singing with Miss Norford and climbing in gymnastics. It has certainly been a busy week, but we have had lots of fun exploring our environment and enjoying the sunshine before we head off to meet the animals next week at Hemsley Conservation Centre.