The week started with a visit to the Old Hall to collect our weekly shopping from the pop-up shop. The Robins exchanged their tickets for groceries and worked as a team to pack everything inside the reusable bags. 

It was lovely meeting our new Robins which will join us for the Autumn Term. They enjoyed their settling-in session and it was lovely to see them joining in with our class activities. Our existing Robins showed the new children how to sit nicely during carpet time and they received stickers for good sitting and sitting listening. 

As part of this week’s topic, we had a discussion surrounding minibeasts and insects and how they differ from each other. I explained to the children that insects are a class of small, invertebrate animals which have a segmented body, containing a head, thorax and abdomen. We looked at our minibeast Talk for Learning sheet and we identified the insects from the pictures. We spoke about bees, beetles (and ladybirds), caterpillars, butterflies, dragonflies and flies. Children retain information with the use of a song, so I added a Robins-tweak and sang Head, Thorax and Abdomen to the tune of Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes. Just in case you’d like to sing it with your child, I have added the words below:

Head, thorax, abdomen…abdomen,
Head, thorax, abdomen…abdomen,
And head, and thorax and abdomen,
Head, thorax, abdomen…abdomen.

To extend the children’s sensory experiences, along with also keeping cool, we surprised the Robins with a ball pool in class. The children removed their shoes and explored the balls. They also took part in free-play whilst having no shoes inside. There have been studies which have highlighted the impact shoes can have on their overall development. For example, no shoes can support motor skills, optimal foot development, enhance sensory processing and support natural walking patterns.  

To help us keep cool in the glorious weather, the children took part in lots of water fun. This included painting the outdoor wall, cleaning the class bikes and ride-ons, painting each other and even their teachers! One of the Robins told me to sit in her salon, so she could paint my nails… great imaginative play! Even the dinosaurs received a wash and they were all thrilled to be super clean… great job, Robins!

Whilst visiting the school library, I found a very interesting book called Happy. It encourages children to explore their emotions and the world around them, whilst making connections to mindfulness. The illustrations were beautiful but I particularly chose two pages to focus on and some of the interesting pages were touching, relaxing and happiness which is something we focus on daily with the children through connecting with the world around them. I thought I would share our favourite part of the poetic journey with you below.

Happiness
Real life is right under our noses,
It’s what’s here, not the future or past,
Every day is a fresh new adventure,
Now we live in the moment, at last.

We ventured around the school grounds, remembering to stay in the shade when the sun was at its hottest. This included picnics in the Outdoor Classroom and we were also joined by some of the Main School children as they wanted to see the Robins. It is always great for Robins to be integrated into the Whole School as this provides them with a sense of belonging whilst also supporting their confidence as they will regularly see the older children in our after-school Rainbows Wraparound Care. 

Continuing with our topic, the children made butterfly prints by dabbing paint onto one side of the paper. Miss Ruby then demonstrated how to pat the paper to ensure the paint was transferred to the other side. Extensions were made and our word of the week was symmetry. 

This week’s cooking activities consisted of The Hungry Caterpillar cakes (with strawberries and blueberries… no salami), fruity mousse, cheese spread sandwiches and beetle jelly.

 

During the course of the term, we revisit previous topics to build upon the children’s knowledge and to see if they have retained any of the information. This week, I demonstrated how to walk across the crossing by showing them to stop, look and listen.

Watch on YouTube by clicking here.

 

The children made a scientific discovery in the garden. The sun had melted our crayons which the children thought was very funny. We embraced the new addition and had fun mark-making with crayon slabs!

It was lovely sharing the children’s news from home and it is always great to read comments which link to our weekly topics. Thank you once again for your continued support. It is truly wonderful to receive such a great level of parental support as it extends the children’s learning. 

Next week, our topic will be Summer / Holidays. We have lots of fun activities planned to support the children’s learning. We encourage children to bring in something from home (just not too big please). This can be related to our weekly topic or anything else they would like to share or celebrate with us. The children enjoy sharing their objects from home during carpet time and it is a fantastic way to build effective communication and listening skills. 

This will be our last bulletin of the Summer Term and next week we will also say goodbye to some of our children as it will be time for them to fledge their Robins nest and fly over to Nursery for many more adventures.   

Have a lovely weekend and enjoy the summer break.