The children were excited to learn about Bonfire Night and Diwali this week, in our topic, Let’s Celebrate! We enjoyed exploring lots of different firework images, and the children shared their favourite firework experiences during our circle time. We discussed the different colours they had seen, the sounds they had heard, and some of the places they had been to see the fireworks. Listening to the children describe the yummy treats they’d been eating was making our tummies rumble! We heard some different firework noises on the computer, listening carefully to all the bangs and whizzes. The children were fantastic at working out if it was a big firework or a small one, based on the volume and speed of the sound. We then used our musical instruments to create our own firework noises, experimenting to create loud and quiet fireworks. We listened to a lovely Bonfire Night story, which helped us to learn how to be safe when using sparklers and fireworks. Some children enjoyed creating Transition’s very own fireworks display on the ground of our outdoor area, and some enjoyed mark making in the coloured rice. The children made some fantastic firework paintings, complete with plenty of glitter, and we had lots of fun using the chalks to create a firework night sky for our wall. We also made our own toilet roll rockets and tissue paper sparklers, for which the children showed great perseverance. They worked together to follow the instructions, and kept going, even when it was a bit tricky!

To celebrate Diwali, we listened to Mrs Nelson read us a fantastic story, called Dipal’s Diwali, then we watched a video on the C-touch board about a little girl named Deeya, and her family's Diwali celebrations. The children practised their fine motor skills as they decorated their own Diwali card, and they all had a fantastic try at writing a short message or their name inside their card. It is lovely to see the children’s progress in drawing and name writing since September! During their play, the children used the shapes to make their own rangoli patterns, and we designed our own mehndi by drawing around our hands to make a template. We also made our very own diya lamps to take home, first mixing and shaping the salt dough, then decorating it with the sparkly paints. 

Our maths focus this week has been on size. The children enjoyed working in groups to order picture cards from smallest to biggest. They then went on a hunt around the classroom to find some objects to compare. This time we used the special words taller and shorter as we compared the height of different objects that we’d found. The children worked out we needed to put our objects on the floor to compare them, so both objects started from the same point. They were excellent at remembering our special words and using them in full sentences to describe the objects. The hardest part of our carpet time was ordering ourselves! We had to work together as a team to work out who was taller than whom, which was tricky when we couldn't see ourselves, but luckily Mrs Nelson took a photo when we’d finished so we could check we’d got it right!

This week, in phonics, we have continued to develop our listening skills, and we have also introduced our first letter sound as a whole class! Our letter sound this week was s. The children came up with lots of words beginning with s, including Sienna, snake and sock, before having a go at forming the letter s in the sand and in the cornflour. The older children continue to attend their daily phonics lessons with Mrs Cooper in Form 1, and are making fantastic progress with their blending and segmenting. 

Finally, I am excited to say that the most wonderful time of the year is almost upon us! It was very exciting going into Mrs Cooper’s classroom to listen to our Nativity story. All the children listened carefully to the story, and were excited to learn which part they were going to play. 

I look forward to next week in Transition, as we begin to explore our new topic, Dinosaurs!