On Monday, we learnt all about Remembrance Day and how this is marked every year. The children found out about the brave people who gave their lives to keep us safe all those years ago and thought about the soldiers and their families today who are still doing this very important job. We gathered as a Pre-Prep for a Remembrance Day assembly and held a two-minute silence to show our respect. The children did a wonderful job and were very mature and sensible throughout. 

Form 1 made some beautiful poppy pictures using green pastels and red and black paint. Firstly the children created blades of grass using different coloured green pastels. Then made poppies by dipping their fingerprints in the paint and printing them onto the paper and adding a black centre. They look really lovely in our entrance hall.

It was Odd Sock Day on Tuesday and everyone came in wearing mismatched socks for the occasion. We discussed why we were wearing them and celebrated everyone being different. The focus this year was on respect and we explored what this word meant and how we could show respect to one another.

The children were excited to start our topic on Diwali this week and loved hearing the story of Prince Rama and Princess Sita. After watching a shadow puppet retelling of this story, the children were able to sequence the pictures in their literacy books. The children then wrote a sentence to accompany their story and were great at remembering key events. We also learnt about the various ways Diwali is celebrated and the traditions that people follow. The children discovered that fireworks and lights play an important part of Diwali and watched a clip following a little girl celebrating with her family.

We had fun making rangoli patterns, drawing mehndi designs on card hands and playing in the roleplay house that is decorated for Diwali with fairy lights. The children have also loved making their own clay diyas this week, following the steps to mould the clay into a little pot that will hold a tealight. The following day, the children painted their diyas with pearlescent paint and added some sparkly gems.

Once dry, the children sat together while we lit the diyas and listened to a song all about Diwali. We also watched the story of Rama and Sita one more time. The children love the big battle and the scary demon king being defeated by the prince.

There was an unexpected surprise visitor on Tuesday when the children noticed a snail trying to come up through the grate in the urinal in the boys toilets! The children quickly alerted the adults and we were just as surprised to see this little visitor as the children were. As the snail was unable to get through the gap in the grate due to its shell we called Mr Phil to try and rescue her. Thankfully, the snail was saved and the children were very relieved! This led the children to start pondering how and why the snail ended up in the urinal in the first place. I suggested we make up a story about our snails and the children jumped at the chance. They named her Suzi and decided that she was a snail that wanted an adventure, just like the snail in The Snail and The Whale! We had fun making up a story and the children drew some illustrations of our snail and her adventure at Russell House.

We had a visit from two police officers from the Child Centre Policing Team on Thursday, which the children were very excited about. The children learnt about how the police keep us safe, the vehicles they use and the equipment that they carry. The children then went outside to have a close-up look at the police car. A few children got to sit in the car and push the button to turn on the siren, and even to try on some of the police uniforms.

Another wonderful week in Form 1!