We have watched lots of clips on the CTouch board that have given the children a fantastic insight into all the customs and traditions that take place during this special time of year. We also learnt a little bit about China and where it is on the map.

It was lots of fun learning about the story of The Great Race, which explains the Chinese zodiac and which animals represent each year. We listened to the story told by the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra alongside a little animation that explained how each of the 12 animals took part in the race across the river. Some of Form 1 were born in the year of the rat and some children were born in the year of the pig. The children considered if they had any of the qualities that their animal portrayed in the story.

In literacy, the children wrote a sentence about which animal's year they were born in and drew a picture of their animal to accompany their work. Fabulous writing is emerging as the children continue to develop their phonological awareness and their confidence to apply this in their writing grows. They have also enjoyed creating a picture of The Great Race by adding each of the animals to a river scene. The children thought carefully about the story to ensure each animal was in the correct position.

To further learn about Chinese New Year, Form 1 made their own stir-fry! The children chopped peppers, courgettes, broccoli and grated carrots. Using the special safety knives, the children worked carefully to prepare the vegetables and discussed the importance of washing their hands and the vegetables before setting to work. Once all the chopping had been done, we visited Robin's kitchen and cooked the vegetables and noodles in the wok. A tasty Kung Po sauce was added and the children enjoyed trying their creation. Everyone thought it was pretty delicious, but possibly a tiny bit spicy. The children then enjoyed opening their fortune cookies and listening to their fortunes being read out loud.

In maths this week, the children have been learning how to measure height. Firstly, we discussed the vocabulary that we use when talking about height and how to use it correctly. The children measured lots of things around the classroom using cubes and then put them in height order. The children also enjoyed finding out who is the tallest and who is the shortest in the class. Each person stood next to the large piece of paper we had attached to the wall and I marked where the top of their heads were and wrote their name. Once we had marked each person's height on the paper, everyone stood in height order.

The children also made paper dragon puppets and spiral snake decorations this week and they have loved doing this independently. Form 1 have also enjoyed learning how to represent numbers 0-10 using Chinese characters. They are pretty tricky, but everyone had a very good try. The Chinese Restaurant role play has also been very much enjoyed as the children have had fun writing down orders, preparing the food in the kitchen and pretending to be customers enjoying a meal out.

We have also learnt how to say to each of the animals in the zodiac in Mandarin, and the children are looking forward to sharing this with you during our Coffee Morning in a few weeks' time. The children have also made their own cherry blossom tree with pink tissue paper, which looks lovely in the classroom!