We had a great trip to Otford Library on Monday morning and the sun was shining as we walked from Russell House, accompanied by Form 2.

We were greeted by the lovely volunteers and librarians who had created a fun ‘book hunt’ around the library. The children explored every area of the library before enjoying a story about a little girl, frogs and dragons! They were captivated! The children then had fun selecting books that they would like to take home with them. Checking out a book was a new experience for some of the children and they enjoyed scanning the books and watching their books being stamped.

Back at Russell House, the children have absolutely loved unwrapping their favourite stories from home and sharing them with the class. We have read so many books, reading at any and every opportunity! It has been lovely to talk to the children about why they love the book they chose to bring in.

We have continued to weave our topic of Amazing Animals throughout book week and the children listened to some traditional Dreaming Stories on Tuesday. We read the stories explaining how the kangaroo got its pouch and why the kola has a stumpy tail. The children then learnt all about animals from Australia. After learning lots of facts about them, the children continued to write pages for their Amazing Animal books.

In maths this week, the children have learnt about number bonds to 10. We have been using tens frames to explore the different ways we can make 10 and the children recorded their findings on the class easel.

We welcomed the children's author Helen Peters to Russell House on Wednesday. Helen Peters is best known for her charming animal-themed series, including The Jasmine Green Series and The Secret Hen House Theatre. Raised on a Sussex farm, she draws inspiration from her childhood to write stories about friendship, bravery, and farm life. Helen read her story Olive the Otter to the Pre-Prep and you could have heard a pin drop as the children were enthralled by the exciting tale! The children were very excited to take home a signed copy of one of her books.

On Thursday, the children enjoyed a story-telling adventure across the Pre-Prep! Each class was treated to a story read to them by each of the teachers. In Form 1, the children visited the Zoo and I read the story Poo in the Zoo. They then visited Transition class where the children travelled into space and Miss Lindley read The Smeds and the Smoos. Next was an adventure into the deep dark woods, listening to Miss Leagas reading The Gruffalo and finally to Robin's class, where Mrs Warner was having a problem with The Evil Pea! The children loved the props, classroom transformations and engaging activities, bringing their favourite stories to life!

Form 1 have been super creative this week, making their own animal masks. They were all given the same simple paper plate to begin with and challenged to create a mask of their favourite animal. The children used skills learnt during last week's activity, combining paint, pens, pastels, tissue paper and feathers. They all looked so effective and each child decided how they wanted to approach the task.

The critical thinking skills didn't stop there and this week the children have been solving some fairytale characters problems this week. They were challenged to help build a house for the 3 little pigs, a bridge for the 3 billy goats gruff and a raft or boat to help the gingerbread man escape down the river, away from the clever fox! The children used all manner of materials to solve these problems and lots of collaboration was also needed. The children did really well and we shared our creations at the end of the session.

Another wonderful week in Form 1!