The week began with a circle time discussing the seasons, where we watched a video of a tree changing throughout the year. We realised it must be autumn now because the leaves are turning brown and falling off the trees. The children were experts, telling me what happens in each season, then we had a go at sorting pictures onto the correct seasonal background. We consolidated our knowledge later in the week as we worked out which season we were born in. We then hunted around our classroom to find crafting materials to make our very own colourful leaf collage to match the season we were born in, which now looks fantastic on our birthday tree! The children loved exploring the different textures and thought carefully about how to attach each material to their collage using either a glue stick, PVA or sellotape and they thought carefully about which colours would be a good choice to use for their season. 

The children did a fantastic job in assembly this week as it was our turn to host! Everyone listened beautifully as we read Sharing a Shell, then Transition helped me to show the rest of Pre-Prep how to be a kind friend as they each added an ingredient into our kindness potion. We added happiness, love, some sharing and turn taking, lots of kind hands and kind words, some big hugs and lots of smiles! Our special leaf was awarded in assembly this week to someone who has been working really hard on their number skills and had a go at writing some fantastic numbers all on their own! 

On Thursday we began to explore different weather. I had packed my suitcase ready for a holiday, but I must have gotten all muddled because I'd packed my woolly hat and waterproof trousers for the beach! Luckily, the children helped me to sort my clothes into piles depending on the weather for which I would need them. Phew! Now I can pack my suitcase properly. Some of the children then chose to practise their cutting skills, cutting out clothes and designing their own outfits for different weather and adventures.

In maths, we have continued to practise recognising shapes, and have begun to explore repeating patterns. During carpet time, the children helped me to create lots of different repeating patterns using bears, counters, chains and cubes, and they even spotted when I tried to trick them! We started by making simple patterns using two units, then some children challenged themselves to make trickier patterns using three or even four different units. Mrs Nelson and I were blown away by the children’s effort as they chose to continue exploring patterns in their play throughout the morning. 

We learned about something very special this week as we shared our weekend news. Two of the children in Transition have been celebrating the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival. We were very curious about this as our friends explained that they carried beautiful rainbow lanterns and ate a special kind of cake called Moon Cake. Our friends showed us some photographs from their celebration and even brought in some of their beautiful lanterns for us to have a look at to help us celebrate at school. We love learning about our friends' cultures and special celebrations. 

In the classroom, the children have been very busy doing lots of different activities during their play, including creating maps, designing pirate ships and mixing our very own cement to keep our pirate ship together. What busy engineers we have been! 

Once again, I look forward to another fantastic week as we begin to celebrate the Harvest Festival.