This week we have really enjoyed hearing all about each other's Easter breaks and all the lovely things everyone has been up to. The children enjoyed writing about their holiday news and sharing their favourite moments with one another.

We started our topic of birds this week, which was inspired by the children's fascination with a little robin who kept visiting the classroom at the end of last term. The children have enjoyed learning all about different garden birds, what they look like and their diet. We thought about what makes a bird a bird, what features birds have and what they can do. The children were also full of knowledge about birds from all over the world and they enjoyed learning new vocabulary such as raptor, talons, bills, and migration. The children later wrote about the features of birds and what birds can do, using the word and to join their ideas together.

In maths this week, we have revised 2D shapes. The children were great at identifying and naming them, counting the sides and vertices and recording this in their maths books. We have been working as a whole class to complete our activities and the children are becoming more familiar and confident with this lesson structure, in readiness for Form 2. We also challenged children to make 2D shapes using lolly sticks in their play, thinking about the length and number of sides of each of the shapes.

Our role-play area for this week is the Russell House Tea Shop. The children have loved setting out the tasty treats for their customers and pouring cups of tea for each other. They have been writing lists of each other's orders, making signs for the shop and playing with the money and till. Lots of great sharing of ideas, collaboration and rich language has been taking place alongside having lots of fun!

In art this week, the children were asked, if birds left marks when they fly, what would the sky look like? The children were inspired by this question and we decided to use large feathers dipped in paint to explore this idea. Using large rolls of paper, the children painted swirls and patterns as they imaged the movement of birds swooping across the sky. Later in the week, we also learned how to draw a simple bird by using a step-by-step video. Once the children had mastered the simple shape, they were able to adapt their work to represent any bird of their choice. We had robins, eagles and a goldfinch.

We have all been learning about how to make good choices and the importance of thinking before we act. Using the Stop, Think, Act strategy, the children have been able to explore scenarios where they may act impulsively before taking time to think things through. We explored different situations that we might find ourselves in and how taking a moment to think first before acting would help us make better choices. The children had lots of good ideas and shared them well with each other. We turned this into a game where the children had to hop, then freeze and shout out a solution to a situation before continuing. We also enjoyed listening to a song all about Stop, Think, Act.

As well as all the activities that were planned for the children, they have been leading their own learning and bringing their own ideas into the classroom. Some children have been making excellent structures in the block area, adding lots of loose-parts resources into their creations. Some children have enjoyed setting up parties in the mud kitchen, sewing little birds using felt templates and making superhero capes. What a fantastic start to the summer term we have had!