The children have been getting messy and made beautiful clay coil pots to give as gifts on Sunday. They had to first roll out the clay and then, using a cookie cutter, they had to cut a circle shape out to make a base. Using clay tools, they learnt how to etch around the outside of the base to make a rough surface. Then it was time to make sausages and roll out long pieces of clay to then coil around the base, building upon each layer to make the sides. Then using a little water, the children smoothed the coils together to join them. The children loved exploring the slippery clay and all worked extremely hard on their creations. Later in the week they painted them, ready to take home for the big day on Sunday. The children have also been making some beautiful cards for Mother's Day, using tissue paper and buttons - I’m sure you will agree when you see them that they look great!

We have also been thinking about all the things our mummies do for us and why we love them so very much. All the children came up with some lovely suggestions, such as; cooking their favourite meals, tucking them in at night and playing their favourite games with them. Everyone agreed that their mummy was extremely special to them and that they do so many things for them every single day. We also learnt a little bit about how Mothering Sunday began, how long it has been celebrated and some traditional gifts that used to be given. None of the children thought their mummy would like to receive a basket of eggs!

In Maths, the children have continued to think about part-part whole as a way to explore and represent the composition of numbers. Using counters, the children counted to find the total and record this in the whole part of the model. Then they drew around the counters to make a group and wrote this in one of the parts. By carefully counting the counters that were left, they found the other part. Everyone worked hard on their number formation and all the children are getting more and more confident to record their ideas.

As the sun has been shining, the children have been keen to explore outside and have made good use of the new den making equipment. The children have learnt how to make a tripod using 3 long wooden poles and secure them at the top using wool or rope. This has led to lots of imaginative role play around camping, making fires, toasting marshmallows on sticks and making hot chocolate! The children have been creative and made lots of props and have really enjoyed creating little tables to put their cooking pots and kettles on. We also had fun trying to make a shelter using the large tarpaulin. This activity provided lots of opportunity to work collaboratively and the children worked hard to find a way to make it secure.

A real highlight this week was getting to spend Russell Bucks for the first time when the children visited the RHPA Mother's Day stall to buy some extra special gifts for their mummies. The children had so much fun spending their money and all walked from the Pre-Prep to The Old Hall clutching their precious Russell Bucks ready to go shopping! All the children found a lovely gift for their mummy and watched as they were carefully wrapped and placed in a special bag.

We also started a science experiment to see if we could observe how plants transport water through their stems and leaves. Placing some celery in jars of food colouring the children predicted that the plants would change colour as they sucked up the brightly coloured water. However, sadly we haven't noticed any changes so far. The children continue to tend to their beans every day and they are doing extremely well. The children are logging their progress in their bean diaries and are amazed by how tall they are getting.