Class 1
Welcome to Class 1: our bright, spacious classroom that looks out onto the school field and our forest school, and home this year to our Nursery and Reception class.
The teachers are Mrs Bishop, Mrs Steele and Mrs Raynes and we have support from our wonderful teaching assistants Mrs Gowing, Ms Brown and Mrs Norman.
The classroom has lots of exciting areas of learning to explore.
Autumn 1: Our School
We start the Autumn term with our new topic ‘Our School’.
This topic is a lively and fun topic to teach children simple fieldwork and observational skills as they study the geography of our school, the grounds and the key human and physical features of the surrounding environment, as well as supporting the children starting school: developing routines, sharing experiences, and building friendships. Our main aim over the first few days is to begin to get to know the children (e.g., likes and dislikes, interests etc.), encourage the children to try a variety of new activities, use a variety of resources and explore their new environment.
During the first few days, we will have ‘play to learn’ time to encourage the children to explore their new setting, new resources, new people and begin communicating with and forming friends.
We are very lucky to have a range of learning environments available to us, including our indoors, outdoors and Forest School. Each week the activities and learning opportunities will change according to what we are learning about.
In Class 1, your child will have the opportunity to learn through a variety of fun, adult directed and child-initiated activities.
Fun things to do at home:
Can you talk to a grown-up about somewhere you have travelled to?
How did you get there?
Can you make a box model/ Lego vehicle?
Think about a journey you often make.
Can you draw a simple map?
Go for a walk with a grown-up.
What letters and numbers can you see on the number plates of parked cars?
Can you see any letters that are in your name?
Can you spot numbers 1 to 9?
Fine motor skills are activties, which develop children’s fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination, using the small muscles in our hands and wrists. We rely on these skills to do key tasks in school, at work, and in everyday life. Fine motor skills involve a coordinated effort between the brain and muscles. They’re built on the gross motor skills that let us make bigger movements, like running or jumping. Here are some examples of when we use fine motor skills:
- Holding a pen or pencil
- Drawing pictures and writing neatly
- Using a keyboard
- Using scissors, rulers, and other tools
- Daily tasks like getting dressed and brushing their teeth.
Autumn 1 - Part 2
We hope you are enjoying a wonderful autumn!
It has been lovely to see the children settling in over the past five weeks, making new friends, having fun, and becoming familiar with daily routines.
This half-term, our learning theme is ‘Journeys’. We have already started exploring journeys, thinking about how and why people travel and the adventures these journeys can bring.
This topic will continue throughout the term, giving children the opportunity to enjoy storytelling, creative crafts, and a variety of hands-on activities connected to journeys.
Fun things to do at home:
Explore push and pull with toys and vehicles
Look at numbers, shapes, and letters in the environment
Draw pictures of journeys and adventures
Draw simple maps of journeys you take
Make model vehicles or other creations
Experiment with push/pull forces at home
Maths Challenge Morning
We had a fun Maths Challenge Morning where we explored mathematical ideas through practical problem-solving.
We looked at stories that included shoes and then became shoe detectives when Mrs Bishop emptied her bag of shoes—they had all got mixed up! We carefully examined the shoes, noticing similarities and differences, and sorted them, explaining why each shoe belonged together.
To add to the fun, we sang the song “Cobbler, Cobbler, Mend My Shoe”, which helped us think creatively about shoes and made the activity even more exciting.
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