Darkness

 What an exciting week we have had in Foundation. On Wednesday the unit was in darkness and the children had the opportunity to experience play using their senses. Their eyes adapted quickly and we observed the children working out how to utilise their torches to enable them to continue with activities of their choosing. 

I have included a selection of photos that hopefully demonstrate just how dark the environment was.

                                            The children made shadow patterns on the sensory light.

                                           I positioned my torch so that I could cut the paper.

                                       We had glitter in the play dough and our torches made it sparkle.

                            We played with the sensory lights. We thought it looked like an octopus.

                                                           We made a fire with the wood.

                        We put the torches near the fruit bowl so that we could choose our snack.

                                                               We enjoyed reading books.

                                                           We made patterns in the sand.

What an amazing day.

Next week is Chinese New Year and we will be learning about this celebration. We will be eating noodles with chopsticks.

Have a great weekend.

Mrs Robinson

Billy Goat Gruff

 This week in Foundation we have been enjoying and learning to retell the story of  The Three Billy Goat Gruff . The children used puppets to retell the story and have acted out and used prediction for what happens next. We have made a puppet theatre for the children to enjoy using characters from many of our favorite stories.

On Tuesday we had a visiting drama workshop all about the jungle. The children were really engaged in the activities and it was a great success.

Next week we will be  learning about day and night and about nocturnal animals.

On Wednesday we are going to be having a sensory day. We will be making the nursery dark and we will be using our senses to explore and experience familiar activities in different ways. For this day we would like the children to come to school in the pyjamas and dressing gowns. ( Onesies are not recommended as the children will struggle with the toilet). Please make sure your child is warm enough as we will be going outside as usual. On previous years parents have put clothes on underneath their Pj's so that they are warm. We would like each child to bring a torch clearly labelled to use on that day. Please speak to me if you do not have one.

If you have concerns about this day please speak to me or email me, I will be happy to alleviate any concerns.

crobinson@littleheath.herts.sch.uk

 We have had a great week with lots of scientists in the setting. The children have observed the ice outside and have found different ways to help it melt. We put some containers in the freezer containing animals, we discussed different ways of getting the animals out of the ice. The children's suggestions were excellent and they decided that we could put them in the sun outside to see what happened. We left some in the unit and we put some in warm water. We then discussed which had melted the quickest.

On Thursday Mrs Howe launched a rocket outside which I have included in this weeks photographs.

Our new children have settled well this week and they have been supported in many ways by our existing children. They have been very caring and have shown the new children what we do and how we play and learn.

Next week we are going to be looking at the story of the 'Three Billy Goats Gruff'', which is one of my favourites.

I hope you have a great weekend.

Mrs Robinson:)

 Happy New Year

Welcome back, it is so lovely to see the children and they all seem very happy to be back with their friends. The weather has even brightened up for us all. I hope you all had a good break and kept well throughout the festive week.

This term we are going to be working with the children to support their ability to access a few more focused activities led by the teacher. This is something that we never take for granted as it involves many skills including the ability to be able to sit next to other children, communicate with children and adults, share their space, listen and respond with two way conversation. These sessions will only last for 5 minutes but we will be building them up over the term.

Next week we are going to be experimenting using our science knowledge.

Here are a few reminders for this term.

Please make sure all clothes are labelled with your child's name.

Hats and gloves are advisable as we will be outside. Mittens are preferable as children find gloves very hard to put on.

Warm coats.

Water bottles clearly labelled

Please speak to me if you have any concerns.

Have a great weekend

Mrs Robinson:)

Business as usual in our Foundation unit.