We have finally arrived at the end of term and we are all looking forward to a brilliant Christmas break.
Thank you for all the wonderful gifts. We hope you all have a happy and safe Christmas and we look forward to seeing you on January 7th 2020.

From all the staff in Foundation:)

The children are now officially in Christmas spirit and we have had a lovely week decorating the unit. We were very pleased with the performance and the children enjoyed singing to you. I think they are all getting ready for a rest as a change in routine does have an impact on their ability to control their emotions.
Next week we have our Christmas party and the children can come dressed in party clothes on Wednesday 18th. The children will be having a disco and they will play some games followed by a  visit from Pappa Noel.
Please could you send in a SMALL amount of food to share at the party. This can be anything simple, eg a packet of crisps or biscuits. Please speak to me if you have any concerns regarding the food.
We break up on Friday 20th at 2.00pm WOOOOOOOHOOOOOOO.
I will leave you with a photo of the children on the stage.
 Have a great weekend.
Mrs Robinson:)

We are really in the swing with our concert rehearsals now and the children are looking forward to performing to you  next week. Please do not worry if your child suddenly decides they are not going to sing when they get on the stage or if they get upset. This is completely normal and often happens. Hopefully they will all prove me wrong.
We have started to wrap present up with Christmas wrapping paper and this has got everyone very excited. Next week we will be decorating the unit for our final 2 weeks. Here is a reminder for next week as things are a little different. Please adjust your hours if you wish your child to be involved in all the performances but it is completely ok if you want to keep the hours the same.
Have a good weekend.
Mrs Robinson:)

Week commencing 9^th December

 

This week the children will be performing:

·       Monday to the school

·       Tuesday to parents (AM)

·       Wednesday to parents (PM)

·       Thursday to parents (AM)

The children will need to wear Christmas colours all week.     Friday is Christmas jumper day so no uniform all week.

     We will endeavour to keep them clean!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

 

 

Its so lovely to end the week with a sunny day after all the wet weather. We decided we would use the fire pit to cook some bananas. The children are very good at understanding the rules around the fire and are enjoying the experiences it brings.
We have played a game using our the sense of smell this week. The children have taken it in turns to be blindfolded and have had to guess the smell of certain foods. I have to say that the one they could all easily identify was chocolate. Marmite, bread and syrup were a little bit tricky.
We have spent a lot of time learning our new songs for Christmas so I am sure they have started singing them at home Ho Ho Ho. We are looking forward to performing them to you at our Christmas show. Please make sure  you get your tickets for the performance as we have Key Stage One parents attending as well as it gets very busy.
 Have a great weekend
Mrs Robinson:)
I am so sorry about the photos but I still have a problem uploading at the moment. Please look at Receptions blog for a few photos of this week.

This week we have talked about how we feel and how to communicate our feelings to each other. The children have been practising how to take time to stop and think. We do this by closing our eyes and focusing on a specific theme. The children are getting very good at this and we are now encouraging them to talk about their thoughts. We have read a very good book called A bag full of worries. We asked the children to talk about a worry that they had and then we asked them to put the worry into a bag. We then threw the worries out of the door to help the children let go of any anxieties they may have had. It is really helpful as I put a few in myself and felt much better after. Finally we have started to introduce a daily mile. We spend 5 minutes at 1.00pm running around the playground with the rest of the school. This is going to increase to a full mile. The children are loving this and it does give us all a good feeling.
Have a great weekend.
Mrs Robinson.

We have had a fun packed week in Foundation. At 11.00am on Monday we all stopped and closed our eyes for a minute to think about people who look after us and keep us safe. The children were very good at this and it was a good teaching tool for the children to understand and learn how to be reflective. Later in the week some boys started to write on postits and stick them all over the windows. When we asked them what they were doing they said they were writing lists so that we don't forget the war. It was very moving and provoked some interesting conversations.
The children played a game with the blindfolds, directing each other round the room. They were able to communicate effectively and responded well to the instructions. This activity also supports the children's language development.
REMINDERS
We are still getting uniform that is not clearly labelled. Can you please make sure all your child's uniform has their name clearly visible. As you are all aware many 3/4 year olds take jumpers, shoes, coats and other items of clothing off and drop them on the floor. As they are all wearing the same clothes it is almost impossible to keep track of it all. Recently we have had many jumpers go missing and this is an expense nobody wants. We are also trying to support the children in their understanding that they have go to take some responsibility for their belongings.
Please speak to me if you have any concerns.

Have a great weekend.
Mrs Robinson:)
I apologise for the lack of photos today as I am having some technical problems with my computer. I will try and put some on next week so keep looking.

We have had a very busy start to the term and the children have settled back into their routine. We have spent a lot of time outside this week observing and collecting leaves. The children have looked at the changes in the colour and textures. We discussed why the leaves change and we predicted what would happen next. We have used the leaves to create some wonderful art work..
We have visited the site of the bonfire and looked at the ground to see what was left of the fire. We decided we would have our own bonfire in the outdoor classroom. We lit the fire basket and cooked sausages and ate hot dogs with a drink of warm milk. The children loved this experience and we are hoping to repeat this on a regular basis. If you have any creative food ideas for the BBQ that are healthy and easy to make could you let me know as I would like to give the children the chance to taste different things that can be cooked on a BBQ. The children learnt a lot about fire safety and we discussed clear rules about how we behave around a fire.
Next week we are going to be learning about our senses and the children are going to be working together to navigate around obstacles blindfolded. This activity is very interesting to watch and listen to as the children will follow instructions from another child.


Have a great weekend.
Mrs Robinson:)

 

We have finally reached half term and I think we are all ready for a short break. This week we have been learning about Diwali and we have listened to the story of Rama and Sita. The children have also enjoyed having their hands painted which is a tradition that takes place during Diwali. We used brown paint to create our designs. This is called Mehndi art and originated from ancient India.
We have not managed to have our hot dogs on the fire this week so we are saving it until the first week back . Hopefully we will have a lovely crisp day so that we can enjoy the camp fire.

REMINDERS
 Can you please  send in a photograph of your family so we can put it on our family wall. We only have 5 families so far. This display is really important as  we talk about our families a lot and also about what makes us all unique.
Please can you make sure that all uniform is labelled including coats. The children need to wear their winter uniforms after the holidays.

I hope to see some of you at the bonfire next week.
Have a great holiday.
Mrs Robinson:)

 

Following on from Harvest last week we have been looking at vegetables that grow in the ground. We looked at how they grow and what they look like when they are taken out of the ground. The children then cleaned all the vegetables and we made soup. Almost all the children were happy to try it and some of them even had seconds. We decided to make our own vegetable shop outside and the children have enjoyed using money to buy their vegetables. In Foundation we often read a story called Vegetable Glue by Susan Chandler. It is really funny story about the benefits of eating vegetables and a must read for anyone who is having problems getting their children to eat.
Continuing with our healthy eating we had a visit from PB1 who did a talk about our teeth. The children responded really well and were able to talk confidently about good foods and bad foods that effect our teeth. 
Next week we are going to be cooking in our outside classroom on the fire.
We will be holding our parent consultations so please make sure you have booked a time slot.
Have a great weekend.
Mrs Robinson:)

The unit has been full of Harvest activities this week and the children have enjoyed learning what Harvest is all about.  We have looked at wheat and how it grows and have read the story of the Little Red Hen. The children have made their own storyboard to show the sequence of the story and they have made bread like the little red hen except they shared it with their friends.
We are looking forward to our Harvest coffee morning on Friday and we look forward to singing our songs. I am sure you may have heard our Harvest Samba as the children sing it all day long.

We often study artists in Foundation and we have recently been looking at the artist Banksy. The children painting their own versions of Banksy's art on the wall. They were very interested in what he looked like and were surprised that  I couldn't tell them as we never see him because he does his paintings when they are in bed. I really hope you don't all wake up to your houses being painted in the night by our young artists!!!
I hope you all have a great weekend.
Mrs Robinson:)

Well the weather has officially changed and we are now in the wellie season. This has not dampened the children's enthusiasm for being outside and we have continued to support their interests. We have conkers everywhere so we decided to make a shop. The children are allowed to buy certain quantities of conkers depending on what number in on their shopping basket. This activity has really supported the children's number skills and also their communication and language skills as they have had to talk to each other and ask about quantities and money.
We have also had a visiting drama workshop and the children enjoyed spending time making stories with the witch and the dragon. One of our favourite stories is Little red Riding Hood so we have
 created a storyboard which helps us to remember the sequence of the story.
Inside the unit we have created a den building area which has been amazing to watch. We started the week with an empty space and we now have a house with windows and doors made out of boxes and 56 rolls of masking tape. The children worked together throughout the week to create this with different children being involved at different stages. The teachers have only observed and not had anything to do with the construction. Their social interactions have been amazing and their problem solving skills have resolved many building issues. I think we may have to apply for planning permission before it can become a habitable dwelling.
Next week we have our Harvest Festival celebration on Friday. You are welcome to come along for  a coffee and some cake with your child. Please do not worry if you are working as we will be with the children for the session. Our time slot is 10.00-10.30am. Please go to the hall and we will bring the children over to meet you.
Have a great weekend.
Mrs Robinson:)

This week we have really noticed a change in the weather and the children are beginning to notice that the trees are changing colour. We have  looked as the leaves and discussed the changes that are taking place. Autumn is such a lovely time of the year for nature as the colours change so much. We are going to be looking more at the changes over the next few weeks so if you are out and about at the weekend please bring in something that your child notices on a walk.  On another note I am sure you are all aware that the children have had many changes of clothes this week. We allow the children to play outside with coats on and I am sure you can appreciate that they inevitably get wet or muddy. Please be reassured that we do not have a problem with this and are happy to change them into the spare clothes so that they are comfortable. What we do ask is if you could return the clothes to us ASAP so that we can use them again. 
Have a good weekend.
Mrs Robinson:)

 

We have had another exciting week in Foundation and can’t believe we have only been back a couple of weeks. The children are so established and confident in the setting. They are managing to access resources independently and they are understanding routines and boundaries.

We have been listening to traditional tales and the children have really enjoyed the Gingerbread Man so we have decide we will make our own next week. We are also going to be sending home a library book for them to share with you. We will change this book every Monday so please try to return them regularly.

We have also been learning our Harvest songs and the children have enjoyed singing about fruit and vegetables which you will hear them sing at our Harvest coffee morning on the 11^th October.

I would like to collect some photographs of all our families so that we can display them in the room. The children love to share photographs with each other so we would like to create a family gallery. Please bring them in next week.

Have a great weekend.

Mrs RobinsonJ