Summertime

As the weather warms up, please send your child with a sunhat and apply sun cream.  Thankyou.

Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work I go!

This is how we do it.....

Throughout the year, this page will be updated with our adventures. There will be photos for you to see our learning as well as information shared with you. The most recent adventures will be at the top of the page, but please always scroll down just in case we have added anything extra for you to see.

Summer Term Two

Sports Day

On Wednesday it will be Sports Day. During the morning, the children will take part in many different activites which will all be for fun. During the afternoon, there will be races of different sorts which parents are welcome to come and support. 

The children will need to wear a t-shirt which is their house colour. A list of these will go up in our doors shortly. (If your child has a sibling already in school then it will be the same colour as them.) This is to easily identify them as to which house they are.

We ask that during the afternoon, you allow the children to sit with their friends and Y6 buddies in order to help the smooth process of the afternoon's activities.

As always, thank you for your continued support. See you there 

Den Building Superstars

Thank you to everyone who brought in some den building materials for us. We had, in the words of the the children, the 'best day ever'. We were amazed at how quickly they tackled the challenge of creating a den and all worked amazingly well together. Have a look at the time lapse video to see us in action. 

Reception Reading

For this last term, we will be changing when we sort out the reading books. From now on, children will have their books changed once per week on a Wednesday. Extra books will be put in, so the same amount of books will be going home, it just means it will be changed once.

Any questions, as always, please just ask us.

As the new school year seems to get closer and closer, we have decided this term to look at journeys. These will include journeys on holiday, or on a train, and even in an emergency vehicle. It was also see us taking a journey into space and even our dreams. We will also being looking back at our own journeys that we have made through this school year as well as looking at our next journey going into Reception or Year 1.

We will continue with daily phonics, tricky words and sentence writing as well as our daily counting and number sessions. This will help the confidence of the children to tackle the next year. As transition time is approaching, we will hold many circle times to help the children's confidence about changing year groups and they will be meeting their new teachers and spending time with them.

This term also sees Sports Day...so if you want to come along and support us, please do. There may even be a mummy/daddy race for you to take part in!

Summer Term One

Aharrr me Hearties!

What a lovely day for a picnic! We  had a fun packed mega busy day...starting with pirate hat making, eye patch designing and telescope making. Not to mention flag making! We then went for a Pirate Parade, and went to see Mrs Sanderson...who we scared with a big 'AHAARRR'!

We even decorated telescopes before heading outside to walk the plank. Fortunately, instead of a crocodile at the end waiting for us, we had a yummy picnic, thanks to the support from all of the lovely parents.

Thank you all for all of your kind support and donations. As always, we are grateful for everything. 

Booknic

Please could your child bring their favourite book into nursery on Thursday as we are going to be having a Booknic!!  Lots of yummy food that the children are going to bake will be eaten and lots of fantastic stories shared!  

Buddy Time 

We are so lucky to have such amazing Yr 6 buddies. After a hard week taking their SATS exams they came to see us and taught us some super fun fitness games during Fitness Friday. We absolutely loved it and now we know how to play some exciting games at break time! 

Sun Time is Fun Time 

Just like everyone else in the country we got very excited about the sunshine this week and we spent most of our time outside! We did shadow drawing, leaf dancing and we explored the lovely green gardens. We talked about the water cycle again and how because of the sun it would rain again. Learning is fun outside in the sunshine! 

Water Cycle and Fitness Friday

With the weather being so lovely, we spent the whole of the afternoon outside. There was several activities to take part in, from balancing on the trim trail, to scarf dancing and using the wind. We played duck, duck, goose, and made Mrs Kabesh chase around all the time!

We used our knowledge of the water cycle to act it out with scarf dancing, becoming the sea, water and rain. Our scarves flowed behind us in the wind, so we decided to become buzzy bees! We also practiced our letters, saying the phonics rhymes as we drew the letters in the air with the scarves.

A great afternoon!

If your child receives an Imagination library book please bring them into school, we would love to read them!

We had amazing fun this morning with Mr Webb who taught us all about kurling. We thought it was little bit like bowling at first, until we realised there was no ball! We learnt how to do this correctly by saying 1, 2, then 3 and letting the disk go on three.

After we had done this, we used our maths skills to add up the amount of points each team had scored. We knew that 17 was a bigger number than 14 so the white team won. Well done!

A har me hearties!

This term we will be learning about all things connected with water. This means plenty of hands on, getting wet and generally having fun! We will be taking part in experiments (what is ice anyway?!) as well as designing umbrellas, writing messages in bottles, and possibly chasing away a few pirates here and there!

Of course, we will continue building up the children's confidence and knowledge with our daily phonics sessions, increasing their writing and reading skills, as well as counting and all things maths (how many pirates does it take to sink a boat?!)

Welly Wednesday and Fitness Friday will continue, working on previous knowledge and helping the children gain more skills and control as we go.

The 'Stay and Play' sessions are every Friday morning from 8.45 until 9.30 in nursery.  Come and join in the fun!  We will be reading lots of lovely books, creating fantastic models and even cooking!  If your child has got their Imagination Library book this month please bring along too.  See you soon!

Spring Term Two

Lorry Safety Visit 

We learnt all about Lorry safety when a real lorry came and parked on our playground. We played a game to try and guess when the driver of the lorry would be able to see us and we were shocked at how far away we had to be from the lorry. We felt really high when we sat in the cab. 

Superhero Dress up Day

There has been some fabulous costumes today....Superman, Batman, the ninja Turtles and of course Wonder Woman!! There was even a Mrs Lowe and a dad! What great fun. We have managed to raise some money so thank to all for taking part so well and contributing so well.

Thank you all 

Red Nose Day

What a red-tastic day!

Everyone through out the entire school had something red on today, whether it was glasses, a top or a pair of shoes! Buns and treats were sold (and eaten!) so let's hope we have managed to raise a bit of cash for those less fortunate than ourselves,

Thank you for your continued support.

Reading in FS

If your child receives an Imagination Library book from DMBC, could you inform a member of staff.  We are going to be engaging in lots of fantastic activities around reading and we would like to incorporate these lovely reading books that your child receives at home.

This month we would love it if you could use Tapestry to take a photograph of your child reading their favourite book(s) and put it on their learning journey for us to share with the children.  There will be more activities to follow so watch this space!

Welly Wednesday - Spring Style!

As Spring is fast approaching, we noticed that there are daffodils growing through out the school grounds. We noticed that they are yellow and green and some have already opened, while some are still closed. We took our time to study the different yellows, and chose well in order to draw the flowers correctly. We also wrote a sentence about the daffodils with out any help from an adult!

See pictures below.

Book Reviews

After having such a great time during World Book Day, we decided to write some book reviews. This is something that we had never done before, but we worked hard to ensure that we had written everything we needed to. Our chosen book was 'Owl Babies', and we all loved the part when Bill says 'I want my mummy'. It made us all laugh!

Some pictures below of our hard work.

World Book Day

What a fabulous day!

All of the children looked amazing dressed as their favourite book characters. We had Thumbalina, Elsa, Fantastic Mr Fox, Ironman, Harry Potter, Dennis the Menace and many many more. If you look closely, you will also see Mary Poppins, Alice in Wonderland and The Singing Mermaid!

The winner of each class, as judged by Mrs Gadd one of our School Governors, was James Farmer, better known as Where's Wally and Joseph Peters, far far better known for costume and sound effects as Daddy Pig. (Peppa Pig) Amazing - well done both! 

Thank you to all children who took part with such enthusiasm as well as parents for making such a super effort providing them with the costumes. 

Reception Reading Challenge

To help promote the children's love of reading we are running a cheeky challenge! Every time your child completes a reading book at school, they will get a stamp. They will also get one for every time you read to your child, maybe at bedtime. There is another chance for stamps when your child reads something else, such as a menu, a comic or a sign post. (You can date them as well if you like to let us know.)

The challenge runs through out the whole of this half term, and if they get a stamp in every box, they will get a certificate. 

Any questions, please ask.

Happy reading!

World book day will take place on Thursday 2nd March 2017. On the Friday (3rd March) children can dress up as their favourite book character.

During this term, we will be learning about life-cycles and birds as we enter into Spring. We will be looking at all things animal and their young and whether they start life as an egg then hatch! We will be looking at different stories, such as The Little Red Hen as well as making our own pancakes....not really life cycles, but eating is essential to life!! 

Phonics will take place every morning where we will continue teaching children their sounds, letters and how to write them down, extending them into sentences. We will build upon the counting skills we have already got during maths lessons and learn new skills which will help us weigh and measure. 

Welly Wednesday will continue as we look at life cycles of both animals (tadpole to frog) as well as plants (life cycle of a bean.) Our only difference will be that it take place in the afternoon rather than the mornings. Fitness Friday will also continue and we will be looking at the children having more control when pushing, throwing and balancing to help with their gross motor skills.

Spring Term One

Welly Wednesday

We are always so busy on Welly Wednesdays! Come rain or shine, we get outside and get down with nature. We learn all sorts, from looking through magnifying glasses to see what patterns and shapes we can see up close, to finding different shapes and sorting them into 2D or 3D shapes. We have also made patterns using stamps, creating our own 2 or 3 repeating patterns. And all of that in just one morning!

Exhausting! (Pictures below.)

Fitness Friday

The children are becoming much more confident when climbing and are able to decide what risks they should and should not take. They can carefully climb as high as they want to, but only as high as they want to, before coming down again. They are showing more control when throwing and catching beanbags and balls to themselves or a partner. These are all great activities for the developing gross motor skills, coordination and balance. The children also have been taught how to do teddy bear rolls, shown by our in house expert, Mrs Beedle! (Photos below.)

Everybody say CHEESE!

As part of our learning, we have discussed the use of technology in the form of cameras and tablets. All children had a go at taking pictures of each other in their favourite superhero poses! They were amazing at working the tablet, not dropping it once, but instead understanding the importance of being careful with it.

Excellent work - well done!

Left, Right, Left, Right!

We had such fun during Fitness Friday. We were very lucky to be joined by Mr Kirtley who led us through some obstacle courses and some military drills! Sergeant Major Kirtley was ace with his whistle which the children were excellent at responding and listening to. A different type of Fitness Friday but certainly enjoyed by all! See some of the things we got up to below.....

Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No it's.....????

After lots of talking with the children, we have decided that they will learn best through the topic of SUPERHEROES!! This will see a Justice League forming in one reception classroom, as well as having a Newsroom (Daily Planet!) in the other. We will encourage the children to use their daily phonics lessons in order to write full sentences (news paper reports, speech bubbles and comic strips), as well as labelling and name writing. We will make sure they continue using their counting skills and mathematical knowledge, increasing their skills through focus work.

Welly Wednesday will keep on going, even if it is raining. We always provide an activity inside for the children to get warmed up before heading outside again. Fitness Friday will start back again during the first week.

We have five new starters in nursery after Christmas so we will be working on team work, being a good role model and a good friend during our circle time.

Autumn Term Two

Deck the Halls!

A huge thank you for all of your lovely cards and gifts that you have given to us. We appreciate every one, and feel humbled by them. (Chocolates eaten, drinks drank and all very much enjoyed )

A very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all x x

Follow the Star Nativity 2016

Thank you to all parents/carers/adults who came to see our Nativity. The children have worked hard to remember the story, actions and the songs as well.

We hope you enjoyed it!

Christmas Fayre

The Christmas Fayre is this Thursday afternoon. If you would like to come, please collect your child from the classroom door BUT they will be your responsibility from this point as there will be no further classroom learning that day.

Please pay a visit to all the stalls, especially ours, where we will be selling the Christmas decorations we have been making of baubles, penguins and reindeers - festive cuteness! All funds raised will be poured back into the school with the help of the PTA.

Hark the Herald Angel Sing

The Foundation Stage Nativity will be on the 5^th December at 10.15 and 2.00. Tickets will be available from the school office.

Our Nativity, based on the ‘real’ version of events will be taught to the children through Talk 4 Writing. This is a literacy strategy used throughout the whole of the school which enables children to internalise a story in order for them to retell it. This fills the children up with language and literacy techniques which later on, they can use in their own pieces of writing.

Although we will be working together and saying most of this as a team, we will be dressing up in costume and singing songs. 

To help us fully emmerse ourselves in the story we will be following the star.

Welly Wednesday will change days for one week only!!

On Thursday 1^st December, we will be taking a walk through Tickhill in order to ‘follow the star’. We will have help from our Year 6 buddies, who will be escorting us to ‘Bethlehem’ to see Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus. The cattle will be lowing, the baby might awake…..

Once there, we will sing a few Christmas songs and take a look at the animals in the barn before heading back to school and looking at the story of the Nativity.

This is a short morning trip as we will be back before dinner time. We would like you to ensure that we have wellies and warm winter clothes as this will be replacing Welly Wednesday for this week.

A Pocket Full of Posies

Thank you to all parents and carers who supported us this week and came to see the children performing the nursery rhymes. They all worked really hard to learn the words (and actions!) of the rhymes and was the first time they had performed in front of an audience!

Any money raised will be poured back into the Foundation Unit and will buy exciting new items, such as ICT equipment and small world imaginative toys.

Thank you once again for all of your support.

Our topic this term will be based around stories. We felt that not only do all the children love stories (!) but there is a huge interest in Julia Donaldson stories amongst the classes. Therefore we will be looking at Room on the Broom and The Gruffalo's Child as well as learning the traditional Bible tale of the Nativity. During these weeks, we will be taking a visit to 'Bethlehem' to see Mary and Joseph with Baby Jesus in the stable. (We kid you not, details to follow!) During this term we will also be having Anti-Bullying Week and World Nursery Rhyme Week.

We will continue teaching daily phonics to help the reading and writing of the children as well as number time to build on the skills the children already have from Autumn Term One. We will be creating Art both inside the classroom developing our fine motor skills as well as during Welly Wednesday using nature as a medium for art work. As the children become more settled we will help them continue their growing friendships and bonds during circle time and will encourage them to express their thoughts and feelings in positive ways.

Wish Me Luck as You Wave Me Goodbye!

It is with a very heavy heart that we say goodbye to the lovely Mrs Robertshaw this term. She has been an invaluble support in our team and very loved by both the children and adults. As she enjoys her time without us (sniff sniff!) and her beautiful family, we also say a huge hello to Mrs McNabb who will be taking over. Mrs McNabb has plenty of experience to offer and is full of enthusiam to get to know all of our children. Please see our updated 'who's who' further down the page!

Reading for Reception Term Two

The children have been split into groups in order to make changing books and reading more manageable during school time. Therefore on MONDAYS and THURSDAYS the OCTOPUS and MONKEYS will have their books changed. On TUESDAYS and FRIDAYS the SHARKS, GIRAFFES and HORSES will have their books changed. If your child does not have a book just yet, don't worry, they will get one in the coming weeks.

Your child knows which groups they are in but please ask if you are unsure.

Autumn Term One

Reading for Reception Children

Over the next few weeks, your children will start to bring reading books home with them. These will get changed on a MONDAY and THURSDAY providing the book has been read. Please make a note in the reading records that come with them so that we know this.

Please do not panic if your child does not bring a book home. They will do in time – we just need to ensure that we are supporting and challenging your child at the correct stage of their development before we do so.

Are you sitting comfortably...? Then I shall begin!

After looking through all of your children's interest sheets, we decided to start this term by learning about People Who Help Us. This includes people who helps us at home (you!), at school (our staff) , our health (doctors, nurses and the emergency services), our animals health (Vets) , keeping us safe (Police) and our day to day life (shop keepers etc.) A massive thank you to those who have volunteered (or been accosted!) and have kindly agreed to come into school to share their knowledge of their profession with our children.

Throughout the term, as well as settling your child in, we also hope that we can ignite their love of learning through various activities, such as role-play, circle time, expressive art and design and much much more. We will begin to teach and develop phonics in order to help read and write as well as having maths based activities to help counting and shape, space and measure. Plus lots of songs and jingles to help them remember things so listen out for them!

Below are the different activities and visits our children have been involved in. So far we have met exotic creatures, visited a Cafe in Tickhill, had a visit from Inspector Blake and his colleagues from South Yorkshire Police and had a visit from a Vet, Dr Lawn. Keep scrolling down for many more of our adventures.

Welly Wednesday

For our second Welly Wednesday we went in the search of a fearsome pirate named Pirate Beedle, who held clues to find some hidden treasure. (If said in a pirates voice, this sounds much more fun!) We made pirate hats collecting the things we found to decorate them as well as decorating flags with colours squeezed from leaves, twigs and berries. We even ate our treasure while basking in the warm sunshine!

Next week, we will be creating pictures of fireworks using only what we find outside.....watch this space!

Below are some pictures taken over the weeks of the things we get up to. Enjoy!

Fitness Friday

PE will be on Friday mornings and will be known as Fitness Friday Morning! We ask that children arrive into school in their PE kits for the morning session. As getting changed independently is an important stage in a child's development we ask that children have their uniform in their bags in order to change into them before lunch to continue the normal school day.

Fitness Friday is so much fun. We do loads of different activities, from ball skills, to Little Pig games, to climbing over and under equipment to feeling our heartbeats. We even talk about healthy eating and have to find different fruits around the classrooms to make a healthy food plate.

Autumn Days when the grass is jewelled!

As the Autumn is approaching, and the weather is changing, please can you ensure that your child comes to school with a raincoat/jacket to keep them warm in the crisp weather. Wellies are a way forward for when they are playing in the mud kitchen, so please feel free to send them in wellies. They can change into their normal school shoes/pumps once in the classroom.

Thank you!

Welcome to Foundation Stage 2016-17

Our team is made up of the following members of staff

Mrs Marson-Smith (FS1 and Assistant Head)

Mrs Bevington (Nursery Nurse)

Mrs Kabesh (FS2 Lumley Teacher and SENDCo)

Mrs Bryant (FS2 Lumley Teaching Assistant)

Mrs Beedle (FS2 Alderson Teacher)

Mrs McNabb (FS2 Alderson Teaching Assistant)

Photos to follow......!!