Elland C of E Junior, Infant & Nursery School (VA)

May God give us the courage to try, the will to succeed and hope without limits

Westgate, Elland, West Yorkshire, HX5 0BB

01422373159

admin@elland.calderdale.sch.uk

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Early Years now have an Instagram account. Follow the link to see what they are up to each week! https://instagram.com/earlyyearseducators?utm_medium=copy_link

What we've been doing...

Wellbeing Wednesday Spa 

As part of our Children's mental health week, we transformed our Early Years unit into the 'Wellbeing Wednesday Spa' 
The children arrived at school in their pyjamas so that they were comfy for their treatments. We had a range of stations such as snack, hot tub, nails, facials, hand and foot massage, yoga, and meditation. 
Every child was invited to try each station. We assessed and talked about our feelings throughout the experience. Our children said they felt "relaxed and calm" We certainly did have a relaxing and pampered morning! 

Chinese New Year 

We loved learning all about Chinese new year! As part of our celebrations, we tried some noodles with chop sticks, threaded black string on our tigers, took part in a dragon dance and opened some of our fortune cookies! We had a great day learning about different cultures and understanding the traditions for people who celebrate Chinese New Year! 
One of our students celebrated the Lunar Moon and made a book to tell us all about his traditions! 

Before Christmas we had a visit from Father Christmas! He told all the Early Years students how wonderful they are, and we couldn't agree more!

Christingle Service

We had a magical morning during our Christingle celebrations. Thank you to St Mary and All Saints Church for a Wonderful Service that we are sure our children will treasure forever.Our Children along with the rest of our school helped contribute towards our donation to The Children's Society.

Nativity

Thank you to all of our Grown-Ups who could attend our Early Years Nativity on Monday! We hope you had just as much fun as we did!

Christmas Dinner Day

We love our traditional Christmas Dinner Day! This day provides an opportunity for all of Early Years students and staff to sit together and celebrate the festivities.

Reindeer Food 

This week Foundation Stage have enjoyed making food for Santa's reindeers. We discussed the ingredients of magic, love, and hope. This also linked to our Christian values and how we have hope for ourselves and others. Our children will be selling their Reindeer food at our Nativity performance! 

Bonfire Celebrations in Early Years  

Step 1
The Children enjoyed learning about the celebration Bonfire night. We discussed the role of Guy Fawkes and King James. 
Step 2 
The children created edible sparklers using bread sticks, melted chocolate and sprinkles. We discussed the importance of washing our hands to ensure we do not contaminate our food with germs.  Adults promoted independence during this activity. 
Step 3
The children learnt all about fire safety especially on Bonfire night. We watched a video that explained how to hold Sparklers safely. The children practised following these safety rules with their homemade sparklers. 
Step 4 
Once the children had followed the safety rules, they enjoyed practising writing their names, shapes and letter sounds in the sky. 
Step 5
The children sat around our homemade campfire listening to nursery rhymes and campfire stories. We enjoyed eating our delicious creations! 

Pumpkin Day! 

Foundation stage took part in 'Pumpkin Day' 
The children initially designed their own pumpkin using paper and crayons. We discussed various emotions and how we can display them onto our pumpkins. 
We talked about the celebration Halloween and discussed how lots of people like to make Jack O' Lanterns as part of the festivities. 
We then worked in small groups carving and scooping out the pulp from the Pumpkins. 
The children liked the sensory experience of pulling out the pulp and feeling the texture. 
This activity demonstrated our children's ability to work in a team and share resources. 
Once the pumpkins were carved, we used the pulp to create our very own Pumpkin soup!
The children loved tasting what we had created, we discussed what the soup tasted and felt like and scribed the children's comments. 
We then left the pumpkins out in provision for the children to explore freely. 

Baptisms 

Reception and Nursery enjoyed learning all about Baptisms!  
We explored how Christians welcome children and adults into their faith. 
The children loved using our role play to act out the celebration of a Baptism. 
We discussed why we have candles and crosses present at Baptisms and practised blessing ourselves with the sign of the cross. 

Who Will Help Me Make The Bread? 

Foundation stage worked together to make some delicious hedgehog bread.
The children learnt all about hedgehogs and how they are preparing for hibernation. 
We then made our own bread using both our fine and gross motor skills to help us.
Making bread also allowed the children to have a real life experience similar to nursery's story of 'The Little Red Hen' 
The children loved this activity and provided a great experience that the children will cherish. 

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