Early Years

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Early Years now have an Instagram account. Follow the link to see what they are up to each week! Click here!

What we’ve been doing…

All-In-One

Super Potato

BI, PD, L, CL & UTW

The children arrived to a chaotic scene. There were vegetables fleeing the classroom. On further inspection, we noticed that ranges of vegetables have been trapped. The carrots were trapped under labels, the broccoli had been drawn on, the cucumber had been wrapped in toilet roll and the Brussel sprouts were trapped under a shopping basket. There was a note left from evil pea that stated, "You will never catch the evil pea. Be warned". The children were allowed to freely explore the classroom

Pirate Party Day - Gold Balloon

For our Gold Balloon reward the children enjoyed taking part in pirate day. We learnt how to talk, walk and act like a pirate. We played a range of games and learnt the importance of managing our feelings and working as a team. We walked the plank and worked on our balancing skills.

In the afternoon we used our gross motor skills to dig for buried treasure and listened carefully to instructions so that we were able to pin the eye patch on the pirate.

Some of our friends brought cake for us to share during our party.

Parent Get Busy with Me Afternoon Autumn 1

This term our parents were invited into school to take part in our Get Busy with Me Afternoon. Our pupils helped to decide what activities they would like to show their parents and modelled what they have learnt so far this Autumn term.

We then finished the session with a peer massage to explain the importance of looking after our wellbeing and being kind to our mind.

Who will help me cut my lunch?

This term we have focused on the importance of being able to manage our own needs at meal times. Our pupils have been learning how to cut their own lunch using a knife and fork; as well as eating with a knife and fork.

Pumpkin Pie

AI Child Led

Today we decided to cut open the top of our pumpkins to explore the inside. We talked about the celebration Halloween and turning our Pumpkins into "Jack O lanterns"

The children helped by pulling the pulp and scooping seeds using their hands and spoons. We explored the texture and how it felt sticky and stringy.

We talked about what we could do with the pulp such as make soup or pumpkin pie.

Bird Feeders

During our world health day celebrations the children placed bird feeder outside so that we could look after the wild life in our area. We recognise the importance of taking care of nature as well as our own wellbeing.Today during our outdoor focus time we investigated our bird feeders to see if any animals had used them! To our surprise their were visible marks to show that they had been used.

Our pupils were delighted!

What a success!

Winnie the Witch

Today we had a visit from our very kind witch Winnie. Winnie was a little shy but let the children play with her potions, brooms and spell cards.

The children dressed up in costumes to take on the role of a witch around the cauldron. Mrs. T helped the children make their very own broomsticks using branches and sticks.

Pumpkin Size Ordering

This week we have explored the language of size using a range of pumpkins, which links nicely to our Autumn theme this term.

Teaching focus on language of size smallest, smaller small, medium, big, bigger and biggest.

The children were able to compare the size of pumpkins using language of smallest, smaller small, medium, big, bigger and biggest. We also included language of weight such as heavy.

Not only did this subject link to mathematics but it also gave our children the opportunity to wait for their turn and carefully pass the pumpkin around considering how to pass to each other.

World Mental Health Day

Early Years have learnt the importance of looking after our "brain" and "mind". We used the internet to research a range of activities that we could complete to help our "wellbeing".

As a result we took part in peer massage, yoga, mindfulness and breathing techniques using our very own hand made dragon.

We also learnt how fun it is to learn a new skill and decided to make some bread like our character the Little Red Hen. The children worked as a team to knead, roll, pour and mix our ingredients. We then got to take our bread home as a treat.

We spent some time outdoors placing bird feeders in our outdoor provision, gazing at clouds and laying down on our backs in the grass. We sat quietly and listened to the world go by. The children also spotted a range of insects such as butterflies and watched in ore as they flitted past.

Finally we wanted to spread awareness and make other people feel happy. We decided to give each adult in our school a small token of kindness by giving them a small positive message.

Who Will Help me Make The Bread?

Today in early years we followed Little Red Hen's recipe to make some crusty white bread. We followed instructions and took turns in mixing, pouring, kneading, rolling and snipping. The children shaped their bread into a hedgehog and took snips with scissors.

C&L, BI, L, PSED

The Importance of Following Recipes

After exploring some of the clues left in our "bakery" the children wanted to use some of the ingredients found to make bread. The children in nursery thought that we might be able to make bread using flour and water after looking briefly at our recipe.

The adults encouraged the children to add water and explore their curiosity. However, we soon realised that we needed to follow the recipe to make bread. Our school cook came to the rescue and went through our recipe, we now know that we need all the ingredients, correct measurements and equipment before trying to make cook and bake.

Friendship Bracelet

Following on from our friendship chain challenge, some of our pupils asked the adults if they could use the spare paper to make a bracelets for their new friend.

The children freely selected the resources needed from the writing area. The children still worked with their new partner and even used sellotape independently to put their bracelet on their partner!

Who will help us clean this mess?!

After our fabulous 5 star hygiene rating, you can imagine the sheer panic and shock that somebody had made a mess in our "bakery"!!Luckily the children of Elland C'E were on the case. They looked for clues and explored some of the things left behind such as flour, red feathers and a bread recipe... We also worked as a team to clean our bakery. We then used our playdough to practise kneading and folding our dough.

The Friendship Chain Challenge has Returned!!!

One of our favourite challenges has yet again made an appearance this academic year. The friendship chain challenge encourages children to pair up with a partner they usually don't work with. It teaches the importance of sharing, listening to the wishes and needs of others, as well as compromising.It was wonderful to see that even though our chains broke, the children still worked closely with their new friend!

Enhancing Provision with signs

Who would have known adding a simple hygiene rating in our playdough would spark such imagination and wonder from our pupils.This simple activity has taught our children the important of keeping our playdough "bakery" safe and clean. Our children where determined to get a 5 star rating after our very first "inspection" in which the bakery nearly shut down!!

People Who Help Us

UTW, C&L & PSED Today Elland C of E were lucky enough to have a visit from our lovely local police officers. We had a great opportunity to explore the role of police officers and how they help our community. We discussed the importance of "making good choices". The police officers allowed our pupils to try on some uniform as well as explore their equipment. We will make sure to wave to our friendly police officers when they are in our local area. On the last slide you will see that our guests inspired some role play from our students.

We Love Playdough

AI PD, W, EAD & C&LThis week the children have been learning a range of new skills in the playdough area. Mrs G taught the children how to shape and manipulate the playdough in a range of ways.

This term we have focused largely on our fine and gross motor skills to enable us to become effective writers.

The Odd One Out

Mathematics, SSM, EAD & C&L

Child Initiated

During our "Busy Job's" some of our pupils decided to complete one of our maths challenges. They carefully followed on from our maths lesson by drawing a circle around the odd one out as well as explaining why. One pupil carefully explained to her partner why it was the odd one out explaining that "turtles have shells and them are frogs, not same odd one out"

One of our pupils even tried to write "odd one out" around the circle.

Afternoon Tea with Royalty

BI, PD, L, C&L, PSED & UTW

CI and Adult led

To our Suprise the Royal family came to visit our bakers this week. Adults demonstrated how we may act in front of the royal family and created a plot to our play by creating a feast fit for a King.

We discussed hygiene and how our playdough table was messy and our work surface was full meaning that customers may not want to buy food from our bakery. As a result we tided up and only used the equipment that was needed. We looked at a cook book to guide us.

The royal family requested "Juice" and "fairy buns". The two bakers carefully looked at the recipe. We discussed how each bun needed to be the same size to cook through properly. We used a weighing scale to help us. The children tried to put the buns in the microwave to cook, so we took a closer look at our recipe book which showed an oven. We transferred our learning to the home area where we placed the buns carefully into the oven.

We talked about the importance of wearing gloves to protect our hands from the heat as well as using a cocktail stick to ensure the bun was cooked through. The two bakers examined for any cake batter before removing the buns from the oven.

We waited for the buns to cool down before serving them to the royal family.

Vocabulary

weight, same, not the same, different, clean, hygiene, serve, cooked, batter and even.

Who Will Save our Fair Maiden?

PD, C&L, PSED, L & BI

Child Initiated

During our "Busy Jobs" adults spotted terrific learning taking place. In the small world area some of our pupils were working together in a small team to create a "castle house" and a "moat" around the castle. They carefully took turns adding bricks to their tower so that it was tall. The children discussed what parts of construction they would use to create a flag.

Adults provided the children with small world princesses, queens and dragons to enhance their play. As a result one child decided to "capture" a princess in the Enchanted Forrest. Adult's helped the children make a plan to "save" the princess from the fire breathing dragon and the dark spell that had been cast. The children decided we needed a super hero or fairy god mother to save the princess. We then created a new spell that would break the "curse" - Bibbity Bobbity Boo I release you.

New vocabulary:

enchanted, moat, tower, draw bridge, curse, cast, save, royal and problem.

Learning New Skills

Sewing EADL, PD, EAD, SSM & CL

As part of our topic we decided to learn how to thread a jumper on our very own bear using a needle and some rainbow string. The children concentrated and listened carefully to instructions so that they were able to sew carefully. The children also focused on their hand and eye co-ordination.

Child Led Learning

C&L, BI, EAD, UTW, L & PSED

Adults have been keen to follow the interests of our pupils. Early this week we have observed students talking about castles, princess and kings in their play. As a result we transformed our home corner into a palace fit for royals.

We have focused on taking on the role of a character and creating plots in our play. We also introduced the challenge of writing the t sound on our white board to encourage letter formation practice. For our younger pupils we have provided the challenge of preparing a banquet fit for a King as well as drawing

Next step to introduce vocabulary:

monarchy, reign, carriage, royal, throne, heir, princess, prince, king and queen

Puppets

BI, EAD, CL & L

During our "busy jobs" adults spotted wonderful learning led by students.Some of our pupils had selected to read the story of 'We are Going on a Bear Hunt' as well as using puppets to take on the role of a character.

We are Going on a Bear Hunt role play

L, PD, BI, PSED & CL

Our core book this term is We are Going on a Bear Hunt. As part of our literacy lesson our pupils helped to create small tuff trays based of the settings we have discussed and explored in our story. The children worked in small groups to recreate the setting in trays whilst looking at the images in our large floor book to support their ideas. The children then had the opportunity to re-tell the story using small world figures and a large floor book as a guide. This activity allowed our children to explore the story physically as well as join in with repeated refrains. Following on from this activity we have now explored sequencing the settings in order as part of our understanding of stories and story structure.

Playdough Portraits

PD, L, C&L EAD

As part of our enhancements this week adults added face templates and mirrors to provision so that our pupils had the opportunity to explore portraits in abstract context. This activity also links to our next step of developing our fine and gross motor skills so that we can become effective and confident writers.

Vocabulary:reflection, unique, features, detail, roll, squeeze, shape and mould

Balancing Beams

This week we have learnt how to create our very own balancing beam based off our interest of pirates. Previously we made planks to jump off our pirate ship. however this week, we worked as a team to select resources and move boards into the correct position. To add more challenge we decided to add balls, bean bags and cones to our task. This meant that children had to work on their hand and eye co-ordination as well as learning how to carefully travel across our beam. The children started to pass the ball between cones to further challenge themselves.PD, fine motor & gross motorPSED, C&L

Discovering books around the stove

Child Initiated Play

R, C&L & BI

During provision our pupils selected a range of empty boxes and turned into “beds”. They carefully selected cushions and material to use as blankets. Their play progressed by using the boxes to have a comfortable reading experience. One of our pupils referred to camping next to the bear cave and wanted to create a “stove” so that they cook some food.

Vocabulary: reading, comfortable, cosy, camping, turning, looking, imagining, pretending

A Pirate's Life is For Me!

Our children have shown an interest in pirates this term. As a result we have followed their interest and allowed them to be in charge of their learning guiding the adults.

During our independent Busy Jobs some of our pupils decided to make an eye patch using string and large shapes. This week we have learnt our new pirate chant:eye patch, pirate hat, Swashbucklers cheer OOHHH ARGH!

Where will the wind take us?

PD,UTW, C&L, L & PSED

We had a perfect opportunity to explore our great British weather. During our outdoor session the children where given the opportunity to explore wind and jumping in puddles. As an extension of this task Mrs G gave the children ribbon so that they could explore the feeling of material blowing in the wind as well as encourage vocabulary and repetition of our core book We're Going on a Bear Hunt. The children loved repeated phrases of our story as they traveled around our outdoor unit.

Vocabulary repeated refrains:

Swishy Swashy, HOOOO WOOOOO, Squelch Squerch, Splish Splash, Splosh Splash

Funky Fingers

Tummy Time, Doodle sticks and Scissor skills

PD, L & EAD

Adults in early years have encouraged our pupils to explore fine motor and gross motor activities. During our ‘Busy Jobs’ we have introduced tummy time in which the children are encouraged to make large, doodle sticks in which they use large muscles to make letter formations and shapes in the air and scissors skills to support our finger strength as well as learning a new skill.

We have had lots of fun exploring the many ways we can make marks and draw pictures.

Whatever the Weather

Our pupils have been learning how to put on their all in ones and wellies when completing outdoor busy jobs. This is a part of our ethos in which we encourage children to become independent within their ‘busy jobs’. Our activities have been carefully planned based on our children’s interest of pirates and paint as well as the need to develop both our fine motor and gross motor skills to enable us to effectively write!

We have enjoyed scrubbing the deck of our pirate ship the Great Jolly Rodger. The children used soapy water to clean the windows and scrub the deck of our pirate ship!

We have also enjoyed using powder paint to explore making marks outside as well as painting our friendship bench!

New vocabulary

Scrubbing, brushing, wiping, cleaning, pirates, Jolly Rodger, mixing, painting, stroking, splashing, pouring, squeezing.

Next steps in action

Having reflected on our previous work and adults noticing a need for fine motor intervention, we held our first BIG DRAW. Our first session focused on following instructions, holding our whiteboard pens correctly and making marks that represented our faces.

We learnt how to sit smartly with our boards, pens and rubbers and how to look after our pens. We then followed instructions and small steps on how to draw a face.

We recapped previous learning by talking about face features and how to position our pens and move them in the correct direction when drawing a circle.

EAD, PD, L-W, BI & CL

New vocabulary:

First, second, third, finally

Curved, round, long, short, thin and thick

There is a Brown Bear in our Playground…

Mrs Riley managed to take a picture of the Brown Bear as he stood proudly on our steps. The children began to wonder where Bear’s live and if he might be lost.

This created a class discussion in which the children suggested many great ideas. Bears live in forests, woods and caves. As a result the children where set off with a task for creating a cave for Brown Bear if he comes back this evening.

The children worked in a small team to make a cave that was wide enough for our bear. They used a range of boxes and construction material.

BI, UTW, PSED, PD, C&L

We are Going on a Bear Hunt

BI, PD, L, C&L & M

Mrs Kelly saw a Brown furry shadow in our playground. The children thought it might have been a Brown Bear. As a result the children wanted to explore our outdoor environment to investigate. We packed a bag with camouflage clothing, gloves, notebook and pencil and magnifying glasses. The children decided we might also need a bucket of water, fish and a teddy bear because the Bear might be thirsty, hungry or need a friend.

During our investigation we found lots of clues. We found scratch marks on our tree bark, footprints small and large. We also noticed our fence was broken with pieces of wood missing.

Following the interests of children CI

Areas of development- EAD, PD & CL

One of our pupils wanted to make the colours brown and pink for skin tone. We took this opportunity to learn about mixing colours. We used our colour chart to select the appropriate colours. Adults modelled how to get the correct amount of paint and mix using a paint brush.

Whole class lesson on mixing colours AI

Following on from our pupil’s interest we created a lesson on mixing colours. The children each selected two colours and painted them on their hands. They then mixed the colours by rubbing their hands to see what new colour they have produced!

Creating Independence during Tidy Up Time

This term we are encouraging children to become independent during their busy jobs. We learnt how to wash up after using paint in the creative area. The children learnt how to use a sponge and warm soapy water to remove any paint from our trays.

Once the trays had been cleaned the children learnt how to dry their trays using a paper towel.

We also learnt how to clean down our tables and easels using hot soapy water, sponges and paper towels.

PSED, EAD, PD & CL

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