It has been lovely to see some new friendships developing between the children in the Barrier Reef and seeing how supportive and kind the Reception children have been to the Pre-schoolers. 

There has been a lot of busy learning happening, too! 

Our Nursery Rhyme focus was Hey Diddle Diddle, this was a new Nursery Rhyme for some of the children and we enjoying singing it with Makaton signing to help us make sense of the words 

The Reception children used the rhyme as inspiration for their drawings in Drawing Club, and it led us to create drawings of other objects the cow could jump over and think about who else the spoon could run away with. 

Our Poem from the poetry basket this week was 'Sounds of the Farm'. We learnt the words and actions and were able to retell the poem independently today! 

In Maths, the Reception children have continued to think about matching, sorting and comparing objects. They enjoyed finding and sorting different coloured items from around the classroom and noticing items that go together. We also practised our subitising skills by switching on our 'fast eyes' and shouting out how many objects we could see without counting. The Pre-school children have enjoyed singing counting songs with puppets and props. 

Each week, the children take part in different activities to develop their hand strength and motor control- this supports the children with their drawing and writing development. On Monday, we danced with Play-Dough, on Wednesday, we took part in Squiggle While You Wiggle, where we created movements in the air and then replicated the movements on large paper, and on Friday, we did squiggling on paper with a little character called Squiglet, who loves to draw. Squiglet taught us how to draw a cow. 

As Artists, the children explored printing with star cutters on Black paper. They practised their cutting skills at our making table by cutting strips of paper. 

Next week, our Nursery Rhyme will be Hickory Dickory Dock. 

We will be exploring painting vertically with paint brushes, rolling and scooping conkers, and creating narratives with small world pirate characters and trains. 

Reminders/notices:

We still have several children without wellies. Wellies must be named and can stay at school. 

Thank you for leaving large backpacks with spare clothes at school, it has been much easier for the children to remember and carry their belongings. 

All Reception children must be practising writing the letter sounds in their green phonics. It really does support the children's writing progress. 

We have a new email: If you need to share information about your child or need to ask us anything, please email Barrierreef@stfrideswides.co.uk .  For Pre-school funding or sessions enquiries, please email Sarah Thepod@stfrideswides.co.uk