Christmas Sing-a-long!
The children are really looking forward to performing their Christmas Sing-a-long for you. We’ve been practising the songs each day and we’ve been into the hall to practise. The children are becoming really confident with the songs.
Please remember to bring your child’s costume in by Friday 01 December so we can do a dress rehearsal next week!
Community Week 20-24 November 2017
As part of our themed week, Scholes In Bloom spoke to children about their work and awards they have received for making the village look so beautiful. They recently planted 3,000 crocus bulbs outside the library. They are hoping to plant more outside school. If anyone would like to donate any Spring bulbs, please leave them at the school office.
We had a visit from the Elmete Elderberries. They are a local group of older people who meet weekly to socialise and take part in various activities. Key Stage 1 enjoyed dominoes, jigsaws, card making, drawing and refreshments. We’re hoping to take some children to visit the group in the near future.
Beyond Inspired also provided a gentle fitness class, replicating what happens at the Elmete Elderberries.
Key Stage 2 enjoyed the ‘Zines’ workshop, using magazines, newspapers and comics to create collages linked to the community and identity theme.
In Scholes, the Posada is passed around families in the community to mimic the journey of Mary and Joseph in the Christmas story. It was brought to school by the Bliss family and will continue its journey around the village throughout December.
The School Council met to decide the charity that we will support throughout the next year. Each class discussed which charity they wanted to put forward following Talk Time homework and then the School Council made a final decision in a meeting this week. They wanted both an animal and human charity. They decided that The Donkey Sanctuary fitted this perfectly as they help animals but also humans, specifically young people with a focus on self-esteem, coping mechanisms, conflict management and empathy. We look forward to raising money for this worthwhile cause.
5/6M gymnastics
Children in 5/6M have been building on their gymnastics skills from last year. They focused on control and balance.
Home Link – What can you see in the sky at night?
Can you make your own night time picture?
You can print, stick, paint or draw a picture for our home link gallery. Be as creative as you can!
From the moon to the stars…
From the moon to the stars…
It was lovely to meet with all parents and carers last week at our parents’ meetings. We hope you found them informative and reassuring. As ever, the door is always open and we absolutely value your feedback. We’re very proud of all the children who have settled in beautifully and amaze us every day with their increasing skills and independence.
Following on from our discussions, please remember to:
- Let us know when you have completed a Home Link activity. They are really important and help your child to make links between learning at home and nursery.
- Share those ‘Wow’ moments with us! Grab a WOW observation sheet or simply e-mail us if it’s easier. We love to hear about how your child is progressing at home, too, and we use the information to help us plan your child’s next steps.
- Have a look at the ‘What to expect, when’ document if you’d like to find out more about the Early Years Foundation Stage.
The children have really enjoyed all of the ‘Whatever Next’ activities and as usual, initiate their own learning opportunities as they play. There has been some fantastic collaborative play in the small world and large construction as the children became ‘Rocket fixers’ when their rockets broke down leaving baby bear stuck on the moon. We’ve been thinking about what might happen if we were on the moon and the other things we might see on our journeys. After using tin foil to make shiny moon rocks, we thought about other ‘shiny’ things we might see in the sky and, of course, we remembered the stars.
We found playing a selection of games and puzzles with key workers to be a real success in learning to take turns and share. Once the adults moved away, many children continued to play and organise the games and were sharing independently. Despite the changeable weather, we’ve had lots of fun outdoors. The grass can be especially muddy so we have been transporting wheel barrows full of bark chippings to the bottom of the garden to help create an extra, ‘mud free’, area where children can play. If your child has any waterproof trousers, these are a great idea for them to play out in. It saves several changes of clothes in one day!
With Christmas fast approaching we have begun to sing our Christmas songs in preparation for the ‘Sing-a-long’. Every child should have received a costume letter. Please let us know if you’re having difficulty sourcing any item of clothing.
What are we learning this week?
We’re going to use the story ‘Laura’s star’ as a stimulus for our learning and playing this week. The book has a lovely message about caring and friendship. Using the ‘star’ theme, there will be lots of opportunities to practise our counting as we find hidden stars in the areas of provision and fish for stars in the water. Each child will make a salt dough Christmas star to decorate at the ‘Stay and Decorate’ sessions. Please look in your child’s folder for further information. Each time we cook or bake, we do of course use it as an opportunity to talk about counting, measuring and weighing the ingredients. We’ll also be exploring the ‘cold’ by adding coloured ice cubes to the water tray and investigating what happens. How long will it take for our ice to melt and what might be hidden inside the ice?
If you’d like to listen to the story, you can watch it here.
Highlights this week
We’ve started our Transport mini topic this week. We’re focusing around a book called Naughty Bus by Jan and Jerry Oke. We have enjoyed reading it and noticed how they use real photos and text effects.
We’ve also been finding, reading and writing contractions. You could help your child by pointing out contractions in their reading books.
Well done to our Golden Star this week.
Sensational story-writing!
Kyra Davy, in 5/6C, certainly made an impression on judges when she entered the Yorkshire Evening Post’s Halloween story-writing competition recently.
Children, up to the age of 16 were invited to submit spine-chilling stories and let their imagination shine. Kyra’s creative side clearly impressed the judges and she was declared the winner of the competition – receiving £50 worth of White Rose shopping vouchers.
Her sinister tale was full of ambitious vocabulary and creative sentence structures which created an atmosphere that would make even the bravest break out into a cold sweat! It was fabulous to see Kyra apply all her learning from the classroom into this competition and we’re all very proud of her. Well done, Kyra!
Read the article in full, and hear Kyra’s spooky tale being read.
Keeping bugs and germs at bay!
This week the children have enjoyed our mini topic about germs, hygiene and keeping bugs at bay!
Throughout the week the children have been involved in various activities which aimed to explore and promote discussions about staying healthy.
We talked about the importance of washing our hands with soap and water. The children put their hands in the glitter (to represent the germs) and had to wash their hands with soap and water to get rid of the ‘germs’. This was a great way to learn how important it is to take our time when washing our hands.
The children have also enjoyed cleaning the ‘dinosaur’s teeth’. This promoted a lot of discussion around why it is important to brush your teeth.
Mrs Myers did a Science experiment with the children to show how important hand washing is. The children made 6 different test pots and at the end of the week we shall see which one has grown the most germs.
Ask your child what each pot contains!
We asked the children where germs are found and they replied with lots of different answers.
- “On your hands.”
- “In the toilet.”
- “On the floor.”
- “Nose.”
Aladdin 22 November
We enjoyed a wonderful performance by M and M Theatre Company today at school. It was a modern take on the traditional tale of Aladdin, with songs, dances and jokes that all the children could enjoy.
Polite reminder
If you have an urgent message regarding your child please contact the school office as they will be able to pass the message along to us immediately.
Please avoid using the foundation email or letters for urgent messages as these are not checked as frequently.
Thank you.