Category: All Classes

What is it made of?

This term, the whole class have worked together to build upon their speaking and listening skills. It has offered the children a range of opportunities to discuss as well as gain an understand of the different types of materials they would come across on a day to day basis. They have learnt that some materials are “made or created by the human being” and some are “natural”.

We explored the 5 senses and experienced different matters (plastic, glass, textile, wood, leaves and minerals). Taking our learning further we also studied solid/liquid (making ice), rough/tough (through touching), salty/sweet (though cooking and tasting) and exploring the world around us (through sounds and sight).

We also extended our knowledge and understanding of the world by talking about winter and its consequences on trees as well as the water cycle.

Geography/Botanic

During this term, we continue to name the continents and we also associated them to countries, including the flags used to represent them, as well as discovered monuments related to them.

Moreover, we learnt about botanics, exploring the different parts of trees and their living cycle. This allowed us to talk about the water cycle and explain how do trees, plants, grass,…grow and develop. As a class we began to work on recycling, composting waste and developing an understanding of our environment.

Practical life

The Maple class children show great enjoyment in the everyday practical life activities that support and reinforce their self-confidence. We have achieved this by repeating and developing gestures and knowledges. By providing opportunities for the children to improve upon their fine motor skills through; opening, closing, building, cutting this in turn allows the children make their own experiences and learning journey paths.

Alone or in group, children enjoy working with the materials they already know, very well, and finding new ways to develop their skills, along with trying to find new and appropriate ways to use them.

Sensorial life

Sensorial has been the most important aspect of our six weeks term.

We have closely worked on developing the five senses; sight, taste, hearing, touch and smell. This has been achieved through experiencing a lot of different matters and materials.

Our Wednesday cooking time provided us the opportunities to develop our taste buds as well as our cooking skills. We made lots of yummy things; salty pie, Galette, waffles, cookies, boa’s and noodles.

Crafts

As part of the imagination development the children, play an active role in our daily planning.

During this term, we focused on improving how to use the scissors by themselves and being more precise in their gestures. This has been a huge part of supporting the children on developing their fine motor skills through painting, cutting, gluing, and using some different materials such as erasers, staplers, rulers, craft punchers.

Numeracy

This term, we have worked on understanding tens and units. The children have continued to develop their counting skills by counting from 1 to hundred. This is also a part of our daily routine. They have also been introduced to the notion of substruction while counting. Along with strengthening their knowledge of addition. They have also made great efforts on writing numbers. The children are also improving counting in 2’s, 5’s and 10’s. We have also been working hard on identifying 3Ds’ shapes and trying to understand their similarities and differences.

Spelling/writting

This term we have continued to develop our knowledege and understanding of phonics. We have explored a range of new letters and sounds through actions, songs, story telling and games.

Children have worked hard on everyday spellings as well as their letter formation and writting skills. The children are now using the materials provided to support themselves as well as to improve their language skills.

We are also focusing on the spoken language thanks to discussions during circle time, we talk about different subjects such as weekend activities, books we are reading in class, their interest in different subjects.

The aim is to ensure the continual development of pupils’ confidence and competence in spoken language and listening skills by developing a capacity to explain their understanding of books and other reading, also to prepare their ideas before they write.

Book read this term :

• The Gruffalo
• The Fox’s Hiccups
• Tabby Mac Tat
• One ted falls out of bed
• The Hueys in the new jumper
• Cave baby
  

FOREST/PE

Children intuitively explore the world around them and enjoy the time spent in the forest. They love making new discoveries and naturally challenging their physical strength by climbing, jumping and running. The forest is the place where they feel free to express themselves. The children gain self- confidence and play with others. This term, the class have greatly enjoyed riding bicycles and for some learning to ride a bicycle.

The children have also used different kind of tools to explore the forest, living cycles and experimenting skills. They have used natural materials to support their exploration.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Music

During this term, we discovered a range of different musical instruments. We have used them in different ways to play rhythms and create sound. Children also enjoyed music in the forest.

Special days

During this term, we have worked all together with the primary section creating ‘Special days’.

In fact, we celebrated the Chinese New Year and prepared some food as well as took part in crafting workshops. It has been the occasion to talk about China, the history of the Chinese New Year and the continent of Asia.

As part of out time together we have also began to talk about environment and compost.

At the end of the term, we also celebrated Marias’ and Nicolas’ birthdays as well as Carnaval:-)

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

French

Durant cette troisième période de l’année, nous avons continué à lire 6 albums de jeunesse (en lien avec l’hiver, la galette, la Saint Valentin, le Carnaval…) :

De ces ouvrages, ont découlé différentes activités qui ont permis l’exploitation de ces histoires. Nous avons donné du sens à l’apprentissage, une façon plus ludique et une approche plus concrète.

A chaque début de semaine, vos enfants ont appris et chanté une nouvelle chanson (6 semaines = 6 chansons):

J’aime la galette, Loin du froid de décembre, Trois esquimaux, Les petits souliers, Petits flocons blancs, L’amour brille sous les étoiles.

 Les objectifs de cette période ont été de :

– enrichir la langue française

– construire des phrases plus élaborées mais correctes

– s’exprimer en petit groupe

– tracer le bonhomme de chaque mois

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

– comprendre les histoires lues

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

– s’entraîner au graphisme

–  reconnaître et nommer des petits mots

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

– savoir dénombrer une collection

– connaître quelques notions spatiales

S’approprier le vocabulaire de l’hiver

– faire des activités en lien avec les fêtes telles que la galette des rois, la chandeleur, la Saint Valentin et le Carnaval

– cuisiner la galette et les crêpes

– mémoriser une poésie (“C’est l’hiver”)

– s’exprimer de manière artistique

– chanter collectivement une chanson

French IPC

Le thème de cette période était « What is it made of  ». Nous avons axer nos activités principalement avec la musique. Au travers de 2 albums de lecture, nous avons étudié les différentes familles d’instruments de musique et nous avons fabriqué notre guitare avec des matériaux de récupération.

Les enfants ont appris 2 chansons: Do, le do, il a bon dos et La ronde des musiciens

Ils ont chanté en forêt.

Forest Exploration

The time in the forest we utilized for all kinds of different activities. Sometimes we were deepening some numeracy skills by organizing a number line or collecting and counting a certain amount of nuts/sticks/leaves.

Often, we used the time to create beautiful nature art or build houses out of sticks.

And, of course, physical education was important for us! We went for bike trips, built challenging parkours, practiced our throwing skills, or went for a nice mushroom hunt.

Through an active, rich and diverse curriculum, we continued to make excellent progress in our learning during this term.

---

The Circus is coming to town!

Our topic this term has been “The circus is coming to town!” the children have learnt about the history of the circus and how it has changed over the years. We discussed circus’ of the past and present and what they might be like in the future. Furthermore, we have shared thoughts and opinions on if we are for or against animals performing.

Maths

During this term we kept on developing our numeracy skills.

We continued to use symbols (+, -, =, <, >) in written number sentences and used a variety of vocabulary around these. We have explored number facts within 20 and found different ways to represent them. We have learnt about the number facts and applied these to solve problems in different contexts. Also, we used different strategies for adding and subtracting numbers, including counting on and counting back, bridging ten and finding the difference. We used different concrete resources and representations to help deepen our understanding.

We also continued to gain confidence in counting, reading and writing numbers up to 50. We developed fluency in identifying and representing numbers in different representations and in applying these skills in different contexts. We also learn to count in steps of two, five and ten, and write numbers in numerals and words.

---

Literacy

We have had great fun this term learning new things and applying what we already now. We have continued to develop our reading and phonic skills through completing a range of tasks.

We have enjoyed playing phonic games!

Also, enjoyed having a little dance when we have got the words correct.

This term, the children have been working on developing their reading and writing skills. They have explored a range of different genres. These activities have supported their development of vocabulary and formulation of sentences.

Firstly, Birch class identified the differences between fiction and non-fiction texts. From this, they explored the features of a non-fiction texts and how they are structured.

The class then worked as a team to retrieve information about a given topic. We chose to learn about fire engines.

Using the information that we had collected we were able to write labels, construct sentences, through cutting and sticking, as well as write short sentences using key vocabulary.

Taking our learning further we applied these newly learnt skills to writing about other things that interest us. We were all able to achieve the same out come at our own pace.

From this, we have continued to work on our understanding of sentence structure. Using pictures and key vocabulary to support our writing.

Science

In Science we have been learning all about materials including wood, plastic, metal, water and rock. We learnt to identify and name everyday materials and had the opportunity to explore the properties of these materials. We carried out a simple investigation to help us decide which material would be most suitable to use for an umbrella.

We also considered what it would be like if the tables were made of jelly or the chairs were chocolate!

Design and Technology

As part of our collaborative project with Oak and Walnut Classes (and some Cedars came to help), we worked on designing our very own Compost Bin that we will be using in the next term. Linking our topics in Design & Technology and Mathematics, the children accurately measured the angles, calculated the distance between the planks of wood and used properties of 2D and 3D shapes on their designing journey. Brilliant Birch students realised the importance of measuring angles and clearly saw that measurements have to be accurate in order for the different parts to fit together correctly.

So there we were,
Cutting and drilling.
Measuring, thinking
Worked well as a team and were quite willing.

We will grow our own veg,
That are very organic.
Will get our hands dirty,
But will wash them, don’t panic.

Compost bin creation,
We have conjured together.
Nothing could stop us,
Even cold weather.

Greenhouse effect
we have discussed in science.
Picked up quite a lot of new things
And self reliance.

Wormery we built,
For our best friends worms.
Amazing things they do,
We hope everyone knows.

Raised beds, greenhouse
And wormery construction.
Enthusiasm was pumping,
Like a volcanic eruption.

Still a long way to go
But we will manage.
Automated watering system, birdfeeders and scarecrow creature.
Hey mum, do you know how to use a drill?
Just look at this, I will teach ya.

Green Garden Project just started,
But we are already delighted.
If you would like to come and help,
Don’t hesitate to come forward, you are invited.

---

Physical Education

Forest Exploration and cycling

Forest exploration is a huge part of Forest International School.

It is particularly rewarding for the children to enjoy free play in the forest.

This term, Birch and Walnut have ventured further into the forest. We have developed their biking skills and applied themselves to new biking challenges.

In PE we have been playing lots of different games to improve our coordination skills and to reinforce the importance of working together as a team. We particularly enjoyed playing hide and seek.

Music

This term, the children of Birch and Walnut have been learning about beat, rhythm, pace and tempo. First, we explored different sounds using our hands, feet and bodies.

From this, the children investigated different beats and tempo’s using the precussional instruments. We took our learning out of the classroom and into the forest.

---

Art

Knitting

This term, the children have been learning how to knit this has supported the development of fine motor skills and in the process they have learnt a new skill.

Creative workshop

The children have been given a range of opportunities to explore their creativity. Both Birch and Walnut children have come together to work on many different projects.

First, the children explored this terms theme “The circus is coming to town!” they were provided with a mixture of materials and then asked to discuss and create something that linked to out theme.

The children were engaged and created their own competition to where the winner would place their design on a canvas. As a result of this workshop the children made Circus posters, 3D models of Circus tents, information leaflets and much more!

Chinese Art

The children of the primary section learnt about the story told of 12 animals that competed in race and of how now each animal represents a new lunar year. We learnt about the importance of red envelopes and how to write in Chinese.

cooking

The Primary Section came together to celebrate the new lunar year. This year is the year if the rabbit. The children learnt about the different traditions practiced over the new lunar year celebrations.

French

Beginner Group with Joanna

It has been a very busy start to 2023 and the students have learned lots of new French vocabulary, songs, poems, read books and played educational games. As we have changed seasons, the students have learned a song about l’Hiver (winter). We have begun a new French beginner learning programme called Tatou le Matou. Each week we listen (audio guide) and read a story about Tatou le chat and then the children have their own workbooks where they listen and answer questions related to the story/theme. The students really enjoy Tatou’s adventures. We also do a weekly session of handwriting where the students are learning how to write in cursive. The children are rightly very proud of how quickly they are developing this technique while also learning to write words in French.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Advanced group with Marie

Cette troisième période a été bien chargée en apprentissage puisque plusieurs notions de grammaire et de conjugaison ont été abordées en plus des nouveaux sons et des fiches de lecture et de compréhension. Nous avons abordé différents thèmes tels que l’hiver, la galette, le Nouvel An Chinois, les crêpes, la saint Valentin…

Les livres lus durant ce terme ont été les suivants:

French IPC with Joanna and Marie

We have had a very busy and exciting start to 2023 in IPC French class! The main theme for this term was La Cirque (The Circus) where we learned a lot of new vocabulary related to this topic and we ended the term with a fantastic 2 day Circus Workshop where the students got to put what they learned into practice and became acrobats/jugglers/magicians for 2 afternoon sessions with a professional circus artist & teacher with over 20 years of experience. We also celebrated La Galette des Rois, La Chandeleur and Le Nouvel An Chinois (the students learned how to write in Chinese calligraphy). The children showed off their baking skills by making galettes & crêpes and they all enjoyed eating them!

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

CIRCUS WORKSHOP

During our two-day workshop we learnt some pretty amazing skills. The children of Birch and Walnut took part in a master class workshop led by a professional circus performer.

We learnt all about the different types of equipment a circus performer uses and how it is used safely and properly.

All their hard work led to an amazing performance. The children were able to share their newly learnt skills with the rest of the school.

What an amazing term we have had! Our time together has flown by. We have had some super cool adventures and learnt lots of new things. Let’s have a look back!

The Circus is coming to town!

Our topic this term has been “The circus is coming to town!” the children have learnt about the history of the circus and how it has changed over the years. We discussed circus’ of the past and present and what they might be like in the future. Furthermore, we have shared thoughts and opinions on if we are for or against animals performing.

Literacy

This term, Walnut class have continued to develop their drafting and editing skills. This allows the children to work independently as well as develop their knowledge and understanding of the different features of writing. They became the teachers and gave constructive feedback on others work.

The children continued to develop their use of varying sentence lengths to ensure the reader stays interested. They used a range of different colours to highlight vocabulary used to avoid repetition.

The children have explored a range of model texts (the best examples of writing) to support their development when writing for that genre.

From this, the children worked in pairs to edit and improve sections of the model text. This allowed the children to share, use and develop their vocabulary skills. Once they had completed this task the new sentences were placed together to make a induction for an overcoming the monster narrative.

As a class, we focused on continuing to improve our descriptive skills. The children achieved this through creating different characters and generating vocabulary to describe them.

The children then worked on developing their use of different words. They did this by selecting a noun, adjective, verb and adverb to include in a sentence.

From this, they used the selected words to construct their sentences. In groups they read through the sentences to ensure that they made sense.

Walnut class have been working hard to develop their reading skills. They are encouraged to read at every occasion. As apart of this we have worked on reading aloud in front of the class.

Walnut class have also continued to develop their dictionary and thesaurus skills but leveling the words they use in a sentence. This term, we have focused on verbs.

Mathematics

During this term we have been really focused in our multiplication and division skills. we particularly enjoyed Times Tables Rock Stars and Maths Bowling.

We deepened our understanding of equal groups and learnt how to describe images related to division. When solving multiplication and division calculations, we used a range of concrete resources before progressing to using pictorial representations. Walnut class built on their mental skills throughout, using the rule of commutativity, doubling and inverse to solve multiplication and division calculations.

In Walnut class we also developed the concept of statistics in the form of tables, tally charts, pictograms and block diagrams. We learnt to use tally charts as a systematic method of recording data and to use tally charts and tables to produce pictograms and block diagrams from data we have collected as well as data which was given. In addition we used our knowledge of the two, five and ten times tables to draw and interpret pictograms.

Science

Walnut class have been learning all about electricity and how to use it safely. First we learnt about the different types of electricity and how it is used. We also explored the forms electricity comes in.

As a class we have discussed the do’s and don’ts when it comes to using electricity. From this, we decided that it would be a good idea to share this information with others. So, in groups the children created posters and leaflets to share what they had learnt.

Crazy about building circuits! First we explored the different components used to build a circuit and identified their what they do. We learnt that every electrical thing we use needs to have a working circuit.

We then built our own circuits using our newly acquired knowledge. From this we were asked to apply our knowledge to investigate different circuits to see if they would work or not.

Creative Workshop

The children have been given a range of opportunities to explore their creativity. Both Birch and Walnut children have come together to work on many different projects.

First, the children explored this terms theme “The circus is coming to town!” they were provided with a mixture of materials and then asked to discuss and create something that linked to out theme.

The children were engaged and created their own competition to where the winner would place their design on a canvas. As a result of this workshop the children made Circus posters, 3D models of Circus tents, information leaflets and much more!

We have also taken part in cooking activities that have allowed us to apply our Mathematical and Literacy skills to something a little different.

Knitting

The children have continued to develop their fine motor skills through learning how to knit. They been learning how to cast off, use two needles and how to create rows.

Watercolours

Birch and Walnut have been exploring a range of different materials when creating a piece of art. They have particularly enjoyed working with watercolours and learning all about how to apply pressure, and different amounts of water to create varied textures for one image.

Chinese New Year

The Primary Section came together to celebrate the new lunar year. This year is the year of the rabbit. The children learnt about the different traditions practiced over the new lunar year celebrations.

The children made some delicious Noodles and Boa’s to eat during our celebration. They also created red envelopes, lanterns and wrote in Chinese.

Woodwork and Design Technology

As part of our collaborative project with Oak and Birch Classes (and some Cedars came to help), we worked on designing our very own Compost Bin that we will be using in the next term. Linking our topics in Design & Technology and Mathematics, the children accurately measured the angles, calculated the distance between the planks of wood and used properties of 2D and 3D shapes on their designing journey. The amazing Walnut students realised the importance of measuring angles and clearly saw that measurements have to be accurate in order for the different parts to fit together correctly.

So there we were,
Cutting and drilling.
Measuring, thinking
Worked well as a team and were quite willing.

We will grow our own veg,
That are very organic.
Will get our hands dirty,
But will wash them, don’t panic.

Compost bin creation,
We have conjured together.
Nothing could stop us,
Even cold weather.

Greenhouse effect
we have discussed in science.
Picked up quite a lot of new things
And self reliance.

Wormery we built,
For our best friends worms.
Amazing things they do,
We hope everyone knows.

Raised beds, greenhouse
And wormery construction.
Enthusiasm was pumping,
Like a volcanic eruption.

Still a long way to go
But we will manage.
Automated watering system, birdfeeders and scarecrow creature.
Hey mum, do you know how to use a drill?
Just look at this, I will teach ya.

Green Garden Project just started,
But we are already delighted.
If you would like to come and help,
Don’t hesitate to come forward, you are invited.

French Sessions

Beginner

It has been a very busy start to 2023 and the students have learned lots of new French vocabulary, songs, poems, read books and played educational games. As we have changed seasons, the students have learned a song about l’Hiver (winter). We have begun a new French beginner learning programme called Tatou le Matou. Each week we listen (audio guide) and read a story about Tatou le chat and then the children have their own workbooks where they listen and answer questions related to the story/theme. The students really enjoy Tatou’s adventures. We also do a weekly session of handwriting where the students are learning how to write in cursive. The children are rightly very proud of how quickly they are developing this technique while also learning to write words in French.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Intermediate

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

From January to February, we started as usual the lessons with the calendar activity and its questions/answers. The main topic of this period was Food; we spoke about fruits, vegetables, and covered the basic food served.  All French classes baked the traditional “Galette des rois” and “crêpes”. This topic was introduced by the characters of our learning method ZigZag. We read stories (“Le géant de Zeralda”, “PB3 et les légumes”…) and did the written exercises linked with them. Through this topic, the children did a survey between themselves to know what they like or dislike on different kind of food which made them say sentences and ask questions such as “Qu’est-ce que tu aimes? J’aime/ je n’aime pas…il y a…). They also practiced the vocabulary linked to food through games (Bingo and hangman). They practiced the reading and writing part of the language through their exercise book as well as through additional ones given in class or as homework. As songs and poems also help learning a language, we carried on learning new ones such as: “Ratatouille” and “Bonshommes de neige”. After the break, we will start with a new topic: Sports

• 

Advanced

Cette troisième période a été bien chargée en apprentissage puisque plusieurs notions de grammaire et de conjugaison ont été étudiées en plus des nouveaux sons et des fiches de lecture et de compréhension. Nous avons abordé différents thèmes tels que l’hiver, la galette, le Nouvel An Chinois, les crêpes, la saint Valentin…

Les livres lus durant ce terme ont été les suivants:

De ces ouvrages, plusieurs activités d’apprentissage et de compréhension ont permis d’exploiter ces histoires.

A chaque début de semaine, les élèves ont appris et chanté une nouvelle chanson:

J’aime la galette, Loin du froid de décembre, Trois esquimaux, Les petits souliers, L’amour brille sous les étoiles.

Les objectifs de cette période ont été:

– d’approfondir la langue française

– de s’exprimer de manière plus fluide

– de renforcer la syntaxe en s’exprimant oralement

– d’effectuer des lectures silencieuses

– de connaître et d’acquérir les sons et les consonnes (gu/gn/in,ain,ein,un/é, è) et de réviser les autres sons et consonnes déjà étudiés précédemment.

– de former des mots à partir de lettres, de syllabes mélangées

– de remettre les mots dans le bon ordre afin de reconstituer des phrases correctes

– de lire des textes et des petits livres (collection Sami et Julie)

– d’intégrer des règles de grammaire (les types de phrases, le sujet, le groupe nominal, le nom et les déterminants) et de conjugaison (le présent des verbes du 1er groupe et des auxiliaires être et avoir).

– mémoriser une poésie “L’hiver” de Karine Persillet

– de chanter collectivement une chanson

– de préparer une carte pour la saint Valentin

French IPC

We have had a very busy and exciting start to 2023 in IPC French class! The main theme for this term was La Cirque (The Circus) where we learned a lot of new vocabulary related to this topic and we ended the term with a fantastic 2 day Circus Workshop where the students got to put what they learned into practice and became acrobats/jugglers/magicians for 2 afternoon sessions with a professional circus artist & teacher with over 20 years of experience. We also celebrated La Galette des Rois, La Chandeleur and Le Nouvel An Chinois (the students learned how to write in Chinese calligraphy). The children showed off their baking skills by making galettes & crêpes and they all enjoyed eating them

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Circus workshop

During our 2 day workshop we learnt some pretty amazing skills. The children of Birch and Walnut took part in a master class workshop led by a professional circus performer.

We learnt all about the different types of equipment a circus performer uses and how it is used safely and properly.

All their hard work led to an amazing performance. The children were able to share their newly learnt skills with the rest of the school.

Sports and Cycling

In PE we have been playing lots of different games to improve our coordination skills and to reinforce the importance of working together as a team. We particularly enjoyed playing hide and seek.

Music

This term, the children of Birch and Walnut have been learning about beat, rhythm, pace and tempo. First, we explored different sounds using our hands, feet and bodies.

From this, the children investigated different beats and tempo’s using the precussional instruments. We took our learning out of the classroom and into the forest.

Forest Exploration

Let’s celebrate!

This term we learned so much about how people celebrate and we focused on preparing for our Christmas show.

We collaborated with Maples, Birch and Walnut to make this beautiful stage backdrop. We used lots of paint and glitter to make it really vibrant!

We used our creativity to paint a mural of stardust with our older friends and siblings.

We created beautiful decorations and together we made a Christmas tree out of a branch from the tree outside our classroom window.

The goose ornaments

We had a a chance to learn about the song “12 days of Christmas” and we sang it a few times during circle time. This inspired us to make Christmas tree ornaments with the 6 geese-a-laying because we have 6 students in our class. We explored this photo of a white goose and her eggs and all of the students shared what they could see when they looked at this image. This gave us the opportunity to learn about geese and the differences and similarities between geese and ducks.

We used some beautiful golden paint to decorate our Christmas tree angels. What a lovely forest art activity to practice our fine motor skills.

The glittery pine cones

It was challenging to get the paint and glitter on the unusual surface of the pinecones but we put lots of effort into making these decoration glittery and colourful.

We finger painted Christmas tree ornaments with neon finger paint; it is always fun getting messy and they turned out very bright and festive!

We learned some beautiful Christmas songs for our show and we practiced them with Marie and the Maple class almost everyday. Our hard work paid off because we put on a lovely show and we had lots of fun at the Christmas Show!

We made lovely sugar cookies and we decorated them with caramel and festive sprinkles. It was hard not to eat them all!

Snow day!

We got to enjoy the first little bit of snow and we participated in lots of fun activities with the older kids.

We even got to make some cute Christmas crafts with our siblings!

During this term we continued to make amazing progress. We have played, explored, learned, sang, danced and made Christmas crafts. We all worked as a team to create the magic that was our Christmas show “Christmas stories around the world”.

---

Maths

This term we carried on with gaining confidence in counting, reading and writing numbers. Our goal was to develop fluency in identifying and representing numbers in different representations and in applying these skills in different contexts

We particularly enjoyed playing “Hit the button”(https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/hit-the-button) at the beginning of the lesson to practice addition and subtraction and beat our record score.

We have also learnt to recognise and name common 2D and 3D shapes including: rectangles, squares, circles, triangles, cuboids, cubes, pyramids, cylinders and spheres. We handled these shapes and spotted them in different orientations and sizes and learnt that they are not always similar to each other. In addition we learnt to name everyday objects that are representations of 2D and 3D shapes.

Furthermore, Birch learnt to sequence events in chronological order, use language related to dates and began to tell the time on an analogue clock.

---

Literacy

This term Birch class have continued to work on developing their Literacy skills. They have enjoyed taking part in many different activities that support their phonic, reading and writing development.

We have been recapping and building upon our phonic knowledge and understanding and applying this to our letter formation and simple sentence writing.

• 

• 

• 

Science

In Science, we learnt all about the seasonal changes, the differences between day and night. Birch learnt what the word weather means and found out how different types of weather can be measured. We also observed changes across the seasons by exploring the signs of autumn and winter through nature and wildlife. We used a range of learning activities including observation, discussion and learning outside.

Design and Technology

 Birch, Walnut , Oak , Elm and Cedar Classes creatively collaborated during our Christmas decorations and costume design project.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

---

Physical Education

In Physical Education/Sports we have been developing new physical skills through activities and games which are motivating, help the children to grow their self-esteem and promote health and physical fitness. We learnt how to move to become more physically competent and how moving can also help them to learn new skills and understanding that go beyond physical activity, such as team work.

Forest Exploration

Forest exploration is a huge part of Forest International School.

It is particularly rewarding for the children to enjoy free play in the forest. We choose a variety of play types – social games, pretend games, climbing and simply exploring.

We shared some time in the forest with other classrooms so we could play, sing, dance and even, play with the snow!

History and Geography

The children have been learning about the different Greek Gods and Goddesses. We researched and discussed why there were so many and what they all represented. Working in pairs the children quizzed each other on their knowledge and understanding of a chosen God or Goddess.

---

Art and Crafts

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

The children created stars and snowflakes using loll sticks. From this the children practiced and developed their fine motor skills by creating felt tree decorations. They achieved this through sewing pieces of felt together.

French

Beginner Group with Joanna

Our second term has flown by very quickly! The theme we chose to study was ‘Les Emotions’. The students have learned lots of new vocabulary linked to this theme for example: ‘la joie’ (happiness), la tristesse (sadness), la peur (fear), excité (excited), la colère (anger), bouder (sulking). We have read books along this theme and we have done some breathing exercises to learn how to control our emotions. To help the students remember the vocabulary in French we did lots of reading comprehension activities and the students made their own posters. The last week we focused on Christmas themes and more new vocabulary was introduced like Noël, sapin (Christmas tree), lutins (elves), cadeaux (presents), la neige (snow), bonhomme de neige (snowman) and many more new words.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Advanced group with Marie

Cette deuxième période est passée très vite et a été riche en activités et apprentissages. En effet, nous avons principalement lu 5 albums de jeunesse ( la saison de l’automne, Saint Nicolas, la fête de Noël…) :

De ces ouvrages, ont découlé différentes activités qui ont permis l’exploitation de ces histoires. Nous avons donné du sens à l’apprentissage des voyelles et des consonnes. Une façon plus ludique et une approche plus concrète de renforcer la langue française.

A chaque début de semaine, vos enfants ont appris et chanté une nouvelle chanson incluant aussi celles du spectacle de Noël :

La pluie qui mouille, Mon beau sapin, Noël de l’Est, Douce nuit, Dans son manteau rouge et blanc.

 Les objectifs de cette période ont été de :

– renforcer la langue française

– construire des phrases plus complexes mais correctes

– s’exprimer en groupe

– compréhension d’histoires lues

– connaître les consonnes (v, j, z, l, m, r) ainsi que le principe du code alphabétique

– associer le nom de la consonne et connaître le son qu’elle produit.

– lecture de petits textes et des livres (collection Sami et Julie)

– dictée de syllabes, de mots à syllabes simples et des mots outils.

– réciter une poésie “L’Automne”

– chanter collectivement une chanson

French IPC with Joanna and Marie

The IPC topic Stories People Tell has also been studied in French IPC. Le Livre de la Jungle is a book that we chose to read with the students. We learned about the animals that can be found in the jungle including the incredible lives of the largest land mammals: the elephant. We also read different versions of the fairytale Le Petit Chaperon Rouge where the students decided which versions they appreciated the most and we finished the term reading beautiful French books with Christmas as their theme. Throughout the term we learned songs in French for the Christmas show and the students sang them all beautifully on the 10th of December at the Théâtre de Bailly.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Games Day

The children of Birch and Walnut, shared games from home with their friends

Our Topic for this term has been ‘Stories People Tell: Myths, Legends and Fables’. We have been learning about myths, legends and fables. The Class has been exploring a range of different myths and legends. We have also taken a reading journey by reading stories told and celebrated in countries from around the world.

Literacy

This term we have explored different types of poetry. First we looked at several different model texts and discussed their differences and similarities.

Some children focused on developing their knowledge and understanding of sentence structure. Then closely looking at how they can be applied to our own writing.

We were set the challenge of writing our own poetry. Once they had written their own poems based on personal knowledge and understanding they began to learn all about the genres different features. Learning and using our knowledge of Haiku’s. The children were also able to write rhyming poetry as well as shape poetry.

The children selected and researched an animal to write a poem about, they focused on describing their animal’s movement, features and habitat.

The children continued to develop their writing skills through taking part in stimulus-driven writing tasks. They were set the challenge of creating a piece of writing based on the picture provided. The children were also given the freedom to write in any genre.

Mathematics

During this term, we have learnt to recall and use addition and subtraction facts. We used a variety of different models, images and equipment to build our number sense. We learnt different strategies to help us add and subtract numbers efficiently, explaining our methods with concrete resources. We found the difference between numbers
and reason about when it is quicker to find the difference or take away and built up our understanding of commutativity and inverse relationships.

We also started learning about money. Recognising the different coins and notes, counting and comparing money and finding the total, the difference and the correct change.

To deepen our learning, we have played some games in which we had to calculate the value of money.

Science

To support the children’s knowledge and understanding of ‘Light and Dark’ we made technical vocabulary mats.

We then explored the similarities and differences between a range of light sources.

History and Geography

The children have been learning about the different Greek Gods and Goddesses. We researched and discussed why there were so many and what they all represented. Working in pairs the children quizzed each other on their knowledge and understanding of a chosen God or Goddess.

French Beginner Group with Joanna

Our second term has flown by very quickly! The theme we chose to study was ‘Les Emotions’. The students have learned lots of new vocabulary linked to this theme for example: ‘la joie’ (happiness), la tristesse (sadness), la peur (fear), excité (excited), la colère (anger), bouder (sulking). We have read books along this theme and we have done some breathing exercises to learn how to control our emotions. To help the students remember the vocabulary in French we did lots of reading comprehension activities and the students made their own posters. The last week we focused on Christmas themes and more new vocabulary was introduced like Noël, sapin (Christmas tree), lutins (elves), cadeaux (presents), la neige (snow), bonhomme de neige (snowman) and many more new words.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

French Intermediate Group with Christine

During this period, from November to December, the two main topics were farm animals and geometric shapes. We started speaking about food, namely fruits, which is a topic we will continue to work on after the holidays. This topic was introduced by the characters of our learning method ZigZag which children very much like. We listened to a little story through which we learned new vocabulary and got to improve our writing skills thanks to our ZigZag workbooks. Some complementary exercises were also given out in class or as homework.

We also learned three new songs (“Dans mon verger”/ “Am stram gram…”/ “1,2,3 dans sa hotte de bois”) and integrated the last song in our Christmas cards. We also used some games as the “hangman” or “Bingo” and our daily presentation of the calendar as learning material for children.

I wish you a Merry Christmas and nice holidays!

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

French Advanced group with Marie

Cette deuxième période est passée très vite et a été riche en activités et apprentissages. En effet, nous avons principalement lu 5 albums de jeunesse ( la saison de l’automne, Saint Nicolas, la fête de Noël…) :

De ces ouvrages, ont découlé différentes activités qui ont permis l’exploitation de ces histoires. Nous avons donné du sens à l’apprentissage des voyelles et des consonnes. Une façon plus ludique et une approche plus concrète d’étudier la langue française.

A chaque début de semaine, vos enfants ont appris et chanté une nouvelle chanson incluant aussi celles du spectacle de Noël :

La pluie qui mouille, Mon beau sapin, Noël de l’Est, Douce nuit, Dans son manteau rouge et blanc.

Les objectifs de cette période ont été de :

– renforcer la langue française

– construire des phrases plus complexes mais correctes

– s’exprimer en groupe

– compréhension de lecture silencieuse

– connaître les sons et les consonnes (an, o/au/eau, s/ss, z, k/c/q, j) ainsi que le principe du code alphabétique

– lire des textes et des petits livres (collection Sami et Julie)

– aborder les premières notions de grammaire (pronoms personnels, genre des noms, le verbe dans la phrase) et de conjugaison (3temps, le verbe et son infinitif, le présent des verbes du 1er groupe)

– mémoriser une poésie “L’automne”

– chanter collectivement une chanson

Design Technology

Birch, Walnut , Oak , Elm and Cedar Classes creatively collaborated during our Christmas decorations and costume design project.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Art

Continuing with our Art theme from last term ‘Pop Art’ the children discussed the important things that make them an individual and special. From this they were given a canvas alone with an silhouette. Using this they filled in the silhouette with images of things that represent them as a person.

Christmas Art and Crafts

The children created stars and snowflakes using lolly sticks. From this the children practiced and developed their fine motor skills by creating felt tree decorations. They achieved this through sewing pieces of felt together.

IPC French with Joanna and Marie

The IPC topic Stories People Tell has also been studied in French IPC. Le Livre de la Jungle is a book that we chose to read with the students. We learned about the animals that can be found in the jungle including the incredible lives of the largest land mammals: the elephant. We also read different versions of the fairytale Le Petit Chaperon Rouge where the students decided which versions they appreciated the most and we finished the term reading beautiful French books with Christmas as their theme. Throughout the term we learned songs in French for the Christmas show and the students sang them all beautifully on the 10th of December at the Théâtre de Bailly.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Games Day

The children of Birch and Walnut came together and shared their favourite games from home. This allowed them to share and discuss games with their friends.

Snow Day Fun!

We had great fun in the forest before returning to school to make cookies, cards and finish our Christmas decorations.

Celebration

This term has been challenge for the children and for me as I started workig with them with the help and support of Ms Jil.

Then, we had to say goodbye to Ms Jil.

During this term, we talked about celebrations all around the world.

We spoke about how people celebrate in other countries and presented the history of each event.

It has also been the occasion to talk about continents and travel around the world, talking about every nationality reprsented the class.

Geography

Practical life

We also worked on pratical life. Children enjoyed the introduction of new activities in the class proposing manipualtions and self-experiences. These activities will be the center of our daily class as well as phonics and math to develop their self-confidence.

Sensorial life

We also experienced some sensorial life throught the concept of floating and flowing experiences. Children really enjoyed it as they did their proper experience on what was floating or flowing chosing some material in the classroom.

Crafts

Furthermore, as Christmas was one of the event of the celebrations them, we have talked about this special day, its history and how it is celebrated all around the world.

Children developed their creativity and their fine motor skills through a lot of crafts about Christmas.

Numeracy

Regarding numeracy, we work every day on a different matter such as counting from 1 to 100 – children love it- counting by 10 to 10 or 2 by 2.

We are also working hard on writing numbers from 1 to 10 and from 10 to 20.

The focus is on recognising a quantity and associating quantities to numbers.

Spelling/writting

We focused on learning new areas of phonics through the different letters and sounds.

That is why children work hard on spelling and writting every day and use the material as a support to improve their language skills.

We are also focusing on the spoken language thanks to discussion during circle time about different subjects such as talking about their weekend, the books we are reading in class, their interest in different subjcts, …

The aim is to ensure the continual development of pupils’ confidence and competence in spoken language and listening skills by developing a capacity to explain their understanding of books and other reading, and to prepare their ideas before they write.

Book read this term :

• We are going on a bear hunt

• Where the strange things are

• Stick man

• The night before Christmas
  

Show

The whole team has worked hard to prepare and organise the Christmas show.

We have been learning songs and doing rehearsals during weeks. We have had good times working all together as part of the school.

Special day/Snowing day:-)

Wednesday 14th of December, we all enjoyed a special day as the snow has fallen on Paris and children enjoyed playing with it. We also organised a special day where the upstairs and downstairs children were together. We have had a very nice day all together:-)

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

French

Pendant cette deuxième période de l’année, nous avons continué à lire 5 albums de jeunesse (en lien avec l’automne, Saint Nicolas, la fête de Noël..) :

De ces ouvrages, ont découlé différentes activités qui ont permis l’exploitation de ces histoires. Nous avons donné du sens à l’apprentissage, une façon plus ludique et une approche plus concrète.

A chaque début de semaine, vos enfants ont appris et chanté une nouvelle chanson (6 semaines = 6 chansons) incluant les chansons pour le spectacle de Noël:

La pluie qui mouille, Mon beau sapin, Noël de l’Est, Douce nuit, Dans son manteau rouge et blanc.

 Les objectifs de cette période ont été de :

– enrichir la langue française

– construire des phrases plus élaborées mais correctes

– s’exprimer en petit groupe

– tracer le bonhomme de chaque mois

– comprendre les histoires lues

– s’entraîner au graphisme

–  reconnaître et nommer des lettres, des syllabes et des mots

– apprendre les nombres de 7 à 10 (savoir dénombrer une collection)

– connaître quelques notions spatiales

– mémoriser une poésie (“I’automne grelotte” de Chantal Abraham)

– s’exprimer de manière artistique

– chanter collectivement une chanson

French IPC

Le thème de cette période était « Célébrations  ». Nous avons pu discuter des différentes façons de célébrer, de faire la fête à travers le monde. Nous avons vu comment les gens célébraient un évènement dans les divers pays et comment était présentée l’histoire de chaque évènement. 

Les enfants ont écouté l’histoire de “Saint Nicolas” ainsi que le conte musical de “Picolo Saxo et Cie”

Ils ont participé aux répétitions pour préparer le spectacle de Noël.

Et ils ont aussi cuisiné de bons petits sablés de Noël.

Forest Exploration

The time in the forest we utilized for all kinds of different activities. Sometimes we were deepening some numeracy skills by organizing a number line or collecting and counting a certain amount of nuts/sticks/leaves.

Often, we used the time to create beautiful nature art or build houses out of sticks.

And, of course, physical education was important for us! We went for bike trips, built challenging parkours, practiced our throwing skills, or went for a nice mushroom hunt.