Our topic this term has been Sensational. As winter has drawn to a close and the sunshine has returned, perhaps Spring is the best season to explore the five senses of sight, sound, touch, taste and smell. Nature reawakens and the forest becomes alive again after lying dormant for several months.
We kicked off the term with a project called Grow Wild, we also started Capoeira classes and continued baking our own biscuits. We’ve celebrated pancake day and Easter and we have grown in confidence to climb, jump and explore. We will be finishing the term with a visit by writer Anjali Morard author of “Fortnum’s Night Out” to celebrate World Book Day.
Grow wild
For this project we grew our own plants from seeds to watch them germinate and grow. We did this by cutting up a variety of different tomatoes of various colours, shapes and sizes and one red pepper to see what was inside. Once we cut them open, we discovered they each had seeds some big, some small, some covered in a gelatinous mixture. We then planted the seeds into individual pots and trays to see if they would grow. We also tried the tomatoes and pepper to see what they tasted like. After a week we saw tiny green shoots popping up from the soil. Each child can now take their plants home to grow on and hopefully eat homegrown fresh tomatoes and peppers throughout the Summer and Autumn.
Capoeira
We’ve started weekly Capoeira classes (a martial art that combines elements of dance, acrobatics and music) and have focused on the instruments, the sounds and movement of Capoeira. We have listened to songs and played a vast array of traditional instruments. We’ve looked at rhythm and beats and experimented by making lots of noise and then playing softly.
Art, Crafts and Activities
For those in the class learning the names of colours we’ve used paints, pastels and crayons to help remember the names. We have practised cutting with scissors, gluing, drawing and painting.
We have also focused on improving our dexterity by completing activities that challenge us.
Pancake day and Easter
At the beginning of the term we celebrated pancake day with the whole school by eating tasty pancakes full of jam and for Easter we went on our first Easter egg hunt. We had to follow the clues which had been left by the Easter bunny around the school grounds ending up in the Orchard where the Easter bunny had helpfully scattered a number of chocolate eggs around the pear trees.
Baking
We have continued baking our own biscuits which has been a great learning experience. We take turns to mix the biscuit dough and once it’s chilled we roll it out and use biscuit cutters to cut out our shapes. It’s something to look forward to after a nap to eat freshly baked biscuits. Sometimes we have been able to have our afternoon snack on the picnic table in the garden which is a nice way to end the day.
Forest exploration
As the weather has improved we’ve been able to sit in the forest or Orchard for story time and songs. We’ve drawn shapes on the forest floor and looked at all the different shapes around us.
We’ve been able to improve our mobility this term by increasing our confidence in climbing, jumping, balancing and running. We’ve found some great tree stumps which have been perfect for learning to climb and more importantly learning to safely get down by ourselves. We’ve used felled logs to balance and climb along and the large craters with steep sides offer the perfect challenge to climb up and out. These craters are also full of fallen leaves which has created a great play area.
We’ve stopped and listened to the birds, watched the spiders, bugs and worms and when the weather has turned wet and miserable we’ve seized the opportunity to jump into every puddle we can find.
These have been just some of the highlights from our term and we look forward to having more fun after the spring holidays.
Next term our theme will be Treasure Island and we hope to visit the Aquarium in Paris. The date for this is to be confirmed and on a final note below are some important dates for the final term of the year. Bonnes vacances!
May 18– Photo day
May 20 – International day
May 26 – Ascension Bank Holiday
Jun 6 – Pentecote Bank Holiday
Jun 24- Reports out
Jun 26 – Summer Fête / Art Auction
Jun 27 – Jul 1 – Parent Teacher Meetings
Jul 1 – Sports day
Jul 6 – Last Day of School