Our favourite CBeebies presenters introduced their favourite Black History heroes to us and explained why their impact had been so great. We then learned about some famous inventors: Garett Morgan invented traffic lights; Dr Bath invented a machine for improving sight and Philip B Downing invented the postbox. This inspired us to become inventors ourselves.

We created some traffic lights that tell us whether to sit, jump, twirl or put our arms out wide. Evie invented a “collar” for “scaring away fireworks”. Oscar’s bus took him on an underwater treasure hunt. Our new glasses gave us an orange perspective on the classroom. I wonder what other inventions we can think of?

Todd Parr urges us to appreciate that ‘It’s Okay to be Different’ and we do! We are glad that we are all different as it makes our classroom so much more interesting and fun!

After looking at some beautiful African art and noticing the colours and shapes, we had a go at making a class Ndebele pattern.

To mark the occasion of National Poetry Day, Miss Cooke wrote a poem, which celebrates some of things that are special about our school. The whole poem will be performed by the older children next Monday in their assembly. In Reception, we learnt the final verse.

We have also been singing even more nursery rhymes than normal in Reception, The children decided that their favourite is ‘Five Little Buns in a Baker’s Shop’. Oba loves to dance when we sing.

Little Rabbit Foo Foo

On Monday, we found some objects, which gave us clues to our new Talk for Writing text: ‘Little Rabbit Food Foo’: bunny ears, a mallet, a carrot, some denim, a fairy wand and a fluffy tail.

We have learnt part of the story each day and would like to present our imitation to you.

We really enjoy the story but know that Little Rabbit Foo Foo needs to make better choices! Next week, we will innovate the story.

Congratulations….

….to Isabelle and Arlo, for earning their first certificates on Reading Eggs and Mathseeds respectively. They are so proud.

Thank you so much if you were able to join us for our box exhibition this morning. The children were very excited to share the contents of the boxes with their buddies. It is such a special part of getting to know the children and we really appreciate the effort that went into making them: thank you.

On Monday, we found lots of colourful dots in the classroom and Mrs Shipley was dressed up as an artist. We wondered why?

When Mrs Pridden arrived, Sophie borrowed the art overalls and we heard the story of Vashti: a young girl who, at the start of Peter H Reynolds’ story, lacks the confidence to draw. However, with her teacher’s encouragement, she discovers that she is very capable of producing wonderful art: so much so that Vashti inspires a young boy to pick up his pencil when he sees her paintings at the school art show.

‘The Dot’ is an uplifting tale about having a growth mindset. We have been talking about how it is perfectly normal to have things we can’t do yet. Asking a friend or adult for support or putting lots of effort into practising can really help us to improve. The sense of satisfaction, when we learn new skills, gives us such a buzz.

When you are drawing at home, remember that you can ‘Just make a mark and see where it takes you’…..and don’t forget to sign it!

We all feel very proud looking at the dotty art we are creating this week.

The buddying relationships between our Reception children and their older peers in Year 6 are always precious. The children met on Monday and have had the opportunity to start getting to know one another during lunch time play this week. Reception parents will meet their child’s buddy at the ‘All about Me’ box exhibition on Wednesday 24th September.

Caring for our chicken

We have also had the opportunity to meet our chicken. We talked about how we can keep her healthy – by giving her space to exercise; fresh water; food and a clean straw bed, on which to lay the eggs (which we love to collect and count). Wrapping the eggs carefully is a DT challenge! We would love to see how you eat your eggs. If you have any pets at home, we would enjoy seeing photos and hearing about how you care for them – via Tapestry, please.

This week, we welcomed nearly all of this year’s RS into school. School bears were cuddled, self-portraits were drawn, friends were reunited, new friendships were made, ‘All about Me’ boxes were delved into, delicious lunches were enjoyed in the dinner hall, indoor and outdoor areas were explored, models were created in the workshop, tea parties were held in the home corner, sorting and tidying was practised and we made our first visit to our class tree: a Ribston Pippin. The adults were really impressed by the kindness, good manners and wonderful approach to our early learning on display. Well done, children, and thank you, parents, for your support.

On Monday, one more member of RS will arrive and, in the afternoon, we will meet our wonderful and caring Year 6 buddies: how exciting!