The National Literacy Trust encourages us to celebrate the magic of stories and the many ways that stories support children in their exploration of language, imagination and the world around them. The Trust reminds us that, “Storytelling doesn’t need to begin with a book, it can grow from a sound, a question, a walk in the garden or even a wriggly worm making its way through the soil”.

We discovered from poet, Simon Mole, that hungry birds stamp their feet on the ground to trick worms into thinking that it is raining so that they emerge from the soil, only to be gobbled up!

We used our bodies as percussion and concentrated hard to try and keep to the beat that Simon Mole and his musician friend, Gecko, taught us. Here is the link to the singalong so the children can show you at home.

Some of us chose to brave the chilly weather and dig for worms with Mrs Shazedi and then we talked about what our new friends looked like and how they moved.

In PE on Wednesday, we woke up and stretched like a worm, wriggled and squirmed through the soil, pushed and pulled hard as the ground became firmer, curled into a small ball to fit through a tunnel, jumped over puddles, balanced on a bumpy log, froze when birds came overhead and rolled down the hill home. Tired, at last, the worms curled up and rested, breathing slowly.

On Friday, the worm in our own storytelling session – Wil (Wilma/Wilbur) – thought that earth tasted disgusting so went in pursuit of tastier alternatives. Can the children tell you which foods their worm did and did not enjoy?

We discovered that all birds: have feathers; lay eggs; have a beak instead of teeth and have wings (but not all birds fly). After enjoying the book, ‘A Busy Day for Birds’ by Lucy Cousins, we went on our own birdwatch around the school grounds. Some children even brought in their own binoculars and books about birds later in the week. Can the children recall which birds they spotted or heard?

The children made cake for the birds, who visit our class apple tree, and then had a go at writing simple instructions to help them remember what to do next time. Some of us have been introduced to the magic pencil: it helps us to check our writing for capital letters and full stops.

We have also enjoyed playing bird bingo and creating a sliding mechanism so our birds can move towards each other.

Today, we met firefighter Dan and his bright red fire engine. Moosa flicked on the secret button and the blue lights started to flash. We discovered that the long ladder helps Dan and his friends climb up tall buildings. We noticed that his trousers were attached to his boots, which makes them faster to put on in an emergency. His helmet has a strong visor to protect his eyes and face. He explained that, as well as rescuing people from fires, firefighters also rescue people when they are trapped in cars. Can the children show you which piece of equipment is used for opening cars up?

Little Feet

Courtney joined us with her Elmer puppet to introduce us to the Little Feet initiative, which is designed to encourage us to walk and wheel more often. Courtney posed the question of why it is good to move our feet. “It gives us exercise.” Well done, Evie! We showed Elmer our muscles and talked about how, as well as being good for our bodies and minds to start the day with a walk, cycle or scoot, it is also good for the environment: reducing smelly pollution near school. Elmer loves to walk to school as it gives him the opportunity to notice the nature all around him. Courtney encouraged us to take care when we come across roads on our walk to school: we should stop, look both ways and listen for traffic before we cross. We need to think, ‘Is it safe?’. Which Reception class will make the biggest effort to walk or wheel to school and fill their sticker chart first, completing the Little Feet mission?

Thank you to police community support officers, Sarah and Paul, who talked to the children about how the police help us and answered the what/why/who/where and how questions that we had thought of. We learned that the police van is brightly coloured so that other cars know when to move out of the way. The uniform makes the police look smart and easily identifiable. The boots have protective steel toes caps. Sarah and Paul explained that you cannot have fun in prison, which encourages people to make good choices when they are released. As well as catching criminals, the police also help to direct traffic and educate people. Their main role is to keep us safe. Sarah and Paul promised to come and show us their handcuffs when they are next passing school.

Exploring the police van was fun, especially when the teachers were locked up in the cell and Paul lost the key. We loved listening to the sirens and looking at the lights: can the children tell you out why they do this?

…is our Big Question this half term.

Listening is important because it helps us stay safe, learn new things, and be kind to others.

Imagine you’re crossing a road, and someone says, “Stop, there’s a car coming!” If you listen, you don’t get hurt. That keeps your body safe.

When you listen to your teacher or a grown-up, your brain is offered new ideas, such as how to bake a cake, build interesting models or learn fun songs with actions.

And, when you listen to your friends, they feel happy because they feel like you care about them. Listening is like saying, “You matter to me,” without using words.

We have practised listening carefully to a partner and played (even more) listening games (than usual).

We have also enjoyed listening to Ed Sheeran: our musician of the month. It is so interesting to compare our individual rersponses.

Can you show off your listening skills at home too?

….and, with great excitement, we wore our festive jumpers to school.

Thank you to the lunchtime team for our delicious Christmas dinner. Stuffing seemed to be a new culinary experience for many of the children but we agreed that it’s always good to try new things!

Making Christingles

In preparation for our Christingles services on Friday afternoon, the children have been learning about the significance of Christingles. Some Christians believe that the orange represents the world, the raisins on sticks reflect the four seasons and the fruits of creation. Red tape represents the love of God. Jesus, the light of the world, shines through the candle.

We are very grateful for all of the festive messages you have sent in and wish you and your families the most magical of Christmases.

Thank you so much for coming to support us with our wriggling, singing, dancing and retelling of the Christmas story. Standing on stage in front of one hundred people is a huge achievement and we are so proud of how these young children – with beaming smiles – performed. Well done to them all! We are very grateful to Mrs Whittaker and Mrs Cannon for making the fantastic costumes.

The arrival of cheeky elf heralds the start of advent in RS. He sets us a challenge each morning. When Amiah saw how messy the snow was and picked up the phone, we wondered if she was calling elf headquarters to ask them to come and take him back!

Continuing the pattern on the candy cane.

Making paper snowmen friends.

Sorting shapes.

Advent books

Thank you to everyone, who sent in a book for our advent calendar of stories. The children are really enjoying sharing them with their friends. It is not too late to send a book in if you have not done so already. The book will come home as soon as we have read it.

Advent kindness

Each morning, the children suggest an act of kindness to add to our advent calendar. This weekend, you can look forward to the children helping you with the cooking and making you a card as they have pledged to undertake kind acts at home too.

Making snowmen

We have been building the muscles in our fingers by using the scissors and hole punches to create snowman pictures.

We would love to see any photos of how you are preparing for Christmas at home.

How exciting was it to return to school in the dark, wearing your pyjamas?!

The Reception children came together with their Year 6 buddies to enjoy an evening of stories, bookmark making, book cover creating, hot chocolate and biscuits. It has been wonderful to see these nurturing relationships develop since September.

An extra thank you to Azza, who read to RS with so much confidence and expression. What an inspiring role model for the younger members of ACE!

The children, who were unable to join us at Book Night, did not miss out; they enjoyed a buddy visit and their gifted book on Thursday afternoon.

Kevin the Carrot challenged us to find his friends and turn them into soup. We used child-friendly cutting utensils to chop the carrots before boiling them in stock. The soup was blended and we all tried a taste…or a sniff at least! The soup was an absolute hit with Simeon. If the children cook anything at home, we would love to see photos in school.

Circles and Triangles

The children have been learning that triangles are flat shapes with three straight sides and three corners, and that circles are flat shapes, which are perfectly round.

Inspired by the work of Wassily Kandinsky, the children used oil pastels to create their own mini masterpieces. Look what happens when we smudge the pastels.

Who has been walking on our snow?

We may never know the answer to this question but the children made some super suggestions: “A T-rex?” (Momin). “A bird?” (Areya) Specifically, “A blackbird.” (Arlo). “A chicken?” (Ryan – who is a chicken in our nativity) “An owl?” (Hugo) “A pterodactyl?” (Emilia) “A fox?” (Sophie) “Sonic?” (Ivar).

Snowfall always evokes a child’s sense of wonder!