Well, this week has been rather short with the ‘Beast from the East’ making it hard to do anything.
We have now started our termly lesson observation cycle and my Monday began really well when I was able to observe Mr Rawson teach a tricky Maths topic of equivalent fractions and ordering fractions to his Nurture Group. Myself and Mrs Needham were amazed at how well all the pupils worked – especially as I know that many of them have said they ‘hated’ Maths in the past.
Tuesday saw the first signs of the dreaded ‘Beast’ but Mr Heap and Mr Rawson still managed to take their groups to Alexandra Park for an Outdoor Education session with a difference..
It was the turn of Mrs Lomax’s class to do the blog this week and I’m happy to say even with our very short week, Mrs Lomax has got some wonderful work to share with you all..
Every morning in class we follow the same routine. All the children independently sort their bags and coats and then choose their dinner and then the children now even independently get their own chairs.
After this the children have a paper based Morning Challenge. The children have to independently collect the correct equipment to do their challenge. The Morning Challenge is either some learning to consolidate previous learning or a piece of work ready for the day’s learning..
Christopher independently doing his Morning Challenge
This is then followed by a Busy Box activity. The Busy Boxes are a range of resources carefully chosen to develop small motor skills and thinking skills..
George creating animals using the Snowflake blocks Busy Box
Jacob enjoying his sensory Busy Box
Josh following the model pattern using the Cubes Busy Box
Tyler singing the alphabet using the Alphabet Chain Busy Box
The children have found that this routine really helps them to be ready for their learning – I hope you enjoy the photographs showing some of the Morning Challenges and Busy Box activities.
Every day we have a reading session and on each day two different children read with Mrs Lomax, two other children have an activity relating to their reading book while the rest of the class take part in a reading session with Miss Hill. This term the reading session with Miss Hill is focusing on the Enormous Crocodile. Throughout the week the sessions alternate between reading sections of the book and then taking part in a fun based session relating to the story. This week the children have been using ‘crocodile mud’ to create their own muddy handprints just like the Crocodile’s footprints in the book..
I was delighted to hear this week that our very own Leisa Williams has been nominated by some of our parents for POINT’s ‘Passion for Parents’ Awards..
Well done to all the finalists (and particularly Leisa!), we wish you the best of luck for Friday!
Don’t worry if you haven’t yet returned your Easter Holiday Club forms, the deadline for requesting a place for your child has been extended after this week’s closure and you still have time to send them in.
I’m looking forward to getting back to normal and seeing everyone at school on Monday – it will be nice to get my car off my road when the snow has melted away!
Jaina
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