The hi-light of this week was of course the trip to Wimpole Home Farm. Despite a dreary start we only had a relatively short period of rain and were allowed to eat our dinner in the warmth of the café.
The children looked around the ‘rare breeds’ farm. In their talk they learnt about the characteristics of all living things and had the opportunity to stroke a chick and a rabbit. They watched a cow being milked and felt just how warm the milk was minutes after it came out of the cow. Some of the groups found some magnificent horse chestnut trees and had a great time seeing how many conkers were in each spikey shell as the wind sent them tumbling down. This was a great opportunity for an impromptu maths lesson in comparing shapes and sizes of conkers. Luckily we only found the walnuts right at the end of the trip otherwise there would have been even more to bring back to school. I expect there were some very tired children on Wednesday evening!
Our literacy stories have been about scarecrows. We painted scarecrows in our art lesson.
Please remember Show and Tell for next week. It is: What is your favourite farm animal and why? Find out 2 interesting facts about this animal. (You may want to bring in a drawing or picture of the animal) Every child is expected to prepare this, as being able to talk fluently is a necessary life skill. A few children are missing out on this weekly opportunity and it is often the children who really need to develop in this area.
I am looking forward to seeing most of you on Monday at our Information Evening. For the parents who have not returned the letter, it is not too late to confirm your attendance if you have not already done so. This evening will give you an opportunity to see and hear about what the children have been doing, how the cohort has settled and find out what will be happening in the weeks leading up to Christmas. We can discuss any issues of group concern and then the following week is the individual consultations. Online booking is open and you have a letter tonight telling you how to access it.
In maths we have been drawing the patterns on both sides of a domino and counting and recording how many spots there were altogether. If your child found this activity difficult or didn’t get much done in these lessons, they have some to practise over the weekend.
Next week we are finishing off our learning about farm animals and will be out and about looking for signs of autumn. If you are out this weekend see what you can collect!
Have an enjoyable weekend.