Our First Weeks in Squirrels Class

Squirrels are settling in well to their new classroom and are used to the morning routine, enjoying lunchtime and have transitioned nicely to staying all day. We have made our class charter and talked about the importance of being a class member and their role within the class. We have focussed on the right to be healthy (article 24), using the toilet, washing hands, exercising, sleeping and eating well. We tried some new fruits after reading Handa’s Surprise. We chopped the fruit, tasted it and then made fruit kebabs with the ones we liked the most. The children are excited to share what is unique about themselves and this week have been decorating a box to take home and fill with items from their home to share with the class the following week. After reading the Colour Monster, the children decorated and made their Colour Monster board where they can share how they’re feeling. The children must be able to recognise different emotions to build skills to self-regulate. They have been enjoying the continuous provision and using the golden rules to support their play by sharing, helping each other and showing respect to the resources. One of the most important activities we have been taking part in is fine motor, where the children are finding new ways to exercise their upper body strength and dexterity in their fingers. The children have decided that the most effective way to practise their new phonic sounds is to scoot around the track. To pass through the gate they need to get the sound correct, so creative and fun! They love being outside working with the guttering and finding new ways to transport the water from one area to another. The conkers have sparked excitement throughout the school and Squirrels have been using them to practise the cardinal value of numerals, 1 to 1 correspondence and for working out who has more and who has less. It’s been a very exciting first few weeks in Squirrels and one of the most exciting firsts was PE with Lions in the Community on a Thursday in the hall and the other was joining the rest of the school for assembly on a Friday. Well done Squirrels, you are all doing so well and working so hard!