‘Summer afternoon — summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language’ — Henry James
Staffing News – Zoe will sadly be leaving us mid-August as she prepares to start her teacher training; we wish her the very best of luck. She promises to come back and work during school holiday periods though so we look forward to her returning then.
Seedlings:
The Seedlings fully embraced National Sensory Day during their fun-filled week at Broughton Cottage, exploring the five senses.
We started off by looking at the sense of sight, with the children using their eyes in a picture matching game. Once they’d mastered it, the Seedlings giggled as they tried to match the pictures again with their eyes covered.
Next, we focussed on seeing what the children could hear. While out in the garden, Kit told us he could hear an aeroplane, while Genevieve stated she could hear a bird. Back inside the room, we played a game that tasked the youngsters with finding the corresponding picture for a variety of sounds. Penelope particularly loved listening to the frog’s ribbit and Lola adored hearing the fire engine’s siren. All of the children had a go at imitating the latter.
Towards the end of the week, we decided to make fruit kebabs to give the children the chance to taste different fruits. Using child-safe knives, the Seedlings did some brilliant chopping. We extended the children’s vocabularies by talking about what we could taste.
Star Of The Week:
Anabelle – For always demonstrating excellent manners.
Saplings:
This week, the Saplings have been embracing summer.
They got stuck into several engaging craft activities to support the theme. One saw them make beautiful shell print collages, while in another the Saplings painted pebbles. The children selected an eye-catching array of shades for the latter.
We also put the holiday photos everyone so kindly sent in on our ceiling, alongside brightly coloured swirls, sand and sea prints. Beach balls added the perfect finishing touch to our seaside scene. Theo looked up and saw his photos and got very excited, exclaiming: ‘It’s me, Theo!’
Star Of the Week:
Theo – For being a good helper to his friends.
Acorns
It was National sensory day on Wednesday and our Acorns delighted in the mesmerising effect of our colourful light show as it swathed the ceiling and walls in lovely patterns. Our baby sensory sessions are very popular and the children participated well throughout the week; this is a great way to explore all our senses and a chance to be fully immersed.
Acorns love to paint but this time we offered pipe cleaners as a tool which they relished whilst dragging through paint and across paper to make their marks. Arthur and Clemence absolutely got stuck in, in glorious fashion. Painting on tin foil added another dimension as the added squeak and crackle of the material awoke their sense of hearing.
Star of the Week:
Jessica for her excellent tidying skills
Forest School
Another week with the children so absorbed in their creative play and creations that it was a joy to behold, long spells of silence rained as they all worked together in small groups. Raife and Sebbie forged a close friendship as their worked together to make their own BBQ using coals, wood slices and a rack, adding a few flourishes (‘garnish’) to their final ‘dishes’. Theo used natural found materials to make a backpack which he was very proud of and Raul sought out letters and numbers in the environment, an X amongst the leaning trees, the number 1in the pepper he was preparing for lunch etc which prompted everyone else to see what they could find; Freddie, a Y, Mia an S, Ottie and Charlie, an umbrella fashioned from a very, very large leaf which they could use as roofing for their fairy houses whilst Bodhi was brilliant helping chop vegetables for lunch getting the mushrooms ‘just right’. Well done one and all.
Oaks 1:
Oaks 1 warmly welcomed children from Oaks 2 into their room this week for some taster days ahead of their transition in September.
Our child-centred approach to learning led us to take a closer look at rocks, pebbles and stones in an engaging maths activity. We encouraged the children to count the different stones, which included everything from glass hearts to volcanic matter. Flash cards aided number recognition as the youngsters counted up to twenty.
Oaks 2 visitor Peggy excelled at sorting the stones out independently and was able to tell us how many were in each pile.
The children relished having the chance to become pilots as they crafted paper aeroplanes decorated with intricate patterns. Oaks 2 all watched on in amazement as their aircrafts glided across our room, with Raul and Rafe’s going the furthest.
We held our annual Sports Day races alongside our Leavers’ Party. We were so pleased that the weather held out and it was wonderful to have so many of you join us. I am sure you’ll agree that the children displayed incredible sporting prowess and magnificent teamwork. Our thanks to Catherine for her organisation.
Star Of the Week:
Theo – For helping out in the garden.
Oaks 2:
It’s been an extremely creative week for the Oaks 2 youngsters.
We got the children’s creative juices flowing with lots of activities, including painting and water play. We also challenged them to make shapes from modelling clay. We loved watching the children use their imaginations when deciding what to create.
This week has also seen many of the class visit Oaks 1 in preparation for September. The children have really impressed us with the way they’ve adapted to the new room. If any parents have any questions about the transition, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
All of the children have adored participating in circle games this week. Our current class favourites have been ‘There Was A Princess Long Ago’, ‘The Elephants went out one day’ and ‘Five Speckled Frogs’.
Star Of the Week:
Ralph – For being so kind and caring and always reminding others why they should be respectful.
Yours sincerely
The Broughton Team