“Life starts all over again when it gets crisp in the fall.” Scott F Fitzgerald – The Great Gatsby

Seedlings and Acorns:

The children have been looking at all things creepy crawly in response to their discovery outdoors of many little bugs and spiders. Arlo especially loved using recycled and ‘junk’ materials to make a caterpillar; his friends joined in readily and created an array of caterpillars of different shapes and sizes.

A scavenger hunt was the order of the day as the week progressed, and we had fun foraging for natural resources outdoors with which we created some wonderful pictures

We had a great game of hide and seek as we searched for the many hidden ‘critters’ beneath a sandy tray; sieves were a great resource for use ib this activity and we explored it further by introducing an array of equipment as the week progressed.

Wed spent some time focussing on our physical development; using our play couch we created all sorts of structures, including a slide, climbing frame and a trampoline, the children had so much fun using the couch in a way they never had before. Ernest and Arthur particularly loved the versatility as they helped us reconfigure the couch.

Star of the week- Luca for settling back in so well and gaining so much more confidence in the room.

Announcement, now the weather has turned chilly we won’t be taking our socks off indoors; may we ask for some slipper socks though to ensure a good grip of the parquet flooring.

Saplings:

This week in Saplings, the children have enjoyed creating their own Rainbow Fish inspired by the lead character in Marcus Pfister’s book.

They did this by shredding tissue paper with their hands then carefully sticking and placing them onto a card background every which way. We shared the story which tells the tale of a fish who learnt to share his most prized possession.

We have enjoyed spending time in the garden with our Saplings where they have had fun creating a car wash. They adored rolling the cars into mud before using sponges and water to scrub them clean. Harvey, Finley and Leo enjoyed their collective splashing. 

All aboard the Broughton bus.

Star Of the Week:

Jackson – For settling into life at Broughton Cottage so beautifully.

Forest School:

The children showed amazing aptitude as they learnt to use palm drills, professionally blowing the tree dust away as they bore each hole. 

Gathering all that the forest had to offer, they soon created some interesting characters using acorns and other natural resources and shared with us their stories as they whittled away. 

Alice was fascinated by a new rabbit hole she had discovered and talked of the underground home and family she thought lay beneath. 

Scott allowed us to feed his rescue chickens, while his wife Laura told us all about their cheeky antics.

We finished the session on a reflective note and with a lovely, topical tale read by Sophia in the story tent.

Another fun and informative adventure. 

Oaks 2:

Oaks 2 have spent lots of time exploring the forest area and our outdoor space this week.

While outside, we managed to collect enough apples to make a delicious apple crumble. The children sat around the table and demonstrated their strength as they cut through the apples using child-safe knives. A sprinkle of cinnamon was added to give a hint of spice to the pudding.

The children had plenty of chances to work on boosting their gross motor skills too. They had so much fun balancing on logs and manoeuvring through bushes. Ashlynn wowed everyone with her ability to use outdoor swing without any adult supervision.

Star Of the Week:

Ashlynn – For her brilliant swinging skills.

Oaks 1:

Autumn has definitely arrived in an array of colours in Oaks 1! We are embracing the new season by looking closely at our beautiful surroundings and spotting interesting objects! We went out on a walk to forage and collect and created art from our findings.

The children have loved this topic and we have been reading The’ Squirrels Who Squabbled’, a charming tale by Rachel Bright and Jim Field about collecting their winter bounty and sharing.

Please have a look when you are out and about for items to add to our topic table. We have been looking at P and have thought about sounds that begin with this letter too.

Our Oaks 1 notice board is up outside to keep you up to date with our learning.

We wanted to take this opportunity to introduce some of our interventions and keep you informed of strategies we put in place for children that need extra help.

Talkboost is a Kent intervention that supports listening and attending, leading to improved communication and language development. We also use the ‘Every Child A Talker’ monitoring tool to help us support language development and track progress.

Star Of the Week:

Oliver – for making such great strides in his engagement

Until next week.

The Broughton Team