Observational Drawing

Now that Spring is finally upon us, we are taking every opportunity to make the most of the (occasional) good weather and take learning outside whenever we can.


During our topic lessons last week we decided to take the children out into the sunshine to complete observational drawings of cars parked in our car park. The children were taught how to use pastels and were able to use this particular medium to create some truly stunning representations.

Through this task the children are of course developing the skills that come with working with pastels, but when children are faced with the challenge of representing a real life 3D object on paper they are practicing their recognition of shapes and awareness of proportion as well as advancing hand eye coordination and an eye for detail.

It was amazing to see the children so engaged in their task and how proud they all were of their finished artwork.


"Every child is an artist" - Picasso

The Train Trip

As part of our 'Transport' topic, the children of Reception wanted to see what we could find out about trains.


The children and staff made the trip to Garston train station and were able to have a look at the signs, tracks and platform.

We spotted some wires over the top of the tracks and Jamie told me that "It's for electricity".


As we were having a look around the station we were lucky enough to see a train pass through, stopping to pick up and drop off passengers on it's journey.

The children behaved beautifully, listening carefully to all of the grown ups instructions and following all of the safety rules.

Short trips like this, where we venture outside of the classroom, allow the children to experience things on a more personal level and really help to bring learning to life.


"Knowledge gained through experience is far superior and many times more useful than bookish knowledge" - Mahatma Ghandi

Sugar and Spice and All Things Nice!

Last week the children in Reception worked hard to bake lots of delicious biscuits in honour of World Book Day.
We sold the biscuits and thanks to the generosity of our fantastic Reception parents we managed to raise £41 to spend on new books for our book corners.


The recipe that we used is quick and simple (and tasty!), so if you enjoyed the biscuits then why not make some at home over the long weekend!

Recipe for Animal Biscuits

Ingredients:

175g 6oz butter, softened

75g 2half oz caster sugar

175g 6oz plain flour

75g 2half oz semolina

 

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180'C/350'F
2. Add butter and sugar to mixing bowl and beat with a wooden spoon until soft and creamy.
3. Then stir in flour and semolina.
4. Dust lightly with flour before kneading, roll out (£1 coin thick) and use animal cutters to make biscuits.
5. Bake for approx. 10 mins – keep your eye on them.

Let us know how you get on and if you bake a few too many, teachers never say no to a biscuit or two!!

Once again, thank you for the generous donations to our biscuit making venture and allowing us to provide even more resources for the children! 

Remarkable Writing

Amelia in RG has been very busy drawing her own story mountain.

She recreated the story of 'Little Red Riding Hood' in picture form and was then able to use this to help her write out the story. She used her phonics to sound out some really tricky words and ended up with a truly fantastic piece of work.

“You can make anything by writing.” – C.S. Lewis

World Book Day

Last week saw children and adults alike celebrating World Book Day.

There were fabulous costumes and exciting activities which created a real buzz around the school.

    

Throughout the day the children had opportunities to share books and stories and discuss their favourite characters. At the end of the day each of the children received a £1 World Book Day token, which can be exchanged for one of 10 special World Book Day books, which have been specially written for this event.

Celebrating this love of books and reading is so important for children of any age, but if we can embed this passion in their early years it really can last a life time.

Don't forget to use your token by Sunday 26th March and visit http://www.worldbookday.com/ for more information.

Finally, a big thanks goes to Mrs Ayrton for organising another fantastic World Book Day at the Grove Academy!

  

"You're never too old, too wacky, too wild, to pick up a book and read to a child." - Dr Seuss



The Squeaky Story

As our Primary Writing Project continues, the children in Reception have been busy learning 'The Squeaky Story'. The use of story mountains provide children with a visual representation of the story that they are all able to follow and actions help to embed the pattern of the story.


Exposing children to as many different stories as possible, as well as repeating favourite stories, will support children on their journey to becoming independent readers and writers.


Have a go at sharing 'The Squeaky Story' with your child tonight and see how many actions you can pick up on!!

The Squeaky Story

Once upon a time there was a little girl and a little boy who went to stay with their Grandma.
Just before bed, Grandma said, ‘Goodnight’, gave them a kiss, turned out the light, and closed the door……


but the children said, ‘It’s too noisy!’


So, Grandma said, what you need is a cat….’.
So, she said, ‘Goodnight’, gave them a kiss, turned out the light, closed the door……
and the cat said, ‘meoooow!’ 


but the children said, ‘It’s too noisy!’


So, Grandma said, ‘What you need is a dog….’.
So, she said, ‘Goodnight’, gave them a kiss, turned out the light, closed the door…… the cat said, ‘meoooow!’
and the dog said, ‘Grrrrrrr!’


but the children said, ‘It’s too noisy!’


So, Grandma said, what you need is a sheep….’.
So, she said, ‘Goodnight’, gave them a kiss, turned out the light, closed the door…… the cat said, ‘meoooow!’
and the dog said, ‘Grrrrrrr!’
and the sheep said, ‘Baaaaa!’


but the children said, ‘It’s too noisy!’


So, Grandma said, what you need is a cow….’.
So, she said, ‘Goodnight’, gave them a kiss, turned out the light, closed the door…… the cat said, ‘meoooow!’
and the dog said, ‘Grrrrrrr!’
and the sheep said, ‘Baaaaa!’
and the cow said, ‘Mooooo!’


but the children said, ‘It’s too noisy!


So, Grandma said, what you need is a horse….’.
So, she said, ‘Goodnight’, gave them a kiss, turned out the light, closed the door…… the cat said, ‘meoooow!
and the dog said, ‘Grrrrrrr!’
and the sheep said, ‘Baaaaa!’

and the cow said, ‘Mooooo!’
and the horse said, ‘Neighhh!’


but the children said, ‘It’s too noisy!’


So, Grandma said, what you need is a pig….’.
So, she said, ‘Goodnight’, gave them a kiss, turned out the light, closed the door…… the cat said, ‘meoooow!’
and the dog said, ‘Grrrrrrr!’
and the sheep said, ‘Baaaaa!’
and the cow said, ‘Mooooo!’
and the horse said, ‘Neighhh!’
and the pig said, ‘Oinkkk!’ 

but the children said, ‘It’s too noisy!’

So, Grandma said, ‘OK’ - and she - Took away the cat - meow!
The dog - grrrr!
The sheep - baa!
The cow - moo!
The horse - neigh!
And the pig - oink!

Then she said ‘Goodnight’, gave them a kiss, turned out the light, closed the door……

and the children fell fast asleep.
Shhhhhhhh!

The end.

Mud Pies

This week the nursery children have spent some time exploring the mud kitchen during CIL and created some amazing mud pies.

Outdoor play (especially messy outdoor play!!) is a fantastic way for children to explore different areas of the curriculum. In this photo we can see three children working on their communication and cooperation skills as they share resources and work out what they are making, developing their physical skills as they mix and stir and handle tools and growing their vocabulary through experimenting with different textures and materials.


For children, play is key in developing skills that they can use as they learn throughout their school and adult lives.




For children, play is learning.


"Play is the highest form of research" - Albert Einstein