Spring Term: Week 1
A slightly unusual beginning to the spring term for the Pre-Prep, with the sudden change of plan from Boris Johnson. Staff were all ready to welcome the children back to school and to hear of their exciting Christmas ventures. We have indeed managed to welcome back a few children in person, the rest via video link. It was lovely to see everyone again. Huge congratulations to all the children, staff and parents for showing such amazing adaptability and resilience.
Year 2 have settled extremely well into the spring term. It was lovely to hear their holiday news that they all shared excitedly and to find out about all the goodies Santa brought them! He apparently arrived wearing a blue mask, according to some of the children!
Year 1 had a super virtual first week back. The children were so happy to see each other and were very excited that a new member had joined them; welcome Enya. It has been lovely seeing the children chatting to each other and it felt as though the children at home were actually in the classroom taking part with enthusiasm in the lessons. Well done Year 1 for such a great start to the term.
The Reception children ‘returned’ enthused and ready to learn. They completed phonics activities and danced in the dough-disco to enhance their fine motor skills. Those on-site joined Year 1 for their Forest School session and had hot chocolate to warm their tummies, as they sat around the fire!
The Chaffinch and Kingfisher classes returned from their Christmas break full of energy and enthusiasm. They all settled back quickly into the daily Nursery routine and had lots of fun playing with their friends, both indoors and outside. They started their ‘winter’ topic for this half term and they were delighted with their ‘snow effect’ winter scene pictures.
The Nightingale class set up a ‘Winter Land Sensory Play,’ using a multitude of different resources, including coloured spaghetti, flour, rice and tissue paper. The children then set about placing arctic animals in amongst the sensory mess!
The children in the Robin class have been mini artists this week, doing lots of painting, arts and crafts. They have also explored playdough using natural resources for tools, such as cinnamon sticks, shells, acorns and twigs, to see what creations they could make.
Sparrow class has focused on exploring musical instruments and nursery rhymes. A musical environment, singing songs and dancing to rhythms is certainly a very enjoyable and effective way of expanding babies’ horizons. It also helps the children develop their listening skills and improves their concentration for the future.
Armelle Wilkinson
Head of Pre-Prep and Nursery
