Week beginning 17 July  

As we come to the end of the school year, we wanted to say a big thank you to our lovely Squirrels,  We wish all our departing children and families all the best for the future.  It has been a privilege to play and learn together this year.  You should all be very proud of how much you have achieved.  Have a wonderful summer!

Week beginning 3 June

Book of the week: Topsy and Tim's sports day

Rhyme of the week: Open, shut them

Number rhyme of the week: Numberblocks - number ten song

The highlight of our week was Sports Day.  The children had a great time and we were so proud of how focused they were. Well done Squirrels class!

Week beginning 26 June

Book of the week: The Rainbow fish

Rhyme of the week: There's a hole at the bottom of the sea

Number rhyme of the week: Numberblocks - number 9 song

This week, we went on a Summer walk.  We used our senses to look for signs of Summer.  What can you see?  What can you smell?  What can you hear?  What can you touch?  Maybe you can look for signs of Summer on your way home from school.  Next week, our sound of the week will be 'o'.

Week beginning 19 June

Book of the week: Mr Gumpy's motor car

Rhyme of the week:  I had a little turtle (Tiny Tim)

Number rhyme of the week: Shapes song 2

This week was 'National Sports Week' and Squirrels class took part in a touch Rugby session.  We practised running with the ball, kicking the ball and scoring a try.  We also enjoyed using the large construction kits to build cars and act out the story of Mr Gumpy's motor car.  We have used an array of vehicles to mark make and have had fun washing cars at our own St. Peter's car wash.  Next week's sound will be 'g'.

Week beginning 12 June

Book of the week: Who sank the boat?

Rhyme of the week: Row, row, row your boat

Number rhyme of the week: Numberblocks - number 8 song

We have had so much fun this week making boats during play and learn.  This was a group time activity that has captured the children's imaginations and there has been so much learning.  We were also scientists, experimenting with floating and sinking at the water table and making predictions.  The children have also talked about male role models and have made cards, writing their names so carefully.  We also enjoyed taking part in the EYFS sing-a-thon.  Next week our sound will be 'd'.

15 June - EYFS Sing-a-thon

Congratulations to Squirrels for their efforts at the Sing-a-thon. They worked really hard and sung so many nursery rhymes!  It is not too late to donate - The Give As You Live pages will be open for another week!

https://donate.giveasyoulive.com/campaign/stpeters-nursery-sing-a-thon

You can listen to each of the songs on the audio file.

1. Head, shoulders, knees and toes
2. Baa baa black sheep
3. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
4. Row, row, row your boat
5. Peter rabbit had a fly upon his nose
6. Dingle-dangle scarecrow
7. Zoom, zoom, zoom
8. Wind the bobbin up
9. I had a little turtle
10. Jelly on a plate

Week beginning 5 June

Book of the week: The train ride

Rhyme of the week: Get on the train (London Rhymes)

It was lovely to see the children and hear about all the exciting things you have  been doing over the holidays.  This week, we focused on trains as part of our new focus 'Off we go'.  We counted children on and off the train in the big playground; we problem solved to create our own train tracks on the carpet, adding houses and a town; and we used our imaginations to paint our own journey pictures.  Next week, our sound of the week will be 'm'.

Week beginning 22 May

Book of the week: Oliver's fruit salad

Rhyme of the week: The animal tea party

Number rhyme of the week: Numberblocks - number 7

This week, we made our own fruit salad.  The children topped and tailed, chopped, peeled and segmented fruit.  We used instruments to tap the rhythm along to the animal tea party before having our own tea party, complete with fruit salad - yum!  Our sound of the week after half term will be 'n'.  Have a wonderful half term break.  

Week beginning 15 May

Book of the week: Ten seeds

Rhyme of the week: Ten in the bed

We have had a busy week in Squirrels class.  We baked biscuits in preparation for our walk to the Watercress Beds - pouring, mixing, stirring, rolling and following a recipe. They tasted delicious. We had a great time on our walk where we saw all sorts - blossom, wild flowers, snails, bees, coots and their chicks.  Thank you to all our parent helpers! 

Week beginning 8 May

Book of the week: The very hungry caterpillar

Rhyme of the week: The caterpillar song

Number song of the week: Numberblocks - number 6 song

This week, we have continued our learning about the lifecycle of a butterfly.  We watched in awe and wonder as the caterpillars climbed to the top of their container and spun a chrysalis.  The children sequenced their own lifecycles and played the game 'Counting caterpillars'.  They have also begun to 'innovate' their own version of the hungry caterpillar.  They chose an animal to hatch, to be the main character and decided what food their animal was going to eat.  Everyone had their own story to tell!  Next week our sound of the week will be 'p'.

5 May 2023 

Parade and Biscuit

Thank you to all the grown ups who came to enjoy our parade and biscuit event.  We hope you enjoy the King's coronation and the long weekend.

Week beginning 1 May

Book of the week: The very hungry caterpillar

Rhyme of the week: There's a little caterpillar on a branch

Number rhyme of the week: Numberblocks - number six song

Sound of the week: a - around the head, down the body

This week, we received an exciting delivery of five tiny caterpillars!  We looked at them very carefully and are looking forward to seeing how they grow and change over the next few weeks.  This built on our new Talk for Writing focus on the book 'The very hungry caterpillar'.  We are using pictures and actions to tell the story.  We talked about the life cycle of a butterfly and learnt the words and actions for the song 'There's a little caterpillar on a branch'.  Perhaps you could sing it together at home? 

Don't forget, we will be celebrating the King's Coronation on Friday with a biscuit and parade. We hope you can make it.

Next week our sound of the week will be 't'.

Week beginning 24 April

Book of the week: Yucky worms

Rhyme of the week: Wiggly Woo

Vocabulary rhyme of the week: The opposite song

Sound of the week: 'S'

Thank you for the sound table objects.  This week, we focused on the sound 's' - swerve around the snake.  We learnt about how Eid is celebrated and painted beautiful mendhis on our friends' hands.  We've also had fun this week as mini beast detectives, exploring our school's wildlife area new sensory garden.  We made our own mud for string worms, using cocoa powder and water and enjoyed exploring the changes in texture as we made it. Next week our sound of the week will be 'a'.

Week beginning 17 April

Book of the week: Sam plants a sunflower

Rhyme of the week: A tiny seed was sleeping

Number rhyme of the week: Five little ducks

This week, we read the story 'Sam plants a sunflower' and planted our own sunflower seeds.  We have been learning that plants need warmth, sunlight, air and water to grow and have sung the song 'A tiny seed was sleeping'.  We also went on a Spring walk to look for signs of Spring.  We also learnt to mix powder paints to paint a picture of a daffodil, then had lots of fun exploring powder paints and mixing colours during play and learn.  Next week, our 'sound of the week' will be 's'.  

Week beginning 20 March

Book of the week: B is for baby

Rhyme of the week: Humpty Dumpty

Number rhyme of the week: Five little ducks

This week, we have been talking about some of the changes the children have been through since they were babies.  They loved sharing their baby photos and guessing who was who.  We also enjoyed practising different handwriting shapes to decorate eggs and had fun taking part in the RSPB birdwatch. 

Week beginning 13 March

Book of the week: The three little pigs
Rhyme of the week: The three little pigs rap

Number rhyme of the week: Number 5 song - Numberblocks

This week, our key text was 'The three little pigs'.  We used musical instruments to help us retell the story.  We chose egg shakers to represent the stick house; wood blocks to represent the stick house; and lollypop drums to represent the brick house.  We had great fun learning the three little pigs rap to tell the story.  Our play challenge this week was to use the construction kits in the classroom and garden to build our own houses - with fantastic results. A huge thank you to Mrs Younas who came to talk to us about Ramadan and the festival Eid al-Fitr.  The children listened to a prayer and learnt about why the month of Ramadan is an important time for Muslims. We've also been creative this week, printing cards for the special ladies in our lives.  Happy Mother's Day!

Week beginning 6 March

Book of the week: Jasper's beanstalk

Rhyme of the week: And the beanstalk grew

Number rhyme of the week: The shape song

Our focus for this week has been Jasper's beanstalk.  The story provides the perfect opportunity to sequence the days of the week and introduce a basic timeline modelling the language 'yesterday' and 'tomorrow'.  We also planted our own beans and have enjoyed watering and nurturing our seeds. The children are enjoying playing superhero games so we combined this with our shape song to make superhero capes.  

Week beginning 27 Feb

Book of the week: Goldilocks and the three bears
Rhyme of the week: The house of the bears

Number rhyme of the week: Number 5 song - Numberblocks

World Book Day

To celebrate World Book Day, we talked about our favourite book characters and decorated potatoes to look like our favourite story characters.  Can you guess who the the potatoes are? We also loved welcoming year six, who came to share a story with us.

Week beginning 20 February

Book of the week: The three billy goats gruff

Rhyme of the week: Open shut them

Number rhyme of the week: Number 4 song - Numberblocks

The children were very excited to return to school this week and we have enjoyed hearing about their half term activities.  This week, we began our 'Once upon a time' theme with a traditional tale: The three billy goats gruff. We have talked about characters in the story focusing on the troll and the children painted their own trolls and described them using lots of interesting vocabulary. "He has scary teeth!" (Yakub) "Mine's got sticky up hair". (Nico)  We worked as a team to build a bridge using the large construction kits.  We also had fun in the mud kitchen preparing some food for the goats as an alternative to the luscious grass. 

Week beginning 6 February

Book of the week: In my heart

Rhyme of the week: Jack and Jill

Number rhyme of the week: Numberblocks - 1, 2 and 3 song

This week, we shared the book 'In my heart', a beautiful book that explores what emotions feel like, physically, inside. Learning to recognise and label emotions helps children to manage their feelings and behaviour as they learn to self-regulate. We have also been thinking about people who are special to us.  We made cards for special people in our lives.  The children found their name cards and used them to practice writing their names in their card.  We talked about where to start each letter and the importance of writing from left to right. We hope you have an enjoyable half term break. 

Week beginning 30 January

Book of the week: Each peach pear plum

Rhyme of the week: Tommy thumb

Number rhyme of the week: Number 3 song - Numberblocks

We began our new 'talk for writing' focus on the book 'Each peach pear plum' with some baking.  We looked at a recipe and talked about what ingredients we might need.  Then it was time for the fun part - making our own peach pear and plum pies. The children impressed us with their knife skills and enjoyed rolling out and cutting the dough.  We hope you enjoyed eating them at home!  We are using a story map to help us learn the story and have had fun spotting the rhyming words.

Week beginning 23 January

Book of the week: Lanterns and firecrackers

Rhyme of the week: Chinese New Year is here today

Number rhyme of the week: Number 2 song - Numberblocks

This week, we have been learning about how people around the world celebrate Chinese New Year.  Learning about ways in which people celebrate helps raise children's awareness and acceptance of what, how and why people celebrate.  It also helps put their own cultural identity and family celebrations into context.  We had fun using chopsticks to taste noodles and honed our scissor skills to make paper lanterns.  We also used paintbrushes to have a go mark making some Chinese characters - with spectacular results!

Week beginning 17 January

Book of the week: Naughty bus

Rhyme of the week: The wheels on the bus

Number rhyme of the week: Number 1 song - Numberblocks

We have had a fun week in Squirrels class.  The children have designed and made their own vehicles using reclaimed materials.  They learnt to use glue and sellotape to join materials. We drew a map of the Naughty bus' journey and placed 'environmental print' on our map to show the places they had visited.  Environmental print is the name given to the print that appears in signs, labels, and logos.  Being able to recognise environmental print is an important pre-reading skill; it helps bridge the connection between letters and supports children's first efforts to read.  We looked at ways of representing the numbers 1,2 and 3, such as number blocks, dice, numerals, finger numbers and numicon. Then we made collections focussing on the numbers one, two and three. What numbers can you see on your way home from school?

Week beginning 10 January

Book of the week: The wind blew

Rhyme of the week: The North wind doth blow

Number rhyme of the week: Five little speckled frogs

Our learning has been inspired by the rhyme 'The North wind doth blow', as we began our new theme 'Time to rhyme'.  We talked about scissor safety and practised holding scissors with our thumbs at the top, to cut in a straight line and make a kite.  We used tape to attach the string, then it was time for the fun part - testing our kites!  We also went on a seasonal walk, using our senses to find signs of winter.  We recorded our findings by drawing circles around the things we saw and crosses on the things that we didn't see.  We also read the book Mrs Mopple's washing line, which inspired us to wash some clothes and try out our new water pump.  Pegging clothes on the washing line is a great way to strengthen your finger muscles - can you peg washing on the line together at home? 

Week beginning 3 January

Welcome back and Happy New Year!  We have enjoyed hearing the children's holiday news.  Thank you for the moments from home, they have helped support the children explaining the three 'w's - 'what' they did 'who' they saw and 'where' they went.  

Week beginning 19 December

Book of the week: Eight candles to light

Rhyme of the week:  Christmas songs

This week we have been celebrating the Jewish Festival of Lights, Hanukkah. Some of the children shared photographs of them celebrating Hanukkah with their families and talked about how they light a new candle on each of the eight nights of Hanukkah. We learnt that the candles are held in a Menora and we lit our own.  We also had fun celebrating the end of term with a class party and taking part in the Santa run.  Thank you all for a wonderful first term of learning.  We hope you have a relaxing break and look forward to seeing you all again in the new year.

Week beginning 12 December

Walking in a winter wonderland!

Book of the week: Dear Santa

Rhyme of the week: Christmas songs for our sing-a-long

We were so excited about this week's snow and had great fun playing in it.  We went on a sensory walk around the school grounds.  We noticed how soft the snow looked and how it glistened in the sunlight. We enjoyed the crunching sound we made as we walked through the snow.  We discovered footprints and had great fun making our own and following others'. We listened carefully and noticed that when were quiet, it was especially quiet and still outside.  

Week beginning 12 December

Book of the week: Stick Man

Number rhyme of the week: Three wise kings

Rhyme of the week: Twinkle, twinkle Christmas star

This week in Squirrels class, we have read the story Stick man and went on a walk to the nature area, looking for Stick Man and observing changes in the season.  We made our own stick men, carefully wrapping wool, ribbon and yarn around to keep them warm.  We were excited to receive a letter from Stick Man and wrote him some lovely letters back, working hard on our pencil grip to draw careful pictures and write our names.   We learnt how to put a stamp on an envelope and practised writing our names.  This has been a skill we have loved practising during play and learn.  We have also been thinking about positional language and had fun putting Stick Man on, under, besides and inside a box. It's getting colder and we are excited about Christmas.  Don't forget it's our Nursery sing-a-long next Friday.  The children are invited to wear a Christmas jumper for the performance, if you already have one at home.

Week beginning 5 December

Book of the week:  Julián at the wedding

Number rhyme of the week: Five wooly lambs
Song of the week: Away in a manger

We continued our learning about celebrations this week, learning that a wedding is a party for love and reading the beautifully illustrated Julián at the wedding.  We learnt how to be photographers, looking carefully at the cameras in our home corner and then using a digital devise to capture our friends.  We had lots of fun taking candid shots during play and learn.

Week beginning 21 November

Book of the week: Alife gives a hand

Song of the week: The family song

Number rhyme of the week:  Happy Birthday with birthday claps

Our main story this week was a story about a little boy who goes to a party for the first time.  This prompted lots of discussion about birthdays, cakes and presents!  We made cards for a classroom teddy, using namecards to have a go at writing our names.  We also made cakes at the playdough table, rolling out the dough, carefully counting out the candles and choosing the correct number.  There were lots of opportunities to explore birthdays through play with a cake shop, party invitations and card making.  This week Squirrels class also enjoyed sharing their family photos with their friends.   Having real photos of our own families prompted discussion about relationships, family members and identity and allowed us to celebrate difference. Please do have a look at our class photo album at drop off or pick up.

Week beginning 14 November

Book of the week: The little red hen

Rhyme of the week: The bucket song

Number rhyme of the week: Five little men in a flying saucer

This week, we began our 'Talk for writing' focus on the story 'The little red hen'.  Telling a story is an important pre-writing skill - you can’t write it unless you can say it. We started off by making bread to help the little red hen.  Squirrels class listened to and followed instructions carefully. Kneading was tricky, but we persevered! We had fun stretching, squashing and rolling our dough.  The best part was when we were able to taste the bread. Delicious!

We used a story map and actions to learn the story and had a go at drawing our own maps.

This is the model text we have been using. Perhaps you could retell the story together at home?

Week beginning 7 November

Book of the week: A dark, dark tale

Rhyme of the week: Incy wincy spider

Number rhyme of the week: Zoom, zoom, zoom we're going to the moon

This week, we continued our learning about celebrations, with a focus on bonfire night.  The children were very excited to tell us about their experiences of bonfire night and enjoyed recording their ideas by creating their own fireworks paintings.  They tried really hard to use sweeping lines, wiggly lines and to use a range of colours in their paintings. We also put on our 'listening ears', listening to a range of noises from bonfire night.  We were really impressed at how good Squirrels class are at identifying the different sounds - a really key pre-reading skill. This week, we read the story 'A Dark, Dark Tale' and used our imaginations to predict how the story might end.  We also learnt how to play the game 'Incy, wincy spider'. Nothing encourages communication and language skills quite like playing a game with friends!  To play the game, you have to roll a dice and spin a wheel, to find out whether your spider will be going up, or down the water spout so there were lots of counting opportunities too.  The children listened really well to the instructions and had so much fun playing the game that they wanted to play it through 'Play and learn'.  Perhaps you could play a simple board game together at home.

Week beginning October 31

Book of the week: Lighting a lamp

Rhyme of the week: Twinkle twinkle little star

Number rhyme of the week: Five little fireworks

This week we have been learning about the Hindu celebration Diwali, the festival of lights.  We looked at some beautiful rangoli patterns and the children enjoyed mark making outside.  We used salt dough to roll and pinch our own diva lamps, using our “pinchy fingers” to sprinkle glitter on and add sequins. We have also been thinking about fireworks ahead of bonfire night and have discussed firework safety. 

Week beginning 17 October

Book of the week: Meg and Mog

Rhyme of the week: Magic finger

We have had a magical week in Squirrels class.   In preparation for our Magical Tea Party, the children baked biscuits.  They were really good at pouring, sprinkling, mixing and rolling their dough.  We hope you have a restful and fun half term holiday and look forward to seeing you all after the break.

Week beginning 10 October

Book of the week: Dear zoo

Rhyme of the week: Heads, shoulders, knees and toes

This week, we have continued to be Nursery explorers.  We looked in detail at the home corner and practised how to put the dressing up clothes on independently.  We also practised hanging the clothes on their hangers! Perhaps you could hang up some clothes together at home.  We also learnt about scissor skills - talking about how to handle and hold scissors correctly and practising snipping.  The beautiful weather offered us the opportunity to observe seasonal changes and we enjoyed using our senses on an Autumn walk.  Do you like the crunching sound the leaves make as you stomp through them?

Week beginning 3 October

Book of the week: What I like about me

Rhyme of the week: Miss Molly had a dolly

Continuing our theme of marvellous me, this week we drew self portraits.  The children looked at their faces in a mirror, looking closely at their eye colour, hair colour and skin tone, before drawing their faces.  It was great to see the children thinking about where to place their eyes and mouth and talking about the shapes they wanted to draw.  Can you guess who they are? 

Week beginning 26 September

Book of the week: All are welcome

Rhyme of the week: Ten little fingers

This week, Squirrels class has been learning to printmake.  We learnt that printmaking is copying a picture from one surface to another by pressing it onto paper.  We also learnt that we need to cover the table and wear an apron at the creative table.  The children carefully put their paint onto a pallet and used a paintbrush to spread the paint.  We had lots of fun experimenting to make different patterns, shapes and textures.  We've been exploring other ways to print during play and learn - in playdough, with stamps and cars.   This week we also looked at ways to be independent at snack time.  The children were encouraged to pour their own drink and to clear up any mess independently.  Perhaps they can have a go at pouring their own drinks at home?

Week beginning 19th September

Book of the week: Our class is a family

Rhyme of the week: Three little speckled frogs

This week, Squirrels class has continued to learn the routines of the classroom. As we are working together to build our classroom community, we chose the story 'Our class is a family' as our focus book. We also talked about the importance of hand hygiene and learnt how to wash our hands by ourselves.  We made our own instructions, which we put up in our classroom toilets, to help us be independent in our hand washing.  We also had fun exploring the outside playground.  This week's rhyme is Three Little Speckled Frogs.  Perhaps you can sing it together at home?

Week beginning 12 September 

Book of the week: Starting School

Rhyme of the week: Favourite nursery rhymes

This week, we have been learning the new routines and exploring the different areas of our learning environment.  We have been really impressed with the children's independence, resilience and positivity and are looking forward to an exciting year ahead.  Don't forget that it's 'Meet the Teacher' on Wednesday 21 September between 11.15 and 11.45