Maths - Doubles

In maths this week, we have been doubling. We carried out lots of exciting activities to explore double and what that means ‘two lots of the same or two lots of the same amount’. We used spots on a ladybird, painted dots on butterflies, and used mirrors to double numicon amounts.

We have challenged the children to explore doubles at home. If they have two grapes, can they double the amount and then say how many they have “double 2 is 4”. Please support your child to try this at home. We have also assigned a ladybird activity on Seesaw to complete.

Clubs

We are excited to offer a variety of afterschool clubs for children in Puffins and Penguins. These clubs will start after the Easter holidays and will run for the whole term.

• Tuesday - Multi Activity Club with Mrs Wenman.

Children will enjoy a variety of activities each week, including Lego, arts and crafts, yoga, cooking, and animal care.

• Thursday – Dance Club with Mrs Chadwick.

This club is also for Key Stage 1 (KS1) children.

• Friday – Multi Skills Club with outside agency Premier Education.

This club is open to Foundation and KS1 children.

These clubs will run 3.15pm – 4.15pm and are booked on a first come first served basis. You have received an e-mail with more information.

Early Reading

Rock Up and Read

Thank you for all your support with our ‘Rock Up and Read’ Sessions. It has been wonderful to see families sharing books and enjoying a love of reading. The children have been inspired by your visits. We have heard them talking with one another saying… ‘I read that book with my grandma’ and ‘My Mummy is good at reading this story’. It is lovely to hear lots of book talk. We hope it sparks lots of conversations at home.

Reading with Reverend Matt Bray

Puffins and Penguins were excited to invite Reverend Matt Bray back to school this week. He shared some Bible stories including Jonah and the big fish and the Easter story. He talked about the links between the two stories. Jonah being inside the big fish for three days and the resurrection of Jesus being on the third day. The children are always fascinated by the stories and have lots of questions to ask. Thank you, Matt, for supporting the children and enhancing our curriculum. Matt works at Bay Church in Paignton. He would like to invite all families to join them on Sunday 9th April for a free Easter spectacular show. More details can be found at the bottom of the newsletter.

Whole School Reading Newsletter

As part of our commitment to promoting a love of reading, the latest edition of our reading newsletter, ‘Reading Matters’, is available now on the school app and website. Please have a look at all the wonderful reading for pleasure activities that have been happening over the past half term. You will also find details of a ‘24 hour Reading River’ challenge for your child to complete over the Easter holidays.

Essentially, a reading river is a personalised list, in the shape of a river’s journey, with all the things you read marked along it. What extra information you add to it is up to you. You can add details to your reading river through writing, drawing, or using pictures and labels. As well as fiction or non-fiction books you might read, you may also include: - Newspapers, magazines, road signs, maps, cereal boxes, menus, Instructions, e-books, and much more. Mrs Bastin’s 24 hour reading river can been seen above.

If your child is not yet able to read or they are in the early stages of their reading journey, you may think that the reading river challenge is not applicable to them. However, it is quite the opposite. The challenge is important for them because we want children to realise the importance of reading and that it is all around them. We want children to notice print in the environment and this challenge will enable you to have these discussions with your child about what they can see. It might be a shop name, a logo, a house number, a number plate, or packaging for a game or toy. You could include food packaging, and definitely include books that you read to your child.

Please read the whole school reading Newsletter for more details. We look forward to displaying the reading rivers and sharing a love of reading.

Trip to Preston Community Pre-School

On Monday the children visited Preston Community Pre-School to hear the nursery children perform their Easter songs. It was an energetic and fun performance. Puffins and Penguins then performed some of their favourite poems and songs to the nursery. We were incredibly proud of all the children. It took courage to stand in front of an audience and perform. They were all tremendous, a real credit to the school. It was wonderful to be able to connect with the local community and share our learning.

We look forward to performing for you in the Summer term.  

Learning Experience – Once Upon a Time…

We continued our learning on traditional tales by using story maps and taking part in drama to retell a narrative. The children discussed the characters and key phrases they would need and arranged themselves into small groups to practise.

Teamwork has been our school value focus this half term and it was wonderful to see the children putting their learning into action. At every opportunity we talk to the children about how to collaborate and work as a team. These are some of the characteristics of teamwork that we share with the children and remind them to think about when collaborating.

• Be positive and encouraging 
• Be a good friend  
• Be kind and supportive to motivate and achieve a common goal 
• Lend a hand when others are stuck  
• Share your good ideas 

• Work to resolve group conflicts
• Listen to everyone’s ideas
• Allow others a fair opportunity to make decisions and understand compromise. 

We always acknowledge that working in a team can be tricky. It was wonderful to see them supporting each other and having fun. The children rehearsed the stories The Three Little Pigs, The Gingerbread Man, and The Three Billy Goats Gruff. They recorded the performances on the iPad and we cannot wait to share them with you on Seesaw.

Once Upon a time…

To support our learning, we baked our very own gingerbread people. We followed the recipe and weighed the ingredients. The children rolled the gingerbread dough and used the cutter to shape their gingerbread person. They enjoyed decorating and then devouring their gingerbread person; they were delicious.

Our early years curriculum is sequenced to build the foundations to support children moving into Key Stage 1. As part of our broad curriculum, we have already made a variety of food products in Foundation. The skills the children are learning now will support them in Design and Technology in Key Stage 1.

Lego Discover – Super Powered – Energy Connections and Users

In Lego this week the children discussed how energy is stored, distributed, and used in the community. The teams were challenged to build an energy station with power lines. They also had to follow the instruction card to build a kitchen with various appliances. The children then had to design and make something that uses electricity in the community. They were very creative making: electric cars, buses, ovens, an electric pet washer, kettles, and televisions. The children demonstrated great creativity and at the end of the session they talked about their models and how they use electricity.

Thank you for sharing photos of your six brick challenges at home. It has also been wonderful to see that children are making links with the lego programme and noticing wind turbines and solar panels in the community. Thank you for sharing the photos and supporting the learning at home.

Here are some of the photos. Keep up the great work, we have assigned a new challenge on Seesaw for you today.

Trip to Paignton Zoo

To celebrate the centenary of Paignton Zoo they are offering free trips to the zoo for school groups. On Thursday 4^th May we will be taking Puffins and Penguins to Paignton Zoo. This will be a fully funded trip and we will send you more information after the Easter holidays.

Woodland Camp

We are very lucky to have an Environmental area in school. We have prepared our vegetable beds, and this week some of the children started planting peas and seed potatoes. After the Easter holidays we will begin our learning enquiry ‘Let’s Investigate’ and we will be planting more seeds.

Also, in the woods we have been hammering nails. This helps develop fine motor skills, building up strength in the hands. It also supports hand eye coordination and teaches children about the importance of safety and the need to maintain focus. They really enjoyed this experience and demonstrated great resilience to learn a new skill. Next term we will be using lots of different hand tools to learn new skills.

Home Learning

• Enjoy the story on Seesaw.
• Check your child’s book bag and Seesaw for phonics activities and reading to complete at home.
• Try the new Six Brick activities on Seesaw.
• Talk about and explore doubles at home. Complete the ladybird activity on Seesaw.
• Make a 24 hour Reading River – See the whole school reading newsletter for more details

Important Dates        

• Monday 17^th April – first day of Summer term.
• Thursday 4^th May – Trip to Paignton Zoo

From Mrs Bastin, Mrs Clague and the Foundation Stage Team