Newsletter – Autumn 2022 2nd half of the term.
Welcome back to the second half of the autumn term and the run up to Christmas! There will be many exciting things happening in the coming weeks for the children including our nativity for the pre-school children.
Please ensure you look at the term dates at the end of the letter.
Below is the topic each room is exploring this half-term and the exciting activities your child/ren may be involved in. If you feel you can help in any way towards the topic/activities please see Ali, Bernadette, Louise or Debbie.
Field mice room:
The topic is – FOOD! week 1 – Divali, week 2 – bonfire night, week 3 – I like food, week 4 – the café, week 5 – ready steady cook, week 6 – ready for Christmas, week 7 – Christmas.
Personal, Social & Emotional Development: Over the next 7 weeks the children will read the story of Rama and Sita and consider the emotions and moral messages contained within the story. Think about safety for themselves and others during Bonfire night and when watching and holding fireworks. They will discuss their favourite and less favourite foods and a selection of foods will be available for the children to taste. Whilst in ‘the café’ children will be reminded/encouraged to say please and thank you to their ‘waiter/waitress’. Christmas will be discussed, and the children will work together as they prepare for the nativity and making cards and gifts.
Communication & Language: During Diwali the children will hear songs and rhymes from India and learn the story of Rama and Sita. We will be looking at words which describe fireworks and the noises they make. Books such as ‘The Giant Sandwich’ and ‘Sam’s sandwich/pizza’ will be read, and the children’s responses scribed and displayed. Shopping lists and receipts will be in the café for children to use alongside recipe books and discussions on which ingredients are needed for making ‘sweets’. From the stories the children will be encouraged to talk about the sequence of events occurring in them. Rhyming couplets will be made up such as ‘his name is Fred, and he likes bread’. A letter will be sent to Father Christmas and the children asked what they would like for Christmas.
Physical Development: For gross movement within the first week Indian music will be played, and the children encouraged to move/travel in different ways and keeping different parts of their bodies on the ground. Scarves and sparkly resources will be used to make movement with different ways of travelling will be considered, hopping, skipping, jumping…. To promote fine motor skills the children will be involved with chalk marking (fireworks), cutting and sticking, wrapping presents for Santa, stirring and rolling sweets and making sandwiches.
Literacy: Using small world characters the children will be encouraged to retell the story of Rama and Sita. Shopping lists will be written for the cooking activity as well as lists to Santa and cards for Christmas. The children will be encouraged to write their names, cover it in glue and then add glitter for the firework display.
Maths: Rangoli patterns will be made looking at symmetry of shapes and colours. Number rhymes (0-10) will be sung, and number bingo will be played. Edible sparklers and sweets will be made where the children will weigh out their ingredients. Different sized boxes will be wrapped for the grotto and paper chains constructed with the children measuring and comparing them against the area they are going – window, role play…We will also be on a countdown for Christmas!
Expressive arts and design: Diva lamps will be made and lit together at the end of the first week. ‘Henna tattoos’ will be drawn on the children’s hands (using face paint). Black paper, metallic paint, glitter, glue… will be available for the children to create their interpretation of firework night. Patterns will be made using paint and vegetables, pasta tubes decorated for threading, decorations for our Christmas tree at the chapel will be made – Jack and the beanstalk is our theme. The nativity songs and words will be learnt for the nativity.
Free play:
Within the water tray there will be tea sets and bubbles, for washing up, bubbles being blown through straws, clear containers and coloured water, glitter being added ad pasta cooked in coloured water. The role play area will evolve over the term from an Indian café to a restaurant to Santa’s grotto. Encouragement will be given for the children to mark make in several different ways. From writing menus, shopping lists and recipes to drawing Rangoli patterns on their hands. The construction area will be set up with Duplo, Mobilo, train track or wooden bricks for the children to build and create.
Rising threes:
The topic is colour and shape; week 1 – Diwali and Halloween, week 2 – bonfire and fireworks, week 3 – circles, week 4 – winter colours, week 5 – ready for Christmas, week 6 – Christmas and week 7 – party time!
PSED: Looking at Diwali (the festival of light), bonfire night and fireworks, Children in need, giving and receiving presents, the excitement of Christmas and taking turns.
C&L: The children will talk about the changes they can observe when they plant their seeds, the changes in weather as we advance to winter and the birds needing to find food. Christmas stories will be read and the children to write lists and talk about the presents they would like. After Bonfire night the children will be encouraged to talk about the noises and colours they saw in the sky. Remembrance Day will also be discussed with the children and a short film watched from CBeebies.
Lit: The story of Rama and Sita will be read for Diwali, and other stories such as Fireman Sam, The Hungary Caterpillar, Elmer the elephant will be read and discussed.
Phy: To promote gross motor skills the children will be encouraged to take part in Yoga and cardio exercises. To promote fine motor skills the children will have the opportunities of peg boards, playdough, chalks for fireworks, wrapping presents and making polka dot cookies and crowns for children in need.
Maths: Symmetrical patterns will be looked at and created, using different shapes rockets will be constructed and created, using circles caterpillars will be created and trees created using triangles before being decorated.
UTW: The children will study the inside of a pumpkin before taking out the seeds, refilling it with compost and then plant the seeds in the compost. After making ‘breadstick’ fireworks the children will have a ‘campfire’ outside and drink hot chocolate whilst eating their fireworks. The life cycle of the caterpillar will be discussed, and bird feeders made for the garden.
EA&D: Diva lamps will be made using clay and then decorated, using apples and orange paint pumpkins will be created and faces drawn on. Firework pictures using chalk or paint will be created and again using apples and red paint poppies will be made. The mixing of primary colours will be explored, and Elmer elephants created before preparations for Christmas cards and decorations is begun.
Dormouse room:
Autumn Term- Part 2.
W/B: 01.11.2022: Fireworks!!!
Returning from half term, we will start by celebrating Guy Fawkes and Fireworks. The children will be making their own firework displays by using paint and glitter. We will also be making our own rockets from Duplo bricks, and we use lots of numbers for counting down to blast off!!! Additionally, we will be introducing, encouraging the use of some words such as ‘whoosh’ ‘whizz’ ‘bang’ ‘pop’.
W/B 07.11.2022 & 14.11.2022: Jack and the Beanstalk.
Each year we take part in the Christmas tree festival at the Miner’s Chapel in St Just and each year a theme is set. This year the theme is ‘Fairytales’ so we are decorating our tree to the story of Jack and the Beanstalk. We will be introducing the story to the children. They will start to make their own green handprint leaves covering them in green glitter to make the stalk which will be wrapped around the tree going up to the castle at the top. The children will also be making some of the gold coins and golden eggs. When retelling the story, the children will be able to explore the props to the story in the small world tray. This will allow them to re-enact the story and/or makeup their own little story.
W/B 14.11.2022-05.12.2022: Christmas Crafts.
Over this period our little elves will appear in the Dormouse Christmas Grotto ready to start making all of their own crafts for their loved ones to come home with. There will be a variety of activities on the go from using tools for cutting, sticking, handwriting, painting, baking, pom-poms being carefully placed, and glitter being sprinkled everywhere!!!
W/B 12.12.2022: Party Week!!
This last week of our term will involve eating party food, dancing, playing games and celebrating Christmas with the most fun possible. We will be moving and using our own movements to dance to Christmas music and the children being really vocal and learning new Christmas songs.
News:
Laura Jones who was working in the Dormouse room has left Brambles for a TA position at Alverton School – we wish Laura all the best and will still see her around brambles when she picks up her son.
Our AGM is being held on Monday 14th November here @ Brambles. The time will now be 11.30 am and not 9.30 as stated in the previous letter.
Please remember to return any Tempest pictures online to Tempest before the deadline date to avoid late return postage fees.
Christmas lunch will be Wednesday 7th December. If any children who would normally have a packed lunch would like to join us for Christmas lunch instead, please see Debbie. A hot lunch will be £2.50 including a pudding.
The nativity will be held at St Just Town Hall (to be confirmed) on Tuesday 13th December at 10.30 am. The roles and words for the children will be handed out the week commencing 14th December once we have started rehearsals and seen which children are confident to speak in front of each other and which role they are comfortable with!
End of term is Friday 16th December. We will have a Christmas party (12 – 2pm) and all children are invited. If your child does not normally attend on a Friday but would like to attend the party, please see Debbie. We may need some parents to stay so ratios are maintained. We are hoping Father Christmas will attend with presents for all! Brambles will supply the food and we ask for a donation from parents towards the cost.
We are open for holiday club for Monday 19th and Tuesday 20th December from 8 am – 3 pm. There is NO after school pick-up. There are 5 spaces left for the Monday and 1 space for a 3 year + on the Tuesday – please speak to Debbie if you require a space.
If you are needing to change any hours or days for your children from January, please speak to Debbie before the end of November. January is looking busy for the Dormouse room especially and there may be no room for flexibility.
Spring Term commences Tuesday 3rd January at 8 am.
Thank you.