The Nothing Poem

When children come home

At the end of the day,

There’s a question they’re asked

As they scurry to play.

“Tell me, what did you do in school today?”

“Nothing, I did nothing today!”

Perhaps nothing means that I played with blocks.

Tied my own shoes or found beautiful rocks.

Maybe the tadpoles changed today.

Or maybe I found a new friend as we play.

Maybe today was the very first time

My scissors followed a straight line.

Perhaps I learnt a new song,

And sang all the words.

Or I touched a feather from the strangest of birds.

When you are in preschool and your heart has wings,

”Nothing” can mean some wonderful things!

Author- unknown

Well, we have made it to the end of our school year! What a busy week of celebrations. We said goodbye to some of friends who are moving house or moving to different schools and we wish them all well on their next adventures.

The Barn Owls enjoyed celebrating their successful year with our mini graduation, wearing the hats we had made and then we played party games in the classroom.

The KS1 Carnival procession was fantastic and we danced to the music and looked at all the amazing masks and costumes.

We hope you all have a relaxing summer break and we look forward to welcoming back our younger Barn Owls and seeing the new Robins over the fence at playtime!

Thank you all for your very thoughtful and kind words and gifts. The Barn Owls team have been overwhelmed by them, and they are very much appreciated. 

Term 6 Week 6

This week we have been thinking about different types of holidays. We made a list of what we might need to take and how to pack our suitcase. We also made our own passports. On Monday we were camping in tents and making a campfire in the garden. On Thursday and Friday we were off to the airport to board our flight. The Garden Kitchen area became the check-in desk and the baggage carriers arrived to collect the suitcases.

We have also had some sporting races this week where we practiced our balancing, running and throwing skills. The Barn Owls made banners and flags, so when they were spectators they could cheer their classmates on. They all show great sportsmanship.

On Friday we had our final Forest School session as Barn Owls and the wet weather just added to the fun as they built shelters and jumped in puddles. The Write Dance activity in the classroom used shaving foam and food dye to make different shapes and patterns. 

On Friday afternoon we played games in the hall. Another busy and fun filled week of learning and exploring.

Barn Owls and their new friends had a lovely day in Robins class, exploring their new environment inside and outside. During break time and playtime the children went on the big school playground and some waved to their siblings. We had circle time where we shared what we like - lots of ice cream and chocolate, and we also played circle game - Doggy Doggy Where's your Bone? and parachute games. We  had so much fun today!

Going to School!

This week we have been thinking about our Barn Owls who are moving on to their Reception class in September. We have read the books, Going to School by Stephen Cartwright and The Colour Monster goes to School by Anna Llenas.

Our role play area has been a bedroom with school uniform to dress up in so the children can practice what they will need to do when they get ready to go to school.

We have had an outside classroom, where they have taken turns to teach the class phonics, and did a very good job!

The new Garden Kitchen is still very popular, with a pop up cafe this week!

The Barn Owls have been watering and checking on our sunflower each day. This is for the school investigation, and at the moment it is the second tallest!

The children have been fishing numbers and letters out of the water tray to sort.  There has been lots of construction with a variety of bricks this week and you can see photos of some of their amazing creations.

On Friday mornings half of the Barn Owl class attend the Forest School session with the Robins class and the others take part in the Write Dance activity. This uses music and dance to develop the skills needed for writing. This week the activity used shaving foam to make a series of patterns to the music. You can see that they all followed these instructions really carefully and had lots of fun too! We have also celebrated four birthdays this week.

Term 6 Week 4

This week we were  very excited when Mr. Greenough put in our new 'Garden Kitchen' that he had built. It is big enough for lots of children to use, complete with a guttering ball run, oven, hob and shelves. The children have been busy cutting, exploring and adding various herbs to their creations. Thank you Mr. Greenough for all your hard work!

We have been reading Sharing a Shell by Julia Donaldson, where crab and his friends live together in their shell helping each other out. The Barn Owls have been investigating different shells and decorating their own shells. 

Term 6 Week 3 What the Ladybird Heard at the Seaside

This week we have carried on the theme from the books what the ladybird heard. This week we are at the seaside, so our Wendy House has been decorated as a beach hut and Lifeguard station. The water butt turned into the lighthouse. We have all been enjoying the lovely sunny weather. There have been some spectacular water rescues as the children were lifeguards jumping in the water (on our blue mats) and pulling their friends to safety or throwing a lifeline for them to hold. A shark or two were even spotted by the lifeguards on patrol with their binoculars! We have been finding out what the flags mean when we see them at the beach and when it is safe to enter the water.

The Barn Owls have been investigating which items float or sink in the water tray. They have also been fishing for carrot fish this week!

There has been lots of counting when playing hopscotch, the ladybird game and rolling the dice to count the spots to place on the ladybird. We have also been measuring how tall our sunflowers have grown.

Children have enjoyed their Friday morning of either exploring Forest School or reading books with their year 5 Reading Buddy.

Term 6 Week 2

This week we have been reading the story What the Ladybird Heard by Julia Donaldson.

We have also been enjoying the sunny weather with lots of water play and making shades to keep cool under.

The ladybird in the story has a plan to stop Hefty Hugh and Lanky Len from stealing the prize cow on the from. Our Wendy House became the police station where the robbers end being taken to at the end of the story. Children made their own maps, just like the one Hugh and Len used to find the cow. They soaked the paper in tea to make it look old before drawing their map on it. Then they made Wanted posters of Hugh and Len.

We have have also been practising our counting skills as we placed spots on ladybirds and made patterns. The Barn Owls had fun decorating ladybird biscuits.

Mrs. Kapswarah came to read a story to the Barn Owls and on Thursday afternoon and we opened the classrooms between Barn Owls and Robins, so the children going up to Robins can get use to exploring their new classroom and it is always lovely to welcome the Robins back to Barn Owls class for a visit. 

At Forest School this Friday children were pond dipping and found newts, as well as all the usual fun from swinging in the tyre, climbing aboard the wooden boat, climbing trees and creating potions in the mud kitchen!

Term 6 Week 1

The Barn Owls have been very busy in the sunshine this week. We started a new term with a visit to the Planetarium on Tuesday. We did not have to go far, as it was in the hall! We all enjoyed learning about the stars and planets. You can see the lovely chalk pictures the children created after their visit.

Our book for this week was Whatever Next by Jill Murphy. Just like a Baby Bear in the story we have been building and making rockets in the garden to zoom to the moon.

The children have been busy watering and looking after their plants and getting very excited as they could see how much they had grown over the holiday.