Stanway Fiveways Primary School

Friday 24th March

We are so proud of how the children's play has been developing and how they are showing their learning through their self-chosen actvities. Hopskotch was popular this week, as the children physically challenged themselves to co-ordinate hopping and skipping as well as counting forwards and backwards. Some of the children were so engaged in this game that  they  extended the game by adding extra numbers!  There was also a game of beanbage throwing to explore the composition of number.

The children often use classroom resources for their own investigations - this week pegs and pens were used to investigate height as they worked together to build the highest tower.

The outside stage became a police station this week and it was lovely to see children using their writing skills in their play. The children have also been using lettered duplo to spell tricky words and playing phonics games on the smartboard! What a lot of learning!

Friday 17th March

This week the children have enjoyed lots of stories about Mummies and people who care for them. They had lots of discussions about ways in which their Mummies care for them and talked about the special qualities they have. Some fantastic portraits of Mummies were produced, with the children mixing primary colours to create skin tones.

In maths the children were learning about  3D shapes and patterns. They particularly enjoyed making patterns with their bodies and joining in some action pattern songs.

In phonics, the children were very proud to show how they can write some simple words by sounding them out and using correct letter formation.

Friday was another excting day as the whole school came to school in bright colours, wearing things which brought us joy, to celebrate Red NoseDay!

Friday 10th March

Holly, Hazel and Maple were excited to learn all about the Hindu spring festival of Holi this week. They were able to link it to all the signs of spring which they have begun to spot in the world around them. The children learnt that it is often called the Festival of Colour and were thrilled to discover that is is often celebrated by throwing lots of coloured powder around! The children learnt also learnt about other ways in which Holi is celebrated which they linked with celebrations such as Bonfire Night and Christmas and birthdays. They finished the week by making some sweet treats called laddoos and were all confident enought to try this mostly unfamiliar food.

Friday 3rd March

EYFS had so much fun celebrating World Book Day alongisde the rest of the school! The children were very excited to come into school and show off their costumes. The EYFS staff were just as excited to get into role and share their love of books! There was an unexpected surprise character visitor who arrvied all the way from Hollywood - Miss Minnie Mouse! Later in the day all three classes enjoyed story time with Mr Squirrel and enjoyed hearing some new books. In the afternoon, the children visited the book swop and all were able to choose a high quality book to take home. The children finished off the day with a shared reading session with their buddy class. It was so lovely to see just how much our children have the reading bug and how they are familar with a wealth of stories.

Friday 10th February

There was lots of dressing up this week, as the children have become increasingly inspired by their collaborative story creations in out Talk for Writing learning.  The story telling grew increasingly complex as the children moved their narrative to the stage. They so enjoyed their play, that it continued inside the next day!

On Friday the whole school enjoyed a non-uniform day to round of a busy term. The children were proud to bring in many donations to the food bank, supplied by very generous and supportive parents.

Friday 3rd February

The children were very busy this week and particularly enjoyed being outside while the weather was a little warmer and the sun was shining! Some of the children explored the large dominoes and the giant numicon to apply some of the maths they have been learning. They practised the skills of subitising (being able to see how many objects quicky, without needing to count) by matching dominoes and noticing doubles. Then the children wanted to put the numicon in order so they applied their knowledge of 'one more' and quickly wanted to use the chalk to write to write the numerals. All this mathematical and cooperative learning while the children were playing!

Some of the children have been so fired up by their phonics learning that they set their own challenge for their friends! They hid soome phonic sounds in the sand and waited to see if anyone could find them and say what they were.

Elsewhere in the outside area, we had Stanway Fiveways TV! A group of children worked together to make a sofa, televesion and remote control. Then they had fun taking turns to 'be on TV' presenting the news, singing and interviewing each other.

Inside, some of the children have really got the 'writing bug' this week! They have enjoyed some writing challenges and used writing while engaged in role- play.

Friday 27th January

Our Chinese New Year learning and celebrations continued this week. Each class went into our D.T. kitchen to make Chinese stir fry. They worked in groups and shared all the jobs, learning to collect their equipment and new skills such as slicing, tearing, grating and mixing. They followed a simple recipe and many of the children experienced some unfamiliar vegetables for the first time. Our stir fry was made of mange touts, pak choi, peppers, beans sprouts, carrots and noodles. The children watched as the stir fry was quickyl cooked and listened to it sizzle. Finally they all enjoyed a tasty bowlful and some of the children had a go with chopsticks. There were even prawn crackers to go with the feast!

We were very proud of how sensibly the children handled all the tools and worked together.

Friday 20th January 

The children have been very excited to begin learning about Chinese New Year. They found out how it is celebrated and thought about similarities and differences between different types of celebrations. They enjoyed looking at artefacts associated with Chinese New Year and used their creative skills to make some paper lanterns inspired by their learning. Some children even decided to work togehter and make a Chinese dragon puppet. They were fascinated to see how Chinese numerals are written. 

Despite the frosty weather, the outside area was as busy as usual. We have seen lots of collaborative work this week, from building and taking turns on an obstacle course, to making the climbing frame into a den!

Friday 13th January

We have been very happy to see so many excited faces returning to school to start the new term! The children have quickly settled and remembered the routine of school life. This week they had their first experience of cooking in our D.T. room. The children all washed their hands thoroughly and listened carefully to instructions to make gingerbread men. They measured out ingredients and fetched the equipment they needed. Some children even had a go at cracking the eggs! They were very proud to show off their gingerbread men to their families,

This week parents were invited to attend a road safety event with their children where keeping safe was discussed in afun way. Some of the children were even inpsired to make their own posters afterwards.

Friday 9th December

This week we really started to get into the Christmas spirit! So much learning, fun and collaboration. The children performed their Nativity to their families and absolutely rose to the challenge. We were so proud to see them singing with such big smiles on their faces. The same day , we all enjoyed wearing our Christmas jumpers and sharing a Christmas dinner together. The children had helped to decorate their classrooms and chose some Christmas songs to listen to. Our story text this week was of course, the Natvity story and some of our children were inspired to act it out, using their own ideas to make props. They thought very hard about how Mary would have felt to see an Angel and decided that she may have felt happy or shocked! The  children then decided to have a go at making haloes so that they could pretend to be angels. To round off the week, the children were delighted to receive an early Christmas present - our new stage arrived and they quickly put it to good use by singing our Nativity songs.

Friday 2nd December

Our story text this week was The Gingerbread Man. The children have been super story tellers, using a story map and actions, They loved having the challenge of putting a number of buttons onto  ginger-scented playdough!  On Friday they used their fine motor skills to ice a real gingerbread man as a treat for all their hard work. There was another treat this week, in the form of a pantomime! The children sat very well and there were lots of giggles and joining in as they watched Beauty and the Beast with Years One and Two. Mr Squirrel has so enjoyed seeing the children's enthusiasm for stories and books, that he came to Reception to share a book with them!

Friday 18th November

Pudsey fever has reigned over EYFS this week! The children were so excited to learn that Friday would be Pudsey's birthday we were going to hold a party for him. The children were full of motivation and enthusiasm all week to get ready for the party. They shared their ideas and decided that they needed to make cards, hats and bunting. They wrapped presents for him and made playdough cakes, complete with candles. The children also made invitations for each other. In all this excitement they were also practising using their writing skills and using mathematical language. When everything was ready, everyone enjoyed a fabulous party and there was even a visit from Pudsey himself! 

Friday 11th November

Another busy week in Early Years saw the children enjoying a wide range of activites and learning opportunities. We were very proud of how sensibly the children sat for our two minute silence for Armistice Day. We thought about how many people have helped to create the peaceful country we liive in today. The children then got creative and made some beautiful poppies in a variety of ways. In Maths this week we have learnt lots of positional language and the children had fun creating their own obstacle course to go over and through!  Some of the children have had some runny noses and coughs this week so there were lots of discussions about the importance of washing hands. To investigate this further, we set up a science experiment to see what happens to bread when it has been touched by dirty hands. The children enthusiastically made their predictions and we will wait and see....!

Friday 21st October

What an exciting end to our first term at school The children got in the Hallowe'en mood by mixing potions and making up spells, investigating pumpkins and making life-size skeletons! They even carefully learnt to use some real tools to carve pepper lanterns all reayd for a glowing tea light. The week ended with a crazy scary hair day and watching Room on the Broom., joining in with the repetitive story language,

Friday 14th October

The children continue to be busy developing their confidence in exploring their learning environment. During Child Initiated learning time, they have three classrooms and our wonderful outside area to explore. We have been so pleased to observe friendships developing across the classes! Here are some pictures which give a taste of what another busy week it has been in EYFS!

This week we have continued to explore our wonderful learning environment, both inside and outside. We have become confident to explore in all three classrooms and discover the variety of activities each one offers. Some of us were inspired by our phonics learning, to make igloos....igloo begins with 'i'! We were very excited when year 4 came to read books with us. We really enjoyed getting to know some older children and talking about our favourite stories.

We are so proud of how well the children have settled in their first week! There have been lots of smiles, giggles and excitement at learning new routines and beginning to make new friendships. The children have loved exploring our wonderful learning environment  and getting to know the teaching staff.