We have had a wonderful time learning all about Chinese New Year. We have been exploring the traditions and celebrations linked to this special festival and discovering how it is celebrated around the world. The children enjoyed reading a story to learn about the animals in the Chinese Zodiac. As part of our creative activities, we made fantastic dragon masks and colourful lanterns. In PE, we took part in our very own dragon dance.
This week, we have been learning all about Chinese New Year and how it is celebrated. We found out that this year is the Year of the Horse and enjoyed learning about the animals in the Chinese zodiac. We also discovered which year we were born in, and lots of us were excited to find out we were born in the Year of the Pig or the Year of the Dog!
This morning, we tried something new by practising our handwriting in Mandarin. We had a go at writing Happy New Year and talked about how different the characters look compared to the letters we usually write. We also made beautiful Chinese lanterns using bright colours and patterns, which we were very proud of.
It has been a fun and interesting way to learn about another culture, and the classroom has been full of excitement as we celebrated Chinese New Year together. 🐎🏮
This morning, we were lucky to welcome the School Nursing Team into school for a special visit. They helped us learn all about what school nurses do and how they support children to stay healthy and well.
We spent time learning about our teeth, what their job is, and why they are so important. The children talked about how we can take the best care of our teeth, including brushing twice a day, choosing healthy foods, and visiting the dentist.
It was a really engaging session, with lots of great questions and thoughtful contributions from the children. A big thank you to the School Nursing Team for helping us learn how to look after our bodies and build healthy habits for the future. 🦷✨
This week we became explorers, artists, and writers! We studied famous landmarks such as Doncaster Minster and the Frenchgate Shopping Centre. We researched key facts and learned about their history, purpose, and importance to the local community. The children used this information to write some interesting facts, showing pride in their knowledge of Doncaster. We also became artists and carefully sketched landmarks using observation skills. After sketching, we used watercolours to bring our drawings to life.
Our recent focus text, The Boy Who Sailed the World, has provided a wonderful springboard for creativity, language development and imagination in the classroom. By exploring the story together, the children were able to dive deeply into the language, themes and experiences within the book, turning one text into many rich learning opportunities. We began by unpicking the vocabulary from the story, helping the children to understand and use new and exciting words. This supported their comprehension and gave them confidence to talk about the story in their own words.
One moment that truly captured the children’s imaginations was the magical sunset described in the book. Inspired by this, we created our own sunsets through art. The children experimented with mixing colours, exploring how different shades blend and change. The results were truly beautiful, with each piece reflecting the children’s creativity and growing confidence as artists.
In our writing, we focused on the sentence: “The boat can sail.” The children used their phonics knowledge to segment each word and write the sentence independently. It was fantastic to see them applying their learning so carefully, and taking pride in forming their letters neatly and beautifully on the lines.
As the story continues, the boy stumbles upon an island home where he discovers new friends. This led perfectly into our Creative Chameleon Crew session, where the children used their imaginations to think about what they might find on their own island homes. Their ideas were imaginative and varied — from friendly animals and hidden treasures to colourful houses and exciting adventures.
This text has shown us just how powerful a single story can be. Through reading, art, writing, phonics and imaginative play, the children have developed a wide range of skills while staying fully engaged and inspired. We are so proud of their enthusiasm, creativity and the progress they are making every day.
In our recent Counting Collections sessions, we’ve been focusing on the composition of numbers — understanding how numbers can be broken into parts and put back together. It has been fantastic to see the children applying this in their counting, often splitting their collections into two groups and recording their thinking with simple number sentences.
I have been especially impressed with their mathematical mark making. The children are confidently using numbers, symbols, and drawings to represent their ideas, showing a deepening understanding of how numbers work. We are very proud of the progress they are making and their growing confidence as young mathematicians.
