This week Nursery have been lucky enough to have had a visit from a vintage, red, London bus to kick off our new expedition on “Would you travel by wheels, wings or other things?” The children were very excited to climb aboard the double decker and were interested in examining key features of the bus acquiring lots of new language such as…
Indicators…Number plate..Petrol Cap Drivers cab and stepIdentification number Grill Hub caps and finally Stairwells and pole.
The driver kindly played along with an imaginary trip to the seaside, pulling the bus forward and backwards in the car park to allow the children to experience the sound and buzz of the engine. He also sounded his horn and let the children experiment with the bell. Nursery sat on both the lower and the top deck of the bus and looked out of the windows to see what they could see.
The finishing touches have been added to our bear cub, with Olivia completing his head and each child from the foundation stage putting their hand print on his back as part of our community crew. All that remained to do, was for the logos to be attached and the bear to be varnished before Crewso began his journey to Leeds to join the Leeds Bear Hunt for the summer.
Crewso said his farewells to Norton and began his journey all shiny and proud, to represent the children of Norton Campus!
He was excited to meet his new temporary crew when he arrived in Leeds, stopping for a minute to take in the view of the River Aire across Rose Wharf in the sunshine. Then he happily climbed the stairs and joined his pack ready to be situated in his new home somewhere in Leeds City Centre. He’s going to let us know exactly where he is soon, so that we can all go and visit him! Have fun Crewso! #leedsbearhunt #leedsbearhunt2023 #leedshospitalscharity
But yes, Norton Infant School has it’s very own Bear Cub – Crewso!
A short while ago, I launched a competition to design a limb or part of a large fibre glass bear cub in aid of raising funds for Leeds Children’s Hospital, who are currently supporting one of our families. Below is Bruce, who has found the very first bear on the Leeds Bear Hunt Trail, at Leeds Hospital whilst receiving his treatment.
We have received some beautiful, thoughtful and intricate entries for the competition from most year groups across the campus and I am very proud to announce the artists taking part in the design and decoration of our very own bear cub are…. Ava from 6SO, Evelyn from 4TE, James from 3LG, Olivia in Class 4, Isla in Class 2, Alarna in Class 1 and Lily-Mai in Nursery. As the project forms part of a legacy from our 2022 Foundation Stages Autumn Expedition of “How do we care for the bears?” Every child in the Foundation Stage and Nursery will be contributing their hand print to the final design also.
The artwork on the bear has commenced and each child has been carefully following their designs to produce an outstanding piece of art, which will be displayed in Leeds City Centre over the summer. Everyone is invited to visit our bear and take part in the Leeds Bear Hunt and feel proud that we have contributed to this fantastic event in aid of such a worthy cause. These children are activists making a difference to their community and we are incredibly proud of them. With teamwork and collaboration anything is possible! Here is a sneak peak of what has been happening….
Keep your eyes peeled for the finished bear over the coming week, before it makes it’s trip to Leeds for it’s temporary home over the summer during the trail. After the trail has finished the bear will return to us at the Infant School to live in our EYFS outdoor space as it’s forever home. There will be more fund raising events happening throughout the rest of the school year, to contribute towards the sponsorship of our bear cub, to raise money for the Leeds hospitals charity. As always your support is greatly appreciated and we are truly thankful that we can make a difference together as a community. For more information follow #Leedsbearhunt #Leedsbearhunt2023 #leedshospitalscharity
Nursery got their chicks home to roost today in our Nursery building. We have excitedly watched them hatch over the past week, tying in with our learning of the hen life cycle. The children have loved to watch the process and are enjoying watch the chicks grow and develop. I think it got all too much for them at lunch time and they huddled under the lamp to keep warm and rest.
The children in EYFS are very excited by the arrival of 14 chicks that are two to three days from hatching!
We are going to be watching them very closely to see if we can see any eggs with cracks or wobbling meaning the chicks are starting to make their way out into the world. It’s going to be great fun looking after them over the next two weeks!
Nursery have enjoyed a day of Red Nose Day themed fun and learning. We have used our motor skills to fish for red items in the water tray, decorated Red Nose Biscuits, designed, cut and made superhero masks, made funny red rose faces on sticks and taken part in a special red nosed themed crew with the parachute practising our teamwork skills. All of the children looked amazing in their red clothes and especially designed T-shirts for the school competition, raising money for such a good cause.
During our Thoughtful Thursday Crew this week, Nursery were thinking about animal cruelty following on from our learning about how we can care for animals. The children experienced a toy dog fastened inside a cage, who was crying and whimpering. It was cramped and dark. The children empathised with the dog and were outraged about how he was been treated and his needs not been met. The children consolidated their learning by suggesting what the dog would need to meet his needs, make him happy and live a healthy lifestyle. Some children even linked the dogs emotions to our zones of regulation, suggesting that the dog would be in the blue and red zone.
The children showed kindness towards the dog and suggested that ”he should be let out” and “allowed to play” and ”go to the toilet” or ”have a drink and some food”. We decided to rescue the dog and when the children let the dog out, Nursery cheered. The children wanted the dog to live with our other toy dogs in our tuff tray with comfortable surroundings. ”He’s now in the Green Zone” one of the children remarked. Amazing work Nursery!
We have been so impressed with the t-shirt designs around school today. Below are the winners from the different classes, voted for by the children. Our overall winner, picked by Mrs Ponsonby is . . . Brooke!
We will make sure all of our winners get their prizes on Monday morning – well done everyone!
Thank you to everyone who wore red, designed a shirt or made a contribution to Comic Relief.
Mrs Parsons xx
Morning Nursery WinnerAfternoon Nursery Winner Class One Winner Class Two Winner Class Three Winner – FrontClass Three Winner – Back Class Four WinnerClass Five Winner Class Six Winner
Science week went hand in hand with the culmination of our expedition on “How do things grow and change?” So we combined the two celebrations and it was great! The children show cased and shared their learning and beautiful work with their families. Together they experimented with planting cress heads and making bird feeders.
The children shared their learning journeys displaying work from over three case studies which were as follows; How can I help my body to grow? What happens when we plant a seed? And What happens to animals as they grow?
And took home their final products, a Daffodil in a hand decorated pot, tied with a ribbon of their size at the beginning of the expedition. Just look at our beautiful work!
On Tuesday Nursery were lucky enough to visit Boston Park Farm as part of our exploration of our over arching guiding question for our current expedition of ”How do things grow and change?” The children had a wonderful day exploring the farm and meeting the animals in their natural environment – a very first for some of us. We met cows, goats, sheep, pigs, horses, donkeys, alpacas, chickens and cockerels, turkeys, rabbits and a firm favourite spring lambs!
There were bumpy tractor rides through the fields and forests into the open countryside led by Farmer Jack. The children were invited to sit on and experience the tractors in the barns… some pretended they were going to plough the fields, others were going to collect the cows, whilst some were going the seaside on their tractor. A thrilling encounter for any child!
We took part in farm themed crafts using loose parts and natural materials to create our very own sheep. The children used fine motor skills to carefully construct their creations. They all looked fabulous!
Between all of the hard work and exploring the children also had some free time to pursue their own agenda and visit the beautiful play grounds and areas available really soaking up the sun and nature around them.
Not to mention lunch! Children were excited to share their lunchtime and experiences with each other, making new friends as both Nursery sessions were together.
We also had a stow away – who wanted to come and experience the farm too… one of Nurseries Everywhere Bears!! He had fun meeting the baby lambs too!
