Yesterday afternoon, Year 6 enjoyed a well-deserved off-timetable afternoon enjoying Mrs Rhodes’ karaoke machine. There were highlights including duets and group songs and maybe some unexpected auditions for the end of year performance.
This week, Crew Frost were given another exciting opportunity to take part in a PE session with Legacy. The children showed fantastic enthusiasm and engagement throughout the session as they developed a range of important physical and social skills through team games and ball activities.
The stages of learning were carefully scaffolded to support the children’s understanding and confidence. We first began by practising simple rolling skills, working in teams to roll the ball back and forth to one another. Once the children became more confident, we moved on to practising aiming and throwing the balls at pins to score points for their teams, helping to develop hand-eye coordination, control, and turn-taking skills.
Finally, the children were introduced to bats and learned about the role of a bowler, including fetching the ball after it had been hit. The children absolutely loved this part of the activity and showed great excitement as they explored the different roles within the game. It was wonderful to see many of the children making links to their own past experiences and confidently talking about games and sports they have played before.
Activities like these help to build important skills for Reception, including listening and attention, following instructions, teamwork, coordination, and resilience. We were incredibly proud of the children’s amazing listening skills, positive attitudes, and encouragement towards one another throughout the session. Well done, Crew Frost!
Last week, the children were busy developing and strengthening their balancing skills through a fun and exciting physical development activity. Together, we created our very own “bridges” to carefully walk across whilst making sure to stay away from the sharks underneath!
The children absolutely loved this activity and showed fantastic levels of concentration and determination as they carefully balanced their way across. It was wonderful to see the children naturally using their arms to support their balance and thinking carefully about how to move their bodies safely and with control. Activities like this are so important for developing core strength, coordination, spatial awareness, and overall gross motor skills, which all support children’s physical development and readiness for writing.
What made the activity even more special was watching the children encourage, motivate, and help one another as they took turns crossing the bridges. Crew Frost showed fantastic resilience when things felt tricky and demonstrated such kindness and teamwork throughout the activity. We are so proud of the way the children supported each other whilst building their confidence and physical skills. Well done, Crew Frost!
This week we have started our independent write about an endangered animal searching for food. We have loved inventing a new story… here we are using our plans and resources to help us produce beautiful stories.
Today we explored the school grounds to see what plants we could identify. We found Daisy, Bluebell, Dandelion and Buttercup.
We blew the dandelions and talked about how the tiny seeds we blow away will eventually settle into the soil and grow into new dandelions. It was fascinating to watch the seeds float through the air!
We also tried the old wives’ tale with the buttercup under our chins to see if we like butter… and guess what? We do! Everyone loved seeing the yellow reflection shine under their chin.
While exploring the forest school area, we spotted some new plants beginning to grow. We carefully observed their leaves and stems and wondered what they might become. We can’t wait to keep watching them grow and see if we can identify them over the next few weeks!
One day each week in Crew Frost, we spend time focusing on developing our fine motor skills through activities such as using scissors to cut along lines and around shapes. Cutting is an excellent skill to master in the Early Years, as it supports so many of the important skills children need as they begin their writing journey.
The children are learning how to separate and strengthen the muscles in their fingers and hands whilst carefully controlling the scissors. They are also developing their hand-eye coordination and problem-solving skills as they work out how to move the paper and scissors together whilst trying to stay on the lines. This takes a huge amount of concentration, control, and perseverance.
Alongside this, we have been practising our “ready to write” positioning by sitting with our tummy to the table and all six chair legs on the floor. Developing core strength, balance, and posture is a very important part of early writing development, helping children to gain the stability needed for mark making and pencil control in the future.
Although cutting may look simple, it is actually a very tricky skill that requires children to coordinate many different movements at the same time. We are so proud of the resilience, determination, and focus Crew Frost have shown whilst practising these important skills. Well done, Crew Frost — it is much harder than it looks!
During our choosing time, Crew Frost have been developing their early mathematical skills through a range of practical, hands-on interventions linked to the EYFS Development Matters guidance. This week, the children have focused on recognising, extending, and creating their own two-part patterns, as well as organising and comparing objects by size from biggest to smallest.
The children showed great curiosity and engagement as they explored pattern and shape through play. They were encouraged to use mathematical language to describe what they could see, including words such as pointy, corners, sides, stripy, and edges. This supported the children in talking about and exploring shapes and patterns around them.
These activities help to build strong foundations within the Mathematics area of learning, particularly in noticing patterns, comparing size, and developing spatial reasoning. Crew Frost have worked incredibly hard to explain their thinking, solve problems, and apply their learning independently during provision.
We are so proud of the progress Crew Frost are making as they continue to grow in confidence and prepare for their transition into Reception. Well done, Crew Frost!
Here’s a selection of beautiful work from across the XP Trust!
To read about other stories from across the XP Trust, visit xptrust.org.
Uncovering a big problem @ Norton Infants
Something Better Change @ XP Doncaster
The band is just fantastic that is really what I think @ Norton Juniors
Write to us at [email protected] – we want to hear about it, write about it and celebrate it!
Here are our magazines all lined up ready to go for Friday’s assembly! If your child has read 5 times at home this week – and it is recorded in their reading record – they will get a raffle ticket for our VERY EXCITING raffle in Friday’s community meeting!
2 winners will be chosen each week at random and they will be invited to select a comic book from this gorgeous range!
This week there will be 4 winners due to last weeks assembly being cancelled.
We cannot wait to see who our first winners are!
You’ve got to be in it to win it: 5 reads, over 5 days, recorded in planners.
Dallas has been building up her resilience to work independently on the challenge table. She has been answering abstract questions independently in maths, with concrete support if needed. You are a superstar!! ✨
