Swing Gate Infant School and Nursery

**This week our learning theme is 'Bekonscot'**

 

Welcome to Voles Class (EYFS Unit)Image result for vole silhouette

 

Teacher: Mrs Hardwick  
 
Early Years Practitioner: Mrs Ray

Welcome to the summer term in the Nursery class 

Our learning theme for each week is guided by the children.

Week beginning 5.6.23 - 'Bekonscot'

macro shot photography of miniature house and car

These are some of the things we will be learning about and exploring:

Monday

We will begin today by watching a video clip about a little boy who has to leave his tree house behind and move to the city (This is linked to Connie’s, Isaac’s and Megan’s questions linked to living in houses and moving house). We will discuss the children’s questions once we have watched the video. Then we will watch the video again and recall the key events and the characters, as well as talking about the beginning, the middle and the end. We will also remind the children about when we compared environments and we will ask them what they notice about the settings - the countryside environment and the town environment. Finally we will explain to the children that they are going to make a plaque to take home, just like the boy in the story had. We will remind them of using the pinch and flick technique and will encourage them to use their name cards to support letter formation. If they wish they can decorate their plaque too.

Connie: “Do all people live in the same houses in their life? Why do people move house?” Isaac: “Why do people live in houses?” Megan: “Do all people live in houses?”

Also we will be revisiting the Powerpoint about Bekonscot today as well as the risk assessment that the children compiled about our visit.

Tuesday

Today we have our trip to Bekonscot Model Village. The children will be out of school for the whole day. They will need a packed lunch, sturdy shoes, a waterproof coat and a sun hat. We will send out a reminder on the previous day.

During the ay we will answer Tilly’s question (Why do people have to pay to go there?”) and Hania’s (Why do people go there?”).

Wednesday

Nyla-Rae asked (about Bekonscot) “Why are the houses small?” Sammy was also interested in the size of the houses. We will talk about this before moving onto our maths activity. We will explain that we are going to play a game using very small houses (from Monopoly). This game involves revealing hidden groups of houses and prompting the children to say how many they see. We will show them upturned dishes hiding three, four and five houses, then we will rapidly swap them around and challenge the children to keep track of the dish with four, for example. When we stop and briefly lift a dish, the children will need to intuitively subitise the number revealed, telling us how many they see. We will repeat this with different groups of houses and a different target number. We will remind the children of numerals and numeral names during this activity too - showing them the numeral that corresponds to the target group that we are trying to keep track of. Throughout we will encourage all the children to contribute and use subitising skills.

Thursday

Today the children will be taking part in a dance workshop with Premier sports. They will be changing for this activity so please ensure that their named PE kits are in school.

Friday

Linked to Connie’s (“Why are the pretend houses not like real houses?”, Oliver’s (“Why are the houses pretend?”) and Teddy’s questions (“Why do some  houses have two chimneys?”) we are going to be using our imagination to have an adventure today. We will talk about how the makers of Bekonscot had to use their imagination and plan and work together to build the model village. We are going to do something similar now in the classroom (but not making a permanent structure) and then using the structures created to begin to take on roles and take part in story telling.. We will remind the children that they need to listen carefully as we are not going to be giving the instructions as it is a recording. We are going to need ‘bold adventurers’ and ‘quiet explorers’ for this activity to work and so that we can ‘make things happen’. We will play the recorded activity to the children, pausing as needed and then going back to the activity later in the morning so that they can complete it.

Shared reading;  Friday 8th - all welcome

Word aware words: fragile  special

The poem this week is: If I were so very small

Our Counting Song this week is; tall buildings

Show and tell: something fragile or special

Class letter: click hereFree Cartoon Letter Cliparts, Download Free Cartoon Letter ...

Home Learning links

     

    What the children say... 

    We ask the children about what they’d like to explore, play with and learn about over each week. All ideas are be interwoven through planning. 

    The children also have the opportunity to discuss what they would like for role play - this half term it is a fruit and veg shop!

     

    Other areas of learning in Nursery include....

    Physical

    PE day is usually Tuesday but will again be on a Thursday for this half term.

    Please can all children have a named PE kit in a bag for the days we have other extra sessions.

    Computing brown and white long coated small dog wearing eyeglasses on black laptop computer

    Throughout the year we will be planning open-ended activities in a technology rich environment to enable the children to have opportunities to explore, tinker and develop their ideas through active learning. We will provide a range of simple technology resources, these will be available for children to explore through their play and during adult led activities. The resources will include real, play and safe/defunct devices to support children’s understanding of technology in the world. We will promote safe and careful use of resources and understanding of who to tell if any use of technology makes them feel uncomfortable.

    Other experiences will include

    • exploring programmes and games which require drag and drop skills
    • looking at different uses of technology in
      school and at home
    • using chromebooks, iPads and Mini
      mash (on Purple Mash).

     

    RE 

    RE will be explored partly through short periods of Adult Directed Activities which highlight key festivals, celebrations, religious symbols and religious vocabulary with reference to children’s own experiences and also through the children's own Child Initiated Play.

    Each half term the children will have opportunities to explore aspects of the eight key areas of RE listed below.

    Children will discover some religious words and ideas in the context of their experiences.

    They will:

    • share their own beliefs, ideas and values
    • listen and respond to a range of stories that engage them, including faith stories
    • directly experience religion, its symbols and actions. Engage with artefacts, people and places
    • explore local places of importance, including at least one place of significance, for a religious family. They should share their own experiences of places which are important to them
    • learn about key figures in their own lives and key members of a local religious group. Listen and respond to visitors from faith communities. Talk about prayer and worship and experience times of quiet and stillness
    • explore how people know that they belong to a family and other groups, including religious groups
    • experience aspects of the natural world, using their imagination and curiosity about life and develop their appreciation and wonder of the world in which they live. Ask questions that are philosophically challenging and consider answers
    • explore some of the ways in which people express care and concern for each other and the importance of this for relationships. They should develop an awareness of their own value and that of others
    • understand what is right and wrong and why. Consider the consequences of their words and actions for themselves and others.

    Swing Gate Lane, Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire HP4 2LJ

    01442 863913

    admin@swinggate.herts.sch.uk