This week children in Sheep class have been exploring memories through the story ‘Wilfrid Gordon Mcdonald Partridge’. We learned about the significance of the poppy on Remembrance Day and the origins of the poppy as a symbol of remembrance through John McCrae’s famous poem, ‘In Flanders Fields’. Reception children really enjoyed making their own poppy prints with a sliced apple! Everyone enjoyed today’s service at Saint Mary’s Church and we were really proud of all of the children for taking part with their readings and such wonderful singing!

This week we looked at the story behind Bonfire Night celebrations. Sheep Class really enjoyed learning about Guy Fawkes and his gunpowder plot. They have also really enjoyed covering themselves and us in glitter and paint during all the firework activities! Today we made paintings using black paper, letting children add their own paint and ball bearing to move the paint and create the fireworks. They all worked so well collaboratively and had to really think about how to make the ball roll in different directions. Great teamwork Sheep – just look at the concentration!

This week Sheep Class have been busy writing Autumn poetry. Earlier in the week we enjoyed a beautiful morning walk around the school grounds using all of our senses to conjure up Autumn vocabulary.  Reception children really enjoyed filling their colour cards with all the colours of the season!Then together we wrote a class poem ‘Autumn Days’, which we performed at Thursday’s Harvest Festival. Today children wrote their own poems and wowed us with their super adjectives. Great effort Sheep Class!

This week Sheep class have been enjoying the beautiful sunshine! We’ve been busy in our outdoor area, looking for signs of Autumn and investigating the fallen leaves and acorns. We harvested our (modestly sized!) pumpkins and compared them to some others that Ms McConnell brought in for us. Reception children were busy today planting tulip bulbs ready for Spring and everyone has been very busy raking the many leaves. Great team work Sheep!

Earlier this week our KS1 children were very lucky to be invited to take part in a football festival at ‘Goals’ five-a-side football centre in Norwich. This was a shared trip across the Federation and children from both North Elmham and Stibbard really enjoyed spending time together. Miss Johnson was so impressed with everyone’s enthusiasm and willingness to get stuck in! Well done to all!

This week our Reception children were lucky enough to meet some very special visitors – a tawny owl, a barn owl and a ‘little’ owl. The visit took place at our onsite preschool, Scribbles, and was a wonderful opportunity for children to see these beautiful birds up close. Later in the morning the rest of the class were treated to a sneaky peek and everyone enjoyed the owls so much that Mrs Gkikopoulous decided to base the afternoon’s art session around the owls. Great work Sheep!

Sheep Class have been revisiting the parable of the Two Builders. The wise man builds his house on the rock, reminding us that a solid foundation enables us to succeed and flourish in all areas of our lives. Children were keen to test this out and got straight to work in the outdoor area, working in teams to build their house either on the pavement or in the sandpit. Well I think we all knew what the outcome would be and it wasn’t long before the foolish team’s house came down! A valuable lesson for Sheep Class and some possible future builders in the making!

In their first art lesson at school, Reception children enjoyed hearing the story ‘Sharing a Shell’ by Julia Donaldson, then they had a go at making spiral pictures to emulate the shell from the story! What a fantastic effort from them all!

Year 1 and 2 continued their unit on drawing by learning about continuous line drawings. It was a challenge not to take our pens off the paper, but their observation skills and attention to shapes and textures was very impressive!

We have had a wonderful start to the new school year in Sheep Class! We have been super busy getting to know our new lambs and can’t wait for them to join the flock full time next week! Everyone is really enjoying exploring the new environment and getting to know each other. Welcome to the start of your school journey Reception! What shall we learn today?!