Dear Parents and Carers,

This year we will be using the Development Matters framework to inform the learning taking place in the classroom. The topics for each term reflect chosen texts and learning goals that will be assessed. 

The yearly plan has been uploaded here for you to refer to throughout the year. 

Thank you, 

Miss McDonnell, Mrs Bernecka and Miss Gusmao

Children enjoyed to move and dance to music alongside one another. Children enjoyed exploring different materials and tools whilst playing with playdough. We also had an opportunity to donate a box of chocolates to someone to celebrate Advent and the Caterpillars chose to donate ours to the Staff in the kitchen to say thank you.

Children were able to pay attention and respond to the pictures or the words through play. Children were able to develop manipulation and control through colouring in pictures for Christmas decorations and our Christmas cards. Children enjoyed to sit on a push-along wheeled toy, use a scooter or ride a tricycle whilst playing outside.

This week we focused on the colour brown, we read the story 'Time for bed' where children were able to identify the animals and the sounds they made.  On Thursday, we wore our Pyjamas to school. Caterpillars enjoyed making marks with crayons on the floor.

This week we celebrated Remembrance Day, we peg painted the Remembrance Poppy. We focused on the colour purple. We read the book called 'Time for bed' where we enjoyed decorating the animals that are in the story such as the mouse and goose. On Tuesday, we wore our Pyjamas to school as we are learning about 'Night and Day'. On Friday, we celebrated 'Continents Day'. 

This week we have enjoyed so many experiences. We have enjoyed reading 'Goodnight Peter Rabbit'. We have been focusing on the colour blue. We have been learning about day and night; as Bonfire night was on Tuesday children decorated their own fireworks. We picked up autumn leaves where they spoke about how they felt and we made stamps with them. We done colour sorting activities this week. We also listened to stories and made a decoration for Remembrance Day. 

Children have settled well back in the Caterpillar Room since half term; We have been learning about Night and Day. We've focused on the number 1, colour Orange and sang Twinkle Twinkle Little Star as the song of the week. We had our Class Photos taken this week where the children enjoyed going to get them taken and some seeing their older siblings. Whilst in class, the children have enjoyed taking part in sensory play, singing and dancing, role play in the home corner and sitting in the reading area. On Friday, we celebrated Our Lady of Lourdes 50th Anniversary and learnt a lot about what was popular in the 90's, children got to dress up and enjoyed it so much. 

This week in the Caterpillar room we played in the nursery playground a lot where we got to play in the hair salon, play with green sand and jump on the karaoke machine. We enjoyed colour sorting activities, building activities and loads of home corner play. The colour of this week was orange and we sang 'twinkle twinkle little star'. We hope you enjoy your week off and we look forward to welcoming you back after half-term!

This week in the Caterpillars we have done activities on Black History Month and Online Safety. We enjoyed sensory play with sand and water and mixing the textures together. We loved playing with the train tracks and riding the trains around the track. We enjoyed playing in the nursery playground where we got to ride bikes, play in the hair salon, writing hut and another water tray. The children enjoyed it very much! This week the colour we focused on was 'Red' and we sang '1,2,3,4,5 Once I caught a fish alive'. 

This week in the Caterpillars we have enjoyed playing with puzzles, participating in mark making and fine motor development. During circle time we have have been focusing on the colour 'Green'. We've enjoyed dancing to songs in particular '5 Little Ducks' and listening to the story of 'Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes'. We enjoyed playing outside, reading stories and playing in the home corner. 

This week in the Caterpillars we have enjoyed playing with puzzles, participating in mark making and fine motor development. During circle time we have have been focusing on the colour 'Yellow'. We've enjoyed dancing to songs particularly 'Old McDonald had a farm' and listening to the story of 'The very hungry caterpillar'. We enjoyed role playing in the home corner and dressing up. We also enjoyed the train tracks whilst playing with our friends.

We had so much fun this week in the Caterpillar room. We loved working on our puzzles, mark making and fine motor development. Messy play is great for a child's physical development and communication and language skills. While we are playing, we are learning so many skills to help us reach our milestones! 

This week we started with our first Caterpillars class! This is a very exciting venture for the school and we can't wait to share with you all the amazing learning experiences taking place. 

Please keep checking in with our class page to see photos of your children participating in learning and having the time of their lives! 

Thank you, 

Miss McDonnell, Mrs Bernecka and Miss Gusmao