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

Dear Parents & Carers,

Pope Francis Jubilee 2025 – Pilgrims of Hope

As part of the celebrations for Pope Francis' Jubilee 2025, the theme for this year is ‘Pilgrims of Hope’. In light of the challenges facing the world today, such as the impacts of war, the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the climate crisis, we are inspired to take an action by showing hope and solidarity.

In line with this, each class at Our Lady of Lourdes is choosing a charity to support throughout the year.

Our Caterpillar class has chosen to support Childline, a free, private and confidential service where children under 19 years old can talk about anything. Whether it’s something big or small, their trained counsellors are here to support them.

Throughout the year, we will:

• Raise awareness about the charity.
• Organise fundraising activities to support its work.

We encourage you to visit our class webpage for updates on our activities and progress. We deeply appreciate your continued support as we work together to make a meaningful difference this year.

Thank you for your support of our Jubilee 2025 Pilgrims of Hope Charity Drive!

Warm regards,
The Caterpillar Team

On Monday, we celebrated St. Patricks Day where children got to come in with the colour Green, some came in with orange clothing to mark the colour of the Ireland Flag.  Children enjoyed the outdoor weather this week as the sun was shining so we spent a lot of time outdoors, experimenting with sand, making marks with paint, playing with a number hopscotch and going to play in the nursery playground which they loved. 

This week in Caterpillars, children created colourful tracks with toy vehicles on large sheets of paper. Children used paint in different colours and rolled them along the paper to make tracks. This messy play encouraged children's sensory exploration, physical development and creative expression while introducing basic concepts of colours and early mathematics through patterns and counting the vehicle tracks. Children also enjoyed continuous provision in carpet play with train tracks, role playing in the home corner and free drawing on the floor. 

There’s something magical about getting lost in a good book, and what better way to celebrate World Book Day than dressing up as your favourite character, which the Caterpillars done this week! We had a mixture of Princesses, Superhero's and other characters. It was so lovely to see them come in and be excited to show their peers. With the weather being so beautiful this week, Caterpillars enjoyed a lot of outdoor play.

Since we have come back from half term we have been learning about Colours. We have been reading 'How to make a rainbow' where children are excited to take part in activities based on the rainbow. Children have enjoyed playing inside and outside with a mixture of equipment such as sand, train tracks, sensory activities like cloud dough, play dough, water play and paint.  

In Caterpillars, we have been talking about Bears. We have been enjoying reading about Goldilocks and The Three Bears. Children have shown confidence in being able to recall and talk about the story itself for example identifying who the characters are, what they're doing and anticipating what happens next. Children enjoyed a mixture of indoor and outdoor play with activities such as paint, blocks, chalk, sand play playdough and water play. Children sat on the carpet and played jointly with train tracks which they loved. We had Mental Health week where they got to wear clothes that represented our individuality. We also enjoyed making valentines artwork to celebrate Valentines Day. On Friday, We celebrated 100 Days of Learning where children loved to come in dressed up. We also done activities that celebrated Valentines Day.

In Caterpillars, children enjoyed a lot of outdoor, sensory and mark making play this week. The children have been able to speak about how and what they feel which led to more communication as to why. For example they were able to identify that it was cold and that's what they felt where other children were able to communicate about wearing jackets to feel warm.  Identifying shapes was a fun activity as they liked using their hands to rummage through the sand to see what they could find.

This week, the children have been exploring a range of sensory activities, including playdough, sand, and rice.

They particularly enjoyed using homemade oats playdough, which led to discussions about Goldilocks and the Three Bears and Baby Bear’s porridge. They also worked together to build houses for the Three Bears using stacking blocks, encouraging creativity and problem-solving.

As part of our Chinese New Year celebrations, the children explored sand and rice in outdoor play. We talked about the significance of the festival and learned that this year is the Year of the Snake.

It has been a fantastic week of hands-on learning and discovery.

This week in Caterpillars , we’ve been celebrating Maths Week with activities focused on counting and shapes. Children have enjoyed exploring paint, participated in activities that react to changes of amount in a group of up to three items and combining objects like stacking blocks and cups. Children love to play in the home corner and play outside. 

Since we have been back from our Christmas break, we have been busy meeting new friends and helping them settle in. We have been reading 'Goldilocks and the three bears' where children have been practicing scooping, stirring and pouring oats. They've built cottages, chairs for the bears where they enjoyed playing with blocks. We've focused on the colour green and children have adapted well back into the routine. 

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