Suddenly, the trees are in full leaf and colourful wildflowers can be seen in the hedgerows, woods and fields. It is the perfect time of year to begin our new topic on Plants!

Today we began with the traditional tale of Jack and the Beanstalk.

The boys have been sequencing events in the story, in words and pictures and some have been composing their own versions and also dramatising the story with the aid of masks.

As a class, we are refining our diary writing skills by recording the growing process of real runner beans on a daily basis. Today, we are soaking some so that they germinate more quickly and we will watch these as they grow in a jar. Later in the week, the boys will plant their own bean, ready for the Pre-Prep garden. Short time-lapse films of germinating seeds can be seen on Youtube and are absolutely fascinating for adults and children alike.

We have also made some seed pictures on paper plates today.

Later in the week we will work on measuring height and length, including a competition to see which group can make the tallest beanstalk for our new role-play area. (See the giant below)Estimating quantities and ordering numbers is also in the plan for this week, so don’t forget to practise recognising numbers over 20,or even over 100 if you can.