Another half term seems to have flown by! The boys in reception have had a busy half term, particularly learning about their topic ‘Growing’ by growing plants, butterflies and chicks. Mrs Barr has sent us updates on the chicks, they are all doing well:

During maths this week the boys learnt a new concept, ‘Estimating’. They made some accurate estimations and had good fun estimating different amounts of objects and using timers.

For the maths activity this week could you please estimate the following:

How many times you can do something in a minute e.g. jumps.

How many objects you can fit in a certain space, e.g. how much toys can fit on a chair or how much fruit will fit in a bowl.

At the end of this afternoon we said a lovely farewell to Mrs Demery. Pre prep sang a song and presented her with a leaving book:

The starboys for W/B 5th June are as follows:

Monday: Demi

Tuesday: Jai

Wednesday: Jamie

Thursday: Jude

Friday: Louis

Have a wonderful half term!

Miss Goring and Mrs MacNeill

At the end of this week we rehomed our butterflies and chicks.

The butterflies enjoyed flying off near the astro turf and the boys waved them goodbye:

Today we said goodbye to our chicks, the boys have taken such good care of them and it has been such a lovely experience having them in class. The chicks have been rehomed with a relative of Caroline Barr who runs Lochinver’s tea time club. We look forward to hearing updates about how they’re getting on.

Here are the boys making a ‘run’ for the chicks:

In maths we revisited time. We made our own clocks and used them on the astroturf to play “What’s the time Mr Wolf?” The ‘wolves’ used the clocks  and showed o’clock or half past times to everyone before finally saying “Dinner time!”

 

For the maths activity this week, please use the paper plate clock your son made in class to make o’clock and half past times. We have looked at how long 1 minute lasts with sandtimers and discovered that there are 60 seconds in a minute (which we counted several times as a class) and 60 minutes in 1 hour. 

In Literacy and Understanding the World, we wrote out last entries in our bean plant diaries and our chick diaries as well as making a life cycle of a chick.

In computing the boys went on ‘colour hunts’ using the ipads. They also made butterflies and wrote accompanying sentences using the keyboard.

For show and tell next week, please bring in a lifecycle of your favourite animal.

The starboys are as follows:

Monday: Alex Lee

Tuesday: Alex Sembi

Wednesday: Arhan

Thursday: Arthur

Friday: Charlie

Have a lovely weekend!

Miss Goring and Mrs MacNeill

 

There has been much excitement this week in Reception…

On Tuesday afternoon we received our incubator, brooder boxes and 14 eggs. We listened to a talk delivered by the ‘Happy Chick Company’, who work in partnership with ‘The Happy Egg Company’. We watched the eggs being set up and learnt how to take care of the chicks and what to expect over the next couple of days.

Wednesday consisted of lots of watching through the glass and glees of excitement over the odd wobbling egg and the faint sound of cheeping! Wednesday evening came and around 7.15pm the first egg hatched. She was alone for a number of hours being watched by our webcam before all of her cheeping and bashing into the remaining eggs awakened 8 others through the night and the early hours.

On Thursday morning the boys rushed in to see the 9 visitors (as did the teachers). After a meet and greet, normal lessons commenced. Reception visited some pretend shops to continue learning about money then shortly afterwards 2 more eggs hatched. Everyone gathered and watched the hatching on the big screen and then up close in the incubator. The boys were so delighted and it was a joy to see. Year 1 and year 2 have also made numerous visits to see the eggs/chicks. On Thursday afternoon after several hours of fluffing up their feathers in the warmth and humidity of the incubator, the chicks were ready to move into their brooder boxes.

Here is a video of both reception classes  watching one of the eggs hatching:

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Next week we will enjoy getting to know the chicks more and pre prep will get the chance to handle the chicks. To continue watching videos of the chicks please visit the school website.

Our growing caterpillars are doing well forming within their Chrysalis. Our broad bean plants have also grown greatly in height!

This week in maths the boys revisited learning about money.

To practise this further please visit: 

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/money/toy-shop-money.

When you reach the homescreen, please select ‘Mixed coins’. You can practise adding coins together and also giving change. There are different levels of difficulty for you to choose. Please comment on this post with a description of how you got on. Have fun!

The starboys for next week are as follows:

Monday: Rory

Tuesday: Rufus

Wednesday: Sahil

Thursday: Udodi

Friday: Zach

Have a super weekend!

Miss Goring and Mrs MacNeill

This week we have had many encounters with minibeasts! We have been closely watching our caterpillars grow. They have been eating constantly and have grown ten times in size! The children learnt how caterpillars make ‘j shapes’ by hanging from a leaf in preparation before forming their chrysalis.This finally happened on Wednesday. We are letting the caterpillars rest and harden before we transfer them to their pavilion.

On Wednesday Pre Prep enjoyed our Science Day. The day started with a ‘Reactions in Actions’ assembly. The boys were fascinated as different chemicals and gases were tested. The boys watched in amazement as the whole theatre went black and all that could be seen was a tiny flame…then a bang!

 

The assembly was followed by Minibeast workshops, which included stick insects and Madagascan hissing cockroaches! If the boys felt comfortable they had the chance to hold several minibeasts. The bravery of the boys also gave the staff courage!

In Understanding the world we studied our bean plants and wrote an entry into our bean diary recording what we observed this week:

In Maths we have revisited symmetrical patterns. The boys have really impressed us with their improved eye for detail and how their colouring is progressing.

For the maths activity, please enjoy making symmetrical deck chairs using the link below:

http://www.iboard.co.uk/iwb/Deck-Chairs-737

The starboys for next week are as follows:

Monday: Jude

Tuesday: Louis

Wednesday: Mateo

Thursday: Max

Friday: Rhys

Have a wonderful weekend!

Miss Goring and Mrs MacNeill