We used the play pod resources to make an obstacle course. We tried to name the shapes used and thought about the properties of each shape and how they could be used. Perhaps you could make your own obstacle course at home….or look at the shapes of the equipment at the park!
Obstacle course
Repeating Patterns
Robin class have been extending their knowledge of repeating patterns, building more complex patterns and identifying the unit of repeat. This week we looked at AABB, ABC and AABBCC patterns. We identified mistakes in patterns, built our own patterns with loose parts and practised copying and extending patterns using vocal sounds, body movements and the djembe drum.
Repeating patterns
African Drumming
In Robin Class, we had a look at a djembe, traditional African drum. We learnt that it has three basic notes; the base, tone and slap. The base is the lowest note, the tone is the middle register and the slap has the highest pitch.
We listened to the story of ‘The leopards drum’, accompanied by the djembe (and the help of 5 robins). We then all had a go at playing the djembe and made repeated patterns linked to the animals in the story.
A version of the story can be found at the following link:
Last week, we all received a very special ticket for a flight to Africa! We packed our cases and brought them into school, ready for our exciting adventure! First, we all had the opportunity to share our cases with our friends. We spoke about the things we had put in and the reason for taking them. Nkosana and Layla packed some African currency so that they could buy themselves a meal or a present in Africa, and George packed a rope as he would like to climb a mountain! Then this afternoon we went to the airport and waited for our flight to be ready. We learnt that the planes are directed from a flight tower. (Perhaps you could look out for one next time you are near an airport). We watched a suitcase going through a scanner and tried to identify the things inside. Our teachers explained that there are some things that we can not take on an aeroplane. We then went through the body scanner. It beeped if we had something we shouldn’t! 😂
Finally, we were called to board our plane. It took a while to get everyone on, but we were soon settled. We did up our seatbelts and watched the safety demonstration before our flight took off. We could see the fields below and even spotted some vehicles moving along the road. We then flew over Bristol. There were lots of buildings! During our flight, we had a movie and an inflight snack. Before we knew it, it was time to begin our descent into Africa. We passed through the clouds and watched as the wing of the plane changed, to slow us down. Africa looked quite different from Bristol, with land of a single colour and quite a lot of buildings. It was a very smooth flight and we clapped as we landed!
Everyone was ready to go to their hotels and very excited about what they might see! Let’s hope they’re all 5 star resorts!
Trip to Africa!
Our Museum visit - March 2024
What an amazing time we had today at the museum. First we had a look around the museum at the artefacts. We spotted some dinosaur fossils as well as lots of other curiosities. We then had a circuit of activities including being palaeontologists, digging for fossils and carefully brushing them clean, painting ammonites and making our own dinosaur stick puppets or colouring. We were all very well behaved and respectful of the other adults at the museum, and the museum curator was very impressed with our knowledge of dinosaurs, in fact she was amazed!!!!!
Dinosaur Museum visit
Fencing - February 2024
We were very lucky today to have the chance to have a go at 'fencing'. What an amazing experience! We learnt how to hold our foil and to move sideways to prod our opponent’s tummy!
EYFS Fencing
Oh What a mess! - February 2024
This morning we arrived at school to find a terrible mess! There were leaves, twigs, footprints and even some rather smelly poo in our classroom! We think we have been visited by some dinosaurs 🦕 🦖
Here are some photos of the evidence, which we wrote as a list of clues.
Oh what a mess!
The Royal Ball - February 2024
Well, what a fabulous morning was had by all at our Royal Ball! Each Prince chose their princess and escorted them to the Ball where they were met by the King and Queen and a royal fanfare. There was a photo opportunity, followed by some ballroom dancing, including a waltz and the cha cha cha! Our royal guests were then wined and dined as the banquet began. We finally finished the morning with a little more dancing before finally our ball came to an end.
Here are some photos to show you our action packed morning. I’m sure you’ll agree that they all look fantastic!
The Royal Ball
Gingerbread Man Experiments - January 2024
We listened to the story of the gingerbread man again and thought about why he couldn’t get across the river. We then conducted some experiments. First we wanted to know if he would have made it across if the water wasn’t so deep. We put a gingerbread biscuit in different sized bowls, each with a different capacity (linked to our maths) and filled them with water to see what happened. The one in the least water wasn’t so crumbly and the one in the most turned to mush! We then thought about the length of time in the water so we put gingerbread biscuits in water and timed them using a sand timer. The one that was in the longest changed the colour of the water and we couldn’t scoop it out! Finally we thought about whether it would be different if the river was not made of water. We placed one gingerbread man in water, one in juice and the third in milk. Although they all went mushy, we could see that the one in milk wasn’t quite so mushy. He still had his legs!
Gingerbread man Experiments
Fairy Tale Visitors! - January 2024
This morning, on arrival to class, we found that there had been lots of strange items left in our classroom! There was porridge on the table, a giant axe and some beans and a basket of cakes to name but a few items. Who could have been here? Mrs Legg told us that the police needed our help, so we wrote a list of the items left behind. I wonder if they will be clues as to who has been here! We think we might already have an idea!
Fairy Tale Visitors
Our Tradition of Carnival - November 2023
This week has been Carnival week for SJSF. We were lucky enough to have Mr Kunc, who has a history of working on the carnival, from being on the carts to judging Bridgwater Carnival, who was happy to bring in and share some artefacts and memorabilia with us.
Mr Kunc told us how the carts are made out of a trailer base and built up with wood and metal. They are painted and modelled and then have thousands of lights fitted. The children understood that as the carnival takes place at night the lights are needed to be able to see the carts! These carts are then pulled by tractors which are decorated in a similar fashion to match the theme of the trailer. We found out that Bridgwater is the largest illuminated carnival in Europe!
We watched a video which showed Mr Kunc dancing on the front of a cart. The children noticed how loud the music was. This is so everyone can hear it. They also spotted people in high visibility jackets walking alongside the carts. Mr Kunc explained that some Marshall’s walk alongside the carts to keep the people on the carts safe, while others stand by the crowds to help keep them safe.
Mr Kunc then shared some of his costumes and accessories with us. We learnt that the people who make these clothes are called seamstresses. Mr Kunc showed us the tiger that he helped to cut out and add to one of his costumes. Some children were chosen to try them on and we guessed what the theme might have been.
When we were back in our own classroom we played an oracy game in small groups. We had bags with some carnival props in them and we had to talk with and listen to a partner, to try to work out what the theme might be, explaining why we thought this. We were encouraged to look at our partner to show active listening, understanding how to listen carefully and why it is important, and to articulate our ideas and thoughts in well-formed sentences. We particularly enjoyed trying out some of the costume props!
EYFS Carnival Traditions
Kandinsky Concentric Circles - October 2023
Today we learnt a little bit about the Russian artist Wassily Kandinsky. We learnt the word ‘abstract’ and how this is used to describe art that doesn’t look like a ‘thing’. Kandinsky was the first abstract artist and loved using colours to evoke feeling. We looked at some of his pieces of work and discussed what we liked about them and how they made us feel. We then had a go at colour mixing. We noticed that white made our colours lighter and black made them darker.
We then used our prior knowledge of colour mixing to have a go at making our own concentric circles in the style of Kandinsky. We carefully mixed our own colours, beginning with a circle in the centre of a paper plate and continuing to mix new colours, building our circle outwards.
EYFS Kandinsky
- Cave Paintings - April 2023
Today we visited the Cango caves in South Africa. We learned how caves are formed and that people used to live in caves a very, very long time ago. These people were hunters and gatherers, hunting wild animals and gathering fruit and berries to eat in order to survive. They told stories from their lives by painting pictures on the walls of their caves. We learned that they had to make their own paint, using minerals, charcoal, animal blood, dirt, berries and leaves, crushed and mixed. We had a go at making our own paint using mud, herbs, raspberries, honey and beetroot. We then had to paint with our fingers or sticks.......they wouldn’t have had paintbrushes like we do now! It was a lot of fun!
EYFS Cave Paintings
EYFS - Flight to Africa - April 2023
This morning, we arrived at school with our suitcases, ready for our flight to Africa! First of all we had to wait in the departure lounge. We made sure that we had our tickets and passports so that we would be able to board the flight. Luckily our flight was on time so without delay we were called to board at Gate 7. The air hostess kindly showed us to our seats and we placed our suitcases under our seats. We listened carefully to the inflight safety video and familiarised ourselves with these procedures by looking at the cards that were in our seat pockets. Once our seat backs were in the upright position and our trays were folded away, we were ready to take off. We looked out of the window and could see Bristol below. The houses and cars looked very small. Once in the air we were able to have a short inflight movie and were served some snacks. Before we knew it, it was time to begin our descent to land in Johannesburg. We looked out of the window and could see that Africa looked different from Bristol with the ground being all brown and fewer houses around. We can't wait to explore Africa a little more but for now we are looking forward to seeing what our hotels are like! (All 5 star I hope!)
EYFS Flight to Africa - Apr 23
EYFS Museum Visit - March 2023
As a grand finale to our dinosaur topic we visited The Museum of Somerset in Taunton. The children were not only able to engage with and explore the many exhibits, including dinosaur fossils, but they were also able to paint their very own ammonite and experience life as a palaeontologist, digging and brushing for fossils. The took part in an interactive session with the museum curator where they were able to share their knowledge of dinosaurs and Mary Anning. She was very impressed! An exciting experience was had by all, rounding off our learning to date.
EYFS Dinosaur Museum
Visit to The Museum of Somerset
World Maths Day - The JoJo Gnome Maths Challenge! - March 2023
This morning the children took part in the JoJo Gnome Maths Challenge to celebrate World Maths Day!
First the children were split into teams. Each team had a selection of 'treasures'. They had to find out how many treasures they had. The children began by trying to count them all but soon realised that this wasn't easy as they were in a bit of a mess! They then worked as a team to put them into a line. This made it much easier to count accurately.
Their second challenge was to make an obstacle course with their treasures. This was great fun. "We are playing the floor is lava!" they called. The children had some parts (long foam pieces) that kept blowing away. They soon realised that if they put something heavy on top it would keep them in place.
The third challenge was to sort their treasures by shape. The language was amazing as the children worked together sorting cylinders, cubes and cuboids.
JoJo Gnome Maths EYFS March 23
Oral Hygiene : 24th February 2023
Oral Hygiene
The children have been learning all about oral hygiene and how to look after our teeth. We learnt that we should brush our teeth twice a day and have been completing our own tooth brushing charts.
We set up an experiment to see what happens to our teeth when we drink different liquids. We placed eggs in water, milk, orange juice and fizzy over night to see what happened to their shell, as this is similar to tooth enamel. We found that the water and milk stayed the same but the egg in orange juice lost its enamel and so did the one in fizzy drink, which also had spots!
We concluded that it is best to drink water or milk and that we MUST only drink juice and fizzy occasionally and brush our teeth twice a day to avoid cavities.
Dinosaurs : February 2023
You’ll never guess what…..it’s happened again!
Robin and Wren Class arrived at school to find a terrible mess. We looked for the clues and wrote a list to help us solve the mystery of who….or what, had been in our classrooms!
Have a look for yourself. What do you think?
Traditional Tales : February 2023
What a surprise we all had when we arrived at school to find that we had been visited. But who had been in our classrooms? Robin and Wren class searched for the clues; a glass slipper, a wand, some magic beans, a picnic basket and a red cape, a bowl of porridge and a strand of golden hair, plus other clues. The children wrote their lists and decided that some fairy tale characters had been in our classrooms. “It must be Goldilocks because she has golden hair and the bears, that’s baby bear’s porridge!”
A few days later the children received a letter from the Little Old Lady. She wanted to make some gingerbread men but couldn’t find her recipe. We made our own gingerbread men and then wrote her a list. However, our quests did not end there! Next we made get well cards for Red Riding Hood’s granny and wanted posters to warn people about the Big Bad Wolf! Finally, the King asked us to design invitations for his Royal Ball. We practiced our own ballroom dancing and finished our topic by holding a Royal Ball and banquet.
St John
and St
Francis Church School 
