Autumn Term 1 in Woodlands Class: Me, You and New Adventures

What a fantastic start to the year we have had in Woodlands Class! Since starting our new class family, the children have settled beautifully into their new learning environment and have embraced every new adventure with enthusiasm, curiosity and confidence.

This half term, our topic"Me, You and New Adventures" has helped children explore who they are, celebrate what makes them unique and begin to understand their place within our school community. Through stories such as The Friendship Bench and Amazing we have talked about friendship, kindness, belonging and working together. The children have enjoyed sharing information about their families, interests and experiences whilst growing in confidence as communicators.

We have spent lots of time exploring our exciting new classrooms, learning routines and discovering all the wonderful areas available to us. The Home Corner has been a hive of activity, with children developing their imagination through role play, recreating familiar experiences and inventing their own exciting stories. Our outdoor area has also been full of imaginative play as children have worked together, solved problems and brought their ideas to life.

Our Artist Studio has quickly become a favourite place to learn and create. Children have explored a wide range of materials, developed their creativity and expressed their ideas through painting, drawing, model making and mark-making. We have loved seeing their confidence grow as they share their artistic creations with others.

Developing strong hands and fingers is an important part of becoming successful writers, so children have enjoyed daily fine motor activities including threading, cutting, squeezing, building, pinching, using tools and manipulating small objects. These playful experiences are helping children build the strength and control they need for future writing.

In mathematics, we have been busy developing our understanding of early number and pattern. Through games, songs, practical activities and continuous provision, children have been spotting repeating patterns, sorting objects, matching quantities and beginning to recognise how numbers represent amounts. We have discovered that patterns and numbers help us make sense of the world around us.

The children have also made an excellent start to their early phonics journey. We have begun to learn new sounds, practise listening carefully, hear sounds in words and develop our confidence in recognising and saying letter sounds. The excitement of discovering that letters represent sounds has been wonderful to see, and the children are already beginning to use their growing knowledge in their play and early mark-making.

Alongside all of this, we have continued to build independence, learn classroom routines, develop friendships and grow in confidence every day. Through play, exploration, conversation and discovery, the children are laying strong foundations for future learning whilst having lots of fun along the way.

We are incredibly proud of how well the children have settled into school life and cannot wait to see where their next adventures take them!

Every Child Shines, Every Day.