Taunton School Main Building at Dusk

Excited and happy learners

Posted: 4th May 2017

Reception, as always, a hive of activity. Curious children gluing and making seed and petal collages, petals in the sand –and one very wise child said “We can’t sieve these”…followed by a very interesting thinking and problem solving conversation. Critical thinking at its best. Another child said – “Our lovely student Miss Callow brought them in from her flower shop!” Our student works in Tesco and brought in the flowers that were out of date for the children to dissect and use…perfume potions next? Thank you Ashleigh.

Aquilla and Ava were making seedy collage garden pictures using seeds, petals and paints. Finty and Jayden were really proud of their leapfrog Maths. Sophia was counting and writing numbers to twenty and taking away ten. Jacob and Lewis were making challenging number stories and learning quick mental maths strategies. Josh was discovering the missing number and problem solving. Some children were gardening outside and others were choosing work for the Wonder Wall, so much fun and lots of learning taking place. All children were engaged and absorbed. I especially liked the large nest Aurelia and friends have been making with the large blocks and beech hedge. They have been adding to it all day and making design notes (real writing with a purpose) connecting their learning experiences and practising what they have learnt in the classroom and transferring the skills to their playtime.

The Wonder Wall – Each child has their own display area. This is where the children can reflect on their learning, talk about how they learn and display things that they find challenging. The display area changes regularly and each one is unique to each child.

Year 1 were out today enjoying a trip to the Castle Museum and in celebration assembly I was so impressed with the castle diagrams labelled and drawn by Belle and Ellie. I was also pleased with Lucas’ magical maths challenge and Lison’s maths ladder.

Year 2 Katy, Eric, Saffy and Fedor showed me their lovely sunflower clay tiles and all the children were really excited about their science growing experiments.

Can a seed grow in the water?
Can a seed grow in sand with no water?
Can a seed grow in water but in the dark?

All these options are being trialled and the children have made some excellent predictions linking and connecting their prior learning experiences to their geography work on climate and habitats.

The children have also experienced being art critiques. They looked at 12 paintings by Van Gogh and had to really think about what they liked or didn’t like. The techniques used and effects caused. Have a look at the paintings below and view some of the children’s excellent observations. They are all quite mature, talking about style, the thickness of the paint, the brush strokes and blending of the colours. Rich, new language for some of our Year 2 children. In depth observation skills….and all children excited and happy learners.

Kathy McLauchlan
Head of Nursery and Pre-Prep

Categories: Blog Nursery Pre-Prep
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