WELCOME TO

THE SQUIRREL CLASS

2022-2023

Spring Term 2

              We have had a wonderful start of Spring term 2 with the arrival of 10 eggs and the incubator. All the chicks have hatched and we are enjoying caring for them and observing them grow. We can see nature around us changing in the pots and garden, and in the woods. The children are really settled in their routines and love their exploring time around all the areas in the classroom. We have enjoyed Pancake day and the pancake races, and we are looking forward to supporting Class 2 in the end of term KS1 play. 

Autumn term 2

         The Squirrel children have settled in and are making amazing progress in all areas. They have made new friends and are learning to negotiate when there is a disagreement, or a sharing issue. They are resilient in the forest, and love the story telling sessions. They are learning the new sounds eagerly, and enjoy the structured phonics sessions. They are building up their number knowledge as well as their Mathematical thinking.

         Last term, the children enjoyed and took part in the Harvest Festival at the church, where they sang a harvest song in front of parents, grandparents and friends. This term they are getting ready for the Nativity Play at the end of the term and we will also have the treat of the Pantomime at the Theatre Royal. 

        All in all, the children are always busy with days full of  stories, phonics, Maths, mud, forest school, music, crafts, PE and, most of all, play.

Autumn term 1

         Welcome to our class! It is wonderful to be able to welcome the new Squirrels into Cheriton Primary School.  During this first half term, the children have time to settle in their new classroom, becoming familiar with their new environment, friends and adults all around the school. We will meet our Forest School leader, Dragonfly, who will take us to the Forest every Thursday morning. As part of our daily routine, we will enjoy lots of stories, great amounts of counting and sorting,  plenty of "Explore to learn" time and loads of fresh air during our listening walks and sessions at the forest. This half term is "all about me" and settling in with the others. 

         Keep an eye on this page for news and updates and some pictures of what our class has been up to each half term.

 
       Best wishes
       The Squirrel Class Team

This is archive

Squirrels 2021-2022

SUMMER TERM 2

What a wonderful term we have ahead of us! Frogs to release, stick insects to watch, the fresh mornings in the forest to enjoy, and lots to learn about Africa and African stories to tell and retell. We will also have some transition mornings to become familiar with Class 2, with the new teachers and with a bigger group of children, as the current Year 1 children will still be in Class 2 next year. We look forward to KS2 play, and, in the meantime, there are plenty of opportunities to read and write in the setting: writing cards to the children during their residential week, an invitation for their special teddy for "A teddy bear picnic", and much more. 

Then, the summer holidays and we will welcome the new Squirrels, but until then, lots of fun and learning with the 21-22 Squirrels group. 

Summer Term 1 

                        We all feel ready for the summer term after such warm and sunny holidays. We have planned for a lot of play outdoors, walks and forest school time. We have plenty of nature to look at and see how things grow and change, both in the classroom and in the forest. The frogspawn is alive and kicking having become very squiggly tadpoles. We keep watching them to observe their transformation into frogs. The apple tree is in blossom and all the spring flowers are in bloom. We have learnt all the sounds in phase 2 and 3 and we will be putting them in practice in focused time activities and through the children’s play and inspiration. We will continue to read and listen to stories, both read and told “from our head” to inspire their play and their mathematical thinking.

There will be a lot of singing to prepare for the school play in which Squirrel Class will take part by singing and accompanying with percussion

Spring Term 2

What a lovely way to return to school after half term than to celebrate Shrove Tuesday with cooking pancakes and pancake races!

        The children are all seem to be ready to use their newly acquired writing skills to write recipes, stories, observations and plenty of cards and notes within their games. They love putting up a show and they are always keen to prepare the entry tickets for everyone in the classroom.

The children are grasping the concepts of diagraphs and trigraphs as we continue with Phase 3 phonics. We continue to explore small and big numbers through games, stories and lots of counting. They have become familiar with 2D shapes in their surroundings, and are exploring 3D shapes this term. Cooking cakes is one of their favourite activities, reading a simple recipe and weighing the ingredients against an egg. Sharing the cakes when Mrs Turner brings them in hot from the oven is always a very special time for all.

            The children loved acting stories during the last few weeks and, this term, we will continue to focus on storytelling through Traditional Tales, listening to different versions of Jack and the Beanstalk, Red Riding Hood and the like.

        At forest school, the children have become very self-sufficient and very confident climbing the trees and creating their own dens, working in teams or independently. Forest school and walks around the village will provide a great opportunity to notice how things are growing and changing all around us.

Spring Term 1

Happy New Year from the Squirrel Class!

         The first term was very enjoyable for everyone. The children have formed a lovely group and gestures of kindness and friendship abound amongst them all. This term we are also starting to introduce the Leader in Me programme working through the 7 Habits of Happy Children, in order to try to make the school a happier and more efficient place in which everyone feels valued and takes responsibility for their own actions. .

Through music, games, and practice, the children have become confident with the Phase 2 of our phonics programme (most single sounds), and are ready to learn the Phase 3 sounds (digraphs and trigraphs). Language related to addition and subtraction is becoming embedded in their play.  Not only that, they have also grown in confidence through activities such as their performance in the Nativity play, their role play and story telling. 

          This term, especially reading Julia Donaldson's books, we are enjoying story telling, through puppet shows, acting, story mapping and lots of drawing to retell the story or describe the characters.

            This term we will celebrate Chinese New Year through stories and plenty of crafts.

Autumn Term 2

         We had a wonderful first half term. The children settled into the new routines, friends and environment, and they have even become very efficient at getting in and out of their Forest School red suits! We have now started our phonics journey, which means that this term we will cover all the single sounds in Phase 2, learning the songs and how to write them as we go all along. Over the last few weeks we have been counting everything in the surroundings, marbles, conkers, leaves, trees, cars, jumps, claps, and the like, becoming familiar with numbers and numicon shapes. This term we will start to look into each number more in depth, learning to recognise the numbers, learning how we can make each number in different ways. We will have opportunities for cooking and for exploring autumn changes in the woods.

         In addition, we will be finding out  all about Bonfire Night, Diwali and Christmas discovering how different people celebrate in different ways. And fingers crossed that we may be able to perform our Nativity this year.

Autumn term 1

         Welcome to our class! It is wonderful to be able to welcome the new Squirrels into an almost normal school after all the uncertainty of the last few months.  During this first half term, the children have time to settle in their new classroom, becoming familiar with their new environment, friends and adults. This year, we are fortunate to be able to share the school with the other children and adults, therefore, we will be able to enjoy our ample space in addition to having shared meals and play times. We have a new Forest School leader, Dragonfly, who will take us to the Forest every Thursday morning. As part of our daily routine, we will enjoy lots of stories, great amounts of counting and sorting,  plenty of "Explore to learn" time and loads of fresh air during our listening walks and sessions at the forest. This half term is "all about me" and settling in with the others. 

         Keep an eye on this page for news and updates and some pictures of what our class has been up to each half term.

 
       Best wishes
       The Squirrel Class Team

Squirrels Class 2020-21

(Archive)

SUMMER TERM 2

                     Last term before the summer, and then, the Squirrels will move on to Robins, to start their Year 1 adventure. This term they will have 3 sessions in their future classroom, with their future teachers and classmates, the current Year 1 group, in order to make their transition as smooth as possible. Fortunately, the children will also have still plenty of time in our Squirrels Class. We will make the most of the good weather by spending plenty of time outdoors and walking our end of the year hike from the school to Hinton Ampner house for a picnic in their grounds.  We hope to harvest the summer fruits from the garden and make our own jam; we hope to travel to Africa with our stories, songs and puppets; and, of course, we will let the children lead where else we might travel with their imagination and enthusiasm.

SUMMER TERM 1

                   This summer term we are happy to continue to have all children back at school. We have planned for a lot of play outdoors, walks and forest school time. We have plenty of nature to look at and see how things grow and change, both in the classroom and in the forest. We have our frog tank full of frogspawn and we are ready to plant flowers and vegetables in our planters and in the school garden. We have learnt all the sounds in phase 2 and 3 and we will be putting them in practice in focused time activities and through the children’s play and inspiration. We will continue to read and listen to stories, both read and told “from our head” to inspire their play and their Mathematical thinking. And, the special thing is that now the Squirrel children share their lunch break play time with Robins with whom we have created a bubble. This helps the children become more confident in the bigger environment and will help them make friendships for next year, when they will share the classroom with current Year 1 children.

SPRING TERM 2

            We are starting a new half term and we are still performing distant and home learning. We are all hoping that, as things seem to be improving across the country, we will soon be allowed to return to school for everyone.

Even so, Spring term 1 has shown very special moments both at home and at school. Parents have uploaded amazing observations of their children reading, playing and crafting at home. Forest School has continued from home and school, supported by the excellent ideas provided by Bee.

                   This term, both the children at home and are school will continue to follow the same teaching input, until we are all back to school. We will finish Phase 3 phonics, with the digraphs and trigraphs, and the reading scheme adjusted to their reading level. This is the term when children start to feel free to write more extensively and we start to see short stories coming along, with their words and illustrations. In Maths, we will continue learning small numbers in depth, and manipulating plenty of objects to embed their learning. As always, stories are part of our daily routine, and this term will focus on Traditional Fairy Tales. We will focus on the children having plenty of "explore to learn" time to develop their own interests and their own learning, and continue the development of their social skills with their peers.

As we start the new term, we will continue to guide the children's learning through our online tool: Tapestry. We are extremely grateful to parents for putting so much effort into their children learning journey, into uploading Tapestry observations so that we can follow that journey, and into providing us with constructive feedback so that we can improve the way we deliver our input, as it is still a new challenge for us.  But, as we try to teach children, we have persevered, we have found different ways, and we keep trying to make the best out of this strange situation.

We are all missing having a full school, and we are all looking forward to a safe return for all soon. Until then, we hope that all the Squirrel class children and their families remain safe and are able to make the most of the little everyday things and of this time spent together.

SPRING TERM 1

Happy New Year from the Squirrels Class!

             How things have changed in the last few weeks! We were having a wonderful Autumn term 2 with lots of spontaneous drawing, retelling of stories, puppet shows, observations of nature in the forest, small world creations, and the like, when it all has come to a sudden change of setting. Distant and home learning has started again this year. On the bright side, we are all better prepared for it, the children had time to make friendships and become familiar with the school routines, and this will help them at home, and when we all return to school. Hopefully very soon.  

                  So, this term, most children are staying at home whilst continuing their learning in a different, but also, enriching environment. We are all missing the lively environment of a busy classroom, and missing every one of them hugely. Fortunately, we are able to use our online tool to see how their learning continues in varied ways at home. We have already had a great array of observations from many parents of the different things their children are doing at home, such as physical activities, nature observations, cooking, counting, junk modelling, painting, writing, reading, lego constructions, bike rides… and we expect to have many more in the next few weeks.

                     This term, both the children at home and are school are following the same teaching inputs: Phase 3 phonics, with the digraphs and trigraphs, the reading scheme adjusted to their reading level, learning small numbers in depth, and listening to plenty of stories. At the same time, they have plenty of "explore to learn" time to develop their own interests and their own learning. We are guiding the children's learning through our online tool: Tapestry. We encourage parents to share the input with their children, and then follow the ideas that suit their family setting best, and to follow as well their child initiative to promote meaningful learning.  We hugely appreciate their observations and feedback, and in the meantime, we hope that all the Squirrel class children and their families stay safe and are able to make the most of the little everyday things and of this time spent together.

AUTUMN TERM 2

We have had a wonderful first half term governed by the strict safety measure to keep us all at school. Although the children have not been able to enjoy the whole school atmosphere, they have been able to enjoy and explore the rich classroom environment to the full. This has resulted in longer "explore to learn" session with wonderful child- initiated learning: map drawing, train ticket writing, puppet shows, pirate boat building with all the dressing up to make from junk modelling, and many more. The children have settled into the new routines, friends and environment, and they have even become very efficient at getting in and out of their Forest School red suits! We have now started our phonics journey, which means that this term we will cover all the single sounds in Phase 2, learning the songs as we go all along. Over the last few weeks we have been counting everything in the surroundings, marbles, conkers, leaves, trees, cars, jumps, claps, and the like, becoming familiar with numbers and numicon shaper. This term will look into each number more in depth.

         In addition, we will be finding out  all about Bonfire Night, Diwali and Christmas discovering how different people celebrate in different ways, and we will prepare our "virtual" Nativity play.

Autumn term 1

         Welcome to our class! With all the uncertainty during the last term, we are very happy to welcome a new group of 15 children to our school for the start of their learning journey. During this first half term, the children have time to settle in their new classroom, becoming familiar with their new environment, friends and adults. This year, because of the new rules and regulations, the children will stay in the Squirrel Bubble, that is, we have our assigned space, which is the classroom and its ample outside area, but we will still continue to have access to walks and our beloved Forest School with Bee. We will enjoy lots of stories, great amounts of counting and sorting,  plenty of "Explore to learn" time and loads of fresh air during our listening walks and sessions at the forest. This half term is "all about me".  

         Keep an eye on this page for news and updates and some pictures of what our class has been up to.

 
       Best wishes
       The Squirrel Class Team

SQUIRRELS CLASS 2019-20

(archive)

                    We were very fortunate to be able to have Squirrel Class back to school for the final half term. Little by little more and more children joined in (sadly not all could come back) and we had a fantastic time, despite all the new rules and routines.  It meant Squirrel class had to spend all day within our class environment, not being allowed to mix with the other bubbles, but it also gave us freedom to have a very fluid routine that adjusted very well to the children-led learning that we follow. Explore to learn time became longer, and we saw plenty of spontaneous learning and creativity emerging. There was lots of story writing and performing, plenty of role play,, i.e. a map in a story book led to them drawing maps, then finding the empty sand pit and turning it into a pirate ship, homemade hats and eyepatches, planning for long journeys, and much more. Squirrels still enjoyed a few more days at the Forest School, we collected the berries in the school garden and turned them into jam, delicious summer berries jam! And we ended the year with a Teddy Bear Picnic, each child invited their special teddy, brought them to school, did a "show and tell" about them, drew a portrait, and even wrote them a little poem. We had a wonderful picnic by the river too.

                      Every cloud has a silver lining, and Squirrels 2019-20 had a wonderful end of the year when they felt happy, confident and ready for Year 1.

                      Summer Term 1

                    How things have changed in the last few weeks! We were having a wonderful Spring term 2 with lots of spontaneous writing, retelling of stories, puppet shows, observations of nature in the forest and of our own tadpole pond, small world creations, and the like, when it all came to a sudden stop. Everyone was sent home after a lovely free-dress last day of school, and our routines completely changed. Distant and home learning started.

                   This summer term, we have started in the same way, i.e. with most children staying at home and continuing their learning in a different, but also, enriching environment. We are all missing the lively environment of a busy classroom, and missing every one of them hugely. Fortunately, we are able to use our online tool to see how their learning continues in varied ways at home. We have already had a great array of observations from many parents of the different things their children are doing at home, such as physical activities, nature observations, cooking, counting, junk modelling, painting, writing, reading, lego constructions, bike rides… and we expect to have many more in the next few weeks.

                     This term, we will guide the children and their families to focus on “growth and change” all around us. We will publish ideas for stories and activities weekly on our online tool: Tapestry. We encourage parents to follow the ideas that suit their family setting best, and to follow as well their child initiative to promote meaningful learning.  We hugely appreciate their observations and feedback, and in the meantime, we hope that all the Squirrel class children and their families stay safe and are able to make the most of the little everyday things and of this time spent together.

Spring Term 2

        What a lovely way to return to school after half term than to celebrate Shrove Tuesday with cooking pancakes and pancake races!

        The children are all seem to be ready to use their newly acquired writing skills to write recipes, stories, observations and plenty of cards and notes within their games.  The children are grasping the concepts of diagraphs and trigraphs as we continue with Phase 3 phonics. We continue to explore small and big numbers through games and lots of counting. They have become familiar with 2D shapes in their surroundings, and are exploring 3D shapes this term. Cooking cakes is one of their favourite activities, reading a simple recipe and weighing the ingredients against an egg. Sharing the cakes when Mrs Turner brings them in hot from the oven is always a very special time for all.

            The children loved acting stories during the last few weeks and, this term, we will continue to focus on storytelling through Traditional Tales, whilst preparing the songs for the Spring Play, in which Squirrel Class provides the percussion and singing accompaniment.

        At forest school, the children have become very self-sufficient, and very confident climbing the trees and creating their own dens, working in teams or independently. Forest school and walks around the village will provide a great opportunity to notice how things are growing and changing all around us.

Spring Term 1

              Happy New Year from the Squirrel Class!

         The first term was very enjoyable for everyone. The children have formed a lovely group and gestures of kindness and friendship abound amongst them all. Through music, games, and practice, the children have become confident with the Phase 2 of our phonics programme, and are ready to learn the Phase 3 sounds. Language related to addition and subtraction is becoming embedded in their play.  Not only that, they have also grown in confidence through activities such as their performance in the Nativity play, their role play and story telling, and their trip to the Pantomime in Winchester, which they thoroughly enjoyed. Profiting from the cold weather in December, the children explored the changes in water through transient art creations of ice sculptures.

          This term, especially through Julia Donaldson's books, we are enjoying story telling, through puppet shows, acting, story mapping and lots of drawing to retell the story or describe the characters. We have reorganised the classroom to create a larger reading area, and a very cosy home corner. The junk modelling corner is always a hit.

Autumn Term 2

         We have had a wonderful first half term. The children have settled into the new routines, friends and environment, and they have even become very efficient at getting in and out of their Forest School red suits! We have now started our phonics journey, which means that this term we will cover all the single sounds in Phase 2, learning the songs as we go all along. Over the last few weeks we have been counting everything in the surroundings, marbles, conkers, leaves, trees, cars, jumps, claps, and the like, becoming familiar with numbers and numicon shaper. This term will look into each number more in depth.

         In addition, we will be finding out  all about Bonfire Night, Diwali and Christmas discovering how different people celebrate in different ways. 

Autumn term 1

         Welcome to our class! We are welcoming a group of 15 children to our school, who are about to start their learning journey. During the first half term, the children have time to settle in their new classroom, becoming familiar with their new environment, friends and adults. We will enjoy plenty of songs, lots of stories, great amounts of counting and sorting, and loads of fresh air during our listening walks and sessions at the forest school. This half term is "all about me".  

         Keep an eye on this page for news and updates and some pictures of what our class has been up to.

 
       Best wishes
       The Squirrel Class Team