EYFS - Da Vinci Class

Da Vinci class had a fantastic Term 2 following our line of enquiry about different families having different cultures and traditions. We learnt about different celebrations around the world. To begin, the children found out about Remembrance Day and explored how and why we commemorate this day. We were lucky to go on our first trip to St Werburgh's church to visit the war memorial and explore the inside of the church. Inside the church we observed our 2 minutes silence to remember the soldiers who fought and those who died in war.

Following this we inquired about how birthdays are celebrated and how these traditions may be different around the world. We wrote birthday cards, birthday lists and invitations. At the end of the week we had a birthday party for our teddies with dancing, games and party food. The end of November marked Thanksgiving, and we found out the different traditions of this celebration including parades and lots of food. We explored maps to identify the USA and Canada, the countries which celebrate this holiday. Then we looked a little closer to home, finding out about Scotland and St Andrew's day. We learnt about traditional clothing, food and dance for Scottish people. We had great fun making our own flags. December brought the excitement of Christmas to the classroom, with lots of talk about advent calendars and cheeky elves invading our homes. The children worked extremely hard to learn the songs and lines for our nativity performance and put on a fantastic show for the school and parents.

The children have worked extremely hard in their phonics lessons and are now reading and writing CVC words with some children writing simple captions. The children are using writing throughout our learning and within their play. In maths we have focused on the numbers 1-5, subitising, combinations of amounts to make a given total and learning number facts.

Forest school was introduced this term, the children have fully engaged in these sessions, showing themselves as risk takers and inquirers. The children have loved the freedom of exploring the area and all it has to offer with many children returning covered in mud! We all look forward to our weekly sessions next term.

All children in Da Vinci class have grown in confidence and independence in all areas, from being able to organise themselves at the beginning and end of the day, to reading and writing words by themselves, through to being risk takers to try something new. They have continued to mature and their personalities are really shining through! We can't wait to see what the next term brings.

Mrs McInerney - EYFS Class Teacher