🌟 Emerald Class News: Week 5 Highlights!

🔌 Making connections - Conductors and insulators. 

• Buzz testing station: The students were given an incomplete circuit with a buzzer attached. They were then presented with a collection of different items, some of them are conductors and some are insulators. The students used the items to see what ones completed the circuit. 

• Thermal sensory play: A collection of different items were displayed in a tuff tray, some of the items would be metal that is frozen/cold and the other items would be different insulators that are warm. This exploration activity helps the students feel the difference between a conductor and an insulator. 

✍️ Write Dance

Parachute: To warm up and get ready for our write dance lessons the students and staff all find a handle on the parachute. We then follow along with a collection of songs that instruct us on how to move the parachute. We wiggle, shake and spin the parachute. 

Mark Making: The students use chalk on blank paper to make make in different patterns. This week we focus on moving up and down on our paper with increasing independence and accuracy. 

🐻 Sensory story - We are going on a bear hunt!

• Exploration: During the story the students explore a variety of different terains and sensory expieriences. They trek through snowy landscapes and muddy fields using different visual, auditory and tangible cues. 

🎵Music

• Instrument exploration: The students were shown a box full of instruments they have previously been introduced to and each made a choice. They were then given different rhythm songs to follow along with using their instruments. 

🌟 Emerald Class News: Week 4 Highlights!

🕹️Creativity and innovation - Switches, circuits and how they work in everyday life.

• Switch hunt: The students explored a dark room with hidden switches. They had to use their senses to find the switches without seeing them and turn them on to shine light into the room. 

• Cause and effect: The toys are switched off so the students have to problem solve to get them working. They then follow adult instruction to turn the toy back off when they are finished so they can move on to the next toy.

🧑‍🍳 Cooking

• Sandwiches: The students where given a range of choices for toppings and encouraged to build their own sandwich. First they buttered their bread then they added their chosen topics. Once they had finished making their sandwich the class tried them and were encouraged to communicate their opinions. 

⚽ P.E.

• National Boccia day: Sunday the 27th of September is national Boccia day. Boccia is a paralympic sport that involves the rolling of weighted balls towards a white center ball. This can be done sitting down using a ramp or your hands. The class competed in two teams, taking either side of the room and took turns rolling their balls as close as they could to the center ball. 

🎵Music

• Music choose: The students were invited one by one to choose a song from our board. They then used their instruments or hands to follow along to the beat of the song. 

🌟 Emerald Class News: Week 3 Highlights!

This week has been full of fun, interactive and hands on learning for Emerald class.

🔥 The Great Fire of London - How materials change and are used to meet peoples needs

• Sensory exploration: This week we focused on how london was rebuild after the great fire. We explored a tuff tray filled with different building materials and tools to help rebuild the houses lost in the fire. 

• Cause and effect: The class also explored the differences between the materials used in homes across london before and after the fire. They used fans to attempt to blow down structures from sticks and wood and then structures made from 'stone' blocks to investigate the difference in the buildings stability.

🧑‍🍳 Cooking 

• Eton Mess: The students followed instructions to break up the meringue using utensils before adding the cream and strawberries mixed in to make Eton Mess

🚗Didi Cars

• Gross Motor Skills: The students are progressing well using the didi cars and developing their gross motor skills by steering and moving the cars. They are also improving on their spatial awareness by using the steering wheel to avoid collisions during the session. 

✍️ Write Dance

• Ribbon dancing: The class use ribbons to work on their gross motor skills. They follow directional songs that give instructions on how they should move their ribbons whilst the adults in class model. 

• Shaving foam: The students in Emerald Class use shaving foam and a variety of mark making instruments to follow music based instructions. This helps build both fine and gross motor skills.

🌟 Emerald Class News: Week 2 Highlights!

We have had a fantastic second week in Emerald Class, filled with movement, hands-on exploration, and brilliant learning!

🏃‍♂️ Daily Mile & Group Routines

This week, we introduced our Daily Mile run/walk just before lunchtime. It has been a wonderful opportunity for a movement break to recharge before eating! We are also continuing to build our class identity and routine—the children are getting so much better at recognizing when "Emerald Class" is called at the end of playtime and coming together as a team.

🔥 Fire, Sounds & Exploration

Our learning came to life with some exciting sensory and physical activities:

• Great Fire of London: We brought our story to life by exploring different sound effects and using water pistols to "extinguish" the fires, learning about how materials react and meet our needs.

• Lucky Dip Discovery: The children loved exploring a range of common, everyday objects in our lucky dip bins—building tactile awareness, curiosity, and new descriptive vocabulary.

🧑‍🍳 Cooking 

• Fruit kebabs: We had a variety of different coloured fruits that the class could pick out and try individually or put on their kebab. The students worked on their fine motor skills, attempting to put the fruit on the sticks. They also worked on their IB skills such as being inquirers and risk takers by trying the food even if they were unsure and using their different senses to explore the food.

🎵 Music 

• Introductions: This week we focused on interacting with the welcome song and beginning to follow instructions during the warm up. We have started introducing different instruments to the class. They choose one out of a selection box and explore the different sounds they can make. 

🌟 Emerald Class News: Week 1 Highlights!

What a fantastic start to the new term! The pupils have settled into their new class routine remarkably well this week, quickly getting used to whole-class sessions, organizing their belongings in the cloakroom, and independently retrieving their lunchboxes and water bottles. It has been a joy to watch them interact, play alongside one another, and build early friendships.

We hit the ground running with 1:1 sessions and balance bike practice, alongside a new sensory story, Write Dance and mark-making activities. In Inquiry, we introduced the Great Fire of London with an immersive sensory retelling. The pupils loved getting involved in firefighter role-play—using water pistols to "douse" the flames and practicing their scooping and pouring skills with rice to explore full and empty concepts.

We will also shortly be sending home reading books that the pupils have chosen from the library themselves. Please support us in encouraging reading for pleasure at home; it would be fantastic if you could write any comments in the provided reading records about how your child engaged with their chosen stories.