What a busy and exciting week we have had in Tregantle Class!

The children have been absolutely brilliant and we are so proud of all the enthusiasm, curiosity and effort they have shown throughout the week. A very special highlight was our Remembrance Service. The children were wonderful and showed such care and respect as we came together as a school to remember those who have served and sacrificed for others. Throughout the week, we have been exploring the theme of Remembrance back in our classroom, using the poppy as our inspiration. The children have enjoyed getting creative in lots of different ways, making beautiful red poppies using play dough, carefully painting their own poppy pictures and working together to create a special poppy wreath. These activities provided lots of opportunities to develop our fine motor skills, experiment with different materials and talk about why the poppy is such an important symbol of Remembrance. It has been lovely to see the children taking such pride in their creations and sharing their ideas with one another.

Thursday brought a very different kind of excitement as we joined in with the school's Times Table Rock Stars Day! The children looked fantastic arriving at school dressed up as rock stars, complete with some brilliant outfits and plenty of rock star attitude! We had a wonderful day celebrating all things maths and numbers. The classroom was full of energy as we explored numbers through a range of fun and practical activities. It was a great opportunity to develop our confidence with numbers, practice our counting skills and enjoy some mathematical challenges together. Most importantly, we discovered that maths is lots of fun!

We have also been making the most of the dry weather whenever we can and have loved spending time outside in our garden. The children particularly enjoy having the freedom to explore, investigate and use their imaginations in our outdoor environment. Whether they are enjoying imaginative play, exploring the different resources, working together to build and create or simply discovering what is happening in the garden, there are always lots of wonderful learning opportunities taking place. Outdoor play is such an important part of our day, giving the children opportunities to develop their physical skills, build friendships, practise sharing and turn-taking and, of course, enjoy being active in the fresh air. It has been lovely to see the children growing in confidence, becoming increasingly independent and developing their friendships as they play and learn together.

We are so pleased with how well they are embracing all the different experiences on offer and how enthusiastically they approach each new activity. Another fantastic week in Tregantle Class! We are very proud of our wonderful learners and look forward to seeing what adventures next week brings.

What a lovely first week back in Tregantle Class! We have had a fantastic start to the new half term and the children have returned full of enthusiasm, ready for lots of exciting new learning and adventures.

We have been busy exploring our new topic, Space, and there has certainly been lots of curiosity, imagination and excitement in the classroom! Our focus story this week has been the wonderful Whatever Next! by Jill Murphy. The children have absolutely loved getting involved in role play, using their imaginations to recreate Baby Bear's exciting adventure to the moon. There have been lots of opportunities to become Baby Bear, climb into our very own rocket, put on imaginary space helmets and blast off into space! We have been retelling parts of the story, thinking about what Baby Bear might see on his journey and talking about the different characters and events. It has been wonderful to see the children bringing the story to life through their play, developing their language, communication and storytelling skills along the way.

We have also been thinking about space and what we might find beyond our planet. The children have been sharing their ideas about rockets, astronauts, planets and the moon, asking lots of brilliant questions and using their imaginations to think about what it might be like to travel into space. We are looking forward to developing these interests further as our topic continues!

Alongside our space learning, we have been exploring the Hindu festival of Diwali, also known as the Festival of Light. We have been learning the traditional story of Rama and Sita and discovering why Diwali is celebrated by millions of Hindus around the world. The children have enjoyed listening to the story and finding out about Rama, Sita and the celebration of good overcoming evil. We have talked about some of the different ways families celebrate Diwali, including lighting diyas, decorating their homes with colourful patterns and enjoying special celebrations with family and friends. Our creative activities have been particularly colourful this week! Inspired by Diwali and its spectacular celebrations, we have been busy creating our own firework pictures and paintings. The children have explored different colours, patterns, marks and painting techniques to represent the bright, sparkling fireworks that light up the night sky. We have had some wonderfully vibrant creations, with lots of careful brushwork, imaginative ideas and fabulous use of colour!

It has been lovely to see the children settling back into our familiar routines, reconnecting with their friends and enjoying all the opportunities available in our classroom. As always, our continuous provision has provided plenty of opportunities for the children to follow their own interests, explore, experiment, create and learn through play. We are so proud of the enthusiasm and confidence the children have shown this week. They have been brilliant storytellers, imaginative astronauts, curious learners and fantastic artists! We are looking forward to another exciting week of learning and discovering more about our wonderful universe. I wonder where our imaginations will take us next!

What a fantastic week to finish the half term in Tregantle Class!

The children have been absolutely brilliant with their ‘have a go’ writing this week. Inspired by our class story, Aliens Love Underpants, they have been trying really hard to use the sounds they know to write words and share their ideas. We are so proud of their growing confidence and the wonderful effort they are putting into their early writing!

In maths, we have been exploring repeating patterns in lots of creative ways. The children have enjoyed recognising, creating and continuing patterns, using a range of resources to show what they have learned.

Our highlight of the week was undoubtedly our fantastic dance workshop, inspired by Black History Month. Our theme was ‘Carnival’, and the children had a wonderful time learning some exciting carnival dance moves and performing them to music. We finished with a brilliant carnival train, stopping along the way to shake our tambourines and wave our pom-poms! Everyone joined in with such enthusiasm and energy, and it was an absolute joy to watch the children having so much fun together.

We are incredibly proud of all the children and everything they have achieved this half term. They have worked so hard, grown in confidence and continued to develop their friendships. Have a wonderful half-term break, everyone! We look forward to welcoming the children back for another exciting half term full of fun, exploration and learning in Tregantle Class!

We have had another fantastic week in Tregantle Class, full of learning, creativity and lots of fun!

During our circle time, we met our very special Learning Gang! The children were introduced to six friendly characters, each helping us to develop an important learning skill: - Keep Trying Kangaroo – reminding us to keep going, even when something feels tricky. - Have a Go Horse – encouraging us to be brave and give new things a try. - Teamwork Tiger – helping us to work together and support our friends. - Ideas Iguana – inspiring us to share our ideas and think creatively. - Find Out Frog – encouraging us to ask questions and discover new things. - Change It Chimp – reminding us that we can try a different approach if something doesn't work the first time. The children really enjoyed talking about each character and thinking about when they show these important learning behaviours themselves. We are looking forward to seeing our Learning Gang help us throughout the year as we become confident, independent and enthusiastic learners!

In PE, we started our session with some familiar favourites, including Follow My Leader, the Hokey Cokey and The Farmer’s in His Den. The children loved joining in with the actions and moving their bodies in different ways. We then tried a fun game of Clap, Boom, Grab, which everyone really enjoyed! To finish our session, we played our absolute favourite… parachute games! There were lots of smiles and excitement as we worked together, followed instructions and explored the different activities with the parachute.

As part of our learning for Black History Month, we have been discovering and celebrating the achievements of Black people throughout history. We explored the work of Alma Thomas, an inspirational African-American artist who was famous for her vibrant, colourful abstract paintings. We looked carefully at the colours, shapes and patterns in her artwork before creating our own colourful masterpieces. The children enjoyed experimenting with different colours and designs, expressing their creativity and producing some wonderful individual pieces of art. Through these activities, we have celebrated diversity, explored our creativity and begun to understand the importance of recognising and valuing different cultures and achievements.

Well done, Tregantle! We are so proud of the enthusiasm, creativity and teamwork you continue to show in everything you do. We can't wait for another week of exciting learning together! 

What a busy and exciting week we have had in Tregantle Class! Phonics

This week, we have been very busy in phonics, continuing to learn a new sound every day. We are so impressed with how well the children are remembering their sounds and applying their learning in class. It has also been wonderful to hear that so many of you have been watching the phonics videos at home — what fantastic support! It was especially lovely to welcome our EYFS parents into school on Friday afternoon for a fun phonics session with Mrs Orchard and Mrs Grinsted. Thank you so much for engaging so brilliantly and joining in with all the activities. We think it is safe to say that you are now officially phonics experts!

Maths
In maths, we have continued our learning about subitising and developing our number understanding to 5. The children have been enjoying spotting quantities without needing to count each object, as well as exploring different ways to represent numbers. We have also been learning some new rhymes to help us remember how to form our numbers correctly. The children have loved joining in with these and are becoming more confident with their number writing.

PE Fun
We had a really fun PE lesson this week! We enjoyed moving our bodies like different animals and challenging ourselves to think about how each animal might move. We also had lots of fun playing parachute games, working together and developing our listening and coordination skills. It was certainly a lot of fun!

Settling In
We are incredibly proud of how settled the children are becoming in school. They are really making the most of all the wonderful opportunities available to them, both in the classroom and out in our garden provision. We are already looking forward to more fun and learning next week!

The children continue to settle brilliantly into school life and it has been lovely to see their confidence growing each day. Our classroom has been full of busy learners, with lots of exploring, playing, talking, creating and making new friends.

We have been busy learning new sounds this week and the children have worked incredibly hard to remember them. We have been practising saying our sounds clearly and recognising the pictures that help us remember them. The children have also enjoyed working with Fred the Frog and are beginning to develop their early blending skills. It is wonderful to see how enthusiastic they are becoming about phonics! 

In maths, we have continued to practise counting accurately. The children have been learning the importance of counting one object at a time and making sure that we don't miss anything or count something twice. We have been looking for opportunities to count throughout the day, both during our maths sessions and within our continuous provision. The children are becoming increasingly confident with their numbers and are beginning to apply their counting skills independently during play.

We enjoyed taking our learning outdoors this week with a fantastic leaf hunt! The children loved searching for different leaves and talking about their colours, shapes and sizes. They were fantastic explorers, carefully looking around our outdoor environment and sharing their discoveries with their friends. We also had lots of fun during PE with our parachute games. The children worked together to move the parachute up, down and around while listening carefully to instructions. There were lots of smiles and laughter! These games were a wonderful opportunity to develop our physical skills as well as learning how to work together as a team.

It has been particularly lovely to see the children's friendships developing. They are becoming more confident when approaching one another, inviting friends into their games and sharing ideas during their play. We are seeing lots of lovely examples of children helping each other, taking turns and beginning to solve little problems together. The children are becoming increasingly familiar with our routines and are growing in independence too. It is wonderful to see them making choices about their learning and confidently exploring everything that Tregantle Class has to offer.

What a busy and successful week it has been! We are incredibly proud of all the children and the progress they are making. Well done, Tregantle Class — we can't wait to see what next week brings!

What a wonderful week it has been in EYFS! The children continue to settle beautifully each day and are growing in confidence all the time. They are becoming increasingly familiar with their new classroom, the adults around them and all the exciting learning opportunities it has to offer.

It has been lovely to see friendships beginning to develop and the children becoming more independent as they explore their environment. This week, we have started our first phonics lessons. The children have been introduced to sounds and are learning to recognise the picture that matches each sound. They have been fantastic at joining in and are beginning to develop their listening skills.

We have also started our daily maths time. The children have been practising counting accurately and have been introduced to subitising to 5. We have been having lots of fun recognising small amounts without needing to count each object!

During circle time, we have been learning each other's names and talking about what makes a kind friend. The children have been practising saying kind and positive things to one another, helping us to build a caring and supportive classroom community.

Our Wild Tribe session was great fun! The children enjoyed exploring outdoors and gathering all sorts of natural objects to add to our mud kitchen. There was lots of imagination and creativity as the children used their discoveries in their play.

PE was another real highlight of the week. The children explored ball control and practised rolling and passing the ball to one another. These activities helped them to develop their hand-eye coordination, control and awareness of others, while also encouraging them to work together and take turns.

We are incredibly proud of how well our Tregantle children are settling into school. They have had another busy and exciting week, and we are looking forward to seeing what next week brings!

What an amazing start to school our EYFS children have made!

It has been wonderful to welcome them into the Brunel family and begin getting to know their unique characters, personalities and interests. The children have been busy exploring their new learning environments and discovering all that Tregantle has to offer. From getting creative in the mud kitchen to investigating and exploring the Curiosity Cube, there has been so much fun, excitement and learning taking place.

It has been lovely to see the children becoming more confident as they explore, play and make new discoveries. Tregantle are already settling beautifully into their new routines and beginning to develop some very important school skills. We have been practising lining up, using our listening ears, taking turns and learning how to work and play alongside our new friends. We are so proud of how well the children have responded to these new routines.

We have also enjoyed our first circle times, where we have started learning the names of our new friends and getting to know one another. The children have loved sharing their 'All About Me' posters, talking about their families, favourite things and the things that are special to them. It has been a wonderful opportunity for us all to learn a little more about each other.

It has been a fantastic first week, and we couldn't be prouder of our Tregantle children. They have shown such enthusiasm, curiosity and bravery as they have begun their school journey. We can't wait for another week full of learning, exploring, playing and having fun together! Well done, Tregantle!

 A very warm welcome to all of our new Tregantle families!

We are so excited to begin this special journey with you and your children. We have lots of fun, learning and adventures planned for the year ahead, and we can't wait to get to know each and every one of our wonderful children. Our first topic is 'All About Me,' a lovely topic that helps children settle into school, get to know their new friends and adults, and begin to feel a real sense of belonging in their new class. Throughout the topic, we will be talking about ourselves, our families, our feelings, our interests and what makes each of us special and unique. We will explore our senses, learn about different parts of our bodies and talk about how we can look after ourselves and keep healthy. The children will have lots of opportunities to share things that are important to them, develop friendships, learn our classroom routines and become confident in their new environment. Through stories, songs, creative activities, role play, exploring and our continuous provision, we will be learning all about ourselves while developing the skills we need to become happy, confident and independent learners. Please see the attached document for more details about our very first class topic. 

We are looking forward to a fantastic year together and watching our Tregantle children grow, learn and flourish. Welcome to our Tregantle family!