Seahorses and Turtles
Welcome to the Seahorses (YN) and Turtles page (YR). On this page we will share the exciting things we learn about, the places we go and the events we take part in. Key information about the curriculum can also be found on the Curriculum Overview page.
Teachers: Mrs Tomlinson (Turtles) and Mrs Longworth (Seahorses)
Teaching Assistants: Mrs Clark, Mrs Wilkinson, Mrs. Wilson and Miss Barlow
Additional Support: Miss Taylor, Mrs Giga
2024/2025
School opens at 8.45am.
School finishes at 3.15pm.
Nursery
Morning session- 8.45-11.45
Afternoon session- 12.15-3.15
Full time session- 8.45-3.15 with lunch.
Seahorses (Nursery FS1) use playground at the back of the school. Steps near climbing frame. Morning children to be collected from the nursery door at the front of school and children arriving for the afternoon session to be dropped of at the nursery door.
Turtles (Reception FS2) use playground at the back of the school. Steps near climbing frame.
PE Days-
Seahorses - Tuesday (am) and Thursday (pm)
Turtles - Monday and Wednesday ( plain black shorts or joggers, plain white T-shirt, school jumper or cardigan, sensible trainers)
Homework -
Seahorses - Daily snuggle book, messages via parent hub for home/school links.
Turtles - Supersonic Phonic Friends sheet, later in the year: Phonics Shed (2 lists - 5 games each) Maths Shed (1 quiz) Reading ( at least 3 per week)
Both Classes: Explore Busy Things with home access login.
Welcome to the Early Years Foundation Stage
We are the Sparkling Seahorses and Terrific Turtles!
In the EYFS we take great pride in our learning and we work extremely hard every day to achieve our very best. The early years are the vital years of your child’s education. These are the years when most concepts in language and maths are formed and when key learning and social skills are developed. We have an exciting, action packed curriculum delivered through open ended projects, ensuring all seven areas of learning and development are important and inter-connected. Our school motto is 'Happiness and High Standards' and we look forward to working in partnership with parents to ensure that every child builds a strong foundation, igniting a curiosity and enthusiasm for learning, forming relationships and thriving.
EYFS Long Term Learning Plan
Phase 1 Phonics for Parents- https://www.nurserynook.co.uk/parentsphonics
Please speak to Mrs. Longworth for login details.
Helpful information for parents...
What to expect from the EYFS.
Helpful toilet training tips.
Online safety 0-5 years
Tiny Happy People helps you to develop your child's language skills.
Explore our simple activities and play ideas and find out about babies and toddlers' amazing early development.
2024-2025 Learning
We have welcomed the children back after the summer and they have enjoyed getting to know their new friends and seeing their friends from last year. The weather has been beautiful so the children have enjoyed getting outside and being active.
2023/24 Learning...
Pancake Day
The nursery children enjoyed celebrating Pancake Day this week. They helped make pancake batter, they flipped the pancakes in the pan, they had a pancake race and then they enjoyed eating the pancakes.
Numbers and counting in nursery.
This week in nursery we have been using 10 frames to show quantity. The children really enjoyed filling the squares and then moving themselves and their friends in and out, counting as they played.
Chinese New Year
This week we celebrated Chinese New Year. We had Chinese food and a dragon dance.
Jack and the JellybeanStalk
In nursery we read the story Jack and the Jellybean stalk. We had a visit from the giant and Jack who brought the goose. The children found giant footprints and lots of white feathers. Then we found a basket with a giant golden egg inside. It was a present from Jack. When we opened it the egg was full of juicy jellybeans!
Nursery painting their own beanstalk and added lots of colourful, juicy jellybeans. They also enjoyed other beanstalk activities such as making beanstalks with the dough, chalking a giant beanstalk outside on the path and making a beanstalk using the numberblocks.
“Number 7 is the giant”.
Jack and the Beanstalk
This week we have been reading Jack and the Beanstalk. The children really enjoyed planting a magic bean and are now waiting patiently for it to grow into a beanstalk.
Watch Jack and the Beanstalk by following the link
https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/curations/something-special-mr-tumble-tales
We had lots of fun in the snow this week. We built a snowman together and counted 3 buttons for him because we have been learning all about 3 this week. It was really exciting to play in the snow. ❄️☃️
As part of our Maths this week we read the story Goldilocks and the Three Bears. The children then enjoyed making and tasting porridge.
We have enjoyed getting to know our new friends in nursery this week.
Christmas…
A visit from Santa
Maths in reception
The children in reception class have been working on part, part, whole in maths this week. They used the Numberblocks to find that the parts of a block make a whole when put together.
We went on a Bear Hunt
We have read the story Going on a Bear Hunt. The children made masks, painted a story together and finally we went on a bear hunt. We swished through the grass, splashed in the river, squelched in the mud, stumbled in the forest, swirled in the snowstorm and tiptoed through the cave. We found a BEAR!!
Listening walk in nursery
The children made some listening ears and as part of our phonics lesson we explored sounds outside and around the school. The children heard lots of environmental sounds such as birds tweeting, children laughing, cars driving by, an ambulance, the telephone ringing, cooking in the kitchen and doors banging.
Instrumental sounds in phonics.
We played a game of “what’s in the bag” during phonics. The children guessed the instrument by the sounds that it made. Was it loud? Was it quiet? Was it fast? Was it slow?
The children continued to play the game after the session, extending their learning.
Mark Making in nursery
The children having been making lots of marks in nursery. These children have been having a go at writing their name.
Exploring our new classroom and getting to know our new friends.
Transient art faces
The children in nursery used autumn resources to create their face with the dough. They remembered that they have 2 eyes, 1 nose and 1 mouth. Some added hair and other extras.
Colour in maths in nursery
This half term we have been learning all about colour. We have found out which colours when mixed create a different colour- red + blue = purple yellow + blue = green and red + yellow = orange. The children had lots of fun mixing paints. We have also sorted using colour, shape and size.
#myhappymind
In nursery we use My Happy Mind to learn all about the brain and our feelings. The children created a feelings wheel by colouring the emotions with the colours that they think represent angry, happy, calm and sad. They pinched the peg on to the part that they felt at that time.
Previous Learning...
World Book Day
The children in Seahorses dressed as a word to celebrate World Book Day. We had words such as strong, kind, nocturnal, smiley, smash and lots more.
Marvellous Me!
To mark Children’s Mental Health Week the children created Marvellous Me boxes. This was a way for them to express their unique selves and show the things like.
Below you will see Seahorses boxes.
Below you will see Turtles boxes.
Big Wide World- Space
This half term the children have been exploring space. They have been learning the name of the planets through song.
The children in Seahorses class worked together to create planets using paper mache.
The children in Turtles class worked together to collage the planets and then wrote a fact about their chosen one.
Did you know that a year on Mercury is 88 days? Or Venus is the hottest planet? Or Jupiter is the largest planet? Or Uranus is a giant icy planet?
The children in Reception researched these facts using information books.
Birthday Baking and Celebrations in EYFS
Autumn
In Nursery we have looked at the changes in autumn and we went on an autumn walk to explore the sights, smells and sounds around school. We collected lots of leaves, berries, sticks and twigs, conkers and pine cones to create some land art (hedgehog).
Our key text was The Little Red Hen and the children learned how to tell the story without a book and instead using actions.
Colours
In maths this term, nursery have learnt a lot about colours. They have brought in objects from home to create themed tables, been on colour hunts around school and mixed the colours to create new ones. They have also tried different colour foods like oranges and grapes and used different media to create bright colourful paintings.
Previous Learning in EYFS
Planting Sunflower Seeds
After lots of anticipation our new climbing equipment is finally installed. The children waited patiently while the builders created their new area but have now been able to access it. They had lots of fun!
Outdoor Area
The children in the Foundation Stage are really enjoying their new outdoor area. The new resources are capturing their imaginations and they can't wait for our big equipment to be installed.
Baking
The children in Early Years bake each week for their birthday and also for the other children in the school to celebrate their birthdays too. As the year has progressed the children have become really independent in doing this activity. Today these children weighed and balanced, mixed, cracked eggs and then shared the mixture between the cupcake cases independently. They even worked out that one tray had 12 cakes and the other had 6 making a total of 18. The adult baked the cakes and then they chose to decorate them with chocolate icing and lots of sprinkles. As they delivered the cakes they sang Happy Birthday to each child, making them feel special.
Squiggle While You Wiggle
Each morning (and afternoon in Nursery) the children take part in Squiggle While You Wiggle. This is to improve early writing and a way of connecting the brain to the body. The children really enjoy it as it is very active and they have lots of fun.
Chinese New Year
We celebrated Chinese New Year in Early Years. We read the story telling us how each year got its name, we acted out the race with the animal puppets in the small world area, we tasted different foods including noodles, spring rolls, prawn crackers and sauces including sweet chilli, soy and Hoisin. We made a big dragon puppet and then we danced like the street dancers in China Town.
Our Healthy Eating Café
This half term we have been learning all about eating healthy and we created our own café for snack time. We worked in teams to make snack for the other children in the unit. The café had someone to take the orders who then gave these to the kitchen staff who then prepared the snack. The menu included bagels with butter or jam, toast with butter or jam, fresh fruit salad and milk or water. The children really enjoyed being independent in cutting, chopping the fruit, spreading the toppings and using the toaster (with adult supervision!).
Life Bus
As part of our PSHE lessons this half term the children had a visitor from the Education Life Bus https://www.coramlifeeducation.org.uk/scarf/
This half terms topic is Being my Best and the children have been learning all about making healthy choices, growth mindset and good hygiene. All the children met Harold the Giraffe and helped him to make good health choices.
Christmas Party
The children had an amazing time at the Christmas party. They had a buffet, dancing, party games and there was even a special visitor!
Christmas Nativity
The children in Turtles and Seahorses classes performed The Nativity. Due to the current health issues there couldn't be any parents present, however the children sang their little hearts out and put on a Hollywood style performance. They loved dressing up in their costumes too.
End of Autumn Topic
This half term we have been learning all about autumn. The children have looked at the changes in the season, walked around their environment, sang autumn related songs and read lots and lots of autumn stories and books. To end our topic the children made a bread roll/hedgehog and some autumn flavoured soup. We added carrots, swede, sweet potato, parsnip and onions. The children really enjoyed the independence of preparing the vegetables and kneading the dough.
RE (Turtles Class)
Autumn Term:
The children in reception class have been learning that for Christians the word ‘God’ is important as the name of someone very important: the Creator of the universe and all that is in it, including people and animals.
They read the story about Tom and Tessa (two imaginary Christian children) who visit their Grandad and make jelly.
Excerpt from book:
Grandad read them a story from their Bible storybook, about God
creating the world. ‘Which day did God make jellyfish, Tom?’ asked Grandad. Tom knew the answer.
Tessa said, ‘God is an amazing Creator, Grandad, but why did he make jellyfish? We can’t eat them
and they might sting us.’ I wonder what Grandad thought. Tom said, ‘I think he just liked the idea.
After tea, I’m going to make a jellyfish, just like God.’
The children then tried to create their own jellyfish out of jelly to see how easy this was. They found that it wasn't easy.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/watch/ask-anything-are-jellyfish-made-of-jelly
