As we are the Swans we have focused our learning this week on the story ‘The Ugly Duckling.’ We read the story and we watched the 1939 Walt Disney film. We then had great fun using props to help us retell the story.

The children have been discussing how we are all different on the outside but all the same on the inside and how it is important to be kind and friendly to each other. We all collaged a swan by ourselves and we all painted a swan of our own using our handprint as its body.

The children have also made nests for the mother duck’s eggs. They had to manipulate the play dough carefully so that the eggs did not fall out. They were also set the challenge of counting the eggs in each nest with one to one correspondence.

The children also attempted graphic representations for the number of ducklings they had chosen to place on the duck pond. Some children even wrote the corresponding numbers by themselves too.

Some children chose to draw Swans on the iPads. They were amazing at navigating themselves around the programme, selecting different tools and colours. We think their Swan drawings are amazing!

The children have also been encouraged to do some think writing this week. They drew illustrations from the story, think wrote a short sentence and attempted to write their name! Super work Swans.

All the children have now started Reception. They have settled in very well and they are beginning to become more familiar with our rules and routines. They are making new friends daily and they are already becoming quite independent with their learning across the environment. Here are our first day photographs. Don’t we all look smart?

It is hard to believe that the Swans have been in Reception for a whole year and it is now the last week! This week we celebrated the end of the year with a teddy bears picnic.

The children made bear faced biscuits to share with their buddy’s who are currently in year 5.

We also had pom bear crisps, bear shaped cheesy bread and a bear cake. Our buddy’s brought tip tops to share with the Reception children. We ate our food outside and then played a game called ‘isn’t it funny how a bear likes honey.’

This week we also celebrated our August birthdays. Three of our Swans will be turning 5 in the holidays.

This week the Swans class went by coach to Birmingham Airport. They were very excited as we set off. Our first stop was at Birmingham International train station where we caught the monorail to the airport.

Ms Andrews had to go and get the key to the flight school so the swans had their snack while they were waiting. Once she got back we made our way up several flights of stairs to the flight school. From here we could see for miles across the airport, the landing strips, the control tower, aeroplanes and helicopters and baggage carts. Then we walked over to the viewing area to watch the planes landing and taking off.

Alex was our airport expert and was able to tell us when and which planes were coming and going. He spotted them before anyone else. We saw several different planes including a private yet!

Then we went back for lunch and an eye spy activity. We had a sheet of things to find. We managed to get a picture taken with a pilot and air stewards. The children got excited looking for the items on our eye spy lists.

We followed this with some observational drawings of the planes we could see from the windows.

There were some tired children travelling back to school on the coach!

Back at school we set up a check in desk and an aeroplane to encourage the children to apply the new language they had learnt, during role play. They had to make themselves a passport and book a holiday by choosing a destination on the globe or from the atlas.

This week we have been looking at different ways to travel in the air. We have had different activities out during discovery time linked to our theme. The children are getting excited about our trip to Birmingham Airport, so watch this space next week for photos of our trip!

On Wednesday the Swans went and spent the day in Year 1 with Miss Coghlan and Mrs Sargent. They came back full enthusiasm and are looking forward to being in Year 1 next year.