This term we have continued to delve into what makes us special. We have noticed that part of being special is that we are all individual, different and unique. To gain further understanding of this, we have been looking at our likes and dislikes, our families and interests as well as the celebrations we are part of. As a result of this we have been looking at and comparing festivals and celebrations that we follow in our family as well as those from around the world. We have taken time to compare how they differ and are similar to our own. It has been such a busy time!

In the first week, we became fully immersed in activities celebrating cultural diversity using the key text of Look to the Skies by Nicola Edwards. We explored the migration of butterflies, animals and people butterflies and talked about  why they move from one place to another – to find safety, warmth.

We had a fantastic time immersing ourselves into the celebration of Diwali enjoyed by people of the Hindu and Sikh faiths. The story of Rama and Sita gave an insight into this celebration. The children made their own story maps using objects from around the class to retell the story to each other in small groups. They used their artistic skills to create Diva pots and Rangoli patterns in a variety of interactive ways- using clay, paints, pens and collage materials.

We learnt why we have Bonfire Night each year and learnt all about Guy Fawkes and his gang and how they attempted to blow up King James the first. We then had a go at creating out=r own pieces of abstract art, creating firework pictures using the flick and spray method outside. It was great fun!

This year we have started to immerse ourselves in Drawing Club. Each week we look at a key book and draw characters' settings and go on imaginative adventures. This term we looked at Rama and Sita, Bag Puss, Stickman The Christmas Pine, Hovis the Hedgehog and Whacky Races. We have created some amazing pictures, widened our vocabulary, and are developing great storytelling skills. The magic codes we write also do a lot of awesome things!

In Maths, we have been developing our counting skills, discovering how subitising skills help us when it comes to counting a mixture of different valued coins and applying what we have learnt to real life contexts. This has really helped when looking at the number bonds to 5 so that we can quickly recall the different ways we can make numbers up to 5. We have aso explored the properties of a range of 2d shapes and have created some brilliant artwork in the style of Kandinsky and Mondrian when looking at circles triangles and shapes with four sides.

We wore odd socks to launch anti-bullying week and discovered the most powerful tool to stop this happening is to shout out and tell someone as soon as you think you may be being bullied and how important it is to always be kind to one another

We have studied the story of the first Christmas and why it is the most important event in the Christian calendar. We have then really enjoyed retelling it through our Christmas nativity entitled ‘Whoopsa Daisy Angel which yet again was an amazing performance. All the children were superstars!

It is always good fun decorating the class tree and we made decorations for the school tree. This year we made snowflakes to develop our cutting skills as well as exploring use of pva glue and glue spreaders.

Our tole play area was transformed into a Post Office role play area where there has been lots of opportunities to write letters, envelopes and cards. Weigh and compare parcels, sort them in different ways and wrap them. We have applied our number skills to work out how to pay for stamps and postage using 1p 2p and 5p coins.