Welcome to Orange Class!

Mrs Brentnall and Ms Elms would like to welcome you to Orange Class.

Take a look at what we have been doing in our first year at school!

Term 6

Roll up! Roll up! 

Come to the Circus

Sundae Sundae

A huge thank you to Chris Conway at 'Sundae Sundae' for providing the children with a delicious treat on Tuesday afternoon. The children thought their ice-creams were delicious and were delighted to eat the teddy bear face on top. It was a lovely end to such a brilliant year, I hope you all enjoy the summer break!

Wildwood

The children enjoyed their trip to Wildwood on Friday. It was a great adventure as we had to catch the bus to get there. All children were on their best behaviour throughout the day and were able to see lots of different animals and their habitats. However I think their favourite part of the day was lunch!

Sports Day

The children all enjoyed sports day and were fantastic throughout. They showed team spirit by cheering for all of their friends and were very excited to see their grown-ups race too! It was a fantastic morning.

Library Visit

Orange class had a lovely, sunny walk to the library last week to find out all about the 'Summer Reading Challenge'. The children can take part in this by reading six different books from the library, they can choose the books they would like to read. Westmeads have won the reading challenge trophy for the last two years and we are hoping to win it back this year too! 

Circus Show

To start our whole school theme this term we had a brilliant circus entertainer visit Westmeads. Riko the clown entertained both children and adults in the morning by walking on stilts and blowing the biggest bubbles we have ever seen! Then he put on a show in the hall that involved riding (and falling off) a unicycle, juggling and brushing his ears with toothpaste. The children all thoroughly enjoyed the show and have been practising some circus skills of their own ever since.

Term 5

Giants

Race For Life

The children were very excited to complete a full mile for the race for life in memory of loved ones that have been affected by cancer.

It was a nice sunny day for the occasion and the children were very good at encouraging their friends to keep going. They were very proud to show each other their medals after the race.

Thank you for all of the donations already!

Clay

Every Friday we have a pottery teacher come in to work with Reception children. We started this week by making 'pinch pots' using clay. It was very fun, we learnt a lot and we cannot wait until our next lesson.

Scooter Training

Orange class really enjoyed scooter training on Wednesday. It took us a little while to put on all of the safety equipment but it was worth it when we started to practise different tricks. We learnt different safety techniques first and then had fun showing our friends what skills we had learnt.

Ducklings

We have had a very exciting couple of weeks watching the ducklings hatch and then grow very quickly. We have had fun looking after them and were very excited to see them swimming in our classroom! They have all gone to their new homes now, but we hope to be kept updated with lots of pictures.

Beach Walk

It was very windy on the beach this week and we all had very cold cheeks. However we still enjoyed it and was busy making towers out of the different materials we could find. It was a little tricky as stones do not balance on top of each other very well, but Orange class soon discovered different ways to make their more stable.

Term 4

Above and Beyond

Balance cakes

For our end of term marble treat we made balance cakes. We needed to put 3 eggs in one side of the scales and then measure all the other ingredients by making the scales balance to check we had the right amount. It was quite tricky! We then added black food colouring to make the cakes look like space rock, decorated them with icing and then had to eat them. They were delicious.

Relatives day

Thank you to all who came to the relatives day and helped us to make the wonderful pots as gifts for our relatives. We had lots of fun decorating the pots, then planting the flowers in them.

Comic Relief

As well as dressing in red for comic relief, we also spent the day telling jokes. Throughout the week we had heard jokes from most people in Orange class and it was a tricky decision to choose the winners. However we decided that Chester and Oliver had the funniest jokes and they told them beautifully to the whole school. Well done everybody, it was a very funny day!

Gruffalo Workshop

During Science week we had the gruffalo workshop come to visit us. We got to hold snails, slugs, a mouse and a turtle. We looked at all of the animals closely through a microscope and learnt lots of interesting facts about them too.

Book Week

During book week the author Denis Bond came to visit us. He read lots of books to us that he had written and told us how he had thought of the stories. He also told us the process of actually making a book. Then we made up our own story with Denis and we are hoping he might publish it soon!

We're Going on a Space Walk...

To start our theme 'Above and Beyond', Orange and Yellow class put on their space jackets, hats and boots and took off into space to find out a little bit about our solar system. The children were very excited and enjoyed using their senses to describe their journey. The children embraced the adventure and learnt lots of different facts about our solar system, but we were very careful not to get too close to the sun!

Music with Mrs Memmott

This term we are very lucky to have a specialist music teacher in Orange class every Friday afternoon. We have learnt lots of new songs and are really enjoying playing instruments, moving to the music and telling stories through music, all linked to our theme 'Magic and Mayhem'.

Term 3

Magic and Mayhem

Parent Reading

The children loved having their parents come in to read them a story. They all had lots to say about their favourite book and they enjoyed hearing different people reading them a story with a group of their friends. Thank you!

Trip to the Horsebridge

The children were extremely well behaved on our first trip out of school. After working so hard on our art designs, we visited the horsebridge to have a look at our work displayed on the walls. The children were very proud and enjoyed looking at (and complimenting) everybody else's work too.

Hansel and Gretel

We have been reading the traditional story 'Hansel and Gretel'. The children have been exploring the characters, acting them out and using interesting words to describe them. The children then wrote a sentence about their favourite character, it was amazing how many chose the witch!

Sleeping Beauty

This term our topic is Magic and Mayhem, so what better way to start the new year than with a great pantomime! The children all listened attentively throughout  the show and enjoyed joining in when they could.

Term 2

A long time ago

Father Christmas

Orange Class were very excited to meet our special visitor! They asked Father Christmas lots of lovely questions and all told him what they would like for Christmas. The children were all very happy with their treats too.

Nativity

We hope you enjoyed the Christmas Nativity as much as we did! The children were fantastic throughout and worked really hard to learn the songs and their lines in time for the big show. The costumes were fantastic too, so thank you for all of your help!

Phonics

In phonics we have been learning to read and write simple words. We have also been practising rhyming words by playing lots of fun games.

Term 1

Safe and Sound

Write Dance

The children enjoy their Write Dance sessions. We have been practising our gross and fine motor control using different movements to music. We have already completed the 'Volcano' dance.

PE

In PE Orange have been practising balancing, spatial awareness, control, listening and following instructions. They really enjoy their PE sessions and are becoming quicker and more independent when getting changed! They are working well in their different teams and are very good at encouraging their team mates when taking part in different activities.

First week at Westmeads

The children have settled in well and enjoy following the daily routines. They have made some good friendships, tried new foods and taken part in lots of new activities.