It has been a very busy and jam-packed week in Pili-Pala! Our story of the week, and the one driving much of our enhanced provision, has been Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Through this familiar tale, the children have been practising their letter formation in porridge oats, creating house adverts to sell the Three Bears’ cottage, building furniture that was “just right” in our construction area, and producing beautiful mixed-media pictures inspired by real bears.

In maths, we have been developing our understanding of subtraction, using 10 frames to help us visualise taking away. The children explored how numbers change when objects are removed, physically moving counters and using the 10 frames to support their thinking. 

On Tuesday, we marked Internet Safety Day by listening to the story Chicken Clicking, which explores the importance of staying safe online and thinking carefully before clicking or sharing personal information. The story prompted thoughtful discussions about how we can protect ourselves when using the internet. Following this, the children designed their own Internet Safety Superheroes, thinking about the special powers they could have to keep everyone safe online.

On Thursday, as part of our puppet inquiry, we had an amazing morning with an exciting visit from Puppet Play. Helen told us a beautiful story about a special oyster in the sea and showed us how puppets can truly come to life through storytelling. Inspired by this, we designed our own fish puppets using mixed media before working collaboratively to create our own stories, accompanied by Helen playing beautiful music on the guitar. It was a magical experience that sparked imagination and creativity throughout the room.

This week also marked Children’s Mental Health Week, where we focused on wellbeing, kindness and feeling good about ourselves. On Friday, children were invited to wear something that makes them feel happy and comfortable, and we ended the week with a fantastic silent disco dance-a-thon, full of energy, smiles and laughter.

It has truly been a week filled with stories, creativity and celebration. We would like to wish all our families a happy and restful half term, and we look forward to welcoming everyone back for more learning adventures soon 😊🦋