With temperatures soaring at the beginning of the week, it was the perfect opportunity for Fox class to make refreshing, icy drinks. The children chopped, squeezed and blended lemons and strawberries to make their own strawberry lemonade. It was a huge success and the children were feeling much cooler after drinking their creation.

The children headed to the shaded woodland area on Tuesday. Whilst down at the woods, Foxes encountered some African animals hiding in the tall trees and within the overgrown grass. There was a warthog, vulture, stork, wildebeest and a hyena. They were all clues of our new class story, ‘The Ugly Five’ by Julia Donaldson.

The children were also joined by their friends from Grasshoppers. It was a fun afternoon had by all!

THE BUTTERFLIES HAVE ARRIVED!

The children were over the moon, on arrival to school on Monday, to see that three butterflies had emerged from cocoons! Foxes have been on watch making sure their butterflies are safe in the classroom environment and were checking for any more fluttering friends. When the children arrived on Wednesday, there were a further 6 butterflies. They have been tucking into apples, bananas and oranges before being released into the wild.

Football fever has arrived in Foxes, following the beginning of the Euro 2024 football competition. The children have been enjoying watching the highlights from some of the matches and recognising their favourite footballers on the screen. On Wednesday, Foxes celebrated the competition by participating in a football day. They all arrived in football dress or red and white clothing. The children engaged in a range of football activities. They began making their own paper mache footballs, England flags and decorated football pitch cupcakes.

During the afternoon, Foxes headed out onto the playground to practise some football skills. They have been dribbling the ball, passing and shooting. The children all thoroughly enjoyed the day. They now eagerly await to see whether it finally comes home!

It was Fox’s final swimming session on Thursday. The children continued to develop their front crawl, back stroke and floating skills before celebrating this year’s successes on the floats. The children thoroughly enjoyed the session and are already looking forward to returning to their swimming lessons next school year.

The children have been so engaged in their learning linked with the story, ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ recently. Their cooking session drew upon spreading, mixing and melting skills. Foxes all decorated their own yummy version of the very hungry caterpillar. They certainly went down a treat!

On Monday, as the children arrived to school, there had been a huge change in the caterpillars! All but two of the caterpillars had hardened and formed into j-shaped cocoon. A few were hanging from the ceiling of the tub and the others were nesting on the floor. By the end of the week, all of the caterpillars had transformed into cocoons and were ready to be placed into their chrysalis stations, ready to move into the butterfly net. The children are paitently waiting now for pretty butterflies to emerge.

On Wednesday, Foxes visited Twycross Zoo to complement their learning linked with this term’s topic – ‘Safari Explorers’. Since returning after the Easter break, the children have been used books to develop their knowledge on African animals. Whilst at the zoo, the children observed zebras, monkeys, flamingos and giraffes. The children enjoyed reading the information boards around the zoo to develop their knowledge further.

Foxes also discovered the butterfly farm as they explored Twycross Zoo. The children came up close with a variety of different butterflies as they fluttered around the area. They also found the Chrysalis station. The children were so keen to share their knowledge of what they have recently been exploring in school.

Foxes staff were so impressed with the children’s effort and engagement during the visit. It was lovely to hear the children share how much they have learnt from our learning in class. Well done Foxes, you have done Oakwood proud!

Foxes have been watching their wriggling caterpillars closely, this week. They have grown so big! The children are expecting to return on Monday to see that some of the caterpillars have hardened into chrysalises! Come back next week for more updates!

Despite the recent showers, wind and cloudy days, Foxes class have been learning all about Summer. Over the year, the children have explored each of the seasons, understanding the changes in the environment. They have looked at the typical weather patterns and how the amount of hours of daylight increase during the summer months. Foxes also looked at the different activities people might engage in throughout summer – it included visits to the beach.

A huge Happy Father’s Day to our Daddies, Grandads, Uncles and Big Brothers. We hope you all have a lovely day celebrating over the weekend. You are all truly amazing! 

To continue their learning on growth and life cycles, Foxes have have 10 very creepy, crawly visitors arrive in the classroom! On Tuesday, the children explored the story of ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’, learning the different processes and stages that caterpillars go through before transforming into beautiful butterflies. Over the week, the children have developed their understanding of the life cycle further and have even ordered their own versions. Pop back soon to see updates of how Fox’s caterpillars are growing and developing.

Just before half term, the children had completed lots of work linked with ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’. This week, during cooking, Foxes have used Jack’s magic beans to make their own chilli con carne. The children used skills that have learnt from over the year to create their own delicious meal. They applied measuring, chopping, frying and stirring skills throughout the session. It tasted delicious although some of the children needed a drink after!

SETH & MATILDA!

This week, we have had two champions in Foxes! Seth has impressed us with his independence when changing. He has been interested in showing his adults how he can take off his own clothes to change for swimming. Matilda has positively engaged in all activities. She has enjoyed learning all about caterpillars, number 15 and even some of her set 2 sounds. Well done Seth and Matilda!

To celebrate the progress the children have made this year, Foxes invited their parents to join them at their final swimming session at Oak Park. The children have worked extremely hard to develop their confidence, independence and technique during their sessions with Liz. It was a fantastic final session and it was amazing to see the proud smiles on the faces of the adults! A huge thank you to those parents who were able to attend and join in with the swimming activities.

Foxes always show so much enthusiasm in their problem solving sessions and it was no different on Wednesday when the children celebrated ‘National Numeracy Day’. The children came to school dressed in their maths clothing, ready to explore a range of maths activities. The children each decorated their own Numberblock headband ready to wear for the special day.

Foxes have been very lucky to have three story time sessions with Kelly and Lucy, from the Oxford Story Museum. On Tuesday, the children were visited for the final time. Kelly and Lucy retold the traditional West African story, ‘The Turtle who Wanted to Fly’. The children all listened beautifully, explored the sensory aspects of the story through props and joined in with songs. They were set the task of designing their own collage turtle, linked with the story. Look at their beautiful designs below!

HARLEY-JAY!

Harley-Jay has impressed with how helpful he has been in Foxes, this week! At lunchtime, he has keeping our dinner hall clean and tidy by collecting up empty cups, plates and bowls. He has also been wiping over the tables, ready for the following day. Finally, Harley-Jay wowed us when he took the RWI session. He helped his peers practise their sounds by carrying out the morning routine. Well done Harley-Jay and thank you so much for your helping hands!

The children have thoroughly enjoyed learning about the life cycles of frogs recently! They understand that the final stage of the life cycle is a fully grown frog. The children applied this knowledge to create their own frog biscuits. Foxes first spread blue icing onto a biscuit, added sprinkles to represent lilypads and moulded their own frog shape.

Foxes are immersed in their ‘Safari Explorers’ topic. This week, they have been developing their knowledge of Kenya. The children located Kenya on a map of Africa and began to locate different physical features including Mount Kenya and Tana River. The session was concluded with the children creating their own Kenyan flag recognising the colours and positioning of the colours in the correct place.

This term, Foxes have been developing movement phases within their gymnastic sessions. They have worked on exploring different modes of travelling, balances and jumps. During their PE lesson, on Tuesday, the children looked at developing balances alongside and with a partner. They incorporated the skills learnt from balancing in isolation to ensure that their balances were controlled. Next week, the children will look at add modes of travelling to their partner balances.

The children have thoroughly enjoyed completing work, linked to our class story – Jack and the Beanstalk. They have been retelling and ordering the key events, from the story. Last week, the children looked at the life cycle of a bean to understand the different stages of a bean’s life. Foxes have planted their own magic beans. The children are closely observing their beans to see if they can spot the different stages of the life cycle. Come back soon to see how their beans are growing!

During music with Bev, the children explored the traditions of May Day. They engaged in May Day Morris dancing. The children had to keep to a 8 beat rhythm whilst working with a partner and the rest of the group. Watch the children’s amazing effort here…

SETH!

Seth has been awarded ‘Champion of the Week’ for Foxes for his engagement in our learning. He has been so confident to share his knowledge with his peers, during group sessions. Seth has shown a particular interest in our work linked to Jack and the Beanstalk and our Science work linked to life cycles. WOW! Well done Seth!

This week, marks the end of the Jewish celebration of Passover. The children have enjoyed engaging in a range of activities linking to traditional celebrations. They began by making macaroons, at the start of the week. The children used a new cooking technique – folding. This was used to make sure the mixture was the correct consistency.

Jewish people celebrating by sharing a special meal called Seder. Alongside their meal, they have a drink in a special glass. The children decorated their own special glasses which are on display in the classroom!

The children listened beautifully to the Passover story and enjoyed retelling the story using props.

This term, within PSHE and Science, the children are exploring growth. So far they have looked at human life cycle, focusing on ordering the different milestone that humans go through in their life. This week, the children have used the Nick Sharrat’s story of ‘Jack and the Beanstalk’ to explore growth within plants. If you wish to listen to the story at home, you can watch here.

Foxes all listened beautifully and enjoyed retelling their own version of Jack and the Beanstalk, using lollipop stick characters. They all remembered the key parts of the story.m

The children then thought about how the beanstalk could have grown so tall from the tiny seeds. Foxes explored the life cycle, acting out the different stages in a plants life cycle.

ROMAN!

Roman is the deserving winner of ‘Oakwood Champion’ for Fox class, this week. He has been given this for his kindness and fantastic work on the life cycle of a plant. On Monday, Foxes visited Tesco in Brownhills as part of our community visit. Foxes have never been to Tesco before and this can be tricky visiting new places. Roman was so kind to his peers, encouraging and supporting them around the supermarket. Roman also blew the staff away during our growth session. He showed such amazing recall of the life-cycle of of a plant by drawing the different stages, during free activities. Have a look below at his amazing scientific drawing. We are so proud of you Roman! Well done!

On Tuesday, Foxes were invited to an A*Stars session, showing them how to ride the school bikes safely. The children began by learning how put on their helmets correctly. Once they were wearing the correct head gear, they were taught how to ride with control and how to stop correctly. The children built on these skills thinking about the world around them. They were encouraged to look carefully for nearby traffic or pedestrians.

In school, the children have been learning about St. George’s Day. They learnt that Saint George is the patron saint of England and that St. George’s Day is celebrated on the 23rd of April. They listened carefully to the story of St. George and the Dragon and explored how St. George’s Day is celebrated within England. The children enjoyed engaging in a range of St. George’s crafts. They made their own bubble wrap dragons and decorated St. George’s flags.

Victoria sponge is a traditional cake from England. To celebrate St. George’s Day, the children spread cream and jam between two cupcakes. On top, they decorated with the red and white England flag!

HARLEY-JAY!

Fox’s ‘Champion of the Week’ is Harley-Jay! Since returning after the Easter break, foxes have been attending their weekly swimming sessions at Oak Park Leisure Centre. Harley-Jay can sometimes find swimming challenging but over the last three weeks he has been building his confidence to lift his feet off the floor and use his arms to scoop the water. The staff in Foxes have been so impressed with the effort he has put into his swimming sessions. Keep up with your sensational swimming skills!

This week, the children have been working across the curriculum to develop their independence.

On Monday, Foxes class visited Morrisons, in Aldridge, to purchase the ingredients they needed for their cooking session. The children used a shopping list to tick off the items as they were placed in the shopping trolley. They are getting very good at locating the foods they need around the different aisles!

During their cooking session, the children prepared their own beans or spaghetti on toast. The aim of the cooking session was to become confident in using a can opener and a hot plate on the hob. The children discussed how to use the equipment safely and what hazards might occur.

During PSHE, the children have been exploring how to keep their bodies clean by washing their hands properly. Through practical activities, they have also learnt where germs come from and how they can easily spread if they do not wash their hands regularly.

Fox’s maths focus this term has been on 3D shapes. The children have already developed their 3D shape recognition knowledge and understand how to recognise whether they have flat or curved faces. This week, the children have learnt that 3D shapes have faces that are all regular 2D shapes. By printing into paint and play dough they were able to identify the 2D shapes that make up each of the 3D shapes.