EYFS and KS1 Creativity Exhibition

Leeds Art Gallery and Kirkstall Abbey

The EYFS and KS1 Creativity Exhibition was enjoyed by everyone! The artwork included Van Gogh-inspired 'Mulberry Trees' using texture with paint, self portraits, African and Japanese artwork (from Arts Week), Kandinsky-inspired primary and secondary colour paintings, landscape sketches using perspective and Platinum Jubilee artwork. The children also displayed their collaborative 'Think Big' piece that they produced at Leeds Art Gallery. Thank you to all of the parents who came along!

The children in Reception and KS1 had a wonderful day visiting Leeds Art Gallery and Kirkstall Abbey. They were inspired by the movement, shapes and colours in the artwork that was displayed in the gallery. The children produced a collaborate piece called 'Think Big'. To finish the day, we had a picnic at Kirkstall Abbey and had some time to play games in the park. 

Tennis

Jubilee Celebrations

Reception have been enjoying weekly lessons with Luke, a local tennis coach. They have been learning how to control a tennis ball with a racket and how to effectively pass a tennis ball (of varying sizes!). 

The children had a wonderful time celebrating the Queen's Platinum Jubilee. They made pieces of artwork, decorated the Askwith Phone Box, enjoyed a bun sale and ate a Jubilee themed lunch! 

The Four Rs

Provision 

In Class 1, we are resilient, responsible, respectful and robust. 

The children have been enjoying applying their reading, writing and fine motor skills during provision time. 

Drawing - Self Portraits

PE - Fundamental Skills

Reception have been drawing their own faces, looking carefully at the different shapes of their noses, eyes, ears and lips. 

The children in Reception and Nursery have been thoroughly enjoying practising their skills of rolling and throwing in their PE lessons with Mr Rose from Premier Sports. 

Den Building

World Book Day

Class 1 have been working well as a team to discover the best way to make a stable den using a variety of materials and objects including crates, ropes, poles, clips, pegs and cargo netting. 

The children in Class 1 had a wonderful day dressing up as their favourite characters to celebrate World Book Day!

Painting - Primary Colours

Phonics

Class 1 have been learning about the primary colours. They have used their knowledge to create Kandinsky and Mondrian inspired artwork. We have been finding out about what happens when we mix the primary colours together using a light box. Next week, we will be mixing the secondary colours. 

Reception have been working hard to say, read, spell and write the new Phase 3 sounds in Phonics. 

Chinese New Year

Storytelling - Little Red Riding Hood

Class 1 created some beautiful Chinese New Year inspired decorations for the role play area.

The children in Class 1 have been working in groups to retell Little Red Riding Hood in their own way. They have been using costumes, story stones, puppets and their own drawings. 

The children have enjoyed exploring the different ways to shape, add texture and patterns to clay using their hands and tools. We have made pinch pots, self-portraits and Little Red Riding Hood's cottage. 

Once their clay self-portraits had set, Reception had a great afternoon painting their masterpieces. 

Role Play - "A Grand Opening!"

Maths in Provision

Class 1 have been enjoying their updated shop in the role play area in provision. They have been having birthday parties, buying groceries, practising their waiting skills and making breakfast! 

The children in Reception are enjoying using the maths area of provision to practise their counting, ordering and subitising. 

Weather Station

Reading for Pleasure 

The children have been using what they know to report the weather at our weather station! 

Class 1 are becoming more independent during Reading for Pleasure time and they are thoroughly enjoying reading books every day. 

The children in Class 1 had the opportunity to create some festive artwork to be displayed in the Askwith Phone Box. They enjoyed using paint, collage and print to create their masterpieces!

Christmas Celebrations

Nativity Performance

Class 1 have been getting involved in lots of festive activities such as decorating Christmas trees, painting Christmas scenes, making (and eating!) gingerbread men and having fun at our Christmas party.

The children in EYFS and KS1 performed the Nativity. They had a wonderful time dressing up and singing the songs. We recorded the performance for parents to watch due to COVID-19 restrictions. 

Christmas Carol Concert

RE - Christmas

Class 1 and Class 2 performed Christmas carols and nativity songs to their parents.

The children learnt about the Christmas story and added actions to the story to retell to their partner. We now know that Christians celebrate Christmas because it is the day Jesus was born in Bethlehem.

Science - States of Matter (Freezing) 

Making Salt Dough

In science, the children in Class 1 have been exploring liquids and solids. We found out that if we put the liquid water into a freezer to make it very cold, it will become ice, which is a solid. 

The children in nursery enjoyed making salt dough in preparation to make some Christmas decorations.

Zoom with Female Engineers

Construction

The children had a great time listening to some inspiring stories with female engineers from the civil engineering company, Mott MacDonald Bentley. We discussed why civil engineers are important in our everyday lives and how it could be a very fulfilling career. 

Class 1 have been thoroughly enjoying building their own towers, bridges and villages using the blocks, Lego and sticks in the construction area.

STEM Superstars

Outdoors

Class 1 had a fantastic time with our STEM Superstars visitor. They explored different states of matter through conducting exciting experiments. They even had the opportunity to see what a Van Der Graaf generator can do! 

The children have spent lots of time looking after and improving their outdoor space. They have made windmills with collages and have planted bulbs that will flower in spring. 

Grass Woods Trip - Grassington

Maths - Making 4

Reception had a brilliant day exploring the woods near Grassington. We walked through the woods to find woodland creatures, used our senses to listen, feel and smell the woods, made our own woodland creatures using clay and finished off the day with a picnic! 

Reception have been making 4 in lots of different ways using Numicon, number cubes and counters. 

Children in Need

Science - Weather

To raise money for Children in Need, the children wore brightly coloured clothes. 

We have been learning about the weather and how the weather changes each day and through the year. We have made our own windmills that will be added to our outdoor weather station!

Play-dough

Anti-Bullying Week - Odd Socks

Class 1 thoroughly enjoy using the play-dough in different ways and have been experimenting with different tools to create different shapes and patterns. 

To mark the end of Anti-Bullying week, we all wore odd socks to school. We have been discussing what bullying means and how we can all make sure that it does not happen. 

RE - Believing

Storytelling - The Gingerbread Man

In RE, we have been learning about Christians and special stories in the bible that can teach us how to be kind. The story of The Good Samaritan was one of our stories that we read and discussed together. 

The children are enjoying their daily storytelling sessions. This half term, our story is The Gingerbread Man and we have retold the story in lots of different ways from using masks and puppets to drawing our own pictures. 

Show and Tell

Come and Play

The children in Class 1 have enjoyed taking part in their first Show and Tell. We have had artwork, trips to York, Halloween events, naughty elves and some baking shared with us this half term!

We were delighted to welcome so many parents and carers into school for our 'Come and Play' sessions. The children had the opportunity to show their 'grown-up' how they use the provision areas. Due to COVID-19, we held the sessions outside. 

Reading for Pleasure

Number formation

Class 1 thoroughly enjoy their daily sessions of Reading for Pleasure. The children start the session by singing nursery rhymes in a group and then they can choose their own book to read independently. 

Reception have been practising their number formation. 

Autumn Printing

Autumn Collage

The children used what they knew about autumn to create some beautiful prints. They used their fingers and hands to design autumnal trees. The children then experimented with natural and manmade objects to print patterns and created their own printing blocks. 

The children in Class 1 enjoyed using a range of materials to create some unique autumnal collages. 

Computing - Bee-Bots

Computing - modelling

The children in Class 1 enjoyed using their knowledge of directions to give the Bee-Bots instructions to reach different items on the pirate map.

Another important aspect of Computing is modelling. The children in Class 1 created their own models to tell the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. 

National Poetry Day - Tony Peek

Come and Read

We celebrated National Poetry Day by working with the poet, Tony Peek. The children had a fantastic time listening to Tony's fun poems and using alliteration in their own poems. 

Reception have been learning different sounds in phonics. They have learned how to say, write, read and spell words with all of the new sounds that they have learned. We were very lucky to be able to invite some of the parents to join us for some phonics lessons and reading sessions. The children enjoyed showing them their learning and how hard they have been working. Thank you to the parents for joining us and we look forward to welcoming you again back soon.

How Things Work - Computing

Pencil Control

The children have been learning all about how things work, how to follow and give instructions to each other. We have been practising saying different directions including forwards, backwards, left and right.

We have been learning about how to sit and the correct pencil grip in preparation for writing. The children have tried really hard to develop their pencil control, including learning how to draw different lines, letters and their names.

Reading in Class 1

Maths: Matching and Sorting

We love reading in Class 1. During reading for pleasure, we have been learning how to hold books, turn pages carefully and how to talk about what we notice. Each day before lunchtime, we enjoy singing rhymes and choosing our own books to read.

We have been learning different ways of matching and sorting objects and the meaning of 'same' and 'different'. We used our knowledge to explain to each other the similarities and differences that we noticed.

Storytelling - Goldilocks and the Three Bears

Mini Medics

This half term we are learning how to retell Goldilocks and the Three Bears. We have been retelling the story together in different ways.

We had a visitor in school teaching the children how to perform first aid in an emergency and they are now all 'mini medics' Well done children!

European Day of Languages

The children in class 1 learnt about France on European Day of Languages. They particularly enjoyed creating handprints using the colours of the French flag. 

Askwith Community Phone Box

The children in Reception and Nursery had the opportunity to create some harvest inspired artwork to decorate the village phone box again using autumnal colours and their favourite fruit and vegetables! 

The phone box has been featured in the local news! 

https://www.wharfedaleobserver.co.uk/news/19625765.askwith-harvest-box/