Page 2 - Abberley Adventures - June 2021

ABBERLEY ADVENTURES
2
Covid Update
Infection rates have continued to reduce and the vaccination programme has been progressing well. Almost all our staff have been vaccinated now and some have received a second dose. The latest government guidance can be seen here and we continue to follow this closely. In line with the latest guidance, we no longer insist that our Year 7 and 8 children wear face coverings during lessons and we now invite parents to come in and watch their children playing home matches.
Despite the easing of restrictions, we will ensure that careful precautions are still taken. We will continue to operate with children in bubbles for the time being and prevent the mixing of bubbles wherever possible. When the children are outside in the fresh air, we are able to relax this slightly. Our senior pupils and our staff continue to undertake lateral flow covid testing twice a week, either at home or at school and we will continue to adhere to the key principles set out to the right.
Life in the Pre-Prep
Despite the wet weather, Nursery 1 have been creating their own seaside display. This has involved making paper plate jellyfish, handprint crabs, boats and cheerio starfish. During circle time the children have had fun playing “Seaside I Spy” with Lola and building lighthouses using a variety of construction bricks.
For the first time Nursery 1 children have started weekly swimming lessons. They absolutely love it and their confidence in the water is already progressing. The children in Nursery 2 are looking forward to a Swimming Gala alongside Reception and Classes 1 and 2. Both Nursery classes enjoy a weekly ballet lesson, and we are pleased to welcome Mrs Ricci back for this.
This term, Mrs Plowman has been teaching the Nursery children Spanish and they are learning fast. Both classes are learning new songs in great anticipation for our Summer Showcase, the children have also been practising races in preparation for our Sports Day event. Nursery 2 have been learning facts about creatures that live under the sea and together they have created an impressive display, also each child has illustrated their own Under the Sea booklet. In mathematics our theme has been Pirates. We built a shop full of treasures that the children could buy with their gold coins and we used Numicon to help with our numeracy skills. We also played “Walk the Plank”, the child holding the numbered coin that the pirate named, had to walk the plank, their reward for doing this was a gold coin.
Clubs have been back up and running this term for the older children in the Pre-Prep. The ponies are back at school and, despite the rain, Rounders, Cricket, Nature Club and Wellbeing Club have given even more opportunity to get outside and enjoy the grounds. Topics in Classes 1 and 2 have been all about growing. Class 1 have submerged themselves in their topic, becoming Darwin’s Lookouts and having a wonderful time learning through hands-on observing, investigating and exploring in the extensive school grounds.
» Minimise contact with individuals who are required to self-isolate by ensuring they do not attend the school.
» Ensure face coverings are used in recommended circumstances. » Ensure everyone is advised to clean their hands thoroughly and
more often than usual.
» Ensure good respiratory hygiene for everyone by promoting the ‘catch it, bin it, kill it’ approach.
» Maintain enhanced cleaning, including cleaning frequently touched surfaces often, using standard products such
as detergents.
» Consider how to minimise contact across the site and maintain social distancing wherever possible.
» Keep occupied spaces well ventilated.
They have also studied the work of Van Gogh and produced their own Sunflower paintings, as well as growing sunflowers from seed and broad beans in a jar. Reception have also done some amazing artwork and drawn inspiration from the amazing bluebells in our school woods. They each drew and then painted beautiful pictures after studying the flowers carefully.
Class 2 have been focusing on their own health and growth; learning about ways to keep healthy through food, exercise, sleep and keeping clean. We have planted healthy salad crops together in the school gardens as well as having a go at making healthy recipes in the classroom. Learning about what is inside our body has been great fun too. We have all been learning about life cycles and about how plants and animals grow and change. One of the highlights so far this term has been two of the eggs in our incubator hatching out, just in time for us to see them before Half Term. The children also learned about The Green Man and made their own in Forest School.
We look forward to a very busy second half of term. This year we will be hosting a Pre-Prep Summer Concert followed by a Prize Giving Ceremony and then a Pre-Prep Sports Day. This will all be happening on Thursday 1st July so please put this into your diaries now!