Welcome to the Pelicans Class! 



Staff

Teacher: Nic Smith, Joanne Tierney (Monday, Tuesday)

TAs: Kirsty Kelly Steph Grundy and Yvonne Gallagher

Mid Day Leader: Deborah Sellars


Newsletter

Hairy, Scary Beast

The Pelicans have enjoyed the topic of ‘Hairy, Scary Beasts’ this half term. 

Our sensory stories have been ‘Monster Max’s Shark Spaghetti’ and ‘The Three Little Pigs.’ In our ‘Monster Max’ story we used all our senses to explore different monster foods such as ‘cheesy caterpillars and butterflies’, ‘snake cereal’ and ‘banana bug milkshake.’ We used our hands to touch the foods and find the creepy crawlies, our noses to smell the different foods and even our tongues to taste some! In the ‘Three Little Pigs’ we explored straw, sticks and bricks.

In sensory food play we have been reading the story of ‘Pete the Cat’ and exploring red, blue and brown coloured foods linked to the story. 

We have been taking part in a ‘Sensology’ session each week this half term. This session aims to wake up each of our senses in turn and gets us ready for learning. Through the introduction of the same resources each week we are beginning to anticipate what happens next. We are also learning how to use senses that we may have previously been reluctant to use. 

We enjoyed taking part in the Chinese New Year Festival celebration day. We made marks with red and gold paint and glitter, looked at the dragon head explored some Chinese foods and resources. 

Happy half term everyone!

The Pelicans 


Follow along with this half term’s Signalong video!

Signalong

At Kingfisher we use Signalong as a part of a Total Communication Approach, we are constantly using core vocabulary with the children to support their language development and then through each of our topics we introduce new signs and language, which extends their vocabulary further. We also have two “Signs of the Week” which helps maintain and extend key knowledge and skills of everyday vocabulary.

Each half term we will be creating a short video showcasing and demonstrating signs relavent for the current term so that you can learn the signs and further this learning at home.

Click play to watch this half terms Signalong video!


Lunchtime

If your child has a school dinner, the school menus can be accessed by clicking here. For children who bring a packed lunch, please remember to provide healthy and balanced options. We are a Healthy School and will be focusing on healthy eating and how children can make healthy lifestyle choices.


How You Can Help at Home

The following activities are suggested as appropriate homework activities which you can enjoy with your child and reinforce the learning we are focussing on this half term:

  • Allow your child to make choices where suitable and encourage them to use their voice or signs as much as possible to make their preferred choice.
  • Play two-way games and sing action rhymes, such as ‘Row the Boat’ or ‘Wind the Bobbin’ supporting your child to join in and participate, leave space to see if your child anticipates what comes next 
  • Share songs and rhymes – such as Barefoot books on YouTube/ HelpKidsLearn/ SuperSimple Songs; sing action songs and model the actions
  • Share stories – touchy feely books or stories that you can add silly noises and sound effects; share noisy books where you can press buttons and they make a noise 
  • Carry out simple physio exercises such as stretches; watch children’s yoga videos on YouTube and try some simple postures and stretches
  • Explore and investigate with different food stuffs – cereals, dry rice and pasta, icing sugar, etc. Explore dry and then add water. Encourage them to explore with their hands and hide objects for them. Talk about how it feels, smells and sounds, etc. Use cups and spoons and encourage them to fill and pour
  • Play anticipation games such as ‘ready, steady, go…’ use bubbles & balloons
  • Go outside in all weather! 
  • Support your child to become as independent as possible – washing and drying hands, etc.
  • Thank you for your continued support in helping your child to learn and make progress.

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