WE ARE THE PARROTS! 

 (CoIN CENTRE)

Here at our CoIN Centre we give children with communication and interaction needs (CoIN) the opportunity to achieve their potential; academically and socially. 

" 

 Francesca Barrett         Aileen Williams         Sue Martin              Donna Carnell

Head of CoIN Centre       Senior LSA               Senior LSA                          LSA

      Jo Sayer                  Elisa Zupnik            Jane Robins           Hamira Akhtar  

         LSA                                  LSA                               LSA                     LSA         

MATHS

In Maths we are busy learning all about out numbers. We are using the Numberblocks programme to support the children’s understanding of numbers and what they represent. We are spending a lot of time getting to grips with what each number means using different representations e.g. 3 counters, 3 fingers, 3 spots on a die and the numeral 3. We love to get practical with our maths and encourage its use during the children’s play. Having a solid understanding of what each number represents, really helps as the children move forward and develop their mathematical understanding.

There are so many opportunities in the big wide world to support your child with maths such as spotting numbers on registration plates, counting the stairs as you climb, counting the fruit as you buy it in the supermarket and laying the table for dinner.

Some useful and fun links....

NUMBERBLOCKS: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/b08bzfnh

                                  https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/5-7-years/counting

ENGLISH

In English, we spend time developing all our literacy skills including our phonics and our handwriting. We aim to foster a love of stories/books with the children and use stories in a range of ways to support this. The children are often found to be role playing the book of the week or retelling it using sequencing cards.

We help the children to build up their literacy skills with a range of different strategies that include the Colourful Semantics programme which supports sentence structure, developing their vocabulary through mind maps and specific vocabulary lessons as well as using a range of visual resources to help the children in their work.

We spend a lot of time getting the children ready to write and this includes taking the time to ensure their shoulder and arm muscles are strong, through a range of gross and fine motor activities. We plan lots of opportunities for the children to mark make  including painting on big paper on the walls, using pens to draw under the tables and writing on the floor outside with chalks. When the children are ready to put pen to paper, we work hard with them to develop their pencil control and to begin to form their letters.

Encouraging your child to mark make in a variety of exciting ways, really supports their handwriting development. Examples of this include using sticks to write in the mud, using your finger to write in shaving foam and making your own paintbrushes out of leaves to paint mud outside.

OUTDOOR LEARNING

Chinese New Year!

We were so lucky in Early Years as we had some parents in visiting telling the children all about Chinese New Year and traditions. The children were able to try on some traditional Chinese outfits and have a go at making some Chinese dumplings. There were also some Chinese food to taste...Yummy!

People who help us..........

Our theme this week has been People who help us. The children have been so busy taking part in all the activities and particularly enjoyed the role play area. 

Having fun with our Numbers!

Superhero day

In Early Years we have had such a fun filled day dressed as our favourite Superheroes and taking part in a variety of challenges. I am sure you will agree they are all Superheroes!

The Gruffalo Snowman...

We brought our story to life by having great fun making the snowman!

The children have really enjoyed our story this week and they all got involved in our sensory story which made it even more memorable...

All there is left for us to say is............

Have a wonderful Christmas and very best wishes for the New Year.

See you refreshed on Tuesday 7th January for another exciting and action packed term.

Parrots Festive Cafe - Our cafe was a great success and it was lovely to see so many family members there. All the children did so well serving drinks and food to their parents and they all got involved in some festive crafts. It was such a fun afternoon!

 Thank you all for coming and for your continued support!

Christmas Baking - Here in Parrots we have been getting stuck into some Christmas Baking. Our specials menu included Cheese Stars and Snowman cupcakes. We are expecting some special guests soon to serve our special festive treats to............

Maths - In our lessons this week we have been using dominoes to help identify and match our numbers. The children have worked really hard!

English - In our English lessons this week we have been enjoying the story of Edgar the Dragon from the John Lewis advert. The children  (and teachers) have really enjoyed watching it, talking about it, drawing/writing about it and then acting it out. I think we all truly fell in love with Edgar and it really got us into the Christmas spirit!

Patterns

This week in Parrots we have been looking at Patterns in Maths, all the children have worked really hard and made great progress.

Night and Day - The theme this week in Early Years is Night and Day and the children have got stuck into lots of indoor and outdoor activities.

Fireworks!It is that special time of the year when we can explore all the different colours, sounds and shapes that we can experience from fireworks.

OT and Climbing

Here at Parrots the children are loving our weekly OT and climbing sessions. They have all been so brave and already made so much progress. Well done!

Room on the Broom!

Things you can share with your child over the half-term  

• Go on an Autumn walk and collect some things to get crafty with.
• Play conkers.
• Go for a bicycle ride.
• Get busy in the kitchen baking.
• Play a game together.
• Make up your own stories.

Autumn - The last couple of weeks in Parrots we have been embracing Autumn. The children took part in an Autumn Walk in our Wildlife Area, they were asked to find things that were different colours, sizes, shapes and textures. As you can see all the children were very busy and we gathered a great variety of things.

All the children have been very busy with all our indoor activities which has also used our Autumn theme. The children produced some lovely pieces and they were so proud of their work and rightly so!

The children are really enjoying our new story......

Busy Time

The children have been very busy this week with their indoor and outdoor activities.

BREAD WEEK!!

Here at Parrots we have had our own Bake Off,the children worked so well and made some yummy bread rolls.

The Little Red Hen

We have really enjoyed reading and acting out our story this week!