Blackfell Primary School

Police Visit!

We had a great start to our topic 'People who help us'. We had an exciting visit from our local police. PC Susan and two of her colleagues. They came to tell us all about their job and how they help us in the community. They also introduced us to another very important member of their team.. Their sniffer dog and how he helps them! They told us how they keep us safe and also read us a story. They showed us some very important equipment that they need to use in their job. We even tried some of it on. We then went outside to experience sitting in a real police car and some of us made the blue light flash too, it was so loud! We had a really exciting morning learning all about the police and becoming ‘mini’ police ourselves!

Thank you! PC Susan and her team for giving up your time to talk to us! We learned so much and some of us think we might want to work in the police force when we are older.

Nurse Visit!

The nurse came to visit us today to tell us all about how to keep ourselves clean, look after our teeth and how we should wash our hands. She showed us all the things that we need to keep our bodies clean and we all used some of them. Next she told us the best way to keep our teeth clean and how many times we should brush them each day and we had a go at brushing them the right way on a set of teeth with an extra large toothbrush. We learned some new words like 'fluoride' and how that is important to keep our teeth healthy. She showed us some pictures of unhealthy gums and teeth and told us about the sugar bugs that live on our teeth if we don't brush them away. Finally we found out how we should wash our hands properly and how germs can spread. We did an experiment using glitter to represent the germs on our hands and found out how many germs are passed on each time we touch someone else's hand or a door handle or toy if we don't wash our hands properly and how the germs can travel into our tummy and cause us some sickness. We all learned so much, enjoyed listening to the nurses and joining in with some fun activities. We even got to meet... 'Tommy Tooth'. Thank you so much to Nurse Carol and her assistant for giving up their time to talk to us about personal hygiene!

Our Trip to Hall Hill Farm!

We couldn't wait to get on the bus to go to the ‘farm’. When we got there we were met by the farm staff who were really friendly and took us to our barn. They told us lots of information about how to stay safe during our visit and the kind of animals we were going to meet. We set off and looked at some of the animals. We saw a peacock and a peahen and he even opened out his beautiful feathers to show off. We then headed to the huge tractor for a ride around the farm. It was a really bumpy ride but we thought it was great fun and we saw lots of animals along the way like...ponies, sheep and cows. After that we continued our journey around the farm to meet lots more interesting animals. We enjoyed feeding the sheep, llamas and ponies they tickled our hands and made them wet so we washed our hands many times during the day to keep us from getting any germs. We enjoyed eating our packed lunch in the barn then we were ready for more fun! We all had a turn feeding the lambs and we had to hold the bottle really tight as they sucked really hard. We also saw the baby chicks and held them on our knees then put them back under their special lamp to keep warm. We also got to hold rabbits and guinea pigs,they were so cuddly and fluffy, we didn’t want to put them back. Finally we got to spend some time playing on the park with our friends, we all enjoyed the day so much. Soon it was time to get back on the bus back to school. We all had lots of fun and found out so much about working outside on a farm and how to look after all of the animals that live there. We wanted to stay longer but the staff gave us a special voucher to return with our families to experience more of what life is like on the farm! Thank you to the farm staff for making our day a one to remember!!

Planting Sunflowers!

We were set the task of decorating a plant pot over the half term break. This was in preparation for us to plant some sunflower seeds as part of our theme ‘The Great Outdoors’ alongside our ‘World of Work’ activities that will take place over two weeks. We filled our pots full of soil and planted three sunflower seeds. We watered them and we will look after them over the next few weeks giving them water and sunshine. We are so excited to watch them grow over time and we can’t wait to see them begin to grow and turn into beautiful sunflowers in our lovely decorated plant pots. Well done reception! You have worked so hard!

Music and Dance!

To mark the end of our 'Be Fit! Be Healthy! week a lady called Wendy came in to teach us how to enjoy keeping fit through music and dance. We warmed up our bodies first by doing different exercises. Then we enjoyed learning some actions to a  range of songs. We all then showed off how good we were at hopping, skipping, jumping and walking, doing big scissor movements with our legs to improve our balancing skills. We really enjoyed our morning and all felt much fitter and more energized to get on with the rest of our day. Thank you Wendy! We all had so much fun!

P.S.E-Telling the Truth!

In our circle time we have been discussing why it is really important to tell the truth. We listened to the story of ‘The boy who cried wolf’ and this helped us to understand why telling the truth is important. We then discussed this further and listened to lots of different reasons why we need to tell the truth. The children listened really well to each other and gave some good reasons as to why telling the truth is always the best thing to do! Honesty is the best policy! Well done everyone! You are thinking hard about how to explain your reasons!

Can we help you?

Tell us if there's anything we can do... Yes! Reception are all here and happy to help everyone! They performed their class assembly for all their family and friends showing everyone how helpful they are and what they have been busy doing this term. They sang their hearts out along with actions and entertained everyone throughout the week. They looked fantastic in their costumes and we would like to thank everyone who helped them look so great as their chosen helpful person in the community. We had a great time learning how many different people help us... especially our families! Well done reception! You made everyone so proud of you all!

World of Work Fortnight!

Oral Hygiene!

To kick start our 'World of Work' theme we had a visit from the nurse to talk to us about keeping our teeth and gums clean and healthy. She demonstrated and explained to us how we should brush our teeth properly and how many times a day we should  brush them and how long for using a sand timer to help us to understand. We then played a game to find out which foods are healthy and which ones are not good for our teeth. We had to guess which ones would slide of the board if they were good for us and which ones would stick if they contained lots of sugar. Finally she introduced us to her friendly dinosaur and told us how he liked to keep his teeth clean. We all thought he was funny and had our picture taken with him showing off our healthy smiles as part of national smile month. Well done everyone!

Healthy Eating!

The nurses came to tell us all about eating healthy. They showed us lots of different foods and we had to give it the thumbs up or thumbs down. Most of us guessed correctly. They explained how much sugar is in some of our favourite drinks and we were shocked to find out that up to 8 spoonfuls of sugar go into some of them. We looked at some blocks of fat and held them even 1 pound of fat felt heavy so we know we have to eat healthy and do some exercise to keep fit and not gain excess fat. Finally we sorted some food into healthy or unhealthy. We now know so much about healthy and unhealthy food. Thank you to the nurses for giving up their time!

Our Nature Garden!

We have been developing our gardening skills further by de-cluttering our nature garden in our school grounds. We put on our suits and gloves and took lots of useful gardening tools and black bags with us to start our job. We talked about the different areas and what needed to do to start cleaning it up. We all worked really hard getting rid of weeds, sticks, stones and leaves. We found lots of mini-beasts and placed them in other areas of the garden to keep them safe as we know this is their home. Now we have cleared the garden we will be making bird feeders and taking them down to the nature garden to hang on the trees to give the birds a tasty treat. We all enjoyed working outside and found out so much information about nature! Well done Reception! You made it a better place to visit in the future to explore nature!

Frozen Yoga!

We had more fun getting fit doing some Yoga through the story of 'Frozen'. It was so much fun listening to the story whilst doing the Yoga movements. We all enjoyed this type of keeping fit too! Fantastic Reception! You managed some difficult positions!

Transition Day!

Reception had their first taste of Year 1 when they went for a transition morning. They were greeted by Miss Clennell and she asked them to sit on the carpet. She talked to them about some of the things they enjoy doing and what things they are good at and the sort of jobs they will be doing in Year 1. She told them a story about a cautious caterpillar to reassure them that change is good. Then they used a butterfly to write down some of the things they enjoy doing. They played outside with their friends before going back inside to finish their jobs. They all enjoyed their morning in their new classroom and can't wait to come back to start some new adventures through the next Year! Well done!

Fire Fighter Fun!

We were so excited when we saw the big red fire engine arrive in our school grounds. We listened to a fire fighter talk all about his job. We looked at the equipment he has to wear when he needs to put out a fire and Mrs Hutchinson tried it on and found out it was really heavy. We found out you need to be really fit and healthy to do this special job. Next we went outside to look at the fire engine and the tools and equipment they need to use to help people in accidents. We even got to sit inside the fire engine to experience how it feels. And finally we had a turn of  the fire hose which was really powerful and we learned how it is used to put out big fires. We had such a fun and interesting morning learning all about what a 'Fire Fighter's' special job entails. Well done to all of the children for asking questions and having a go at using the fire hose and sitting in the big fire engine!

We are all here to help you!

 Yes! Reception are all here and happy to help everyone! We have enjoyed learning all about ‘people who help us in our community’. We have used all our areas

inside and outside to develop our understanding. We have enjoyed dressing up and taking on the roles of… Doctors, firefighters, Nurses, Police, Teachers, Builders and many more. It has helped us to understand more about the important jobs they do and what we might want to be when we are older. What a great way to learn about the jobs grown ups do! Well done Reception! You certainly have been very helpful to each other!

Washington Wetland Centre!

We had a visit from a lovely lady called Joanne from Washington Wetland Centre. She came to tell us all about her job and what it's like working mostly outdoors. First she explained how she works with nature and asked us some questions about the sorts of things or animals we might see. We were able to tell her what we had seen in our nature garden this week. She showed us huge swan's wings and we found out they were from a trumpeter swan from America which are the biggest in the world. She also showed us a swan's foot and told us they all have a unique number on a bird ring which they wear on their feet so they know which bird is which and to match their young to their mothers if they get lost. The boys wear them on the right and the girls on their left foot. We looked at some pictures of baby flamingo's called chicks and she told us how she looks after the mother's eggs to keep them safe from rats and magpies. They have 59 flamingos in the park. Finally she showed us a cuddly otter and explained about the family of otters that live at the park Buster being the baby and how she helps to look after them giving them fish to eat. We all enjoyed listening to how Joanne helps to look after all the animals and now we are all keen to visit the wetland centre with our families to meet the animals and explore the park. Thank you to Joanne for giving up her time to promote her job in the world of work!

Making Bird Feeders!

We have had a great time making bird feeders to put in the nature garden. We used cheerios and threaded them onto some string. We also mixed up some lard, bird seeds and meal worms and filled up lots of yogurt pots. We put them in the fridge to set and we can't wait to visit our nature garden again to hang the bird feeders all around the trees. We hope the birds enjoy them! Great work Reception!

Be Fit! Be Healthy!

To begin our be fit be healthy week we had great fun taking part in a range of activities outside. We showed off our balancing, running and jumping skills as well as how good we are at avoiding obstacles.  Then we had a well deserved rest sitting down in a tyre to cool down.

Well done Reception! You are getting really fit!

Sports Day!

Once again everyone has enjoyed our annual ‘sports’ day event. Reception together with year 1 and 2 took part in many sporting events and everyone has worked hard to support their teams, Willow, Pine, oak and Maple. The children in reception have made everyone proud as they took turns in each race and showed great team spirit. Oak were the proud winners. Well done to everyone who took part!