30.01.26
Our topic this week is Traditional tales – The Three Little Pigs! We have been reading different versions of The Three Little Pigs.
Activities/provision this week:
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On Friday we had our stay and play – thank you to those who attended!
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Decorating a pig – The children used pink tissue paper, card, stickers and pens to make a pig.
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Decorating a house for the three little pigs – The children decorated a house using a variety of craft resources e.g. sticks, straw, cut out bricks. They picked which house they wanted to make and decorated it independently.
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Group mark making – The children worked together to paint a straw/brick house. They used different paint rollers to make patterns.
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Three Little Pigs construction area role play – The children dressed up in hard hats and vests. They played with foam bricks, wooden blocks, straw and a tool bench. The children acted out the story using the resources available.
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Small world play – The children played with toy pigs, building houses out of Duplo, coloured blocks and magnetic tiles.
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Three Little Pigs playdough – The children made a house from the story using playdough, lollypop sticks, wooden sticks and Duplo blocks.
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In the reading area the children have enjoyed reading lots of traditional tales.
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The children built a house using toy bricks and shaving foam. They pretended to set the bricks with ‘cement’.
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Washing the pigs – A messy play activity with brown and clear water. The children used sponges to clean the pigs.
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Big Bad Wolf activity – We talked about the materials used in the story e.g. sticks, bricks, straw. We talked about if they were strong/weak, smooth/rough. The children selected a variety of resources and predicted if the big bad wolf would be able to blow them away. An adult used a hairdryer to test their predictions.
Phonics: Rhythm and Rhyme
This term our phonics focus is Rhythm and Rhyme. The children are learning to experience and appreciate rhythm and rhyme and to develop awareness of rhythm and rhyme in speech. We have been reading rhyming stories to develop awareness of words that rhyme such as, ‘One Mole Digging a Hole’ and ‘Oi Frog’. The children have practising identifying rhyming words by playing matching games.
Nursery rhymes:
This term we will be learning the nursery rhymes:
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Five little ducks
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Five little monkeys
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Five crispy pancakes
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Polly put the kettle on
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Hot cross buns
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Mary, Mary quite contrary
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Round and round the garden like a teddy bear
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Little peter rabbit
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Doctor Foster
Maths: Exploring and understanding number two
The children have been learning how to:
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Understand that 2 is one more than 1
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show as many ways as possible how you can demonstrate 2 e.g. two fingers, two on a dice, the word two, 2 the numeral.
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Recognise the numeral 2
The topic next week will be: Traditional tales – The Three Little Pigs/Three Billy Goats Gruff
Important information
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Please can the children bring in any versions of The Three little pigs/Three Billy Goats Gruff to share at circle time.
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Please send in WOW moments for your children to share at circle time – pre-school@bishopstawton-primary.org
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On Wednesday 11th February Torrington Dental Practice will be visiting Taw and Codden Classes to share information about looking after teeth with parents and children. Parents are very welcome to join their children for this interactive and informative session, we hope that you will you attend if you are able to.
Codden Class session will run approximately 9-9:30am in class
Taw session will run approximately 9:30-10am. (If your child does not normally attend Pre-school on this day parents are welcome to bring their child(ren) in for the talk and must stay, due to staff ratios). If you would like to come and your child(ren) usually attend on this day you are welcome to stay after drop off or bring them slightly later for 9:30am, please let a member of Pre-School staff know.
If you have any further questions please speak to a member of the EYFS team, we hope that you are able to attend.
23.01.26
Our topic this week is Traditional tales – Goldilocks and the Three Bears! We have been reading different versions of Goldilocks and the Three Bears.
Activities/provision this week:
- Three bears cottage role play – The children made ‘porridge’ in the home corner using real oats. They played with different sized bowls, chairs etc similar to the story.
- Three bears cottage small world – The children played with a dolls house, miniature bears, small trees etc.
- Retelling the story – We retold the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. The children used picture cards to sequence events from the story. We also acted it out and the children played different parts.
- Feeding baby bear porridge – Children took it in turns to use a small spoon to try and feed ‘baby bear’.
- Weighing and measuring – They played with different sized counting bears. We talked about weighing objects and how we know which one is the heaviest/lightest. The children used scales to compare the objects.
- Porridge tasting – This week the children tasted a variety of porridge flavours at snack time. We described the smell, texture and taste of all the porridge flavours. The children voted for their favourite flavour.
- Sorting objects – We talked about the word ‘opposite’ and what it means. We talked about words from the books such as, high/low, hard/soft, hot/cold, big/small. The children sorted hard/soft objects into two groups.
- Bear printing – The children painted by putting the bears into paint and printing them onto paper.
- Cutting activity – The children cut out characters/objects from the story and glued them onto a scene from the story.
Phonics: Rhythm and Rhyme
This term our phonics focus is Rhythm and Rhyme. The children are learning to experience and appreciate rhythm and rhyme and to develop awareness of rhythm and rhyme in speech. We have been reading rhyming stories to develop awareness of words that rhyme such as, ‘One Mole Digging a Hole’ and ‘Oi Frog’. The children have practising identifying rhyming words by playing matching games.
Nursery rhymes:
This term we will be learning the nursery rhymes:
- Five little ducks
- Five little monkeys
- Five crispy pancakes
- Polly put the kettle on
- Hot cross buns
- Mary, Mary quite contrary
- Round and round the garden like a teddy bear
- Little peter rabbit
- Doctor Foster
Maths: Exploring and understanding number two
The children have been learning how to:
- Understand that 2 is one more than 1
- Count to two
- Count two objects on a fives frame
- Count two objects out of a larger group
- Play Simon says – counting two actions e.g. Simon says do two claps, two taps.
The topic next week will be: Traditional tales – The Three Little Pigs
Important information
- Please can the children bring in any versions of The Three little pigs to share at circle time.
- Please send in WOW moments for your children to share at circle time – pre-school@bishopstawton-primary.org
- Our next stay and play session is Friday 30th January 8.45am-10.00am
16.01.26
Our topic this week is Winter! We have been talking about how the season has changed and the signs of winter.
Books we have read:
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When Winter Comes
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Lost and Found
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One Snowy Night
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The Gruffalos Child
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The Snow Thief
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Squirrels Snowman
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Jack Frost
Activities/provision this week:
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Winter forest small world play – The children played with a winter forest e.g. houses, trees, people, winter animals.
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Winter light box – We explored winter colours by using the lightbox. The children played with a variety of blue/white resources.
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Snowflake tray – The children played with pretend snow, using paintbrushes to make patterns.
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Ice skating – The children froze miniature people in ice and later pretended they were ‘ice skating’.
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Winter fine motor tray – The children played with pretend snow, reusable ice cubes, spoons, winter animals and cotton wool.
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Painting snowflakes – The children painted snowflakes using pom poms held by pegs, dipping them in paint and then onto the paper.
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Hot chocolate tray – Children made ‘hot chocolates’ using cocoa powder, cups, sprinkles, water, whisks, bowls and pretend marshmallows.
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Making ‘slushies’ – The children made pretend ‘slushies’ using crushed ice, food colouring, cones and scoopers.
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Winter sensory tray – The children played with blue oobleck, snowflake cutters, glitter, winter animals etc.
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Exploring winter/arctic animals – The children played with winter animals in a sensory tray, talking about animals you might find in cold habitats.
Phonics: Rhythm and Rhyme
This term our phonics focus is Rhythm and Rhyme. The children are learning to experience and appreciate rhythm and rhyme and to develop awareness of rhythm and rhyme in speech. We have been reading rhyming stories to develop awareness of words that rhyme such as, ‘One Mole Digging a Hole’ and ‘Oi Frog’. The children have practising identifying rhyming words by playing matching games.
Nursery rhymes:
This term we will be learning the nursery rhymes:
-
Five little ducks
-
Five little monkeys
-
Five crispy pancakes
-
Polly put the kettle on
-
Hot cross buns
-
Mary, Mary quite contrary
-
Round and round the garden like a teddy bear
-
Little peter rabbit
-
Doctor Foster
Maths: Exploring and understanding number one
The children have been learning how to:
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Use number name one and match to one unit.
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Use one in a sentence e.g. “I see one apple”.
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We sang ‘One finger, one thumb keep moving”.
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We practiced recognising number one.
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We practiced finding one object in the room.
The topic next week will be: Traditional tales - Goldilocks and The Three Bears
Important information
-
Please can the children bring in any versions of Goldilocks and The Three Bears to share at circle time.
-
Please send in WOW moments for your children to share at circle time – pre-school@bishopstawton-primary.org
-
Our next stay and play session is Friday 30th January 8.45am-10.00am
09.01.26
Our topic this week is Winter! We have been talking about how the season has changed and the signs of winter.
Books we have read:
- When Winter Comes
- One Snowy Night
- The Gruffalos Child
- The Snow Thief
- Squirrels Snowman
- Jack Frost
Activities/provision this week:
- The children shared photographs from home and talked about their Christmas break.
- Winter forest small world play – The children played with a winter forest e.g. houses, trees, people, winter animals.
- Winter playdough – Making snowflakes and snowmen using cutters. The children also played with reusable ice cubes.
- Snowflake craft – Painting and decorating snowflakes using pens, paint and tissue paper.
- Ice painting – We talked about and showed the children how water turns into ice. They later painted the ice cubes in a large tuff tray using water colours.
- Exploring winter/arctic animals – The children played with winter animals in a sensory tray, talking about animals you might find in cold habitats.
- Snowflake soup – Experimenting how to make ‘snowflake soup’ using spoons, bowls, water, ice cubes etc.
- Painting snowflakes – We covered the table in foil, and the children used cotton buds/corks to paint snowflakes on top.
Phonics: Rhythm and Rhyme
This term our phonics focus is Rhythm and Rhyme. The children are learning to experience and appreciate rhythm and rhyme and to develop awareness of rhythm and rhyme in speech. We have been reading rhyming stories to develop awareness of words that rhyme such as, ‘One Mole Digging a Hole’ and ‘Oi Frog’. The children have practising identifying rhyming words by playing matching games.
Nursery rhymes:
This term we will be learning the nursery rhymes:
- Five little ducks
- Five little monkeys
- Five crispy pancakes
- Polly put the kettle on
- Hot cross buns
- Mary, Mary quite contrary
- Round and round the garden like a teddy bear
- Little peter rabbit
- Doctor Foster
Maths: Exploring and understanding number one
The children have been learning how to:
- Use number name one and match to one unit.
- Use one in a sentence e.g. “I see one apple”.
- We sang ‘One finger, one thumb keep moving”.
- We played ‘Simon says do one…clap/stomp/spin/star jump…’.
The topic next week will be: Winter
Important information
- Please can the children bring in any winter books to share at circle time.
- Applications for starting primary school in September 2026 open on 15th November 2025 and close on 15th January 2026. The date that all allocations of school places are announced in England is known as ‘offer day’. For September 2025 primary school starters this will be on 16th April 2026. Apply online at the Citizens Portal.
- Please send in WOW moments for your children to share at circle time – pre-school@bishopstawton-primary.org
- Our next stay and play session is Friday 30th January 8.45am-10.00am