Christmas 2022

Summer Term 2026- Week 2

Fri, 24 Apr 2026 13:01:24 GMT

Orange focus (24.4.2026)

This week at Pebbles:

We have added another layer to our rainbow. We had to keep Stevie on task and remind her that traffic cones are not found in nature! (Stevie's argument was you do seem them everywhere) However, as the parentmail photo shows Stevie did create lots of nature related items with the children.

We now have a pond up in the garden which the children love kneeling down next to and looking for movement. It is very relaxing.

In P.E. we tried something new - rolling a ball at a skittle in pair. Some of the children were very good at it. Alivia and Morgan were paired together and knocked down the most skittles.

Our food and rainbow focus has been orange. The children were amazed by how orange the butternut squash and sweet potatoes were inside. Unfortunately the soup was a bit of a distaster. As the first attempt was like water and on the second attempt the soup maker cut out the power!! I think someone was trying to tell us something. However, the children really enjoyed the orange and yellow peppers and cherry tomatoes. We were impressed that every single children tried the tomatoes. Some were returned to the plate with little teeth marks but we don't mind that as long as they try new foods.

Next week we will focus on the colour red (and a little pink), introducing the children pomegranate, rhubarb, pink grapefruit and dragon via our feeling bag and tasting sessions. For snack the children will eat the more orginary red fruits - tomatoes, red apples, red pepper, watermelon, strawberries, raspberries and they will have a special treat of rhubard and granola (our version of rhubard crumble). We will teach the children that red and pink fruits look after your heart and protect your skin. We will be adding the red layer to our rainbow, encouraging the children (not Stevie) to think of red items in nature. Lastly, we will be learning learning a veggie and fruit song.

Summer Term 2026- Week 1

Thu, 16 Apr 2026 10:31:18 GMT

Yellow and orange fruit and vegetables (17.4.2026)

This week at Pebbles:

We have had a lovely first week back and have spent lots of time on our theme, indoors and out. We have to say a massive thank you to Molly's family for fund raising and building our amazing vegetable/flower beds. The children have had an amazing time up at the garden helping to move the top soil into and around the raised beds to cover our potato plants, planting out our seedlings and covering them so that the birds don't eat them!

Our food and rainbow focus has been yellow with a little orange. The children have felt different yellow and orange fruits and vegetables - orange, carrot, parsnip, baby corn on the cob, banana, pineapple, honeydew melon and lemon. The older children used really good descriptive words when feeling the foods like curvy, long, round, bumpy, spiky, cold, hard. The childrern have learnt that yellow and orange fruits and vegetables are good for our eye health and for stopping us getting poorly (our immune system).

We have thought of yellow things in nature e.g. butterflies, autumn leaves, sunflowers and bananas and have started to create a new display board of a rainbow with these items. We have also been playing the Peter rabbit veggie patch lotto.

Next week we will focus on the colour orange, introducing the children to butternut squash, sweet potatoes and other orange fruits and vegetables. We will make soup for snack and find items of nature that are orange when we are out and about and on the internet for the next layer of our rainbow. They will make orange playdough for the children to roll into oranges, carrots, etc. adding details like dimples and lines, etc.

Spring Term 2026- Week 11

Fri, 27 Mar 2026 14:10:07 GMT

Our food wheel is finished (27.3.2026)

This week at Pebbles:

We are very proud of our food wheel. Stevie and the children (mainly Morgan) have done a fantastic job of making items to representing lots of the foods in the different food groups. We have also done more planting and are hoping to grow some strawberries plants and snap peas up at our new garden.

We have made and received some Easter items e.g. our egg decoration, our Easter treat pot and the children were also been given palm crosses and sweets by Reverend Claire. Despite it not being the best weather we still managed to get out for a walk. We loved seeing some very pretty daffodils and pretending the tree branch was a train. The children went to the farm and the jungle!

After the Easter holiday our theme will be the rainbow. We will link this into learning colours for the younger children, the benefits of different coloured fruit and vegetables for the older children and developing all of the children's observation skills by finding items in nature that matches the colours of the rainbow.

Spring Term 2026- Week 10

Fri, 20 Mar 2026 19:53:07 GMT

Spring has sprung.... we think! (20.3.2026)

* STARS OF THE WEEK *

From now on 'Stars of the Week' will be included in the private email to parents .

Dear Parents,

We are continuing our focus on healthy eating for the rest of this term and have incorporated lots of physical activity out in the play area and up at the new garden. As well as starting to introduce growing e.g. our potatoes and wild flowers are now in the garden.

The staff are so committed to the NOF award that we all attended a conference last Saturday and learnt lots more about the benefits of different foods, cooking activities to do with the children to encourage their love of food and found out about new companies and resources that can help us in these areas.

We spent more time this week moving equipment up to the new garden, a lot of it with the help of the children. We have created a 'Floor is Lava' type obstacle course where they can get all around it without touching the ground. They love it!

With Reverend Claire we made lovely decorative easter eggs. As not all of the children could take part we have decided to do it with the rest of the children next week, so they all have one to bring home as well as a little easter treat that they will make. Stevie will continue her quest to complete the food wheel with lots of examples of foods that provide the children with a healthy balanced diet. We have now moved onto carbohydrates and as part of this focus we cooked spagetti for snack on Tuesday and sprinkled cheese on it. All bar two children had second helpings. We are looking forward to being able to do more of these kinds of snacks in our new building!

Have a good weekend,

The Pebbles team.

Spring Term 2026- Week 9

Sun, 15 Mar 2026 16:39:39 GMT

OUR RESTAURANT (13.3.2026)

* STARS OF THE WEEK *

From now on 'Stars of the Week' will be included in the private email to parents .

Dear Parents,

Well, what a different changing the kitchen into a restaurant made. The children's loved being cooks (wearing aprons and hats) and waiters. We had menus for the customers to choose their meals from and pads and pens for the waiters to record the orders. We worked on some of the children's approaches to the customers ....'what do you what?' changed to 'how can I help you today?' or 'what drinks would you like?' and 'the special today is pasta'. They got very good at it.

We experimented with the pasta describing the uncooked pasta first and then putting it in very hot water and guessing how long it would take to go soft enough to pick up by pushing a plastic flok in it. The penne pasta took a lot longer than the children predicted, but it was a good time awareness actitvity. It took 15 mins. When we came to the spagetti the children predicted it would soften quicker because it was thinner, which is very scientific thinking! Alfred impressed us by guessing 9 mins for the spagetti to soften relating it to the time the penne had taken, so clever! The pasta was a special and slightly messy meal in the restaurant!

We have had lovely outdoor experiences this week and managed to enjoy the Forest School site with Reverend Claire on Monday, in the sun. Listening and looking for birds nests, then making one of our own. We had our first visit to our new garden to transfer our potatoes into grow bags and we started moving some of the play equipment up from the old garden; as the old building is being taken down during the Easter holiday.

We hope all you lovely mums got your Mother's Day cards and that your children spoilt you on your special day.

The Pebbles team.

Spring Term 2026- Week 8

Thu, 05 Mar 2026 14:20:28 GMT

FRUIT AND VEG - Starting healthy eating (6.3.2026)

* STARS OF THE WEEK *

From now on 'Stars of the Week' will be included in the private email to parents .

Dear Parents,

Out topic this week has been 'Fruit and Veg' as we start our theme on healthy eating and sustainable food. The children and Stevie have done a brilliant job of making lots of different fruit and vegetables to go on our 'Children's balanced diet wheel'. To develop the children's understanding of a balanced diet we have been playing the lunch box game and saying what the different types of foods do e.g., give us energy, help us grow, make our bones and teeth strong, keep us healthy.

In P.E. we actually managed to represent fruits and vegetables. As I often say I love how create the children are when thinking of ways to move. We were oranges, pineapples (Stevie's idea) and bananas for the first round of our game, then we were potatoes, brocolli and carrots. It's amazing what we can do in P.E.!

We had a lovely time with Reverend Claire at the Forest School site doing Wild Worship on Monday - planting flower seeds which we hope we will be able to plant out in our new veggie patch.

We have been threading with uncooked pene pasta and describing it's properties and then next week we will put pasta in hot water and then talk about how it has changed.

Next week, we will continue making foods for our food wheel, playing the 'Bluey Fancy Restaurant game', (which the children are desperate to play), playing with the soft pasta, planting out our potatoes into a grow bag and turning the play kitchen into a cafe.

Have a lovely weekend,

The Pebbles team.

Spring Term 2026- Week 7

Thu, 26 Feb 2026 14:36:09 GMT

WE LOVE BABIES (26.2.2026)

* STARS OF THE WEEK *

From now on 'Stars of the Week' will be included in the private email to parents .

Dear Parents,

The children chose to start this half-term with a theme on 'Babies'. The children have been very good at dressing the babies, giving them a bottle and putting them down to sleep. On Monday we met Florence's baby brother, who was only 5 days old and we asked questions about where he sleeps and how he has a bath. We learnt that little babies just have milk, that they sleep a lot and can not do all the things that they can do.

For art and craft we cut out different baby and child related items and then stick them on the right side of the page under the baby or child picture. We were very impressed by how independently lots of our school leavers and 3 year olds cut along or very close to the lines. We were also impressed with the knowledge of the younger child about what a baby needs and what older children can do.

We made up some jelly as something that babies would play with. Pebbles children also like it, but fortunately they didn't sit in it!

In P.E. we did different baby moves - crawling, rolling and bum shuffling and then did big children moves of running, skipping, jumping and tiptoeing.

As week talked about babies needing milk and children having packed lunches and use a knife and fork. We will therefore, be focus on our diets for the next couple of weeks. We will be thinking about the different types of foods we eat and making a 3D diet wheel wall display for our craft activities. We have a new 'lunch Box Game'. We will have cooked and uncooked pasta in the builders tray for exploring and pouring and feel, describing the different textures.

Have a lovely weekend,

The Pebbles team.

Spring Term 2026- Week 6

Fri, 13 Feb 2026 14:14:33 GMT

DINOSAURS NEST & NUMBER (13.2.2026)

* STARS OF THE WEEK *

From now on 'Stars of the Week' will be included in the private email to parents .

Dear Parents,

Week 3 of Dinosaurs has focussed on our baby dinosaur and it's nest as well as playing our new dinosaur games which encouraged counting and number recognition. The children also became palaeontologist playing the 'Dinosaur Dig' - finding the right parts of a dinosaur to build a T-Rex skeleton. This game encouraged the children to read numbers to 5 as well as developing fine motor skills pulling out the parts with a pikaxes, matching and memory of colours and numbers, as well as observational skills and taking turns.

They were also palaeontologies when looking carefully in the sand for hidden dinosaur skulls, using brushes to gentle move the sand until they found them.

Our second new game is 'Dinosaur number eggs' which encourage counting and number recognition to 10, observation and taking turns.

The children made dinosaur face masks for craft with Martha, the children looked cute or scary depending on which mask they choose.

After half-term the children have voted to focus on babies, we tink about what they wear, eat, are kept clean and how they move and show their feelings then we will compare how they are different to us. We will bring the toy babies and pushchairs into Pebbles. The craft activity will involve the children cutting out features of babies and children and sicking them in the right place. For malleable we will put jelly in the builders tray as both babiess and children like that!

Have a lovely half-term,

The Pebbles team.

Spring Term 2026- Week 5

Thu, 05 Feb 2026 14:05:26 GMT

DINOSAURS - CARNIVORES OR HERBIVORES (6.2.2026)

* STARS OF THE WEEK *

From now on 'Stars of the Week' will be included in the private email to parents .

Dear Parents,

Week 2 of Dinosaurs and we are enjoying it so much there will be a week 3. We have never seen so many dinosaur related items at Pebbles to show and share. We particularly loved Franklin's book 'The Dinosaur that Pooped a Monster' and his dinosuar egg number game. We loved them so much we have ordered them for Pebbles, plus a few more things that should arrive next week.

The children loved the dinosaur swamp that they made with cornflour and green food colouring. Unfortunately due to the weather we haven't had lots of charge to play with it, so hopefully, we will next week.

In P.E. the children pretended to be T-Rex, stegosaurus and Pterodactylus. They were particularly good at being T-Rexs with short arms and claws.

Stevie found a game on the tablet called 'Carnivores or Herbivores'. The children sorted the dinosaurs into groups with visual aids from the pretend kitchen of a chicken leg and burger for the carnivores and lettuce and grapes for the herbivores. We also sort the dinosaurs into tall, short and babies and made them enclosures.

The most exciting thing to happen this week, was the birth of our baby T-Rex. He is so cute, but he has to stay with his mummy for now as he is very small. We voted on his name. 10 children voted for Terry and 5 voted for Teethy so Terry it is. We will have more cuddles next week when he is a little older.

Next week, we will continue with our dinosaur theme. We didn't get around to being palaeontologist this week as the weather was so wet, so we will be finding our dinosaur skulls in the sand next week. We are going to make edible dinosaur nest (a little cooking); we will be making up our own dinosaur song; playing our new dinosaur games and for craft we will be making dinosaur masks.

Have a lovely weekend,

The Pebbles team.

Spring Term 2026- Week 4

Fri, 30 Jan 2026 14:15:13 GMT

DINOSAURS DINOSAURS, EVERYWHERE! (30.1.2026)

* STARS OF THE WEEK *

From now on 'Stars of the Week' will be included in the private email to parents .

Dear Parents,

We have loved our dinosaur week and found so many activtities to get involve in. There was dinosaur and meteor shower printing, the playdough (that improved since last week) was used with dinosaur cutter and for our toy dinosaurs to stomp on.

On Tuesday we told the children they could bring it things from home that were dinosaur related and we were impressed by some of the older children who went home and communicated this to their parents. So we had dinosaur show time on Wednesday. The children asked very good questions of the children showing.

Martha and the children made a dinosaur nest for our dinosaur egg and Martha's large soft T-Rex is sitting on it to help it hatch....no sign of a baby T-Rex yet. Watch this space...

Alfred brought his dinosaur monster truck in, which he showed and then we all took part in a competition to see who could get it to go the furthest. Theo was the winner, closely followed by Rebecca!

On Friday the children created dinosaur music to represent the end of the dinosaurs, which was rather loud.

Next week, we will continue with our dinosaur theme. The children are very welcome to bring dinosaur related items in from home including books, toys, fossils, etc. We started to talk about different sized dinosaurs and herbivores and carnivores this week, but didn't get around to sorting them so we will do this next week. The children will be making a swamp for the dinosaurs with cornflour and food colouring as will as being palaeontologist finding our dinosaur skulls in the sand and our craft activity will be creating dinosaur skeletons.

Have a lovely weekend,

The Pebbles team.

Spring Term 2026- Week 3

Fri, 23 Jan 2026 20:46:44 GMT

MANY MOONS! (22.1.2026)

* STARS OF THE WEEK *

From now on 'Stars of the Week' will be included in the private email to parents .

Dear Parents,

We have had such a busy week. The Christmas display has turned into a scene from 'Whatever Next' with a very large full moon, an owl, an aeroplane, rain drops and the teddy with a colander on his head and his picnic. All created by Stevie and the children who impressed her with their cutting and drawing abilities. We had the best time at Forest School on Monday. I don't think our suits have ever been so dirty. There was lots of sliding down the slopes on bottoms, rather a lot of walking in muddy pubbles and some falling in them!

This week saw Rebecca's first ever attempt at making playdough. The children helped to make it and it represented the moon rather well, as long as we kept adding flour, so it didn't get stuck to our hands. Mandy is the real playdough expert, so thank goodness she is back. But it was a good activitiy for teaching the children the different shapes of the moon as was eating rich tea biscuits. When doing both lots of the children can now make and name a full, half and crescent moon (especially if you remind them it rhymes with present)

The children helped with preparing scrambled egg for snack this week, which went down well. We are working towards gaining an award named 'Nurturing our future' this is very much about developing a positive attitude towards food in children of a young age. It will link in brillaintly with us developing our new veggie patch/garden and the introduction of cooking once we have a kitchen in the new building. For now we will focus on involving the children in preparing snack and identifying different types of foods.

Next week, we will link space to dinosaurs. Learning about the meteor shower. Using our dinosaur and space stamps to create pictures, gain information about dinosaurs from books and the internet, sort them into herbivores and carnivores (older children) , sort them by size or similar features (younger children). I think our dinosaur egg may well hatch to.

Have a lovely weekend,

The Pebbles team.

Spring Term 2026- Week 2

Fri, 16 Jan 2026 14:14:11 GMT

ROARING ROCKETS! (16.1.2026)

* STARS OF THE WEEK *

From now on 'Stars of the Week' will be included in the private email to parents .

Dear Parents,

We love our focus on space and rockets. We were inspired by our new Peppa Pig rocket and watching rocket lauching and men walking on the moon on the whiteboard. The children were given the choice of what junk modelling items they would like to use, what colours they would like to paint it and then some of the children added windows and fire. They all look amazing! As did the rockets the children made out of shapes and tacks.

In P.E. we played the spot game with all the children representing rockets, aeroplanes and helicopters. Then the children thought of different things to do with the spots. So they tried working around with them on their head to improve their posture (this was very hard), they had a go at rolling them across the floor and spinning them on their finger. We love how creative the children are in P.E.

The children have developed their acting skills by listening to the story of 'Whatever next', using props to be the different characters and act out the story. This type of activity is good for showing the children's recall of the story and develops their confidence in fornt of the other chidlren.

Time outside this week has left us filthy (at Forest School) or soaking wet (on a walk), but as least we got some fresh air.

Next week, we will continue our focus on space, mainly the moon as we didn't get a chance to learn about the different shapes of the moon this week, so we will do it next week. This will include our craft activity of changing our Christmas display board to a page from 'Whatever Next' which has the owl's silhouette on a full moon. There will be moon playdough that we can be made into the different moon shapes and with which they can use our small world space figures. We will continue to count down from 5 or 10 to blast off!

Have a lovely weekend,

The Pebbles team.

Spring Term 2026- Week 1

Fri, 09 Jan 2026 13:45:09 GMT

WINTER IS NOT WARM! (09.1.2026)

* STARS OF THE WEEK *

From now on 'Stars of the Week' will be included in the private email to parents .

Dear Parents,

The first week back has been a lively one. We have had 4 new children join the Pebbles family. It has mainly been a settling-in/back in week, with the added element of challenging weather. We managed to get out a few times. Our walk on Monday was with 10 happy children and 6 miserable ones. I guess we would class that as mainly successful and the happy children who walked and played brilliantly did earn themselves stickers.

We have made sure the children have been physical this week so we had a lovely P.E. with all of the children (previously the children that started with us last term stayed in the Pebbles area). All of the children were amazing. The newer children listened brilliantly and copied the older children in a simple version of our spot game. As the children love jumping off of the footstool on to the mat in the classroom we deceded to do the same in P.E. The older children were brilliantly at thinking of different ways to jump off of the benches. They did forward, backwards, sideways, pencil, twisting and landing on knees jumps.

To make sure we have been active in the classroom we have played the 'Floor is Lava Game' and danced the dinosaur stomp. To develop the Lava game we put two of the soft building brick on the floor for each children to stand on, then we gradually took them away and ended up with three winners.

Next week, we will start our theme on space, rockets and planets. We will learn why the moon changes shape and learn the names of the different shapes, we have purchased a Peppa Pig rocket which we will use as a focus for making our own junk model rockets. We will do lots of counting up to 10 and back to 0 for blast off and we will listen to and act out the story 'Whatever Next' with props.

Have a lovely weekend and stay warm.

The Pebbles team.

Autumn Term 2025- Week 13

Sat, 13 Dec 2025 18:23:33 GMT

CHRISTMAS SONGS AND STORY (12.12.2025)

* STARS OF THE WEEK *

***I am so good at helping the little ones….***

Alivia and Ivy - You were both brilliant at helping Finley and Morgan to walk to the church and back. We wouldn't have made it there and back in good time without you. Well done, we are very proud of you both!

All of the children were amazing in the church.. A special mention goes to our youngest children Theo, Albie, Finley S and Florence W. You would not know it was their first visit to the church.

Dear Parents,

This week has been calmer and we have spent lots of time outside in the lovely mild weather. The children voted to go to the Forest school twice this week and we walked to the church on Thursday, where the children sat still and listened to 'The Noisey Stable' story joining in with the animal noises and Makaton signs. They then found the nativity characters hidden in the church and helped Reverend Claire put them in the stable. We sang her two of the songs we have been learning and she was very impressed.

The younger children also joined in with our P.E. session on Tuesday for the first time and started to get the hang of the 'spots' game we play weekly. This week the theme was Christmas so the children represented snow falling, reindeers and angels. They also had a go at rolling the spots.

We are looking forward to our party on Tuesday. A reminder that the party starts at 9 and collection with the raffle is at 11.45.

Have a lovely weekend.

The Pebbles team.

Autumn Term 2025- Week 12

Fri, 05 Dec 2025 13:58:40 GMT

WE ARE READY FOR CHRISTMAS... (05.12.2025)

* STARS OF THE WEEK *

***I am kind and independent….***

Harry - You were so kind offering to get the ice pack for another child who had hurt themselves, showing really concern.

Mabel - It has taken a little while but you have had a great week with your potty training, only one accident. We are so proud of you.

Ezra - Great indenpence Ezra, you asked Stevie to help you with your coat but she showed you how to do it on your own and you did, you also pulled the zip up and then hang it up on your very high peg.

Dear Parents,

It was lovely having so many parents in this week for 'Stay and Play' we really hope you enjoyed spending time with your children, despite a few tears as parents left it was a real success and a nice chance for your child's key person to have a proper chat with you about your children.

The Christmas conveyor belt is nearly finish. This has taken up lots of time this week but will free up next week to focus on learning a few Christmas songs, lots of Christmas stories and a trip to the church for the Christmas story and some singing with Reverend Claire. We may even prepare for the Christmas party on Tuesday 16th December with some party games practise.

Have a lovely weekend.

The Pebbles team.

Autumn Term 2025- Week 11

Fri, 28 Nov 2025 21:27:55 GMT

HOLIDAYS ARE COMING... (28.11.2025)

* STARS OF THE WEEK *

***I brave and kind….***

Lenny - You were such a kind boy holding Florence and Ezra's hands as they walked on the plank.
Hailey - A star for our newest Pebble - you have settled in brilliantly.

Dear Parents,

As it is the run up to Christmas, of course there are lots of creative activities going on that can not be mentioned. However, the Father Christmas display has had stars and snow added to make it look even more gorgeous. The Autumn nature scene has been adapted to show the animals in their burrows slowing down or hibenating for Winter with a little flurry of snow added. We can but hope.

We went on a lovely walk on Tuesday afternoon and made some interesting discoveries. One photo shows the children stood in front of a tree with blossom on it and we noticed the horse chestnut trees have buds on them. We think nature is a little confused at the moment.

Next week is 'Stay and Play' Week. We are looking forward to sharing sometime at Pebbles with you parents, making a Christmas decoration, looking at your child's Learning Journey and being part of their Pebbles day.

Have a lovely weekend.

The Pebbles team.

Autumn Term 2025- Week 10

Fri, 21 Nov 2025 15:09:44 GMT

HOLIDAYS ARE COMING... (21.11.2025)

* STARS OF THE WEEK *

***I creative and kind….***

Finley L - You are such a thoughtful, kind boy. You helped Rebecca lots when she was cutting up some paper and then you spotted Franklin going out to the toilet so you rushed and got the wedge and put it under the toilet door for him!

Alfred - You are so creative with the mobilo and you stayed on the mat playing with it for ages. You also made yourself out of sticklebrick and did really good signing with Mr Tumble.

Theo - Rebecca was so impressed when she saw that you were putting the tricky puzzles away in their bags for even though it was one of the older children that had left them out.

Alivia - You are amazing with the younger children especially those that need gently moving into the right place. We know we can trust you to help them without being heavy handed.

Dear Parents,

We have had a very crafty week this week. It has been display city. The children loved helping to create our Christmas display board which involved lots of painting - reindeers, the sleigh, Santa's face and hat as well as painting the boxes to make 3D presents and the fingerprint lights in the houses. Let's hope Santa is impressed when he comes to visit us at the Pebbles party.

We then turned our attention to our Autumn display. With the weather turning so cold we realised Winter is fast approaching so we have decided to alter the display to a winter scene. Watch this space for future adaptions next week.

We have found lots of ways to entertain ourselves, mainly indoors due to the horrible weather. As we couldn't use the school hall on Tuesday we played musical status and bumps in the classroom, in preparation for our Christmas party. The children also love jumping off of the footstool onto the mat. They were all great at climbing onto the stool with ease and jumping off in a variety of ways. The tricky bit was getting the children (especially the little ones to walk to the back of the queue and stay there). On the second occasion and with the assistance of the older children they did all manage it. Well for a very short time!

We did get to the Forest School site this week to do Wild Worship with Recverend Claire when we continued our focus on numbers and heard the story of the loaves and the fishes.

Next week..... let the Christmas production line begin!!

Have a lovely weekend.

The Pebbles team.

Autumn Term 2025- Week 9

Fri, 14 Nov 2025 20:44:34 GMT

TRANSFORMERS AND POPPIES (14.11.2025)

* STARS OF THE WEEK *

***I can be friendly and brave….***

Aniyah - Stevie is so impressed with you using the potty this week and you are such a happy, friendly girl

who willingly plays with everyone.

Ivy - You have the best conversations with the teachers and the other children and you make lovely comments

about the other children.

Mollie - We are so proud of you for coming in without any tears this week, bravely overcoming previous emotions.

Dear Parents,

We have focused on Rememberance Day and transformers/transforming. The children made sweet little poppies with Stevie. We observed a minute's silence on Tuesday after talking about soldiers and war in simple terms encouraging the children to think about how lucky they are to live in a peaceful country. Some of the older children who brilliant at sitting quietly with their eyes shut and being thoughtful, so mature for such young children. We were very proud of them.

The theme of Transformers came from Bodhi and as it was his last week with us we decided to let thim bring his transformers in to share with his friends, as well as Stevie bringing in her (well she says it's her daugther's) bumblebee transformer. We then moved on to thinking about transforming and melted chocolate, dunked biscuits in it and observed the chocolate changed back to its original state - two transformations.

Next week we will begin our Christmas theme, mainly because I can no longer hold the ladies off, as they are very keen to start a Christmas display!

Have a lovely weekend.

The Pebbles team.

Autumn Term 2025- Week 8

Fri, 07 Nov 2025 15:09:29 GMT

FIREWORKS (7.11.2025)

* STARS OF THE WEEK *

***I can persevere….***

Maisie - You worked very hard at writing your name with Mandy, then wrote it with very little support from Rebecca on your picture, even the tricky 'e', we were very impressed.

Franklin - We were so proud of you working hard to hold your pen correctly to write your name copying over mandy's letters and then having a go on your own, well done!

Theo - You had the best time at the park. You were not keen to walk down so went in the pushchair, but it got a flat tyre so you walked all the way back. The teachers were so impressed.

Dear Parents,

We have focused on Bonfire night and fireworks this week. The children made firework pictures with paint and the coloured rice from last week. We watched some fantastic firework displays on the smart board. There was lots of ohhhing and ahhhing. We talked about safety, especially with the bonfire and sparklers. We also found a Peppa Pig song about fireworks which was very catchy.

We had a great walk on Tuesday and found a muddy puddle that Peppa Pig would have loved. Some of children made an island moving stones into one area, others used sticks to move the water around and others went for the classic walking or jumping in the puddle when the teachers weren't looking.

The children voted to go into the old garden on Wednesday morning. The younger children loved the slide, balls and plank. The older children challenged themselves with bats and balls and creating a throwing and catching game with a rugby ball, standing either side of the goal and throwing it over the top.

Next week we will focus on Rememberance Day, mainly just through making poppies and observing a minute's silents. As well as thinking about transformers and tranforming. Not sure where this will take us so you will find out next week.

Have a lovely weekend.

The Pebbles team.

Autumn Term 2025- Week 7

Thu, 23 Oct 2025 13:11:34 GMT

Diwali festival (24.10.2025)

* STARS OF THE WEEK *

***I am so helpful and kind….***

Violet - You have been so hlepful with the other children this week - helping Lenny to fix his train and helping Poppy to put her wellies on, thank you so much.

Lenny - You have been helping the children put their bags and coat on their pegs, you kindly wiped Bodhi's toe, gaving him a kiss because he had hurt it and you are now SO good at using the potty.

Mabel - You show you are so thoughtful and aware of the other children's needs at Pebbles - holding Finley's hand to help him walk down the slope and kissing Mollie's finger when you accidently catch it in the pretend kitchen door.

Dear Parents,

We have loved our Diwali themed week. We have done lots of Indian dancing copying the moves, dancing with bells and scarves. We will do more dancing with scarves as it helps the children develop strength in their shoulders and upper arms for mark making. We found a video about Diwali for children that taught them that Hindu's celebrate Diwali (a festival of light). From this we focussed on fireworks so we talked about firework safety and we were very good fireworks in P.E.

We did lots of craft and malleable activities - making Diwali pots and adding fake flames for a candle effect as well as making sweets called Ladoos. We mixed food colouring (the primary colours) making new colours and then we coloured rice burgundy, orange and green. Once dry we created our own rangoli pattern and then the children played with it or should I say got it everywhere indoors because it was raining outdoors.

We took advantage of the school being empty so used the school hall and the school parachute with all the children. The older children were so aware of the little ones so nobody got knocked over and the little children had a introduction to our 'spots' game. We used the parachute for colour recognition with the little ones and counting/identifying the triangle with the most and least children on them.

The musical instruments have been out this week. We have had a go at making a firework inspired composition that built to a crescendo (just like fireworks) then stopping suddenly. The children were very good at this. We used lots of bells to join in with traditional indian music.

After half-term we will focus on bonfire night and my favourite thing...fireworks! We will use our coloured rice to make firework pictures, talk lots about firework safety specifically sparklers, create more musical compositions, move like fireworks in P.E. and watch some firework displays on the smart screen.

Have a lovely half-term.

The Pebbles team.

Autumn Term 2025- Week 6

Fri, 17 Oct 2025 13:26:45 GMT

ALL ABOUT US (17.10.2025)

* STARS OF THE WEEK *

***I am so kind….***

Alivia - You have been so lovely this week guiding Finley to the old garden and helping Aniyah to put her shoes on,

plus much,much more!

Casper - You have been so lovely with the little ones this week, doing as the grown-ups ask to help them but also doing lovely thing to show you are aware of their needs without being asked.

Bodhi - You made the most amazing transformer from mobilo, which Alfred really liked so you made him one too,

he was so pleased with it!

Dear Parents,

The children absolutely loved making their faces and were very good at finding the correct eye and hair colour. The older children were able to compare themsleves with other members of their family and Rebecca was very impressed by their pencil control when colouring in their eyes, drawing their noses, mouths and ears. They look amazing up on the Pebbles wall.

Tallying was introduced to the older children when we worked out how many children and grown-ups had green, blue or brown eyes. The children were able to work out that on Tuesday that there were the most brown eyes and and the least green.

On Wednesday we had our first visit to the forest school site, now that all the new children are well and truely settled in. We found one of the apple trees had a wealth of good sized apples that we picked lots of (so we could eat them for afternoon snack) and then there were two more trees that had a few small apples that we picked for a taste comparison. Each single child tried all three apples and again we produced a tally to show which one was our favourite. It was the Braburn. The children used some excellent taste related words to describe the apples - sour, sweet, juicy, crunchy, 'these ones look like pears' one child sound referring to the colouring of the apple's skin.

Next week our focus will be on 'Diwali', a child led focus as Alfred found a book on it a little while ago and we discovered it was celebrated next week. This topic gives us the oportunity to colour rice and decide which primary colours we need to use to make orange and green. We will create a Rangoli pattern with the rice and then it will be used in the builders tray for transferring from container to container introducing the use of funnels. We will be employing Mandy's skills as a potter as she will be making diwali pots out of air drying clay which the children to bring home. We will also bring a musical element to the week, listening to Diwali music, seeing if we can recreate it with our instruments and thinking about musical repetition.

Have a lovely weekend.

The Pebbles team.

Autumn Term 2025- Week 5

Fri, 10 Oct 2025 13:11:22 GMT

FACE PAINTING (10.10.2025)

* STARS OF THE WEEK *

***What a good week I have had….***

Arayah - You have eat brilliantly this week, no nagging required which is wonderful for the grown-ups and you are such a lovely girl to have at Pebbles. You quietly get involved in all our activities and do as you are asked straight away.

Harry - We are so proud of you using the toilet and washing your hands independently this week. It's a big thing with the older children around and you have coped brilliantly.

River - You have coped so well with the change to being in the classroom and it is lovely to see how you have grown in confidence. We were so impressed that you stood in front of all your friend holding the forest school photo.

Dear Parents,

What a lovely week we have had. Once again we have been so fortunate with the weather which means we have spent lots of time outside. Instead of P.E. on Tuesday we were active in the old Pebbles garden; walking up and down the planks, going on the slide, using the trikes and cars on the glass, which is tricky. We also loved the children's use of imagination play with the hose and climbing frame, which was a burning building and Casper was the fireofficer putting it out!

We loved the catkins that Maisie brought in from her tree at home and used them to make hoglets to add to our Autumn display board which now looks amazing.

In the classroom we have started our faces. Painting our little white plates, looking in a mirror and finding the colour that is most like their own skin colour. Next week we will be adding our features.

Rather than pasta we decided to use the items we had collected from nature and we were very impressed with how well the children used the tongs to move the conkers around as well as the laddles and spoons, developing their fine motor skills.

Next week we will develop our focus on 'Ourselves' introducing similarities and differences. We will encourage the children to sort themselves in those with the same colour hair or eye colour. With the older children we will create tallies and put the children in height order, encouraging them to think about whether the tallest is the oldest child.

Have a lovely weekend.

The Pebbles team.

Autumn Term 2025- Week 4

Fri, 03 Oct 2025 13:30:58 GMT

A LIVELY WEEK (03.10.2025)

* STARS OF THE WEEK *

***I show good concentration….***

Casper - What a star you have been following the mobilo instruction pictures to make a folk lift truck and a boat, well done!

Alfred - Rebecca was so impressed with how well you completed 'The smartest giant in town activity book'. You looked so carefully at all the pictures and worked on holding your pen correctly to draw the ticks.

Florence C - What a clever little girl you are. You concentrated so hard on completing a tricky Bluey puzzle. Rebecca was very impressed.

Dear Parents,

What a noisy, busy week we have had. We made our patchwork squirrel to add to our lovely Autumn display. We had great fun smashing the ice with our favourite outdoor tools.

We spent sometime in the old garden and actually did our Forest school session with Reverend Claire in there this week which worked well with our new children. Reverend Claire hid pretend coins for the children to find and then we put them in order. The activity was based on the story of the lady that had lost and found 10 coins.

We decided to bring the tree stumps into our new play area from the garden and had lots of fun with them and the plastic stepping stones. Using both to develop our balancing and jumping skills.

Next week we will be focusing on 'Us'. Using mirrors to look at our own faces - comparing eye colour, hair length and colour. For craft we will make our own faces. In the builders tray we will provide pasta for moving from container to container with laddles, big spoons and sieves.

Have a lovely weekend.

The Pebbles team.

Autumn Term 2025- Week 3

Fri, 26 Sep 2025 19:59:28 GMT

NATURE ALL AROUND US (26.09.2025)

* STARS OF THE WEEK *

***I am brilliant and lovely….***

Morgan - Wow you have amazed all the teachers and mummy by using the toliet this week, we are so proud of you!

Ambrose - You have been fantastic using the potty, taking yourself and pulling your joggers down and up.

River - You are such a kind lovely girl. You brought in little chocolate caterpillars for your birthday which were yummy and when Florence dropped her bunny you picked it straight up and gave it back to her.

Dear Parents,

What an Autumn collection we had this week. There were conkers and their shells, acorns, walnuts, leaves and apples (kindly picked by Olivia and Poppy so afternoon snack. The children enjoyed look at the items under the microscrope to see them in more detail e.g. the veins in the leaves, the lines in the walnut case and the spikes on the conker shells. By opening the walnut cases we were able to talk to the children about decay as unfortunately they were definitely not edible. We used this expereince to help the children understand what magnifying means and to add new descriptive words to their vocabulary.

Stevie and the children out did themselves during the craft activity this week. The display tree now has a wonderful fox and badger underneath it and lots of little owls made by the children out of....you guessed it toilet rolls! We just need to add a squirrel.

The Autumn collection has also been a feature of our outdoor play in the builders tray. They have been multi-functional - transferred from container to container, scooped up with spoons and ladles, used to make a dinosaur world and as part of a painting activity.

Next week we will be continuing to learn our new action song - 'I'm a acorn small and round (I'm a nut). We will ask the childen what they would like to do next week. Other than we still haven't picked apples we have covered the Autumn so it is over to the children to be our inspiration for next week.

Have a lovely weekend.

The Pebbles team.

Autumn Term 2025- Week 2

Fri, 19 Sep 2025 13:36:17 GMT

AUTUMN WINDY LEAVES (19.09.2025)

* STARS OF THE WEEK *

***I have settled brilliantly or I am a helpful and persistent….***

Finley L - You seem to have grown-up so much over the summer holiday. You are such a helpful boy, listening to the other children and the teachers and helping them. You are also amazing at tidying-up.

Harry - We loved your perseverance on the sky stepper at the park. You kept at it until you could move both the foot panels forwards and backwards. It was also so lovely to see how proud you were of yourself!

Albie, Daisy, Ezra, Finley S, Florence, Harry, Olivia, Poppy, - You have now been with us for two and a half weeks and we are so pleased with how you have all settled in. You are all getting used to the Pebbles routines and coping with getting out and about.

Dear Parents,

Our theme of Autumn is well under way. The children did both printing the leaves by covering them in paint and pressing them onto paper to make the leaves for the Autumn tree on our display board. As well as rubbing the leaves by putting them under paper, vein side up and rubbing crayons over the paper side ways on. These made excellent leaves.

The children painted the tree truck and branches for our tree and we started to learn our new autumn song - 'I'm an acorn small and round'. The children love the knock, knock sound they have to make with their mouths.

We didn't make it to Forest School but we did go to the park. On the way we found walnuts which we will crack open next week to taste as well as picking different apple varieties and doing some taste testing to see which ones are our favourite.

We had a lovely time at the park and were so impressed with how well the new children coped with the walk down and back as well as following the rules at the park, e.g., not going on the big equipment and staying in the park area.

Next week we will add woodland animals to our display board for our craft activities. We will be continuing to learn our new action song - 'I'm a acorn small and round (I'm a nut). We will be looking at the Autumn items we collect under the microscrope and encouraging new vocabulary to describe what we see.

Have a lovely weekend.

The Pebbles team.

Autumn Term 2025- Week 1

Fri, 12 Sep 2025 13:10:38 GMT

SETTLING IN TO OUR NEW ENVIRONMENT (12.09.2025)

* STARS OF THE WEEK *

***I have settled brilliantly or I am a brilliant big Pebble….***

Morven - You have been a brilliant big Pebble since we have been back. You have been wonderful with the new children - being kind and saying comforting things when needed and you are still amazing at tidying-up!

Clover - You maybe smaller than lots of our big Pebbles but you are so good at listening to the teachers, playing nicely with others and your manners are superb!

Morgan - You are one of our little Pebbles but you have settled so brilliantly that you are already like a big one. You sit on the blanket and listen to the teachers, get your shoes, sit brilliantly at snack and lunch-time, so all of the teachers are really proud of you!

Dear Parents,

Our main focus for this week has been settling in our new children and introducing some of our old routines as well as enjoying some of the features of our new environment. Although, there are still a few tears in the mornings, the new children are starting to get used to the Pebbles routines and lots of them really enjoy being in the new outdoor space. As much as the big Pebbles are enjoying our new space they voted to go into the old Pebbles garden on Tuesday afternoon where they can still access the slide, goals and the old mud kitchen, etc. What lucky children they are to have access to two outdoor areas.

We very much like the smart screen in our classroom as we can play dances and songs on it (including the 'Time to tidy up song') that the children can see and hear clearly. Much better than the little tablet.

We also managed to reinstate P.E. in the school hall on Tuesday with the big Pebbles, Stevie and Rebecca and it was lovely to leave the little Pebbles with Mandy and Martha to have some quiet time in the Pebbles area.

Our first walk took place on Friday morning when we went collecting signs of Autumn. We found some great leaves for printing next week and lots of conkers and acorns.

Next week we will start our topic on Autumn, using the items we collected in our craft activities. We will be starting to learn a new action song - 'I'm a acorn small and round (I'm a nut). We will be going to the forest school site to see if we can harvest some apples. Unfortunately, the blackberries are not great this year, so sadly no apple and blackberry crumble for us. We will also be looking at the Autumn items we collect under the microscrope and encouraging new vocabulary to describe what we see.

Have a lovely weekend.

The Pebbles team.

Summer Term 2025- Week 12

Fri, 18 Jul 2025 12:50:10 GMT

Holidays and heat (18.06.2025)

* STARS OF THE WEEK *

***I can show I am ready for school….***

Avani - You are a star for sharing your holiday photos brilliantly iwth your friends and doing amzing drying up for Rebecca after snack.

Brody - You always listening so carefully to the teacher's instructions, especially when it comes to bugs. You call over an adult to deal with an insect in a place where it may get hurt.

Esme - You are now so independent and have been getting changed for P.E. brilliant.

Lucas - You were theonly child to listen to Stevie and put your socks and trainers on before going down the slide.

Luella - Great awareness of sun safety - you put your own suntan lotion on.

Dear Parents,

Holidays and heat has been the theme any this week. Avani and Arayah and Morven shared their beach holiday photos with us. The children discuss the fact that we don't have the sea near Pebbles and we only have a little bit of sand - our sand tray is not quite the same a beach ha,ha.

In P.E. on Tuesday we gave into Oscar's repeated requests for the climbing frame and we were very impressed with children's following the grown-ups instruction of moving one out of four points (hands and feet) at a time so that they were safe.

We had a jam packed day on Tuesdy as we also had wild worship with Rev Claire where we focussed on the number 7 and learnt about the 7 days of creation.

The school leavers have been preparing something special to keep as a reminder of their time at Pebbles, it is very much a Pebbles tradition!

On Friday we had a lovely morning walk to the farm, where the children decided the pallet stand was a bus and Oscar drove them to Legoland. We went hunting for blackberries but decided they weren't quite ready yet.

Next week we will obviously be saying a very fond fairwell to our school leavers and Noella who will be attending Long Melford Nursery from September. We will miss them all very much and are looking forward to our party at the park on Tuesday afternoon.

Have a lovely weekend.

The Pebbles team.

Summer Term 2025- Week 11

Fri, 11 Jul 2025 18:55:54 GMT

Holidays and heat (11.06.2025)

* STARS OF THE WEEK *

***I can show I am ready for school….***

Mason - You are a star for always sitting beautifully and listening on the bug rug and doing as you are asked straight away.

Oscar - You are a star for eating your school dinners brilliantly and for being amazing at putting items back in the right places.

Ruby - Your pencil grip is brilliant and you have been working so hard at colouring inside the lines.

Fergus - You love to learn new facts and remember them brilliantly. He are also amazing at picking up books without being asked which makes Rebecca very happy.

Zach - You are so good at talking in front of all your friends about your holiday - sharing photos and items from your holiday.

Dear Parents,

Well we have had a lovely week. I think the hot weather has slowed some of the children down, although not all. It really has been holiday weather this week and we loved that Zach shared so much about his holiday with us. we would really like to tahnk Mason's mum for providing as with an air-con unit it has made the Pebbles builiding more comfortable.

The children identified and coloured summer clothes on a colouring sheet. The older children did this independently and the younger children were supported.

We have encouraged lots of water play this week, in the garden and outside area, in an attempt to keep the children cold. So feet and hands, as well as scrumbing brushes have been in the water.

We also had a lovely walk when it was a little cooler on Tuesday morning. After walking to the meadow, finding a bird shell and lots of insects we had our snack there and then walked down the track towards the orchard passed the farm. The children walked brilliantly and then eat their lunch incredibly well.

Next week we will continue to focus on holidays - finding places the children and teachers have been on holiday on a map or atlas. If your child has been on holiday recently could they please bring in photos or could you email them to their key person so that we can look at them together and compare how the places and experiences are the same or different to home.

Have a lovely weekend.

The Pebbles team.

Summer Term 2025- Week 10

Thu, 03 Jul 2025 16:28:06 GMT

Counting sea creatures and mermaid tails (04.06.2025)

* STARS OF THE WEEK *

***I can be aware of other people's needs….***

Ambrose - For seeing that Lenny was struggling with the wooden blank so he got two stepping stones to prop the wooden blank up, as well as moving the car he was sitting in so that Ruby could get past. What a lovely boy you are!

Lenny - When you saw that Stevie was putting the plant basket back after watering them, you passed them to her, which was so thoughtful. Well done Lenny!

Sports day children and parents - You are all stars for getting involved in sports day. A very special mention goes to our youngest children who obviously have not developed a fear of being watch yet and ran both races with enthusiasm and smiles. They were amazing!

Dear Parents,

Well the weather has been a challenge this week. We spent Monday and Tuesday afternoon at Forest School and the school kindly offered us a classroom so we had lunch in there on Tuesday as the buildings reached 35 degrees by 11am on Tuesday.

The plus was the children had a fantasic time at Forest school. We talked about staying in the shade and the children were very good at know where they should and shouldn't go. We were amazed that Oscar had the energy to pull the children around on the cart, organising them so that everyone had a go. He even pulled big Ruby and Stevie around in the cart (seperately). We would have called him superman if he had managed both together!

The children loved making mermaid tails with Ruby, by sticking different coloured tissue paper on the tail and then adding scales.

P.E. was a very calm but creative affair. The children had to think of balances that included having a different body part on their spot. They were encouraged to do this creatively. Lots of the school leavers were amazing at it - showing really creative thinking. A special mention goes to Mason, Esme, Fergus, Henry and Oscar.

We have had fun learning 'Over the deep blue sea' joining in with the actions and incorporating some Makaton signs. On Wednesday when it was rain, typically after two days of scorching heat the children loved taking part in lots of circle games and songs as well as a P.E. in the Pebbles building.

Next week we will be focusing on holidays - finding places the children and teachers have been on holiday on a map or atlas. IF your child has been on holiday recently could they please bring in photos or could you email them to their key person so that we can look at them together and compare how the places and expereinces are the same or different to home. For craft the children will be given a mixture of summer and winter items and will have to choose the right holiday items to stick into a suitcase.

Have a lovely weekend.

The Pebbles team.

Summer Term 2025- Week 9

Thu, 26 Jun 2025 13:37:38 GMT

Sea life creatures (27.06.2025)

* STARS OF THE WEEK *

***I can use my imagination….***

Bodhi - For making the most amazing lawn mower with our nuts and bolt construction toy. You kept adding extra parts to make it better.

Oscar - YOur imaginative play is always amazing and we love that you draw lots of the children into your play. Becca was so impressed with the house you built out of lego and how you adapted it to add a door.

Fergus - We love that your imagination is developing. You played spies with Oscar and then got a fireman and a cat for him to rescue using the ladder you had made from a construction set.

Noella - It is so lovely to see you involved in imaginative role play games with your friends. You are really coming out of yourself.

Dear Parents,

We have had a very messy time being involved in activities relating to sealife. The beach we made in the builders tray started well, but then a tsunami hit (the children) and it ended up looking more like a swamp. The swamp theme followed on into the sealife jellies with sprinkles, that should have respresented fish. They didn't quite go to plan. However, the children did love eating them for afternoon snack.

The children created some lovely sea scapes with fish and seaweed potato prints and we found lots of sea creature puppets which encouraged the children to take part in some lovely small world play. We were crabs, octopus and killer whales in P.E.

The sea life theme will continue next week with mermaids and we will learn 'Oh I do like to be beside the seaside', we didn't get around to it this week. We will link our learning to number e.g. how many legs an octopus has, how many fins fish have, etc. The older children will put the sea creatures that match the figure next to it to help with number recognition.

Have a lovely weekend.

The Pebbles team.

Summer Term 2025- Week 8

Sat, 21 Jun 2025 13:00:02 GMT

Linked to life cycles (20.06.2025)

* STARS OF THE WEEK *

***I can problem solve and I am determined….***

Clover - You are a star for working out that you had to get off the log swing so that Noella could get off. It so doing you demonstrated an awareness of another child's needs. You are such a lovely kind girl!

Finley - You are a star as after quite a few attempts to get yourself on the little swing at Forest School would worked out how to get your feet out from underneath you all by yourself - great prolem solving and determination.

Special mention for Ruby - You were so determined to stretch the large tyre inner tube so that you could reach a branch on the other side of the path. You have been attempting this for weeks and this week you managed it. We love your determination Ruby.

Dear Parents,

We really have had a week of nature and life cycles. We were amazed last Friday when two of our caterpillars went into their chrysalis within 10 days of their arrival. By Monday they were all at this stage and Mandy moved them from the pot to the the butterfly net. The next surprise was that 3 of the butterflies made their way out into the world this Friday. This is incredibly quickly, we assume due to the heat and annoying they seem to like to do things on my day off!

For craft this week the children made some really cute frogs with Stevie and we learnt about the life cycle of the ladybird. We looked it up on the tablet and discovered that a ladybird goes through four changes, just like a caterpillar and a frog. Finley very kindly brought in lots of ladybird larvae which is the stage when they are orange and still a little like the chrysalis stage for a caterpillar. Before this they are are black pupa and before this they are yellow eggs.

Out in the garden we discovered it was time to harvest the potatoes and we were very impressed with how many we pulled out. We hope you enjoyed eating the few your child brought home. Your child will have also brought home a Pebbles grown sunflower or runner bean plant. No pressure but we would love to see photos of how these grow.

The children have showed a lot of interest in sea creatures so we are going to move onto a seaside/ sea life theme. Next week Stevie and the children will be making a seaside in the builders tray and Mandy will be using vegetables to make sea creature prints. We will read 'commotion in the ocean' and learn 'Oh I do like to be beside the seaside' as well as moving like different sea creatures in P.E.

Have a lovely weekend.

The Pebbles team.

Summer Term 2025- Week 7

Fri, 13 Jun 2025 21:12:22 GMT

Frog life cycle and runner bean planting (13.06.2025)

* STARS OF THE WEEK *

***I go above and beyond expectations….***

Morven - You impressed Rebecca so much tidying away the small world furniture outside in the garden. Two other children were suppose to be helping you, but they didn't so you did it all my ourselve with no fuss, Thank you so much!

Ruby and Mason - Are both stars for showing that they can independently go to the toilet, wipe their bottoms, flush the chain and wash their hands correctly - you are so ready for school, well done.

Dear Parents,

It has been a full on week. We had some speical cards to make as well as our learning about and representing the life cycle of a frog with stamps. From Wednesday to Friday we made frog spawn, a tadpole, froglet and a frog sp we could add the life cycle a frog to our display board.

Nature activites have been in abundance this week. We have watch the caterpillars grow. We think they are at least 10 times bigger than they were when they arrived and on Friday 3 of them were going into they chyrsilis. We are excitedly waiting for them to come out as butterflies. We were also impressed with how our beans had grown in their special little pouches - some already had big roots and leaves, so we planted them out in pots and hopefully the children will be able to bring one home.

We had a wild worship session with Reverend Claire on Thursday based on the number 4. We heard the story of how 4 friends helped a lame man to see Jesus by carrying him on a sheet and lowering him down through a hole in the roof of a building to see Jesus and be healed. We then looked for insects with 4 legs on sheets that Rev Claire had put down in the forest. We saw lots of spiders, moths and ladybird larve. Later when playing the garden we found lots of ladybird larve on the grout in the school wall and on our gate and train track. We were so proud of the children who pointed them out to a grown-up so they didn't get hurt. We also loved how fasinated some of the children were by the larve, watching them for a long time. I was a real awe and wonder moment.

Next week we will do a little more on the life cycles and maybe move onto the life cycle of a ladybird as the children love them. We can revisit the bad-tempered ladybird story and reinforce the telling of O'Clock times with the children going to school.

Have a lovely weekend.

The Pebbles team.

Summer Term 2025- Week 6

Fri, 06 Jun 2025 20:27:31 GMT

Butterfly life cycle and planting (06.06.2025)

* STARS OF THE WEEK *

***I am so kind and thoughtful….***

Noella - You are star of the week for showing such thoughtfulness - getting two sunhats out of the bag and giving one to Violet. At Forest Schools when Aniyah fell over you said 'are you ok?' - what a kind girl you are.

Brody - We could put you down as star of the week every week. You are so kind and helpful with the younger children, you are always helping the teachers, tidying-up, collecting up cups, you helped Rebecca with the display board and you give the best cuddles when you think we need one!

Dear Parents,

Stevie, kindly went plant shopping in the half-term and got some lovely flowering plants to go in the hanging metal buckets and the tyres, so the children planted these out on Monday. They also put runner beans onto wet kitchen paper and into our special pouches which are now stuck to the windows indoor the Pebbles building. We hope we will see the roots and a shot grow then we can put them in little pots and bring one home to look after in the summer holiday. We also planted some out in the tyres to see which ones grow the best - our scientifc experiment.

On Tuesday the caterpillars arrived. They are very, very small at the moment but we are excited to see how they will grow and change. For craft we created an egg on a leaf, a caterpillar, a chysilis and a butterfly to create a life cycle of a butterfly on one side of our display board and next week we will be learning about and creating the life cycle of a frog.

On Wednesday the children planted out the seeds that Stevie was given for free at Cherry Lane. So we will hopefully have broad beans and sunflowers too.

Our everlasting papier mache balls have changed from Easter eggs to hot air balloons, because we have a book with hot air balloons in it and quite frankly why not? It's an excuse to get the paint out and for Mandy to stand on a table to hang them from the ceiling!

Friday was a little disappointing as there was no sports day, but it does mean we get to practise lots more before Friday 4th July - the new date for the Pebbles picnic and sports day.

Have a lovely weekend.

The Pebbles team.