BREAKING NEWS! There has been a mysterious break in over the weekend in Year 1's role play area. The Three Bears' cottage has been ransacked, their porridge was eaten and chairs upturned. Having considered the trail of evidence Year 1 have concluded that it must have been Goldilocks and have created posters describing her. So if you see Goldilocks make sure you tell a teacher immediately!

To kick start our Spring Topic of Homes, we have been making different types of homes out of junk modelling. Thank you to all our adults who came in to see our models and comment on them in our Learning Journeys.

Key Stage One went to St Martin's Church today to perform the Nativity and share Christmas Wishes. The Christmas story was brought to life with some lovely enthusiastic singing of our Wriggly Nativity songs and acted out by some Year 1 volunteers. Thank you to Reverend John and the parents that came with us.

We were lucky enough to have a visit from The Dogs Trust. We learnt about how to look after dogs and also compared a dog's needs to a human. Did you know that there are over 300 types of dogs in the world? We talked about why some dogs have to be looked after at The Dogs Trust.

Year 1 have been making Cinnamon Snowflakes this week. The children took on the roles of presenters and film recorders! The children learnt how to record a short film on the tablets and made an instructional film, giving clear step by step directions. Ozzy said "They taste like Christmas!"

We have been following instructions on how to brush your teeth.

In English we used our imaginations to create freeze frames in groups for parts of the forest like the trees, the bog of doom, the mud, the campfire and the banks. We then came up with interesting words which we used to make our class poem about the forest.

Today is Rainbow Day, the children have come to school dressed in their Rainbow Day colours. The theme of the day is 'Stand Up To Bullying'. Years 1 and 2 are working together in mixed classes for the day. Children have the opportunity to make new friends and work with different people, celebrate our Rainbow values, discuss what it is to be a good friend and to be kind, discuss feelings and have lots of fun! This is some of the Year 1 and 2 children learning a dance with Mrs Miller. ☺

We have had a great time today stopping the ball and controlling it with our feet. We played a game where we had to dribble the ball and when Mrs Miller blew her whistle we had to stop it with different parts of our bodies. Can you see what body part we had to use?

We enjoyed a super French breakfast this morning with our parents. This was linked to our harvest celebrations. We will talk about the French food tasting tomorrow in our harvest assembly.

We went out looking for shapes in the environment. We found so many shapes! Can you name them and describe their properties?

We have used a variety of resources to make 15. We recorded the addition sums.

We answered a child's question about what hot and cold was mixed together. We used cold water and then mixed hot water ( which was steaming). We discovered that the answer was ' warm'. The children observed that it was like the temperature of their bath water at home.

We have been using the texture from the vegetables to create patterns. We have picked an exotic animal to paint. Look out for them on a display board around school. I wonder if you can guess which vegetables made the snake print?

We were really excited about our surprise this morning as Exeter Exotics brought in some animals and reptiles to show the children. This linked with the immersion into our topic ' What is hot and what is cold?' We have learnt lots of facts and enjoyed touching the creatures.

With a sigh of relief, the weather held and the sun came out for Foundation and Keystage One sports day. The children had a brilliant morning performing in a range of different activities in front of family and friends. The children also loved seeing their own mums and dads take part in mum and dad races. Well done to all the children, you were fantastic!

Last Friday, children from years 1, 2 and 3 took part in a cricket event at Forches Cross. The children went around to different stations where they practised a range of cricket skills. They had a fantastic afternoon and a credit to the Exminster badge they had in their t-shirts. Well done everyone!

On Thursday morning, we made some Brazilian cheese bread. We worked in groups to weigh out the ingredients, grate the parmesan and whisk it all together. We used tapioca flour which reacted very differently to your normal flour! The kitchen then cooked our dough and we were able to eat them after lunch. When the children came back into class after lunch, Amber said that the room smelt like smelly feet! And I have to agree it did a little. But they turned out really well and we all, well most of us, really enjoyed them!

If you want to make them at home, the website is attached:
http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/brazilian-cheese-bread-pao-de-queijo

On Wednesday afternoon, Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 put on their own Rio de Janeiro carnival. We were blessed South American weather as well!

Our Topic this term is linked to the Olympics and everything Brazilian. For the carnival the children made hats that they had designed based on images of the carnival and we made our own decorative shakers. Years 3, 4 and 5 came to watch the procession alongside family and friends of the children. Mrs Miller and Mrs Martin led the procession with the children dancing through the playground.

On Friday afternoon Foundation and Keystage 1 had some very special visitors. The Donkey Sanctuary, from Sidmouth, came to Exminster. We had an assembly to tell us all about their mission and the work that they do with the donkeys and then we had the opportunity to meet two of them.

If you want to find out more about the Donkey Sanctuary you can visit their website at  https://www.thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk.