Just like our mini rockets taking off all around the Church Centre during space week, the Autumn Term has flown by in a whizz. We have welcomed new families and new staff members to our community group and have enjoyed sharing the magic of early years through the dramatic changes of season and cherished the discovery and diversity our curriculum has to offer.
We’ve shared our holiday stories, learnt all about ourselves and what makes us different and unique, celebrated Harvest Festival, planted our own vegetable patch to role play with the wonderful book ‘Oliver’s Vegetables’ and shared ideas about sowing, growing and harvesting. We used recycled materials to make rockets to explore the universe and recreated our memories of the sights, sounds and smells of bonfire night. ‘Silly soup’ songs and the story ’Pumpkin Soup’ inspired us as we carved comical pumpkin faces for Halloween.
Cakes and biscuits have been made, baked and decorated. Science experiments to investigate why some objects float and others sink was fascinating and we observed curious faces as we watched oil and ink dance and create patterns in water for world science day.
We watched a short film and heard stories and poems for Remembrance Sunday, used clay to mould and make Diva lamps and decorated Rangoli pictures with coloured sand as we celebrated Diwali. We dressed up in spots and gave donations to Pudsey Bear and practiced crossing the road for World Safety Week. We made our own Star of David, the universally recognised symbol of Judaism to celebrate Hanukkah using sticks, elastic bands and a splash of paint. And just like a shooting star whizzing through the night sky, all of a sudden it was Christmas.
It’s always a joy finishing the first term in a cloud of endless glitter and glue. The excitement and magic intensifies as the final week approaches with our ‘special visitor’ ringing his bells as the children’s party gets underway. Finally, our Christmas Extravaganza was upon us as we celebrated the nativity with our families, singing songs, making crafts and sharing the magic and joy of Christmas.
It’s been another thoroughly enjoyable Autumn Term of adventures, laughter, curiosity and discovery all supported and enhanced by our visiting partners from Wholesome Hedgehogs, La Jolie Ronde and Multi Sportz. Thank you to all.
From Everyone here at Stepping Stones, we wish everyone a Very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
