Maple Class - Summer 2, week 5

Date: 6th Jul 2025 @ 9:22pm

We've had another busy and hot week this week in Maple class!  Our focus book this week has been Tyrannosaurus Drip by Julia Donaldson and David Roberts.  On Monday we even took part in some Dinosaur Yoga in our PE session/  

In Phonics this week we have finished off our phonics assessments as well as thinking about all of the things we have learnt this year and reviewing our graphemes, words containing these graphemes and tricky words - we have learnt so much and made so much progress compared to where we were in September.  Well done to everyone in Maple Class.  We have been practising reading and writing captions and sentences putting everything we have learnt unto practise. 

In maths this week we have been counting beyond 20 and playing games to identify odd and even numbers.  We even started to think about counting in 2's and created our own number line using dinosaur footprints. 

Our play project this week saw us create numerous junk models (sorry parents!)  It is so wonderful to see the children fully excited, engaged and working with each other, in designing so many creations, adapting their models to ensure they meet their design.  Our new creative area has been well used since we set it up with the children a few weeks ago and is definitely popular area of the classroom for all. 

On Tuesday morning we had so much fun with our big water play!  It was so hot and we certainly cooled down in the paddling pool, playing with the water trays, the hose and the squirters brought in from home!  Needless to say everyone was soaked, including Mrs Cordell and Mrs Duffey, but there was so much laughter, smiles and happiness it was certainly worth it.  What a fun and memorable morning we had.  

On Wednesday the new Reception children visited Maple for their first Stay and Play session, so current Maple children spent the morning with Mrs Wood.  They created some lovely slef portraits and sentences about themselves for Miss Jackson as well as thinking about who their friends area, what they enjoy learning, what they are good at and what they would like to get better at.  I loved reading all your writing, so I know Miss Jackson will too.  In RE with Mrs Wood on Wednesday we looked at what the holy book for Muslims is. 

On Thursday some of us tasted the radishes that Willow have been growing. For some, it was their first time tasting a radish and we have several comments about the taste including 'spicey' and 'peppery'.  We have also seen more and more sunflowers appearing this week in Maple garden - they are beautiful and the children have enjoyed coming in each day seeing if any more have appeared overnight.  We look forward to seeing how many we have when we return to school on Monday.  After a very hot lunchtime, the children opted to stay in the cool of the classroom instead of venturing to Forest School.  

On Friday we finished our week by reading the book What We'll Build by Oliver Jeffers.  We thought about how we can shape our future and the importance of working hard and trying our best as we think about moving into Willow Class. 

It was lovely to see so many of you at the Summer Fair on Friday, the children were certainly excited about it all day!  Thank you for supporting the school and the Friends of Ampney Crucis who fundraise so as we can give our children lots of lovely experiences. 

2 weeks to go, we will certainly miss this year’s Maple Class next year.  They may be a lively and chatty group, but they bring smiles to us every day.