Grove Primary School and Nursery
'Bringing out the best in everyone'
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Willow - Reception - Miss Perkins
Welcome to Willow Class
We have lots of adults working in our classroom. Our teacher is called Miss Perkins and our teaching assistants are Miss Jones, Mrs Benellick and Miss Sparrey. Mrs Webb also very kindly volunteers in Willow Class every Thursday afternoon.
Useful Information 
- All children need to bring their reading books and reading diary to school everyday
- Willow Class have Forest School on Wednesday mornings
- PE will now be on a Tuesday afternoon.
- All children need a pair of wellies at school to ensure they are able to access all areas of our garden area.
Autumn Term Curriculum Overview
Worcester Wildlife Trust 🐿
The Worcestershire Wildlife Trust came to school today to teach us about how our litter effects animals. We played lots of games together which helped us to think about good and bad things that happen to animals when we leave our rubbish on the ground.
The children were able to think about each scenario and decide if it was a good or bad thing for the animal. They thought about what it might be like to be that animal and what might happen to them next.
All the children left the activities understanding that dropping litter is bad for wildlife!
Litter Picking with Fortis
After learning all about how dangerous litter is for animals with the Wildlife Trust Willow Class went litter picking around our school grounds with Fortis. They all wore fluorescent vests so they could be easily seen and all had a litter picker each. The children learnt how to use the litter pickers safely by keeping them low to the ground, only picking up small rubbish and asking a grownup if they thought something might be dangerous.
Then off we went on our litter pick. We found lots of litter and everyone was able to pick up more than one piece to go in the bin bag.
Here are some things the children said as we were litter picking:
"We are making this place safe for the animals OL"
"Yeah cos the animals might eat it and then they will be poorly CP"
"Look this could be dangerous because an animal might eat it BL"
"An animal might go inside that can and then not be able to get out IP"
"And they will cut there selves on it TA"
"I found 5 things now that are rubbish, this is going to be so tidy for the animals EW"
"Oh no look more rubbish, this place is too messy KY"
"I will get that bit, it's safe now for the squirrels ZB"
"We are making our school a nice place OB"
"I'm not going to drop any rubbish EM"
"And I don't drop any rubbish and if I see someone dropping it I'm going to tell them not to JPh"
"If we see rubbish when we are at the park we can just pick it up and put it in a bin AH"
"I don't drop my rubbish I don't because I know it's bad for the animals NH"
"If we see rubbi yeah den we av to pi it up don't we? I picked up lots I av. RW"
"Look rubbish, rubbish more, over here, I can get it, NS"
"Look me got some, me put it in your bag MR"
"When I was working with my mum yeah, I saw some rubbish and I picked it up JPe"
Filling up the Pond for the Frogs 🐸
Last week at Forest School the children were shocked to find that most of the water in the pond had gone. We talked about why this had happened. When we looked in the pond we found that the tadpoles didn't look very well and we found a dead frog which some children found upsetting. We thought about what we could do.
Ella "we need to get water from the tap to fill it up."
Jacob "we need a pipe under the ground to bring the water and then the water will come up through the hole."
Isaac "we need a long pipe and connect it to the tap."
There were many more ideas.
Today at Forest School we took some pipes and things from our water area to use to fill the pond.
The children worked in groups and experimented with the pipes, crates and stands.
Each group made their pipe system and then we looked at it together and thought about whether it would work. Some children were able to see that it wouldn't,
"It won't work because the water will go on the ground there (AH) ... we need to fix it (CP)... it's needs to go under (IP) .... no the water won't go up, it will go down (OL) ... swap it over like this (BL) ... put it through the fence (JPh)"
Some children saw that it wasn't working and were then able to offer suggestions about how to fix it.
All the children were very excited when they saw the water flowing into the pond.
"The frogs will be ok now (JPe) ... we saved the frogs (BL) ... we did it! (ZB)"
RAINBOW READERS!!!!
Are you a Rainbow Reader?
Have you read 5 times this week?
Willow class can win Rainbow Readers Certificates for reading 5 times in one week at home.
When they have 5 certificates they can win a book to take home and keep forever!
Which book will you choose?
Our Walk to the Post Box.
This week Willow Class have been busy making some special cards. Today we went on a walk to the post box to post our cards home for our mums. We have been learning about our address, and lots of children were able to remember their address when writing their envelope.
Before we set off we talked about how we would stay safe on our walk and the children had some good ideas. They remembered about staying on the 'safe side' of the pavement from our road safety talk earlier in the year.
When we got to the post box all the children posted their card (we posted Riley M's for him because he was poorly today) and we all had a good look at the postbox. The children found the key hole that the postman would use to unlock the postbox ready to take the cards to the sorting office. We also looked at the time that the postbox was emptied each day.
When we had finished we walked safely back to school.
We hope all the mum's reiecevd their special surprise in time for Mother's Day!
Forest School 🌲. Our first fire 🔥. Pancakes 🥞
Willow Class were very very excited to be going out to Forest School today for their first fire.
They have been learning the rules over many weeks and can now be trusted to follow the rules and stay safe.
First we made the pancake batter in the classroom, we weighed out the flour and whisked in the eggs and milk. We talked about the words 'scales', whisk' and 'ladle' as these words were new to many of the children. Then we got ready to go to Forest School. On the way we stopped at the silver birch tree to collect some sticks and twigs. We learnt that silver birch wood is very good for lighting a fire because of the oils in the bark. The children sat at the log circle and snapped the birch into smaller twigs ready for the fire. We remembered from our Silly Science session what fire needs to burn - 'fuel, oxygen and heat' .
Miss Perkins lit the fire using some cotton wool and a flint and steel. It was very exciting, Keaton said, "this is the best Forest School ever!"
Cody said, "I can see it, I can see the flames, it's burning."
The children saw how blowing more air on the fire made the flames bigger as the fire had more oxygen.
Nevaeh said, "the flames are going massive now, be careful Miss Perkins."
Some children had a go at making a spark with the flint and steel with Mrs Benellick, it was quite tricky but a few children were able to do it.
When the fire was hot enough we cooked our first pancake. The children noticed how the batter changed as it cooked and how the wood changed as it was burnt by the flames.
All the children wanted to try some pancake and enjoyed adding their own topping. Lots of children wanted more pancake, luckily we had enough time to cook more for everyone who wanted seconds! 🥞
Before we went back to school we talked about how important it was to put the fire out properly. Even though it looked like the fire had gone out, it was still extremely hot and could be dangerous for animals or people. Some children carefully held their hand over the fire with Miss Perkins and could feel the heat coming from the burnt wood. Miss Perkins poured on lots of water. The children enjoyed the loud hissing sound as the water hit the hot embers. After lots of water had been added some children felt the fire again and this time said it was cold.
We had such a lovely morning outside in the sunshine together sharing a fun and exciting experience. The children can't wait to have another fire, they want to toast marshmallows and cook popcorn next time.
Silly Science!
Willow Class joined the KS1 children in the hall for their exciting Silly Science session.
They learnt about what we need to make fire; fuel, oxygen and heat. They loved watching the flash cotton flash on fire!
They learnt about the force of gravity and watched it bring the rockets back down to the ground.
They watched some exciting chemical reactions!
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Look what happens when vitamin C tablets react with water!
World Book Day!
Willow Class all looked amazing in their world book day costumes. We turned our carpet into a catwalk and the children enjoyed showing off their costumes, telling their friends about them and asking each other questions.
All the children wanted a turn and were confident to walk up and down our catwalk. Some even did some dancing, spinning or some in character acting!
Willow Class voted Bella as their Golden Ticket winner. They said that they loved her costume and thought that she was always a very kind friend. Well done Bella!
Art Week!
Grove Primary School are taking part in the Voices and Visions Art Exhibition at Worcester Cathedral. This years theme is called 'People and Places' and we are focusing our art work around the seven continents of the world.
Willow Class are looking at the continent of Europe.
We looked at planet earth on Google Earth and zoomed in on Europe, the United Kingdom and then England and Malvern.
The children are working together to create a big piece of art work that represents Europe. They have been practicing a range of skills and techniques to make different pictures and objects for the different countries.
Improving drawing skills.
During art week the children in Willow Class enjoyed improving their drawing skills by following the instructions of 'how to draw' sheets. They did some fantastic drawings of animals that live in Europe as well as sea creatures and aeroplanes.
Well done Willow Class. ✏️
Sawing skills.
When making some famous buildings in Europe, lots of children enjoyed the opportunity to begin to learn how to use a saw. They learnt how to stay safe by wearing a glove on their non sawing hand. They learnt to use light pressure while sliding the saw gently back and forth. Some children used the saw with support while others showed enough skill to have a go on their own.
We will continue learning to use saws in our Forest School sessions.
Some children enjoyed making some of Europe's famous buildings during their child initiated play.
This is Natan's model of the Eiffel Tower. This is Owen's model of the Colosseum.
We had a visit from the School Nurse. She came to talk to us about keeping our teeth healthy! 😁😁😁 We learnt ...
Willow Class are learning about being healthy 👍🏻. We started by learning about good hand washing. This is how to wash your hands!
Glow Active Workshop
Forest School 🌲🌲🌲
Willow Class were very excited to go to their first Forest School session this week.
They learnt about the Forest School rules and then had a go at playing '1,2,3 where are you?'
Lots of children enjoyed having a go on the swing. They found it quite tricky to get on to begin with but showed lots of perseverance. 
They all enjoyed some hot chocolate and a biscuit before going back to the classroom 🍪 ☕️ !!
Cody said, "I like Forest School, I'm going to come back next week!"
Isla said, "Forest School is so much fun!"
Happy New Year!
Welcome back to the Spring Term in Willow Class.
Please open the link below to find out what topics and skills Willow Class will be focusing on this term.
Willow and Saplings Christmas craft afternoon
We invited all our families for an afternoon of Christmas craft fun. The children had the opportunity to practise lots of creative skills like, cutting, printing, decorating, drawing and threading.
Look at these yummy biscuits!
The Noisy Nativity!
Willow Class were amazing in their Nativity with Nursery and KS1. They sang all the songs, did all the actions and performed brilliantly on the stage in front of their grown ups. Well done Willow Class!
Remembrance Day
Willow Class used their rolling, shaping and molding skills to create some play-dough poppies for Remembrance Day.
The children thought that the poppies would look nice on the grass.
"It's like the poppy field!" said Natan
Diwali
Willow Class have enjoyed learning about the festival of Diwali. They watched a video about Jessica and her family getting ready to celebrate Diwali. The children enjoyed making their own Mendhi and Rangoli patterns as well as dressing up in special Diwali clothes and placing Diva lamps around the classroom.
We even learnt how to do some Bollywood Dancing 💃 in the hall with Jenny the dance teacher!
Bollywood Dancing
Fireworks!
The children in Willow Class have been very excited about all the fireworks they have seen in the night sky. We explored the colours and shapes of fireworks using printing.
First we explored print with a variety of objects to create different shapes and textures.
Then we made our own shapes and textures by creating our own 'String Prints.' We thought about the shapes of fireworks that we had seen in the sky.
"I saw a swirly one, it was blue and gold," said Isla
"I like the spiral ones," said Jonah
Halloween
For Halloween Willow class enjoyed exploring an enormous pumpkin!
They also were very excited to attend the Halloween disco in the big school hall!
Willow Class Trip to the Wyre Forest
Willow class had an amazing day in the Wyre Forest. The children were all excellent ambassadors for our school, behaving beautifully and being polite to members of the public. Well done everyone, your teachers are very proud and are looking forward to planning more trips for you this year.
We enjoyed looking at the animal sculptures that we found on our way around the forest. The children were able to use what they have been learning at school to help them name and talk the animals.
We found the Gruffalo ... he was asleep! We tried lots of things to wake him up, shouting, tickling, but he was still fast asleep!
We enjoyed our picnic lunch and even had time to explore the play area before we came home. Some of us were very tired and had a little nap on the way back, just like the Gruffalo!
We are learning to write our names ...
Look at our repeating patterns!
This week Willow Class have been learning about Autumn.
Here are some photos from our Autumn walk.
WELCOME TO WILLOW CLASS 
The children in Willow Class have had a fun few weeks settling in and getting to know each other. They have been very busy exploring their new learning environments both inside and outside whilst learning new rules and routines. The adults in class have been finding out about the children's interests and abilities ready for new learning in the term ahead.
Willow Class are lucky to have lots of experienced adults working with them everyday to help with their learning.
Class Teacher - Miss Perkins
Full time Teaching Assistants - Miss Jones & Mrs Benellick
Part time Teaching Assistants - Miss Sparrey