Stingray Class News
Stingray Class Term 6 - 2021-2022
This term we have been learning all about transport and travelling around the UK. We have enjoyed The Naughty Bus story and we have been learning a song - We all go travelling by. We have been using different instruments for the different vehicles with some great sharing and turn taking. In cooking, we have been tasting pasties, scones, Welsh cakes, chocolate mints and shortbread all food from around the UK. We have found the places we have visited on our map of the UK.
We have been enjoying the warm weather and our outside area. We had lots of water and sand play. Along with our Sensory tuff trays some of the favorites are shaving foam and gloop.
We have been working hard on following are schedules and saying “Hello” in our morning circle. We have been enjoying Attention Autism bucket group and dough disco every day and the children are good at sitting and listening to the adults who are leading the sessions.
During this term, we have had the Teddy Bears picnic with a ride on the train. We have also visited our new classes during transitions afternoon and had some fun with our new friends.
It was lovely to see all the children have someone join them for our whole school sports afternoon and having the school open for all of the visitors. Thank you for making it an amazing afternoon.
What a fab term we have had.
We hope you have a great summer and thank you for all your support this term
Stingray Class Term 5
In Stingray Class this term we have been learning all about the creatures that you find in the garden and exploring our outdoor environment more. We have enjoyed our class story The Very Hungry Caterpillar and some of us have been able to retell he story using story cards. We have also been learning about the days of the week and understanding the order that they are in. In cooking, we have been tasting a different fruit each week linked to our story and have tasted apples and apple juice, strawberries, plums, oranges and pears. We have tried plum jam too. Most of us liked tasting the apple juice so we have liked having this on offer at snack time throughout the term. We have also used the fruit to use paint to print pictures. We have printed pictures of a caterpillar, butterfly and been able to create our own pictures.
We have also had the opportunity to really observe caterpillars as they grow as we have had some in class to look after. The children, and staff, have learnt a lot about how to look after caterpillars including spraying water on the leaves for them to drink, cleaning them out throughout the week and making sure that they have lots of leaves to eat. They have grown quickly, and we are still waiting for them to turn into butterflies, but we can’t wait to see this happen.
During this term, we have had measures week. We took part in lots of maths activities to compare sizes and lengths of different objects. We have also celebrated the Queens Platinum Jubilee with a whole school tea party on the playground. It was s nice to be able to meet all the other children from across the school and get to play with lots of other people. What a fab term we have had.
Stingray Term 4 2021-2022
In Term 4, Stingray Class had lots of fun exploring the school environments, trying new things and learning about People Who Help Us. Throughout the term we learnt about dentists, doctors and firefighters. We had fun playing with toothbrushes to ‘clean’ dirty teeth in a range of different activities. We particularly enjoyed exploring the dentist playdough set and making our own playdough teeth to out into the mouth. We liked looking in mirrors to explore our mouth and teeth to make sure they are clean. When we learnt about doctors, we helped look after the dolls in class by giving them a bath and listening to stories from our favourite characters (Peppa Pig and Bing!) about what you do when you go to the doctors. We also talked about what we need to keep our bodies healthy and throughout the term we tasted lots of different cereals including, different flavoured porridge, bran flakes and multigrain hoops. Everyone tasted something and some of us could say or indicate that we had a preference for different cereals.
When we explored being firefighters, we enjoyed watching Fireman Sam and using the spray bottles to ‘put out’ a fire on the tuff tray. We also explored dressing up items linked to the different People Who Help Us.
It was also Autism Acceptance Week in Term 4. Stingray Class really enjoyed their colour run in the small garden and we were so proud of everyone taking part. We played with lots of our favourite things and had a really fun afternoon with Turtles Class playing in the paddling pool.
In Term 4 we also celebrated World Book Day, St Patrick’s Day and Red Nose Day. We had a great afternoon with our families to celebrate World Book Day we all enjoyed sharing our work and completing some fun activities with everyone in class.
What a busy and fun term we have had!
Term 3 2021-2022
In Term 3, Stingray Class had lots of fun exploring their topic “On the Farm”. We showed our creative skills through using lots of different materials to collage different farm animals including, sheep, cows and chickens. We also used paint and clue to help make our collages even better!
We have become really good at engaging in dough disco and Bucket Group every day and we anticipate these tasks by transitioning really well to the class from lunchtime.
We have explored the different sounds that animals make and listened to the sounds that we can hear in our environment as part of our Phase 1 Phonics learning and our music sessions. We have loved using the environmental sounds games on Twinkl and playing the piano on the Interactive Whiteboard.
Through sensory play we have explored and tasted lots of different vegetables including peas, carrots, sweetcorn and potatoes. We even became farmers and found some growing in a tuff tray which we enjoyed digging up.
We have started using Shiny Learning to explore cause and effect and see that when we touch something on the screen it causes something to happen e.g. touching the firework makes it shoot up the screen and explode.
We have had lots of fun playing with our friends outside, using the bikes and diddicars at playtime and interacting with each other in softplay. We are really good at transitioning around the school now.
What a fantastic term full of fun and laughter. We look forward to Term 4 and exploring our new topic, People Who Help Us.
Stingray Term 2 2021-2022
This term the children of Stingray class have been learning about Special Times.
Harvest
We spent time exploring the different items grown and harvested each year. We practiced cutting and grating a range of vegetables and went on a harvest hunt to find pictures related to the topic.
Diwali
We learnt about the festival of lights; making our own diva lamps, dressing up in traditional clothing and making firework pictures.
Remembrance Day
We learnt about the importance of Poppies through our focus story times and watching ‘Poppies Animation’ by CBeebies. We had lots of fun doing a range of mark making, creating patterns and painting poppy wreaths.
Hanukah
We spent time cooking and exploring different foods. We made potato Latkes and made our own handprint manorahs. We also learnt song Hanukah songs and created our own music using a range of instruments.
Christmas
We had lots of fun learning about Christmas, we completed a range of Christmas crafts, made yummy peppermint creams and wrote our own cards. We also explored a range of stories through sensory story times, playing with the character toys, exploring the textures of snow and Christmas trees and tasting items from the story.
Stingray Term 1 2021-2022
This term the children of Stingray class have been learning about each other, meeting new friends and developing relationships with the new staff.
Our main focus this term has been to help the children settle into their new class and/or school. We have worked hard to develop relationships with children and staff and have focussed on learning names. The children have all settled well and have developed a good understanding of the daily routine. We are now all able to sit on circle times to join in with our ‘hello’ song and ‘goodbye’ song. The children have really enjoyed learning to sing and/ or sign these.
As part of our topic ‘I am Special’ we have been developing an understanding of our own likes and dislikes, trying new foods, and exploring different textures and materials by using our senses.
We have been exploring the different environments around Chalet school, as well as learning where to find toys and resources within the Coral Reef, we have been to explore and learn in the library, soft play area and bikes playground. We have also been to the hall for PE and explored the sensory room with the Claire our Occupational Therapist.
We have spent lots of time in the school garden, exploring natural resources, playing in the mud kitchen and on the tree swing. We have made mud faces while learning about emotions and done bark and leaf rubbings as park of our motor skills session
