Funny green things and Jam

The Sunnysiders are having so much fun meeting some of the people who live and work within the Whippy Cove community.

They have already enjoyed spending time with Mr and Mrs Creative and Daring Dan Recycle Man, the talented public artists from Ecclestongeorge, Elvis the friendly and helpful Lollipop Man, and WPC Zelda, PC Clive, and Sergeant Dudley, the bandit trappers extraordinaire.

Today, the little learners had the opportunity to make, cook and eat their own pizza, at the invitation of Mr and Mrs Cuisine, owners of one of Whippy Cove's finest restaurants.

 Twenty nine little learners took turns to dress their pizzas, under the watchful eye of chef Mr Cuisine and they were able to see their creations disappear into the pizza oven and then reappear as a beautifully cooked and deliciously smelling bespoke pizza.
Twenty nine little learners then sat down together in the restaurant to eat their pizza, along with the Sunnyside grown ups and several parent helpers.

It was a wonderful experience and one that will inspire some fun filled follow up activities over the next couple of days.

Funny green things and Jam

We made our very own pizzas,

We put on cheese and ham.

We put on funny green things,

And stuff that looked like jam.

They went into the oven,

which was very, very hot,

And when they came back out again,

We polished off the lot!!!

"Make it go higher, Mr Cuisine"!

      

Clipboards and glittery dusters

Out came the bottle, off came the lid and within seconds the floors, surfaces, little learners and grown ups alike were covered in a layer of gold and silver glitter. 

It may not be December just yet, but it couldn't be helped, glitter was required for certain activities today and now that it is out in the open, there is no going back. So the Sunnyside grown ups officially announce,

 "Tis the season to spread glitter. 

Fa la la la la la la la la!"

Mrs Spic and Miss Span work very hard each day to keep Sunnyside School shiny and bright and they have been known to have a little weep when they find glitter trailed here there and everywhere. It clogs up their hoover and sticks to their dusters, so all the grown ups were on their hands and knees at the end of the day trying to pick it all up and directing what they couldn't under the rug!!!

A few days ago a very kind grown up donated an enormous bag of plain white shirts to Sunnyside, with the hope that the little learners would find a use for them. Today the little learners found a brilliant use for them.
Continuing with the "People who help us" theme, this week the role play area has been set up as a doctor's surgery. The over sized shirts made for the perfect doctor's white coat. The only thing was, out of twenty nine little learners, twenty eight of them wanted to be doctors, so that left one little learner who was happy to be the patient. She seemed unperturbed when she was swooped upon by twenty eight doctors all armed with clip boards, stethoscopes, hypodermic needles, beeping pagers and ringing mobile phones! With half a dozen teddies stuffed up her jumper, it wasn't too difficult to work out what the emergency was all about!

Coming soon!

Mrs Crayon has got all inspired again!!!

Coming soon !

Wide eyes and chatty hamsters

The first little learner to come bursting through the classroom door this morning, marched straight up to Mrs Crayon with his eyes as wide as he could make them, and declared. "I sleeped with my eyes open!"
Before Mrs Crayon could respond, the little learner had gone off to seek out his friends.

Several hours later, at home time, the last little learner to leave the classroom, tapped Mrs Crayon on the arm and beckoned her to come closer.
"My hamster repeats everything I say!" Whispered the little learner.

Whilst Mrs Crayon was trying to decide whether or not she had playdough in her ears, which might have been affecting her hearing, the little learner had gone out the door and was heading homeward. 

Both of these rather unusual comments came at a time when Mrs Crayon was unable to ask the little learners to elaborate, so as it was, it left her with food for thought and certainly food for a doodle or two! 

Flashing lights and cumbersome bandits

There was an air of great excitement about the place this afternoon.

The little learners went outside to the drive way and saw a police car with it's lights flashing and three members of the Whippy Cove constabulary standing next to it.

Sergeant Dudley, PC Clive and WPC Zelda were invited to Sunnyside School to talk to the little learners about the role of the Police within the community.
It transpired during the visit that the little learners had their own very definite ideas about what a Policeman does all day. They were extremely preoccupied with the crime aspect of a policeman's role. So when WPC Zelda asked the little learners what they thought a policeman's job was, the resounding reply was. "Catching the baddies!"
When she tried to get them to think about what else a policeman might do, they said. "Chase the baddies."
Sergeant Dudley changed tact a little bit and asked the little learners what might a policeman use to help him in his work. The general consensus was, a car to put the baddies in and a dog to bite the baddies. So it was no surprise to anyone that when the little learners were asked what does a policeman carry when he's walking about, they said. "The baddies... off to prison!" 

The little learners had great fun trying on police hats and jackets. They even had the opportunity to hold (very carefully) WPC Zelda's police radio.

Before leaving Sunnyside School (to go and catch more baddies), Sergeant Dudley ensured that the little learners clearly understood that a policeman is  primarily there to help and not just there to cart the baddies about here, there and everywhere.

Phew! There's got to be an easier way to make a living!!!!

Telling tales and making maps

The story of "Little Red Riding Hood" seems to have really captivated and inspired the little learners. 
One of the activities today involved them making a drawing of the route from "Little Red Riding Hood's" house, to Grandma's cottage. The little learners were very keen to include all the characters from the story in their drawings and some of them wanted to have a go at labelling them too. So, when a little learner approached Mrs Very Jolly and asked her how to write the word "woodpecker," she was somewhat surprised. 
"I don't remember a woodpecker appearing in the story of "Little Red Riding Hood." Said Mrs Very Jolly.
"Yes there was!" Insisted the little learner. "He was chopping wood in the forest with his axe and he was Little Red Riding Hood's Dad and he saved her from the nasty wolf."
"Aahh!" Giggled Mrs Very Jolly. "I see where you're coming from."



Deep in the forest, the Woodpecker was hard at work chopping wood, when suddenly he heard Little Red Riding Hood scream..... 

Angry ducks and forty-one legs

Miss Kind was issued with some sound advice this morning, as she was busy at the sink trying to release several paint brushes from a pot of hardened PVA glue.

"You mustn't leave the taps on." Warned the little learner. "Or else the ducks won't have any water!"

Miss Kind found herself turning off the taps immediately and leaving the firmly set paint brushes to soak in some warm soapy water. 

It is all things "Little Red Riding Hood" this week.

• Discussing the characters and the setting of the story
• Retelling and re enacting the story
• Puppet making
• Map making (the route to Grandma's house)
• Counting the items in Little Red Riding Hood's basket

Later in the week the Sunnysiders will be welcoming another visitor from their community to come and talk to them about keeping safe. This time it will be a representative from the Whippy Cove Police Station.

So, it is shaping up to be yet another very busy week in the Reception Class at Sunnyside School. 

This afternoon the little learners disappeared off to the hall to join the year one little learners for a story (on the big screen) from India.

Mrs Crayon stayed behind to tackle the rock hard paint brushes and it has to be said that she made sure that the running of the taps was kept to an absolute minimum.  When everyone came back, Mrs Crayon asked one of the little learners what the story was about.

"It was about a man with ten heads, twenty arms and forty-one legs!" Declared the little learner.  That brought a smile to Mrs Crayons face after the arduous task of cleaning the gunged up paint brushes!

"Oh! For goodness sake, who left the taps on?"

  

Lollipops and Zebras

Sunnyside school welcomed a visitor this afternoon in the shape of Elvis, the local lollipop man.
In addition to the traditional tales theme currently running, the little learners are also looking at people who help them within their community. The team invited Elvis to come in to talk to the little learners about road safety.

He arrived in his full lollipop attire and brought his roll out zebra crossing with him so that the little learners could practice walking across the road in a safe and sensible fashion. He also brought a spare uniform for the little learners to wear when they took a turn at being a lollipop person.

To illustrate the dangers of a fast and busy road like the one close to Sunnyside School, Elvis showed the little learners a series of picture cards of  different kinds of vehicles. He asked the little learners to name each vehicle and then make the sound that particular vehicle made. So for example, when he showed them a car, he wanted the little learners to go "vroom! vroom!" Similarly with a police car, "nee nar! nee nar!"  However the little learners were on a completely different wave length to Elvis at that moment, and chorused the initial phonic sound for each of the vehicles instead. The team were very impressed!

Just before Elvis left to go and stand at the real zebra crossing, Mrs Very Jolly asked. "Does anyone have a question for Elvis?" 
It is always at this point that the grown ups hold their breath for what might come next, so when a little hand shot up immediately, Mrs Very Jolly tentatively asked. "Do you have a question for Elvis, poppet?" 
"Yes." replied the little learner. The little learner turned to Elvis and at the top of his voice he shouted. "Do you know what a post office is?"

Well, this particular little learner certainly did, (as his learnt all about it yesterday) he just wanted to check that Elvis did too.

 

"Mind the, c,c,car and the b,b,bus!"

Billy goats and chirpy ogres

It was a cold and frosty morning in Whippy Cove. The little learners arrived at Sunnyside School (after their half  term break) suited and booted for the sudden drop in temperature. This will now mean a daily hunt for hats, scarves and gloves before the little learners go home, because just as there are meddling P.E. fairies, there are twice as many accessory fairies up to tricks and causing all sorts of mix ups.   

The topic for the next couple of weeks is traditional tales. It's a topic that leads nicely into Christmas and it's absorbing enough to keep the glitter at bay for just that little bit longer. Once the glitter comes out for the Christmas activities there is no turning back!!! 

Anyway, the traditional tale for the next day or two is, "The Three Billy Goats Gruff."  Mrs Very Jolly introduced the little learners to the story this morning and she asked if anyone could tell her what a troll is. "It's an ogre." said one little learner. "What's an ogre?" asked Mrs Very Jolly to the same little learner. "Well." said the little learner. "They live under bridges, and when you walk over them, they just pop up!!! How lovely.

 Mrs Caring worked with a group of little learners re-enacting the billy goat story. The activity was so popular that eventually as more and more little learners joined in, it became the lesser known traditional story of ... "The Twenty Five Billy Goats Gruff!"  It was a very long story, but it was a delight to see so many potential thespians in the offing.

The team can't wait for the little learners' forth coming production of, "Little Red Riding Hood." They have the feeling she could be eaten by a pack of wolves!!!

"Morning!"

Wings and springs

Over the years, the team at Sunnyside have had many conversations with little learners about what they'd like to be when they grow up. For the little girls, becoming a princess has traditionally been a very popular option and for the boys, a footballer. In all the conversations that Mrs Crayon has personally had with little learners on this subject, not one of them said they'd like to be an inventor. Mrs Crayon would love to know therefore, whether Daring Dan Recycle Man ever had aspirations to become an inventor when he was a little learner, and whether he shared his ambitions with his teachers. What ever the answer is, Mrs Crayon has got all inspired about the idea of a little character who possesses a very inquiring mind and the ability to make stuff!
So, following several hikes on the downs of Appleville with her dog, Mrs Crayon has come up with this next offering.

He's small, he's feisty and he's not afraid of heights!

Daring Dan is desperate to fly. He may not have wings, but he has a cunning plan, a kite, several balloons and a whole lot of determination. All he needs now is a suitable launch pad and he's ready to take flight. It's that simple! Or is it? Lets hope the little lad has taken into account that, what goes up can sometimes come crashing down with a painful thump!

A