Tuesday 28 October 2014

Chestnuts and cartwheels








Believe it or not it is half term. 

Although it doesn't seem the slightest bit possible, the Sunnyside little learners have been attending school for seven whole weeks now. Yes......seven weeks.....and as far as Mrs Jolly, Mrs Very Jolly, Miss Kind, Mrs Caring, Mrs Crayon, and Mrs Organised are concerned, those seven weeks have simply flown! 

However, during this time the little Reception learners of Sunnyside School have been busy getting to grips with the rules and routines of the setting, as well as learning how to source and access activities independently, how to play cooperatively with one another, and how to be responsible for all their belongings, especially their clothes when changing for P.E. (Yes that o'l chestnut again.)

The perils of P.E. and the changing of clothes for a P.E. session, has been well documented in numerous Sunnyside stories over the last couple of years, and it seems this weekly round of loosing and mislaying shorts, tops and plimsolls is set to repeat itself all over again, (much to the dismay and despair of the Sunnyside Team.) 

If you want to see a Sunnyside practitioner openly weeping into their paint stained hands, it will be following the aftermath of changing thirty little learners from their P.E. kits back into their school uniforms again.

However, despite the monumental, not to mention nerve jangling effort that's required to change little learners for this twice weekly delight, the Team really enjoys seeing them relish their beloved P.E. sessions!  

There are little Reception learners in the group who take their P.E. very seriously, and one little learner in particular who takes it so seriously, that as far as she is concerned, every moment is a P.E. moment! It has been noted that she spends the vast majority of her school day either leaping, hopping or tumbling, and she appears to look every bit as much at home upside down as she does round the right way. Walking anywhere without breaking into a skip or a handstand seems virtually impossible for this little acrobat, and let's face it, why should one walk anywhere when one could leap or hop or even throw in a sneaky cartwheel when no one's looking?

So, it is this budding little gymnast and her preferred means of traversing from A to B that has inspired Mrs Crayon's poetic offering this month.


Over to you Mrs Crayon!


WHY WALK?

Why walk when you can skip?
Why skip when you can run?
Why run when you can tumble?
Tumbling's so much fun.
Why tumble when you can jump?
Why jump when you can hop?
Why hop when you can twirl so fast
You find it hard to stop?
Why twirl when you can roll?
Why roll when you can swing?
Why swing when you can dangle
From almost anything?
Why dangle when you can bounce?
Why bounce when you can leap?
There's time for one last cartwheel,
Before I go to sleep!




"Tomorrow I shall tumble....then I might skip......I'll definitely do a handstand......then a....."

Sunday 12 October 2014

Chit-chats and currant buns






The most exciting aspect of a brand new academic year, is the acquisition of a brand new class of Reception learners. The best bit about the acquisition of a brand new class of Reception learners is..............getting to know them!

And this is exactly what the Reception Team at Sunnyside School has been doing these past few weeks - enjoying getting to know each and every little learner in their care. 

As the group becomes more settled in their new surroundings, they begin to exhibit a growing confidence, especially when it comes to participating in new learning experiences. 

There is nothing more enjoyable as far as the Sunnyside Team is concerned, than to sit alongside little learners as they explore the sand or the water tray, or indeed experiment in a junk modelling or painting activity, and to have a good o'l chat in order to learn more about each of them. 

It was Mrs Crayon's turn to support the little learners who'd chosen to have a go at the 'paint a picture of yourself' activity this afternoon. 

Each little learner was given a mirror which allowed them to study the features of their face and decide on their hair, eye, and skin colour before dipping their brushes into the paint pots. 

It was during the gentle ebb and flow of the conversation around the painting table, that Mrs Crayon decided to pose a question to the group regarding eyebrows.
"What are they for?" She asked them, hopeful of an insightful explanation or maybe a fabulously funny little learner quip. But there was no quip, neither was there an explanation, in fact there was no comment at all...not a word...not a whisper....nothing! There was however, a great deal of looking blank and skyward, as if the answer to this somewhat out-there question was scribed across the classroom ceiling. 

Not one to give up easily, Mrs Crayon thought she'd ask the question again. As she did so, a little learner leaned over to her from an adjacent table (where he was busy fashioning five delicious looking currant buns from his blob of fluorescent green playdough) and said, "I know what eyebrows are for!" 

An intrigued Mrs Crayon immediately reached for her post it notes, and with pen poised and breath bated, she awaited the little learner's take on the purpose of the human eyebrow. 

Would he say, she wondered, that scientists aren't entirely sure why humans have kept this bit of hair other than to protect the eyes from moisture and debris? Would he comment that the humble eyebrow is one of the most distinctive and expressive features of the human face, and that with one's eyebrows one can easily communicate one's feelings to other people? Or, would he perhaps observe that eyebrows shape the human face and give definition to one's eyes and forehead? No..... of course not! No, this particular clever little learner blew all of those lah-di-dah theories clean out of the water. 

And so dear reader, you can now discard such long held and popularly believed theories regarding the main functions of the eyebrow, and know that their real purpose is, (and this is true because a little learner said so) "They help you do the chores!!"

Bet you didn't see that one coming!




Eyebrows

I'm not coming out to play today,
I've got to stay indoors.
You see I need to show my eyebrows,
How to help me with the chores.
You may think that I am joking,
But you didn't ought to smirk,
Because while you're all busy slaving...
I'll let me eyebrows do the work!






"Phew! I'm definitely gonna need me eyebrows to get through this lot!"