We started the week by reading Dragon Post by Emma Yarlett, which is all about a little boy who discovers a dragon living under his stairs. He doesn't know what to do, so he writes lots of letters to various people to ask their advice about how to care for his dragon. The children loved all the letters that are in the story and we started to think about what we might do if we found a dragon at Russell House!  

On Tuesday, the children enjoyed making their own little dragons using clay. They thought about the features they would like to add and it was great fun working as a whole class and sharing ideas together. Some dragons had wings, others had bumpy scales, some had long tongues, different amounts of legs or no legs at all! The children had to wait patiently for their dragons to dry over the course of the week and then added paint to complete their dragon on Thursday.

In literacy this week, the children have been writing fact files all about their dragons. They decided on the food their dragon would like to eat, the habitat it would like to live in and a fun fact about their dragon. Some of the children's dragons' fun facts were that they could do ballet and gymnastics! The children added a drawing of their dragon to complete their fact file. The children are confidently applying their phonics to write words phonetically and spelling tricky words correctly. Their handwriting is also developing well and they take great pride in their work, which is lovely to see. 

In maths this week, the children have been learning how to measure weight. We started off by comparing two objects using the bucket scales and using the vocabulary of heavier and lighter to describe the two objects' weights. We then moved onto finding out how many cubes were equal in weight to each object. We also discovered that not all large things are necessarily heavier than smaller things! The children carefully weighted objects that they selected from around the classroom and ensured their scales balances. They then counted how many cubes had been needed and recorded this in their maths books. 

To put our weighing skills to good use, the children have been making cakes this week. The very simple recipe requires the sugar, butter, and flour to be the same weight as one egg. Using our bucket scales, the children placed one egg on one side of the scales and then weighed out each of the ingredients in turn until they were equal to the egg. They worked in small groups, each taking on the responsibility for one of the ingredients. There were lots of great conversations about needing to add more or take some out until they were happy they had the weight correct. The cakes were baked and then decorated with pink or white icing and pink and white sprinkles to make them perfect for Valentine's Day.

The children have also been keeping a very close eye on their beans throughout the week and they have been so excited to see tiny roots starting to appear. The children water their beans each day and are hoping they start to grow taller very soon!

We had lots of fun performing at our Pre-Prep Coffee Morning on Friday and sharing with our families all the things we had learnt during our topic on Chinese New Year. Form 1 did a wonderful job of teaching the audience some Mandarin and then telling the story of the Chinese zodiac with Transition class. They particularly enjoyed finishing the morning with a song all about Chinese New Year. I think their hard work in rehearsals was clear to see.

The children have had a fantastic start to the Spring Term and I hope they have a wonderful half-term break.