Some children will be starting with us today and will be learning about the routine of the day, where the toilets are and exploring the environment.

The remainder of the children will be joining us today, learning where the toilets are etc. We will be continuing to learn about the routine of the day and exploring the environment.

 Today we will introduce the concept of ‘key worker’ groups and that we ‘belong’ to this group before splitting into the groups. We will sing the ‘how do you do’ song and will encourage ‘high fives’ with peers as we sing. Then we will play a game and pass a toy round in each group – each child will be encouraged to say their name as they hold the toy. We will then play the ‘roll the ball’ game – encouraging use of children’s names throughout. We will highlight that everyone needs to have a turn and we need to listen to each other. Finally we will ask the children to draw a picture of themselves. We will remind them of the features that they may need to add. These pictures will be displayed in the classroom.

Today we will be talking about our three school rules. Be kind, be safe and be respectful. We will talk to the children about what these words mean and we will teach them the Makaton actions for each word. We will remind them of the book (Be Kind) that we read yesterday and will remind them about listening to each other and being respectful. Then we are going to play a game which focuses on the characteristics of each child. We will be talking about similarities and differences and again talking about the school rules. To play ‘Stand up if’, the children will sit round their group time table and adults will begin (children may suggest ideas later in the game) by suggesting a characteristic, these characteristics can be as general as hair colour, or as specific as a sport they play or a colour they like. The adult will say “Stand up if you …” Then, every child who fits that characteristic should stand up. The children will learn more and notice more about their peers. This activity also encourages active listening. Finally we will introduce name cards and ask the children to have a go at writing their names. We will model pen grip and the ‘pinch and flick’ technique before the children have a go themselves.

Friday

 We will begin by introducing our first music session. We will explain that we are going to learn some new songs and revisit some that we may already know. The first will be ‘Wake up’ - adults will model and encourage children to join in with the actions corresponding to the song. Next we will join in with ‘I’m a Little Teapot’, if the children know it and can sing it already then we will encourage them to join in with the actions whilst keeping the tempo of the song. If they are unfamiliar with it -we will teach it and increase the tempo as they become familiar. Next we will play ‘What’s in the bag’ We will have three hand held percussion instruments in the bag. As the song is played we will pass the bag around the circle of children and each child will have a turn at taking an instrument out of the bag and joining in with the backing music (Getting Dressed) - if they play in time with the beat we will highlight and reinforce this. All children will be praised for ‘having a go’. Finally we will teach and encourage the children to join in with the words for ‘Getting Dressed’ - we will invite them to suggest actions to correspond with the words.