Newsletter Nursery and Infants

Issue 7

May 2018

029 2077 8936

www.stjohnscollegecardiff.com

@SJCCardiff

Welcome to our review of the month of May.

The Nursery and Infant department have had some very exciting visitors. A few months ago Mrs Mitchell found three abandoned baby hedgehogs. They have spent the last few months at a sanctuary are now big enough to release back into the wild. The children were very excited to see the hedgehogs and we were surprised to find them so awake. One even tried to run along the floor!

Mrs Griffiths showed the children several pictures as she spoke about her favourite creatures and how we could help protect hedgehogs in our gardens and in the countryside.

R6 highlights

In PHSE and Science the children have been looking at how we change as we get older. They painted their “old” faces and described what changes they think will happen. Grey hair and wrinkly skin featured a lot! R6 have also been following instructions on paper folding, making aeroplanes and fans. We flew the paper aeroplanes to see which one would fly the furthest. In maths, we continue to learn about time, in particular half past the hour and what we can do in one minute.

Newsletter Nursery and Infants

Issue 7

May 2018

029 2077 8936

www.stjohnscollegecardiff.com

@SJCCardiff

Nursery News

The Nursery children are really enjoying this term’s topic ‘In My Little Garden’. The children have been listening to the stories written by Beatrix Potter about Peter Rabbit and his friends. The Nursery’s favourite characters are Peter and Mrs Tiggywinkle. The children have made Mr McGregor’s garden as part of the language and literacy work which included painting everyone’s feet.

R5 visit to Porthkerry Country Park

R5 recently spent the whole day outdoors at Porthkerry. When we arrived the ranger asked if the children could take part in a rescue mission! The children were thrilled to be asked to move hundreds of tadpoles from a narrow trench of water to the main pond. The children were then taught how to use the trays and nets to see which other creatures were living in the pond. Lola was particularly excited when she found a stickleback fish.

After a picnic lunch the children headed to the woods. The children split themselves into a boys’ team and a girls’ team. Each team was given some rope, tent pegs and a tarpaulin. The children then had to collect fallen branches and build a shelter. The children thought this was enormous fun and worked incredibly well together. The final test was to sit in the shelter whilst the ranger threw some ‘rain’ over the top. The children remained dry, but unfortunately Mr Evans was dually christened as Head of Outdoor Learning!

R7 visit Swansea University

In English, R7 pupils have been looking at the works of the children’s author, Jill Murphy and comparing characters and plots. They have been finding out about her life and writing stories based on her characters. The children are currently looking at different alphabetical texts and using their knowledge of the alphabet to locate information in other curriculum areas. In Maths, R7 pupils have been continuing work on their multiplication tables and are now linking this to division. They have also been looking at fractions of shapes and numbers. R7 have been using musical notation to compose and perform a simple piece of percussion music and have loved making pompoms in Art lessons. The class visited the Egypt Centre at Swansea University where they took part in workshops in the Houses of Life and Death. They found out about Egyptian writing, clothes and gods and helped to mummify a dead pharaoh. They prepared the body before removing his organs and placing them in canopic jars. He was then wrapped in bandages, with amulets for luck placed on his body before the children put his death mask on ready to be placed in the sarcophagus. The children enjoyed their day out and were on their best behaviour. Well done, R7!

Newsletter Nursery and Infants

Issue 7

May 2018

029 2077 8936

www.stjohnscollegecardiff.com

@SJCCardiff

Celebrating The Royal Wedding

On Friday the children had an amazing but tiring day as we celebrated the Royal Wedding. The R7 children were all given roles in the ceremony and the reception. Elinor played Meghan Markle and Benjamin was Prince Harry. Lewis was very relieved not to have lost the wedding rings and Brandon gave an excellent speech on behalf of the best men. The bridesmaids and flower girls looked beautiful and read out the wedding prayers. Her Majesty Sophia and the Duke of Edinburgh Kyran, along with Mrs Markle, Nia gave the couple advice in the form of two poetry readings. The ceremony was conducted by our own Archbishop of Canterbury, Iwan, who did a marvellous job.

The father of the bride overcame his nerves to walk the bride down the aisle and gave a speech at the reception. The bride and groom cut the cake and this was followed by dancing ranging from R5’s traditional Elizabethan dance, to a waltz by R7 and R6’s rendition of Saturday Night Fever. The Nursery entertained everyone with their beautiful singing.

The afternoon ended with a treat from the Parents association, the arrival of an ice cream van. I wonder if there was one at Windsor Castle. We only hope the Royal Couple enjoyed their wedding day as much as we did!

Newsletter Nursery and Infants

Issue 7

May 2018

029 2077 8936

www.stjohnscollegecardiff.com

@SJCCardiff