Penguin Class

Summer 1 

Cookery - Pastry tarts 

We have been lots of fun in Penguin Class making pastry tarts. We have enjoyed mixing and rubbing the ingredients together as well as rolling out the pastry. See our curriculum maps to see which fillings we are putting in each week.

Spring 2

Books

In Penguin class we have all really been enjoying exploring books. We have loved looking at all the pictures and turning the pages ourselves. If you want to share some new books digitally at home I have included a book below.

www.booktrust.org.uk/books-and-reading/have-some-fun/storybooks-and-games/

Here are some pictures of us enjoying books.

Please see below for our curriculum map for this half term.

Spring 1

Remote  Learning 

I wanted to share that I am really enjoying reading what you have all been up to at home. Please continue to email me at penguin@richmondhill.luton.sch.uk to let me know what you have been up to.

I know lots of you are enjoying the live lessons and daily tasks but I thought it would be nice to share some extra ideas here for you try at home if you wish. If you do complete any of them I would love to hear about it. 

Ready, Steady, GO! 

Ready, steady, go games are great at developing your child's listening and attention skills as well as helping to develop communication. 

A great game for this is to race - this can be a physical race where you both run on the word go or a game where you race wind up toys (an activity we often do at school).

You could roll or kick a ball to each other and encourage your child to release the ball on the word go. 

You could make your own paper aeroplanes or rockets to release on as you say go. I have included some ideas of different types of rockets you can make below.

One of our favourite ways to play ready, steady, go at school is with light up or spinning toys - I have included pictures of some of our favourites below. 

Number songs 

At school we really enjoy listening to number songs, I have included links to some of our favourites below;

https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/nursery-rhymes-five-currant-buns/zm4nmfr

https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/nursery-rhymes-five-little-ducks-went-swimming-one-day/z43xwty

https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/nursery-rhymes-five-little-men-in-a-flying-saucer/z6qgscw

https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/nursery-rhymes-1-2-3-4-5-once-i-caught-a-fish-alive/zdy6jhv

https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/nursery-rhymes-ten-green-bottles/zncyt39

https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/nursery-rhymes-ten-in-the-bed/z7bnmfr

https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/nursery-rhymes-five-little-apples/zvt8gwx

https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/nursery-rhymes-five-little-monkeys-jumping-on-the-bed/zm7rf4j

https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/nursery-rhymes-five-little-speckled-frogs/zjjbnrd

We will often use our hands to hold up the correct amount of fingers for how many of each object/character is left in the song. We encourage the children to join in with counting. We often encourage the children to pick a song from theses songs, I have included a communication board below, please encourage your child to point at the song they wish to listen to. Our children really enjoy these actvities and we hope you do too.

Sensory breaks

As you will see from our remote learning timetable we have scheduled in time for your child to have sensory breaks. Sensory breaks help your child with regulation, focus and engagement. Below I have included some ideas of the type of sensory breaks we give the children at school regularly. These symbols can also be used to show your child what you are expecting them to do or for some of the children to pick which activity they would like to do. 

Listening skills

Throughout the day at school we work on the children's listening skills as developing the ability to listen is essential to developing communication. Below are some ideas of games and activities that focus on listening skills you may wish to complete at home.

Musical instruments - Encourage your child to chose an instrument to play. You can take turns with your child to each play your instrument and comment on the sound e.g. "that drum is very loud!" You can also encourage your child to play when you say go and stop playing when you say stop. 

Wind up toys - You can encourage your child to wind these up and release them as you say go. I have lots of these at school so please let me know if you would like to borrow some as I can send them home with your remote learning packs. 

Balloons - Blow up a balloon and release as you say "ready, steady, go!"

Copying actions -  Start with a simple action e.g. stamping or waving your arms. Once your child is copying you change to a different action e.g. clapping.

Listening walk - A listening walk is a great way to support and practise listening skills. You can use the sheet below and as you hear each sound comment to your child " I can hear a loud car," and then show them the picture as you tick it off together. Please let me know if you would like a printed copy of this sent home. 

Please find our curriculum map below for this half term. 

Autumn 2 

Sensory Play 

Below are some lovely ideas for some sensory play you may wish to try at home. Sensory play supports language development, encourages motor skills and helps to build a child's cognitive skills. We do lots of these activities at school and the the children thoroughly enjoy them. These activities also provide a great oppportunity to get your child to request resources by colour using the PECs below. If you need any help with this or have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me.  

Shoebox tasks 

We have been focusing on independently completing different shoebox tasks this half term. We have been completing tasks focusing on everything from our fine motor skills to sorting tasks and with each week we are getting better at doing them ourselves. Below are pictures of us completing different ones. 

Independence skills - hand washing and washing up 

This half term in Penguin class we have been focusing on becoming more independent by washing our hands, washing up or for some of us even toilet training. I thought it would be useful to share with you some of the symbols and visuals which we use for this so you can keep practising these fantastic skills with your children at home. Please see the documents below and please do not forget to email me if you have any questions. 

Cookery 

This half term in cookery we are making different types of bread. I have attached the recipe we are using in school and the symbols in case you would like to try this at home. We are really enjoying the different smells and textures of things we are adding to the bread each week such as garlic.

I hope you are all having a restful half term. Please see below for our curriculum map for this half term. All of the children have settled into Penguin class very well and I look forward to their return after half term.

Autumn 1

Computing 

We have been focusing on using a touch screen during our computing lessons. We have been using a programme called 'Beep Beep' to make marks on the screen that make musicals sounds. We have been having lots of fun making different sounds and changing the colours of the marks we are making. 

Cookery - Making sandwiches 

This half term in cookery we are making a variety of sandwiches. We are focusing on our spreading and cutting skills. So far we have made jam sandwiches, cheese spread sandwiches and cucumber and cheese sandwiches. Lots of us have enjoyed trying all the different tastes and textures. 

English 

Our story for the first part of this half term has been Silly Suzy Goose. We have really enjoyed following along with the sensory story for this and it has inspired us to do lots of mark making. Please see some pictures of us enjoying the story below as well as a PowerPoint of the story for you to share at home. 

Please find below our curriculum map for this term.

Welcome to Penguin Class

Hello my name is Cassey and I am the class teacher in Chicks class. Emily is our TA3 and Lisa B, Lisa C and Debbie are our TA1s. In our class we have 7 pupils.

This half term our topic is ‘all about me’ which focuses on the pupils understanding of themselves and the people around them. We will be looking at naming different parts of the body, using our 5 senses, discussing our likes and dislikes and recognising the people around us; our friends and family as well as a focus on hygiene including hand washing.

Our English books this half term is called ‘Silly Suzy Goose’ and ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’.

Please see below for an overview of all the things we will be getting up to this year Also please keep looking at our class page to see pictures and descriptions of what we are getting up to in Penguin Class