What an exciting week in Owls it has been this week! 

On Monday, a mysterious box appeared in the classroom with a delivery for Owls Class. We were instructed not to open it before Friday. The Owls were so excited to predict what might be inside the box! We read some different stories about deliveries and post, including Dear Zoo, and the children wrote about what they thought might be inside. Some children thought a class pet like a cat or a dog, others thought it might be chocolate or a Christmas tree. 

Outside, we explored colour mixing with our potion-making table! The children used different pipettes and syringes to extract colourful water and combine it to make new colours. They absolutely adored this and made a whole variety of colourful creations! 

We kindly had a visit from a parent helper this week who did some planting with the children. We planted a number of plants, flowers and bulbs in our large planter just outside the classroom and spoke about what we need to do to look after them and help them grow. The children were particularly excited about the strawberry plants! Hopefully we will be able to observe the growth and changes over the coming seasons. 

On Friday, the children entered the classroom to find that we couldn't open the box as something had already burst out of it! A Christmas Elf had turned the classroom all 'Christmassy' by adding snowflakes, a Christmas tree, lots of different festive challenges and even an advent calendar and some Christmas books which we were instructed to unwrap at snack time each day. The children had lots of fun exploring the activities left by the elf, dressing up in festive fancy dress and decorating the Christmas tree. We also had our Santa Fun Run today which was amazing! The children blew me away with their enthusiasm and team spirit and managed to run around both large fields! Thank you to all the parents who came and ran with us, cheered us on or volunteered to help out. 

Congratulations to Esme our Star of the Week! Esme has impressed me this week with her independent approach to writing and the lovely prediction she made about what might be inside our exciting delivery. 

We also wanted to extend a warm welcome to Elodie - our newest Owl! Elodie joined our class this week and has settled right in, making lots of friends with the Owls. 

Next week there will be lots of Nativity practises, so if you haven't already dropped off your child's costume please do bring it in as soon as possible, named and in a named bag. We will also be beginning reverse advent, where the children are invited to bring in a donation for the local food bank. Your child will bring home a slip letting you know what the desired donation would be on their day. A polite reminder about reading books - if reading books and records are not returned on a Friday then new books cannot be sent home. It is crucial that you read with your child when you can as it massively improves their fluency and confidence, so please do continue to read with them. 

Many thanks and have a lovely weekend!