The FS2 children really didn't know what to expect when we said we were watching a pantomime in school. Some of them were very nervous as they entered the hall as the lighting was dimmed. We sat on the stage so that we had a good view and weren't too close to the action. As the story unfolded the children were engrossed and were very vocal, joining in with the punchlines and repetition of lines. Afterwards we talked about favourite characters and the consensus was that Snow White, the Jester and the Prince were their favourites. The wicked Queen was definitely not on their good list!

We had a traditional party with dancing, pass the parcel and games like musical statues. It was such a special day, the adults thoroughly enjoyed it as well as the children! In the morning the children helped to prepare the party food, they made their own sandwich and bun. It was lovely to hear them commenting and praising themselves as they ate!

Our Nativity was all about the Christmas message and why we have Christmas.

She knew it was a special time for girls and boys
When they just think of presents and stockings full of toys.
 ‘I wish that they would realise,’ the little angel said,
‘That a baby boy was born this day, and think of him instead.’

Our children have really taken on this message and our Nativity small world and creative areas have been the most popular in FS2 this week.  

The Christmas dinner day was a very jolly occasion. The dinner was very tasty and the children ate well. We sang Christmas songs and told jokes. Some of the children even had a little dance! Here are some photos of the children before lunch in their special jumpers.

The children have worked so hard to learn the songs and the words of our play. We were so impressed with the volume of their collective voices on the day! Thank you to everyone who managed to come and support us. It was a memorable occasion.

We are all different, we are all special and we are all valued! We celebrated individuality this week and decorated our only pebble just like the story 'Only one you'.

Thank you to all the parents who came to the hall and looked at our display of work. 

To highlight feelings we read a book about a duck called Duffle who was laughed at for being small. The children were shocked that the other ducks were so unkind to him. They were able to suggest ideas of how the ducks could improve their behaviour. In literacy we wrote speech bubbles for Duffle and for the other ducks to reinforce  kind deeds and words. We also painted a friendship ring where the children painted their hands and printed them alongside their friends.

We have had a really positive week and we finished by exchanging friendship bands which we had carefully decorated as a gift for our friends. This was combined with our 'Children in need' non-uniform day, so was a day to remember!

We had a very colourful start to anti-bullying week! The children were very proud to show off their odd socks. Our message was 'we are all different and we are all special.'

We showed respect today to the brave soldiers who fought in the war. The children watched a beautiful short animation following a young rabbit through the poppy fields.

We made our own poppies and were very proud to wear them in assembly.

We had a lovely start to our half term. Mrs Blewitt came from Bookstart to share some books and stories with us. She told the children all about the libraries in Barnsley and how many children's books they have. We looked at a library card and Mrs Blewitt told us that you can use it in any library in Barnsley. The books she read were 'Press here' by Herve Tullet, 'Animal Boogie' by Debbie Harter and 'Little Monkey' by Altes Marta. We also sang songs. The children were so excited and animated, it was such fun! Mrs Blewitt's motto is 'anything can happen in a book!'

Some children are already members of Barnsley Library service, we would really appreciate it if you could make your child a member. We are organising a visit to Wombwell library in December. We will be in touch when we have the dates arranged.