Newsletter 27.11.15

It was a quiet but fun-filled week in F1. We have begun singing some Christmas songs in line with our upcoming Christmas show. The children's favourites are 'Jingle Bells' and 'We Wish You a Merry Christmas'. The classroom is also slowly turning into Christmas winter! The children have been putting glitter on snowflakes in the workshop area and snowflakes are now everywhere in class! It really is Christmas soon!

For construction, we have been observing children as they make build different models with the soft blocks. Most of the children can balance blocks and make tall towers. 

For Maths, we have been focusing on size. Most of the children know big and small and can sort objects accordingly. 

For our communication and language focus this week, the red bag was filled with a chair, a table, a parachute, duplo, book and glitter. These are the words we learnt this week. 

For news, Kin shared his photos from his trip in Long Hai. He told us that he went swimming and that his daddy was with him. 

For our investigation this week, we have been exploring soap flakes gloop! Some used spoons in exploring and some brave ones used their bare hands. 

Well done children!

NOTICES: 

- Saturday 28th November: EYFS Family Morning

- Please upload a photo of how your child spent his/her weekend for our Monday news. You can also send me the photo/s via email. 

Thank you very much!

Kind Regards;

Ms Crislet, Ms Grace and the F1 Team 

EYFS Family Morning

Dear Parents, 

All EYFS families are invited to this fun and exciting event. There will be a variety of activities for the children such as nail art, playdough, building with construction blocks, bouncy castle, balloon and clay man and a bake sale. 

If you are interested to help out in the activity tables, please let me know via email or speak to me. 

Thank you very much! 

Kind Regards;

Ms Crislet

International Celebrations

Here are the fantastic activities and events celebrating different nationalities that happened this week:

MONDAY & TUESDAY:

The children have learnt 3 new songs by Gary and Carol Crees,  'Fungi Alafia' from Ghana, 'Mi Cuerpo' from Spain and 'People All Around the World' which has some greetings from Japan, India and Fiji. These songs are accompanied by different actions which involves holding hands together, tapping their heads, clapping and more. The children are now singing these songs whilst playing and all of us are really proud of how fast they learnt the lyrics. Here are the songs so you and your child can sing along.

WEDNESDAY:

Wednesday is Vietnam day in F1. The teaching assistants prepared a Powerpoint presentation about Vietnam, made spring rolls with the children and taught a Vietnamese song. We also visited the Vietnamese room which was decorated with different local ornaments and activities. The children had fun playing the big drum, using the mask (Dia's mask) and playing the Vietnamese games. They were also very excited to see the dragons. 

Crafts Fair: Children had a go at using their tokens in playing games, buying balloons and clay figures, calligraphy cards and more. 

International Buffet: Children had an array of food from all over the world during lunch time. They were very brave in trying out new food! Good job children! 

THURSDAY:

Thursday was spent talking about Philippines and United Kingdom. 

PHILIPPINES: Ms Crislet showed the children some of her photos taken in some of the Philippines' most beautiful places to visit. We have also seen the Philippine flag and map and learnt that Philippines is made up of 7,107 islands! Ms Crislet also prepared one of Filipino's favourite snacks which is chocolate porridge. It was delicious! Ms Crislet also facilitated a Filipino ring game. The children loved being the princes and princesses who go in and out of the circle. Lastly, Monica and Carrot had a go at wearing the 'baro at saya' which is the traditional clothes for girls and women in the Philippines. 

UNITED KINGDOM: Ms Hayley from F3 visited F1 and taught us about the UK. She showed us photos of her house, her family and what English people do on weekends or holidays. She brought along her friend turtle, Timothy and her suitcase. She mentioned about UK's weather, having summer and winter, and asked Minh Anh and Bao Nhi to dress up in summer and winter clothes. Ms Hayley also had crowns in her suitcase for a queen and king. Monica and Duc Phu volunteered to wear them just like Queen Elizabeth. Afterwards, Ms Hayley let us try some tea and biscuits and we loved them! Thank you Ms Hayley!

FRIDAY:

EYFS children paraded in the hall wearing  their beautiful traditional costumes. The children in F1 looked gorgeous in their Ao Dais and were very confident as they paraded in front of so many children and parents. Well done!

NOTICES:

-EYFS Family Morning will be on Saturday 28th November. All EYFS families are  invited. Please see other post for more information.

-Thank you for all your presents for Teachers' day. They made our day extra special!


Have a wonderful weekend!


Kind Regards;
Ms Crislet, Ms Grace and the F1 Team

International Craft Fair

  

International Craft Fair

Wednesday 18th November

Children will have the opportunity to take part in a variety of craft activities from different countries.

Some activities are free of charge and some require tokens.

Tokens can be purchased from Ms Duong in the office from

Monday 16th of November.

Each token costs 10,000 VND.

Paid activities will cost 1 token .

We suggest that children buy a maximum of 5 tokens  but they may buy more if they wish.

All money raised will be given to charity.

Goldilocks and the Three Bears

It has been a fantastic week in F1! The children has been engaging in a variety of activities and particularly enjoyed our theme this week which is 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears'.

We have been sharing this story through the use of puppets, video and felt board. The children have been naming the characters and are gradually learning the story by heart. They have been copying expressions and sentences from the story such as 'It's too hot!', 'It's just right!', 'Oh no!', 'I'm hungry!' and 'I'm tired!'.

In our workshop area this week, children have painted stencils of Goldilocks and the the 3 bears. We then made these into stick puppets. Children will be bringing these home today so please encourage them to use the puppets as they tell you the story. Please ask them questions and even let them make their own story with the puppets. This is one way to support their language development.

Aside from tackling this focus story, we have also been focusing on completing 4 piece and big floor puzzles. Some children are now able to complete the simple puzzles easily so we are encouraging them to challenge themselves and try to complete the big floor puzzles. So far, we have seen most of the children spending time helping each other complete them. With adult support, most of them are able to match the puzzle pieces and put them together successfully. We use colours, shapes and pictures as prompts on how to match the pieces together.

Also in Maths, we have been sorting compare bears by colour and size. We have done as a group and is now trying to encourage all the children to try the activity more independently. 

During our carpet sessions this week, we have added 'How are you Feeling Today?'. We introduced it by showing them a Powerpoint presentation about emotions. Everyday, we have been asking the children how they feel and encourage them to say 'I'm happy!', 'I'm sad!', 'I'm grumpy!' and 'I'm tired!'. We are very impressed as most of them are now able to express how they feel by using these simple sentences. Please have a look at the screen grab of the presentation we use to teach emotions. The last slide with all the emotions is used for children to choose from if they still need support in expressing how they feel in words. 

Also this week, we have started having a focus session on one of the prime areas of the curriculum which is Communication and Language. We have introduced the red bag with an array of objects they typically use during their day in school. The children were asked one by one to get from the bag and try to name the object. We then repeat the word altogether. This activity focuses on children being able to identify objects in a group and selecting objects by name when asked. 

This week has been a busy one but we are very impressed at how the children were on board in all the activities. 10 big claps to all the children! 

NOTICES: 

International Celebrations:

Wednesday 18th November

International Fair - Different activities from all over the world will be available for children during the whole day. Some activities are free but some need tokens. Please see Ms Duong if you would like to purchase tokens. Each token/activity costs 10,000Vnd. Please see another post for more information. 

International Buffet - "As you are aware it is our International Celebration next week at TX!  For lunch on Wednesday 18^th November we will be having an International Buffet put together by our parents and canteen staff.  We would like to ask for any parents, who are not able to attend the International Buffet and serve delicacies from their home country, to prepare and send to school a plate of food that can be enjoyed cold to add to the Buffet on Wednesday.  Please send the plate of food to school in the morning with your child and we will keep it refrigerated until lunchtime.  Thank you for supporting this fantastic experience for our International community.” - Ms Mary

Friday 20th November

Flag Parade - ALL children should wear their National/traditional costumes / clothes from home country. F1 will be joining the parade at 8.15 in the hall. We will be parading first and will be exiting right after and go back to the classroom. Class as usual. 

We are inviting all of you to come in class and share something about your home country, a story, food, books, photos, games or clothes. Please send me an email if you would like to come in F1 to facilitate an activity or share something. We would appreciate you coming over.

Thank you very much!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Kind Regards,

Ms Crislet, Ms Grace and the F1 Team 

F1's First Out of School Adventure!

F1 had out very first trip in Ms Crislet's apartment at Imperia An Phu. This was in line with our theme 'My Home and My Family'.

Over the week, we have been preparing the children for the trip. We have showed them a Powerpoint presentation of how the trip will go and discussed about fastening their seatbelts and sitting still in the bus, holding their teachers' hands whilst walking and the activities that we will be doing in the house. 

During our bus ride, the children sat beautifully with their seatbelts fastened. They were very excited to see the Saigon bridge, the river, the different transport and buildings on our way to Imperia An Phu. We even sung 'The Wheels on the Bus' which is one of their favourite nursery rhymes. 

When we arrived at Imperia, the children held their teachers' hands and walked sensibly. They were very happy to see lots of fish in the pond and the swimming pools as well. Nhat Hoang even asked if they can go swimming! 

When we were finally in Ms Crislet's house, we first had a rest in the sofa. Ms Crislet then showed us her spare bedroom, her bedroom, the toilets and bathrooms and the kitchen. We then settled in the living room and had our snack. 

After our snack, Ms Crislet then called 2 children at a time to help her bake some chocolate chip muffins. The children were brilliant in measuring the floor, sugar and more and in mixing all the ingredients together. 

Whilst we were waiting for the muffins to bake, we all watched a movie. The children chose 'Finding Nemo' amongst other movies Ms Crislet showed us. 

The trip ended with Ms Crislet showing us parts of the house pictures and children pointing at them. They were able to point and even say 'bedroom', 'kitchen', 'bathroom' and 'living room'.

It was indeed a fun and memorable trip as everybody were fantastic during the whole trip! Great job F1!

We would also like to say thank you to Ms Christine for joining us and helping us in our trip!

Notices:

Upcoming Events:

International Days will be from Wednesday 18th November to Friday 20th November. If you wish to come in class and share something about your home country (activity, story, food etc), please feel free to send me an email.

EYFS Family Morning will be on Saturday 28th November. All EYFS families are encourage to come and join us in a variety of activities. More information to follow. 

Thank you!

Have a relaxing weekend everyone!

Kind Regards;

Ms Crislet, Ms Grace and the F1 Team