Visit to Seaham Beach
Team Donaldson had a fantastic day at the beach! We played games, collected sea glass, had our picnic on the beach and painted beautiful pebbles. We all had such a good time!
Life Cycle of a Caterpillar
Team Donaldson were very excited to discover our caterpillars have started make their chrysalis! We are excited to hopefully see some butterflies soon.
We were very excited to discover one of our butterflies has finally appeared!🐛🦋
Science – Deciduous Trees
Science fun!
We went outside to spot deciduous trees, collected leaves and made colourful leaf rubbings back in class. The children loved it!
P.E. – Throwing & Catching
We enjoyed PE outside, working on our throwing and catching skills while making the most of the sunshine. ☀️☀️
Music with Dr Renwick
We had our first music lesson with Brendon Renwick from Music for Schools. He told the story of Goldilocks and the three bears using different musical instruments and puppets. The children really enjoyed taking part. They are looking forward to their next musical story next week! 🎤🌟
Parachute Games – P.E.
A very exciting morning playing parachute games helping children to develop their gross and fine motor skills. 😀
Learning Outside
Having lots of fun exploring and learning.
P.E. – Yoga
The children thoroughly enjoyed their first yoga lesson with Beth. They did some lovely stretches and learned some new games, we are already looking forward to next weeks lesson.
All Aboard the Polar Express!
All aboard the Polar Express! The children had a lovely time enjoying their decorated biscuits and hot chocolate whilst watching the film. We even had a special elf visitor!
Outside Learning Zones
The children have been very busy in learning zones outside. They’ve made monster trucks, a car garage, a race track, chocolate cake and snowman soup. ☃️🚗
As well as a game of hide and seek, basketball, climbing and digging for treasure. 🌟
Settling In!
A few photos of school so far! 🌟
The children in Team Donaldson have had a fantastic time back in school, they have been very busy and have settled straight back in. 😊🌟
Chartwells (School Catering)
Team Donaldson had a fantastic time with the team from Chartwells. The children worked in groups to make energy balls! We had to mix the ingredients, use the blender and then roll our mixture into a ball!
My Happy Mind
Team Donaldson have really enjoyed our first My Happy Mind lesson. The children loved meeting Team H-A-P, we talked about our brains and all the jobs our brains do. Year 1 loved writing and drawing in their new Happy Mind journals and we were super impressed with all the children’s ideas and discussion, well done! 🧠
Chinese New Year
This week we are learning about Chinese New Year. The children really enjoyed exploring some Chinese artefacts and they loved the story of The Jade Emperor.
Labelling Parts of a Bird
Team Donaldson have really enjoyed completing our Science task this afternoon – labelling parts of a bird. They have also completed some activities independently during learning zones ✨
Yoga
The children thoroughly enjoyed their yoga lesson with Beth and are already looking forward to their lesson next week! 😊
Christmas Art
The children have been completing some fantastic Christmas art 🎄🎅🏼🌟
Healthy Eating
This morning, we have all really enjoyed a fantastic workshop with Sian from Chartwells who was super impressed with our knowledge of healthy eating and different fruits and vegetables. We then got to make our own Very Hungry Caterpillars before eating them! The children all really enjoyed it. *swipe for more photos*🐛 🌽 🍅
Yoga
🧘♀️ Yoga🧘♂️
Team Donaldson enjoyed a fantastic yoga lesson this morning. We practiced all our favourite yoga poses and learnt a new pose, the cobra. We really enjoyed playing “What time is it Mr Wolf?” and the rain stick game
✏️ Fantastic Phonics ✏️
Our reception children have done some fantastic phonics and lovely letter formation during our phonics lesson today. 🌟
Science & Geography
Year 1 have really been enjoying our science topic, Animals and Geography topic, Hot and Cold places. This week they combined their learning and wrote some amazing fact files all about animals that live in hot and cold places. 🐘 🐊 🐍
🔨 DT 🏙
In DT this week, we have been learning about different structures. We have been looking at bridges, towers and other freestanding structures. The Year 1’s completed some brilliant detailed drawings of the Eiffel Tower, labelling all the key parts. Our Reception children have been enjoying lots of different tasks in their learning zones, they have built towers and bridges in construction, painted bridges over rivers in design, built large scale models outside and used the whiteboard to design skyscrapers. Here are just a few photos from the week, well done everyone!
🔨 DT 🧰
Year 1 have continued to work super hard in DT. This afternoon they designed a freestanding structure based on our studies of the Eiffel Tower and Empire State Building. Working as a team they built the tower making sure it was secure and able to hold weight.
🎨 Art 🖌
The children have all really enjoyed creating fish in the design area inspired by our work on different types of animals in science. They used a variety of design techniques and different materials, they are very proud of their work. 🐠
Dance Festival
Team Donaldson were amazing, shaking it off showing their best moves!
In between dances they enjoyed doing some ‘Just Dance’ to keep active 💃🕺
Dancing superstars! ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Flat Stan First Aid ⛑
This afternoon, the children had a visit from Flat Stan First Aid! We found out all about:
What to do if someone is not breathing.
What to do if someone is choking.
What to do in an emergency.
What to do if someone is bleeding.
✏️ Fantastic Phonics 📝
Our Reception children have done some amazing independent writing during this mornings phonics lesson. We have been working on the ‘oo’ sound and the children wrote some brilliant words such as moon, food, roof and hoof.
🔴 Red Nose Day 2025 🔴
CLPE Moth
Year 1 have been working super hard on our core text, Moth: An Evolution Story 📖
Recently, they have written some excellent moth fact files and designed some brilliant story boards, retelling the story so far.
What’s in the barn?
This morning our reception children have done some fantastic CVC writing during our “what’s in the barn” activity.📖 🦆
Planting
As part of our science work, this afternoon Team Donaldson have really enjoyed planting seeds and flowers. We planted lots of seeds ready to watch them grow and outside we have brightened up our outdoor area with lots of new flowers.
