the Kingfisher Community

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Newsletter - Autumn Term 2 Topic – Let there be Light

Dear Parents/Carers and Friends,

I hope by the time you are reading this – you are managing to grab a few minutes peace and can take stock of your child’s achievements this term – and what a fantastic terms it’s been!Our learning has focussed on ‘Let there be light’ which has provided a whole range of opportunities to explore new and exciting places and activities which are detailed in the newsletter. As always, the Kingfisher staff team have worked hard to ensure that all the children are ready to learn and have planned for your child to access their learning in the most appropriate way possible.

We held our annual Christmas Market earlier this month – thanks to the Yellow Team for organising this and thank you to everyone that supported us. Not only did we have a great time getting our Christmas shopping sorted - we also made £485 towards the Big Splash. Next term’s event will be an Easter Raffle and we will be writing to you in due course.

THANK YOU to all of you that are working hard to support our Big Splash appeal – your hard work and generosity are very much appreciated and we have acknowledged all your efforts in the main school entrance. We are hoping to have a pool planning meeting in January where we can see what funds are available and when a possible start date might be. I will keep you updated as and when we hear anything.

Anyone can also contribute to our fundraising via our my donate pagehttps://mydonate.bt.com/events/thebigsplash/250671

I would like to take this opportunity of thanking you for your continued support and wish you a festive holiday. As always, if you would like to discuss anything with me, please contact me via Vikki in the school office.

Yours sincerely,

Anne Redmond

Our Big Splash fundraising campaign started earlier this term with a ‘Big Splat’! - as you may have seen on the school's Facebook and Twitter pages and in the Oldham Chronicle, Mrs Redmond took a ‘Pie in the Face’ to raise money for the appeal. In addition, each class set up a sponsored event and the support from families for this was fantastic, we raised almost £3,000 on that day! Thank you so much to everyone for supporting our Big Splash day!

We have also been overwhelmed with support from families and groups within the community. We have had a variety of sponsored events set up to support us - ranging from sponsored ironing, cycling and reading, only drinking water and a planned skydive on Valentine’s day! Some of these events are featured on our Facebook page and also on our online donation site - which is via BT My Donate - if you wish to donate to any of the events, or just in general - go to BT My Donate and search for Kingfisher School – you will find links to help you do this.

The success of the sponsored events and the support from the community have meant that we have been busy dreaming up other ways that we can get support in a fun way - and in the New Year we will be launching ‘Fundraising Fridays’ - our families will already have received a letter about this - where we are hoping to get people involved in raising money for us by taking part in sponsored events, which are really easy to organise and get involved with - such as wearing blue or orange, or decorating an Easter egg etc. We also want businesses in Oldham to get involved by taking part in these events so if you run a business or have contacts in a business, please let them know or ask them to contact us for more detail.

We have made a great start to the campaign - however, we have a long way to go - any help from the community of Oldham will be gratefully received so please mention ‘The Big Splash’ wherever you can!

Michael Unsworth & Nic Found

This half term, lots of the local primary schools have agreed to get on board with Team Kingfisher and help to raise money for the ‘Splash’ project! So far the children from St Patricks’ School have organised a ‘Zumberthon’ to raise money! This was a fantastic day and the children worked really hard. St Patricks’ even had a visit from the children in our Blue Jays’ class!

5 years ago, a group of children from CrossgatesPrimary School, Milnrow, Rochdale took part in a very successful link project with children from Kingfisher. Using Creative and Expressive Arts, this group of children engaged in many creative projects and formed some fantastic friendships. These children have now grown and moved onto new schools but their experience of learning alongside the children from Kingfisher stayed with them. When they found out about the Team Kingfisher project, they decided they wanted to help raise money for the new Hydrotherapy Pool. Nic Found’s son Ollie was the instigator of this mission (Synchronised Drinkers)and together with his friends they raised £750! Well done!

In addition to ‘The Big Splash’, the school has been busy working on its outdoor learning areas and we have been supported by the Greater Manchester Muslim Police Association, who chose Kingfisher as their nominated charity this year. Mainly through a sponsored walk up Mount Snowdon, they raised over £3,700 and this has been used to upgrade the Woodpeckers’ outdoor learning environment by the installation of a rubber floor to enable the class to make better use of their outside space to learn in. The pictures show the class learning about the weather and how kites work in the wind in their refurbished area.

CanariesClass Team:• Carol Whitehead• Lois Carlisle• Cheryl Wight• Pam Dean• Sarah Lees• Margaret Stanley

It has been a really busy half term for the Canaries’ Class and the time has flown by.

Our topic has been ‘Let there be Light’.

‘Owl Babies’ has been our focus story and we have been listening to initial letter sounds using the Jolly Phonics songs to help us, focussing on s, t, a and p.

We have been using torches to explore how things change when lights shine on them and how torches and lights can help us to see in a dark space. What we enjoyed most was exploring shiny things which looked quite magical when lights shone on them –we made lots of ‘wow’ sounds and it made us smile a lot too. We looked at different types of lights and also watched how fireworks make patterns of light and are used in different festivals and celebrations.

We have really enjoyed the Godly Play story about the Christian story of Advent and about the Holy Family in the lead up to Christmas. We have also found out about the festivals of Hanukkah and Diwali. We have been making lots of things for our Christmas celebrations and, of course, have been practising for our star roles in the Nativity at our Christmas Concert and the church service on the last day of term.

We are all looking forward to our holiday with all the celebrations and excitement it may bring but also for the chance to have a rest before we start our new topic ‘In All Kinds of Weather’ next term.

We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

RobinsClass Team:• Bev Lees• Louisa Carter• Christine Callan• Helen Cummiskey• Vicky Montgomery• Kathryn Parker

We can’t believe another half term has flown by already - but we can believe, that once again we have had lots and lots of fun with our learning. The topic ‘Let there be Light’ has been enjoyed by everyone and we have done lots of exciting learning sessions with our friends in Robins and Doves. We made stars with different coloured glitters, explored ice marbles with torches, felt snow with flashing ice cubes in, used light tables to paint on and focused on sparkly lights in our sensory den.

During Communication sessions we have been learning to indicate or ask for ‘more’ during fun parachute games through vocalising, signing and using our facial expressions.

in Music we have been listening to and playing along with songs about light using different instruments and torches.

In PE we have been moved in lots of different ways – on the floor, over equipment and with an adult, and some of us have explored independently in our Soft Play area. During Jabadao we have enjoyed moving to music and always enjoy hiding under the parachute at the beginning of each session. We continue to enjoy our Tuesday Mile Room sessions with Cath and love our Yoga and massage stories…..very relaxing for one and all.

On a Friday, in the Mile Room, we have been using light toys, learning to turn them on and off, hold them independently and using our eyes to watch and follow the lights.

Each week we get wrapped up to learn outdoors – we have visited the Woods, had turns on the roundabout in the Moomalade yard, explored different sensory trays, had pretend fireworks and experienced the wind and the rain! Let us hope we get some real snow to explore soon.

For Christmas we have made cards, decorated our tree, painted snowmen, taken part in the concert, enjoyed a sensory story about Walt on his Christmas adventure, listened to carols, made noisy Santa toys sing with a switch and had a special Christmas party.

All the Robins wish you all a very Happy Holiday and every happiness for 2016 and we can’t wait to see everyone in the New Year for lots more wonderful learning with our new topic ‘In all kinds of Weather’.

WoodpeckersClass Team:• Fran Scholes• Tracy Jackson• Chelsea Beards• Sarah Styles• Selina Gardner

The Woodpeckers have been very busy with their learning this half term.

We loved listening to the ‘Funnybones’ story in English, where we worked hard to develop our character and scene recognition. We enjoyed following the big skeleton, the small skeleton and the dog skeleton as they explored different parts of their town during night time. Even though they tried to frighten people and animals in the dark, we weren’t scared at all!

In Maths we have been learning all about size. We have been using our class plasma screen computer in order to create different sized shapes from ‘small’ to ‘big’; some of us even tried to create ‘medium’ sized shapes! We also used the coloured counting bears to order, sort and match into different sizes.

We have been looking at different species of animals and their habitats in Science this half term . We have been looking at the features of the different animals in order for us to match them to their homes. We have also been exploring the effects of different types of weather. We even made our own kites which we were able to test in our outdoor area when it was very windy.

In our Art sessions we have been using different paints and materials to explore the different effects of light and dark on our work. We loved using the different colours of fluorescent paints and glitters in order to create our own marks, images and shapes. We also used lightly coloured pastels and chalks on black card in order to draw the skeletons from our topic story. We continued this learning through our drama sessions in the studio where we explored and created different effects using light materials and paints under the UV lights.

For RE this topic we have been looking at religious festivals of light in particular Diwali. We were able to listen to the tale of ‘Rama and Sita’ and follow the story of how light is used during the Diwali celebrations. We discovered that Hindus make and light Diva lamps during the Diwali celebrations in order to welcome and guide Rama and Sita home. The Diva lamp’s light also represents light overcoming the dark and that good triumphs over evil.

From us all in the Woodpeckers we wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

GoldfinchesClass Team:• Ann Whitehead• Louisa Carter• Kim Meyers• Lois Carlisle• Jill Lomax• Fateha Begum• Brenda Jenkinson• Jane Titterton• Lisa Bolger We’ve enjoyed this terms topic ‘Let there be Light’

and can’t believe another term is coming to the end.

We have enjoyed ‘Write Dance’ sessions where we have been using ribbons, scarves and torches to make circles, straight lines and dot patterns to music. We also used messy media such as corn flour, shaving foam and glittery paint to make our marks.

In Mathematics we sang ‘10 in a bed’ and ‘5 snowmen’’ and continued using Numicon to develop our understanding of number. We pressed the Numicon shapes into play dough to feel the shapes and matched Numicon to number tiles.

During ‘Learning through Play’ we have been learning about object permanence by finding shiny treasure buried in the sand tray using torches. We have used light toys and torches in the dark den to develop our scientific enquiry.

In Art we created black and white pictures using printing techniques and worked hard to create bonfire pictures using collage materials and glue.

We have loved getting ‘muddy’ in our fab new ‘Mud Kitchen’ where we’ve been learning to use equipment to stir, pour and mix.

During Godly Play we have been learning about Diwali and Christmas. We made decorations for the Christmas tree and table placemats.

We hope you all have a very Happy Christmas and well deserved break!

DovesClass Team:• Helen Godfrey• Anne Tomlinson• Angela Mullington• Joseline Ndayisenga• Aimee Nutt• Soraya Ali Habidi

During our English lessons we have enjoyed a sensory story, learning about anticipation, focussing and tracking and switch skills. We have continued Intensive Interaction and communication sessions developing our social awareness, vocalisations and interactions.

In Maths we have continued with different sensory number rhymes, counting and exploring sensory objects at the same time!

In Music we have been listening and responding to different instruments and sounds and demonstrating likes and dislikes. We have enjoyed listening to different pieces of music each day as we enter class, cueing us in to the school day.

We have continued to work on individual computing targets during our computing sessions using the switch toys, computer and IPad.

We have had two different contexts to explore in Science this half term; changing seasons and animals and their habitats. We have been exploring lots of sensory activities focussed on autumn and winter on a Monday, and looking at different habitats using torches, light boxes and the light table on a Friday.

During our History sessions we have explored some different light celebrations including Bonfire Night, Diwali and Christmas using different outdoor activities.

During P.E we have continued to work on individual positioning targets including sitting, standing, rolling and lying on our tummies.

In Art we have explored different sensory art and craft techniques each week, with hands, feet and whole body based on a range of water topics.

In R.E. we have listened to the Godly Play stories of Diwali and the Nativity and explored the story props.

We have loved our Massage, Aromatherapy and Yoga sessions with Cath, each week and have listened to a different massage story and enjoyed sharing our experiences together with the Robins class in the MILE room.

RavensClass Team:• Elaine Curran• Adam Hinchcliffe• Stacey McDonald• Jess Tupman• Selina Gardner• Paula Wright

The Ravens have had an amazing half term learning through the topic of ‘Let there be Light’.

We have been reading the story of ‘Funnybones’ and ordering the story and adding key words to it to make sense of what we see in the pictures. We have been making skeleton pictures using art straws on black paper and have been finding out what the different parts of our body are called.

In Science we have been learning about habitats and the animals and creatures that live in different habitats. We have explored the Woods and searched for the homes of creatures and made a bug hotel to try and encourage minibeasts to come and live in our home made habitats.

In RE we have been finding out about special light and have looked at light in religious and non-religious festivals. We learned about Guy Fawkes and Bonfire Night as well as about Diwali and the story of ‘Rama and Sita’. We made different pictures using UV paint to show both fireworks and Rangolipatterns.

In Art and DT we have been designing and making lava lamp bags. We have had a great time choosing different colours and materials to make UV bags. We are really good now at assembling our own light tables to see the colours shine.In PALS this half term we have shared some parties with our friends. We invited the Blue Jays across for a Bonfire party and we have held a Diwali party as well. We have had a really good time working alongside and playing with children from another class.

In Cookery we have designed and made our own advent calendar and every day in December so far we have eaten chocolate from the calendar. We chose our own chocolate shapes and patterns for the numbers.

The Ravens hope that everyone has a wonderful Christmas and a happy New Year and look forward to bringing you more news of our learning in 2016!

ToucansClass Team:• Maria Lovell• Rachel Mitchell• Julie Graham• Andrew Fitzman• Cate Helm

In Art, the Toucans used a variety of design ideas and techniques such as printing to produce creative work. They explored their own ideas and experiences and created work with a contrast of colours. They spent time exploring the different shades of colours which are produced from fireworks.

The Toucans explored the habitats of living things and the basic needs of animals in Science. At the start of the topic each child chose an animal of interest to focus on. They went on to label the body parts, explore basic needs required such as food, water and shelter. They then created a suitable habitat from collage materials to demonstrate their understanding. In addition to this the children took turns observing the weather and completed the class weather chart.

In Maths, the Toucans learned about 2D and 3D shapes and their different properties. They explored the real 3D objects and identified shapes in the environment. They also explored making shapes and patterns using chalk and paint.

We have been focusing on recording using different devices including a camera and voice recorders in Computing. The children enjoyed using the devices to record their performance in drama.

In English, the Toucans have been exploring the vocabulary for asking questions, they had lots of fun using the voice recorders to ask each other questions.

WrensClass Team:• Nicola Smith• Lisa Garside• Jacqueline Attwater• Helen Thomas• Deborah Buckley The Wrens have had a fantastic half term and all loved the ‘Let

there be Light’ topic! We started the topic by experiencing Bonfire Night. We listened to fireworks, sang our song ‘5 little fireworks’, used glitter to make fireworks pictures, smelled parkin and watched sparklers. This was a great sensory experience for us all.

We have done lots of work using fluorescent materials and ultra violet light. We have been experiencing our own personalised sensory story all about a spaceman. We made glow in the dark t-shirts, masks, sock puppets and planets to use in our story and have been exploring glow in the dark balloons, ribbons, puppets and glasses! We have all been looking intently at the props, tracking them and using our vision really well.

We have used fluorescent paints, sand and collage materials in our art sessions to create a glow in the dark display. We have also been using the lightboxes to look at papers, shapes and objects – using our hands to move them round and rearrange them to make our own art work.

We have been singing number songs using the parachute –exploring the aliens, ‘fireworks’ and balloons as they move up and down on the parachute. We have been building towers and knocking them down; exploring long pieces of Sari fabric and different distances around school.

We have been to India to celebrate Diwali too. We have used coloured sand to make stunning Rangoli patterns that we have displayed in the classroom. We have had a multi-sensory R.E. session that has involved Indian music, smells, spices, dancing and lots of lights. We all loved this session especially dancing to ‘Jai Ho’! We also used the silk clay to make little Diva lamp holders.

The Wrens continued to work hard to develop their communication and physical skills this half term. We are working hard in Jabadao and Music in Movement sessions. We are doing very well in our Yoga and are joining in well with our stretches and showing fantastic responses to our multi-sensory massage stories in the MILE room. We have also been experiencing pushing and pulling in P.E.

Another busy, but brilliant half term! We have been busy getting ready for Christmas – making decorations, preparing for our performance and singing Christmas songs…..We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

StarlingsClass Team:• Lisa Byram• Kirsty Kelly• Kerry Conwell• Clare Agnew• Liam Hodkinson• Rachel Williamson

The Starlings have all worked hard this half term and have produced some super work!

In Maths, we have been continuing our number work and have been working with numbers up to 20. The children have made their own clocks looking at time and have worked hard adding pennies and matching coins. We have also done some 2D shape work and have even worked with some tricky shapes like an octagon!

In our English sessions, we have been reading ‘Funnybones’ which has been a huge hit with the children; they love their ‘Dark, Dark’ book! This was followed with ‘Day and Night Animals’ and ‘Owl Babies’ and the children have produced some super art work and writing linked to all three. We have enjoyed learning about skeletons and animals that are nocturnal.

For Science, our new topics have been Habitats and Seasonal Changes. We have focused on the weather and how the clothing that we choose may alter. For our Habitats work, we have enjoyed looking at where different animals live and making a bird feeder and nest, considering suitable materials.

The Starlings have loved P.E. this half term. Each child has completed the different courses set up by Steve and the children have shown skills in lots of areas such as balance, throwing, kicking and crawling! All the children have improved in confidence and picked up new skills. Swimming has also been a huge success with lots of smiles and splashing; we are really looking forward to our new pool.

We have celebrated Diwali at the start of this half term and really enjoyed our Diwali Day. We especially loved dressing in a sari and dancing in the Studio! In R.E. we have been listening to the Diwali story and completing lots of crafts before looking at the Nativity Story.

The Starlings have been very busy making Christmas crafts to decorate both school and home and of course made excellent ‘Lost Boys’ in our Christmas performance!Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from all of us in the Starlings.

PeacocksClass Team:• Donna Paterson• Lindy Cartwright• Adele Berry• Cate Helm All the children in Peacocks have had great fun learning and

exploring light and festivals in the lead up to the Christmas period.

During Maths lessons we have been working on addition and we have had an opportunity to use these skills in number soft play. We have also been learning about money and 3D shapes.

We have been reading the Big Book ‘Dark, Dark Tale’ which was a bit scary. We also read a book about the Northern Lights and created some art work to go along with the story. We had great fun in the Studio acting the stories out. In our Phonics lessons we have continued to learn about the letters s, a, t and p.

In Art we have learnt about Van Gogh’s ‘Starry night’ and re-created our own version of it.

In our PALS sessions we have been creating our own shadow puppets. To make these we explored different materials and light sources in the Studio. We then made our own story to act out.

We learnt about fire safety during Forest School sessions and built our own fire in the Woods. This linked to our PE lessons where we have been pretending to be fireworks using ribbons and pom-poms and creating our own dance.

On Languages Day we learnt all about the country India. We learnt a special indian dance and made our own Rangolipatterns. We also looked at the story of Diwali in RE and later Christmas.

In Science we have explored the 4 seasons. Our favourite lesson was exploring fake snow and trying to make snow men. Later on we learnt about animals and their habitats. We learnt all about the animals that live in our school woods.

Recently the Peacocks have been very excited in the run up to Christmas, making lots of festive things. We hope you all have a happy and safe Christmas and look forward to seeing you all in the new year.

PelicansClass Team:• Gemma Godden• Chris Sadler• Ann Armstrong-Marshall• Samantha Bacon• Beth Brook• Lynne Howard• Sue Parkin We have enjoyed exploring lots of lights in our topic of ‘Let there be Light’

this half term. We looked at and listened to music about the Sun, the Moon and Stars - we chuckled at each other wearing silly hats singing "We've all got our hats on.....Hip hip hip hooray!

In English we enjoyed the sensory stories of ‘Funnybones’ and ‘Owl Babies’. We liked exploring the salt dough ‘bones’, playing ‘Peek a Boo’ with the puppets and making a ‘nest’ for the owl babies using feathers, twigs and toy birds.

In Maths we have been experiencing number through our counting songs. We have been learning about prepositions – by putting objects 'in’ or ‘out’ of a box. We also learned about ‘tall’ and ‘long’ things.

We created lots of sparkly and bright pieces of artwork in Art. We enjoyed exploring glitter, food colouring, chalks and UV paints. We made firework pictures by rolling tennis balls in bright paint and dropping them onto black paper.

In Humanities we have learned about the sun, moon and stars. We enjoyed exploring a sensory ‘bonfire’ using different textures and colours of materials and hand warmers to make it warm.

We have been learning about Living Things and their Habitats in Science. We learned about animals who live in the snow. We explored the sand and animals who live in the desert. We made bird feeders for the birds who live in the sensory garden and enjoyed watching them come to eat the seeds.

In R.E. we learned about Diwali – we enjoyed a sensory story during Languages Day. We also learned about the story of Guy Fawkes. Towards the end of term we have been busy learning about the Christmas story and rehearsing for our school production. We have made some lovely cards and enjoyed exploring Christmas decorations like tinsel, fairy lights and hats.

In P.E. we have continued to enjoy our weekly Yoga and Jabadao sessions where we move our bodies in different ways. We also enjoy Music and Movement and exploring the Soft Play Room.

As we head towards the Christmas break, we should all be very proud and pleased about our starring role as magicians in the final yellow team assembly of this year.

DucksClass Team:• Emma Hamnett• Deborah Riley• Alison Mottershead• Nicola Meyers

The Ducks have enjoyed this half term and the topic ‘Let there be Light’.

In English we looked at the big book ‘The Owl Babies’ and enjoyed collecting lots of different materials from the school Woods to re-create a picture from the story. We have been using our writing and mark making skills in order to write about the characters from the book.

We have been looking at ordering numbers and shapes in Maths and have used acorns collected from the Woods to sort into different sizes.

We looked at animals and their habitats in Science and the children were able to say if the climate they lived in was hot or cold.

A few of the Ducks have joined the lunchtime football club and look forward to this activity every week. We also visit our PALS friends each week and have been looking at birds in the Sensory Garden to see what they eat.

This half term, the Ducks have been using different lights and colours to celebrate Diwali and The Festival of Light.

We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

PuffinsClass Team: • Naomi Morris• Diane Molden• Carrie Ashworth• Karen Mason• Jo Winterburn• Liam Hodkinson• Phil Seers

The Puffins have enjoyed a wonderful half term learning all about our topic ‘Let there be Light’. We have found lots of information about light and its uses.

In English we have read the book ‘Come With Me’ where the children have learnt about the language we can use to make things seem dark and scary. We have also looked at different ways of telling stories, including books, videos, audio clips and live performances. All the children enjoyed their visit to the pantomime where we saw ‘Mother Goose’, and discussed how this was different to reading the story in class.

In Phonics we have been continuing to learn about how letters have both a name and a sound. We have learnt how to say and write these letters, and are beginning to use them to write three letter words.

In Maths we have been looking at time and money. The children have been sequencing activities showing what time of day these occur. We have also been finding out about the coins we use in England and how much they are worth. The children have especially enjoyed our role play shop.

The Puffins have been fantastic and the staff team have really enjoyed being a part of their learning. We are looking forward to next half term when our topic will be ‘In All Kinds Of Weather’.

The Puffins hope you have a happy and safe Christmas holiday, and look forward to seeing everyone in the New Year for the start of our Spring Term.

SwansClass Team:• Jenni Cryer• Ann Allsopp• Nicola Hicklin• Madeleine Sargent• Pam Seers• Ruby Stocks• Frances Hamnett

The children have worked very hard this half term and have made good progress in their learning.

In Maths we have been working on recognising and understanding small numbers using light up resources. We have been exploring light up stars, hoops and balls, listening to the number names as they are counted and the children have been developing their understanding of ‘one’ and ‘two’ by handling and holding one or two resources. We have also explored measures using worms – not real ones though! The children felt the difference between long ones and short ones, some with support and some independently.

In English we have been reading ‘This is the Bear and the Scary Night’. Each child has had the opportunity to experience the timeline of the story using sensory resources. Some of the children have helped to tell the story using switches connected to electrical devices such as a fan or star projector. Some children started to anticipate the wet, windy and noisy parts of the story! In mark making, we have used brightly coloured sensory paints and UV paints to produce work for the topic ‘Let there be Light’.

In PSHE we have been learning to play with others and also about what activities make us feel calm. We have been working with our partner class, the Toucans, in pairs, to develop our play skills. In Science we have been learning about animal habitats through exploration of different components of trees and finding out how worms use leaves to create soil to live in. We have explored sand and soil with different amounts of water, and the children have shown preferences for wet or dry textures using gesture, facial expression and vocalisations.

In P.E. we have used light up hoops and ribbons to explore movement in Dance. The children practised stretching their arms and legs in time to music to develop their gross motor skills.

In R.E. we learned about Diwali. We created our own diva lamps. On Languages Day, we made sweets, listened to the story of ‘Rama and Sita’, created lanterns and Rangoli patterns.

We hope you have a restful and enjoyable Christmas break.

PenguinsClass Team:• Emma Hamnett• Georgina Quinn• Sam Parker• Michelle Seers• Thomas Winterburn• Shauntelle Dawkins

It has been another fun and inspiring half term in the Penguins’ class. We have been extremely busy working together to share lots of exciting learning experiences. The children that joined Kingfisher in September are happy and relaxed as members of the Penguins’ team and enjoy being part of our school community.

We began the second part of our Autumn term by thinking about the different festivals that are celebrated at this time of year; we took part in a range of activities related to Diwali and made beautiful firework pictures for Bonfire Night.

As part of our topic ‘Let there be Light’ we shared the book ‘I Looked through my Window’ during our sensory story sessions. The story helped us to develop our sequencing and matching skills as we worked together to build a story wall with the different images from the book. We also created our own stories by looking at different people and objects through our own special little window.

We continued our work on the counting and sequencing of numbers using the number rhyme and story book ‘Ten in the Bed’; we had lots of fun making the animals fall out of the bed with a big ‘bump!’ In Maths we also began to look at the shapes circle and square. We made these shapes using lots of sensory materials over the half term and used our body in different actions to compare and sort objects into matching shapes.

In our Science sessions we observed the developments in our environment through the changes in the season. We watched the leaves change colour and fall from the trees and we recreated the rain and the wind using a very exciting fan. Our skills as scientists developed as we continued to explore the world around us through our investigation of light and dark. We have used torches, lamps and fairy lights to experiment changing our ‘dark den’ into a light and colourful place.

We have also started to prepare for Christmas, and took part in a whole school project based on the theme ‘light’ to share with our families and community at our Christmas performance.

Another fantastic half term; well done Penguins and Merry Christmas everyone.

Blue JaysClass Team:• Carrie Ball• Joanne Tierney• Sally Ann Hall

The Blue Jays have been reading a really exciting book about a journey through the ‘Dark, Dark Woods’. It has been brilliant listening to it in the dark and using a torch to find our way through the forest in the story.

In Art we have been making habitat scenes that have helped us learn how to use a variety of tools; we enjoyed making a forest scene and painting the animals that live in that habitat. This linked to our Science this half term, where we have been matching animals with their habitats and exploring the materials used by animals such as straw for a bird’s nest.

Cookery continues to be one of our favourite sessions and we have been learning how to use different tools to help us mix, stir and mould ingredients to make some tasty foods. The best part of the session is when we get to try what we have made.

This Topic has provided us with the opportunity to make our classroom very dark and use lots of lights; in Maths we have been counting lights and finding shapes using torches. We have also been using the outdoors to help us with our counting by collecting dried leaves and using them to make pictures of animals we might find in the forest.

We have continued with our P.E. session using obstacles and using, ‘Up’, ‘Down’, ‘Under’ and ‘Over’ prepositions to help us navigate through it. This session also helps us to improve our balance and coordination.

We have been really lucky this half term and have had 2 Educational Visits; one to St Patrick’s Primary School to work alongside some new friends and meet Father Christmas and his reindeers. Our second visit was to the All in One Garden Centre where we looked at all the lights and Christmas decorations on display. We really enjoyed this but it made us really thirsty, so we bought a hot chocolate from the café too - yummy!

SkylarksClass Team:• Charlotte Williams• Catherine Hayes• Samantha Plant• Ann Stuart• Marie Sanderson• Emma Hobin

We have had lots of fun and exciting new learning

experiences this half term.

We have been learning all about different festivals and how

they are celebrated. We particularly enjoyed our Cooking and

Nutrition sessions where we explored and tasted lots of

different foods from other cultures. We made chocolate

apples for Bonfire Night, edible diva lamps for Diwali and even

explored Chinese noodles and sauces when learning about

Chinese New Year.

We loved Languages Day this half term where we took part in

lots of activities around Diwali. We made Rangoli patterns,

made and tasted Indian sweets and made our own elephant

pictures. We all had lots of fun!

In our Maths sessions we have been focusing on 2D shapes

around us. We have used the sensory trail to look for different

shapes and feel them independently. Some of us have been

showing that we know which shapes are which by choosing

from a choice of two. In our number sessions, we have been

listening to and joining in with number rhymes and some of

us have been ordering numbers 1-5. We are getting very good

at recognising and tapping out number values!

In P.E., we have really enjoyed dancing to different types of

music, again linked to the festival we have been learning

about. We used ribbons and materials to move around the

hall in different ways and we did some wonderful movements

with our arms and legs along with the music.

The Skylarks would like to wish you all a very Merry

Christmas! See you in the new year!

FlamingosClass Team:• Kimberley Pattillo• Nic Hamnett• Angella Mullington• Wilf Shaw

The Flamingos have had a fantastic autumn term and have really enjoyed learning all about different religious festivals through our topic ‘Let there be Light’.

The children have explored ‘Bonfire Night’, even having a real bonfire in the school Woods thanks to Carol Shaw.

They then studied the festival of ‘Diwali’ making ‘Diwali lamps’ cooking and sampling some of the foods Hindus eat while celebrating; they made ‘Rangoli’ patterns and listened to Hindu prayers.

Next came ‘Hanukah’ when the children listened to the story of ‘Judah the Maccabee’, explored and made their own menorah lamps, ate lots of donuts (which went down a treat) and played the ‘dreidel’ game.

This led us right up to Christmas; for this celebration the children made Christmas cards, sang and listened to lots of Christmas carols, made and ate mince pies and of course had parties and visits from Father Christmas.

Our ‘Let there be Light’ topic has incorporated all our lessons. We’ve read stories about ‘light’ in Literacy, counted ‘lights’ in Maths and even explored different ways lights work during Topic. We have loved making and playing with shadows.

The children have worked so hard this half term and are looking forward to their Christmas break so that they can come back to school in January all refreshed and ready to learn ‘In all kinds of Weather’.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from the Flamingos.

OspreysClass Team:• Terri Unsworth• Nicola Cooke• Kate Harris• Maymunah Inam• Carole Gordon

The topic this half term has been ‘Let there be Light’. We have incorporated this theme into many of our activities.

In our Godly Play (R.E.) lessons we have explored the meaning of light in some religious festivals. We listened to, and discussed, the Hindu traditional story of Rama and Sita, which is all about the origins of Diwali - the Festival of Light. The story has an underlining theme of good overcoming evil, which linked beautifully to our PSHE lessons – learning about emotions. We looked at the pictures in the book and interpreted how the people might be feeling, and what events could impact on this. The children all showed a really good understanding of a wider range of emotions, including scared and lonely. We also incorporated the Diwali theme into our Art lessons –we made a diva (a candle holder) out of salt dough, and then painted it in our chosen colours.

We have also been learning about the origins of Christmas, through reading the Nativity Story. This again, has helped us to understand why these familiar traditions and celebrations occur, and what the meaning behind them is. We have embraced the approach of Christmas in the Ospreys and have participated in many Christmas themed activities, including art activities. Some of our Phonics lessons have focussed on singing our Christmas songs, which helps us to practise our sound pronunciation in a fun and exciting way.

In some of our Maths lessons we have been learning about ‘time’, focussing on our daily routines. We began by categorising daily tasks in ‘daytime’ and ‘night time’ activities, such as going to sleep, eating breakfast and going to school. This helped us to understand daily routines and how tasks are sequenced within the day.

The Ospreys’ class team wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a restful and enjoyable break. We will see all of our Ospreys in 2016!

ParrotsClass Team:• Emma Dixon• Cath Hunter• Jack Hobson• Ayesha Hussain• Asma Begum This half term we have been learning through the theme ‘Let there

be light’ and have enjoyed reading three lovely stories in English. Our first story was ‘Funnybones’; we enjoyed making skeletons from Salt Dough and white collage materials. We then read “Owl Babies” and linked it to Science where we have been learning about animals and their habitats. We looked in the Woods for natural materials and images of animals and explored what we had found back in class.

In the final weeks of the half term we have been visited by a very silly Elf who needs lots of help with activities; we have helped him to write letters to Santa and to make Christmas lists by choosing the things which we like and also helped him to make lovely decorations and gifts for the Christmas tree. In Cookery we have been practising to use cutters in dough to make biscuits, jam tarts and mince pies and have enjoyed tasting our final product for afternoon snack.

We are getting so good at recognising images of ourselves during register that we have now started to learn to recognise the other children and staff. This half term in PSHE we have been learning to share with each other and some of us have started to develop friendly bonds with the other children.

In Computing we have been exploring different lights and how to turn them on and off. We really enjoyed going into the Soft Play room with the lights off and finding all of the vibrant flashing light toys which had been hidden around. We enjoyed tracking the patterns made by the star projector along the floor and were excited when the stars were projected onto our feet, which we showed by jumping up and down, in and out of the projection!

As the end of term draws near we have a few more lovely things to look forward to. We are excited to watch the footage of our trip to the moon for the Christmas production and are looking forward to shaking our jingle bells in time with the music during the production. We also have our Christmas party and of course our visit from Father Christmas; Emma has had a word with him and made sure that we are all of the ‘Nice List’ after a long half term of working so hard and being little stars!

Everyone in the Parrots’ class would like to wish a Merry Christmas and a very happy New Year to everyone. We look forward to being together again in 2016 for lots more fun and learning.

Play TherapySally Thornley

Every child, whatever their developmental stage, deserves the opportunity to experience high quality play. The therapeutic value of play and the difference it can make to lives of children and families is highly recognised amongst professionals who work with children with disabilities.

Newlife, the UK’s largest charity funder of children’s specialist disability equipment has therefore developed, with the help of a play specialist, a free loan service of developmental toys offering equipment to families who have children with any type of disability or a terminal illness.

Newlife Play Specialist, Lucie Mallen explained that “fun specialist toys really do make a difference to the way children interact with each other and the world around them.” Equipment Loan Services Manager Carrick Brown said “We have used the knowledge and experience of our Play Specialist, from working with sick and disabled children in a hospital setting, to help us develop the service”. Play Therapy Pods give families an opportunity to ‘try before buying’ a wide range of specialist toys and aids that are targeted at specific and complex needs. Specialist toys can teach children important social and physical skills, improving confidence, attention span and development.

All Pods are available on 12-week loans, delivered direct to families’ homes. They fall into two age categories – under and over-fives – with targeted equipment for tactile, visual, interactive and auditory needs in each age group. Each Play Therapy Pod contains around £400 of equipment and comes with interaction ideas to give families guidance on how to use the equipment as part of interactive play and developmental programmes. To find out more about the Play Therapy Pod Service, contact the Newlife Nurse Helpline or alternatively you can speak to myself at school.

Play Therapy Pods for children 3 Years and Over

To target specific developmental needs

3 years and up to 5 years

5 years and up to 18 years

Visual Play Therapy Pod – toys that encourage visual focus, co-ordination and stimulation.

Auditory Play Therapy Pod – toys that make noise and encourage auditory stimulation.

Interactive Play Therapy Pod – toys that demonstrate ‘cause and effect’ for interactive play.

Tactile Play Therapy Pod – toys that stimulate touch and encourage associated motor functions.

Call: 0800 902 0095

(Free from UK mobiles & landlines)

Email: nurse@newlifecharity.co.uk

Would you like to celebrate a special event? Come and see our fantastic facilities!

We can provide a safe and secure environment to ensure that your children have a great time.

Please contact Sally Thornley, for further details and prices.

It’s Party Time!

The school opens its Hydrotherapy Pool to our families twice a month on a Saturday morning – between 9am and 12pm.

Should you wish to use the pool, it will be open on the following dates, during the next half term:

9th and 23rd January27th February

12th March

Please contact Tony Whipp on 07812 971451 should you need more information.

Hydrotherapy Pool

On Saturday the 5th December we had our Christmas Market. There were plenty of stalls with something for everyone – from cakes and wreaths to shabby chic decorations and even a teddy tombola. Duerr’s donated lots of jam for us to sell and we also had our beautiful calendars for sale – full of the children’s wonderful artwork.

We also had a special visitor - Father Christmas joined us in his very own grotto and the children enjoyed telling him what they want for Christmas, having their photo taken with him and even got a small present – all for £1!

Refreshments were available and families enjoyed the opportunity to have a hot drink and a snack and watch the bustle of the market around them.

The Christmas Market raised £485! This will go to our ‘Big Splash!’ fund to raise money to build a state of the art hydrotherapy pool for the children of Kingfisher.

Special thanks to the Character Group Plc for kindly donating some amazing toys, Duerr’sJam for their continuing support, and the staff, children and parents for making the market such a great event – Happy Christmas!

Christmas MarketJenni Cryer

Outdoor LearningNic Found

The Penguins have now had their amazing ‘Mud Kitchen’ and outdoor learning stations built! This is a fantastic space, that in January, the Penguins will be exploring. We will be doing lots of staff training around the area and developing new and exciting teaching and learning activities for the children and of course, plenty of mud!

Building the Mud Kitchenby Cool Canvas!

The finished bespoke Penguins’ ‘Mud Kitchen’

Massage In Schools Programme, Yoga and Relaxation

Cath Croke

Animal Assisted TherapyCath Croke

Some children have started to spend time with Benji and are learning about how to be “dog smart” and be safe around dogs, by using kind hands. They have been looking at what Benji needs, such as walks, water, treats and cuddles.

This half term, sessions have had a wintery theme. Using story telling for Massage and Yoga is a lovely way for all children to access the therapies. The blue lights and spearmint aromatherapy diffuser set a fantastic scene for the story in our Multi Sensory Learning Environment (MILE Room)

I have thoroughly enjoyed being part of the children’s learning by supporting PE and PSHE lessons with Yoga, Massage and MISP, and all the children have been fantastic!

My Yoga Stars of 2015 are:

Saif Abdul Haleem, for listening really well and clasping his hands together and stretching on instruction. Well done Saif!Also, Charlie Watson, for never giving up and perfecting his tree pose. Well done Charlie!

Have a lovely Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Languages DayHelen Godfrey

Family Support Liaison OfficerLynne Rogers

Thank you to all the families I have met with; your support and passion for our school and children has been very humbling. For those I am yet to meet, I look forward to seeing you at your child’s Personalised Planning Meeting. If you would like to have a catch up in the mean time I am based in the Family and Community Room, and am available to speak with you on most days.

Please find below a web address I think you may find useful. Oldham’s Local Offer is an online resource that details services, support and guidance available to children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) aged 0-25 and their families.http://oldham.gov.uk/info /200368/children_with_disabilities

May I take this opportunity to wish you all a restful Christmas and a Happy New Year!

During Languages’ day this half term, we celebrated the festival of Diwali. Yellow Team

experienced a Diwali massage story in the MILE Room with Cath and we tasted some

chocolate, smelt some spices and explored some lovely material. Blue Team attended an

Indian Dance workshop and learnt some new dance moves. Red Team worked in the Art

room with Nic Found to make some Diva candle holders.

the Kingfisher Community Special School, Foxdenton Lane, Chadderton, Oldham, OL9 9QR Tel: 0161 770 5910

e-mail: info@kingfisher.oldham.sch.uk Website: www.kingfisher.oldham.sch.uk

Diary DatesSpring Term 2016

Monday 4th January Spring term beginsFriday 8th January Fundraising Friday – ‘Wear Orange and Blue for Kingfisher’Friday 22nd January Fundraising Friday – ‘Brighten up a Special Kingfisher Area’Friday 12th February Fundraising Friday – ‘Spreading the Love - Sponsored activity’Friday 12th February Break up for half termMonday 22nd February School opens for second half of Spring termTuesday 23rd February Governors – Educational ExcellenceFriday 26th February Fundraising Friday – ‘Cake Sale for Kingfisher Day’Wednesday 2nd March Governors – Leadership & ManagementSaturday 12th March Kingfisher’s 10th Annual BallFriday 18th March Fundraising Friday – ‘Decorate an Egg Day for Kingfisher’Thursday 24th March Break up for Easter holiday

Summer Term 2016Monday 11th April Summer term beginsMonday 2nd May Bank Holiday “May Day”Tuesday 3rd May Inset Day for Staff (closed to children)Wednesday 18th May Governors – Educational ExcellenceWednesday 25th May Governors – Leadership & ManagementFriday 27th May Break up for half termMonday 6th June School opens for second half of Summer termWednesday 6th July Parents’ EveningFriday 15th July Leavers’ AssemblyMonday 18th July Break up for Summer holiday

Autumn Term 2016Monday 5th September Staff Inset Day (closed to children)Tuesday 6th September Staff Inset Day (closed to children)Wednesday 7th September Autumn term beginsFriday 21st October Break up for half termMonday 31st October School opens for second half of Autumn termMonday 19th December Break up for Christmas holiday

Spring Term 2017Tuesday 3rd January Spring term beginsFriday 10th February Break up for half termMonday 20th February School opens for second half of Spring termFriday 31st March Break up for Easter holiday

Summer Term 2017Tuesday 18th April Summer term beginsMonday 1st May Bank Holiday “May Day”Tuesday 2nd May Inset Day for Staff (closed to children)Friday 26th May Break up for half termMonday 5th June School opens for second half of Summer termFriday 21st July Break up for Summer holiday