A warm welcome to Squirrel Class
I am the Class Teacher (Jo Aitchison) and Angela and Debbie are the LSAs in Squirrel Class.
In Squirrel Class, we engage our pupils with exciting and challenging lessons and activities.
Life Skills and Sensory Processing
We are developing some important life skills. The main skill is centered around pupils beginning to develop their own strategies for self-regulating. This will enable them to understand their feelings and think about what they need to do so that they are in a ‘Just Right’ state and ready to learn.
They will be independent and empowered learners.
Mistakes
We want our pupils to make mistakes when the stakes are low so they know what to do when they are older and the stakes are higher. Life is messy. We need to teach pupils how to embrace their mistakes.
Fun
Obviously, we also love having fun and enjoying our time at school as much as possible.
Keeping Updated
Please keep us updated. Seesaw is an amazing platform to share special moments, achievements and important information. You can upload photos, videos and work too.
Let’s work together!
Squirrel Class in action – We are very busy Squirrels!
Week beginning 28/06/2021
This is our last week as Squirrel Class 2020-2021. I would like to thank all the pupils and parents/carers for a super year.
Bug Hotel
This week, we were busy in Forest School making a bug hotel for the minibeasts. All the pupils were engaged in their learning and loved making this special home for creepy crawlies.
Sports Day
All the pupils in Squirrel Class had a fab time at sports day. They competed in track and field events. Mikyla loved wellie wanging!
Star of the Week: Oliver for independent writing – neat and accurate letter formation when writing about his news.
Worth a Mention
Kenzi for being a thoughtful and caring friend – helping his friends in class and taking turns playing games in the playground.
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Week beginning 21/06/2021
Squirrel Class have been working hard and enjoying our topic ‘Summer of Sport’.
St George and the Dragon.
This week, we have learning about St George and the Dragon. All the pupils loved the story and pretending to be dragons. Mae wrote a fantastic alternative ending where the Princess killed the dragon and saved George.
Using and Applying
In Squirrel Class, we have been working hard on our problem solving skills. This week, we have solved some money problems and logic puzzles. Brianne thought they were great and loved completing them.
Star of the Week: Mae for writing an amazing alternative ending to St George and the Dragon.
Worth a Mention
Louie for great independent writing – super work in sentences using finger spaces to separate words. Well done, Louie
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Week beginning 14/06/2021
Another week has flown past – we have had lots of fun!
Forest School.
This week, we have been collecting natural resources to make stick people. Mae said, “That was great”. We are going to hide the stick people in the Forest School for the other classes to find.
Summer of Sport – England
To coincide with our work on the Euros, Squirrel Class have been learning about St George and the Dragon. Louie read the story to the class.
Star of the Week: Louie for amazing reading (fluent and expressive) – Thank you for reading to the whole class.
Worth a Mention
Brianne for listening to the online artist and being very creative – she has made a beautiful picture for the Doncaster SEND Challenge.
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Week beginning 07/06/2021
We hope that you had a lovely half term in the sunshine!
Forest School.
This week, we had lots of fun playing and exploring in the forest school. Our favourite game was hide and seek.
First Aid
All pupils completed a mini first aid course. It was great fun but also very informative. We learnt about phoning 999, how to do chest compressions and put someone in the recovery position. Kenzi said, “That it was really good.”
Star of the Week: Logan for working hard all week and great dancing in the video.
Worth a Mention
Squirrel Class think that Tom Spendlove is amazing as he produced a special video for us! A big ‘Thank You’
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Week beginning 24/05/2021
We have had a fantastic last week and continued our journey as Eco-Warriors. Have a lovely half term break.
Greta and the Giants.
This week, we have been learning about Greta Thunberg and her campaign to save the planet. We made placards and went on a peaceful protest around school. It was fantastic and all the pupils were engaged.
Money
All pupils have been developing their money skills – from coin recognition to making totals and giving change. We have worked really hard and made great progress.
Star of the Week: Oliver for participating in our peaceful protest in school and making his own placard.
Worth a Mention
Summer for using her communication iPad in school and at home. She has been sharing messages and making us all very proud.
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Week commencing 17/05/2021
Another week has flown past! We have been very busy in Squirrel Class.
There’s a Rang-Tan in My Bedroom.
Squirrel Class have continued their environmental work – We are Eco-warriors! This week, we have written to Ed Miliband to persuade him to help us save the orangutans. We designed and wrote persuasive letters and posters.
Good Health
In Squirrel Class, we love PE lessons. We have been working on our striking and fielding skills, so that we can play rounders as a team.
Star of the Week: Brianne for amazing addition work with money – she made money totals to £50. Well done.
Worth a Mention
Kenzi-Dean for making everyone smile with his ‘pen pineapple apple pen’ dancing and singing.
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Week commencing 10/05/2021
This week we have started a new book as we are learning about different environmental issues.
There’s a Rang-Tan in My Bedroom.
Squirrel Class have been learning about the destruction of the rainforest for palm oil. We watched an animated version of this story – which was very powerful and moving. Some pupils went home and shared this important message with their families – No palm oil! No destruction of the rainforest!
Mental Health Week
In Squirrel Class, we are continually developing our well-being skills – so we are ‘Just Right’ for learning. We love yoga, daily exercise and sharing our concerns and news.
Star of the Week: Summer for her amazing work in school and at home on ‘There’s a Rang-tan in My Bedroom’
Worth a Mention
Aimee for using her communication aid to write messages between home and school.
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Week beginning 03/05/2021
We hope you all enjoyed the Bank Holiday Weekend? Although we have a shorter week in school, we have still managed to fit a lot in.
Shape, Space and Measure
We have been learning about different 2D shapes, making our own patterns and going on a ‘shape hunt’ and making shape pictures.
Good Health
In Squirrel Class, we have been completing our daily exercises and enjoying our PE lessons. We know that it is important to stay fit and healthy.
Star of the Week: Mikyla for great work in PE – leading the warm-up.
Worth a Mention
Louie for very detailed and neat artwork.
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Week beginning 26/04/2021
Everyone in Squirrel has been working very hard – we have done lots of learning and had lots of fun.
Self-Regulating
We have been working on our self-regulating skills so that we are ‘Just Right’ for learning.
Independent Living
In Squirrel Class, we have been making simple snacks and learning how to wash and dry up. We all enjoy eating the food that we make – Kenzi said, “It’s yummy!”
Star of the Week: Summer for super counting work and being a caring friend.
Worth a Mention
Brianne for beautiful manners – she said, “Thank you” to Debbie the cook for her pudding. Debbie was really happy.
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Week beginning 19/04/2021
We have had a fantastic week and made the most of the lovely sunshine.
Outdoor Learning
We have been developing our geographical skills and mapped the forest school area. It was great fun drawing and sketching.
Wellbeing
In Squirrel Class, we have been working on staying positive and learning how to relax. We really enjoyed this relaxing pose. Aimee said, “It was fun.”
Star of the week :Louie for doubling and halving 4-digit numbers. He was amazing!
Worth a Mention
Kenzi-Dean for returning to school with a positive attitude and working hard.
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Week beginning 12/04/2021
We hope that you have all had a lovely Easter Break! It is fantastic to have all pupils back in Squirrel Class.
Wellbeing – Physical Education
We do daily exercises and a weekly PE lesson – Summer says that PE makes her happy and Brendan said that he had lots of fun and he feels good.
SEND Challenge
We have started work on the Doncaster SEND Challenge and ‘What Doncaster means to me’ – we have been looking at our favourite places.
Brianne for amazing addition and subtraction work in mathematics.
Worth a Mention
Jack for successfully returning to class after a long period shielding.
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Week beginning 22/03/2021
Squirrel Class have had a fantastic half term – thank you for all your support!
Easter Activities
We have made chocolate nests to share with the class – Kenzi thought they were delicious.
Easter Cards
We have also made Easter cards to celebrate the special holiday. We hope you like them – Have a super Easter.
Louie for telling the time accurately.
Worth a Mention
Brianne for being totally engaged in her learning – she always gives 100%.
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Week beginning 15/03/2021
Another week has flown past – just one more week until the Easter holidays!
Rain Gauges
Squirrel Class have now had two sessions with Drax – where we have been learning about the water cycle and making rain gauges. We have also learnt some scientific vocabulary (evaporation, condensation and precipitation).
St Patrick’s Day
Squirrel Class have enjoyed learning about St Patrick’s day – we also made some Irish Champ to celebrate the special day!
Brianne for telling the time accurately.
Worth a Mention
Aimee for super comprehension work on St Patrick’s Day.
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Week beginning 08/03/2021
It was lovely to see the return of Brianne this week to Squirrel Class. All pupils and staff are very happy to be in school!
Real Life Superheroes
This week we have been looking at another real life superhero. Squirrel Class have been learning about Malala Yousafzai and the right to learn. Mae and Brendan worked really hard and wrote detailed descriptions of Malala – they self-assessed their own work and made corrections.
Rasputin Challenge
Squirrel Class have taken up the latest TikTok challenge and have been dancing to Rasputin. We hope you enjoy the video!
Brendan for beautiful reading and comprehension work.
Worth a Mention
Oliver for great participation in all lessons and independently making and serving all the pupils at snack time. Well done, Oliver.
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Week beginning 01/03/2021
Wow! The weeks are flying past and we are having lots of fun.
Career Week
We have been learning about different careers linked to our work on ‘Real Life Superheroes.’ Summer really enjoyed the work about Marcus Rashford and Brendan loved the work on his ‘hero’ Steve Backshall.
World Book Day
Squirrel Class enjoyed dressing up as their favourite characters for World Book Day.
Kenzi-Dean for all his hard work since returning to school after half term. He has completed some fantastic work on partitioning numbers and recalling number bonds to 10.
Worth a Mention
Summer for independently writing messages for home on her communication iPad. A big well done!
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Week beginning 22/02/2021
Hope that you all had an enjoyable half term? In Squirrel Class, we have quickly settled back into the school routine.
Good Health
We have PE every Wednesday – Please can you ensure that pupils’ PE kits are in school. This week, we enjoyed playing with the parachute in the wind – we had lots of fun!
Independent Living
We have enjoyed making a breakfast snack – using the toaster and microwave.
Jacob for super phonics work – recognising his letter sounds (phonemes – Phase 2). Great behaviour – for being calm and settled in class.
Worth a Mention
Kenzi and Brendan made a welcome return to school – they both did some fantastic writing about their half term news.
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Week beginning 08/02/2021
Another busy week and more snow! Squirrel Class have been learning in class and with pupils working at home via Teams.
Safer Internet Day
Tuesday 09 February was Safer Internet Day. In Squirrel Class, we watched a BBC lesson online, took part in an online quiz and designed and made some posters.
Valentine’s Day
In preparation for Valentine’s Day, Squirrel Class made cards for the people that they love.
Aimee for great work in PE. Aimee did lots of running in ‘Cat and Mouse’ and some fantastic stretches/balances in yoga.
Logan and Brianne – they are completing lots of the home learning tasks and sharing their work on Seesaw. They are also showing great speaking and listening skills during their weekly phone calls. It is lovely to catch up and chat!
Head Teacher’s Award – A big well done to Summer!!
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Week beginning 01/02/2021
Everyone in Squirrel Class has had an enjoyable week. We have worked hard in class and enjoyed playing in the snow.
Snow Day
We made snow angels and snowmen.
What’s in the News
This week we have been celebrating the Life of Captain Tom Moore. We really enjoyed reading and understanding his famous quotes. In our creative lessons, we designed posters with his inspirational messages. He has given a lot of people hope during this difficult time. Thank you Captain Tom!
Summer for using her communication iPad in class – she can even tell jokes on it!
Brendan for his beautiful book cover of ‘The Selfish Giant’ – It had a detailed picture and descriptive blurb. Brendan has been joining Teams lessons and working very hard at home. A big WELL DONE!!
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Week beginning 25/01/2021
We have had another busy week. We started the week by discussing what we had done at the weekend (personal news) and looking at the news on the BBC website.
What’s in the News
All the pupils and staff enjoyed the story of Nathan Evans who has signed a record label after releasing his songs on TikTok.
Creative
The catchy rhyme and lyrics of the ‘Sea Shanty’ inspired Squirrel Class to join in and play our musical instruments. Please watch our short video.
Good Health (PE)
In Squirrel Class, we love physical exercise and playing different games. This week, we have been playing ‘cat and mouse’ and ‘tennis rounders’ – which we all loved.
Mikyla for fluent and confident reading and accurate counting in maths.
In Squirrel Class we have been celebrating a special anniversary. It is now 7-years since Mae had SDR surgery in America. We had buns to celebrate.
Louie – has really enjoyed the story of ‘The Selfish Giant’. He read the story to the class and then wrote some detailed sentences. A big well done!
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Week beginning 18/01/2021
We always start every day with exercise so that we are ready to learn. Look at us doing our yoga exercises and trying to keep up with Joe Wicks!
Teams Lessons
We love working together and during Lockdown, we are learning in the classroom and with our pupils at home via Teams lessons. Kenzi said, “This is the best way to learn at home.” Aimee said, “See friends” so we are also supporting the pupils’ wellbeing and mental health during these sessions.
Creative
The pupils loved the snowy weather and this inspired them to make a large snowman sculpture. We worked together to create it!
Oliver for writing his name on his own and for making everyone smile with his positive and cheery attitude.
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Mae wrote some amazing descriptive writing including similes and adjectives. Brendan wrote an amazing piece of work about winter scene and posted it on Seesaw. Well done!!
