A Garden Centre has opened in F1 this week. There are very helpful staff available to assist customers and they also do a great job tidying the stock. Visitors can pop into the coffee shop for a cuppa and a cake during opening hours.

Today we went for a walk in the sunshine looking for signs of Spring. We were very excited to see buds on the trees, Spring flowers and signs of birds nesting. 

We designed and built an obstacle course in F1 this week. We had great fun jumping ,climbing and learning how to balance. We took turns and made sure we maneuvered around  the equipment safely.

Today we had a day of love to celebrate Valentines Day on the 14th February. We made a 'love potion' in the water area using food colouring and glitter then added some romantic rose petals to fragrance the water. We made cards for our families and distributed tissue hearts to our friends. We read some lovely themed books and learnt a new song entitled 'Love,love,love'.

Today it was lovely to see the F1 children back after the holidays. We shared our news about the festive period and were excited to tell our teachers and friends what Father Christmas brought us and what we thought about the recent snowy weather. Mrs Purdy is our new teacher and we are looking forward to meeting some new children that are joining us this week.

As is usual in F1 we have been very busy:

• We have been painting self portraits, talking about emotions and looking carefully at ourselves as well as what makes us good friends.
• We have planted sunflower seeds for our sunflower competition.
• Looking at numbers and how they can be added together using the part, part whole method.
• We created our own treasure maps and searched the outside area for treasure using compasses.
• We have worked together to create a puppet theatre and our very own puppets.

Our children have been getting up to loads this week, we have been:

• Making a bear trap in the construction area.
• Mixing and exploring with colours.
• Going wild with the dinosaurs.

​All of this fun was done under the direct supervision of our construction manager.

Fairyland has come to Athersley South! One morning this week a fairy house was discovered in the woodland, since then a whole community has moved in and have begun to play with and write letters to our very excited children. We have been writing letters back and send them beautiful pictures, as well as working hard to improve their environment and make them comfortable.

Our fantastic F1 children have been going on a gardening frenzy in the new raised beds. We had great fun and look forward to the fruits of our labours!