Sunday 27 April 2014

Bleached hair and Noisy kittens





Welcome back Sunnysiders young and old, welcome back faithful readers to Sunnysiders, and a very warm welcome to any new visitors to the Sunnysiders blog.

You all join us at the start of a brand new half term where the little Reception learners will be focusing on all things 'health and fitness' for the next few weeks. 

And it was an extremely fit and healthy looking cohort of Sunnysiders that bounded through the classroom doors first thing this morning. The two week spell of warm sunshine had coloured their cheeks, bleached their hair, and put a definite spring in their step. 

As always following a holiday break, the little learners were bursting to share their holiday news from the very moment they entered the classroom. Consequently, team members were required to once again tune their ears in order to be able to listen to a multitude of holiday stories all at once. This incidentally, is a skill they've managed to perfect over the years!

However, in spite of the little learners so obviously enjoying their Easter break, their transition from holiday mode back to school mode appeared seamless this morning. Within no time at all, little learners were reaching for the clipboards and pens to engage in a spot of teacher role play, and demands of "What you havin' for lunch?" rung out all over the setting. At the same time, another firm role play favourite, that of 'mums and kittens', was in full flow from the off. The home corner was instantly filled with meowing little learners and a host of 'mums' desperately trying to shoo them out of the kitchen. 

The Team also welcomed a brand new little learner to the Sunnyside Reception family today. As this particular little learner had come to live in Whippy Cove from the mainland, Mrs Very Jolly and Mrs Caring were keen to hear all about his previous school. "Well...." began the little learner very confidently, "It's a bit different here, because all my other teachers were very beautiful!" Before either crest fallen team member could muster a comment, a second little learner appeared from nowhere, and with impeccable timing, said to Mrs Caring, "Whenever I see you Mrs Caring, you're wearing that top!"  

A sad and sorry, not to mention dull and dreary feeling Mrs Caring then shuffled off for a good old sob in the corner of the classroom.

Well you ought to know by now team members, little learners do not mince their words, they'll aim straight for the jugular every time!




Straight Talking

Just like every little learner 
That you decide to quiz,
You can rest assured we'll tell it 
Exactly as it is.
We'll be brutal, we'll be honest 
And we'll cut you down to size,
Then we'll sling you a remark
That hits you right between the eyes!
We will never beat about the bush,
We're nothing short of frank,
 When you're dying of embarrassment
It's us you need to thank! 





Sunday 20 April 2014

Outlaws and holey tights







Easter is upon us and Mrs Crayon feels utterly compelled to share a rhyme to celebrate the occasion.

Mrs Crayon also happens to be in reflective mode at the moment, so just as Gum Trouble (see previous post) was inspired by a little learner utterance from way back in January 2013, today's rhyme comes to you via the little learner who sidled up to Mrs Organised just a few days before, and whispered in her ear that his Uncle was in fact 'Robin Hood'. If that wasn't enough, the little learner revealed that his Uncle Robin Hood had got himself a job helping the Easter Bunny to hide Easter eggs here, there and everywhere around Whippy Cove.

Mrs Crayon has long felt that this startling Robin Hood fact is worthy of a rhyme, so with Easter on the doorstep what better time to compose one and share it than right now.



A Reformed Character

Robin Hood, Robin Hood,
Kept getting into fights,
And all that rough and tumble
Played havoc with his tights.
Now Robin has a proper job,
Hiding Easter eggs,
But he does it all in secret,
'Cause he's scared to show his legs! 




"So you've got a few holes in yer tights....so what!"

Saturday 19 April 2014

Ancient Dads and bleeding gums






Every now and again Mrs Crayon will find herself composing a retrospective rhyme inspired by a Sunnyside story from the good o'l days of yesteryear. 

Today, was just one of those times.

Perhaps it was something to do with the very recent visit the little Sunnysiders made to Whippy Cove's zoo where they came face to face with some of the zoo's magnificent big cats. It reminded Mrs Crayon of the time when a hungry lion by the name of 'Lester' took up residence in the classroom's jungle role play area. He wasn't a real lion of course, but a learning resource created to help little learners with their phonics. 

It was the little Reception learners' job to feed 'Lester' every day, but they were only allowed to feed him letters and sounds, as 'Lester the hungry lion' was an extremely rare (and hardly ever heard of) 'letter and sound eating lion'. Hence, it was a familiar sight to see a long line of little learners clutching fistfuls of phonic sound cards and reciting them...out loud, before posting them straight into Lester's gaping jaws.

However, there was a particular little learner in the queue who caught Mrs Crayon's attention one day, because although he was holding the usual pile of sound cards in one hand, in the other he was holding one of his teeth. Having just lost his tooth moments before joining the line, the little learner was keen to share what had just happened to him with Mrs Crayon. It was while they were inspecting the subsequent tiny and ever so slightly bleeding hole left in his gum, that the little learner suddenly began to speak about his Dad. He described to Mrs Crayon how his Dad who was "very, very old" had no teeth at all, "only holes where his teeth should be". When Mrs Crayon inquired (with some trepidation) as to the age of the little learner's Dad, she was told that he was 'twenty four'. 

  
Well....if twenty four is considered old......there are no words to describe the age of poor o'l Mrs Crayon!




Gum troubles

Me Dad is very, very old, 
He's just turned twenty four.
His ancient bones are rickety,
And he's lost some teeth for sure.
It's tricky when he tries to eat,
Because his gums are tender,
So we smash his food to smithereens,
In me Mum's old blender.





"Forget the blender son.....this is a cement mixer job!"

Friday 11 April 2014

Big cats and yummy snacks




The little learners of Sunnyside School are very fortunate little learners indeed, for they have the good fortune to live and attend school in the little seaside town of Whippy Cove. And here's why.

The little seaside town of Whippy Cove not only boasts a beautiful picturesque coastline, with miles of soft golden sands topped off with an all year round pleasure pier, it is also home to Britain's first purpose built dinosaur museum, (Dinosaur Isle), plus a wonderful family run Zoo specialising in tigers and other big cats. 

It was to the zoo that the little learners of Sunnyside School made a trip very recently, as a fun way to round off their current topic on animals. The trip stirred up much excitement amongst the little learners, in spite of the fact that most of them have visited the very popular zoo many times before with their own families. 

A wonderful time was had by all at he zoo and upon their return to school the following day, the little learners couldn't wait to immerse themselves in some animal painting activities. 

Inspired by the beautiful creatures they'd seen at the zoo, bold and colourful paintings began to appear at breakneck speed, and it was all Mrs Crayon could do to keep up with the flow. Within minutes she was filling the paint dryer with wonderfully detailed pictures of lions, tigers, jaguars, monkeys, raccoons, porcupines, lemurs, and a....."kitkat".  Yes a "kitkat".

It was a completely mystified Mrs Crayon who was left scratching her head following the chat she had with the little learner, who'd chosen to paint a "kitkat" for his animal painting. And just as she was deciding in her head that it was perfectly possible that the little learner had found the contents of his packed lunch more fascinating than the wonderful array of wild animals he'd encountered at the zoo, the little learner who happened to be sitting next to the "kitkat" artist, decided to enlighten Mrs Crayon about this mysterious painting. 
"I think he means meerkat!" said she, adding a few more spots to her already spotty laden jaguar.

Of course it was a meerkat and why wouldn't it be. Along with the magnificent tigers at the zoo, it was the charming and rather comical meerkats that had captivated the little learners so. They had certainly captivated Mrs Crayon's imagination. As the almost human like little chappies stood side by side, high on their tiptoes and straining to see all the goings on around them, Mrs Crayon could feel an idea for doodle and a rhyme unfolding in her head. 

  

Meerkat Welcome

How d'you do we're Meerkats,
We stand about in rows, 
We gather all together, 
To stand on our tip-toes.
It's our clever way to view the world
And to see what's going on,
For when Mother Nature made our legs,
She never made 'em long!
So when you have some time to spare,
Come and see us at the zoo,
Where you'll find us on our tip-toes,
All staring back at you!





"Yes....I can confirm......he is in fact eating a Kitkat!"



Enjoy some fun filled animal magic at the Isle of Wight Zoo this Easter!

Working collaboratively with the year 2 learners of Sunnyside School, the new Meerkat enclosure at the zoo was designed and built by the grown ups at Eccleston George Public Artists.

Saturday 5 April 2014

Tissue reams and bursting seams




It's almost Easter! 

Consequently, there have been Easter makes aplenty each day this week at Sunnyside School.

This afternoon little learners right across the setting were busy cutting here and sticking there. Reams of yellow tissue paper and lidless glue sticks enshrouded each and every surface, and almost everyone in the Reception classroom was sporting copious amounts of the stuff on the bottoms of their shoes. (Nothing unusual there!)

It was while Mrs Very Jolly was desperately trying to find the lost and gone for ever end on a roll of sellotape (for the thirty forth time in five minutes,) that she was approached by a little learner who appeared not to be involved in any of the Easter makes on offer this afternoon. 

Instead, this particular little learner stood before Mrs Very Jolly wearing one of the much coveted princess dresses and wrestling two babies and a large carrier bag full of shopping in her arms. 
"Hello Mrs Very Jolly!" said the rather hot and bothered little learner.
"Hello poppet," replied Mrs Very Jolly. "You seem to have your hands full!"
It was then that Mrs Very Jolly noticed that the little learner had something stuffed down the front of her princess dress. "What's this here?" she asked, giving the large and rather misshapen mound a gentle tap. 
"I'm having a baby," declared the little learner, still trying to reposition the two she already had in her arms. "Another one?" queried Mrs Very Jolly, now on the verge of tossing the infuriating sellotape into the bin.  
Huffing and puffing from a combination of exhaustion and frustration, the little learner let both babies drop to the floor, before setting her bag of shopping down next to Mrs Very Jolly. "Yep!" she said, "I've got two out.....and one in!" 

Mrs Very Jolly only just managed to contain her hysterical laughter until the little learner had disappeared off to the home corner. She then let out a shrill so high, it was only audible to bats and small dogs!




I'm off to do me shopping

I'm off to do me shopping,
I can't stop and chat today,
I've got two wriggly babies
And another one on the way.
They keep me very busy, 
And me head is in a spin,
But when it comes to having babies...
I say...better out than in!



"Do I look as though I could do an Easter make?"





The little Sunnysiders will be back in two weeks for another round of fun, learning, rhymes and doodles.

HAPPY EASTER EVERYONE....see you soon!