This week, we were overwhelmed with the amount of parent support in the Early Years. All the children brought in outfits to wear for the International performance. In F3V, Anna’s Mum designed and even made her dress which was fantastic - well done mum! The performance went smoothly and although some of the children were extremely nervous and shy, they all managed to ooze confidence for the finale song at the end ‘Hello to all the Children of the World.’ If you did not manage to see this performance and don’t know the song, here is the link on YouTube; may be your child will sing it for you at home;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpTR1wF4M6k
It was so lovely to be able to see parents and children sharing food for the different cultures after the performance and we look forward to more events like this in the future. A huge thank you needs to go out to all the Korean mums who did a special dance and show in Korean during the Early Years performance. It was fantastic to watch!
The classrooms this week were buzzing with excitement as the children not only prepared for their performance but also learnt about the food and culture of the different countries. In F2, they made Tacos from Mexico and Mango Lassi drinks from India. F1 made lots of sushi from Japan. F3 were supported by all of the Korean Mums. They made fruit kebabs from Hawaii and Kimbap’s from Korea. F3V even had an English tea party with china teacups and cucumber sandwiches, just like the Queen.
Cooking is an essential part of learning and growing up. It teaches children some basic life skills and it is important that they not only learn about the simple techniques and skills needed to cook but how to be safe and healthy at the same time.
Some of the techniques and skills involve that we used included;
Cutting, rolling, squeezing, spreading, patting, mixing, whisking and scooping.
Some of the health and safety things that they learn when cooking are;
1. The importance of washing their hands so as not to spread germs.
2. Not to use their fingers to touch the food, put in their mouth and then back in the food when preparing it. We model keeping our hands clean when preparing food.
3. The need to turn away from the food if they need to cough or sneeze and if they use their hand to cover their mouth the need to wash their hands again.
4. How to safely carry a knife/ scissors or cooking utensils.
5. How to hold equipment safely.
We love cooking in Early Years and would welcome any parents who would like to volunteer to get involved with this in the classroom. Please let me or the class teachers know so we can plan the session into our week. It is so important for the children to see us modelling how to prepare and cook food who knows we may have a future Jamie Oliver or Julia Childs in one of our classes.
Miss Julie Walton
Head of Early Years
