Welcome Hedgehogs! Please see the Term 1 newsletter 'In this section' on the right, and topic web and home learning grid below.

Week 1 

if you need to speak to a member of staff, please try the end of the day at pick-up rather than drop off. Quite a few children are wobbly and need to see our smiling faces to greet them in the morning, so we can scoop them up! It may be easier for you to send an email, l to Hedgehogs class email, and I will respond.

Please use the black gate for both drop off and pick up each day.

Do let us know if someone other than you is collecting your child (including Wasps / Rainbow).

Weekly updates will appear each week, including new pictures in the gallery. The children had a good first week, despite the rain! We look forward to another busy week, making friends, learning the rules and routines, exploring the outdoor space and getting to know our classroom.

Week 2

Please see gallery for pictures of the children. They are starting to settle in and are making new friends.

Week 3

We have really started to get the hang of our class rules and routines now. Some children do need a little extra help to come in, but that usually gets better quickly. Please do not worry, they are never sad for long - we keep them too busy!

The children are loving the garden, especially the bikes. Phonics has started and we have taught the phonemes: s,a,t,p,i,n,m,d so far. Please read your child's books at home and write in the yellow home learning book. This really is crucial, so the children can practise the sounds. 

See class gallery for photos.

Week 4

The children have been learning the phonemes: g, o, c, k. Please look online at Oxford Owl as I have posted more books. We have been counting in different contexts, indoors and outside. We have been looking for signs of Autumn, collecting Autumn leaves and conkers and talking about the change of season.  We enjoyed our first toast cafe this week, thank you to the parents who have given their £10 contribution, to help us fund this. The children really enjoyed Languages Day on Friday. We learnt to say hello in different languages and talked about the children and families in Hedgehogs who speak and understand more than on langauge. They learnt 'Here Comes the Sun' in Makaton sign language. See gallery for new photos.

Week 5

This week in phonics we have been learning: ck, e, u, r. Try spotting these phonemes in your child's reading books. In maths we have been practising counting larger amounts, by pointing slowly and saying the number names at the right time! We are also working on understanding the last number we say is the total. We have had fun this week painting trolls for our cave, under the trolls' bridge, as part of our Talk 4 Write focus on the Three Billy Goats Gruff.

Apologies for the abrupt end to that Zoom meeting! We had a one hour slot, so not sure why that happened, sorry! Thanks to everyone who came :)

Please see below for the presentation.

The children finished this week with a child-initiated collaboration to build an obstacle course using tyres and ramps. They played with the water, explored pebbles and logs and made dens. They balanced, jumped, ran and crawled and made up games, with their own rules. See picture gallery.

Please can everyone ask their child if they have a set of waterproofs at school, we had a very wet Friday and some children with no waterproofs. About half of the class are really independent at putting on their coats and waterproofs. We have about half who we are encouraging to 'have go' and try for themselves. if this sounds like it could be your child, please get your child to practise dressing and undressing at home, at every opportunity - getting yourself dressed for school and ready for bed are so important to develop planning, thinking, fine motor skills and co-ordination. 

Week 6

In Phonics we learnt the letter sounds: h,b,f,ff,l,ll. Look for these in your child's reading book or online, where there are extra titles. I don't use the parent / child portal, as I use the teacher access and upload titles, but I am told that if you click them as 'read' they disappear. If you just read them without doing that, they remain for you to read again. Hope that helps.

In maths we learnt about 'more than / fewer than' and 'equal' to, when comparing groups.

In Forest School we made swings and see-saws and played at being monsters. We loved our visit, and stayed for a really long time, as the children were having so much fun! They followed all our rules brilliantly, we were very impressed. Please see gallery.

Week 7

The children have been learning about Diwali this week. This is a festival celebrated around the world, by Hindus, Sikhs, Jains and some Buddists. We have learnt a Diwali song, talked about how families prepare for this festival and listened to music from India.  We made coloured Rangoli patterns on the ground outside and on black paper using chalk. Some children even found time to make and decorate some clay diya lamps. We have also talked a lot this week about Halloween, and how excited the children are to celebrate at home, with their families and freinds..... 'sweeties' were mentioned once or twice!

We have enjoyed exploring the new letterjoin activities on the big screen and using our class i-pad. We can trace patterns and letter shapes on the screen. We have also made these on giant pieces of paper, on whiteboards and in our phonics books.