Reception - Hedgehog Class

15 November 2024 - Pumpkin Soup

We have been looking at the book 'Pumpkin soup'. We drew a story map to help us retell the main parts of the story. We also discussed how the characters feelings changed throughout the story. The children has some great talk partner discussions about taking turns and sharing using the characters from the book.

8 November 2024 - Celebrations

We thought about different celebrations and some of us shared our own experiences of Diwali and Bonfire Night. We made some Diya lamps using paper plates and colourful rangoli patterns using different shapes. We also made firework pictures.

25 October 2024 - Autumn

We went on an Autumn Walk around school to looks for the signs of Autumn. We noticed that the leaves on the trees had changed colour and many leaves had fallen to the ground. It felt colder outside and we could hear and feel the wind.

18 October 2024 - Phonics

Hedgehogs have been learning so many new sounds in phonics. They are getting really good at segmenting and blending words using robot arms. This week we have been building words using magnetic letters. They have been working so hard.

11 October 2024 - Olympic Enrichment

We had an archery session as part of our 'Olympic Enrichment'. We had to use our muscles to pull back the bow. Some of us hit the target.

4 October 2024 - Subitising skills

Hedgehogs class have been consolidating their subitising skills. This is where we see an amount without having to count. We have also been thinking about more or less when looking at the leaves with ladybirds.

27 September 2024 - Outdoor learning

We have been enjoying the dry weather outside and making the most of outdoor learning. Some children have been busy building in the builder's yard, trying out all the tools and working together.

20 September 2024 - Numbers and Patterns

Hedgehogs have been busy exploring numbers and the patterns on a dice. We have been matching dice and dominoes and using objects to make recognisable patterns.

13 September 2024 - Exploring the environment

We have been settling into Hedgehog class and exploring the environment. We have been very busy inside and outside. We have started our busy fingers activities that help to strengthen our hands, wrists and fingers.

11th September 2024 - Meet the Teacher

Meet the teacher.pdf

12 July 2024 - Making things

This week we have thinking in detail about the things we want to make. We have been drawing design plans before building structures and writing instructions for the things we have made so that others can make them too!

21 June 2024 - Pirates

This we have been learning all about pirates, describing what they look like and thinking about the journeys they may go on. We have been busy creating pirate treasure maps and describing various places that pirates could visit. In maths we have been investigating what makes a number "odd" or "even" and we celebrated the end of the week with the fantastic Parkgate Day!

14 June 2024 - Ashridge

On Monday we had an inspiring trip to Ashridge where the children took part in a mini beast hunt, made pictures, built shelters and worked together to make a giant spider work of art! This week we have been looking back at our day at writing about our favourite parts. Thank you everyone that helped.

7 June 2024 - Picnic

This week we have been looking at the story of the Lighthouse Keeper's Lunch. We have been sending messages to Barnaby Bear using our pully system in the outdoor playground. On Friday we made jam sandwiches and took them onto the field for a picnic after lunch.

24 May 2024 - Farm Visit

On Thursday we were very lucky to have a visit from some farm animals. We learnt about what they needed to stay healthy are were able to stroke them while listening to the rules of how to keep the animals and us safe.

17 May 2024 - Spring Fair

This week the children have enjoyed learning about more minibeasts. We looked at spiders and snails and talked about where they live and what they look like. The children then coloured and threaded flags onto ribbon to make some bunting for the Spring Fair.

10 May 2024 - Minibeasts

This week we have been learning about minibeasts. We have been looking at their different habits and thinking about what makes a good place to live. Outside we have been finding minibeasts, making sure we are gentle with them and put them back where we found them after we have finished looking at them.

3 May 2024 - Chicks

This week the chicks came to spend the day with us in Reception. We took it turns to hold them gently making sure we kept still and quiet. Afterwards we washed our hands. We have really enjoyed watching the chicks hatch from eggs and grow and will miss them.

26 April 2024 - Chicks

What an exciting week! We have been quietly watching our eggs since their arrival on Monday and noticing the changes that happen as the eggs hatch. On Thursday we had an exciting zoom call with a Reception class in Qatar where we were able to find out what school life is like in a different part of the world. In Maths we have continued to look at part-whole models, working out the missing part.

19 April 2024 - Author Visit

This week we were very lucky to have a visit from the author Emily Loyd Gale. The children were able to meet Emily and ask her questions about her books 'Mighty Maurice' and 'The Moose That Saved Christmas'. Emily's books are based around the theme of anti-bullying with an emphasis on the importance of self belief, friendship, teamwork, and love.

22 March 2024 - Spring Walk

This week we went on a spring walk. We saw some buds on trees, spring flowers, a birds nest and blossom on the trees. We also listened carefully to see if we could hear any birds tweeting. While we were walking we stopped to see the train go past on the level crossing, we watched the barriers come down and the cars and pedestrians stop. We all waved to the train as it went into the station!

15 March 2024 - The Train Ride

This week we have been reading the story 'The Train Ride' by June Crebbin. We have thought about what we might see from the window if we were on a train journey. We had lots of lovely ideas including a field of flowers, the London Eye, a lighthhouse and even Wembly stadium! We then painted our view from the train. We have also been learning about the different parts that make a whole in maths.

8 March 2024 - World Book Day

This week we have been looking at the story "One Ted Falls Out of Bed" and talking about rhyming words. We have been acting out scenes from the book. On Thursday we celebrated World Book Day.

1 March 2024 - Journeys

This half term we are learning about journeys. We learnt about bus journeys this week and we made our own bus in the construction area. We have also been matching tens frames to the correct position in a number line.

16 February 2024 - Pancakes!

This week we have been reading 'The Runaway Pancake'. We wrote our own ingredients list and really enjoyed making, and tasting, our own pancakes. They were delicious!

9 February 2024 - Chinese New Year

This week we have enjoyed learning about Chinese New Year and making our own lanterns. We have also enjoyed working as a team in the outside area. We made a train to take us to Africa and a speedboat that was on its way to money Island!

2nd February 2024 - Jack and the Beanstalk

This week in Hedgehogs we have been learning about Jack and the Beanstalk. We have been retelling the story and ordering the events using a story map. On Friday we enjoyed a whole day of number activities as we part of the NSPCC number day!

26th January 2024 - BeeBots

This week in maths we have been using our positional language to describe where things are in relation to others. We have been using the BeeBots to help us practise our directions, we have really enjoyed programming the BeeBot to turn and to go forwards and backwards. We have also enjoyed using the magnetic tiles to build rockets and space buggies, we even draw a picture of what we think outer space would look like!

19 January 2024 - Busy building!

This week we have been using our challenge time to build using a variety of materials including Lego, large construction blocks, junk modelling and magnetic tiles. We have also enjoyed using the computers to plan our designs in our construction area! In phonics we have enjoyed learning new sounds and we have been playing games to help us with our learning.

12 January 2024 - Happy New Year!

We were very excited to be back after the holidays and have enjoyed beginning our learning on our new topic - houses and homes. We have been looking at our houses and how they have been built. We have also enjoyed playing in our builder's yard role play area and building our own houses in our outside construction area.

8 December 2023 - A Wriggly Nativity

This week we were so excited to perform our nativity. We have worked so hard to learn our lines, actions and the words to all of our songs. We hope that you enjoyed it as much as we did!

1 December 2023 - Celebration Party

We had a very exciting end to our week. The children and their families took part in our celebration party sharing food and music from a variety of cultures. We had a brilliant time and like to thanks to everyone who came to join us.

24 November 2023 - Echo the hearing dog

This week we were lucky enough to meet Echo, who is a hearing dog. We had a special assembly where we learnt all about how he helps his owner. He lay very quietly on the floor during the assembly and afterwards Echo sat by our classroom door so we could stroke him if we wanted to. Some of us stroked him and some of us waved hello to him.

We have also been practising our maths and working on patterns and sequences. We really enjoy using our interactive board to help us.

17 November 2023 - Library Visit

This week we had a lovely morning visiting the local library. We enjoyed our walk together in the sunshine on our first school trip! We really enjoyed exploring the library, sharing books with our friends and listening to some stories.

10 November 2023 - Diwali

This week we have been learning all about Diwali and how people celebrate. Some of the children in Hedgehog class told us about how they celebrate with their families. We made our own Diva lamps out of clay.

We also spent time learning about Remembrance Day and why poppies are important. We then painted some poppies.

3 November 2023 - Pumpkin Soup

We have enjoyed reading 'Pumpkin Soup' by Helen Cooper this week. We have talked about the seasons and all of the food we like to eat when it is cold. We then enjoyed making our own pumpkin soup! We looked at the recipe, collected our ingredients and chopped our vegetables. We then tasted our delicious soup!

20 October 2023 - People who help us

This week we have been learning about different people who help us. We had some firemen come to visit us, they told us all about their uniform and showed us their fire truck. We really enjoyed the flashing lights and sirens - they were very loud!

13 October 2023 - Being active

This week we have been enjoying being active in school. We have had lots of fun on the bikes and scooters outside and have been practising different balances in our gymnastics lessons.

6 October 2023 - Family

29 September 2023 - Pantosaurus

This week in Hedgehogs we have been designing our own pants and learning that if someone asks to look inside our pants we say no! Outside we have been busy constructing cars and ramps.

22 September 2023 - Challenge time

This week Hedgehogs have been thinking about how to share with others during challenge time. We have been busy practising our sounds and using the language of more, less and same when comparing groups of objects.

15 September 2023 - Feelings

This week we have been learning how to talk about our feelings and think about how others feel. We have also been recognising quantities without counting and have enjoyed learning our first sounds in phonics.