Week 3: Animals in Percy's park, yoga and lunch times.

 

Hello Hedgehogs and Hedgehog parents,

This week has just flown by! The class is settling so well; the Reception children are finding their way around life at school and the Year 1 children have done a lot of Year 1 learning this week. The two groups of children are slowly starting to get to know each other which is lovely to see. 

On Monday the whole class took part in a Percy the Park Keeper Mantle episode. We thought about what animals Percy would have in his park. The children looked at the features of the different animals and then became them - making ears, stepping into our story and acting in role as the animals. The Year 1 children have spent the rest of the week learning more - they have learnt to identify a mammal, looked closely at the different features mammals have (such as tails for balancing, strong legs and claws for digging and whiskers for feeling their way around). They have also learnt to use oil pastels to create detailed pictures of the mammals. 

We have finished our initial assessments of the Reception children and so, from next week, the children will begin to take part in some adult-led phonics and maths activities, among other things. 

Forest school was just so sunny this week! We all had a great time looking for blackberries. The children managed to eat them all, but if we find some more next week we're going to make some blackberry cake. We'll have to hope the birds don't get to them first!

Lunch times are becoming easier for the Reception children. It can be quite a big thing for them, as the hall is full of older children and they have to learn to get their own cutlery, go up for their lunch and clear away. They are doing a great job with the help of the other children and the adults in the hall. 

Here are a few photos! Year 1 learning can be found below...

Year 1 learning this week:

Phonics: The children have learnt that the /ee/ sound can be spelt  ee, ea or y. Today many of the children said they'd like to do their own independent spelling challenges on a Friday, so we'll try this next week - I'll give each child a spelling book and they can mark themselves out of 6 or 8. This is not designed to be a 'test' but a way for them to work towards learning their words and feeling proud of themselves. 

Here is the list this week - please help your child to learn:
* the green 'ee' words first
* if they get on well with those, the green 'y' words
* if they get on well with those, the green 'ea' words

All other words are optional. Don't forget the list of spelling ideas I sent round with your child's high frequency spelling lists. They will come in handy here too!

Maths: This week the children have been:

Counting in 2s: which is quite straight forward up to 10, but has been causing challenges up to 20! To practise this you could play 'the missing number post-it note game' (one day I'll think of a snappier name). Your child hopefully knows how to play this, but if not:

1) practice counting in 2s to 20

2) stick a multiple of 2 on your child's back

3) count up to 20 in 2s but miss that number out, saying 'sssshhhh' instead

4) your child identifies the number

If your child is confident up to 20, you could either go beyond 20, or count backwards in 2s from 20.

Finding the missing part: The children have been remembering part/whole diagrams and finding the missing part, such as this one:

The main ways to find the missing part are

a) use counters - put the 'whole' number in the whole, then move the one part down (so in this case, move 4 counters down) and the remaining counters into the other part
b) count on from the known part, so in this case start on four and count on '5', putting the one spot into the empty part.

To practise this, complete this cut and stick activity, matching up the missing parts to their part-whole diagrams. Don't forget to use concrete objects.

If your child quickly fills in the part, talk to them about how they know, and ask them to show you so that you can complete the next one. Follow their instructions closely so that they really have to clarify their thinking. 

If you don't have a printer at home: you can re-create this activity using chalk on a pavement and cobbles, or conkers, or anything you like, or by drawing your own part whole diagram, giving your child one 'part' and asking them to work out the other 'part'. 

Have a good weekend Hedgehogs and Parents - enjoy this lovely September we're having!

From Mrs Simpson.

Week 2: Percy the Park Keeper, Forest School, etc...

 And just like that, another week has flown by!

Settling in:
The Reception children continue to settle in well to school. They have been getting used to lunch times (the lunch hall can take some getting used to) and we have had lots of helpful older children showing them how it's done. It's been lovely coming down to the gate at lunch time, seeing their smiling faces and having them rush eagerly in! Starting school is hard work so I know some of the children are very tired. It will get easier and, while at school, the children are happy and friendly and keen to be here. 

Mantle of the Expert:
We have slowly been starting our first Mantle of the Expert story. If you don't know much about what Mantle of the Expert is, you can find more information and details of past stories here. 

So far, the children have created Percy the Park Keeper's park and then make symbols for a shared map:

Following this, the Year 1 children learnt how to make a map using symbols. Here are their efforts:

Forest School:

We had our first Forest School session on Thursday. The children had a wonderful time with the Year 1 children showing the Reception children around. We remembered the Forest School rules together and the children did a marvellous job of coming to base camp when called (a very important one!)

Year 1: phonics

This week we looked at the ai grapheme, which we've seen before, and the ay grapheme, which is new. Both make the same sound, but ay is usually found at the end of words. 

I am going to start doing a (fun) spelling challenge on a Friday based on what we learn the previous week; so, next Friday, our spelling challenge will be based on ai and ay. There is no pressure, it is going to be a team challenge to practice what we have been learning. 

With that in mind, here is a spelling list. If you would like to support your child with their phonics this week, please help them to learn some of these words for Friday. I would suggest just five words to begin with. 

You could also complete this word search of ay words. 

Year 1: maths

This week the children have been remembering how to represent, count and recognise numbers to 10, including one more and one less and ordering numbers. They have been learning how to represent their ideas using objects, to explain them to me and to each other. For example I would ask 'How do you know that 5 + 0 = 5?' and the answer 'I just do!' was not enough! 

We have also been learning to represent number bonds to 4 and to recall them quickly. 

At home you could:
Practise writing numbers to 10 with your child. 
Practise subitising to 10 (remember these?)
Make some number cards to 10. Choose 3 and put them in order from smallest to largest, but make a deliberate mistake. Ask your child to help you - they can't just tell you you're wrong, they have to explain why! They could use a number line, or some cubes, to explain which order the numbers go in. 

Play this caterpillar number sequencing game. Begin with numbers 0 to 10, and go from there!

Most of all, have a lovely weekend Hedgehogs and Hedgehog parents!

From Mrs Simpson :0) 

A brand new year and some brand new Hedgehogs.

Hello Hedgehogs and Hedgehog Parents. 

Welcome back to The Hedgehog Hub!

We have had a really good week in Hedgehog Class. The Year 1 children are enjoying being Year 1 children and have been very helpful with our new Reception children. The new Reception children are coming to school and leaving at the end of the day with smiles on their faces. It's good to have them with us!

This week for Year 1 has been all about learning the Year 1 routines and taking part in some  lessons. The children have been doing maths, reading, writing and passport jobs. I am particularly impressed with their writing - they have brand new writing books and have been learning about our Every Sentence Every Time mantra. This means that each time they write a sentence, they check it for: a capital letter, finger spaces and a full stop. They are becoming such happy and confident writers!

This week for Reception has been all about getting to know the indoor and outdoor parts of the classroom, and the adults in class. We've been enjoying spending time with your children, as have the Year 1 children and they seem to be settling in well. We have started to carry out baseline assessments (see here for more information), but at the moment the main aim is getting to know the children and for them to get settled in to the class. So much of the learning they will do will be independent, and so it's important for them to learn how to find the things they need around the classroom. 

I hope you all found the information document I emailed out useful. If you have any questions about it, please let me know. 

I will be sending out some information early next week about reading with your child (with support for both year groups). For now, we will change their reading books at least once per week and twice if need be. Don't worry if your child begins to memorise the book - that's a good thing. Just make sure they are pointing to words as they say them so that they are making the connection between the spoken and written word.  Learning to read requires a lot of repetition and memorising texts, as well as talking about them with your child. More information to follow!

Unfortunately, due to a USB stick incident, many of the photos we have been taking went missing. However, here are a very few to give you a snapshot of the week, starting with our new Reception children!

And here are a few photos from our afternoons with all of the children together:

Year 1 learning has been mainly getting used to routines and assessment following the summer. From next Friday, please check the blog to see how you can support your child's learning each week. 

Thank you all for your support and patience during this first week, with new routines and so on. It's great to have parents back on the playground again!

Have a good weekend,

From Mrs Simpson.