Little Hedgehogs Class Page

Monday 18 October 21

Last week: we are explored everything to do with Autumn, we went on an Autumn walk and discovered that leaves come in all different shapes, sizes and colours. We made some wonderful collage pictures with them and developed our cutting skills as we cut around lovely leaf shapes. We made some 'interesting' seasonal soup and shared the story of Squirrels Autumn search carefully colouring in a picture linked to the story.

  This week:  we are celebrating Black History and culture, we will be learning about the Black inventor Garrett Morgan who invented traffic lights, Marcus Rashford: who helped the poor families and Louis Armstrong- who sang Hello Dolly.  A big thank you to Theo's Daddy and Edwards Grandma for providing us at Little Hedgehogs with ideas for the hall display in the main school. 

Book of the week: Written by Edwards relative: Emanuel Goes To Market 

Word of the week: Kindness 

Fine motor skills: Colouring / cutting out traffic light circles.

Craft: Making  Making traffic lights. 

Mathematics: Sharing the story of Handa's Surprise - counting out the fruit. 

Rhyme: Autumn selection box. 

Write Dance / Disco Dough: Hello Dolly-Louis Armstrong 

Cooking: Traffic Light Jam Tarts. . 

Ways to support your child's learning at home: 

Listen to some Music written / sung by Black Musicians. 

Learn the rhyme of the week.

Share a story every night. 

Monday 11 October 21

Last week: was BOOK WEEK, following the theme of  'Journeys into the past' we shared three Meg and Mog books where she had adventures Dinosaurs, travelled to Ancient Egypt where Mog got wrapped up like a Mummy and  her meeting the Romans on Deal beach. Once again we are in awe of all of our parents ingenuity and creativity, we say this every time but you truly pulled it out of the bag. Please feel free to take a closer look at all of the costumes on the slide show, above. We had an amazing time with visits from Mr Cork, the year 6 class and Mrs Dixon to share stories with us. We wrapped up teddies and dolls to look like 'Mummies' and practiced our careful cutting as we created Mog pictures. We visited the library and we went to the hall for a 'Sticky Kids' physical development activity workshop. A long standing friend of Little Hedgehogs dropped off a huge box which we had great fun with, thank you. 

  This week: we are exploring Autumn, and plan to go on an adventure to collect conkers and leaves, we will be cooking  pumpkin soup and making beautiful collages. 

Book of the week: Squirrels Autumn Search. 

Word of the week: Autumn

Fine motor skills: Colouring / cutting out squirrel pictures. 

Craft: Making  Leaf collages. 

Mathematics: Counting conkers. 

Rhyme: Autumn selection box. 

Write Dance / Disco Dough: Autumn Days

Cooking: Pumpkin soup. 

Ways to support your child's learning at home: 

Go on a family Autumn walk. 

Learn the rhyme of the week.

Share a story every night. 

Monday 4 October 21

Last week: Logan's Mummy Mrs Molloy  and his farm Grandma Mrs Digby-Baker came to visit us with their chickens, Mr Cocky Cockerel and Mrs Lady Jane Grey.  They were really well behaved and we got to stroke and feed them. Throughout the week we learnt all about Harvest, and made some delicious  bread. As some of us are still settling into life at Pre-School and the routine we didn't  go  down to the church but thank you for your donations to the 'Food Bank' and we hope you enjoyed our version of Dingle Dangle Scarecrow. Thanks to everyone sent  in their family heritage information, the map of the  world on the Pre-School wall is looking amazing and we will link in our planning to develop understanding.

  This week: is BOOK WEEK, the theme is a 'Journeys into the past' I have purchased two Meg and Mog books where she has adventures in Ancient Egypt with her cat and meets the Romans on Deal beach. Once again feel free to dress up or not dress up any day that you are in. We are also making Christmas cards so that we can get the order back by Christmas. 

Book of the week: Meg and Mog

Word of the week: History  

Fine motor skills: Colouring / cutting out cat pictures. 

Craft: Making  Christmas cards. . 

Mathematics: Playing Mathematical turn taking games. 

Rhyme: 

Write Dance / Disco Dough: Walk Like an Egyptian / We have a whole lot of History 1D. 

Cooking: Cat cookies 

Ways to support your child's learning at home: 

Discuss your favourite story when you were little.

Visit / join the local library. 

Learn the rhyme of the week.

Share a story every night. 

Monday 27 September 21

Last week: we shared  ‘Smile Crocodile Smile' and  learnt all about how to keep our teeth clean and are bodies healthy as we took  part in  'In it for a minute' celebrating  National Fitness day. We  enjoyed dressing up everyday as part of the PTFA Fun Run, it was great fun and we are 'SUPER PROUD' and very thankful to  all of you for raising so much money.    

This week: We are learning all about Harvest, and making bread. As some of the little ones are still settling into the Pre-School routine we will not be going down to the church but we will still be collecting for the 'Food Bank' and aim to record our song for you all to enjoy. 

  A sincere thank you to everyone who has already sent  in their family heritage information, the map of the  world on the Pre-School wall is looking very colourful, if you haven't already done so please send the information in so that we can be and inspired by these ideas to link in our planning and  develop understanding.

Book of the week: The Scarecrow's Wedding and Rosie's Walk 

Word of the week: Harvest 

Fine motor skills: Colouring Scarecrow pictures. 

Craft: Painting chickens. 

Mathematics: We have added a new  brightly coloured ball number line  into  the Rainbow room, this week we will be encouraging the children to use it during child initiated play. 

Rhyme: Dingle Dangle Scarecrow. 

Write Dance / Disco Dough: Crocodile Rock 

Cooking: Baking a Harvest loaf. 

Ways to support your child's learning at home: 

See how many different farm animals you can spot on your way to Pre-School.

Thinking about how Harvest is a time to give thanks, make up a family 'Thank You'  list recording  all of the wonderful  things you have to be grateful for. EG: A full tank of petrol, toilet roll, a loving family, kind friends and  good health.

Learn the rhyme of the week.

Share a story every night. 

20 September 21

Last week: we shared  ‘Giraffe’s Cannot Dance’ where the story's lead character Gerald felt differently to his friends and 'Spot and Stripe' about two friends who wanted to be alike,  the aim behind focusing on these texts was to develop the idea of diversity, that we are all different and unique and  yet share similar feelings as part of the Little Hedgehog Pre-School family.  A big thank you to everyone who has been sending in their family heritage information the map of the  world on the Pre-School wall is looking very colourful and inspired by these ideas we will be able develop understanding.

This week: we are sharing  ‘Smile Crocodile Smile' learning all about how to keep our teeth clean and are bodies healthy as we take part in  'In it for a minute' celebrating  National Fitness day  and enjoy dressing up everyday as part of the PTFA Fun Run. 

Book of the week: Smile Crocodile Smile

Word of the week: Beaming 

Fine motor skills: Cutting out smiles.

Craft: Painting Happy Faces .

Mathematics: putting a set of smiles  in size order.

Rhyme: Teeth cleaning selection box. 

Write Dance / Disco Dough: Crocodile Rock 

Cooking: Mini muffin pizzas

Ways to support your child's learning at home: Go on a family fun run, share a story together, talk about teeth cleaning and keeping healthy. 

Monday 13 September 

Last week: we shared the story of  ‘Elmer’ the multi-coloured patchwork elephant who looked different  from his friends.

This week: we are sharing  ‘Giraffe’s Cannot Dance’ where the story's lead character Gerald is a giraffe who feels differently to his friends and 'Spot and Stripe' two friends who want to be alike.  The aim behind focusing on these texts is to develop the idea of diversity, that we are all different and unique and  yet share similar feelings as part of a united global world and Little Hedgehog family and Sheldwich School community.  We have displayed a huge map of the world on the Pre-School wall, and we would like to add in each child’s family’s heritage.  

My slip would read:

Mrs Ashmore:

Grandparents from Ireland,

born in Bromley, big sister Domenica

is half Italian, husband  from Wolverhampton.

Allied to this we are focusing on supporting children’s  well-being and resilience, by  displaying a newly designed  ‘Coping Wheel’ and ‘Feelings Fan’ on the wall at Pre-School.

As part of the  routine on arrival at Pre-School your child will be invited to point to how they are feeling on the ‘Feelings Fan’ and  move the  ‘Coping Wheel’ if they need to throughout the day.  With the support of their key person each child will be making individual coping wheel  for you to refer to at home, the ‘coping’ strategies include:  exercise/ dancing , having a drink of water, sharing a story or having a lovely hug/cuddle.

The main school is introducing ‘Fantastic Fridays’ which enables the pupils to take part in a range of mindfulness activities,  linking in with the spirit of this initiative we will be having daily  ‘Fantastic Five Minutes ’ where children enjoy simple activities focusing on talking and stimulating feelings of positive well-being.

Please contact me if you would like to discuss any of these ideas further or if you would  be prepared  to come in to Pre-School and talk / show the children pictures about  your  family’s culture, traditions - faith.

Book of the week: Giraffes Cannot Dance / Spot and Stripe. 

Word of the week: Diversity

Fine motor skills: Cutting out worlds,

Craft: Painting apples.

Mathematics: putting a set of jungle animals in size order.

Rhyme: Elephants have wrinkles.

Write Dance / Disco Dough: Dance until you drop.

Cooking: Spotty Rock Cakes 

1st September 21

WELCOME to Little Hedgehogs Pre-School

we are delighted to see so many of our old friends back and welcome lots of new children we just cannot wait to get to know you all and have lots of adventures together. 

Firstly we must start by saying a big thank you for all of the amazing cards and gifts we received, as a team we were totally overwhelmed by your thoughtfulness and kind words.  It was not the end of term we planned however, it was so lovely to catch up with you all in the garden on the final Thursday. We are super proud of all of the Little Hedgehogs starting in Ladybirds Class they look so smart in their new uniforms. We hope you all had a wonderful Summer and feel refreshed and ready for the new Autumn term.

A gentle reminder please:

1) Wear shoes that can be done up easily and that you can run and dance in.  

2) Label everything and bring in some wellington boots.

3) Inform us of any medical changes / dietary  requirements / allergies your child may have.  

4) Key People: Miss Clark will be 'floating' any key children she had will be taken on by Mrs Ashmore. Miss Burgess and Mrs Palmer are back and will be 'Buddy Key -People' this year as they are working on alternate days.

5) Mrs Gower the SENCO will be coming in doing her usual start of the year observations to ensure that every child within Pre-School has their needs met and that they make progress from their individual starting points. If you have any concerns or questions please come and talk to Mrs Ashmore. 

Last week: we were having fun on holiday.

This week: We are having fun at Pre-School.  We will be sharing the story of Elmer, designing our own elephants and discussing our favourite colours.  We will be focusing on well-being - involvement as we settle and create coping wheels developing.resilience strategies. 

Book:  Elmer                                                                                                                              

Write Dance and Disco Dough: Nelly the Elephant.                                                            

 Rhymes: Elmers Counting song. 

Ways to support your child's learning at home.

1) Learn the rhyme of the week -  good rhymers make great readers.

2) Share a story every night.

3) Play Peak and Pit each tea time with every member of your family discussing the best and worst aspect of their day or a subject for example:

The peak of my day was the delicious Pizza I ate. The pit of my day was doing the washing up.

My favourite animal is a dog because they are friendly, My worst animal is a chicken because I don't like feathers. This simple activity will develop your child's voice and and vocabulary.

4) Go on a favourite colour walk. 

 12  July 21

 Last week: We finally released the butterflies into the garden it was amazing to see our beautiful babies fly off.  We  shared the story of the ‘Smartest Giant’ and did lots of rhyming activities linked to the story. It was very exciting to have a visit from Mrs Dixon Ladybird's Class teacher in the garden. On Friday we had an amazing time at the fun-fund raising day a huge thank you to everyone who donated prizes for the raffle and brought in cakes all of your contributions were gratefully appreciated.  THE  Drumming workshops provided by the PTFA,was banging ha ha  Thank you the children loved it.  

This week: We are on the  final countdown to the Summer holiday's.  We will be sharing the story of Harry and the Dinosaurs start school, as each family that is leaving Little Hedgehogs has already been given a copy of the book to share at home. We will be focusing on well-being - involvement and  transition skills ensuring that we are feeling happy, confident and ready for the next stage of our learning journey. We are not going to be having a party but we will enjoy a special  group snack times  towards the end of the week. 

Reminder:  Shoes,  shorts and sun cream.                                                                                                                               Write Dance and Disco Dough: The Final Count Down.                                                            

 Rhymes: Football  Chants

5 July 

Last week: We continued with decathlon sports activities working towards an impressive Brownlee Brother medal which we will be bringing home this week along with reports and other amazing pieces of creative art works. Inspired by Llywelyn showing us his beanstalk we shared the story of ‘Jack and the Bean Stalk’, baked bread, counted coins and did lots of craft activities.  We were we were completely thrilled when late on Friday afternoon one of our butterflies made an appearance.

This week: We will witness the completion  of the life cycle of a caterpillar when we release our butterflies. We will be sharing the story of the ‘Smartest Giant’. Some of us will be taking part in Drumming workshops provided by the PTFA, Thank you.  Mrs Dixon from Ladybirds Class will be holding a ‘COVID safe’ visit in our living Classroom. On Friday we will be visiting the fund raising stalls set out on the field, if your child is in that day please bring in a donation.

Reminder:  Shoes,  shorts and sun cream.  Donation if you are in on Friday morning.                                                      Write Dance and Disco Dough: I am Giant / Its Coming Home                                                            

 Rhymes: Football  Chants

28 June 

Last week: we learnt all about the life cycle of a caterpillar and celebrated the life of Eric Carle the author of the classic book ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar. We have been fascinated watching our caterpillars turning in cocoons in the next stage of their journey. We were all really crafty making butterfly mobiles and potato print caterpillars which you can see displayed on Pre-Schools windows and amazing key group ‘Hungry Caterpillar’ biscuits. To our delight Mrs Hayhoe came in on Thursday and introduced us to her chameleons, they were tiny and absolutely gorgeous. We were also thrilled to share his book on the Chameleons and dance to… you have guessed it Kama Chameleon by Culture Club for Disco Dough and Write Dance.

This week: We are continuing with our decathlon sports activities  working towards our Brownlee Brother medal and inspired by Llywelyn showing us his beanstalk we will be sharing the sharing the story of 'Jack and the Bean Stalk', doing lots of craft activities inspired by the story.  

Reminder:  Shoes,  shorts and sun cream.                                                                                                                   Cooking: Bread                                                                                                                                                                     Write Dance and Disco Dough: The House that Jack Built.                                                                                      

Rhyme: Noisy Neighbour.

Sports Week 2021

During Sports Week at Little Hedgehogs we:

1) Shared the story of the tortoise and the hare.

2)Evan's Grandpee Mr Capelin came in with his tortoises Tiny Tim and Tom. 

3) At the end of the story the tortoise wins a cup so we discussed Trophies and medals and then made our own medals.

4) At this point we discovered Alexa and Flora's Daddy, Mr Woods, was part of the 2012 Olympic GB team, the girls brought in his medals to show us.

5) We went out on the track to practice our running.

6) We discussed how we could keep our bodies healthy and made delicious smoothies in the blender.

7) We did 'Write Dance' to develop our gross motor skills and 'Disco Dough' to develop fine motor control to 'Physical'  song.

8) We will be carrying on with sporting activities in a Pre-School decathlon for the next four weeks working towards a Brownlee Brothers Medal.

21 June 

Last week: We all enjoyed a super sports week. A big thank you must go to Evans Grandpee Mr Capelin for introducing us to Tiny Tim and Tom his tortoises. It was amazing to learn so many facts about them and it was lovely as we all got the chance to hold, feed and polish them with special vegetable oil. They were surprisingly speedy and kept us on our toes throughout the morning. We went  out on the track running races imagining we were the tortoise and the hare.  We learnt  about keeping healthy as we made delicious fruit smoothies. We were crafty as we made wonderful gold medals out of clay. We were very excited to discover that Alexa and Flora's Daddy Mr Woods was part of the 2012 Olympic GB team, it was great see his medals.

This week: We have living caterpillars at Pre-School and we are learning all about life cycles and sharing the story of the Very Hungry Caterpillar. On Thursday Mrs Hayhoe is coming in to show us her chameleon. We are thrilled to be carrying on with sporting activities for the next four weeks working towards a Brownlee Brother Medal, with this in mind please could the children come in shorts / joggers and shoes they can run in so that they can keep active.

Reminder:  Shoes,  shorts and sun cream.                                                                                                                                  Cooking: Caterpillar Face Biscuits                                                                                                                                                Write Dance and Disco Dough: Kama Chameleon by Boy George                                                                               Rhymes: Caterpillar Selection Box

Ways to support your child's learning at home:

Learn about the life cycle of a frog / chicken.

Learn the rhyme of the week.

If your child is starting school in September start working towards the: Are You Ready List?

Are You  Ready?  

Top Tips for Starting School

A few families have been asking us what can they do at home to support their child’s transition to school so as an Early Years team we developed a list of activities to be working towards to enable your child to be more independent when they arrive in the reception class in September 21

Top Tips to Support your child’s transition into their reception class.

1. Use the  toilet.
2. Put their coat on, do zip / buttons.
3. Put wellington boots on.
4. Change for PE : put their clothes on, take their clothes off.
5. Sit and listen to a story for 10 minutes each night.
6. Recognise name.
7. Write name:  capital first letter then lower case.
8. Count to 10 out of order.
9. Write numbers 1-5.
10. Use scissors.
11. Thread beads / pasta onto a pipe cleaner.
12. Know some traditional tale stories: EG: 3 Little Pigs, Goldilocks, Jack and the Bean Stalk.
13. Able to play a simple turn taking game. snap, pairs, snakes and ladders.
14. Throw / catch / kick a ball.
15. Pedal bike /trike.
16. Good rhymers make great readers try so try  learn  8 rhymes between now and September. 

Humpty Dumpty,

Incey Wincey,

Baa Baa Black Sheep,

Twinkle Twinkle,

1,2,3,4,5 Once I caught a fish alive.

Hickory Dickory Dock

Jack and Jill

Hey Diddle Diddle.

    17.  Wash and dry hands properly.

   18. Open packets/ lids off yogurt if they a packed lunch.

   19. Hold knife, fork and spoon for school dinner.

   20.Use a jug to pour out a drink for themselves.

Remember you are your child’s first and most important teacher and every child develops at their own rate please don’t worry if your  child cannot do everything on this list.  It is not that your child cannot do it, its just they cannot do it yet.                                                                   

Good luck and  have fun these are the wonder years

14 June

Last week: We discovered that Miss Hill had the longest hair in Pre-School. The hedgehog bread was yummy and it was especially great to see Buster  enjoying it for his packed lunch the next day. The listening walk was a  success and we were thrilled to hear a helicopter flying. 

This week: Following the theme of Sports week we will be sharing the story of 'The Tortoise and the Hare' and we are excited about a Evan's Granddad coming to  visit us and show us his tortoise, and tell us all how to care for it. We will be busy out on the track running and engaging in a  a series of  Olympic sporing events.

Book of the week: Tortoise and the Hare. 

Rhyme:  My Dog went Up in a Rocket. 

Craft: CD Tortoise, Clay Medals, Rocket Fathers Day Cards, England Flags

Disco Dough / Write Dance: Physical By Olivia Newton John

Ways to support your child's learning at home:

Share a story together each night.

Learn the rhyme of the week, good luck its a long one. 

Watch a sporting event together, football.  

7 June

We hope you all had an amazing half term and that you feel refreshed and excited about all of the adventures we have planned for the next 6 weeks. We are on the final countdown preparing for the next stage of our learning journey. 

Last week:  We learnt all about ladybirds as we went on a slightly damp but enjoyable Summer walk.  We made delicious ladybird biscuits and pictures which look  really bright and colourful on the Pre-School  windows.  

This week: Following Graces surprise Rapunzel fancy dress we will be sharing the story of this brave Princess, discovering who has the longest hair in Pre-School and making some yummy hedgehog bread. 

Book of the week: Rapunzel and Jim Needs a Trim. 

Rhyme:  Rapunzel Rhyme 

Craft: Paper Plate Hedgehogs. 

Disco Dough / Write Dance: I am your long haired lover from Liverpool: Jimmy Osmond

Ways to support your child's learning at home:

Share a story together each night.

Learn the rhymes of the week, good luck its a long one. 

Go for a walk into town see if you can spot any hairdressers / barbers. 

Look at some old photographs of you with a different hair cut / style and share these with your child.  

24 May 

Last week:  Inspired by 'The True Story of Humpty Dumpty' ' we did lots of interesting explorations  around eggs and falling. We got out hearts racing as we danced to 'I'm so Egg-cited' and we made graceful flowing movements to Harry Styles 'Falling' as we did 'Write Dance' and Disco Dough. We used some really bight primary colours as we did egg head repeating pattern potato printing. We counted eggs in our different sized egg boxes to see how many cracked ones we had and we made delicate egg cress heads.

This week: Following Evie's and Freddy's interests into mini beasts we are learning all about insects  and we will be going on a Summer time Mini beast bug hunt. We will be practicing our fine motor skills cutting skills cutting round circle ladybird shapes and dancing to 'Flash Light'. 

Book of the week: 'What the Ladybird Heard'. 

Rhyme: Two Little Ladybirds sitting on a spoon one is  called Penelope  and one is called June, Fly away Penelope, Fly away June, fly back Penelope, Fly back June. 

Craft: Paper Plate Ladybirds. 

Ways to support your child's learning at home:

Share a story together each night.

Learn the rhyme of the week.

Go out on Wednesday to look at the 'Super moon' 

Do a mini beast hunt in your garden. 

17 May 

Last week:  Inspired by the story 'There is a Dragon on my Doorstep' we did lots of interesting explorations into the world of Spiders. We shared the story, played 'Rhyming Hat' and  looked closely at real spiders in the trike shed. We all worked really hard at developing our cutting skills and we danced to the Tatty Bumpkin Spider song and we created a  wonderful group rainbow spider.   

This week inspired by Charlies brother visiting Prince Charles last week at Buckingham Palace we are exploring the story of Humpty Dumpty as all of the kings horses and all of the kings men could not put Humpty together again. We are planning an egg-citing  week making cress heads. 

Book of the week: The True Story of Humpty Dumpty. . 

Rhyme: Humpty Dumpty 

Craft: Humpty Dumpty Plate heads.   

Ways to support your child's learning at home:

Share a story together each night.

Learn the rhyme of the week.

Go to the fridge and count some eggs. Discuss as a family your favourite way to eat eggs, boiled, fried, poached or scrambled. 

10 May 

Last week:  Inspired by Van Gogh we planted sunflower seeds, shared the story of his life and did some amazing observational paintings of sunflowers, we developed our cutting skills as we made some collage sunflowers which we have proudly stuck on our windows.  Mrs Garrett read us the story of the magic paint brush about a little girl who painted a dragon then we all thought very hard about what we would paint if we had a magic paintbrush. 

This week inspired by Florence's fabulous jumper and the story Mrs Garrett shared with us we are continuing with the dragon and mini beast explorations. 

Book of the week: There is a Dragon on My Door Step. 

Rhyme: Incy Wincy Spider. .

Craft: A spider mobile.  

Ways to support your child's learning at home:

Share a story together each night.

Learn the rhyme of the week.

Go on a spider hunt in the garden. 

4 May 

Last week:  We really enjoyed singing and sharing the story of Puff the Magic Dragon, we made some delicious songs. 

This week is Arts Week so we are really looking forward to experimenting with colours and meeting a few famous artists. 

Book of the week: Sunflowers. 

Rhyme: The Sun has got his hat on.

Craft: Observational drawings and paintings of sunflowers. 

Ways to support your child's learning at home:

Share a story together each night.

Learn the rhyme of the week.

Look at flowers in your garden. 

26 April 

 Last week: Wow! what an amazing first week back.  We said a sad goodbye and good luck  to River, who has gone on to have a new adventure in America we will miss you. We also said hello and welcomed George,  Sophia, Stanley and Amaya we hope you will be very happy with us.  This week we have been busy planting sunflowers, icing St Georges day biscuits and painting dragons.  On Friday we were very lucky as Mr Palmer the Farmer came to visit us with his lovely lambs which was very exciting.   

This week we are carrying on  with our explorations into St Georges day  and British traditions exploring everything to do with kings, queens and castles

Book of the week: Puff the Magic Dragon

Rhyme: Baa Baa Black Sheep. 

Craft: Making flags. 

Ways to support your child's learning at home:

Share a story together each night.

Learn the rhyme of the week.

Look at pictures of the Queen on coins and stamps.   

19 April 

 Welcome back everyone we hope you all had a fantastic Spring break. This week we are celebrating St Georges day and exploring everything to do with kings, queens and castles.

Book of the week: Prince George Goes to School.

Rhyme: Sing a song of Sixpence.  

Craft: Dragon Collages. 

Ways to support your child's learning at home:

Share a story together each night.

Learn the rhyme of the week.

Try making a crown at home.  

HOPPY EASTER EVERYONE!

We are delighted to say that the  Easter Bunny arrived in style to Little Hedghogs this week  (thank you PTFA) the children have had a wonderful time finding real eggs in the garden. They expressed their creativity and developed their fine motor skills as they decorated  them and made pretty  Easter baskets to carry them home in. Please forgive us but the the Easter bonnets were all so amazing that we could not pick an overall winner so each child received a signed copy of  ‘The First Easter Egg Hunt’ by Adam and Charlotte Guillain, it’s a wonderful page turner of a books with lots of rhyming and alliteration, we hope you enjoy sharing it together.  Have a fantastic Easter break, we will be returning  on the 19 April and start the term  by celebrating  St Georges Days. 

Hedgehugs to all  see you soon Mrs Ashmore, Miss Clark, Miss Hills, Mrs Scott and Mrs Palmer and Mrs Kentch

29 March 

 Spring has arrived we have been enjoying the warm weather going on an signs of Spring walk and doing some careful observational painting of daffodils. This week we are very excited as the Easter Bunny is visiting us, we will be going on an 'real' egg hunt and then decorating them.  We plan to get very sticky as we make yummy chocolate nests. We are looking forward to seeing all of the children's Easter hats, please remember that your child can wear them on the day that they are in, so that everyone can enjoy the fun. 

Book of the week: The First Easter Egg Hunt.

Rhyme: Easter Garden Song, Chick Chick Chick Chick Chicken 

Craft: Decorated boiled eggs and Easter Baskets. 

Ways to support your child's learning at home:

Share a story together each night.

Learn the rhyme of the week.

Try some observational painting at home. 

22 March 21

What fun we had last week we all  thought the jokes were hilarious ha ha.  This week we are in full on signs of Spring mode. We will be going on a Spring walks around the school, icing Spring biscuits and doing some observational painting and drawing. 

Book of the week: Spots Egg Hunt. 

Rhyme: Easter Garden Song and Chick Chick Chick Chick Chicken. 

Craft: Easter Cards 

Ways to support your child's learning at home:

Share a story together each night.

Learn the rhyme of the week.

Make an  I Spy Spring Book.  

15 March 21

What a wonderful first week back we have had, it has been great to see everyone returning taller and hairier ha ha ha  and we are delighted to meet a few new friends. We hope that you all enjoyed an amazing Mother's Day with lots of spoiling. This week we are carrying on with our space and science investigations and having a nod to Red Nose Day by playing Pie Face on Friday and learning a few new silly jokes. 

Book of the week: Aliens Love Underpants.

Rhyme: Zoom Zoom Zoom.

Craft: Collage Rockets

Ways to support your child's learning at home:

Share a story together each night.

Learn the rhyme of the week.

Learn a new joke. 

8 March 21

Welcome back Little Hedgehogs this week we have lots of exciting activities planned for our return. We are celebrating Mothers Day making beautiful cards and collages to let out lovely Mummy's know how much we love and appreciate them. As part of British Science week we are joining lots of Children across Kent for a zoom assembly lead by the scientist Dr Jo Fox on Robots, we are creating wavy wax shape pictures and flitter jars as we investigate the properties of light and water. 

Book of the week: The Smeds and the Smoos.

Rhyme: 5 Little People in a Flying Saucer.

Ways to support your child's learning at home:

Share a story together each night.

Learn the rhyme of the week.

Look out of the window and discuss the moon and stars at night. 

Investigate changing states:  by creating a biscuit structure with melted  chocolate, delicious. 

1st March  2021

This week we are learning all about the three little pigs cousin Olivia and her adventure at the circus.

THIS WEEKS ON-LINE HOME LEARNING

Daily Prime Rhyme Time, 3 Little Pig Rap and Olivia Saves the Circus Story.

Magic  Monday

 Learn to juggle

Terrific Tuesday 

Tight rope walking

Wonderful Wednesday

Olivias Forward Sausage 

Thirsty Thursday

Disco Dough: 1 Direction Olivia

Fizzy Friday

Write Dance: 1 Direction Olivia 

Have a look at the gallery to see the amazing work that it being completed at home and wave to your friends. 

Good rhymers make great readers, please try to learn the rhymes of the week.

Three Little Pig Rap . 

4  January 2021.

Welcome back we hope you all had a safe and happy Christmas, once again thank you for all of our lovely cards and presents we are very  grateful and lucky. We have some fantastic news we  are delighted to announce the arrival of Mrs Palmar who is joining the team to cover for maternity leave, we hope you will be very happy. Congratulations to Miss Burgess and her partner they had a new beautiful baby girl called Ava in December, well done we know that Elsie will be a fantastic big sister and we are all looking forward to a cuddle in the future. 

This week: We will be learning all about the Christian festival of Epiphany,  Winter and snowmen.  We plan to be very busy as we will be: sorting Christmas cards, making beautiful crowns, modelling  foam hanging  stars for a class mobile and discovering what we got for Christmas for a class display. 

Write Dance / Disco Dough: Snowman. 

Book of the week: Snowman 

Cooking: Ice Snowmen biscuits.

Rhyme:

A Chubby Little Snowman had a carrot for his nose,

Along came a rabbit and what do you suppose?

That hungry little bunny looking for his lunch.

Ate the snowmans carrot nose,

Nibble Nibble crunch.

Ideas to support your child’s learning at home

1) Learn the words the rhyme of the week.

2) Make a crown.

3) Ice a biscuit.

14 December 20

Last week: We wrote letters to Father Christmas and posted them in our amazing  prize-winning Hedgehog postbox. We created  wonderful Rudolf pictures with Miss Clark using a wellington boot as a template. . We have been very busy and  enjoyed learning new Christmas songs and we are getting very  excited for the big day.   Following on from her success with the Gruffalo Crumble the children made mince pies throughout the week with Miss Hills.

This week: we are continuing with our Christmas activities. We will be  sharing the Stickman story making stickmen.

Write Dance / Disco Dough: 'I wish it could be Christmas everyday'. 

Book of the week: Stickman

Cooking: Christmas Cookies 

Rhyme: Christmas Selection Box 

Ideas to support your child’s learning at home: 

1) Learn the words the rhyme of the week see below

2)  Make a paper chain.

3) Complete the find that star, Faversham treasure hunt as a family. 

7 December 20

Last week: Inspired by Reubens interest and his  jumper, the children really enjoyed reading the Gruffalo story and engaging in daily zoom Prime Rhyme Times. They had an amazing time with Miss Hills making  delicious Gruffalo Crumble, the children worked really hard at using their gentle fingers to create a bread crumb mix. It was such a hit that Grace made some for her brothers, clever girl. They  created some amazing craft mice to use as they learnt the 3 Blind Mice Nursery Rhyme. On Thursday we  linked  in with the main school's Religious Education Day on symbols and made stars thank you Grace and the Keys family for the dough and angels.  

This week: until the end of term  we are planning lots of activities around  Christmas. We are thinking about what job father Christmas could have if he wasn't father Christmas,  we're writing to Father Christmas and posting letters in our special Hedgehog box, don't forget you can send in cards to some to your friends if you fancy it, or make a class card, for the good news board.  

Write Dance / Disco Dough: 'I wish it could be Christmas everyday'. 

Book of the week: Just the Job for Santa.

Cooking: Mince Pies 

Rhyme: Christmas Selection Box 

Ideas to support your child’s learning at home: 

1) Learn the words the rhyme of the week see below

2)  Make a class card.  

3) If your allowed to got for a walk to see the Christmas lights. 

30 November

Last week: The children really enjoyed reading Owl Babies , WOW said the Owl and sharing other Owl themed stories.   We had an amazing time making  delicious shortbread Dolly-Roses Mum said it was her favourite biscuit and all agreed they tasted delicious. The children worked really hard at mixing  the cookie dough and cutting the shapes. They created some amazing collage Owls and learnt the new rhyme and lots of different facts about them. 

This week: We are planning lots of activities around St Andrew Day as Agnes and Isla Mummy is from Scotland. We will be sharing the Scottish version of the Gruffalo. On Thursday we are linking in with the main school's Religious Education Day on symbols and be making stars and angels.  

Write Dance / Disco Dough: 'There Must be an Angel playing in my heart. 

Book of the week: Gruffalo 

Cooking: Gruffalo Crumble. 

Rhyme: 3 Blind Mice

Ideas to support your child’s learning at home: 

1) Learn the words the rhyme of the week see below

2)  Make a jesse tree- twig in a pot with pictures on it to tell a story.  

3) Make your own favourite crumble at home. 

23 November

Last week: The children really enjoyed reading the 'Hedgehog's Balloon' and sharing other Hedgehog themed stories.   We had an amazing time making Hedgehog bread, which we all agreed was delicious, the children worked really hard at kneading the dough and cutting the spines. They created some amazing collage Hedgehogs  with Miss Clark and learnt lots of different facts about them. 

This week: We are planning lots of activities and learning all about Owls  and their habitats 

Write Dance / Disco Dough: Starry Night 

Book of the week: Owl Babies , WOW said the Owl. 

Cooking: Shortbread

Rhyme: 5 Little Owls

Ideas to support your child’s learning at home: 

1) Learn the words the rhyme of the week see below

2)  Why not get out the Christmas decorations and start early this year.  

3) Make a leaf owl. 

Five little owls

Five little owls,
On a branch by the shore,
A squirrel scampered by,
And then there were four.

Four little owls,
Perched high up in a tree,
The wind shook one off,
And then there were three.

Three little owls,
With nothing fun to do,
One got very bored,
And then there were two.

Two little owls,
Just having some fun,
A bear came along,
And then there was one.

One little owl,
Winked at the setting sun,
Flew into the forest,
And then there were none.

16 November

Last week: We had a fantastic time raising money for Children in Need, we painted pictures, iced biscuits and watched a fun duck race, our duck didn't win but it was very exciting to take part. On Wednesday we celebrated past and present heroes, we decorated poppies and took part in the remembrance day 2 minute silence. 

This week: We are planning lots of activities and learning all about hedgehogs and their habitats 

Write Dance / Disco Dough: Black Eyed Peas 'I've Got a Feeling'.  

Book of the week: The Hedgehogs Balloon 

Cooking: Hedgehog Bread 

Rhyme: A Hedgehog is very prickly 

Ideas to support your child’s learning at home: 

1) Learn the words the rhyme of the week.

2) Go for a walk to see any signs of Hedgehogs. 

3) Make some salt dough and make a model of a hedgehog. 

9 November

Everyday this week don’t forget to wear spots to raise lots for Children in Need  

Last week: We learnt all about Guido Fawkes plot to blow up the houses of Parliament as we celebrated Bonfire night. We loved counting down from 10 to BLAST OFF! as we sang 5 Little Fireworks standing in a row. We danced with enthusiasm  to Katy Perry’s Firework.  Our model fireworks were most impressive.

This week: we are planning lots of spotastic activities as we think about Children in Need and Pudsey Bear,  On Wednesday we will be thinking about Remembrance day.

Write Dance / Disco Dough: Elvis- ‘Teddy Bear’ song.

Book of the week: Peace at Last

Cooking: Spotty Biscuits.

Rhyme: Pudsey Bear  Selection Box

Ideas to support your child’s learning at home: 

1) Learn the words the rhyme of the week.

2) Go for a walk to see a War Memorial.

3) Have a teddy bears picnic at home.

3 November

Welcome back Little hedgehogs we hope that you all had an exciting and safe half term.

This week: We will be finding out about the plot to blow up the houses of Parliament as we celebrate Bonfire night. We will be learning firework songs, dancing like fireworks and making our own firework models.  

Write Dance / Disco Dough: Katy Perry’s Firework.

Book of the week: Red Rockets and Rainbow Jelly.

Cooking: Edible Sparklers.

Rhyme: Bonfire Night Selection Box.

Craft: Junk modelling rockets.

Ideas to support your child’s learning at home

1) Learn the words the rhyme of the week.

2) Look out of the window to see if you can spot any fireworks.  

3) Make a firework mobile to hang in your window.

         Everyday next week don’t forget to wear spots to raise lots for Children in Need  

19 October 

Last week: .  We carried on  learning the Harvest song, ready for the zoom assembly on the Monday the 19 October.  Following Mrs Garrett assembly about kindness we made bees to remind ourselves to 'Bee Kind'. We were very crafty and made  wands, pumpkins and ghosts. 

 This week: We are all looking forward to the the zoom Harvest assembly. We are going to have a look at the big pumpkin and tap golf tees into a pumpkins in Pre-School.  We will be going on an Autumn walk and making a collage and icing orange biscuits. YUM!

Story:  The Scarecrows Wedding  

Rhyme:  'Ooh said the Owl'

Dates for your diary:

Harvest: Monday 19th October. Theme Scarecrows.

Parents Evening appointments 

Appointments will be made during the day on  Thursday 22 October 

Ways to support your child's learning at home:

Share a story together each night.

Learn the rhyme of the week,  thinking  about the rhyming words. 

Have a go at the PTFA Pumpkin competition, try guessing the weight.  

If your child is starting school in September next year please work on any of the 'Are You Ready' areas listed below. 

12 October 

Last week: We all had an amazing time dressing up a witches, wizards and dragons as part of book week. We loved hearing the different songs and enjoyed singing the funny bones song with Mrs Morrison. via zoom.  We carried on practicing the Harvest song, ready for the zoom assembly on the Monday the 19 October. 

 This week: We are thinking about kindness and making bees to remind ourselves to 'Bee Kind'. We are going to be very crafty as we will be making, wands, pumpkins and ghosts. 

This week: Winnie the Witches Wand. 

Rhyme: 'Dingle Dangle Scarecrow': Ready for Harvest next week, and 'Said the Owl'

Dates for your diary:

Harvest: Monday 19th October. Theme Scarecrows.

Parents Evening appointments 

Appointments will be made during the day on

Friday 16 and Thursday 22 October 

Ways to support your child's learning at home:

Share a story together each night.

Learn the rhyme of the week,  thinking  about the rhyming words. 

Go on a walk  to the woods and make an Autumn collage.  

If your child is starting school in September next year please work on any of the 'Are You Ready' areas listed below. 

5 October 

Last week:  We  were very busy learning the rhyme of the week ready for our Harvest performance.

Remembering our good rhyming and that 'Wednesday is our friends-day' we made fabulous  collage 'craft friends' and created  an amazing display in the rainbow room. We continued our jungle adventures sharing the story of Animal Boogie and had lots of fun dancing.

This week : We are dressing up a witches and wizards as part of book week. We are listening to the teachers telling stories via ZOOM every  and making puppets and props and wands to support our story telling. We are still working on the Harvest song and the assembly will now be on Monday the 19 October. 

Book of the week: Winnie the Witch.

Rhyme: 'Dingle Dangle Scarecrow': Ready for Harvest next week, and 'Said the Owl'

Dates for your diary:

Harvest: Monday 19th October. Theme Scarecrows.

Parents Evening appointments 

Appointments will be made during the day on

Friday 16 and Thursday 22 October 

Ways to support your child's learning at home:

Share a story together each night.

Learn the rhyme of the week,  thinking  about the rhyming words. 

Make a  magical 'potion' at home. 

Decorate a pumpkin. 

Go on a walk  to the woods, find a stick and turn it into a wand. 

If your child is starting school in September next year please work on any of the 'Are You Ready' areas listed below. 

28 September 20

Last week  we continued our jungle adventures sharing the story of Gerald the Giraffe who Cannot Dance until he finds the right music, we linked this in with the children creating 'Coping Wheels' with a bit of help from Mrs Scott . We use the  large coping wheel displayed in Pre-School, with the children to help them develop 'coping strategies and build up resilience.  Your child will be bringing their own wheel home with them shortly so that you can use the ideas at home. 

This week we are learning the rhyme of the week ready for a Harvest performance, we are thinking about who Gerald's friend was in the story and making craft friends, this also links into are daily rhyming letter and sounds phonological awareness as we rhyme  'Wednesday is our friends-day'.  

Book of the week: Giraffes Cannot Dance.

Rhyme: Dingle Dangle Scarecrow: Ready for Harvest next week.

Dates for your diary:

BOOK WEEK: Monday 5th October. 

Theme "The Sheldwich School of Witchcraft, Wizards and Magic!"

Your child is welcome to dress up everyday. 

Parents Evening appointments 

Appointments will be made during the day on

Friday 16 and Thursday 22 October 

Ways to support your child's learning at home:

Share a story together each night.

Learn the rhyme of the week,  thinking  about the rhyming words. 

Draw a picture of the Dingle Dangle Scarecrow. 

Talk to your child about how to make bread. 

Go on an I spy number walk. 

If your child is starting school in September next year please work on any of the 'Are You Ready' areas listed below. 

21 September 20

Last week got to know all of our new friends  and had a BIG delivery we enjoyed stacking and hiding in the boxes. We  learnt how to mix different colours and discovered  the most popular one appears to be  'Pre-School brown' ha ha.  We have painted wonderful  pictures of Elmer using our new skills, they look amazing have you spotted yours one in the Elmer Art gallery?. 

This week we are carrying on with our jungle adventures sharing the story of Gerald the Giraffe who Cannot Dance until he finds the right music. Link to this all of the children are creating 'Coping Wheels' with a bit of help from Mrs Scott . We have a large coping wheel displayed in Pre-School, and we use this to help the children  identify with how Gerald the Giraffe in the story is feeling and what he does to cheer himself up - dances. Then we encourage the children to develop their own coping strategies and resilience what could they do? 

On the Little Hedgehogs wheel there are four sections and the children build up resilience by referring to it if they feel sad. They may take exercise, have a little drink, share a story or have a hug. Your child will be bringing their own wheel home with them shortly so that you can use the ideas at home. 

Book of the week: Giraffes Cannot Dance .

Rhyme: My dog went up on a rocket.

Ways to support your child's learning at home:

Share a story together each night.

Learn the rhyme of the week.

Draw a picture of your family.  

Talk to your child about the coping wheel.

Find a piece of music about dance and dance to it. Good luck and have fun. 

14 September 20

What an exciting start we have had to the new term with so many Happy Birthdays.

Last week we started to get to know all of our new friends at Pre-School and learnt how to mix colours as we started painting pictures of Elmer and talk about our favourite colours. 

This week we are carrying on with our jungle adventure with Elmer and learning all about  spiders in the garden jungle as we have discovered lots in the trike shed. 

Book of the week: Elmer and the Stranger.

Rhyme: Elmer counting song.

Ways to support your child's learning at home:

Share a story together each night.

Learn the rhyme of the week.

Go on a listening walk. 

Make a junk model elephant out of a milk carton. 

Welcome Home

 We have missed you all and hope that you all stayed safe and feel ready for the Autumn Term.

 A BIG thank you to everyone who gave us cards and gifts at the end of last term, it was very kind (you shouldn't  have but we are glad you did). We felt quite overwhelmed we are simply doing our job and it is a joy and privilege to work with your children. For the next few weeks we will be focusing on settling the children and establishing  routines. We will be making new friends playing lots of turn taking games and sharing the story of Elmer. 

Rhyme: An Elephant goes like this like that.

Ideas to support your child’s learning at home

1) Learn the words to the rhyme of the week.

2) Have a go at making your own picture of Elmer at home. 

Please feel free to take a book from the ‘Little Library’ at the Pre-School door, borrow a story sack or take

Shiny Bear on an adventure with you