Welcome to Hedgehogs' and Squirrels' page, where you can find regular updates

on our news and learning!!

Take a look at our half termly learning! 

Week beginning 2nd February 2026

 Reception have loved continuing their 'On the move' topic this week. This week our focus was on emergency vehicles and we were so lucky to have a visit from the police with their police car and the firefighters with their fire engine! The children loved having the opportunity to sit in the police car and see the sirens. They also had the chance to use the firefighter's hose! Perhaps we have some future firefighters or police officers in our midst?!

Phonics This week we have been reading longer words, including words with two syllables. We have used the chunking method to help us read, for example reading carpark as car and park and putting it together. Next week we will be revising this half terms learning.

Maths We have become super speedy at saying the pairs of numbers that go together to make 5. Next week we will be building on this learning to help us understand the composition of 6 and 7.

Maths vocabulary 5 and a bit, composition, represent, die frame, die pattern

Literacy We are learning to write instructions. We began by planting beans and then creating a story map to help us remember the order of what we did. 

Have a great weekend!

 

Week beginning 19th January 2026

Another busy week in Reception! We are really enjoying our 'On the move!' topic and finding out about lots of different types of transport. A highlight has been heading to the railway station to do some train spotting! Squirrels and Hedgehogs loved standing on the bridge to see the different trains. Thank you again to all the parents who helped us to walk there safely.

Phonics This week we have learnt the sounds ur, ow, oi and ear. Our new tricky words were my, by, all. Next week we will be learning air and er, as well as practising words with double letters.

Maths We have been investigating staircase patterns, where you add one more block each time. Next week we will be using the balance scales to compare two objects. We will also be exploring capacity, for example describing how many cups of water it takes to fill a container.

Maths vocabulary heavier, lighter, balance, higher, lower, mass, weight, fill, container, capacity, greatest, same.

Literacy We have been learning to retell the story of Jack and the Beanstalk. We follow a story map and use actions to help us remember what comes next. Next week we will be writing some of the story.

Achiever's Assembly Reception now join the rest of the school to attend Achiever's Assembly on a Friday. 2 children from each class are chosen to receive a Headteacher's Award. This is given for something linked to their learning that has happened during the week. Additionally, 1 child from each class will receive a Values Award. This is given to a child who has demonstrated our school values. This is really special and the children look forward to who might get a certificate!

Reading Raffle Children get a raffle ticket each time they read at home. We count this on a Friday and then a ticket is drawn during assembly. The winner gets to choose a prize! Please remember we expect children to read 3 times at home each week.

Reminder Children may bring ONE small pocket toy to school if they need it for support during lunchtime only.  Thank you for your help with this!

Have a fantastic weekend!

Week beginning 5th January 2026

Happy New Year and welcome back to all our families! We hope you all enjoyed your Christmas break. The children have returned to school ready to learn this week, with just a little pause to explore the snow. 

Phonics This week we have learnt the sounds ai, ee, igh and oa and revised the tricky words the, I, put, pull and full. Next week our sounds will be oo (both the long sound as in moon and the short sound as in book), ar and or. Our tricky words will be and, push, was, you, they.

Literacy We returned after Christmas to discover some beanstalks had grown in our classroom! We thought about what we might find at the top. Next week we will begin to learn the story of Jack and the Beanstalk.

Maths We have been practising counting accurately and remembering to stop at the 'stopping' number. We have also looked at different ways of representing a number, for example with numerals, dot patterns and sets of objects. Next week we will build on this by looking at and describing different arrangements of up to 5 dots.

Maths vocabulary number, numeral, dot pattern, set, arrangement, subitise

We look forward to an exciting term!

Week beginning 8th December 2025

We have been having lots of festive fun in Reception! We have been learning the Christmas story and understanding why Christians celebrate at this time of year. We really enjoyed making Christmas decorations for the school hall and our classrooms- will you spot some of your creations at the Christmas Fair? Thank you again to all the adults that came in and helped us.

Phonics We are currently revising all the sounds and tricky words we have learnt during the Autumn term. There will be no new phonic sheets until January but please use the ones you have to keep practising over the break. Next week there will be a sticker in your child's reading record with all the sounds we have learnt and some focus key words- please practise the highlighted ones. 

Literacy We have used the story of Rosie's Walk to create our own class story- Rudolph's Walk! We are learning to retell the story using a story map and actions.

Maths We are currently exploring how to compose and de-compose numbers 2,3,4 and 5. We are describing how a whole number is made of different parts, for example 2 is made of 1 and 1.

Maths vocabulary part, whole, smaller parts, different 

We hope to see lots of you at the Christmas Fair tomorrow! 

Week beginning 24th November 2025

Reception are continuing to enjoy their learning about dinosaurs. We have painted pictures of dinosaurs using watercolour paints, created dinosaur bones with salt dough and written dinosaur facts. We also had great fun last week decorating our hair for Crazy Hair Day!

Phonics Our sounds this week were sh, th, ng and nk. Next week we will be reading words with 's' at the end (both as plurals and verb forms). We will also be recapping our learning from this half term.

Literacy We have continued to learn the story of Rosie's Walk. We have made our own changes to the story, for example choosing new places for Rosie to visit. The children had lots of great ideas- volcanos, rainbows and even a trip around the sun!

Maths This week we have been exploring length, weight and capacity. Next week we will be comparing numbers and checking that groups have equal amounts.

Maths vocabulary more, less, fewer, equal, same.

 

 

Week beginning 10th November 2025

This week we have begun our 'Back in Time' topic. We have discussed what we already know about dinosaurs and we have enjoyed being 'Fossil Hunters' outside. Last week we explored using different tools to create firework pictures and created poppies. 

Phonics This week our new sounds were v,w,x and y. Next week our sounds will be z, qu and ch.

Maths In Maths we have been learning to use the vocabulary 'more' 'fewer than' and 'equal' to describe the quantities in two groups. Next week we will be investigating different ways of making 5.

Maths vocabulary more, fewer than, equal to, numbers 1-5, count, altogether

Literacy We are learning the story 'Rosie's Walk' This week we have been thinking of different adjectives to describe the settings in the story. 

What are we learning about?

Week beginning 20th October 2025

Last week we enjoyed visiting the church to watch the Year 1 and 2 practise their Harvest Assembly. We then wrote a recount about our visit. Lots of children said they enjoyed listening to the singing! Reception are really enjoying exploring the potion kitchen and have made lots of delicious meals!

Phonics This week we have been recapping the sounds we have learnt already. As there are no new sounds, there is no new sheet in their phonics books. After half term our new sounds will be ff,ll,ss and j.

Maths We have been learning to identify and describe squares and rectangles. Our next Maths topic will be subitising.

Maths vocabulary square, rectangle, corners, sides, equal

Literacy We have been learning to use s maps to plan our stories. The plan looks like a backward s and we draw on the events of the stroy in order.

Well done to Reception for completing your first half term at school!

We hope you have a fantastic week off and we will see you on Monday 3rd November.

Week beginning 6th October 2025

This week we have been discussing and labelling the parts of the body. We have really enjoyed developing our gross motor skills by travelling around the track on bikes and scooters!

Phonics This week we have learnt ck e u r. Next week we will be learning h b f l.

Maths This week we have been developing our counting skills. We have practised counting when we can't move the objects, for example counting sounds and large objects. Next week we will be subitising small quantities and will use their skills to identify the numbers within 3 and 4.

Maths vocabulary subitise, numbers 1-10, count, group, collection

Have a super weekend! 

Week beginning 22nd September 2025

This week we have been learning about the artist Frida Kahlo, who is famous for painting many self-portraits. Hedgehogs and Squirrels then painted their own self-portraits. Thank you for all the Autumn artefacts you have been busy collecting- the children have enjoyed exploring all the different items. We have also loved looking at all the baby photos. We have discussed how we change as we grow older and the things we can do now that we couldn't do when we were younger.

Phonics This week we have learnt i n m d. Next week we will be learning g o c k.

Maths We have been practising our subitising skills. This is when you look at an arrangement of objects and know how many there are without counting, for example when you roll a die. Next week we will be exploring shapes.

Maths vocabulary  circle, triangle, round, straight, sides, 1,2,3

Have a great weekend!

Week beginning 8th September 2025

We are so proud of our new Reception children! Hedgehogs and Squirrels have amazed us with how well they have settled into their new school and it has been wonderful to see so many smiling faces. This week has been about settling the children into school and getting to know them. We have discussed our school rules, explored the different areas of learning in our classrooms and even had a tour of the school- Reception loved meeting the Year 1 and 2 children and were excited to visit Mrs Gibbard in her office. We also visited the servery, where we will eat our lunch, in preparation for next week. What a super start to the year!

Phonics This week we have been using our listening skills to identify sounds. Next week we will be learning s  a  t  p. 

Maths We have been singing Maths songs together to help us revise our counting skills. Next week we will be learning how to identify a set and describe how we know objects belong in the same set, for example the objects are together because they are all pencils.

Maths vocabulary match, same, different, sort, set, object

Reminder We will begin PE on Wednesday. Please ensure your child has their PE kit in school- thank you!

A big thank you as well to all the grown ups for your support this week.

Have a fantastic weekend!