Pre-School - Hedgehog Class

 

 

Welcome to Hedgehog Class

Class teacher: Mrs Bolt

Teaching assistants: Chloe and Katy

Term 3

Winter Explorations and Celebrations 

This term, our preschool children will be exploring winter, seasonal changes, and celebrations through play, stories, and hands-on experiences. All learning is carefully planned in line with the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework to support children’s development across all areas.

Key Books for This Term (Winter and Celebrations Theme)

1. "Stick Man" by Julia Donaldson              

2. "The Gruffalo's Child" by Julia Donaldson

3. "We're Going on a Bear Hunt" by Michael Rosen 

4. "One Winter's Day" by Christina Butler      

🌱 Personal, Social and Emotional Development

Children will be supported to build positive relationships and develop a strong sense of belonging. Through daily routines and play, they will practise sharing, taking turns, and resolving small conflicts with adult support. We will encourage children to recognise their own feelings and begin to understand how their actions can affect others.

🗣 Communication and Language

We will provide many opportunities for children to listen, talk, and share ideas in one-to-one and small group situations. Children will be encouraged to use longer sentences, recall past experiences such as family celebrations, and talk about what they notice during winter activities and outdoor play.

📖 Literacy – Reading and Writing

Children will enjoy a range of key winter and celebration stories, rhymes, and songs. They will join in with repeated phrases, talk about characters and events, and begin to predict what might happen next. Children will also explore books independently, including digital resources, and develop early writing skills through mark making, drawing, and meaningful play.

Phonics fun!

In Pre-school this term, we will engage in fun activities to support our phonics development. We will focus on our speaking and listening skills, learning to distinguish the sounds we hear, patterns of speech and sounds of speech. We will have great fun using our bodies to make sounds like clapping, stomping, patting, rubbing and clicking our fingers. We will learn to do this loudly, softly, fast and slowly! We will start exploring environmental sounds and body percussion with a selection of stories around nursery rhymes and stories like: '5 Little Ducks', 'The Wheels on the Bus', 'Old Macdonald had a Farm' and 'There was a Crocodile'.

🔢 Mathematics

Through play and exploration, children will develop early number skills such as counting small groups, recognising quantities up to three, and comparing amounts. They will use number language naturally in play and explore shapes, position, and direction using everyday resources and winter-themed activities.

🌍 Understanding the World

Children will learn about winter, family traditions, and celebrations. They will talk about people who are important to them, explore how things work, and show curiosity about technology and everyday objects. Activities will encourage children to ask questions and make sense of the world around them.

🎨 Expressive Arts and Design

Children will express themselves through music, movement, role play, and creative activities. They will explore sounds, create imaginary scenarios, and use a variety of materials to design and make. Group play will be encouraged to support creativity, cooperation, and shared ideas.

🤸 Physical Development

Children will develop their gross and fine motor skills through active play indoors and outdoors. Activities will include balancing, running, climbing, throwing, and catching, as well as developing independence in recognising their own needs, such as when they are tired, hungry, or need to rest.

 

‘Widgit’ in Pre-school

We use ‘widgit’ signs and symbols to help us learn the new words and vocabulary in our stories. These are published on the website and we strongly recommend that you look at these are home with your child. If your child speaks two or more languages it is really important for their development to speak about these words in all their languages and not just in English.

Makaton

 This is to help us express and communicate our wants and needs. We use Makaton how to say yes please and no thank-you, say what fruits they like to eat and make choices independently using their Makaton skills.

What a busy term we have ahead of us!

Mrs Bolt and the Pre-school team

Pre-school room

We have a wonderful, light and engaging environment for the children to play, learn and explore in. We have lots of exciting new resources for the children to share and a wonderful interactive whiteboard to enhance learning opportunities. We have created lovely, calm areas to explore mark -making and our senses as well as purposeful zones to further develop specific skills. Our continuous provision - the space where they use and explore independently, provides the children with endless opportunities to develop their skills in each of the seven areas of the EYFS.

Outdoor Learning

Throughout the day, the children will have time in the outdoor areas. We have free flow sessions on to the patio area and learn to explore in the 'big garden'. There is so much to see and do outside, from bikes, trikes, balls and hoops to water, soil and exploring all aspects of growing, weeding, planting and harvesting. The children will be hands-on with various seeds, plants, soil and herbs. They will get messy - please consider this when dressing your child for the day.  The children will have constant opportunities to choose resources independently, to explore collaborative play and decide how they want to develop their ideas and play in the outside area. We will respond to these interests and use natural resources, risk-taking equipment and will be out in all weathers, so please provide a coat, wellington boots and appropriate foot wear each day.

Children in pre-school learn through:

Three characteristics of effective teaching and learning.

• Playing and exploring- children investigate and experience things, and 'have a go'
• Active Learning- children concentrate and keep on trying if they encounter difficulties, and enjoy achievements
• Creating and thinking critically- children have and develop their own ideas, make links between ideas, and develop strategies for doing things.