Hedgehogs

Hedgehog Class- Early Years Unit

At Langwathby School our Early Years Curriculum provides the foundations on which our young learners will grow and develop.

We place huge value in ensuring that we provide a Curriculum that is broad and enriching allowing children to explore and investigate in a stimulating environment. Learners are encouraged to make decisions, solve problems and to develop a sense of belonging and identity within our unit. Our Early Years curriculum has been carefully designed to ensure that pupils have a secure grasp of key concepts that will support their knowledge and development. 

Well planned continuous provision allows children to develop independence and to make choices whilst practising and consolidating new learning.  Children have the opportunity to access this daily whilst staff work with children in small groups, using direct teaching of knowledge and skills. 

Seasonal topics and festivals to celebrate are highlighted in our long term map whilst also allowing us flexibility to build learning around the children's own likes and interests.

Welcome to Hedgehogs Class!

Hedgehog class is a mixed nursery and reception unit. Led by Mrs Wilby and Mrs Wildey and supported by Mrs Saxby, Miss Wilson, Mrs Holmes and Miss Whitfield. 

We are very lucky to have two large classrooms, complete with our own toilets, kitchen and cloakroom plus a large outdoor area. 

Our brains develop fast in Hedgehog class, as we learn to read and write and work with numbers and shapes. We are learning how to be good friends, share and be confident, resilient learners. We enjoy being creative and finding out about the world around us.

We love to learn and explore new ideas and experiences. In the classroom we have lots of resources to help us learn through play. We have 'Busy Time', where we are able to follow our own interests and guide our own learning. This is a great opportunity to showcase our talents, drawing, building, creating and many more!

We are excited to learn more about the world around us, music, literacy and mathematics, in lots of different ways.

Each week we enjoy taking part in Action Ants, learning how to move and travel in different ways, and using a range of equipment, to build our muscles. Our weekly Forest School sessions offer lots of experiences of the world around us.

Our Class Blog

This term we have been learning about celebrations and festivals. We learnt about bonfire night and made some beautiful firework pictures, using different printing techniques. 

It was really interesting learning about Diwali, the festival of light. We always show respect and compassion when learning about different peoples values, faiths and religions. We had a go at creating rangoli patterns and our own diva lamps.

For Remembrance Day, we made a class banner to hang at the Langwathby monument and painted poppies, to remember and give thanks. We read the story, Where the Poppies Now Grow, which gave us lots of opportunities for questions and discussions.

We are looking forward to celebrating Christmas and practising for our class nativity. The classroom is going to become very sparkly!

Our new wildlife area is proving popular with local feathered residents, who enjoy coming for their daily snacks! So far we have seen blue tits, robins, sparrows and blackbirds.

Weekly Routines

Hedgehog class have Forest School on a Tuesday and take part in Action Ants on a Monday. PE kits, waterproofs and wellies stay in school.

Outdoor Provision & Forest School 

Our outdoor provision is central to our teaching and learning and allows children to develop resilience and confidence as they try new challenges and become engaged in different experiences.  Our outdoor area has a large sand pit, reading den, writing area, music area with resources, climbing frame with slide and mud kitchen. These areas are available for the children to use on a daily basis alongside the enhanced provision and resources that we provide.

We also have a weekly Forest School session every Tuesday morning led by Holly Brown a fully qualified Forest School leader. The skills children learn here become life long skills as they use new tools and equipment whilst learning about nature and our natural surroundings.  We place high value on learning outside of the classroom and understand the importance of allowing the children to take part in age appropriate challenges.  The children enjoy structured teaching activities alongside time to explore their surroundings led by their own personal interests.

Supporting at Home

Please help support your child at home by using your child's phonic pack and reading regularly at home. Your support at home is crucial in developing your child as a confident and enthusiastic learner. Please read your child's reading book regularly at home and comment in their yellow reading record book. Remember, reading to your child is just as important as them reading to you.

Statutory and Non-Statutory Guidance for EYFS