blog 3
Date: 18th Sep 2025 @ 6:37pm
Thursday 18th September
The hard-working Hedgehogs have been rising up to challenges again over the last 2 weeks. Our routines are established and I add a new element each day. We have not yet started reading practice or Friday PE but new this week has been two daily phonics lessons, full kinetic letters, hymn practice, Good News assembly, various play items, drawing club, harvest songs and it is only week 2 of full time!
Along with a confidence to cope with school challenges, often also comes a need to build resilience and/or making good choices. We have worked a lot on- just because someone else is doing the wrong thing, you choose the right thing. This is - obviously- ongoing but I love how horrified they are when any older children run up/down the banks or use an outside voice in the corridor. I have to look solemn and nod and affirm that the Hedgehogs are wonderful at not doing that, whilst sharing a knowing look with Mrs Woods!
We have learnt the GPC (grapheme-phoneme correspondent) /s/, /t/, /a/, /p/ this week. And they will come thick and fast until spring. All the children have needed a lot of 'keep up' to remember the phoneme (sound) and they have to recall it as they exit/enter the classroom. The important thing for you to remember is: don't add 'uh' onto a sound and, although I am saying the grapheme (letter name), I am not focussing on it- yet. Each GPC has a picture to aid memory so 'ssssssnake' for the picture, /s/ for the phoneme. We are not dealing with capitals yet so as to make sure children do not think writing in all capitals is accurate. We are not spending much time on writing the GPC yet due to concentration levels, time and our pencil control isn't ready. Kinetic letters teaching the GPCs in a different order to Little Wandle so there will be time for our hand muscles to catch up with our phonics consolidation soon. There is a link on our page to the Little Wandle website where you can see exactly how to pronounce each phoneme correctly. Oh and if you're child starts making noises and gurning (is that the right word?) into a mirror, it is because they have a mirror to copy the way my lips/mouth are when we have a new phoneme. When we have done most of the GPCs I will send home a copy for you to help practise with.
I am hoping to finish the new role play tomorrow... watch this space. The home corner has evolved into a variety of interestingly imaginative playing that half the time I can't quite fathom and moving their learning forward in this continuous provision is not happening.(Just because someone else is making a wrong choice, you make...) It will be a clothes shop. So there will be lots of dressing up, hopefully opportunities to draw creations and portraits and act out a shopping experience. You could make them aware of the £ sign and notice how much clothes cost. This will help them understand the difference between pennies and pounds in real terms.#MartinLewisWillBeProud!
I will hopefully see you next Thursday for some simple family craft. Space is going to be very limited so siblings are best left at home (but not alone please haha). We will make an easy thing for a new display and then hopefully have time for you to see how well they behave in school for story and ray of the day. If we finish early, feel free to take them although many of you have other children to wait around for so we'll see how time goes. If none of the family can make it (and please no more than 1 adult per child), your child will work with wonderful Mrs Woods and we can see about putting more things like this on in the future (this is a new idea for our school that I am introducing).
In the meantime, lots of sleep please!
Mrs H
