These stories inspired us to talk about all the amazing animals we see in autumn — like dormice, queen bumblebees, bats and hedgehogs, and more importantly, how they prepare for winter. We sorted animals into two groups: those that hibernate and those that don’t. We also learned about animals that migrate to warmer places.
We watched an interesting programme all about hedgehogs and discovered why we should take care when raking leaves — there might be a sleepy hedgehog hiding underneath! We also found out what happens at a hedgehog hospital, then got creative by making our own clay hedgehogs, complete with matchstick spikes and googly eyes.
After the weekend, our friends brought in their wonderful autumn collections, and we had so much fun sharing our treasures! There were shiny conkers, twirling sycamore seeds, crunchy leaves, twigs of all shapes and sizes and even fir cones. Using magnifying glasses, we looked closely at the leaves and noticed all their tiny, beautiful details — what amazing discoveries! We then used these lovely leaves to create hedgehog collages.
One of our favourite activities was hammering golf tees into Mrs Tomkins’ enormous pumpkins. She grew them herself from seeds in her garden, and they’re HUGE! We also loved exploring our autumn collections, especially cracking open the spiky horse chestnut shells to find the smooth, shiny conkers inside.
We had so much fun showing our fantastic Pink Open Homework creations. Everyone did an amazing job sharing their projects with the class — well done!
To end the week, we learned about Diwali, also known as the Festival of Light. This is a special celebration for Hindus and Sikhs, and it’s enjoyed by many people around the world. The children began sewing their own felt Diyas — what careful, thoughtful work!
Finally, we celebrated Henry for being named best player in his tennis class! His shiny medal made us all proud— well done, Henry!
We continue to work through the Jolly Phonics scheme. Please click here for correct sound pronunciation – it is really important the children learn pure, crisp sounds from the off.
After half term, get ready for our exciting topic: Autumn Celebration.
