Our Learning

Settling In

September 2025

Hawthorn class have had a great start to the year and have shown fantastic enthusiasm for their learning. The children have settled in well and are engaging with a wide range of activities designed to build confidence, independence, and enjoyment in learning.

In Science, we have been learning about living things and their habitats. A highlight was exploring how worms move, using tissue paper and pipettes to make their movements easier to touch and see. The children were fascinated to watch the worms wriggle and had lots of fun taking part. This gave them the chance to experience living things up close and begin to understand more about the natural world.

In Maths, our focus has been on shape and pattern. Each week a new shape has been introduced, and the children are now recognising and beginning to use these shapes in practical activities. They have enjoyed creating patterns with reels and threading, as well as matching bricks and spotting shapes around the classroom. These activities have supported their early understanding of pattern while also building fine motor control.

In English, we have been enjoying the traditional tale Goldilocks and the Three Bears. The children have explored the story through props and sensory experiences, including oats to represent the bears’ porridge. They have particularly enjoyed focusing on different characters and joining in with key events, such as trying on a bear mask, touching Goldilocks’ hair, and using puppets to retell parts of the story. These experiences have helped the children to engage more deeply with the narrative. Alongside this, the children have also taken part in daily phonics sessions, using tactile letters and engaging in mark-making activities to begin building early literacy skills.

A real highlight for Hawthorn class this term has been Food Technology. Each week the children transition to the Food Technology room, where they have been learning important life skills such as handwashing, preparing food safely, and peeling and chopping fruit. These sessions are highly motivating, give opportunities for independence and communication, and also link to other areas of learning such as sequencing and making choices.

It has been wonderful to see the enthusiasm the children bring to their learning each day, and we are excited to continue building on this fantastic start to the year.