Nursery News 7.6.21

NURSERY NEWS

7th June 2021 – Edition 227

Find out About:

A..Is your child ready to learn?

B.What the children are learning about this week:

C. Covid 19 updates

A. Is your child ready to learn?

One tick from ‘the sixteen ticks’ to work upon:

To understand the word ‘no’ and the boundaries it sets.

To understand the word ‘stop’ and that this might be used to prevent danger.

Do you and others treat behaviour of your child consistently e.g.child carer, relatives? Do you model behaviour in a way that you would expect your child to behave? Are there non-negotiable rules that your child understands, such as holding hands when crossing the road? Do you explain why you are saying ‘no’ or ‘stop’?

At Willow we try to be positive with the children, using positive language to encourage desirable behaviour. Sometimes though we do have to use a firm ‘No’ to catch a child’s attention, to prevent a child from getting hurt or indeed to stop them hurting someone else.

Children need to know when you are being serious. Boundaries are needed to keep everyone safe.

B.What the children are learning about this week:

In the Summer term we try to learn lots about the world around us, usually as the weather becomes warmer and we can spend more time outside. The chicks were a wonderful success and, as always, the children gained so much from the experience. So, we continue with the ‘animal’ theme this week.

In the older, Main Nursery Bubble: Miss Howe will be exploring the story of Handa’s Surprise.

The story introduces a number of animals found in Africa, and they enjoy eating Handa’s exotic fruits.

Miss Howe has provided the fruits from the story for the children to taste. All going to plan, this fruit tasting activity will happen on Wednesday.

Mrs Patterson will be exploring textured painting this week. This activity does get messy. Children are encouraged to mix their own powder paint with water, but then explore adding textured substances such as sawdust, porridge, sand, rice, or anything they can think of, and then try applying the paint to paper. Children find that a paint brush will not do the job, so explore tools that will spread their textured paint onto paper.

Miss Skai spends the week outside. She is following the children’s interests by developing a scavenger hunt, where children have a list of items that are hidden in the nursery garden, and the children have to see if they can find them.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………. In the younger Bubble, children will be learning about the story of the Very Hungry Caterpillar.

Staff will be retelling the story. Children will be learning to sequence the story with Miss Gaffney. Mrs Watson is helping children to paint Caterpillar pictures, printing round shapes using balloons dipped in paint.

The Hungry Caterpillar is a brilliant storybook to teach concepts from. Children begin to hear the names of the days of the week within the story, as the story tells of what the Caterpillar ate on Monday, then Tuesday etc. The illustrations are very bold and colourful. The caterpillar eats lots of fruits. Children hear that the caterpillar eats 1 to 5 pieces of fruit as the week progresses. Children can begin to count the fruits in the illustrations, using their finger, so they give one number name to each fruit as they touch them with their finger.

C. Covid 19 updates.

I am personally very concerned that the spread of the Indian variant may lead to a greater risk of school closures. Remember, one confirmed case of Covid 19 in a child or staff member will cause a bubble to close for 10 days. Please continue to make safe Covid decisions in your social choices, to help us to keep the school open. Leigh Davies, Headteacher.

Our Local Public Health Team sent out a letter to all Early Years settings for us to share with parents and carers. This letter is very important as it details how we should work in our Local Area. There are some significant changes to procedures. Please read the letter below very carefully.

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Dear Parent/Carer

An important message from Vicky Head, Director of Public Health

Cases of the new COVID-19 variant first identified in India (known as VOC-21APR-02 or B1.617.2) have recently been identified in Central Bedfordshire. These cases are not related to travel and include cases in children and families in early years settings.

We are working closely with Public Health England to investigate the cases and will undertake additional testing where this is appropriate.

Evidence suggests this variant spreads more easily than previous strains. In nearby Bedford, cases of this variant are increasing, and there has been a rapid rise in cases overall, particularly amongst children, including nursery and pre-school aged children.

The emergence of this new strain locally, and the speed with which it has spread in Bedford, is a reminder that we must all continue to be cautious and do what we can to control the spread of the virus.

Around 1 in 3 people do not have symptoms of COVID-19; increased testing will help to find other cases, and to limit the spread of this disease.

There are 4 key things that you can do to help:

1. Please watch out for symptoms of Covid-19 in your family

We are currently seeing more cases in young children. Please keep your child at home if they are unwell and book a PCR test at:

https://www.gov.uk/get-coronavirus-test or by calling 119.

2. People who have been in close contact with someone who tests positive should also self-isolate and book a PCR test as soon as possible

Please book a PCR test for all close contacts of positive cases at: https://www.gov.uk/get-coronavirus-test or by calling 119.

PLEASE NOTE THAT, EVEN IF THE RESULT OF THAT PCR TEST IS NEGATIVE, ALL CLOSE CONTACTS WILL NEED TO CONTINUE TO SELF-ISOLATE FOR THEIR FULL 10 DAYS.

3. Continue to participate in regular LFD testing.

Everyone over the age of 11 in Central Bedfordshire is encouraged to take up the offer of twice weekly testing. We have test centres across Central Bedfordshire for people to get tested, which can provide results usually within 30 minutes. You can also collect tests from test centres, from local pharmacies or order tests for home delivery at: https://www.gov.uk/order-coronavirus-rapid-lateral-flow-tests

4. If you (as a parent/carer) are eligible for vaccination, please book this promptly.

You can book your vaccination at: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronaviruscovid-19/coronavirus-vaccination/book-coronavirus-vaccination/ or visit the Clinical Commissioning Group website for details of drop-in sessions: https://www.blmkccg.nhs.uk/

We will continue to work with our education settings to ensure that they remain as safe as possible for our children, young people and staff.

Whilst we are concerned about this new variant, there is little evidence at present to suggest it causes more severe illness or makes the vaccines less effective.

Thank you for your ongoing support.

Yours sincerely, Vicky Head

Director of Public Health Central Bedfordshire, Bedford Borough and Milton Keynes Councils