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Nursery News 16th January 2023

NURSERY NEWS

16^th January 2023 – Edition 284

Find out About

A. Volunteers in school.

B. Parent Consultations.

C. Request for Box Modelling Materials.

D What the children are learning about this week?

A. Volunteers in school.

Back in October we asked if any parents or carers would be interested in helping in school as volunteers. I am so pleased to say that we have had eight people step forward to offer their help. We complete safeguarding checks and all volunteers are DBS checked (Disclosure and Barring Service). This process takes a few weeks, but you will now see people beginning to help throughout the week. We do try to partner each volunteer with a member of staff, so that relationships can be built and staff can plan activities that volunteers might enjoy taking part in or leading.

This additional help is very gratefully received. Extra adults around, having time to talk with children, makes a huge difference to each individual child’s experience in Nursery. I have heard children in the Library area having lovely discussions with one of our volunteers who is one of our pupils’ Granny. After she left the children were all very keen to know when she would be in again!

Time is very precious to everyone. We really appreciate those adults who are offering their time to support everyone’s children in nursery. Additional adults mean we can offer more activities, or bigger activities for the children. We are a small team and it is lovely to have new faces around.

B: Parent Consultations.

We aim to hold Parent Consultations every term. Little Nursery Consultations will be taking place during the week beginning 30^th January 2023. Parent Consultations are not compulsory, but if you would like an appointment please arrange this with your child’s keyworker when they are outside before sessions begin. These consultations will be on the telephone, will last 5 minutes and be at the following times:

Mrs Brinkley Monday 30^th January between 3:15pm and 4:15pm

Mrs Field. Tuesday 31^st January 9:30am to 10:15am

Mrs Cashmore Tuesday 31^st January 3:15pm to 4:00pm

Mrs Watson Wednesday 1^st February 9:30am to 10:15am

Miss Gaffney Wednesday 1^st February 3:15pm to 4:00pm

Mrs McGrath Thursday 2^nd February 3:15pm to 4:00pm

Details of Big Nursery Consultations will be in next weeks newsletter.

C: Request for Box Modelling Materials.

We are running very short of recycled materials for our box modelling area. We would be very grateful for recycled materials that the children can use to create models.  Children love boxes, but not too big please. The biggest boxes we can store are cereal boxes. Tiny boxes are useful, or unusual shapes.  Plastic bottle tops make good buttons and wheels. Yogurt pots, butter tubs and other plastic containers are interesting to glue together, but please ensure they are clean. Toilet roll tubes become superhero cuffs, covered in foil. Egg boxes are great places to glue coloured tissue.

D. What the children are learning about this week?

The theme in little nursery is the shoe shop

In room three, Mrs. Brinkley will be teaching the children the rules of the school and helping them to settle in to their new environment. She will make sure that they feel safe, happy and have lots of exciting toys to play with.

In the link there will be a role play area for the children to pretend they are in a shoe shop. Miss Gaffney will have a range of footwear for the children to try on and ‘buy’ using pretend money. There will be tills, baskets and shopping bags to support the children’s play.

In Catkins, Mrs. Field will be measuring the children’s feet and then painting them to make footprint pictures. She will show the children the marks that they have made by covering their feet in paint and pushing them down onto paper.

Outside, Mrs. Watson will be helping the children to draw around their own feet and looking at their shoe sizes. Mrs Watson will talk about the numbers inside the children’s shoes and that shoes usually come in pairs, encouraging the children to count all the shoes that they can see.

The theme in big nursery is people who help us: police and fire

In room one, Mrs. Patterson will set up a police station role play area as well as a fire truck for the children to play in. She will supply outfits and accessories to support the children’s role play and encourage everyone to use these items fairly by taking turns.

In room two, Miss Skai will model how to make police badges. Children will be shown how to use a range of materials to make their badges which can then be used throughout the school to continue the theme of police and fire role play.

Outside, Miss Howe will be playing the traffic light game, she will have red, green and amber colours to show the children and explain what each colour means. When Miss Howe holds up a green colour, the children should move and when she holds up a red colour, they should stop.

Mrs. Cashmore will be playing a fire themed bowling game with the children, each pin will have a fire picture on and the ball should be used to put the fire out. Children will watch as Mrs. Cashmore models how to aim and roll the ball towards the skittles.

Nursery News 9th January 2023

NURSERY NEWS

9^th January 2023 – Edition 283- First Newsletter of 2023

Find out About

A. Welcome back after the Christmas Break.

B. School Term Dates

C. Labelling belongings

D Government Advice regarding ‘People with Symptoms of a respiratory infection including Covid 19.’

E. What the children are learning about this week?

F. Job Vacancy- Finance Officer.

A. Welcome back after the Christmas Break.

We hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas Break. We are welcoming 8 new children from our wait list to join Blue Group in Little Nursery. Our pupil numbers grow each term as the academic year progresses, so please try to arrive on time, so we can take everyone safely inside in an organised way as swiftly as possible.

So, as a reminder, Little Nursery Should arrive for 8:45 and Big Nursery should arrive for 8:50. If you arrive late, please be patient, we will admit all those children who arrive on time first, and then come back to admit latecomers. We do understand that parents cannot be in two places at once if you have to drop off older brothers and sisters at other schools.

B: School Term Dates

The Local Authority, Central Bedfordshire, publishes details of term dates and school holidays on their website: Centralbedfordshire.gov.uk

Type: ‘School term and holiday dates in Central Bedfordshire’ into your search engine to find the correct page.

Be aware that sometimes the Local Authority adjusts school holiday dates. I would recommend you check the holiday dates on their website before booking a holiday.

For this term:

Half term is from Monday 13^th February 2023 to Friday 17^th February 2023, when Willow Nursery School will be closed.

The last day of the Spring term will be Thursday 30^th March 2023. School will reopen after the Spring Break on Monday 17^th April 2023.

C: Labelling belongings

Label all lunchboxes clearly with your child’s name, on the top, so staff can see the name when the box is on the trolley. Label all drinks bottles and containers.

Label all coats and shoes, and any other items that children can take off-cardigans/jumpers/ fleeces. It is much easier to return items to owners when things are labelled.

D Government Advice regarding ‘People with Symptoms of a respiratory infection including Covid 19.’

I have had an enquiry from a parent regarding our position on children’s attendance with regard to Covid 19. The Government has produced this document, which is available on their website at Gov.uk should anyone wish to read the full document which relates to adults as well as children.

I have included excerpts from the guidance that apply to children.

There are two ways to proceed, depending upon whether your child has symptoms, or has had a positive Covid 19 test result.

We will promote this view, as our view at Willow. We must be careful not to spread the infection to staff, as we will have to partially close if we have too many staff off unwell. We have to maintain strict government adult to child ratio’s at all times.

Guidance

People with symptoms of a respiratory infection including COVID-19

Guidance for people with symptoms of a respiratory infection including COVID-19, or a positive test result for COVID-19.

Updated June 2022

Children and young people (aged 18 years and under) who have symptoms of a respiratory infection, including COVID-19

Respiratory infections are common in children and young people, particularly during the winter months. Symptoms can be caused by several respiratory infections including the common cold, COVID-19 and RSV.

For most children and young people, these illnesses will not be serious, and they will soon recover following rest and plenty of fluids.

Very few children and young people with respiratory infections become seriously unwell. This is also true for children and young people with long-term conditions. Some children under 2, especially those born prematurely or with a heart condition, can be more seriously unwell from RSV.

Attending education is hugely important for children and young people’s health and their future.

When children and young people with symptoms should stay at home and when they can return to education

Children and young people with mild symptoms such as a runny nose, sore throat, or slight cough, who are otherwise well, can continue to attend their education setting.

Children and young people who are unwell and have a high temperature should stay at home and avoid contact with other people, where they can. They can go back to school, college or childcare, and resume normal activities when they no longer have a high temperature and they are well enough to attend.

All children and young people with respiratory symptoms should be encouraged to cover their mouth and nose with a disposable tissue when coughing and/or sneezing and to wash their hands after using or disposing of tissues.

It can be difficult to know when to seek help if your child is unwell. If you are worried about your child, especially if they are aged under 2 years old, then you should seek medical help.

Children and young people aged 18 years and under who have a positive test result

It is not recommended that children and young people are tested for COVID-19 unless directed to by a health professional.

If a child or young person has a positive COVID-19 test result they should try to stay at home and avoid contact with other people for 3 days after the day they took the test, if they can. After 3 days, if they feel well and do not have a high temperature, the risk of passing the infection on to others is much lower. This is because children and young people tend to be infectious to other people for less time than adults.

 E. What the children are learning about this week?

The theme in Little Nursery is friendship.

In Catkins the children will have magnet fishing rods and try to catch a magnetic fish. Each fish will have a number on the back and children will talk about the numbers they find on their fish. There will also be some shaving foam, dyed blue with food colouring for the children to explore and make marks with.

In room three, Mrs. Brinkley will read the story Rainbow Fish to the children and talk about the theme of friendship and what it means to be a good friend.

In the link, Miss Gaffney will be using different media resources to create their own colourful rainbow fish. The children can discuss which resources they want to use and where they will put them.

Outside in the garden, Mrs. Watson will be showing the children how to play nicely and share their toys. They will work together to play ball games, taking turns and working together.

The theme in big nursery is people who help us – vets.

In room one, Mrs. Patterson will have a vet role play set up. There will be lots of stuffed animals and accessories for the children to use to support their play. Mrs. Patterson will also have a game of pets corner lotto to share with the children.

In room two, Miss Skai will be making paper plate animals, the children can choose which animal they want to create. They will be encouraged to use tools as independently as possible. There will be lots of box modelling resources for the children to create accessories for the pets in room one.

Outside, Miss Howe will be playing hide and seek with animal toys. She will hide the toys around the garden for the children to discover, encouraging the children to talk about where they found the animals. Miss Howe will model language such as ‘behind’ and ‘on top of’ to help the children with their search.

Mrs. Cashmore will be making animal collages with the children, using natural resources. The children will choose the animal they would like to decorate and what resources they would like to use. Mrs. Cashmore will prompt discussions about the texture of each item they use to decorate their picture and model language for children that may need help to use descriptive language.

F. Job Vacancy- Finance Officer.

Mrs Evans is moving on to a new job at the beginning of February. She has been working with us since 2016. As her children are now older she feels it is an appropriate time to begin working ‘Year round’ again, rather than choosing to work Term Time only.

So, we are looking to recruit someone new to work in the school office, alongside Mrs Selth, to complete all the office tasks necessary to run the school.

We will be advertising the position on the school website willownursery.co.uk and on a website where jobs in schools in Central Bedfordshire are advertised. ‘The Academy for Central Bedfordshire- Vacancies’. The full web address is:

https://www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/info/118/the_academy_-_inspiring_futures/687/the_academy_-_vacancies

(Please note the advertisement may take 48 hours to appear on the Academy for Central Bedfordshire website).

We aim to have the advertisement/ person specification/ job specification/ application form on our school website by tomorrow, Tuesday.

The closing date for applications is Friday 20^th January 2023

Nursery News 12th December 2022

NURSERY NEWS

12th December 2022 – Edition 282- Last Newsletter of 2022

Find out About

A. Little Nursery Stay and Play Sessions

B. Miss Tyler- Long Term Absence.

C. What the children are learning about this week?

D. Christmas Parties

E. Notes for the end of term/ dates for beginning of Spring term

A. Little Nursery Stay and Play Sessions

This week, beginning Monday 12th December Little Nursery Parents are welcome to join their child for a Stay and Play session. Parents are welcome to stay and play with their child during one of their child’s normal booked morning sessions (between 8:45am and 11:45am) on Monday 12th, Tuesday 13th, Wednesday 14th or Thursday 15th December. You are welcome to stay for the whole morning, or just stay for a short time. Our hope is that the children will be settled well by now, and this will give you an opportunity to see what your children do whilst at nursery, and give you the opportunity to join in with them too.

B. Miss Tyler- Long Term Absence.

Miss Tyler works in Catkins Class with our very youngest two year olds. Miss Tyler has recently been diagnosed with Breast Cancer. Miss Tyler will begin treatment this week. Whilst she would prefer to be working, to keep her mind busy, her doctors have informed her that she will come into contact with too many germs and viruses working in a Nursery, and her immune system will be greatly weakened by her treatments. Therefore, Miss Tyler will be on Long Term Leave as from today.

We are a close team, and Miss Tyler has worked at Willow since 2008. She is very knowledgeable and well respected by the staff. Miss Tyler really understands the needs of two year olds. She encourages little ones in such a kind, considerate and playful way. She has a strong sense of fun and ensures all our littlest children have the opportunity to dance, sing, explore, get messy and giggle.

In the short term, we will reallocate Miss Tyler’s Keyworker children to other experienced members of the Catkin’s team -Miss Cashmore, Mrs McGrath or Mrs Field. Staff will introduce themselves to parents, so new keyworker relationships can be built.

We aim to be as supportive to Miss Tyler as we can, as she goes on this treatment journey, but unfortunately she will not be able to see us at school. We have been told to expect a long absence of up to a year before she can return to work.

The Nursery Staff will do their very best to maintain the high standards of care, fun and opportunity that Miss Tyler has helped to create, so that she can slip seamlessly back in on her return.

C. What the children are learning about this week?

The theme throughout nursery this week is Christmas

In Catkins the children will be hunting for pictures of presents with Mrs. Field. They will follow simple directions to look for the presents and answer questions about where the pictures were hidden. Mrs. Field will model positional language for the children which will improve their communication and language skills.

In the Link, Mrs. Watson will be decorating biscuits and creating some Christmas magic by making magic wands using breadsticks. She will support the children with their decorations but encourage as much independence as possible.

In Room 3, Miss Gaffney will work with the children to create lanterns using coloured cellophane and black paper. They will hold up their lanterns as they sing Christmas carols with Miss Gaffney. Children will also learn the story of Christmas, there will be a small stable with figurines for the children to act out the story after they have heard it.

Outside, Mrs. Brinkley and Miss Skai will be decorating the trees in the garden and making bird feeders for the children to bring home. Miss Skai will explain that it is difficult for the birds to find food in the winter, so it is kind and helpful to provide food for them.

The staff will be playing Christmas music and dancing with the children in the garden. Everyone will have the opportunity to show off their best dance moves.

In Room 1, Mrs. Cashmore will be making tree decorations with the children. They will write out the letters of their name and stick them onto card with PVA glue. The children will add sparkles and pipe cleaners to their decorations before they bring them home.

Miss Howe will be playing the Christmas Surprise Game; children will learn the names of 2D shapes as the gifts in the game are all different shapes. As they play the children will listen as Miss Howe models a range of vocabulary, teaching them about the uses of the presents that they discover.

In Room 2, Mrs. Patterson will have a stable role play set up. She will read the Christmas story to the children and they will be encouraged to act out the nativity after they have listened. There will be Nativity costumes for the children to dress up in, and a baby in a manger for the children to look after.

D. Christmas Parties.

These parties are for all our children regardless of the days you attend.

Unfortunately parents will be unable to stay during the parties as we do not have enough room! Staffing ratio’s will be maintained.

Little Nursery Party.

Friday 16th December

9:00am to 10:00am

The Plan:

9:00 Doors Open

Children work in small groups to make ‘Christmas Crowns’

9:20 Party Snacks.

9:30 Surprise visit from Father Christmas

Songs for Father Christmas

Father Christmas leaves gifts for all children.

9:35 Back to groups to make a decoration.

9:50 Pass the Parcel Game.

10:00 Parents arrive to collect all children.

Big Nursery Party

Friday 16th December

11:15am to 1:00pm

The Plan:

11:15 Doors Open

11:25am Party Food

11:45am Surprise visit from Father Christmas.

Songs for Father Christmas.

12:00 Christmas Magic Show

1:00pm Parents arrive to collect all children.

D Notes for the end of term/ date for beginning of Spring term

On Friday 16th December the school will be open for the parties only. The school office will be closed on Friday 16th December. The deadline for all payments for the beginning of the Spring Term will be on Thursday 15th December at 9:30am.

The staff would like to say Happy Christmas! to all our families that celebrate Christmas. We wish all our families a safe and happy break during the school holidays and look forward to seeing you in the new year.

Spring Term begins on 4th January 2023.

Nursery News 5th December 2022

NURSERY NEWS

5^th December 2022 – Edition 281

Find out About

1. .Information regarding the beginning of the New Term in January 2023

2.Big Nursery Parents joining us for Music Time.

3. Christmas Cards

4.Lost Property

5.What the children are learning about this week?

1. Information regarding the beginning of the Spring Term in January 2023.

School reopens on Wednesday 4^th January 2023

During the Autumn term, all children in Little Nursery have been classed as ‘Two Year Olds’. Little Nursery Children who have had their 3^rd birthday between the 1^st September 2022 and 31^st December 2022 are now entitled to universal 15 hours funding, or for some families, 30 hours funding. These children will be based in Little Nursery, and their keyworker will be Miss Gaffney or Mrs Watson. They will now be known as ‘Blue Group’.  In January, eight more children will join ‘Blue Group’ from our waiting list.

2.Big Nursery Parents joining us for Music Time.

We sent out invitations to all Big Nursery parents (by email on 31^st October) to join us for ‘Music’ time. The invitation detailed the date and time of the Music session that your child takes part in . If you would like to join your child to participate in our Music Activity ‘Pigs on Holiday’ then please just turn up at the date and time specified and you will be made very welcome. There is no need to book. Sessions last 25 minutes.

3.Christmas Cards.

We as a staff, would like to ask parents to consider sending just one Christmas card in to school, written ‘To all my friends at Willow’. These cards will then be displayed for all to see in the library corridor.

 4.Lost Property

We have accumulated a number of items of clothing in our Lost Property box. We will put these items outside for parents to view this week. Please check to see if anything belongs to your child, and take it home. We will dispose of any unclaimed items at the end of term.

5.What the children are learning about this week?

The theme in throughout nursery is Christmas

In Catkins, Miss Tyler will be working on a range of arts and crafts for the children to make and bring home. The children will have the chance to perfect their wrapping skills as they wrap and unwrap lots of empty boxes.

In the link, Mrs. Brinkley will mix up some soap flakes and coloured paper for the children to play with. Children will be encouraged to talk about the texture of the soap flakes and Mrs. Brinkley will model descriptive language for them.

In Room 3, Mrs. Watson will provide paper plates for the children to use to create Christmas tree crafts.  The children will explore different media to decorate their trees.

Outside, Miss Gaffney will make reindeer food with the children using porridge and a little bit of magic. She will also give the children bells that they can ring as they all sing Christmas songs together in the playground.

Mrs. Patterson will also be outside and will support the children in exploring natural resources using all of their senses as they create miniature Christmas trees. Following the theme, she will lead the children on a reindeer hunt around the garden.

In Room 1, Miss Skai will have a literacy focus as she and the children share the  story of Dear Santa, where they will follow the story learning that print has meaning. The children will then write their own letters to Santa and post them through our very special Christmas postbox.

In Room 2, Miss Howe will be using one handed tools with the children as they use forks and green paint to form images of a Christmas tree. Miss Howe will show the children how to use the forks dipped in paint to create an effect that looks like the branches of a fir tree. She will encourage them to decorate their tree and count the decorations they have made.

Mrs. Cashmore will be making elf hats with the children. They will use their fine motor skills to colour, cut and stick images to place on their hat. Children will also be asked to think about how they can attach these items onto card to create their design. Once their hats have been made, the children can wear them for the rest of the day.

Nursery News 28th November 2022

NURSERY NEWS

28th  November 2022 – Edition 280

Find out About

1. Parking with consideration.
2. Oral Health Week.
3. Christmas Parties
4. School Photographer
5. Walk in the Dark.
6. Renewing 30 hour codes.
7. What are the children learning about this week?

1. Parking with consideration.

One of our Local Residents in Goldstone Crescent has very politely asked me to pass on a message to all Nursery Parents who come to school by car. She says:

“Could you please, please remind parents to not park over our driveways and to drive carefully around the school/nursery. Our driveways are being blocked regularly. We also drop our children to different schools and when we come back we can’t access our driveways or we have work commitments and can’t move our cars.”

Goldstone Crescent becomes extremely busy at dropping off and collection times. Please park with consideration to our neighbours.

 2. Oral Health Week.

It is Oral Health week in Big Nursery this week. We will be having a visitor to speak to the children on Wednesday 30^th November, from a Dental Practice in Houghton Regis. She is bringing with her toothbrushes for all the Big Nursery children and her friendly crocodile puppet.

3.Christmas Parties

The school will be open only for the parties.

The Little Nursery Christmas Party is planned to be on Friday 16^th December from 9:00am to 10:00am.

All children who attend Little Nursery are invited to attend the Christmas Party regardless of what days they usually attend.

Parents and children should arrive for 9:00am, and wait on the pavement outside the nursery. We will follow normal routines to admit the children. Children will require their change of clothes bag. Children will not require their water bottles as we will be providing refreshments. We will use normal routines for departure, so please arrive to collect your child at 10:00am.

The Big Nursery Christmas Party is planned to be on Friday 16^th December from 11:15am until 1:00pm.

All children who attend Main Nursery are invited to attend the Christmas Party regardless of what days they usually attend.

Parents and children should arrive for 11:15, and wait on the pavement outside the nursery. We will follow normal routines to admit the children, with Green group coming in first followed by Red group, then Yellow group. Children will not require a water bottle or a packed lunch on this day as we will be providing refreshments. Children will not require their change of clothes bag.

Children may wear party clothes if they wish, or regular nursery clothes.

Please be prompt to collect your child at 1:00pm. We will use normal routines for departure.

4. School Photographer.

Victoria, our school photographer contacted me on Friday to say there would a small delay in the delivery of our photos. She expects to have them to us by Wednesday 30^th November. We will get them out to parents as soon as we receive them.

5. Walk in the Dark

Our first after school event, for two years, due to Covid, went ahead last Thursday.

That is something to celebrate in itself, as it felt so very normal!

I must admit, when we were setting up the garden at 3:30pm the rain was pouring down and the wind was blowing wildly, that we were anticipating a very soggy ‘Walk in the Rain’ event. However, the rain just stopped at around 4:30pm. We quickly dried off all the seating and tables and opened the front door…..

We were so pleased to see 30 families joining us. This was more than we had thought would come, due to the challenging weather conditions. However, lots of little people arrived with their torches, ready to explore, bringing with them parents, and lots of excitement.

The event in itself is not elaborate, but what it does do is spark the children’s imaginations. I heard one child racing off through the dark shouting they were ‘looking for Tigers’. There were torch beams criss-crossing in the sky above the school, and passers by walking their dogs were stopping to look at what was going on in the Nursery School garden.

It was lovely to see the community atmosphere created when families came together to enjoy a snack in the garden. Room 2 still smells of onions! I was fortunate enough to be on the gate as families drifted home. I had some lovely feedback from parents. A couple of children cried because they didn’t want to leave….. We must have got something right…..

6.Renewing 30 hour codes.

All parents in receipt of 30 hour funding must ensure their 30 hour code is valid on the 31^st December 2022, to enable it to be used for the Spring Term 2023.

If you already have a 30 hour code it must be renewed every 3 months. The government sends out reminders by email to all those who need to renew their code. We have had parents have some problems in the past. Sometimes the reminder email from the government has ended up being sent to parents spam email accounts. Please check your spam folders!

Some parents, for example, of children in Little Nursery, may have applied for their child’s 30 hour code earlier in this term in readiness for January. Codes do come with a ‘grace period’ but these only apply when the code is actually being claimed from. So if your code is not yet being used please make sure it is renewed and valid on 31^st December.

If a code is not valid, we are unable to claim the 30 hours funding from the government. In this situation your child would revert to a 15 hours universal funded place, or you would have to pay the top up fee of £67.50 per week to maintain a 30 hour space.

7. What are the children learning about this week?

What are the children learning about this week?

The theme in Little Nursery is Maisy Mouse.

In Catkins, the children will use sponges and paint to create pictures of Maisy Mouse. They will look at the shapes of the sponges as they dip them in paint. The children will also be encouraged to talk about the colours of the paint being used.

In the link, Mrs. Brinkley will be using a different paint technique each day. These will include using cotton buds, rollers and their fingers. Mrs. Brinkley will explain to the children that they can use different resources to paint instead of the traditional paintbrush.

In room three, Mrs. Watson will set up a library role play for the children to sit and read books. She will provide a range of stories for everyone to share including some of the Maisy Mouse collection.

Outside, Miss Gaffney will take the children on a hunt for characters from the Maisy Mouse book. They will explore the whole garden looking for as many characters as they can find. Miss Gaffney will also be making some flags for the children to celebrate Saint Andrew’s day.

The theme in Big Nursery is oral health.

In room one, Miss Skai will be sharing the story of I care for my teeth, the children will read along with Miss Skai ensuring that everyone is reading from left to right and from top to bottom. There will also be a sequencing tooth-brushing activity for the children to complete. The children will cut and stick pictures in the correct order to show how they look after their teeth.

In room two, Miss Howe will be creating mouth pictures using paint for the lips and teeth. The children will be encouraged to use sponges dipped in white paint to represent teeth. They will be encouraged to paint and count twenty teeth.

Mrs. Cashmore will squirt shaving foam on some laminated teeth to represent toothpaste, she will model how to clean the shaving foam off of the teeth with a toothbrush and explain that we must brush our teeth twice a day to keep them healthy.

Outside in the garden, Mrs. Patterson will be promoting healthy food choices for the children. She will be placing pictures of happy teeth and pictures of unhappy teeth around the garden. Mrs. Patterson will then ask the children to find healthy food choices and place them on the happy teeth, and the not so healthy food choices on the unhappy teeth. This should help children in the future with making their own healthy food choices.

At Willow Nursery School we have chosen to focus on oral health as part of our school development plan. This means that, as a school, we will be teaching the children how to make positive food choices, how to brush their teeth effectively and all about the dentist. The main points we will focus on are listed below. Please work with us in promoting good oral health for your children.

Brushing

• You should replace your toothbrush if the bristles have become splayed.
• You should have help from a grown up to brush your teeth if you are under 8 years old.
• You should brush your teeth with small circle shapes on your teeth and gums.
• You should only have a pea sized amount of toothpaste on your brush if you are 3, 4, 5 or 6 years old.
• You should spit out the toothpaste if you want to, but you don’t need to rinse your mouth out with water.

Snacks

• You should drink tooth friendly drinks like water and milk.
• You should eat tooth friendly food like breadsticks, cheese, grapes, crackers and vegetables.

Dentist

• You should visit your dentist regularly to get your teeth checked to ensure they are healthy.