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Nursery News 21st November 2022

Monday, November 21, 2022

NURSERY NEWS

21^st November 2022 – Edition 279

Find out About

Big Nursery-Would you like any additional sessions for your child?
Little Nursery- Would you like any additional sessions for your child?
School Photographer
Walk in the Dark.
Children in Need.
What are the children learning about this week?

Big Nursery-Would you like any additional sessions for your child?

At the beginning of the school year, in September, I plan for there to be the correct number of staff on duty in each session. We can have up to 50 children in Big Nursery at any one time. We must have 1 member of staff for every 13 children. So for 50 children I need 4 staff. However, if there are 39 children or less I need 3 staff on duty. So, in this academic year 2022-23, some sessions have 3 staff on duty and some have 4 staff. I am able to offer additional sessions to children who already attend Big Nursery. However, some sessions will be capped at 39 pupils due to staffing levels.

If you would like to pay for additional sessions for your child (at £13.50 per morning or afternoon session, or £27.00 for a full day session) your child can start those sessions immediately, if we have a space available. We do expect that once extra spaces are taken they become your child’s regular allocation, and they are booked and paid for every week.

If you would like to use the 30 hour entitlement to pay for your additional sessions, you would have to ensure that you have a valid code in place by 31^st December 2022, in order to use 30 hour funding in January 2023.

So you can book:

additional morning spaces.
additional full days

We do not have an option to send a child in just for an afternoon session (except as part of the Wednesday/Thursday/Friday 2 ½ day offer).

However, if your child attends for 2 ½ days, you may wish to top up their half day to a full day, adding an extra Wednesday morning or afternoon, in order to make a total of three full days.

The ability to book these sessions will be just this week, until Friday 25^th November, as we have to get registers ready for the new year, so there must be an end point!

2. Little Nursery- Would you like any additional sessions for your child?

I am able to offer additional sessions to children who already attend Little Nursery. Some sessions are allocated to particular age groups. Availability is dependent upon your child’s age.

Blue Group children will become entitled to their 15/30 funded hours in January, parents have chosen their options for January and these sessions are now allocated so there are no further sessions available for Blue Group.

Orange group are those children who will become entitled to 15/30 hours funding in April. Parents have chosen their options for April and these are now in place. I have one Tuesday morning session available for an orange group child for the Spring Term. There are no further sessions available for Orange Group.

The younger Little Nursery children, (including Yellow Group who are entitled to their 15/30 hours in September) may choose additional sessions for between now, (or January) and September. I can offer some morning sessions, (currently only four spaces in total), or you can choose to extend your morning space into a full day space (8:45am to 2:45pm). Morning sessions cost £15:00 and full day sessions cost £30:00.

Again, once booked, sessions are allocated as your child’s regular attendance pattern and therefore should be booked and paid for every week.

The ability to book these sessions will be just this week, until Friday 25^th November. After this time I will release the available sessions to children on the waiting list.

Please note: I will not be able to generate any further morning sessions in Little Nursery until September 2023. Once the last 4 spaces are filled it is unlikely that any more morning spaces will become available. So, if you feel you would like more sessions for your child, please consider extending a morning space into a full day space.

3. School Photographer.

Victoria, our school photographer collected all the photo orders from school. She plans that all the photo’s should be returned to Willow by next Monday, the 28^th November. We will get them out to parents as soon as we receive them.

4. Walk in the Dark

We made the decision to move the Walk in the Dark from Thursday 17^th November to Thursday 24^th November at 5:00pm due to the heavy rain we were experiencing. It had been raining for the majority of the preceding week and the garden was extremely wet. This is our first evening event since Covid, so we want it to be fun.

So, we plan to try again! So as a reminder….

We turn off as many lights in school as possible. School is lit just by a few lanterns. The children’s faces are a picture when they come in and find their school in darkness. It looks completely different!.

So what happens?. Families come in at the front entrance of the school. Parents sign in. Children then collect a clipboard with a look and find sheet attached, with photographs of a number of soft toy animals that are hidden in the dark garden. Families then go off to find the hidden toys. If you have a torch, do bring it. The children love exploring with a torch!. Then, when you have found all the hidden characters it is time to stop for some refreshments….. Having something to eat in the garden, in the dark, is quite different. I’ve heard rumours that we may be having hotdogs ( or cheese rolls for vegetarians) cookies and squash.

This event is free.

The refreshments are free, too. We would like everyone to have to opportunity to come.

If we decide to cancel the event again we will send out an email at around 8:30am on Thursday morning, and put a message on our web site www.willownursery.co.uk

5. Children in Need.

Friday the 18^th November was BBC Children in Need day.

We raised £65 in our bucket collection.

6. What are the children learning about this week?

The theme in little nursery is construction

In Catkins, Mrs. McGrath will show the children how to decorate construction collages using glue and paper. Mrs. McGrath will talk to the children about what the construction vehicles are used for. She will support the children where needed in making their collages, making sure to model lots of language to improve the children’s understanding.

In Room three, Mrs. Brinkley will have large Lego blocks available for the children to build their own designs. She will talk to the children about the colours of the blocks and ask questions about what the children are building. Mrs. Brinkley will try to instil a sense of pride in the children about their creations.

In the Link, Miss Gaffney will be creating card sculptures. She will provide cut outs of cardboard and PVA glue. The children will be encouraged to stack the cardboard pieces on top of each other, using glue to keep the pieces in place. The end result will be constructions made of card.

Outside, Mrs. Watson will use building and connecting blocks to make different structures of their choice. There will also be a range of smaller blocks available for the children to focus on their fine motor skills as they balance and stack their blocks.

The theme in big nursery is electricity

In Room one, Mrs. Patterson will provide components such as wires, switches and bulbs for the children to create their own small electrical circuits. Mrs. Patterson will show the children how to make an electrical circuit and then see if they can replicate this on their own. She will also have the remote control cars out for the children, who have the chance to work on building their sharing skills as they wait for a turn on the remote control cars.

In Room two, Miss Skai will set up a stage area for the children to sing, dance and perform along to music, and a disco light. Everyone will have the opportunity to perform on the stage and can choose which way they would like to do this. While they are perfoming, Miss Skai will be working with small groups of children, learning about items which are powered by electricity or batteries.

Outside, Miss Howe will be playing a game called ‘electricity or not?’ which the children need to use their knowledge to decide if certain items are powered by electricity or not. There will be two signs, one for items that need electricity and one for items that do not. The children will be shown images and they need to move close to the sign that shows how each item is powered.

Mrs. Cashmore will be playing ‘electricity tag’, a game of tag where the chaser tries to catch other people. When a person tags their friend they will say ‘buzz’ and then they begin to work together. Mrs. Cashmore will explain to the children that electricity can pass through certain objects and when we tag somebody in the game the power to tag moves onto them.

WALK IN THE DARK CANCELLED THU 17TH NOV

Thursday, November 17, 2022

Due to the adverse weather conditions, the Walk in the Dark is cancelled tonight (Thu 17th Nov). We will attempt to try again next Thursday 24th November @ 5pm, weather permitting.

Nursery News 14th November 2022

Monday, November 14, 2022

NURSERY NEWS

14^th November 2022 – Edition 278

Find out About

A. Little Nursery Options Forms for 3+ Nursery.

B. School Photographer

C Walk in the Dark.

D. Local Visits

E. Children in Need.

F. Please remember to call the office if your child is absent.

G What are the children learning about this week?

A.Little Nursery Options Forms.

On the 17^th October we sent out offer letters to all families in Little Nursery (with a date of birth between 01/09/2019 and 31/08/2020 inviting you to choose an attendance pattern for your child when they become entitled to 15/30 hours of funded education. I am pleased to say we have received paperwork back or spoken to all parents now. I have put all the Little Nursery names onto a big timetable for their 3+ time.

I can confirm that all parents in Little Nursery can have their first choice of attendance pattern as selected by them on their options form.

I now move to the waiting list, to fill all the empty spaces available, for children to join 3+ nursery in January, April and September 2023. The January 2023 intake is now full. I will shortly begin working on the April 2023 intake.

B. School Photographer.

As promised, the school photographer returned the photo proofs on Thursday 10^th November. Since then we have been handing them out to parents, when your children have been in. Victoria has asked that all orders should be returned to Nursery by Thursday 17^th November

C. Walk in the Dark

Miss Howe is organising a ‘Walk in the dark’, an activity for children and their parents to attend together, after school, on Thursday 17^th November at 5:00pm. If you plan to come, please send an email to Mrs Selth cselth@willownursery.co.uk entitled ‘Walk in the dark’ detailing your child’s name and how many adults and children will be coming. We have 86 families who attend Willow Nursery School. So far only 25 have signed up.

It’s been a few years since we have had a Walk in the Dark. We turn off as many lights in school as possible. School is lit just by a few lanterns. The children’s faces are a picture when they come in and find their school in darkness. It looks completely different!.

This event is free.

The refreshments are free, too. We would like everyone to have to opportunity to come.

D. Local Visits.

A reminder, that this week, all children in Big Nursery will exploring the Local area near to the school in small groups, supported by staff. We are aware that heavy rain is forecast for parts of this week. Staff risk assess these local visits. We would not choose to take the children out in heavy rain, as we would be unable to achieve our learning intentions. Decisions will be made on the day, as to whether the small trips go ahead.

E. Children in Need.

Friday the 18^th November is BBC Children in Need day. We are very happy to make a collection on behalf of the ‘Children in Need’ charity. A donation bucket will be available on the gate at drop off and collection times should anyone wish to donate.

F. Please remember to call the office if your child is absent.

We ask all parents to telephone the school and report your child’s absence, preferable before the registers are completed. Staff complete registers for their groups of children. I, Mrs Davies, then collate the information from the registers, noting down who is absent. I then double check with the school office to see if we have had a phone call from the parents of absent children. If we have not heard from a family, we will call you to find out why your child is absent.

Please help us by phoning in to the school office and telling us about all absences. We do have an answer phone, which we do check regularly during the school day, so please do feel able to leave a message about your child’s absence.

Some parents are really good at calling in, thank you, it helps us greatly.

Nursery attendance is not compulsory. School becomes compulsory for all children the term after they turn 5. However we are required to encourage good attendance and good timekeeping to get families ready for formal schooling.

When you update us about a child’s absence we can put the correct absence code in the register. For example, this morning when I did the register we had 17 children absent.out of a possible 62 children. That is an absence rate of 27%, which is quite high.

We can monitor if we have any childhood illnesses spreading, (such as chickenpox). We can monitor the incidence of tummy upsets. It is expected that children will get colds etc when children begin at nursery or school for the first time, because they are suddenly exposed to more viruses.

Please help us to keep our school as healthy as possible. Please do not send in children who are unwell. Children with temperatures should not be sent to Nursery. Children with an upset stomach, or vomiting should not be sent to Nursery. At Nursery we have strict adult to child ratio’s which must be adhered to. If staff pick up illness from the children and are absent it leaves us with a staff shortage. Any staff absence impacts upon the children’s learning opportunities.

G. What are the children learning about this week?

The theme in little nursery is colour and light

In room three, Mrs. Brinkley will be using magnets to tell the story of Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? The children will place the magnets on the board to help Mrs. Brinkley tell the story. This will improve the children’s colour recognition skills and boost their confidence with taking part in group activities.

In the link, Miss Gaffney will set up the dark tent and provide torches and other resources for the children to explore light and colour. The children will be encouraged to take turns in the dark tent to ensure safety. Encouraging turn taking will show the children how important it is to share our resources.

In Catkins, Mrs. Field will be making binoculars with coloured lenses. The children will choose which colour lenses they would like their binoculars to have and Mrs. Field will discuss what effect these lenses have when they look through them.

Outside, Mrs. Watson will be joining the children on a colour hunt. They will look around the garden to see how many different coloured items Mrs. Watson has hidden. As the children discover the hidden colours, Mrs. Watson will talk with them about their favourite colours.

The theme in big nursery is our local area

In room one, Mrs. Patterson will set up a supermarket for the children to role play in. they will use their first hand experience of shopping in the local area to act out scenarios in the shop. The children will be given shopping lists and asked to find the items on the lists, they will be asked to count out their items to ensure they have collected the correct amount.

In room two, Miss Skai will be investigating different ways to make marks on paper and symmetry. Miss Skai will demonstrate how to dip string in paint and place it on paper to leave colourful stripey patterns on the paper, she will then show how to fold the paper in half and create a symmetrical pattern as the paint imprints on both sides.

Outside, Miss Howe will be joining the children on an autumn hunt. Everyone will look around the garden for listed items and stick them onto a sheet. Miss Howe will talk to the children about the seasons changing and when and where these items can usually be found.

Mrs. Cashmore will provide Duplo bricks with pictures of the local area stuck to them for the children to examine. The children will be encouraged to build their own town using the images of the local landmarks that they may recognise from their travels.

Nursery News 7th November 2022

Monday, November 7, 2022

NURSERY NEWS

7^th November 2022 – Edition 277

Find out About

1. School Photographer

2. Moving Forward, Considering Covid…

3.End of Summer Term 2023

4.Volunteering as a Parent Helper in Nursery.

5.Walk in the Dark.

6. Local Visits

7. Central Bedfordshire Local Authority Childcare Sufficiency Survey

8. What are the children learning about this week?

School Photographer.

Our school photographer was here last week on Wednesday 2^nd November and Thursday 3^rd November. Victoria Mitchell is a very talented photographer. She usually manages to get some wonderful images of even the most reluctant children. We had some very productive sessions. I have asked how long will it take for photo’s to arrive. Victoria says that she should have the proofs back to school in about a weeks time, then parents have about a week to make their orders, if they wish to do so, and the completed prints should be returned after one further week, so all in all, the entire process should take around three weeks.

2. Moving Forward, Considering Covid….

Covid -19 has had a major impact in all our lives in the past two years. At this time last year I was about to tell all our parents about all the Open School Activities we were planning. At the same time, the Omicron variant was becoming the dominant Covid strain. We then experienced our worst two months at Willow with regard to staff absence due to Covid 19. We were unable to invite parents to come into school at all last year.

So, this year we are keen to offer a normal programme of activities. We have Open School Activities in each term that we invite parents to. We also organise a range of activities for the children, such as our Local Visit which will be happening next week.

I do not like outlining details of any activities and then finding ourselves having to cancel an activity. We do not want to let any child or parent down. All of these things that we plan can only go ahead if we have the sufficient adults to supervise them.

We still do not know quite how Covid will affect us all this winter, or further into next year. I do not like to plan too far ahead with schedules and dates for parents in case our plans change.

However, after sending out my newsletter last week which had information on regarding the Christmas parties, one of our pupils’ parents contacted the school and asked if there would be any other days in our year when the school would close early or be partially open so please see the next point….

3.End of Summer Term 2023

There is just one other day where we do something very special for the children and that is the very last day of Summer term. On this day school is closed to all the Little Nursery Children. We have a special Leavers Event for all those children leaving us from Big Nursery and going on to Primary Schools. We plan to hold our Leavers event on Friday 21^st July 2023 from 8:50am to 11:50am. This event is for all Big Nursery children regardless of your child’s normal attendance pattern. Further information will be given near the time.

4.Volunteering as a Parent Helper In Nursery

During Covid we were unable to routinely have parents in to school. This is something we really missed because each year we always encourage parents to volunteer to help us in school. I haven’t written to parents regarding parent helpers since November 2019, which seems such a long time ago.

Becoming a parent helper isn’t possible for all parents. We know a number of you are working parents and so are very busy. A good number of parents have younger children to look after too, so are unable to commit to help.

However, we, as a school really value the help if parents can contribute their time.

We find help most useful when parents can make a regular commitment each week to help out for a morning or afternoon session. Some parents offer a few hours of their time every week, some parents offer time every other week. If you become a regular parent helper we allocate you to one of our team members who you will work with each time you come in. In this way staff can plan activities for you to become involved with, from arts and crafts, -little ‘makes’, which children love, to playing table top maths or language games, exploring construction toys, playing in the sand or water trays with the children.

Adult time can make a huge difference to a child’s education. Our staff’s first priority is to maintain safe and stimulating environments. At the beginning of the school year it is very difficult for them to focus on sustained interactions with small groups of children at the activities I have outlined above. Staff really appreciate the help of Parent Volunteers as it means we can offer wider Adult led or Adult supported opportunities in each play space.

So what can the volunteering opportunity offer you?

We are a friendly team. You might like to come and spend a few hours working with other adults.
Come in to school, and find out what your child experiences day to day.
Maybe take your first steps towards being an Early Years Practitioner. See how rewarding the job really is!
Spend some time with our wonderful pupils. They just love to chat with new adults and share what they have been doing.

Please do not feel you are too shy, or that perhaps your English Language skills are not strong. We would encourage you to come forward and give it a try.

If you think you might be interested please mention this to your child’s keyworker, or to any of the staff.

Miss Gaffney is our Parent Volunteer co-ordinator. She will then get in touch with you and invite you to a meeting with other interested parents.

5. Walk in the Dark. A reminder….

6.Local Visits

Going out of school on a small trip or visit provides the children with good learning opportunities. Miss Howe and Mrs Patterson spent an afternoon planning these short trips. Staff will explore the area finding talking points to discuss with the children. A change of environment can create lots of opportunities to share ideas These trips have been rigorously risk assessed and a Senior member of staff will accompany the children at all times.

Big Nursery Children will be going out of school in very small groups (maximum of 8 children) during week beginning Monday 14^th November to explore their Local environment, from Goldstone Crescent to the post box at the junction of Wilbury Drive and Ridgeway Avenue. Staff to child ratio will be 1 adult to every 2 children.

7. Central Bedfordshire Local Authority Childcare Sufficiency Survey

I have recently taken part in a childcare sufficiency survey with the Local Authority.

Central Bedfordshire Council have also been promoting an online survey about childcare to local parents, carers and guardians. This survey is not focused on individual provisions – it seeks to find out from parents how they feel about their broad childcare options across the Local Authority area.

The survey is open until Friday 11^th November, if you would like to share your views please follow the link below:

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/CBCSA22

8. What are the children learning about this week?

The theme in Little Nursery is fireworks

In Room three, the children will be beginning to recognise the letters in their name. Miss Gaffney will show the children their names and how to write each letter. She will support the children in trying to copy the letters in their name onto paper squares. Together they will order the letters in their name and create named firework pictures.

In the link, Mrs. Watson will be using lots of bright coloured paint and salad spinners to produce artwork. The children will talk about the effects of spinning paper quickly to mix paint and create beautiful paintings.

Outside, Mrs. Brinkley will be making firework streamers using coloured crepe paper and lollipop sticks. She will talk to the children about any fireworks they may have seen over the weekend and the noises they may have made.

In Catkins, Miss Tyler will be using scratch paper and wooden sticks to design vibrant pictures that look like fireworks displays. Miss Tyler will talk to the children about the sights and sounds of the fireworks and any experiences that the children may have had over the weekend.

The theme in big nursery is colour and light

In room one, Miss Howe will be sharing the story of Brown Bear, Brown Bear, what do you see? with the children. She will teach the children that print has meaning, using the words and pictures in the book to tell the story.

Mrs. Cashmore will be playing ‘Doodlebugs’ with the children. ‘Doodlebugs’ is a colour and picture matching game which teaches the children to recognise and match colours and pictures. In the game the children should take turns to choose a card that matches the card on the table, they can match by colour or picture or both.

In room two, Mrs. Patterson will be decorating large Elmer the elephant pictures using coloured paper and glue. The children will scrunch up the paper and glue each piece into a square on Elmer’s body. Mrs. Patterson will also supply the children with lots of loose parts to use at the playdough table, this is to encourage free, imaginative play and allow them to be as creative as possible.

Outside, Miss Skai will have road signs out to teach the children about stopping, getting ready and moving around on bikes. She will encourage children to be mindful of others as they cycle and move safely around the playground. Miss Skai will have some leaf templates and wool for the children to wrap around the templates. This will build on the fine motor skills of the children as they hold the templates and wrap the wool neatly around their leaves.

Nursery News 31st October 2022

Monday, October 31, 2022

NURSERY NEWS

31st October 2022 – Edition 276

Find out About

Welcome back after Half Term
School Photographer Visit.
Walk in the Dark.
BBC Children in Need.
End of Term Arrangements
Open School Activities.
Local Visits
Doing up their own coats.
What are the children learning about this week?

Welcome back after Half Term

I hope everyone enjoyed their break from school. It is important that our young pupils have a chance to rest a little and recharge their batteries! Now we arrive back, we have just seven school weeks before we break up for Christmas. We have quite a few things going on in school this half term, so I thought I would share with you dates and times that might be of interest to you.

2. School Photographer Visit.

A school photographer will be here on Wednesday 2^nd November, for Big Nursery children, and Thursday 3^rd November for Little Nursery children. If your child is in Little Nursery but does not attend on a Thursday, and you would like your child to come in just for a photograph, please arrive on Thursday at around 9:30am, sign in as a visitor, and be prepared to stay and play for a short time with your child, until staff can organise for your child to be photographed by the photographer. Our photographers name is Victoria Mitchell and she is based in Dunstable. She uses colourful backdrops and props within her photography.

3. Walk in the Dark.

Miss Howe is organising a ‘Walk in the dark’, an activity for children and their parents to attend together, after school, on Thursday 17^th November at 5:00pm. Children will need to arrive, wrapped up warmly, ready to search the Nursery Garden for hidden soft toy animals. Children will need to bring a torch, because the garden is very dark in places! We will provide for refreshments for everyone who attends. Brothers and sisters are very welcome too. If you plan to come, please send an email to Mrs Selth cselth@willownursery.co.uk entitled ‘Walk in the dark’ detailing your child’s name and how many adults and children will be coming, so we can buy enough food….

4. BBC Children in Need.

Friday 18^th November is Children in Need. Parents often ask us what we are doing for Children in Need. –So as in previous years, we will collect money in Charity buckets, should anyone wish to donate. We do organise activities with a Pudsey Bear theme, and we try to share with the children that we are fundraising to help other children. Sometimes the Nursery children want to dress up because they see their older brothers and sisters dressing up for their school’s event. We are happy for children to dress up, or not to dress up. We do not wish any family to feel under pressure.

5. End of Term Arrangements

The last day of regular Big Nursery and Little Nursery will be on Thursday 15^th December. Friday 16^th December will be our Christmas Party Day. The School will be open for the Christmas Parties only on this day. Much fuller information will be given nearer the time, but we are aware that parents need notice to organise childcare etc. Especially if they are working parents.

So as an outline:

Little Nursery’s party will be from 9:00am to 10:00am.

Parents do not need to stay.

Big Nursery’s party will be from 11:15am to 1:00pm

Again, parents do not need to stay.

6. Open School Activities.

We would like parents to come in to school and see how we teach your children. Parents hear about the activities that take place during choosing time through our newsletter, but often parents are unaware of the quality of Grouptimes that we offer towards the end of each session. So, throughout the Year we are going to invite parents in to school to join in/observe our grouptimes.

So to begin, we would like to invite all Big Nursery parents to join us for ‘Music’ time. Each parent of a child in Big Nursery will receive an email today detailing the date and time of the Music session that you can choose to attend. 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.

Little Nursery want to be involved too. On the week beginning Monday 12^th 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 12^th, Tuesday 13^th, Wednesday 14^th or Thursday 15^th December. You are welcome to stay for the whole morning, or just stay for a short time. We hope that the children will be settled well by then, 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.

Mrs Patterson teaches Big Nursery Green Group children ‘Basic Skills’ on a Wednesday morning. The children move to a quiet space in Room 5 where they work in small groups (approx. 8 children) to learn reading, writing, mathematical skills and problem solving. We would like to invite Mrs Patterson’s Green group parents in to observe a 30 minute reading/writing activity on Wednesday 23^rd November. A further invitation letter will follow to Green Group parents so that we can match up time slots, so parent can join their child’s small group. Red Group have Basic Skills in the Spring Term and Yellow Group have Basic skills in the Summer Term. Eventually all parents will be invited to observe Basic skills sessions when their child is being taught.

7. Local Visits

All main Nursery Children will be going out of school in very small groups (max 8 children) during week beginning Monday 14^th November to explore their local environment, from Goldstone Crescent to the postbox at the junction of Wilbury drive. Staff to child ratio will be 1 adult to every 2 children more information will follow in next weeks’s newsletter.

8. Doing up their own coats.

We try to help children to learn a whole range of skills in school, including Self Care skills. The weather is getting colder now. The children continue to have the choice to play outside every day should they wish to. In Big Nursery we have been focussing on teaching the children to put on and fasten their own coats. Please encourage this at home too. It is important that you show your child what to do if the sleeves on their coat are inside out. If a coat has a hood, it helps to show your child to put their hood on their head first, then the sleeves are in the right place for your child to find the arm holes to their sleeves by themselves. At this age, children will often say ‘I can’t do it’ and expect their parent or teacher to do this for them. Putting their own coat on moves them further towards independence with their self-care skills. We ask all children to ensure that their coats are fastened before they go outside to ensure they keep warm.

9. What are the children learning about this week?

The theme in Little Nursery is the Bakers Shop. In Catkins the children will be creating some Halloween artwork. They will drizzle glue across paper to make spider webs and then they will sprinkle glitter over their glue to make their spider webs very sparkly. The children will learn the difference between big and little as they use sponges to paint pumpkins of different sizes.

In Room three, the children will be making and tasting toast with Miss Gaffney. They will choose white or brown bread and when it has been toasted, they will choose to spread either butter or jam on their toast. Miss Gaffney will be making cardboard cookies with the children and adding chocolate chips to them, they will count the chips as they are added.

Outside, the children will be making dens with Mrs. Brinkley. They will have tunnels to crawl through and sheets to sit under.

In the link, Mrs. Watson will have the baker shop role play set up for the children to play as the baker and the customer. There will be bread, cakes and rolls as well as tills, baskets and trolleys for the children to use.

The theme in Big Nursery is Colour and Light

In Room one, Miss Howe will be playing the ladybird game with the children. The game requires the children to match and count the spots on the ladybirds as they play. Children will be encouraged to wait patiently for their turn. The children will be working towards fast recognition of up to three objects without counting them.

Mrs. Cashmore will be supporting the children in following the rules in school. The dark tent will be set up for the children to explore colour and light but the children will be asked to enter the tent two children at a time. Mrs. Cashmore will explain to the children that this is to keep the children safe in the tent and that they will have to take it in turns so that everyone is able to play.

In Room two, Mrs. Patterson will be supporting the children with spinner painting and box modelling. She will follow the children’s ideas on box modelling and help them to find and use any resources that they may need. Mrs. Patterson will fill the tough tray with dyed spaghetti for the children to play with.

Outside, Miss Skai will be playing a hungry bird game with the children and they will be looking for coloured ‘worms’ (pipe cleaners) to wrap around their sticks. Children will widen their vocabulary by talking about where they found their ‘worms’ and the colours that they have collected. Children will be encouraged to support each other in spotting ‘worms’ hidden around the garden.

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