Goldstone Crescent
Dunstable
Beds
LU5 4QU
Phone: 01582 662600
Email: office@willownursery.co.uk
Latest News
Nursery News 17th October 2022
NURSERY NEWS
17th October 2022 – Edition 275
Find out About:
A. Parent Consultations for Little Nursery.- A reminder
B. School Closed- a reminder
C. 3+ Offer letters for all children in Little Nursery are ready today.
C.What are the children learning about this week?
A. Parent Consultations for Little Nursery.
These consultations will be on the telephone, will last 5 mins and will be at the following times:
Monday 17th October Miss Tyler’s Yellow Group Consultations, 5 minute telephone Consultations between 3:15pm and 3:55pm
Tuesday 18th October Mrs Field’s Yellow Group Consultations, 5 minute telephone consultation between 12:20pm and 12:45pm
Wednesday 19th October Mrs McGrath’s Yellow Group Consultations, 5 minute telephone Consultations between 1:00pm and 1:20pm
Wednesday 19th October Mrs Brinkley’s Orange Group Consultations, 5 minute telephone consultations between 3:15pm and 4:10pm
Tuesday 18th October Mrs Watson’s Blue Group consultations, 5 minute telephone consultations between 1:00pm and 1:30pm
Tuesday 18th October Miss Gaffney’s Blue Group Consultations, 5 minute telephone consultations between 3:15pm and 3:50pm
B. School Closed –A reminder.
Willow Nursery School will be closed on Friday 21st October for a teacher training day. Staff will be having input from a Local Authority Early Years Specialist teacher regarding Special Needs.
Willow Nursery School will be closed for the Autumn Half term break from Monday 24th October 2022 to Friday 28th October 2022.
C.3+ Offer letters for all children in Little Nursery are ready today.
I have written offer letters to the parents of all our current Little Nursery pupils. Children who attend Little Nursery should have the opportunity to continue their education seamlessly at Willow Nursery School when they become 3+age and entitled to 15 or 30 hours of funded education.
Each child has a letter which the office staff will try to give to parents as soon as possible, bearing in mind all children have individual attendance patterns. You may come and collect your offer letter from the school office if you wish to.
Please read your offer letter carefully and choose from the attendance offers shown. We would ask that you return your completed form WITH YOUR CHILD’S NAME ON IT as soon as possible, and at the very latest by Monday 31st October, 2022.
Once all parents of current Little Nursery pupils have made their choices I can then begin to offer spaces to families on our waiting list regarding starting in January, April and September 2023.
So, please help me, and other parents by replying swiftly.
C. What are the children learning about this week?
The theme in little nursery is Transport
In Catkins the children will be going on a transport hunt. They will look high and low in Catkins garden for pictures of different modes of transport. Mrs. McGrath will help the children look and when they spot each transport picture, she will name the mode of transport and praise the children.
In room three, the children will be creating pictures of trains made from different shapes. The children will focus on squares, triangles, rectangles and circles. Mrs. Watson will encourage the children to look for shapes that they can see around the classroom.
In the link area, Mrs. Brinkley will assist the children with box modelling. Together, they will use a range of recycled materials to create their own vehicles. The children will use tape and glue to join the materials together.
Outside, Miss Gaffney will promote good listening and safety. The children will listen to the instructions of stop, get ready and go, while riding on their bikes. The children will learn the meaning of the instructions ‘stop’ and ‘go’ and how to play safely on their bikes.
The theme in big nursery is who’s who in school
In room one, Miss Skai will be talking to the children about who is who in school. She will provide the children with clipboards and pictures of all staff members. The children will then search the school for each member of staff on their paper. When they find the staff members the children will tick the box next to them and once all pictures have ticks the children can put their work away. Miss Skai will also be talking to the children about Diwali and making cards to celebrate.
In room two, Miss Howe will be helping the children to understand the differences between people and building positive attitudes towards each other. She will show the children pictures of hands decorated with henna for Diwali. The children will draw around their own hands and decorate their hand pictures with beautiful patterns just like those they have seen.
Mrs. Cashmore will support the children in painting portraits of staff from big nursery. They will choose which member of staff they would like to paint and use appropriate colours for their work. The children will focus on details such as eye and hair colour and will discuss this as they work.
Outside, Mrs. Patterson will be showing the children how to create rangoli patterns on the floor using chalks. There will also be lots of conkers available for the children to transport around the garden using digger trucks and tippers.
Nursery News 10th October 2022
NURSERY NEWS
10th October 2022 – Edition 274
Find out About:
- Parent consultations for Big Nursery- A reminder
- Parent Consultations for Little Nursery.
3. What are the children learning about this week?
- Parent consultations for Big Nursery- A reminder
These consultations will be on the telephone, will last 5 mins and will be at the following times:
Monday 10th October Miss Howe’s Yellow Group Consultations, 5 minute telephone consultation between 3:15pm and 4:20pm
Tuesday 11th October Mrs Patterson’s Green Group Consultations, 5 minute telephone consultations between 3:15pm and 4:20pm
Thursday 13th October Mrs Cashmore’s Yellow Group Consultations, 5 minute telephone consultations between 3:15pm and 4:20pm
Friday 14th October Miss Skai’s Red Group Consultations, 5 minute telephone consultations between 3:15pm and 4:20pm
2. Parent Consultations for Little Nursery.
We are offering Parent Consultations to parents of children in Little Nursery during the week beginning 17/10/22. These consultations are to talk about how your child is settling into Little Nursery. They are not compulsory, but if you would like an appointment please arrange this with your child’s keyworker when they are outside before morning sessions. Please note, some of our Little Nursery staff work part-time, so consultations have to be scheduled for when they are in work. So look carefully at the appointment times.
These consultations will be on the telephone, will last 5 mins and will be at the following times:
Monday 17th October Miss Tyler’s Yellow Group Consultations, 5 minute telephone Consultations between 3:15pm and 3:55pm
Tuesday 18th October Mrs Field’s Yellow Group Consultations, 5 minute telephone consultation between 12:20pm and 12:45pm
Wednesday 19th October Mrs McGrath’s Yellow Group Consultations, 5 minute telephone Consultations between 1:00pm and 1:20pm
Wednesday 19th October Mrs Brinkley’s Orange Group Consultations, 5 minute telephone consultations between 3:15pm and 4:10pm
Tuesday 18th October Mrs Watson’s Blue Group consultations, 5 minute telephone consultations between 1:00pm and 1:30pm
Tuesday 18th October Miss Gaffney’s Blue Group Consultations, 5 minute telephone consultations between 3:15pm and 3:50pm
3. What are the children learning about this week?
The theme in little nursery is Autumn watch
In Catkins, the children will be exploring nature with an assortment of resources such as conkers, leaves and sticks. Staff will talk to children about these items and their textures, they will model descriptive language for the children to learn.
In room 3, Mrs. Watson will be sharing stories with the children and she will focus on building a love of books. The children will read ‘Spot Goes to the Farm’ and will chat about the noises that the animals in this story make.
In the link, Mrs. Brinkley will be showing the children how to paint using their fingers and other tools. Children will paint leaves and then use the painted leaves to make leaf prints on paper. The children will learn that they can paint with tools other than a paintbrush.
Outside, Miss Gaffney will have an area set up for investigating items found in the natural environment such as conkers and fallen leaves. She will talk to the children about where these items can be found in the autumn. This will be a sensory area and the children can use their sense of touch and sight to study the materials.
The theme in big nursery is Maisy Mouse
In room one, Miss Skai will complete shared reads of ‘Maisy’s Bus’ and ‘Happy Birthday Maisy’. She will encourage the children to read along with her and look at the pictures on each page as they read. Miss Skai will also focus on number recognition, using the numbers 1-5.
In room two, Miss Howe will be talking about using glue and sellotape to join materials together. She will support the children in using 2D and 3D shapes to make an image of Maisy Mouse. Miss Howe will encourage the children to be independent as they work and will model mathematical language by naming the shapes as they use them.
Mrs. Cashmore will provide reference pictures of characters from the Maisy Mouse story books and paints for the children to create their own Maisy character portraits. The children will discuss why they chose specific characters to paint and what they look like.
Outside, Mrs. Patterson will ask the children to help her find the different Maisy characters that will be placed around the garden. The children will use a tick sheet to prove that they have found all of the hidden characters.
Nursery News 3rd October 2022
NURSERY NEWS
3rd October 2022 – Edition 273
Find out About:
- Parent consultations for Big Nursery- A reminder
- What are the children learning about this week?
- Government advice regarding respiratory infections including Covid-19
- Parent consultations for Big Nursery
We are offering Parent Consultations to parents of children in Big Nursery during the week beginning 10/10/22. These consultations are to talk about how your child is settling in to Big Nursery. They are not compulsory, but if you would like an appointment please arrange this with your child’s keyworker when they are outside before morning sessions.
These consultations will be on the telephone, will last 5 mins and will be at the following times:
Monday 10th October Miss Howe’s Yellow Group Consultations, 5 minute telephone consultation between 3:15pm and 4:20pm
Tuesday 11th October Mrs Patterson’s Green Group Consultations, 5 minute telephone consultations between 3:15pm and 4:20pm
Thursday 13th October Mrs Cashmore’s Yellow Group Consultations, 5 minute telephone consultations between 3:15pm and 4:20pm
Friday 14th October Miss Skai’s Red Group Consultations, 5 minute telephone consultations between 3:15pm and 4:20pm (Please note change of date as to what was advertised in last week’s newsletter.)
Parent Consultations for Catkins children will follow later in the term: more details will follow nearer the time.
2. What are the children learning about this week?
The theme in little nursery is cleaning and tidying toys away
The staff in Catkins will make corn flour for the children to play with. It is a sensory activity where everyone can explore different textures and how consistencies change. The children will be working with Miss Tyler to return toys to the place where they belong and helping to sweep the leaves outside as she explains why we must keep our environment clean and tidy.
In room three, Mrs. Brinkley will be showing the children how to use different instruments and toys that make interesting sounds. She will encourage the children to be careful when they use these resources and show them where to put them when they have finished playing.
In the link, Miss Gaffney will be using paint and various resources such as rollers and tubes to make marks. Miss Gaffney will talk to the children about the marks that they are making and explain that they can use a range of resources to paint rather than just brushes.
Outside, Mrs. Watson will be focusing on improving the children’s ball skills. She will work with the children on catching, throwing and kicking balls to each other.
The theme in big nursery is All about me
In room one, Mrs. Patterson will have the light box set up with a range of accessories to use with it. She will support the children with turn taking and taking care of the light box so that it everyone gets a turn. Mrs. Patterson will also be extending the work she has been doing about families by talking to the children about their families and the people they share their homes with.
In room two, Miss Skai will be creating natural artwork by using leaves to make hedgehog pictures. Miss Skai will talk to the children about what hedgehogs look and feel like as well as where they live. There will be pictures and books for the children to look at as they work.
Outside, Miss Howe will set up an obstacle course using hoops, blocks and balancing beams. The children will focus on developing movement and balancing skills.
Mrs. Cashmore will provide the children with lots of coloured chalk and encourage them to use gross motor skills to draw self-portraits.
3. Government advice regarding respiratory infections including Covid-19
I have found this guidance on Gov.uk which gives quite a lot of information about how we as a society should live with Covid-19 and other respiratory infections.
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.
From:
Published
1 April 2022
Last updated
10 June 2022
The guidance is very full and detailed, but I have included one part which describes action to be taken with children. It describes that children with temperatures should not attend school:
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.
Nursery News 26th September 2022
NURSERY NEWS
26th September 2021 – Edition 272
Find out About:
A: Big Nursery and Little Nursery.
B. No changes to sessions for children attending Big Nursery
C. Applying for Primary School.
D. Parent consultations for Big Nursery
E. What are the children learning about this week?
F. Lunchtime in Big Nursery
A. Big Nursery and Little Nursery
We have everyone here now, well almost, we are just waiting for a few more two year olds to start in the coming weeks. I can now begin explaining things about Nursery to all parents.
There were some government requirements we had to follow in order to keep children safe during the Covid pandemic. One requirement was to keep different year groups in separate bubbles. We found some real positives in the practice of keeping year groups separate, so this is something that the staff chose to continue with.
We needed to find language that everybody could understand when describing particular groups of children/ physical areas of the building.
We decided to use terms that the children can understand.
Big Nursery is for the children in their final academic year at Nursery. So, current Big Nursery children are Mrs Patterson’s Green Group, Miss Skai’s Red group, Miss Howe’s and Mrs Cashmore’s Yellow Group. All the children in Big Nursery are entitled to 15 hours Universal funding because they are 3 or 4 years old. Some are entitled to 30 hours funding if both parents are working.
Big Nursery children all queue outside the school on the pavement between the front gate and the school car park. All these children will leave Willow Nursery School in July 2023 to join their chosen Primary School in September 2023. The physical areas of school used for this age group are Room’s 1, 2 and 5 and part of the outside area.
No additional children will be added to Big Nursery once the year begins. Big Nursery becomes very settled and we can really move the children forward as the year progresses.
Little Nursery is for all the children younger than the Big Nursery children. The children in Little Nursery will leave Willow Nursery School in July 2024, or for the very youngest two year olds, July 2025. At the moment all the children in Little Nursery are Catkins age children. Children who are Catkins age are not yet entitled to the universal 15/30 hour funding that children receive in the term after they turn 3 years old. The oldest children in Little Nursery turn 3 years old in September 2022.
Some Catkins age children are entitled to 15 hours funding for two year olds. Parents entitled to this funding are usually informed by the Local Authority- Central Beds Council. (This funding is based on parents with a low income or in receipt of certain benefits).
Little Nursery will have additional children added to it as the year goes along.
Little Nursery children who turn 3 years old between the 1st September 2022 and 31st December 2022 will be entitled to Universal 15 hours or 30 hours funding in January 2023. They will stay in little Nursery until July 2023 In January 2023 they will cease to be known as Catkins children, and will become known as Blue Group. Blue Group’s Keyworkers will be Miss Gaffney and Mrs Watson. Some children from our waitlist who are Blue Group age will join Little Nursery in January too.
Little Nursery children who turn 3 years old between the 1st January 2023 and the 31st March 2023 will be entitled to universal 15 hours funding or 30 hours funding after the Easter Break from the 17th April 2023. They will stay in Little Nursery until July 2023. In April 2023 they will cease to be known as Catkins children, and will become known as Orange Group. Orange Group’s Keyworker will be Mrs Brinkley. Some children from our waitlist who are Orange Group age will join Little Nursery in April too.
Little Nursery children who turn 3 years old after 1st April 2023 will remain as Catkins age children for the entire academic year from September 2022 to July 2023.
B. No changes to sessions for children attending Big Nursery.
We have had a few enquiries from families in September regarding having additional sessions either now or perhaps in January. When I make offers to families I try to offer a choice of 15 or 30 hours to as many families as possible. When you make your choice of sessions, I add this to a big timetable. I then ensure we have enough staff on duty to meet ofsted adult to child ratio’s in every session. We cap the number of children in lunch due to the space we have available. Within two weeks of the start of term I begin looking at the next intake of children, and these will join Little Nursery in January.
At this time, we are unable to offer any additional sessions in Big Nursery. If we decide to offer additional spaces in January, I will let you know through the newsletter.
C. Applying for Primary School.
Apply for a lower or primary school place in Central Bedfordshire
When to apply for starting school in 2023
Children born between 1 September 2018 and 31 August 2019 are due to start school in September 2023.
You need to apply before 15 January 2023, even if your child already attends a nursery or pre-school on the school site.
How to apply
· if Central Bedfordshire is your council, you need to apply through them
· if Central Bedfordshire is not your council, you’ll need to apply through your home Local Authority.
You will need to look on your Local Authority Council’s website for further information on how to apply.
This applies to all children in Big Nursery.
Hadrian Academy has organised some visit days to their Early Years Foundation Stage. Please see the flyer attached for more information.
D. Parent consultations for Big Nursery
We plan to offer Parent Consultations to parents of children in Big Nursery during the week beginning 10/10/22. These consultations are offered to talk about how your child is settling in to Big Nursery. They are not compulsory, but if you would like an appointment please arrange this with your child’s keyworker when they are outside before morning sessions.
These consultations will be on the telephone, will last 5 mins and will be at the following times:
Monday 10th October Miss Howe’s Yellow Group Consultations, 5 minute telephone consultation between 3:15pm and 4:20pm
Tuesday 11th October Mrs Patterson’s Green Group Consultations, 5 minute telephone consultations between 3:15pm and 4:20pm
Wednesday 12th October Miss Skai’s Red Group Consultations, 5 minute telephone consultations between 3:15pm and 4:20pm
Thursday 13th October Mrs Cashmore’s Yellow Group Consultations, 5 minute telephone consultations between 3:15pm and 4:20pm
Parent Consultations for Catkins children will follow later in the term: more details will follow nearer the time.
E. What are the children learning about this week?
The theme throughout nursery this week is ‘All about me’.
In Catkins, the children will be looking at pictures of themselves and people that are special to them. The children will talk to staff about who they can see in their pictures and what is happening. Children will then be provided with face templates and can draw pictures of themselves using mirrors and appropriate colours.
In room 3, Mrs. Brinkley will be sharing the story of ‘My Day’ with the children. The story is all about routines and what happens in a typical day. Mrs. Brinkley will then talk to the children about their own daily routines and who helps them through their daily tasks.
In the link, Miss Gaffney will be looking at personal pictures brought in by the children, she will model lots of descriptive language for the children and encourage them to talk about what they can see in their picture.
Outside, Mrs. Watson will be looking for pictures of people, that are hidden around the garden. When the children spot all of the pictures, they will try to talk about the similarities and differences that they can see between themselves and the people in the pictures. Mrs. Watson will use descriptive language to talk about the pictures and praise the children for joining in with her discussion.
The theme in big nursery this week is ‘All about me’.
In room 1, Mrs. Patterson will be looking at family pictures that the children have brought in. she will ask the children to share their memories and talk about what is happening in the picture. Mrs. Patterson will support the children with language If they are unable to express themselves or are too shy. Celebrating the similarities and differences between the children will help them to establish a sense of self and pride.
In room 2, Miss Skai will have the easels set up for the children to use. They will be painting self-portraits using mirrors to help them remember details such as hair and
eye colour. Miss Skai will ask the children to think about details when they are painting, including hair type and any prominent features.
Outside, Miss Howe and Mrs. Cashmore will be teaching the children about the importance of sharing and taking care of nursery resources. They will explain to the children that it is important to share and take turns, but that it is equally important to respect our equipment and replace it after use.
F. Lunchtime in Big Nursery
Lunchtime at Willow is a busy part of the school day. Assisting up to 36 children aged 3-4 years to eat a packed lunch is quite a challenging task. I (Mrs Davies) choose to lead the lunchtime session myself, to ensure the 30 minutes or so for lunch runs as smoothly as possible.
The purpose of this letter is to:
· Remind you to label lunchboxes, drinks bottles and food containers with your child’s name
· Inform you about how lunchtime is organised in Big Nursery.
· Suggest contents of an appropriate lunch.
· Ask you to consider Health and Safety of foods provided.
Organisation We ask that lunchboxes are placed on the lunchbox trolleys at the front gate when your child first arrives at Nursery. All children need access to drinking water throughout the day. All children will need to bring their own drinking bottle to school, filled with clean water each day. This bottle should be labelled with your child’s name. Their drinking bottle should be placed in the boxes on the top shelf of the lunchbox trolley. Children will be able to access their water bottle throughout the day. Children will only have access to the food in their lunchbox at lunchtime.
At lunchtime we rearrange Room 2 and Room 5 to provide seating for 36 children. At the end of morning all children staying for lunch are invited to use the toilet, then wash their hands. Children then sit at a table for 6 children. One adult supports two tables. Children then collect their lunchbox and their drinks bottle from the trolleys. They are asked to open the lunchbox themselves, take out the contents and return the lunchbox to the trolley. Staff then assist children to open their packaging and ensure all children have a drink. We encourage children to eat their lunches, preferably savoury foods first. At the end of lunch, children are asked to dispose of their own rubbish, pack their own lunchboxes with any food to return home, used spoons and empty tubs and then place them back on the trolley. Drinks bottles are returned to the boxes on the top shelf of the lunchbox trolley, ready for the afternoon session. Please name all containers.
Suggested contents of an appropriate lunch. You know your child best. Whilst as a school we encourage all parents to provide a Healthy Diet for your children, we do understand young children can be fussy about what they choose to eat. We are not ‘food police’, and we accept that you provide a lunch suitable for your child. Here are some suggestions of what you might like to put in your child’s lunchbox: Savoury ideas: A small sandwich- For most children one slice of bread is enough. Some cheese.
Savoury crackers, cocktail sausages, chicken nuggets, carrot sticks. Sweet ideas: A yogurt. A jelly. A piece of fruit. A small cake or biscuit. Malt loaf. Please, No Sweets!
Parents may choose to provide an additional drink, such as a carton of fruit juice, in your child’s lunchbox for them to consume with their lunch (nothing fizzy please). Please provide a spoon if your child needs one. This list is not meant to be prescriptive, there are lots of other ideas parents have, but please remember not to send in too much food. It is better to send in a small amount of food that you expect your child to finish, rather than providing lots of items from your child to choose from. Three or four items of food are generally enough for most children.
Health and Safety of foods provided. Please consider the size of individual pieces of food. Grapes must be cut lengthways as these are a choking hazard. Consider the size of other foods- Cherry tomatoes can be large too. Do not provide any foods containing nuts or nut products. We have a child with a nut allergy who stays for lunch. So please be careful as some chocolate spreads contain nuts,or European style chocolate biscuits contain hazlenuts in their chocolate coating or wafer filling.
Nursery News 19th September 2022
NURSERY NEWS
19th September 2022 – Edition 271
Find out About:
A. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s State Funeral- School Closed Monday 19th
September
B: Operation Encompass
C. Keeping Children Safe.
D. Milk and Fruit time.
E. Can you help with some Tissues?
F. Progress so far….
G. ‘All About Me Week’.
H: Job Vacancy: School Cleaner
A. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s State Funeral- School Closed Monday 19th
September
B: Operation Encompass
The school has been given the opportunity to take part in a project that will run jointly
between schools, Bedford Borough Council and Bedfordshire Police
Operation Encompass is the reporting to schools, prior to the start of the next school
day, when a child or young person has experienced or been exposed to any
domestic abuse.
Operation Encompass will ensure that a member of the school staff, known as a Key
Adult, is trained to allow them to liaise with the police and to use the information that
has been shared, in confidence, while ensuring that the school is able to make
provision for possible difficulties experienced by children, or their families, who have
been experienced a domestic abuse incident.
We are keen to offer the best support possible to all our pupils and we believe this
will be extremely beneficial for all those involved.
C. Keeping Children Safe.
Parents entrust their children into our care. There are rigorous procedures in place
outlined by the government to keep all children safe from harm. I think it is important
to let you know about some of the procedures that may affect you and your family
whilst being part of our School Community, and I will try to explain the reasons for
having these procedures.
We need to know where children are if they are absent from school. If for any
reason you decide to keep your child at home, on a day when your child should be at
school please telephone in to school as soon as possible and let us know. When
registers are completed at the beginning of the session we have to put codes in the
registers regarding the reasons for a child’s absence. If we do not hear from you, you
will receive a call from one of the office staff or the headteacher asking about the
whereabouts of your child.
If you know in advance that you will be absent, for example for a medical
appointment, please let staff know and the appropriate code can be entered in the
register.
If you plan to go on holiday in term time, please fill in a holiday form (available from
the office staff) which again will let us know the dates that you will be absent.
Unexplained absences have to be followed up. If a child is absent for any length of
time and we have not heard from their parents as to the reasons for their absence,
the child become a ‘Missing Child’. In this circumstance we are compelled to contact
the Police and Social Care.
We need to record all injuries. If your child has a fall or receives a bump in school
that we are aware of, we will fill in an accident letter to tell you about the incident.
This letter will be passed on to you outside, by a member of staff. There is another
copy kept in school.
Please inform your child’s Keyworker if your child comes into school with an existing
injury that has occurred outside of school time. Staff must make a note of any
existing injuries a child has. Our children at Willow are young. They are sometimes
unable to tell us how they have hurt themselves. Please tell us if you know of any
marks/cuts etc as it will save staff trying to work out what has happened.
Teach your child to use the toilet. Guidelines say that we should offer as little
assistance in the bathroom as possible. With the three and four year old Nursery
children we prefer to give children verbal assistance from outside their cubicle, only
offering physical assistance if absolutely necessary. If an adult is needed to help a
child in the bathroom another member of staff will always be aware, and support if
necessary.
D. Milk and Fruit time.
The government provides all children at Nursery with a carton of milk. We ask all
parents to donate fruit or vegetables, so we can share these at the snack table
alongside the milk we provide. We ask parents to donate a bag of fruit such as
apples, satsumas, pears or bananas, or vegetables such as peppers or carrot sticks.
If every parent was to donate a bag of fruit every half term we will have lots to share.
E. Can you help with some Tissues?
Sometimes we ask parents for some specific donations that help our school. During
Covid, we were asked to provide ‘Tissue Stations’ in every classroom and to teach
the children about the importance of using tissues hygienically to blow their nose.
We have a tissue bin in each classroom, stored near to tissues and hand sanitiser
and posters reminding children to ‘catch it, kill it, bin it!’ As a staff we discussed
which elements of the previous Covid requirements we would like to continue with.
We think that the hygienic use of tissues, combined with frequent handwashing helps
maintain a cleaner, healthier school environment.
So, I am asking if all parents could donate a box of tissues for the children to use, to
help keep everyone healthy.
F. Early Years Pupil Premium
What is Early Years Pupil Premium?
This information has been taken from Central Bedfordshire’s Website.
The Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) is designed to narrow the attainment gap
between young children from low-income families and their peers by improving the
facilities, equipment and learning experiences to benefit the growth and development
of eligible children.
All children aged 3 and 4 who meet the eligibility criteria will benefit from the funding.
It will be paid to early years providers on an hourly rate basis, linked to claimed
hours for eligible children. The annual value for a 15 hour place over a full year will
be just over £300, or 53p per hour.
Any provider registered to offer funded early years places will receive the EYPP if
they have entitled children. All parents will be asked to supply details to allow a
check to be run by the local authority, eligible parents will trigger a payment direct to
the childcare setting.
Eligibility criteria
Children will be eligible if:
they are 3 or 4 years old and receiving government-funded Free Entitlement
in any OFSTED registered childcare provider and their parents are in receipt
of one or more of the benefits used to access eligibility for free school meals
parents receive Universal Credit
parents receive Income Support
parents receive Income-based Jobseekers Allowance
parents receive Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
parents receive support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act
1999
parents receive the guaranteed element of State Pension Credit
parents receive Child Tax Credit (provided you’re not also entitled to
Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than
£16,190)
parents receive Working Tax Credit run-on – paid for 4 weeks after you stop
qualifying for Working Tax Credits
or if they have been:
looked after by the local authority for at least one day
have been adopted from care in the local authority
have left care through special guardianship; and subject to a child
arrangement order setting out with whom the child is to live (formerly known
as residence orders) in Central Bedfordshire
If any parent has considered the eligibility criteria and believes their child is
eligible please telephone or email the school office and together we can make
a claim.
F. Progress so far….
All 3 and 4 year olds are now attending Nursery. All 49 children have enrolled. It is
amazing the progress the children have made in the past week. At the beginning of
last week I walked into Room 1 to work with the children after lunch, and the children
were having a great time. Children were exploring all the toys and equipment. I could
hardly see the floor! Every drawer of equipment had been accessed, tipped onto the
floor, played with for a bit then left behind. We had dinosaurs, trains, dressing up
clothes, magnetic numbers, the entire contents of the home corner, puzzles, duplo,
dolls house furniture, binoculars and magnifying glasses strewn all around the room.
I encouraged the children to help me tidy up, and we had a tidy room back after
around 30 minutes! We have been steadily explaining to children that they can
choose whatever they like to play with, but they should tidy up after themselves. This
is an important lesson to learn and we will help the children with this. As time goes
on we hope the children learn to independently look after the toys and equipment,
enabling us, the staff to spend more time playing and learning with them, rather than
tidying up after them!
‘Lunch’ with 40 children has been interesting. There are four staff on duty working
directly with the children at lunchtime. So that means that 1 member of staff is
generally looking after 10 children. We have a variety of levels of self care that the
children present with. Our most able children collect their own lunch box and water
bottle from the lunch trolley and unpack it onto the table. Staff then help them to
open their wrapped food and storage tubs. The children get on eating their lunch,
with little support needed from the adults. They put their rubbish in the bin, they pack
their lunchboxes away, returning them to the correct lunch box trolley and go to the
bathroom to wash their hands.
At the other end of the scale, we have children who require a lot more support…
Some children struggle to sit at the table without getting down to wander off. Some
children have difficulty not touching other children’s food. Some children have
difficulty deciding to eat. Some children require prompting to take every bite of their
sandwich. Some children wet themselves as they sit down to lunch, after just being
asked to use the toilet. Some children tell us they dislike the food their parents have
given them. (Which we can never quite believe!). Many children expect 1:1 attention
as they are not used to being part of a larger group.
Our challenge is to help and support all these brand new children, for them to gain a
good level of self care and independence during lunchtime. We have seen progress
in the last week. We are getting to know the individual children, working out how to
seat the children into table groups to maintain an ordered dining area. We give as
much support to individual children as we can but we cannot give everyone’s child
1:1 support.
We are already realising that we have some wonderful little characters emerging in
this year group. We are looking forward to the journey with them in the coming
academic year. The children have so many skills to learn, but they are making a
good start.
G. ‘All About Me Week’.
The week beginning 26/09/22 is ‘All About Me’ week. We have weekly themes that
we work on with the children. We begin with learning about something all the
children can be familiar with and contribute to discussions about. This work will be
happening with the older children in Nursery, which we refer to as ‘Big Nursery’ in
these newsletters. (that is Mrs Pattersons Green Group, Miss Skai’s Red Group and
Miss Howe and Mrs Cashmore’s Yellow Group.) The adults will be working with the
children on various activities and talking to them about their own life stories and
family history. To help the children understand we would ask if you could send in a
family photo that they can share with everyone. Mrs Patterson would also like to
include these photo’s as part of a display. So, if you would like to send in a photo,
please do so during this week (20/09/22) or at the beginning of next week.
Please hand your photo to your child’s keyworker, so we can keep them safe.
Please write your child’s name on the back of the photo, and if possible the
names of other family members shown in the photograph. We will then be able
to return the photos to you when we take our display down later in the year.
H: Job Vacancy: School Cleaner.
We are still looking for a school cleaner……..
Job Vacancy at Willow Nursery School
Job Title: Cleaner
School Name: Willow Nursery School
Location: Goldstone Crescent, Dunstable, LU5 4QU
Salary Range: NJC levels 1-2, £10:50 per hour (subject to confirmation by payroll provider)
Hours: 3:30pm to 5:00pm Monday to Friday, term time only.
Contract Type: Permanent
Closing Date: Friday 23rd September 2022
Interview Date: Week beg 26th September 2022
We are looking for a part time cleaner to join our staff team here at Willow Nursery School.
Main Purpose of role:
To clean classrooms, toilets, cloakrooms, corridors and staff areas to a good
standard.
To ensure the cleaners cupboard is kept clean and tidy.
We are a dedicated and committed team of early year’s specialists who are passionate about what we
do. We aim to give our children the very best care and education in a positive, fun environment. We
aim to provide clean and hygienic spaces for children to grow and learn.
This school is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people
and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. The successful candidate will have to
meet the requirements of the Person Specification in order to be offered the post. DBS Disclosure at
Enhanced Level and a qualification check are required for this post
How to apply:
For further details and an application pack, please visit the school website at:
www.willownursery.co.uk, and click on school information – vacancies.
We will accept electronic or paper applications.
Electronic applications to be sent to the email address below.
Paper copies to be sent to Willow Nursery School, Goldstone Crescent, Dunstable, Beds, LU5 4QU.
Or contact:
Name: Trina Evans
Tel: 01582 662600
Email: office@willownursery.co.uk
