Latest News

Nursery News 10th July 2023

NURSERY NEWS

10^th July 2022 – Edition 304

Find out About:

1. End of Term arrangements July 2023
2. Leavers Day –Friday 21^st July- 8:50am-11:50am
3. Ensure 30 hour codes are in place /Renew 30 hour codes.
4. Review of the year- Results.
5. What are the children learning this week?

1. End of Term arrangements July 2023

The last day of term in July 2023 for all children will be Thursday 20th July.

This day will run as a normal Thursday. Timings of the day will be the same as all Thursdays.

2. Leavers Day –Friday 21^st July- 8:50am-11:50am

On Friday 21st July school will open only for the Big Nursery children that are leaving us. The session will be from 8:50 am to 11:50am. All Big Nursery leavers are invited to attend this session, regardless of your child’s normal attendance days. As children are attending for the morning only, no child will require a packed lunch. Children will require their water bottles. Children should arrive at 8:50 am and wait outside as usual.

We have consulted the children about what activities they would like to plan for their last day and this is what they have come up with:

Children may dress up if they want to. Children may come to school in a dressing up outfit if they wish. There should be no pressure on anyone to buy an outfit. Normal Nursery clothes are absolutely fine too.

We have arranged for children to:

• Watch cartoons,
• Play with bikes, dolls, cars
• Have songs and music, dancing, party lights, bubbles and balloons
• Play pass the parcel.

At 10:30 am all children will sit down together for a picnic time in the garden. Staff will provide the snacks the children requested: cake, pizza, apples, cheese, crisps

The morning will finish with a group time for each colour group, where all children will receive a certificate praising their individual skills and/or qualities.

11:50am Going Home Time- Parents to collect children from the front gate. Children will be dismissed in the regular way, with Green group first, followed by Red group then Yellow group.

3. Ensure 30 hour codes are in place /Renew 30 hour codes.

A reminder about the eligibility checker:

Eligibility checker:

Eligibility will be checked via a childcare application developed by HMRC.

Parents are responsible for checking if they are eligible.

Parents need to visit the website www.childcarechoices.gov.uk. This is the online eligibility checker.

Parents will be issued a code to take to the setting (nursery/ childminder etc.). 

There will be a grace period for parents where their circumstances change.  This will give parents the time to regain employment.

Parents must reconfirm their eligibility every three months via the HMRC online eligibility checker or else they will lose their entitlement, subject to the grace period.  Parents are essentially reconfirming that their employment status has not changed and they still meet the criteria. HMRC will send reminder emails to parents to notify them of the need to reconfirm.

For all parents who are entitled to 30 hour funding for your child (3+ children) please ensure that your code is in place and valid by 31^st August 2023, to enable us to receive funding for your child for the Autumn term.

The government will send out reminders to families to renew your code. Please be aware that sometimes the government email may go into your Spam/ Junk email folder. If you code is not valid you will not receive funding

4. .Review of the year- Results

I have had one family who replied to my request for feedback from parents. It is a lovely well rounded review which I would like to share with you.   There may be some points raised which other parents may relate to….

1. Please comment about what we do well at Willow.

We have loved seeing how children interact so well with their key workers and vice versa. Mrs Cashmore has been brilliant with X and gives the impression that she knows X well and genuinely enjoys spending time with them, whilst also seeming to encourage X out of their comfort zone and to try new and different things. All of the teachers seem to be very caring and there is a definite culture of gentleness, care and understanding at the nursery. I have been very impressed in my conversations with Miss Howe and Mrs Cashmore with their care for us as a wider family as well as with X as an individual. When I have expressed concern over challenges we are having with X at home both teachers provided helpful advice showing that they care about the children and their families even outside of the nursery context. I have also been impressed to see how staff are willing to go outside of their comfort zone to include parents – teaching a phonics lesson etc. in front of a group of parents must be intimidating but it is very much appreciated as we love to see how X is learning and how we can build on this with them at home.

2. Please tell us one thing you would like to see at Willow that you would consider to be an improvement and/or development.

We would have liked more face-to-face feedback time with teachers at the termly review but understand that doing this on the phone may be a hangover from COVID restrictions? It would also have been helpful to have a more detailed document about the children’s learning once they start focussing more on phonics and numbers in the Summer term. We have loved the opportunity to come in and view phonics, key skills and music sessions but would have also appreciated more information on how far the children are pushed in terms of their writing – what the expectations are for them to be able to do so that we can work on that at home. This information has always been provided when I have asked however! The only other thing is that ‘party days’ at Christmas and end of term should be marked as such on the school calendar so that working parents can plan in advance for those days.

3. Have you any ideas regarding how parents could feel more involved with the school?

No – we have felt very involved.

Leigh Davies- My response….

Face to face consultations. The staff all felt it was important to offer face to face consultations at this time of the year, with the majority of children moving from Little Nursery to Big Nursery or off to reception classes in their Primary Schools. We were getting the feeling that most parents would like this. We are aware though, that as consultations are only for 5 minutes, sometimes it is a big ask to ask parents to travel in to school for such a short time. Some parents are still working during early evening, and some have family situations that make a face to face consultation difficult. So with all decisions we make in school it is hard to meet everyone’s needs. We do always say that these consultations are not compulsory, and staff will always try to find time to talk to parents if you have any concerns about your child.

After our recent Ofsted Inspection, our plan for the coming year is to take a close look at our curriculum. The teachers will be considering what are the most important things that we teach at Willow, What is Willow all about? What key skills do we want Willow children to achieve?

Within this work, we will be writing written plans about our curriculum. We will be writing about what we plan to teach, what we would like the children to learn. We will be noting the progression children will need to make between the ages of 2 and 4, and trying to plan the steps of teaching required, and the vocabulary we will use, to ensure all children can access our curriculum and make good levels of progress. We hope to be able to share these curriculum guides with our parents, so you can be fully aware of our intentions and you can support your children on their learning journey.

I will ensure that the Party Day in December, and the Leavers Day in July is communicated to parents in the very first newsletter of the academic year in September to allow working parents to be aware and make arrangements ahead of time. I will consider adding it to our calendar, but I do feel it needs some explanation alongside it so parents are aware who it applies to.

Willow Nursery School- Children’s Evaluation. July 2023

5.What are the children learning about this week?

What are the children learning about this week?

The theme in little nursery is water play

In Catkins, Mrs Field will set up water canals for the children to play with. She will provide colourful boats for the children to push around the canals. Mrs Field will model mathematical language as she interacts with the children, discussing the shapes and colours on the boats. Don’t forget lots of spare clothes as your children will get wet!

In the link, Mrs Watson will be exploring ice in the water tray. She will talk to the children about how the ice was made and what it feels like. Mrs Watson will place lots of sea creatures in with the ice and the children will be encouraged to talk about what animals they see and where they might live.

In room three, Miss Gaffney will set up a Goldilocks role play area. The children will be able to revisit previous learning by playing in the house and retelling the story by themselves. They will have many props to support the story telling. Mrs Gaffney will praise the children for taking part and sharing the resources.

Outside, Mrs Brinkley will be teaching the children the importance of listening to each other, taking turns and solving their own conflicts. She will encourage the children to think about how they might solve issues that arise when more than one person wants to do the same thing.

The theme in big nursery is the ice cream parlour

In room one, there will be an ice cream parlour set up for the children to explore. They will have menus, tables, food, plates and telephones. The children will also have clipboards to take ice cream orders from each other, which will build the children’s language and literacy skills.

Mrs Cashmore will be working with the children to write some or all of the letters in their name. They will be encouraged to write each letter of their name on a picture of an ice cream scoop, then once all letters have been written the children will have their own ice cream name.

In room two, Mrs Patterson will provide materials for the children to make their own ice lolly pictures, they will use PVA glue and tissue paper to create a lovely shiny effect when their work dries. She will also provide paints for the children to create sponge print ice cream pictures.

Outside, Miss Skai will encourage the children to work together to complete a scavenger hunt. She will provide pictures to groups of children and ask them to look around the whole garden to find each item. All items on Miss Skai’s scavenger hunt are natural items and can only be found in the garden.

Nursery News 3rd July 2023

NURSERY NEWS

3rd July 2023 – Edition 303
Find out About:
A. Arrangements for September 2023.
B. Reminder about consultations this week.
C. What are the children learning about this week?

A. Arrangements for September 2023.
We have finalised our plans for the beginning of term in September 2023. So this information is for all the families staying with us in September. We had to make some changes to the way the school operated due to Covid in the last few years. Some of the changes made have felt very positive. One of these changes was how we managed the first few days in September. So, in discussion with the staff we have decided to roll out the beginning of the Autumn term in 2023 the same way as we did last year. We are aware that a number of our parents are working parents, and look for the school to be operating for all children as soon as possible. We have made our plans trying to strike a balance for everyone’s needs.

Let us start with Catkins Class in Little Nursery…..

Little Nursery will reopen on Thursday 7 th September. In the Autumn term all children in Little Nursery are 2+ children known as Catkins Class. Children’s attendance patterns remain the same, unless you have spoken to me about additional hours for your child. New starters in Catkins Class have received paperwork advising parents what their child’s first day will be. In Catkins Class each
Keyworker will settle only one of their new keyworker children in each session. New Catkins Class children have start dates somewhere between the 11th September 2023 and 2nd October 2023.
Catkins hours remain 8:45am – 11:45am for a morning session, 11:45am-2:45pm for an afternoon session or 8:45am to 2:45pm for a full day session.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Big Nursery:
Tuesday 5th September 2023 and Wednesday 6 th September 2023 have been scheduled as visit days. The school will not be open as usual on these two days. Attendance on these days is by invitation only. See details below:
Tuesday 5 th September:
All children who will be moving from Catkins 2 year old class to Big Nursery Yellow Group in September are invited to attend a Stay and Play session, lasting for 90 mins , with a Parent. Invitations will be given to parents this week within the Yellow Group Big Nursery Starter Packs. Yellow Group have all been allocated a start date between Thursday 7th September and Wednesday 13th September. These start dates have also been communicated to the brand new Yellow Group children, joining in September, from our waitlist.

Wednesday 6 th September.
This day will offer a transition session for all 3+ children (and their parents) in Miss Gaffneys/ Mrs Watson’s Blue Group and Mrs Brinkley’s Orange Group. We will offer a morning session or an afternoon session. The idea of these sessions are that you and your child will arrive at school to have a scheduled meeting lasting ten minutes with your child’s current Little Nursery Keyworker and with your child’s new Big Nursery Keyworker So, Blue Group children will meet with Miss Gaffney/Mrs Watson and Mrs Patterson Orange Group children will meet with Mrs Brinkley and Miss Skai. You will arrive at your specified appointment time, meet with your child’s Keyworker’s and discuss anything you wish to share to enable the transition into Big Nursery to go as smoothly as possible. You will then be free to move around the school together, both inside and outside. Classrooms will be set up with activities, and we invite you and your child to explore their new spaces and chat to staff who will be available to talk with you.

Morning session: 10 minute appointments will be available to choose from between 8:50am and 10:20am. Parents may choose to stay and play after their appointment, but all parents and children should leave by 11:00am.

Afternoon session: 10 minute appointments will be available to choose from between 12:30pm and 2:00pm. Parents may choose to stay and play after their appointment
but all parents and children should leave by 2:40pm. All these meetings/ stay and play are optional. You do not have to attend, but it will be a way to see the school with your child. You may choose to just have the meeting and then you and your child can choose to leave to go home. You may choose to have the meeting and then stay for a short time and then go. We cannot offer meetings at alternative times or dates as we are looking to get the school up and running as quickly as possible for those parents who are working. Parents must stay with their children at this event.
Parents can arrange these appointments for Wednesday 6th September with their Little Nursery Keyworkers (Miss Gaffney/ Mrs Watson/ Mrs Brinkley) during the parent consultations that are scheduled for this week. If you do not have a consultation this week please do not worry as staff will get in touch with you regarding a transition session in September.

Thursday 7th September – Big Nursery Re-opens for regular Nursery sessions. Blue Group, Orange Group and Yellow Group (who have attended in Little Nursery) return to Big Nursery, attending for their agreed attendance pattern. So for example, if your child currently attends for two and a half days at the end of the week, they would return on Thursday 7th at 8:50am with their lunch box.
Big Nursery hours are:

Morning session: 8:50am to 11:50am
Wednesday afternoon session: 11:50am to 2:50pm.
Full day session: 8:50am to 2:50pm

B. Reminder about consultations this week.
We will have face to face parent consultations for all the children on 6th, 7th and 8th July 2023 as follows:. All consultations will be 5 minutes long. Parents of Little Nursery children will have an end of year meeting where staff will hand over your child’s Little Nursery Yearbook:
Tuesday 4th July

Miss Cashmore’s Catkins Children. Five minute appointments available between 3:15pm and 4:05pm Catkins children will all receive their Yellow Group Big Nursery Starter Packs.

Mrs Watson’s Blue Group Children. Five minute appointments available between 3:15pm and 3:55pm

Wednesday 5th July

Mrs McGrath’s Catkins Children. Five minute appointments available between 9:00am and 9:30am Catkins children will all receive their Yellow Group Big Nursery
Starter Packs.

Miss Gaffney’s Blue Group Children. Five minute appointments available between 3:15pm and 3:55pm

Thursday 6th July

Mrs Field’s Catkins Class Children. Five minute appointments available between 3:15pm and 3:50pm Catkins children will all receive their Yellow Group Big Nursery Starter Packs.

Mrs Brinkley’s Orange Group Children. Five minute appointments available between 3:15pm and 4:15pm

Parents of Big Nursery children will have a Leavers Consultation, where staff will hand over your child’s yearbook :

Tuesday 4th July

Mrs Patterson’s Green Group Children. Five minute appointments available between 3:15pm and 4:25pm

Wednesday 5th July

Miss Skai’s Red Group Children. Five minute appointments available between 3:15pm and 3:55pm

Thursday 6th July

Miss Howe’s Yellow Group Children. Five minute appointments available between 3:15pm and 4:10pm

Miss Cashmore’s Yellow Group Children. Five minute appointments available between 3:15pm and 4:00pm

C. What are the children learning about this week?

The theme in little nursery is traditional and fairy tales In Catkins the children will focus on literacy skills, there will be a variety of fairy tales for the children to look at in thecosy corner. They will be encouraged to choose which book they would like to sit down together to read. To follow along with the fairy tale theme, the children will use different resources to create magic wands.
In Room 3, Mrs Watson will be telling the children the story of The Gingerbread Man using both the screen and a book. She will discuss what happens in the book with the children and they will be given the opportunity to retell the story to their friends. This will build the children’s memory skills and confidence when talking in big groups.
In the Link, Mrs Brinkley will focus her activity around Goldilocks and the Three Bears. She will provide props such as porridge, bowls and spoons for the children to use. They will be acting out scenes from the story and Mrs Brinkley will model lots of story-telling language for the children to copy. Outside, Miss Gaffney will be re-enacting stories such as The Three Little Pigs, The
Billy Goats Gruff and The Gingerbread Man. She will encourage the children to act as different characters from each story building on their memory recall to retell what they have learnt.

The theme in big nursery is transport – air and water
In Room 1, Miss Skai will be talking to the children about summer holidays. She will be explaining to them that if they go abroad for a holiday that they will need a passport. Miss Skai will show the children what passports look like and they will get to make one of their own. The children will practice writing as they put all their information on their passports, and practice drawing as they design their own passport photos.
In Room 2, Miss Howe will be making peg aeroplanes with the children. The children will work on their fine motor skills as they colour in wooden pegs and lollipop sticks. They will attach the pegs and sticks together using glue and once the planes are dry, the children can take them home and fly them. Mrs Cashmore will be making shape boats with the children, there will be an example boat for the children to use as a reference. They will be asked which shapes they would like to use on their boat pictures and then Mrs Cashmore will talk to the children about the properties of the shapes they have chosen.
Outside, Mrs Patterson will encourage the children to use their imagination to fuel unstructured play. There will be crates and wooden boxes available to support the children’s play ideas and they will be encouraged to use their imagination to create anything they want, enabling open ended fun. Mrs Patterson will provide building ideas if the children need some imaginative prompts.

Nursery News 26th June 2023

NURSERY NEWS
Monday 26th June 2023 – Edition 302
Find out About:

A.Review of the Year
B.We are running very short of tissues……
C. A reminder: Open School Event: For Big Nursery Yellow Group Parents: Basic Skills.
D. What are the children learning about this week?
E. Central Bedfordshire Council Demand for early years childcare Survey 2023– Consultation with parents and carers of 0 – 5 year olds

A. Review of the year

At this time of year, we carry out a big review of our school. In the last few days Miss Howe and Mrs Cashmore have been talking to the Big Nursery children individually, to gain their views about their school, with regard to what they like, what they think they have learned and what they would like to see change. All school staff and Governors are busy filling in questionnaires too.
This information helps us to plan our areas for development next year. I always ask parents for their views too at this time of year.
We usually ask just two questions:
1. Please comment about what we do well at Willow.
2. Please tell us one thing you would like to see at Willow that you would consider to be an improvement and/or development.

Please write a short email and send to office@willownursery.co.uk

Covid had a big impact at Willow, particularly on our ability to invite parents in to our school. During this past academic year we have been keen to re-establish our program of events where parents are invited in to school. This has been a focus of our School Development Plan So, with this in mind I would like you as parents to share with us your responses to a third question:

3. Have you any ideas regarding how parents could feel more involved with the school?

If you wish your comments to inform my review, please send your email by the end of this week, Friday 30th June. I will then compile all the comments and respond to
them in a future newsletter, on Monday 10th July.

B.We are running very short of tissues……
We are running very short of tissues. Children seem to have colds year round, plus some children suffer from hay fever. We would be grateful for donations of tissues.

C. A reminder: Open School Event: For Big Nursery Yellow Group Parents: Basic Skills.
Miss Howe’s Yellow group parents have been invited in to observe a 30 minute reading/writing activity on Wednesday 28th June.
Mrs Cashmore’s Yellow group parents have been invited in to observe a 30 minute reading/writing activity on Thursday 29th June.

D. What are the children learning about this week?
The theme in Little Nursery is sports skills In Catkins Mrs McGrath will set up an obstacle course for the children to navigate. They will be encouraged to jump and crawl over different obstacles as well as throw bean bags into specific areas. Mrs McGrath will model how the children should move safely around the course and praise them for using their listening ears.
Outside, Miss Gaffney will be holding a race day for the children. There will be a space for friends to sit and watch the competitions. The children will be encouraged to take part in an egg and spoon race, a sack race and a beanbag balancing race. All children will be cheered on for trying their best and Miss Gaffney will explain the importance of taking part and good sportsmanship.
In the link, Mrs Brinkley will be helping the children to create medals for each other. She will talk to them about the numbers on their medals and that they represent 1st 2nd and 3rd place in competitions. She will be working with children to practice reciting numbers 1-5 and further.
In Room 3, Mrs Watson will be sharing a group read called ‘Maisy Goes Swimming’. She will show the children that we read from left to right and also name the different parts of a book. Mrs Watson will encourage the children to share their own swimming experiences after the story.

The theme in Big Nursery is transport – land
In Room 1, Miss Skai will support the children with making number trains. They will cut out and order train carriages with the numerals 1-5 and 1-10 on them. Once the pictures have been correctly ordered, the children will stick them down to make a train picture. Miss Skai will also have a group read of the ‘Big Red Bus’, which she will share with the children.

In Room 2, Miss Howe will be showing the children how to make buses with moving wheels. The children will revisit their recently acquired skills of using split pins, these will enable the wheels on the bus pictures to turn around. Mrs Cashmore will set up a table with paint and toy vehicles, she will model how to dip the wheels of the vehicles in paint and push them along paper to make marks. The children will be encouraged to observe the marks made by the wheels and discuss the difference between using toys to paint rather than traditional paintbrushes.

Outside, Mrs Patterson will set up water canals for the children to investigate. She will encourage the children to take turns and play sensibly with the water so that the boats can move along the waterways. She will also provide milk crates to support imaginative play. Mrs Patterson will suggest vehicles that can be made with the crates, such as cars and trains. The children can then use their imagination to travel anywhere they want to in their crate vehicles.

E. We have had a request from Central Bedfordshire Council to forward a survey to our parents: see below:
Central Bedfordshire Council
Demand for early years childcare Survey 2023 –Consultation with parents and carers of 0 – 5 year olds
The government is considering providing a set number of hours of free funded childcare for children aged 9 months to 2 years. In Central Bedfordshire we will need to make sure that we have enough places in early years settings (including pre-schools, day nurseries and childminders) to meet the demand. We want parents/carers to let us know if you are planning to use formal
childcare for your children in the future. We also want to know if a set number of funded hours would influence your decision around when your child might start attending childcare and also
how many hours a week they spend in childcare. In line with the 2018 Data Protection Act and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), all of the information that you feedback will be kept in
the strictest confidence and will be used only for the purposes of this research. No personal testimony will be used and you do not have to give us your name or any children’s names. We would be grateful if you could kindly complete this survey before Friday 7th July 2023.

If you have any questions or would like any further information about the
purpose of this survey, please contact:
The Early Years Team at: Earlyyears@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk
Your help with this survey is much appreciated.
https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/CBCchildcaredemandsurvey2023

Nursery News 19th June 2023

NURSERY NEWS

19th June 2023 – Edition 301

Find out About:

A. An Open School Event: For Big Nursery Yellow Group Parents: Basic Skills.

B. Parent Consultations July 2023

C. End of term arrangements July 2023

D. What are the children learning about this week?

A. An Open School Event: For Big Nursery Yellow Group Parents: Basic Skills.

Miss Howe teaches some Big Nursery Yellow Group children ‘Basic Skills’ on a Wednesday morning. Mrs Cashmore teaches Some Big Nursery Yellow Group children ‘Basic Skills’ on a Thursday 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 Miss Howe’s Yellow group parents in to observe a 30 minute reading/writing activity on Wednesday 28^th June.

We would like to invite Mrs Cashmore’s Yellow group parents in to observe a 30 minute reading/writing activity on Thursday 29^th June.

A further invitation letter will follow to Yellow Group parents so that we can match up time slots, so parents can join their child’s small group. Green Group had their Basic Skills groups in the Autumn Term 2022 and Red Group had their Basic skills group in the Spring Term 2023.

 B. Parent Consultations July 2023.

We plan to have face to face parent consultations for all the children on 6^th, 7^th and 8^th July 2023.  All consultations will be 5 minutes long. Your child’s keyworker will be in touch with you to arrange an appointment time.

Some staff work part time. Individual staff members will each have a designated block of time slots to meet with parents and discuss their Keyworker children.

So for Little Nursery:

Tuesday 4th July–

Miss Cashmore’s Catkins Children. Five minute appointments available between 3:15pm and 4:05pm

Mrs Watson’s Blue Group Children. Five minute appointments available between 3:15pm and 3:55pm

Wednesday 5^th July–

Mrs McGrath’s Catkins Children. Five minute appointments available between 9:00am and 9:30am

Miss Gaffney’s Blue Group Children. Five minute appointments available between 3:15pm and 3:55pm

Thursday 6^th July–

Mrs Field’s Catkins Class Children. Five minute appointments available between 3:15pm and 3:50pm

Mrs Brinkley’s Orange Group Children. Five minute appointments available between 3:15pm and 4:15pm

So for Big Nursery:

Tuesday 4th July- 

Mrs Patterson’s Green Group Children. Five minute appointments available between 3:15pm and 4:25pm

Wednesday 5^th July-

Miss Skai’s Red Group Children. Five minute appointments available between 3:15pm and 3:55pm

Thursday 6^th July-

Miss Howe’s Yellow Group Children. Five minute appointments available between 3:15pm and 4:10pm

Miss Cashmore’s Yellow Group Children. Five minute appointments available between 3:15pm and 4:00pm

C. End of Term arrangements July 2023

The last day of term in July 2023 for all children will be Thursday 20^th July.

On Friday 21st July school will open only for the Big Nursery children that are leaving us. The session will be from 8:50 am to 11:50am. All Big Nursery leavers are invited to attend this session, regardless of your child’s normal attendance days. As children are attending for the morning only, no child will require a packed lunch. Children will require their water bottles. We are going to consult the children about what activities they would like to plan for their last day, and try to enable their ideas. There will be no charge for this session.

D. What are the children learning about this week?

The theme in Little Nursery is Aliens Love Underpants.

In Catkins Mrs Field will be reading the story of Aliens Love Underpants, then she will set up a washing line in the garden and provide the children with lots of (clean) underpants to wash and hang on the line. The children will work on their fine motor skills as they use the pegs to hang up their washing.

In the link, Miss Gaffney will be making alien hats with the children. They will use a range of resources to create their own alien hats, the children will be shown how to attach different materials to their work.

In Room 3, Mrs Brinkley will be reading lots of stories with the children. They also will work together to complete large floor puzzles. Mrs Brinkley will encourage the children to really look at their puzzles and think about where each piece goes.

Outside, Mrs Watson will have a matching patterns game for the children to play. They will be shown pictures of underpants that are different colours and have different patterns on. The children will look for a matching pair which they can show Mrs Watson and discuss the patterns and colours.

The theme in Big Nursery is London.

In Room 1, Mrs Patterson will be helping the children to create images of the King’s Guard. She will show the children how to attach split pins to the guards to allow them to move the arms and legs of their guardsmen. This activity will build upon their fine motor skills as they manipulate the pins with their fingers.

In Room 2, Miss Skai will provide the children with images of famous London landmarks to look at so they can paint their own interpretations. She will talk to the children about what makes these landmarks so iconic, i.e. the colour red on a London Bus or the way Tower Bridge lifts to let boats pass. There will also be some pictures of the Royal family for the children to use as reference if they decide they would like to paint a portrait.

Outside, Miss Howe and Mrs Cashmore will both be working with the children to improve their personal, social and emotional skills. They will support the children with conflict resolution and explain why it is so important that we are kind to each other. They will be teaching the children that their actions have consequences which is why we must follow the rules to stay safe.

Nursery News 12th June 2023

NURSERY NEWS

Monday 12^th June 2023 – Edition 300.

Find out About

A. Summer Heat and Nursery.

B. What are the children are learning about this week?

A. Summer Heat and Nursery.

We now find ourselves in the last six weeks of the Summer Term. Higher temperatures have now arrived. Staff are bracing ourselves, as the Summer extreme hot weather brings its own problems.

Across the school, children respond differently to the heat. Some children can take the heat in their stride, and are happy and content. Some children really struggle with the heat, they get too hot, become flushed and sweaty. The intense heat can sap children’s energy. Some children can become extremely grumpy and tired in the hottest part of the day. Staff spend most of their time worrying about keeping everyone safe.

So to help:

• Please keep the donations of fruit and vegetables coming in for snack time. These help to keep the children hydrated, and snack time inside is a restful pause away from the heat.
• Donate some Ice Pops, again these can create a reason to pause and sit quietly. The ice also helps the children to cool down.
• Ensure children have their water bottles with them every day.
• Provide a hat for your child, please put their name on it somewhere.

 B. What are the children are learning about this week?

The theme in Little Nursery is The Tiger Who Came To Tea

In Catkins, the staff will be talking to the children about patterns in nature. They will help the children to recreate images of the tiger we have been learning about by creating stripy patterns with paint. There will be some patterned animal dressing up outfits for the children to wear which the staff will use to promote mathematical language.

In Room 3 Mrs Brinkley will be reading The Tiger Who Came To Tea. The children will be encouraged to look at the pictures as she reads and think about what might happen if a tiger came to their own house. She will set up a café role play for the children to act out the story they have listened to with their friends.

In the link, Miss Gaffney will encourage the children to get messy. She will make cornflour for the children to explore using their sense of touch. Miss Gaffney will be showing the children how the consistency of the cornflour changes as the children investigate it.

Outside, Mrs Watson will use crates and tables to set up a kitchen area for the children to sit at. They will have toy food, plates and utensils to act out their own versions of the story. There will also be an area with lots of natural resources available for the children to examine, while Mrs Watson models lots of descriptive language.

The theme in Big Nursery is We’re Going On A Bear Hunt

In Room 1, Mrs Patterson will be re-enacting the story ‘We’re Going On A Bear Hunt’. She will provide sensory props to support the children’s re-enactment, including water, soil and grass. It will be a really immersive experience for the children which I am sure they will enjoy sharing with you at home.

In Room 2, Miss Skai will support the children with making ‘bear hunt’ maps. She will encourage the children to think about the story we have been reading and what landmarks they might need to add. They will also have the opportunity to make binoculars to use when following their maps.

Outside, Miss Howe will be playing a variety of physical games with the parachute. She will focus on the children’s listening skills when explaining how to use the parachute safely and when explaining to the rules.

Mrs Cashmore will have a bear hunt prepared for the children. There will be laminated pictures hidden around the garden for the children to find, they will be asked to identify the colour of the bears and how many are on each laminate, the children will then write down the amount on their paper.