Nursery News 21st October 2024

NURSERY NEWS

21st October 2024 – Edition 349

Find out About:

A. Important dates, a reminder.

B. Update: Parent School Governor.

C. Parent Consultations

D. Pumpkin Patch

E. Hand, foot and mouth disease. What to look out for:

F. What are the children learning about this week?

 

A. Important dates, a reminder.

Mon 28th October 2024 to Fri 1st November 2024: Autumn Half term – School Closed

Mon 4th November –Teacher training day- School Closed.

Wednesday 6th November and Thursday 7th November-School Photographer to visit.

 

B. Update: Parent School Governor.

Two parents approached me to volunteer to be a parent governor. We now have a full governing body! Thank you!

 

C. Parent Consultations

Little Nursery will be having their Parent Consultations this week! Parents have made appointments with Keyworkers, here are the times staff will be speaking to parents on the phone, as a reminder:

Monday 21st October Mrs Brinkley’s Orange Group Consultations, between 3:15pm and 3:55pm

Tuesday 22nd October Miss Gaffney’s Blue Group Consultations, between 3:15pm and 4:20pm

Wednesday 23rd October Mrs Cashmore’s Little Yellow Group Consultations between 1:00pm and 1:25pm

Thursday 24th October Mrs McGrath’s Little Yellow Groups Consultations, between 3:15pm and 3:35pm

 

Each appointment lasts only five minutes. Please help staff to remain on time.

 

D. Pumpkin Patch

The children have had so much fun with the pumpkins that parents have donated. They have enjoyed moving them in wheelbarrows and rolling them around the garden. Mrs Patterson carefully cut the top off of a big pumpkin and left it in the mud kitchen for children to investigate. They had their hands and arms fully in it, scooping out the seeds and the flesh.  Another popular activity is where we provide golf tees and little hammers so children can hammer the golf tees into the pumpkin.

The children transported the pumpkins into the big sandpit then used them as building brick to build a ‘Pumpkin Castle’, packing sand around the piled up pumpkins to build walls.

Children decorated the biggest pumpkins with chalk, so this week we will wash them and have a go at painting them.

 

E. Hand, foot and mouth disease. What to look out for:

We have had a number of cases of ‘Hand, foot and mouth disease’ in Little Nursery. It is a very common viral illness in childhood.

It is generally a mild illness. In rare cases it can be more severe.

 

I have included some information below from the East of England Health Protection Team regarding this illness:

The individual may develop a fever, reduced appetite and generally feel unwell. One or 2 days later a rash may develop with blisters, on hands, feet, insides of their cheeks, gums and on the sides of the tongue. Not all cases have symptoms. The incubation period is 3 to 5 days. Persons affected are most infectious during the first week of the illness.

The illness is usually mild and clears up by itself in 7 to 10 days.

If the individual develops the rare additional symptoms of high fever, headache, stiff neck, back pain, or other complications then they should seek prompt medical advice.

Spread is caused by direct contact with the secretions of the infected person (including faeces) or by aerosol spread such as coughing and sneezing. Younger children are more at risk because they tend to play closely with their peers.

 

Advice from the Health Protection Team is:

If a child has a temperature they should stay at home.

Children with hand foot and mouth disease may attend the Nursery if they feel well.

We are encouraging more frequent hand washing. We are encouraging the frequent use of tissues to keep noses clean.

I am hopeful that the half term break may stop the spread through the school

 

 

F. What are the children learning about this week?

The theme this week is keeping healthy.

Staff will teach the children about the importance of keeping healthy by exercising and eating well. There will be some activities focused on dental hygiene, which will involve showing the children how to brush their teeth correctly, for how long and how often. They will learn all about visiting the dentist and how they help us to look after our teeth. Looking after our teeth and staying healthy both link to eating well, and staff will use resources to teach the children about balancing their diet and keeping snacks as a treat item, only to be had every so often.

The children will learn value of exercise and rest. As they work and play, staff will talk to the children of the effects exercise has on their bodies. They will encourage the children to pay attention to how fast their hearts beat after exercise and the importance of staying hydrated.

We will also be focusing on scissor skills. The children will learn how to use scissors safely and effectively. We will be providing lots of cutting opportunities to upskill our children and encourage them to cut appropriate materials such as paper, card and boxes in the creative areas. Scissor skills are tricky to master so we aim to provide as much practice as possible.