Headteacher: Anna Moss

Happy Half Term!

Well we made it to the end of our first half term.  What a difference seven weeks has made.  Yesterday was proof of this.  Thank you all for joining us for our Autumn singsong either in the playground or on Zoom.  I hope you agree, they truly did a wonderful job.

With all these practices and performances, our week has been a little different but we still managed to squeeze in a little learning.  In Circle Time 1 – Our Write Dance has been Toy Train where we have been travelling to our favourite places.  Hugo is off to “Snow Land”, Poppy O is off to “Disneyland” and Carly is travelling “home”.  Our Listening Game has been “Who is Hiding” where one friend had to close their eyes, whilst we hid another friend under the blanket.  With a choice of “1,2,3 clues”, you had to work out who was hiding.  A popular game and so we will definitely be playing it again!  Circle Time 2 – In Maths this week we have been learning a new song, the “Counting to 10” song.  It has been teaching us the importance of counting forwards AND backwards - we try hard to do this every time!  Circle Time 3 – Our dough disco song this week was “September” by Earth, Wind and Fire, Isla’s choice -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gs069dndIYk I hope they were tired when they came home because with a song like this, it seems only right to move our bodies as well as our dough in our very own balcony disco.  During our C&L session, we have been sharing our friends’ new words and talking about what they mean.  Multi-coloured (Bobby), delicate (William L), allergic (Evie) and enclosure (Hugo).  See if you can use these words yourself over half term – can you find an item of clothing that is multi-coloured?  Discover something delicate?  Create your own enclosure?

Forest School – This week, Mrs Allen has been sharing the story “Pumpkin Soup”.  She brought in the story characters and you enjoyed role-playing the story with them in the Quiet Area during Forest School.  Using the magnifying glasses, the pumpkins were cut open for you to have a look inside.  In the afternoons, thanks to all the rain making a lot of wet mud, you enjoyed mark making with sticks/mud and printing with the stones/mud.  The rain also created a large muddy puddle and it was great to see so many of you collecting and moving the muddy water to/from each other’s containers. 

A message for parents – Over half term, please can you dig out those warm hats for the children (not caps).  Today the temperature took a dip and we really felt it.  On our return, please can you send the children in with them on their heads and they can put by their shoes ready for our Forest School play.

Have a lovely half term everyone.  Keep exploring those signs of Autumn – leaves changing colour, leaves falling from the trees alongside the acorns/conkers/sycamore wings.  Keep collecting. 

Mrs Mander, Mrs Allen, Mrs Franklin, Miss Turner (am), Mrs Hampton (pm) X

Happy Friday!

Autumn is most definitely here as we have been singing, dancing and reading stories all about Autumn.  Thanks to those of you who brought in some Autumn objects, please do keep them coming in – we are playing all sorts of games with them next week.

Circle Time 1 – Our Write Dance has been Tickle Tree where we have been Autumn trees.  When the wind blew, our trunks shook the branches and down tumbled the leaves and acorns.  Can you think of any other objects that might fall from the tree?  Our Listening Game has been “Follow the Leader” where the leader wore the scarecrow hat and we all had eyes on them, copying their actions.  Our Phonics has been a popular game, Sound Bingo, where we had to cover up the indoor sound as we heard it being played.  Circle Time 2 – Our Maths has been all about putting the number 1 and number 2 together as we played Musical 1’s/2’s, had to find a numicon 1 and 2, showed 1 and 2 on our fingers and put it all together by singing about them with the Pattern Parrot.  Can you remember the rhyme for drawing them?  Start at the top and down we run that’s the way we make a….? Round and back on the railway track, …..?   Circle Time 3 – Our dough disco song this week was Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, Joshua’s choice -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZNRzc3hWvE A great choice, thank you Joshua!  We have loved moving the dough to the song but have also been enjoying trying to say it and even better, clap it (14 claps!!!).  With our topic being Autumn we have been sharing the story The Leaf Thief.  Our focus has been all about the job of the front cover – it gives us clues about what is going to happen in the story.  Have a go this weekend and look at some front covers on your favourite stories. 

Forest School – This week has been all about getting the scarecrows ready for the Scarecrow trail tomorrow.  Alongside all of the other classes in the school, Nursery have made their own “helpful friend” for Snow White.  I wonder if you can spot him tomorrow?  Look out for the purple hat!  To support our Follow the Leader looking game in the cabin, you have also been practising following the leader in and around Forest School.  This is slightly different to our indoor game as it is all about following the back of someone by using their coat, hair or bag to help you.  Keep practising this weekend on your Autumn walks.  Mrs Allen has also introduced some new toys – the princesses and the cars.  Sharing is going to be a big focus after half term, we all need a little work on what this means and what it looks like.

A message for parents – Please come along to the front playground for a Nursery/Red class sing song on Wednesday morning at 8.45am.  If your child does not usually attend on a Wednesday and you would like them to come along, drop them as usual between 8.20am and 8.30am and you can take them with you when you leave at 9am.

Mrs Mander, Mrs Allen, Mrs Franklin, Miss Turner (am), Mrs Hampton (pm) X

Happy Friday!

This week, we have begun our first season topic – Autumn.  We have used the faces on our cupboards to spot and name the children whose birthday is in Autumn.  Our Autumn babies are beginning to turn four already.  I wonder if you can remember any faces on the Autumn cupboard?

Our circle times and forest school are in full swing, here is a little taster of what we have been doing:

Circle Time 1 – Our Write Dance has been the ‘Row the Boat’ song as we have been rowing and digging to the tune.  We giggled when we made the largest boat ever around the outside of the cabin.  Our Listening Game has been the “Kims Game” where you have been spotting which object is missing from a small group.  This is a great skill for your brains and also for Staying Quiet (another listening rule) as you have shown you know the answer by touching your nose and not shouting out.  We also began our reading journey during this session with our Phonics circle time.  We start right at the beginning by listening to sounds in our environment, the cabin.  We played sound lotto to match sounds to pictures.  Take some time this weekend and find things that make a sound in your home – can your families recognise them if they cover their eyes?  

Circle Time 2 – Our Maths has been all about “number 2” following on from last week’s “number 1”.  We have been looking at our blue Numicon two and collecting two objects the same for our blue hoop.  The outdoor disco was a big hit where, when the music stopped, you paired into teams of two.  Dancing in wellies isn’t easy so there were a few tumbles.  We also “chalked and walked” the shape of number 1 and number 2 on the patio. 

Circle Time 3 – Our dough disco song this week was ‘The Excavator Song’, Charlie’s choice - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAguWAJTmBM

We have been moving the dough to the music in different ways and keeping up with Mrs Mander!  With our topic being Autumn we have been sharing the story ‘The Little Red Hen’ and talking about some of the tools used in the story – gardening fork, scythe, hoe, digging fork.  We also enjoyed looking at the Autumn objects you have started bringing in.  We have found out what spiky and smooth both feel like thanks to Mrs Allen’s conker. 

Forest School – Mrs Allen has taught you how you can create your first piece of artwork with a conker and some paint.  We look forward to putting these in your Learning Journeys.  These are a book all about you and your time in Nursery.  During our Forest School time, we have also been on two Autumn walks.  The first one was around the school grounds, practising following the leader wearing our bright yellow jackets.  The second was over the road to the bigger Forest School.  We have collected colourful leaves but we still need more!  If you spot any multi-coloured (Bobby’s word) ones this weekend, please send them in for our Autumn table alongside any other Autumn things that may have fallen out of the tree!

A message for parents – Expensive toys are starting to arrive with the children and as we do not have the space to store them safely, they could get lost/damaged.  The children only require a small soft toy for Quiet Time that ideally fits in their bag on arrival.

Mrs Mander, Mrs Allen, Mrs Franklin, Miss Turner (am), Mrs Hampton (pm) X

Happy Friday!

It was so lovely chatting to you all over Zoom and telephone this week and catching up about how the children are all settling in.  We are now at the end of Week 3 and what a difference we are seeing as they are feeling more settled with us.  They are getting more confident with knowing the adult’s names – next the children’s.  We will start playing games over the next few weeks so they become clear who everyone is.  In their bags, you may have spotted a list of children’s names who are with us this year in the nursery – hopefully this will help when they begin mentioning names at home.

We have had a fun week with our circle times and Forest School fun.  Here is a little taster of what we have been doing:

Circle Time 1 – Our Write Dance has been the Wheels on the Bus as we have been wheeling, swiping and beeping with big arms actions (we are on a bus after all).  Our Listening Game has been the “Blinking Game” where children take a turn with a blink instead of their name.  Buckaroo and Pop up Pirates always make us giggle.  Get ready for a popping Funny Face!

Circle Time 2 – Our Maths has been all about “subitising”, counting with your eyes.  We sang the subitising song to the tune of Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes – “Subitise with your eyes, with your eyes. Subitise with your eyes, with your eyes and put your hands behind you back. Subitise with your eyes, with your eyes.  We moved around the cabin counting soft toys, slippers and numicon.  In Forest School we looked and spotted no 1, 2 and 3.  Keep practising this weekend by looking for 1, 2 and 3 objects in and out of the home.

Circle Time 3 – Our dough disco song this week was Head and Heart - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uk3KhRyfa-M and we have been continuing playing musical dough where the music stops, so does the dough.  We have also started trying out some of the dough actions – pat, pass, pinch, disco.  With our topic being All About Me we have been sharing the story You Choose where you have begun talk partner work making your own choices on where to travel to, which house to live in and which bed to sleep in. 

Forest School – Mrs Allen has opened up the mud kitchen this week and what a hit it was.  She showed you how you use the new tools to make some cakes and even how to decorate them with leaves around you.  We have all enjoyed lots of strawberry, chocolate and even blueberry cupcakes this week.  The sand continues to be a huge hit, especially with the animals and dinosaurs and chalks have now made it from the patio floor to colouring in the wooden blocks and building with them.  We definitely have some future builders in our mix!

A message for parents – please could you help support us over the weekend with the listening skill – “A good listener always looks at the person talking”.  Allow time to stop what you are doing, come down to their level and encourage looking at you when you are talking to them.

Mrs Mander, Mrs Allen, Mrs Franklin, Miss Turner (am), Mrs Hampton (pm) X

Happy Friday!

Another successful week over.  Our daily routine is becoming established as we are now following the same pattern of events throughout the day.  We have been using our visual timetable to help us see what is coming next.  You will find one in your bags today so take some time over the weekend to share with your families.  Can you spot three circle time pictures?  These are the times of the day when we play games as a whole class.

Circle Time 1 – Write Dance and a Listening Game, Circle Time 2 – Maths, Circle Time 3 – Dough Disco and a shared story. 

During our Write Dance sessions, we move to music with a focus on moving our hands, wrists, arms and shoulders to make them strong for handwriting later in the year.  This week’s song has been “We can do anything” and we have been jumping, swinging, stretching and shaking our hands/arms.  Our Listening rule this week has been “Good Listening is Looking at the Person Talking to you”.  We have been using our “looking glasses” to spot objects in the cabin, our friends and the grown1-ups.  We then enjoyed a matching game where you had to find two grown-ups that were the same.  During Maths we have been counting forwards and backwards to 5 with our song Five Green and Speckled Frogs.  We giggled as they splashed in the cool pool and got some of you wet.  Our dough disco is an outdoor game as we use our Quiet Area to move the dough to a song each week – this week it has been Mrs Mander’s choice of Happy.  Enjoy this weekend.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOWDb2TBYDg  If you have a favourite disco song, let us know as we have a lot of dough disco sessions throughout the year and always need new (and current) suggestions!  Our shared story, again in the Quiet area, has been Brown Bear, Brown Bear.  Our favourite game was when Mrs Mander blindfolded herself and tried to turn the pages in the book and listen to the animal sounds you made.

On top of all this circle time fun, we always have two daily Play and Explore sessions in the Forest School.  This week, Mrs Allen has been talking to you about playing safely in the sand.  Keeping those tools down low, keeping sand away from friend’s eyes/faces and most importantly, sharing the tools on offer.  She has practised using her whistle a lot and every time you heard it, you had to stop and show her empty hands.  You have enjoyed chalking on the patio area with our new chunky chalks; it is so great to see that tripod grip so early in the year.  Mrs Allen also had the ribbons out as you decorated the sand netting with some excellent weaving.

A message for parents – please could you help support us during mealtimes at home as we are working on using tools (knife, fork, spoon) not fingers for our food, tasting/licking/nibbling something new every day (even if we don’t like it) and sitting still, waiting for our friends to finish their food before moving on.  Thank you!

Mrs Mander, Mrs Allen, Mrs Franklin, Miss Turner (am), Mrs Hampton (pm) X

Happy Friday!

We all made it to the end of our first week and how far you have come in just five days!  Saying goodbye to your grownup with a playground full of unknown adult faces and big children is very daunting, but by today – lots of you were strolling down to the cabin on your own.  Well done you.  Our focus this week has been purely on getting you settled, ensuring you feel safe and happy as we all get to know one another.  Although you may not know friends names yet, I am hoping you are starting to know the grownup names.  Use your transition booklet this weekend to look at the adult page – can you see us all?  There are two faces missing – Miss Herlihy and Mr Beattie.  Miss Herlihy is going to be our teacher-training student this year and Mr Beattie is a familiar Blackwell face for our old nursery friends who is with us for only two weeks before he heads off to BIG school himself called a university.

In the cabin this week we have begun our handwriting journey with our Write Dance “Just Like This”.  My arms are aching today from all the marching, building and zig zagging so it must be working.  During our indoor circle time sessions we have been learning how to make bubble gloves!  Water + soap make the best bubbles for the cleanest hands.  Keep practising this weekend!  In Forest School we have opened up the sand and the patio and you have been learning about those orange ropes.  Can you remember what we do where we see an orange rope?  Our Forest Friends should be able to tell us!

A message for parents - please can you help support us at lunchtime?  Spend a little time this weekend looking at the school menu for the meals we will be having next week.  If there are days when you know they will struggle, please let us know on the This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. email address.  Any information on foods they do not like, haven’t tried, mealtime habits they may have will help us to help support them.

Mrs Mander, Mrs Allen, Mrs Franklin, Miss Turner (am), Mrs Hampton (pm) X

What a hot Friday!

Our final full week in nursery and what a smashing week of weather we have had.  We have managed our second week with all of our day spent outdoors (except for lunch and quiet time) and finished with a bang today as we watched Red class have a fire.  We have enjoyed revisiting many of our old games using Hedgehog and Badger, a beanbag and Freddie’s favourite song, “Happy” which was actually our very first dough disco song.  The visit to Red class for most of you was very special as Mrs Webb shared s story with you, played a listening game and you enjoyed the play choices on offer in the classroom.  How grown up you all looked as you lined up to go in – Mrs Webb is now very excited to have you in September with all those listening skills you showed her on Wednesday!

We have spent the day today sharing your Learning Journeys with you, such a treasured book “all about you” to keep forever – “until I die” in the words of Hamish!  We hope you enjoy these with your families – you have changed so much since the Autumn season.

Three more days to go next week and they continue to look like hot days.  Please remember to send in the children with their sunhats and suncream (first layer applied before they arrive!) so they can enjoy all that is on offer in our outdoor space.

Have a lovely weekend all.

Mrs Mander and the Nursery Team X

Happy Friday!

Well we managed it for the first time ever – a whole week with the cabin shut and all of our mornings spent outdoors.  We have been dough discoing in the fire circle to Connie’s disco choice of song “I’m Gonna Be” by The Proclaimers.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZ4Ib-7fJqY  We have surely walked those 500 miles now?  We have continued our work on shortest, tallest and the same as we had to find someone and something that was taller than us, shorter than us and the same as us. Can you remember which objects you found?  We then had a go at working as a team to build a short and tall tower with the challenge of building one the same height.  We had fun with Phonics in the forest as we have been searching for the animals pig, cat, dog and hen and hunting down our own letter sound.  Can you remember which colour was yours?

In Forest School with Mrs Allen, you have been talking about summer and creating a list of summer words.  The sandpit had a revamp as the new buckets and spades made an appearance and in keeping with the talk of football, some popular flags were added to your creations.  In the afternoons you have been talking about travelling abroad on an aeroplane (if only!) and you had fun creating an aeroplane using the crates.  I wonder which exotic location you travelled to?  There has been a lot of gully play this week as the water is always welcome to cool us down and a popular choice of play was decorating the fence with your paint/water.  We have also enjoyed lots of talk of the football thanks to Joseph and Ralph wearing those England tops – our dough disco song next week is football themed but we have a backup song choice if it all goes wrong at the weekend!

A message for parents – thank you to those who joined in with our ‘Break the Rules day’ today.  Who would have thought being able to bring in your own unhealthy snack would create such excitement!

Have a lovely weekend everyone.