Welcome to the Nursery webpage. We will use this page to keep you informed about events and learning in Nursery!

Summer 1 half term learning

We started the half term with a very exciting Maths Day and have had a real focus on maths over the half term. Thank you very much for sending in the seedlings to plant, our Nursery garden looks wonderful with the strawberries about to ripen, the tomatoes flowering and the other vegetables growing happily! The children have learnt about gardens through the book, Errol’s Garden and our visit to B&Q. The bulbs you sent in the Autumn have also flowered over the term, with an array of daffodils, tulips, irises and alliums. The children have been very excited to see them pop up, grow and flower! 

A Mouse Called Julien’ has been by far the favourite key text we have covered so far! The children are now experts on woodland animals and were relieved when Julien survived being gobbled by the fox! The books helped us learn about friendship, which has also been our PSHE focus for the term. 

Further highlights of our term were VE Day when we made jam sandwiches and bunting, making flower collages, looking at our Birthday pictures from over the years, learning about Australia in Around the World week and of couse the multicultural picnic.  Thank you to the parents who came to help this term, on the B&Q trips, as a Mystery reader and telling us about Australia. Thank you also for the Birthday pictures and donations of junk modelling, wrapping paper, dead flowers etc.

Overview of next half term

Next term our topic is Amazing Animals. We have a visit from ‘Our Amazing Animal World’ when the children will be able to handle a range of different animals. There will be a small change for this and we will be writing to you soon about this. Our key texts are all about Crocodiles, Frogs, Butterflies and Bears! The first week back is WWF week where we focus on helping endangered animals - the hammerhead shark is our chosen one! We will also be able to carry on looking after and then pick and eat the fruit and vegetables we have been growing. There is ‘Healthy Living Week’  when we have a ‘Big Breakfast’ when we serve the children cereal and fruit in school, sports day and other exciting activities. We will continue with learning phonics, maths and writing to prepare the children for Reception. Finally, we will be helping the children get ready for the transition into Reception by talking about it and using the text, ‘Brave Bear’ to talk about what we feel like when we do something new. Children staying with us for Reception will have visits from their new teachers and also go to their new classrooms. If your child is leaving us please let us know if you need to attend any visits. 

The 2 year olds will have a similar programme of learning but not Sports Day.

Dates for your Diary 

Spring 2 half term learning

We started the half term with a very exciting Book Week, learning to perform a poem, wearing pyjamas for a bedtime story and dressing up as book characters. The children also had fun buddy reading with Year 3 classes from the Junior school!  Our topic this past half term was ‘Eggtastic’! Our first key text ‘Handa’s Hen’ was very popular and many of the children now know it by heart! We loved learning to find Africa on a world map and about the different animals. It has also helped us become very good at recognising the numbers 1 to 10 and matching the right number of objects to the numeral. The children have been fascinated by our second text, ‘Chickens Aren’t The Only Ones’ learning about the different creatures that lay eggs (oviparous) including dinosaurs, birds, amphibians and reptiles.  Celebrating Holi, Eid, Mothers day and Easter have been highlights of the term but the most exciting event was our chicks. We watched the chicks hatch out of eggs and have been able to care for and handle them! It has been great for the children to see the bulbs you kindly sent in last October flower into beautiful snowdrops, hyacinths, tulips and daffodils! In PSHE we learnt all about keeping healthy. Thank you for sending in the fruit for the fruit kebabs, it was so exciting to touch, smell and taste such a wonderful variety! Finally, thank you for coming to our Rhyme Time concerts, we were very proud of how enthusiastically the children sang. We hope you liked the Mother’s day cards (in the style of Japanese artist, Yayoi Kusama ) the children made at Nursery and are impressed that they are trying to write their own names. We had a fun final week of term making chocolate nests and the Easter Egg competition!

Overview of next half term

Our topic is ‘Plantastic’’. The table above gives you an overview of the learning and activities we will be focussing on in the 3 year old Nursery. The 2yos will focus on a simplified version of this plan. 

Our focus is growing fruit and vegetables, and we have a special ‘bring a plant to school week’ when we ask you send in vegetable or fruit seedlings such as strawberries, tomatoes, peppers,  beans, peas, broccoli, kale, etc. for the children to care for and watch grow at school.

Dates for your Diary 

Spring 1 half term learning

Our topic this past half term was ‘Marvellous Making’ and the children enjoyed making all sorts of things! Making music and tapping out rhythms along to our key text ‘Tanka Tanka Skunk’ was great fun. We made bird boxes and all sorts of things from junk, we made gingerbread men, made Chinese crafts, made bird food for the Big Garden Birdwatch and made towers from construction. We learnt how to paint and have been writing our names. Thank you to the parents who came in to help us celebrate Chinese New Year. We all enjoyed the Chinese workshop with Earthsong, playing the drums and watching the dancing lion! Our big focus in maths has been counting. Thank you for coming to the Phonics and early writing parent workshop in January. If you could not come please take a moment to look at the slides on the website. We have been learning the phonemes s,a,t,p,i,n,m,d,g and o and using the Little Wandle Rhymes to learn phonemic skills such as alliteration, rhyming, syllables and recognising sounds around us. Please remember you can practise the rhymes at home on this link. https://www.littlewandlelettersandsounds.org.uk/resources/for-parents/#tabnametabNurseryRhymes-Videos

This term we have been observing the weather every day and watching the bulbs we planted start to come through as Spring arrives. Science Day and the Parent Reading sessions were huge successes and it was great that you could join us for all the activities. Finally, thank you for joining us for the Parent Consultations, it was good to talk to you all about how much progress your child has made so far.

Overview of next half term

Our topic is ‘Eggtastic’’. The table above gives you an overview of the learning and activities we will be focussing on in the 3 year old Nursery. The 2yos will focus on a simplified version of this plan.  Term begins on Monday 24th February with an action packed ‘Book Week’. Please remember to send your child in wearing pyjamas on the Tuesday and dressing up as a book character on the Friday. The highlight this half term will definitely be on when 10 eggs arrive in an incubator and hatch into chicks in our Nursery. One of our key texts is  ‘Chicken’s Aren’t the Only Ones’, our first information text where we learn about all the different animals that lay eggs. Our other text is ‘Handa’s Hen’ which is set in Africa and helps us learn about the map of the world, different animals and counting. In maths we are focussing on counting, comparing quantities, shapes and subitising. In Phonics we will introduce the next set of phonemes (c,k,ck, e, u, r & h), In Science we are investigating ice, wind and the signs of Spring.  In art and DT we will be making Mothers’s Day cards, Easter art and cards, musical instruments and improving our painting skills.

Rhyme Time Challenge

Our Rhyme Time Challenge concerts are on Friday 14th March. We will be learning lots of songs that you can sing at home by using the Little Wandle parent page Nursery rhymes.

https://www.littlewandlelettersandsounds.org.uk/resources/for-parents/#tabnametabNurseryRhymesVideos

Dates for your Diary 

Autumn 2 half term learning

Our topic this past half term was ‘Journeys’ and the children enjoyed learning what a journey is through books and out and about sessions. Our two key texts, ‘What the Ladybird Heard’ and ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’ were very popular and lots of the children now know both books off by heart! The children have started to learn and use lots of new vocabulary for geographical features such as hills, rivers, fields, caves, sea and have been introduced to maps. Learning all about and playing with farm animals has been very popular too. In phonics we have started the new Little Wandle Foundations scheme for Nursery and introduced the sounds s,a,t,p,i and n and focussed on learning to write our names.  The children have been introduced to one number every week, we have been practising counting, understanding ‘same and different’ and learning the names of basic 2D shapes.

We have also been learning all about the seasons and the signs of Autumn and Winter. We noticed the colours of the leaves change then fall off the trees on our out and about walks and in our Woodland School sessions. Thank you for bringing in so many bulbs. We have planted them all in our garden and we cannot wait to see them grow into beautiful flowers in the Spring.  Art was also our focus to help us learn about Bonfire night and Remembrance Day as we painted fireworks and made poppies and Christmas crafts. Thank you to the parents who came in to help us celebrate the very successful multicultural week and the different festivals including Christmas and Hanukkah. Thank you for coming to the Christmas concerts, we were very proud of the children for singing so well and hope you enjoyed them.

Overview of next half term

Term begins on Tuesday 7th January. Our topic is ‘Marvellous Making’. The table above gives you an overview of the learning and activities we will be focussing on in the 3 year old Nursery. The 2yos will focus on a simplified version of this plan. We also have story time every day and learn songs, rhymes and dances every week. The children learn a new Makaton sign each week, a number of the week and we will focus on counting and understanding number. The children of course have the opportunity to do Woodland School once a week and choose their own learning and play inside and outside throughout the term.

Rhyme Time Challenge

Next term we also start our Rhyme Time Challenge! This is when we send home a weekly Nursery rhyme for the children to learn with their families! We also practise it in Nursery but it would be great to see videos and pictures of you singing it at home on Tapestry! At the end of term there will be a concert in the Nursery before the Easter holidays.

Top Tips for the Holidays

Messy play - cook, bake, play in the mud, jump in puddles, paint, make marks in shaving foam or flour etc. 

Mark making, drawing and writing - write a letter or draw a picture for Santa!

Reading - read a book to your child every day. Visit the Library! 

Phonics - learn the Nursery Rhymes on the Little Wandle website parent page. Find things around the house that start with s,a,t,p,i,n,m,d,o and c.

Shapes - go on a shape hunt outside!

Counting - count objects up to 10 together, making sure you touch every object only once!

Dates for your Diary 

Please find attached some top tips to help your child with their fine motor control, writing and reading.

Top Tips for Fine Motor, Writing and Reading in Nursery

Autumn 1 half term learning

Thank you for welcoming us into your homes in September! It has been wonderful to get to know you and your children over the half term. We are delighted with how quickly and how well they have settled in.  We have had so much fun this half term exploring, learning and making friends inside and outside. Our topic has been ‘our families’ and the children have loved talking about their family pictures. We have also been enjoying traditional tales such as Goldilocks and Jack and the Beanstalk. The children had fun joining in with the Black History and Diwali Earthsong workshops and making crafts. Thank you for all the donations of acorns, leaves and conkers.  Finally, the Nursery is looking wonderfully green inside and outside because of the plants you donated. Thank you very much!

Overview of next half term

Term begins on Monday 4th November and ends on Friday 20th December. Our topic is ‘Journeys’.  Every Friday we send you a summary of what is coming up in the week ahead in Nursery. It is very beneficial and helpful if you take a little time with your child to talk about it to help them learn vocabulary and get them excited about what they will be learning. Below is a summary of the learning in Green, Yellow and Blue Nursery.

Woodland School

After the October half term Blue, Green and Yellow classes will be starting to have an hour long weekly session in the Woodland School.

The benefits are as follows:

practical physical activities - helps to develop gross and fine motor skills

understand and appreciate the natural world and environmental issues

working together to complete challenges, take turns and problem-solve ie building dens

developing communication skill and learning new vocabulary

becoming resilient, independent, enquiring and creative learners

learning to assess risks and make informed decisions: How do I use a mallet safely?

learning maths skills: How many big sticks will I need to build a den?

developing imagination and creativity: What shall I put in my ‘magic’ potion?

learning in different ways – can appeal to children who are less engaged in the classroom, and can improve behaviour, motivation, concentration and confidence

enjoying better levels of mental health and well-being

We will be following planning that involves team games and focussed activities as well as free-play. In this Autumn term we will be focussing on learning about trees and animals.In the future we will be using tools to make things and even having a camp fire. A full risk assessment is in place and staff will be trained in woodland school practices and skills. On the day your child’s class has Woodland school please ensure they have a warm and waterproof coat and wellies. We will let you know which day it is on Tapestry. You can leave a pair of wellies in class if you prefer.

Dates for your Diary 

Thank you to all of you who attended on Friday 18 October to find out about the Nursery curriculum.  Please find attached a copy of the presentation that was shared.

Nursery Curriculum Talk - Autumn 2024

Thank you.