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

A huge thank you to this child's Dad who came in last week to Nursery to help us celebrate the Hindu festival of Holi. He told us all about why he celebrates it, how it is traditional to throw paint powder of different colours, eat sweets, and afterwards dress up smartly! 
He showed us lots of pictures and then we used colourful scarves to throw and dance with, pretending they were the paint. ​

A big thank you to everyone who came to our Fudge day today and got stuck in with all the activities. We hope you enjoyed it!

We would be most grateful if you could spend a couple of minutes to leave us some feedback. Click here to fill out the quick form. 

Thank you.

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 lots of art, Chinese craft, models from junk and learnt how to construct towers with a strong base.  We even made bird food for our new bird feeding area and to take home for the RSPB bird watch. Finally, this week we made sandwiches! Thank you to the parents who came in to help us celebrate Chinese New Year and Burn’s night. It is great to have so many parents sharing their culture with us. We all enjoyed the Chinese workshop with Earthsong, playing the drums and watching the dancing lion! Our big focus in maths has been counting. We started our rhyme time challenge and learnt lots of new songs. We have been observing the weather every day and watching the bulbs we planted start to come through as Spring arrives. Science Day was a huge success and it was great that you could join us for all the activities. We learnt all about living in a flat in the city through our key text, ‘Alphonse There’s Mud on the Ceiling’ and compared it to the bear’s cottage in the woods in Goldilocks. As a treat at the end of term we made sandwiches for a picnic! 

Parent Workshops

If you did not manage to join us for the workshop on fine motor and writing skills please check out the presentation deck below: 

Writing and Fine Motor Skills Presentation for Nursery and Reception parents

Celebrations in Nursery

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 Tuesday 21st February with an action packed ‘Book Week’. Please remember to send your child in wearing pyjamas on the Tuesday and dressing up as their favourite character on the Friday.  We will be learning and perform the poem ‘Grow Up’ by James Carter. The highlight this half term will definitely be on Monday 13th March 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 learn alliteration, where we find words that start with the same letter ie ‘The pink pig pushed the prickly pineapple’.  We will be introducing pictures that represent the letters s,a,t,p,i,n,m,d,g and o and teaching the children how to recognise and write them. 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 cards, musical instruments and painting in the style of Jackson Pollock (see picture). It’s going to be messy!

Rhyme Time Challenge

Our Rhyme Time Challenge concerts are on Friday 24th March Thank you for helping us practice the songs at home for our Rhyme Time Challenge. So far we have learnt : Open Shut Them; Polly Put the Kettle On; and Old MacDonald; There was a Little Turtle. Next half term we will be learning It’s Raining, It’s Pouring; Five Little Monkeys; A Sailor went to Sea.

A big thank you to Elliott's Dad who came into the Nursery to celebrate Burns Night with us this week. Elliott's Dad is from Scotland and Burn's night celebrates the famous Scottish poet Robert Burns. He told us all about it, read some books and even gave us some Scottish shortbread to try that he had made with Elliott. Thank you it was great fun and the children loved learning about a different country and culture.

 
If you would like to come and celebrate a special day in your country or religion with us please let your teacher know. We would love to have you.

A huge thank you to the Mummys of Andy, Lingxi, Sia, Jasper, Vince and Evie in Blue Nursery for celebrating Chinese New Year with us today. They helped us learn about how we celebrate, about saying goodbye to the year of the Tiger and welcoming the year of the Rabbit. We said happy new year in Mandarin and had a dance to a special song. Then we had art and craft time and all made fire crackers! 

Happy new year and thank you for the red packets and fortune cookies to all our Chinese families!

Autumn 2 half term

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 been learning all about instrumental sounds and playing different instruments inside and outside, as part of developing listening and attention. The children have been introduced to one number every week, we have been practising counting and learning the names of basic 2D shapes.

We have also been learning all about the seasons and the signs of Autumn. We noticed the colours of the leaves change then fall off the trees on our out and about walks. Thank you for bringing in bulbs. The children enjoyed digging holes and planting them. We cannot wait to see them grow into beautiful flowers in the Spring.  We learnt about and celebrated American Thanksgiving with a musical parade and our very own balloon float! Art was also our focus to help us learn about Bonfire night and Remembrance Day as we painted fireworks and poppies. Finally, we have been celebrating Christmas by singing, making cards and crafts and learning about how Christians celebrate it. Thank you for joining us for the Christmas concerts. We were very proud of how well the children sang for you all. 

Overview of next half term

Term begins on 4th 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 will be making music, making dens, making a picnic, making Chinese arts and crafts and making wintery art! In addition to this all children have a Music session with Mrs Williamson every week, an Out and About session, maths, circle time and phonics session. Our phonics focus is tapping out rhythms and learning about rhyming words. 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 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. Our rhymes are: Open Shut Them; Polly Put the Kettle On; Old MacDonald; It’s Raining, It’s Pouring; Five Little Monkeys; Mary had Little Lamb; A Sailor went to Sea.

Dates for your Diary

Start of term - Wednesday 4th January

Science Day Friday 6th January - come and join us at 8.30am and 12.30pm for an hour for some fun Science activities with your child.

Nursery Fine motor and Writing Workshop for Parents - Wednesday 18th January (8.45am and 12.45am) - come and learn about how to help children develop strong fine motor skills, hold and control and pencil and how we teach your child to write. 

Chinese New Year celebrations - 22nd January - If you would like to come and help us celebrate or do an activity with the children  please let us know. 

Parent consultations - 8th and 9th February 3.45pm onwards

End of term - Friday 10th February

Important Information

Please remember:

To read the book your child brings home with them, write a note in the Reading record and return the book bag every Friday. We are very impressed with how well this is going and how much the children are enjoying the books at home.

If you are encouraging your child to learn to write, please help them use lowercase letters rather than capitals with the exception of the first letter in their name.

Don’t forget to look out for book recommendations from the SPARK book awards in the School Newsletter.

We go outside in all weathers so please ensure your child has warm clothes and a warm waterproof coat as well as suitable boots or shoes. Trousers, tracksuit bottoms and leggings are best for Nursery as children can climb, run and go to the toilet by themselves much more easily than in dresses and skirts and tights.

Check Tapestry regularly for updates and send us photos and videos of what you have been up to at home!

Talk to your child about what they have done or will be doing in Nursery. 

Look out for the weekly Rhyme Time Challenge!

Look out for the weekly Nursery updates on Tapestry. Essential information for the week ahead for you and your child. 

Contact us if you have any questions on Tapestry or at the door - we are here to help!

Thank you as always for all your support.   Have a lovely Christmas holiday break The Nursery Team

This week in Nursery we have been celebrating American Thanksgiving. Madison’s mum came and read us a story about being thankful and then we made turkey flags, special hats and Mrs Hibberd made a huge balloon float. To copy the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving parade in New York we marched around the playground with our very own marching band! Madison’s mum and Kinzie’s mum are both American and joined us to celebrate! Happy Thanksgiving! ​

Last half term

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 and celebrating the different cultures our families come from with parents coming in to teach us about Korea, Portugal, Turkey, Bulgaria, France and America - thank you for helping! . The children had fun joining in with the Anansi story telling and the Earth Song Diwali workshops. 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 31st October and ends on Friday 16th 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.

Dates for your Diary

Friday 11th November - Reading Morning/Afternoon - we would like to invite you into the Nursery to read a book with your child at the start of the session. 

Week commencing 14th November - Bring a bulb to school - We would be very grateful if you could bring a bulb or a packet of bulbs to school on the week of the 14th November. The children will plant them and watch them grow next Spring. B&Q or Wilko have a good selection.

Christmas Concert - We will let you know as soon as possible what the dates and arrangements are for the Nursery Christmas concerts.

Tuesday 13th December - Christmas Party - the children can come in wearing party clothes that day. We will let you know nearer the time what we would like you to contribute.

Important Information

To read the book your child brings home with them, write a note in the Reading record and return the book bag every Friday. We are very impressed with how well this is going and how much the children are enjoying the books at home.

We go outside in all weathers so please ensure your child has warm clothes and a warm waterproof coat as well as suitable boots or shoes. Trousers, tracksuit bottoms and leggings are best for Nursery as children can climb, run and go to the toilet by themselves much more easily than in dresses and skirts and tights.

Check Tapestry regularly for updates and send us photos and videos of what you have been up to at home!

Talk to your child about what they have done or will be doing in Nursery.

Contact us if you have any questions on Tapestry or at the door - we are here to help!

Thank you as always for all your support.

The Nursery Team

A big thank you to Defne’s mum and dad for coming in to Yellow Nursery to celebrate Turkey. The children learnt about children's day on 23rd April. Mum played the guitar whilst both parents sang a beautiful Turkish song to the children. The children had a fantastic time.

Thank you so much to Maisie's Mum who came into nursery to talk to the children about Korea. She showed them the Korean flag and taught then how to say Hello. The children loved looking at her Korean toys and listening to Korean songs. She then made money pockets with the children. The money pockets are a tradition for new year to store money given to you by relatives. 

Last week we invited parents to come to Nursery to share their cultures. Thank you very much to Ralphie’s and Ana Luisa’s mums who came to help us learn about Portugal. We learnt some Portuguese, saw their flag and even made some Portuguese cockerels out of paper plates! 

The teachers are really enjoying teaching Computing at school and we know the children love taking part in Computing at home too!  Some classes have learnt about Paint and some classes have learnt about Presentations. If you are taking part in Computing at home, please submit an observation on Tapestry titled “Computing Home Learning”. This half term’s optional challenges are:

Nursery & Reception: Do any of your toys make a sound or move when you press a button?  Are any of them remote-controlled?  Your child could take a photo/video of their technological toy and explain or demonstrate how it works!

Nursery and Reception Tech Time Challenge

Year 1: Paint a picture of your favourite animal using different colours and brushes. You could use shape and fill and undo if you make a mistake.

Year 1 Tech Time Challenge

Year 2: Create a Presentation about Habitats or a topic of your own choice. Use images and text, which could be found online, and then present it.

Year 2 Tech Time Challenge

You will find further details on the images posted on our website and on the 'Computing Home Learning' Tapestry post dated 21.10.22​

Fine motor skills practice helps your child’s hand strengthen and grow to help be able to draw, write, use scissors, paint brushes and tools, fasten their zips and buttons and pick small things up.  Here is an information sheet with suggestions of how to help your child with these skills at home.

Fine motor and writing practice information sheet for Nursery parents

Please read carefully the attached document with regards to Attendance & Punctuality at Nursery.

Introductory letter for Reception to Year 2

Introductory letter for Nursery

Thank you to everyone that attended the Welcome to Nursery talk this week. If you were unable to attend, you can see a copy of the presentation slides below: 

Welcome to Nursery presentation to parents - September 2022

To the parents of children joining our Nursery in September: 

Thank you to all of you who attended the Nursery Parents Evening on Wednesday 29 June.  We hope you found it useful.  For those of you who could not attend, please find attached a copy of the presentation that was shared at the session.

New to Nursery Parent Information Evening presentation