Headteacher: Anna Moss

Happy Friday!

What superstars you all were on Wednesday for our filming day.  You coped so well the costumes, being in the big hall with a lot of unfamiliar faces and singing some songs a few times through so we have the best version for the finished show.  We are all waiting patiently for the show to be put together and then we can watch it together – I for one, cannot wait to see it.   We will be singing a few of these Nativity songs on the front steps on Wednesday morning at 8.45am, come along and join in with us! 

Nativity week is always a challenging week with our daily routine but we did manage to play a few games.  In the cabin we have started talking about the Christmas story as you are now familiar with the characters – Mary, Joseph and Baby Joseph.  Today we used our Russian doll versions and have begun our own role-play story.  We, of course, managed to fit in our daily Dough Disco to a classic Christmas song, “Merry Christmas Everyone” by Shakin Stevens. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-PyWfVkjZc It is a good job we had a photo of the Shakin to help support as Miss Turner and Miss Herlihy weren’t even very sure who he was!  The rest of us, the older generation, remember him well!  Holly and Jolly have continued to bring in a new daily Christmas story which Miss Herlihy has been sharing with you after lunch.  In Forest School, you have been playing “Santa Says” with Miss Herlihy where you have had to listen to the words and follow the action but only if “Santa Says”.  Mrs Allen has been sharing “Stick Man” with you with her very own Stick Man.  You then found and made your own using sticks found in Forest School.  Later in the week, you had the chance to create some of the settings from the story by collecting objects around Forest School and laying them out in the tuft tray.  In the afternoons, you have been decorating the sand netting with tinsel to create our very own Forest School Christmas tree.  You have also been shown how to create a sleigh using the crates; it was fun watching lots of you play the reindeer role!

A message for parents – For those parents making a claim for additional hours in the Spring term, could you check you have a working code that takes you beyond 31^st December.  Mrs Bailey has noticed some codes haven’t been renewed to a date in the New Year which will sadly mean hours will be payable.  Please check this weekend.

Have a lovely weekend!  One more week to go!

Mrs Mander, Mrs Allen, Mrs Franklin, Miss Turner (am), Mrs Hampton (pm) and Miss Herlihy (student teacher) X

Happy Friday All!

We are almost ready for our Nativity show performance thanks to our morning Music and Write Dance sessions where we have been singing new songs and learning new routines. Next week, we will start splitting the children into teams of angels, travellers, innkeepers and shepherds ready for the recording on Wednesday.  It is lovely to hear that the children have been coming home and singing (with hand shapes) to you all.  You are in for a treat.  You have all had a chance to play an indoor and outdoor game for our morning circle time.  A Listening Game with Miss Herlihy where you had to hide and help a friend to find the present in the cabin and outdoors with Mrs Mander where we have been listening and matching instrument sounds for our Phonics topic this half term.  In Maths this week we have been putting all of our subitising learning to the test as we have been naming “what numbers we see”.  Seeing (without counting) numbers 1,2,3 in everyday life is a key Early Years skill – hearing children talking at the lunch table “I can see one cookie or two cookies on the tray” or “I can see one girl, three boys and one grownup” is the building block for understanding how numbers work together to make bigger numbers.  Please take time this weekend to ask the children “what numbers do you see?” both indoors and outdoors.  It is OK that we see different arrangements!  Our dough disco song this week has been chosen and taught by Miss Turner, a clear Take That fan - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1GMpz5i01I.  Miss Turner has also been sharing some new Christmas stories with you thanks to the kindness of our elves Holly and Jolly.   In Forest School this week, Mrs Allen has gone all Christmassy on us as she has been showing you how to make stars using sticks and string.  She then used the star to play a favourite game of yours, “Follow the Leader”.  It was fun following the star around Forest School – we never did make it to Bethlehem though did we? It is such a long way away!  In the afternoons, you have had fun hunting the present bows – “look high, look low, look everywhere you go”.  You sang the song as you had to find five bows with your eyes and when you had spotted them all; high five a grownup!  Which grownup did you high five?  Parachute games were on the agenda with Miss Herlihy as you had fun making it turn in a circle, lifting it high and low and swapping places with a friend of your choosing. 

A message for parents – Our self-registration is in full swing and the children are doing so well at recognising their name.  For some children it is more challenging as they share the same initial sound with their friends.  For these children, we are asking them to look at the first and second letter in their name.  If they come home with a sticker with these sounds on, either on their sleeve or upside down on their top, this will be the reason why.  Next week we will begin writing their initial letter (capital only) in a special card we have made.  For those avid mark makers at home, feel free to encourage the drawing of this first shape only, the cursive lower case letters are for another time…..

Have a lovely weekend!

Mrs Mander, Mrs Allen, Mrs Franklin, Miss Turner (am), Mrs Hampton (pm) and Miss Herlihy (student teacher) X

Happy Freezing Friday!

Many thanks to those of you who have ordered your little ones Nursery Christmas card packs – these should have come out to you in their bags this week.  The children did a wonderful job creating their own Christmas tree using a fern leaf, we hope your families will enjoy these. 

In our morning Music session this week we have learnt our first call and respond song “Who stole the cookie?” and have been joining Reception for some singing practice of songs in our upcoming nativity show.  In Write Dance we have continued to travel, but this time we have been bears and climbed over the top of the mountain to see what we could see.  In our Listening Game we have been practising “Staying Quiet” but this time with our quiet feet.  The grownups enjoyed a snooze in the corner of the cabin and it was your job to see if you could move to sit behind us WITHOUT waking us up.  We have taken our Phonics circle time sessions outdoors where you have had to listen to the instrument sounds (maraca, bell, castanet, hand drum) and find the matching chalk picture.  Poppy B made us all smile when the game had finished and she said “I loved that game, can we play again?”  In Maths this week we have been learning all about the direction of moving forward and backwards through dancing to the songs Hokey Cokey and The Keep Fit Song.  You enjoyed playing with Mrs Mander’s remote controls as you became robots and had to use the buttons – forwards, backwards and stop to move around Forest School and the cabin.  Take time this weekend to look for the symbols of these on your own remote controls at home.  Our dough disco song this week has been chosen by Will, “Crazy Frog” by Axel F -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTEKeUrEDjw  I hope you get time this weekend to watch the clip as we have talked a lot about what happens during it and matched our disco actions to it.  During our C&L sessions we have continued sharing our family photos and we even managed to take them for a walk around the Forest School.  We have shared a popular story “Box” and how wonderful to spot Erin’s word medium and a character called Nancy in there!  In Forest School this week, Mrs Allen has been creative with clay as you have been making a family face using only objects you can find in Forest School.  We have a whole new group of faces living on our creative shelves in Forest School.  Some of you had the opportunity to create your family using sticks and wrapping material around them for clothes.  Yesterday, some friends collected those Autumn leaves and you had a go at creating faces using just leaves.  During the morning session, Miss Herlihy has also been playing a family game “Mother May I” – a little like Simon Says with a twist. 

A message for parents – On arrival, we have introduced the children to our self-registration as they are now having to look, recognise and collect their own name before popping on their slippers, washing hands and playing.  Please help support us with this at home by displaying their name in different ways, different places, different fonts.  When we are confident children are able to do this, and if they are showing signs of a comfortable tripod grip, we begin to draw the initial sound of their name.  You may spot a few of these marks in their Christmas card home.

Have a lovely weekend!

Mrs Mander, Mrs Allen, Mrs Franklin, Miss Turner (am), Mrs Hampton (pm) and Miss Herlihy (student teacher) X

Happy Friday!

What an exciting topic we have begun – Families.  Thank you all for your photos! I can’t tell you the language we get from the children when they are talking about familiar people and the stories they tell us.  This has helped support our C&L session after lunch.

To settle the children after a morning play, we have now started our Music sessions where we learn a new music song every week. This term focuses on feeling the pulse through songs and actions.  Johnny and his hammers and Buster climbing a tree are just two of our songs that you may hear them singing this weekend.  Circle Time 1 – In Write Dance we have been travelling around the mountain in different vehicles and creating rainbow arcs singing “ay yay yippee” – share with your family this weekend.  We have begun work on a new listening skill “Good Listening is Staying Quiet” and our Listening Game “Giant's Key” has had you using only your eyes to hear who is hiding the keys.  We have used these skills for our Phonics circle time sessions as we have begun work on instrumental sounds.  You enjoyed playing a game of “Hide and Seek” with the instruments and exploring the different sounds you could make with your hidden one.  Circle Time 2 – In Maths this week we have been learning all about the circle shape.  You giggled when Mrs Mander put on her circle glasses and helped me find circles in the Forest School.  We have begun talking about the properties of this shape too as we have found it only has one curved side which makes it roll.  Go on a circle hunt this weekend!  Circle Time 3 – Our dough disco song this week has been taught by Miss Herlihy and she chose the song “Shake it Off” by Taylor Swift - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2ybiYN24MM.  This clip isn’t Taylor but couldn’t resist sharing as it is a favourite film of mine.  As well as sharing our family photographs in our C&L sessions, we have been joining in with our first poem “What I Like” and talking about four new words – spinning (Theo), medium (Erin), crouch (Poppy B), parents (Robyn).  How lovely it is to hear some of you stealing your friend’s vocabulary during Play and Explore.  In Forest School this week, Mrs Allen has shared the story “Little Home Bird” by Jo Empson in our outdoor story area.  She has talked about how birds create their nests with their weaving skills and you have had a go at being these little birds with weaving ribbons and weaving wool on the frames.  You have linked your learning of creating a safe space to live by making your own den with an old clothes frame and camo netting.  You used this, with the binoculars, to spot the birds.  In the afternoons, you have been playing the game Grandma’s footsteps with Miss Herlihy – a little like “What’s the Time Mr Wolf” with a family twist.  You have also enjoyed the circle time game “Farmers in the Den”.

A message for parents – The temperature has definitely started dropping in Forest School, please ensure you send them in with double layers of clothing (plus a warm coat) and a warm hat on their head (not cap).

Have a lovely weekend!

Mrs Mander, Mrs Allen, Mrs Franklin, Miss Turner (am), Mrs Hampton (pm) and Miss Herlihy (student teacher) X

Happy Friday!

Another special one off topic week this week to commemorate “Remembrance Day”.  It was lovely to see some children wearing the poppy this week and Poppy O in her poppy dress.  We have talked a lot about the importance of the poppy this time of year.  In Circle Time 1 – In Write Dance we have been marching to the Grand Old Duke of York, or in our case Grand Old Duke/Duchess of Blackwell/Burcot.  We have talked about the Grand Old Duke marching men and women up the hill encouraging some of our girls, Carly, Emily and Robyn to want to be soldiers when they grow up.  We have learnt a new song for our Listening Game “Blink Your Eyes at me” to the tune of “Wind the Bobbin Up” and in Phonics we have been singing about noisy objects in Mrs Mander’s bag to the tune of “Old McDonald”.  Using familiar nursery rhymes and changing them is a fun way to introduce new concepts to nursery age so that they retain them.  Circle Time 2 – In Maths this week we have been learning all about the number 3.  We have been making teams of three, collecting three objects (for a poppy shop), looking at the shape of it and we are now beginning to explore ways of making numbers.  It has been lovely to see lots of you making those repeating patterns from last week’s learning.  This weekend – collect three and see how many ways you can arrange them e.g. in a row, on top of each other.  Circle Time 3 – Our dough disco song this week was “Watermelon Sugar” by Harry Styles, Evan’s choice - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-G3DPx0pzE Thank you Evan for choosing such a catchy song, I know I have been singing it all week and doing the spin/reach action.  During our C&L session, we have been listening to soldier songs, including “The Last Post”, and talking about how important their job is in keeping us all safe.  We have also started naming the pictures on our picture cards.  Little Wandle is a whole school approach to teaching Phonics and for us, it is matching up the picture to our sound.  For example, Joshua’s sound is the jellyfish.  Can you remember which picture matches your sound?  In Forest School this week, Mrs Allen has continued the Remembrance theme as you have been painting the collected bark to create your own Forest School poppy shop (Hugo’s idea).  You also have had fun printing poppies with potatoes, making poppies from our DIY poppy box (very challenging) and planting poppies into a green playdough field.  Today you had fun arranging the crates into the poppy shop and selling your “bark poppies” to your friends.  I hope you raised a lot of money for the poppy appeal.  In the afternoons, Mrs Allen has been practising the listening rule of Staying Quiet when we had to put our hoods up, lie down and listen.  It was lovely to hear some of things you heard; leaves falling, leaf blowers and the wind (you have much better hearing than the adults).  Taking time to just sit/lie in the outdoor environment is something you can have a go at this weekend, don’t forget those hoods up!  We finished the week with a playground game – “1,2,3 where are you” . The game involved hiding from a friend who covered their eyes and then they had to use their listening ears to find you by your calls.  Luckily the Forest School isn’t too big!

A message for parents – Our half term Nursery Newsletter comes out during the first week back after a holiday with important messages , please take time to read it on the parentapp or website.

Have a lovely weekend!

Mrs Mander, Mrs Allen, Mrs Franklin, Miss Turner (am), Mrs Hampton (pm) and Miss Herlihy (student teacher) X

Happy 5^th November All!

A special one off topic week this week to celebrate “Bonfire Night”.  Excitement is definitely building with the upcoming bonfire and firework shows on offer over the weekend and we have enjoyed linking all of our learning this week to this.  In Circle Time 1 – Our Write Dance has been a very popular Baby Shark where we have been learning the signs for fish and shark and exercising our BIG arms with very large jaws.  We have repeated our Listening Game “Who is Hiding” with a twist.  This time the clue was all about in which season the person hiding was born.  You had to work harder with those looking eyes to spot your hiding friend’s face on the cupboards.  Circle Time 2 – In Maths this week we have been singing daily to a new “Days of the Week” song and learning all about the repeating pattern using two colours.  It is challenging to create an ABAB pattern and even trickier to spot when there is a mistake.  Keep practising both of these Maths skills this weekend – please never forget the best days of the week, Saturday and Sunday when you are singing them (they always seem to go missing).  Circle Time 3 – Our dough disco song this week was “Wannabe” by The Spice Girls, Florence’s choice - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkmxCl1dsDw  Watch the clip and see if you can spot the five spice girls.  During our C&L session, we have warmed up by sharing more of our friends’ new words.  Slovakia (Nina), smooth (Savannah), barber (Aahil) and thief (Evie).  What can you remember about the meaning of these new words?  We also enjoyed sharing the story of Henry the Hedgehog in the book “Remember, Remember the Fifth of November”.  We have talked lots about the job of the front cover – can you look at some of the front covers on your stories at home and find the clues?  In Forest School this week, Mrs Allen has been celebrating the bonfire/firework theme as you have been creating bonfire pictures with sticks and leaves for your Learning Journeys and had the opportunity to create firework pictures by flicking paint.  We have learnt all about how to stay safe around the fire in our fire circle, how to make a fire and today we had the chance to see one in action.  A huge well done to Mrs Allen who always amazes us in how she gets the fire to light, she never gives up.  As well as all of this fire fun, Mrs Allen has taught you how to play a game of “Duck Duck Goose” as a way to remember how to move safely around the outside of the fire circle.  Make sure if you are ever out and about over the weekend, you show your families how to stay safe around the BIG Forest School fire circle over the road from school.

A message for parents – The children have worked hard for half a term on their listening skills.  This week we have begun putting this hard work into practice by sending a message with the children to pass on to another adult.  Listening to a message, keeping it in your head and repeating it back clearly is a challenge when you are three.  Have a go this weekend at passing on those messages with family and friends.

Have a lovely weekend!

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

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