Headteacher: Anna Moss

Happy Saturday Team Nursery!

In the cabin, during Circle Time, we have been playing/learning:

Listening Games. We have been practising our happy, sad, angry and shocked faces in the mirrors to help us play a new game of “Who Feels Different?”. One person “felt” different to the others and it was your job to look at all friends’ faces to work out who it was. This was the most challenging Looking game so far and so we will be revisiting later in the term.

Write Dance. “We Can Do Anything” has continued to wake us up every morning with some excellent moves to the music. The challenge this week was to move behind a chair and add in some mark making up and down actions with our hands on the table. You thought the wet tables were slippy until we added in the handwash too! How clean were your hands (and the tables) once we had finished our morning moves??

Number. The “Pattern Parrot” has extended us this week with patterns of “1 and 2, 1 and 2” and you showed me this with Numicon, fingers, number cards. We began looking at what 1 and 2 look like in the “ten frame” too thanks to our Autumn conkers. The “ten frame” will be a key tool in our Maths learning this year – if you have any empty egg boxes that hold 10 at home, keep them to show your family how we do it! We have enjoyed comparing 1 and 2 with “Musical Groups” and yesterday we enjoyed a 1 and 2 Numicon hunt around the cabin. These Maths skills are sinking in as you seem to spot “pairs” everywhere now!!! Can you spot any at home this weekend?

Nursery Rhyme. “Rain Rain Go Away” has been a perfect choice of Nursery Rhyme this week! We played with the words of the Nursery Rhyme too by changing the Day of the Week and the weather to make it “Snow Snow Go Away…..”. I loved your answers to the question of which weather do you like/not like – fascinating how those young brains work! “I like the rain because of the patterns it makes” (Joshua). “I like the rain best because of the pitter patter sound” (Beccy). “I don’t like the sun as it shines in my eyes” (Harry).

Dough Disco. We have started to create a combination of Disco moves this week with Eden’s choice of music “You’ve Got a Friend in Me”. By the end of the week, you remembered it all the way through – sausage, pass, poke and play that dough musical instrument you created.   Next week, Erica has chosen a song I hoped we wouldn’t hear again in Nursery, “Baby Shark”. Get ready grownups, as they will be bringing it home!

Outdoors, in Forest School, Mrs Allen has introduced us all to the Story Area which is a perfect place to come if you feel like some outdoor Quiet Time.

The Story Area. Mrs Allen shared one of her favourite stories “The Enormous Turnip” in lots of different ways this week – pictures, role play and props. It made us giggle when we watched a team of children (and Mrs Allen) take on the roles of characters from the story and try and pull up our very own enormous turnip!

The Patio. We enjoyed a new game of “What’s the Time Mr Wolf” this week and it was great to see so many of you keen to take on the part of the wolf. You counted times up to five o’clock with steps and waited for those dreaded words “It’s dinner time”. It was lovely to hear Koa asking if we could play it again the next day.

The Gully and The Mud. Following a lot of rain and a new batch of mud, the tools and toys in the Mud Kitchen were looking like they needed a little TLC this week. Well don’t to those of you who helped Mrs with her washing pot in the gully. Same time again next week?

The Patio. It was lovely to see so many of you keen to try out the red trolley to transport objects around the Forest School this week. The wooden blocks made excellent ice creams and hot chocolates – I am not sure how we ate so much! The magnifying glasses were also a big hit with lots of you on the patio and Isaac seemed to find every bug living in Forest School.

The children have come in so well this week and now they have the added job in the morning of finding their name and adding it to their photograph before slippers and play. If you do arrive earlier than 8.30am (when the Nursery doors open), please can you help support us with our “no running” rule on the balcony. Thank you.

Have a lovely weekend.

Mrs Mander, Mrs Allen, Mrs Franklin, Mrs Lewis, Mrs Barrett and Mrs Flynn.

Happy Friday everyone!

Well the first batch of wet weather this week definitely tested out our waterproofs and lots of bags went home with wet clothes as a result. We will only send a bag home if there are wet clothes that need washing and replenishing. Thank you to ALL who provide those bags in Boot Room, they make our job so much easier!

IN THE CABIN during Circle Time, we have been playing/learning:

Listening Games. We have been playing a new game of “Wink for a Turn” to help support those looking skills. It is so important you can show that you are listening by looking at the person talking and this game helped support this – try it out at home with your families.

Write Dance. We have been jumping, swinging arms, shaking hands and stretching to a new song of “We Can Do Anything” – get ready because next week we are going to move on to the next Write Dance stage of mark making to the music on the tables.

Number. The “Pattern Parrot” has helped us warm up our Maths brains by creating a repeating pattern of two actions e.g. open/close, left/right, up/down. We have moved on to learning about the number 2 and you have shown me 2 objects, built towers with the light blue numicon 2, practised drawing number 2 on a friend’s back. The favourite game this week has been “Musical 2’s” where we have boogied around the room to the disco music and when the music stopped we have created a group of 2 children, a “pair”. See if you can spot some “pairs” at home this weekend!

Nursery Rhyme. “One Finger, One Thumb” has had us exercising those Baby Shark digits. Adding our own body actions on to the song had us giggling yesterday – I think in the end we had a list of 8 actions to remember including: arm, leg, wiggly bottom, stand up, sit down, nod of the head.

Dough Disco. We have been pinching and squeezing the dough this week to “Hakuna Matata” to get our fingers, hands and wrists ready for handwriting. Next week it will be Eden’s choice of song – one of my favourites too!

OUTDOORS, IN FOREST SCHOOL, Mrs Allen has now opened up the mud kitchen and couldn’t we tell – I bet your grownups had to get the nail brushes out at bath time!

The Sand. More birthday cakes were being created using the animals as decoration – Happy 4^th Birthday Rory – we were lucky enough to enjoy the day with you!! Another popular activity was burying those diggers!!! Parker dug a hole so deep that we couldn’t actually find it - excellent!!

The Gully. Well the rain made this part of Forest School very exciting this week as it kept getting so flooded, we couldn’t actually find it. We had fun nevertheless trying to keep it clear of all the leaves, mud and sand – you are super helpers, I hope you are like this at home!

The Mud. It is finally open for business – hooray! I was missing those hot chocolates and mud pies and you certainly didn’t disappoint. Thanks to the rain, it made the mud even more moveable which was great as Mrs Allen could then teach you how to draw with a stick and mud just like the “Cave Baby” story.

The Patio. A popular play choice this week has been using the tubes from the shed for all sorts of weird and wonderful things: talking through them, reins for a horse and a skipping rope. You have also discovered that when you create a vehicle using the crates, they make excellent seatbelts – safety first!

It was so lovely to see so many of you at the Open Evening on Wednesday night and we had the chance to have a chat about how your little ones are settling in. They are certainly a confident bunch which has meant they have settled into Nursery life very quickly! We do have a more formal Parent Consultation in November (19^th/20^th) but in the meantime, do come and chat (or email for those working parents) about any questions, worries, concerns you may have.

Have a lovely weekend.

Mrs Mander, Mrs Allen, Mrs Franklin, Mrs Lewis, Mrs Barrett and Mrs Flynn.

Happy Friday everyone!

What a beautiful week we have had with some warm autumn sun.

In the cabin, during Circle Time, we have been playing/learning:

Listening Games. We continued with the listening rule of “Listening is Looking at the Person Talking” by playing versions of Grownup Matching Pairs. Yesterday was by far the most challenging when you had to find a matching pair mixed up on the tables and share with your friends who it was. You are doing so well at remembering all six of our names – use the photographs on the door to help you in the morning when waiting.

Write Dance. We have continued with our song “Just Like This” but this week you have had the added challenge of moving your bodies to the music, as well as your arms, and creating patterns with the ribbons. I am hoping your arms are aching as much as mine are!

Number. A daily warm up song/dance of “You Can Clap Your Hands” has had us all clapping, stamping and shaking our heads to three – the challenging part is always stopping at three. You are now experts so am sure you could teach the song to your families and have them singing the song too! We have also been learning about the number 1. You have shown me what 1 looks like with objects, learnt about the orange Numicon 1 and yesterday we were explorers and found number 1 shaped objects in the Forest. Your favourite activity was definitely tickling a friend by drawing number 1 on their backs – did you find time to have a go at drawing on someone’s back at home? Did they recognise the shape?

Nursery Rhyme. “Heads Shoulders Knees and Toes” has had us pointing and naming parts of our bodies and we have made the song faster, slower and even reversed the actions – “Toes, Knees, Shoulders, Heads”.

Dough Disco. We have been passing and sausage rolling our dough this week to “Happy” but you still remembered our Musical Playdough rules of “dough away” when the music stops – definitely a game to show the grownups at our Christmas singsong in December. Thank you to Leo for choosing our Dough Disco song next week, please do let me know your favourite disco songs so I can add to my playlist.

Outdoors, in Forest School, Mrs Allen has now opened up the gully and as this was a huge hit, the mud kitchen will now be waiting for us next week.

The Gully. Fish and chips have definitely been on the menu for lunch this week as you have enjoyed creating your own fish with corks and then attempted to fish them out of the fast moving river.

The Sand. Creating birthday cakes and decorating them have been a popular choice with one of us having their fourth birthday – Happy Birthday Ariana! I am not sure I was so impressed with how many candles were put on mine, but still it is definitely a lot less than it should be.

The Patio. The crates have been used this week for making beds for us all to rest inside – it is hard work at Nursery!! Your bodies were small enough to tuck into the blue crates with material as your blanket. However we grownups had to have at least six red crates in a row on which to fit our long bodies - well not Mrs Allen obviously!

We all hope you have a lovely lovely sunny weekend and keep practising those Traffic Light Voices – red, amber and green at home.

Mrs Mander, Mrs Allen, Mrs Franklin, Mrs Lewis, Mrs Barrett and Mrs Flynn.

Happy Friday everyone and welcome to our weekly blog!

What a smashing start you have all had to Nursery life. You are settling into the swing of our days and with the support of our visual timetable, you are getting to know our daily routine.

In the cabin, during Circle Time, we have been playing and learning:

Listening Games. To help us with our first rule “Listening is Looking at the Person Talking to you” we have all enjoyed the two games of “Who Looks Different?” and “What/Who is Missing?”. It made you giggle when the Nursery grownups stood in a line and when you had your eyes closed, ones hid in the kitchen.

Write Dance. To start getting our arms strong for handwriting, our first song/dance has been “Just Like This”. We have been marching, building, zigzagging and eating and we even performed it on several occasions to new faces. What a confident bunch you are!

Number. A daily warm up dance of the Funky Monkey Finger Dance has had you wriggling those fingers and learning all about your left and right hands. The popular “Counting to Five” songs of Five Naughty Monkeys and Five Speckled Frogs have had us jumping around. You took on the part of the monkeys and frogs so well, we will definitely be revisiting these two songs.

Nursery Rhyme. Tommy Thumb has been teaching us all about the names of our fingers and thumbs. Keep practising naming and hiding Tommy, Peter, Toby, Ruby and Baby.

Dough Disco. To get us ready for the disco feel, we have been playing musical playdough. When the music stops, you have to put the dough back into the pot, lid on, hands in lap. Get ready for our first disco track next week and if you have any favourite disco tracks, please do let us know!

Outdoors, in Forest School, Mrs Allen has now introduced you to two areas:

The Sand. This is always a popular choice and you have done so well to keep safe in the sand by keeping those tools low, ensuring the sand stays in the sandpit and helping at the end of the session to brush off the tools and pop them back into the shed.

The Patio. Stacking the small crates to create towers and using different combinations to make your own settees was popular with all. You have been putting them in a line to create a vehicle to travel to Peppa Pig Land, Elsa Land and the beach. Following a story with Mrs Allen and using the larger crates, a few of you enjoyed creating a safe place for the three little pigs – a very sensible idea!

Next week Mrs Allen is going to be introducing us all to the mud kitchen/gully – be prepared grownups for some muddy hands and nails.

Have a lovely weekend, get plenty of rest for some more Forest School fun next week!

Mrs Mander, Mrs Allen, Mrs Franklin, Mrs Lewis, Mrs Barrett and Mrs Flynn.

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Hello New Nursery 2019!

We hope you have had a lovely summer break and are looking forward to some Forest School fun this year.

On Wednesday, please remember to bring in a:

• Pair of named wellington boots (to be placed under the left hand side bench in the boot room)
• Pair of named slippers (to be kept in the cabin)
• Bag with a change of clothes in (to be kept on your peg in the boot room)

All of these items are to stay in Nursery.

If the sun decides to make an appearance again, as usually happens in September, please bring a named sunhat and sun cream.  You can leave these in your bag in the boot room at drop off so we know where to find them if we need them.

Nursery doors open at 8.30am and so a quick kiss to your grown-up, time to play!

Grown-ups, collection time is 3pm.  Due to the boot room being accessed by the rest of the school, we cannot open the side gate until after they have left the balcony.  After 3pm, if the ramp appears clear, please ring the buzzer and we can release the gate.  If you could wait on the patio area next to the sand pit, we will release the children from the top of the ramp to you.  :-)

See you all tomorrow.

Mrs Mander, Mrs Allen, Mrs Franklin, Mrs Lewis and Mrs Barratt.