Headteacher: Anna Moss

0121 445 1622

Nursery

22nd September 2023

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Nursery News – Friday 22nd September 2023

Forest School

Open new areas

With the sand and the mud kitchen fully open for business in our first two weeks, we were ready for the crates.  Mrs Allen showed you how to transport the red crates safely, how you could stack with them and which types of arrangements you could make with them.  The most popular game this week was to use them for a shop as you used the wooden blocks for the money.

Write Dance

(Gross Motor)

We can do anything

To get our body ready for the day ahead, we take part in a morning dance.  We called this Write Dance.  This Autumn term we learn the song/dance part and in the Spring term we mark make to the song once our hands are ready for it.  This week we have enjoyed jumping, stretching, swinging our arms and shaking our hands.  The tricky part was doing each one as we were travelling. 

Listening Game

Matching Pairs

This term our first circle time of the day is always a listening game.  Learning the four listening rules help us learn to listen.  This week you enjoyed playing hide and seek with your three nursery grown ups as we hid their faces around the cabin.  You shared who you had found and we played a taking turns matching pairs game.  Good looking is keeping your eyes on the faces being turned over!

Maths

The number 1

We have two parts to our Maths sessions – the transition game (whilst we wait for all of our friends to join us after Forest School) and a whole class game.  Our transition game was a fun game of showing 1 on a five frame.  Five frames are ways that we can “see” the number without counting.  We then moved on to meeting our orange numicon 1, showing 1 object in our orange hoop and finding ways we can show one on our fingers.  Have a go this weekend!

Communication and Language

When we’re together, Claire Freedman

After our lunch, it is time for some story fun with Mrs Allen in our Quiet area.  Every week, she shares a story linked to our topic.  This week you enjoyed talking about the things you like to do with your friends just like the animals in the story.  Mrs Allen introduced her soft toy friends and you had fun recreating a picnic for them to match an event in the story.

Dough Disco

(Fine Motor)

All About You, McFly

Dough disco is exactly what it sounds like – moving the playdough to a disco song.  We do this daily to increase the strength in the children’s fingers, wrists, hands, arm ready for handwriting next year.  The children will choose the song and we will create the dance.  It is VERY popular part of life with us so get your thinking caps on for a favourite disco song your little one likes – everyone gets a weekly choice.  This week was a topic one as we played musical dough to the song.  When Mrs Franklin stopped the music we had to lock that dough away in a pot and pop our hands in our lap.

A message for parents – it never takes very long for the germs to circulate amongst us (including the adults!) once term begins.  If you feel your child needs calpol before school then we ask that you let us know at drop off and the reason why.  If the reason is because of a high temperature, we ask that you collect them at lunchtime (11.30/12.00) or pop to the office and complete the paperwork for calpol to be administered at 12.00pm when the temperature is likely to spike again.

Mrs Mander, Mrs Allen and Mrs Franklin X

21st July 2023

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Forest School

On the Farm

Who knew toothbrushes would make such good cleaning tools?  You enjoyed cleaning all the farm animals on the patio this week – they look ready for September now.  You also enjoyed creating your own object for the Festival parade today – enjoy swinging that around in the garden at home.

Dough Disco

Old Songs, New Routines

The “music machine” continues to make the song choice and this week it strangely chose well for our Farming topic – ‘What did the Fox Say’, Effy’s choice and ‘Boogie Hedgehog’ (again!!), James’ choice.

Phonics

The wave sound, w

Our final Nursery sound – the wave sound, w.  We were a little scared this week as there were wolves and witches with wands!  We never knew what havoc they may have caused when we opened the box!

Maths

More/Fewer

We have finished our Nursery Maths this year with one final push.  Comparing numbers on dominoes and dice patterns by labelling with more; fewer was clearly too simple and so we used the numicon pieces to help us find out “how many more?” e.g. 6 has two more spots than 4.  Wow! What Maths superstars your new teacher will think you are.

Communication and Language

What the Ladybird Heard, Julia Donaldson

A classic.  A perfect story for learning about “the farm”.  Thanks to Mrs Wilson, our Early Years French teacher – we knew the French name for the main character – coccinelle.  Ask the children to pronounce it correctly rather than trying to read it. :-D

Music

Sounds like a Square Dance!

We did it – we managed to take part in the whole school “country dance”.  Not only did we remember the sequences of moves, we had to do this in the middle of the yellow class circle.  It was so much fun!

A message for parents – the Teddy Bears picnic was a huge hit for the children, we hope they shared with you what happened there.  The minibus and the huge bears were the biggest hit.  I would highly recommend looking out for the events at Burcot Grange for children (posted on parentapp) and take the whole family. 

Enjoy your weekend all!  Two days to go!

Mrs Mander, Mrs Allen and Mrs Franklin X

14th July 2023

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Forest School

On the Farm

Milking the cows was a popular choice this week as you had to fill the rubber gloves with water and squeeze each finger to get it out again.  Such a good exercise for those hands!

Dough Disco

Old Songs, New Routines

The “music machine” continues to make the song choice and this week Henry was happy when Ghostbusters made a return and we still “moved it” to Benji’s disco choice.

Listening Game

Farm Sounds

Staying Quiet was revisited this week as we had to listen to the farm animal making the sound and see if we could match to the correct picture.  We talked about different types of chickens (hens and cockerels) and learnt the French names for cat and dog.

Phonics

The volcano sound, v

Just a few objects in the sound box this week – vulture, van and a vest but a lot more pictures.  We looked at a picture of a real life volcano and talked about why we wouldn’t want this in our box!

Maths

Dominoes

We linked our learning this week by looking at the patterns on our wooden dominoes – we realised we had seen these before when we were able to easily name the domino e.g. 5-2 3-1.  They were of course the same as the dice patterns.  We extended our learning by comparing each side and saying which has more and which has fewer. 

Communication and Language

Fergus the Farmyard Dog, Tony Maddox

You made the link between the characters in this story and one you have shared in the past.  Your story activity of describing animals was fun - luckily you were able to make the sound of the animal as a big clue to your friends.

Music

Sounds like a Square Dance!

Our whole school festival on Friday 21st July is fast approaching and we are under pressure to master the dance.  Luckily the song is a hit as we can’t help but smile as we skip around in a circle all together in both directions.

A message for parents – we are off for our summer visit to Burcot Grange next Wednesday 19th for a Teddy Bear hunt and picnic.  Letter with further details has come out on parentapp today.  If your child attends on a Wednesday, we won’t be able to offer the 11.30 or 12.00 pick-ups as we are leaving at 10am and returning at 12.30pm for a late lunch.  The earliest collection time will be 1.40pm.

Enjoy the (rainy) weekend all!

Mrs Mander, Mrs Allen and Mrs Franklin X

7th July 2023

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Forest School

On the Farm

You had fun creating your own farm on the tuff tray with sand, mud and water combined.  Those animals had so much fun travelling through all of this.  You also enjoyed working as a team to build your own tractor with the crates.

Dough Disco

 You’re Welcome, Maui

Poor Evie. She danced through everyone else’s songs and somehow didn’t make her own choice.  We soon made up for it Evie with a classic song from Moana.  We talked about, looked at the flag of Hawaii, and learnt four new Hawaiian hand gestures for rain, sun, flower and wind – can you teach your family this weekend?

Listening Game

Odd One Out

We played an old game of musical threes with a twist – when the music stopped, you had to make the three and spot the Odd One Out.  Looking at who is different to the other two in different ways was challenging.

Phonics

The jellyfish sound, j

The sound box was VERY wobbly this week as you discovered two things in there to make it move.  A jellyfish and some jelly.  We also had five familiar faces – can you remember who they were???

Maths

Roll, Match, Subitise

As we head into our final push for school, we have been combining all our learning with a whole class game of Ladybirds.  You were all super at rolling, matching the dice pattern and subitising the ladybirds you collected.  For some, totalling them was your challenge.

Communication and Language

Let’s go to the Farm,

Caryl Hart and Lauren Tobia

To introduce our new Farm topic, Mrs Allen shared this story with you about Bee and Billy visiting new animals on the farm.  You made the story come alive with the role-play wooden animals and enjoyed singing Old McDonald with the animals from the story as you met them.

Music

Sounds like a Square Dance!

For our end of term whole school festival on Friday 21st July, we have begun practising our very own country-dance in the afternoon.  Taking part in the same dance routine as the rest of the school may be our challenge but we can do this!

A message for parents – the French café is open next week for the whole school and this is for Nursery too!  Please send the children in with their 50p’s to buy a delicious French breakfast snack on any morning.  When they head past Mrs Moss, we will be there to support them with a visit to the tuck shop.  This is good practice for those heading into main school in September!  We will be ready for them in the cabin with our very own French dining table set up.

Have a lovely weekend all.

Mrs Mander, Mrs Allen and Mrs Franklin X

30th June 2023

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Forest School

Summer

Cleaning time!  The sponges, cloths and brushes came out this week as the Forest School was given a full “Summer clean”!  I think it is time to start contributing to house jobs this weekend.

Dough Disco

 Old Songs, New Routines

The “music machine” has continued to choose its favourite songs from the past year.  James and Henry were both over the moon to hear theirs again!  The grownups favourite has to be Eric’s Daddy Cool - this song will never date!

Listening Game

Dobble

We extended our learning this week as learnt how to play this game in pairs.  For those children who do not have at home, I would highly recommend – the concentration was unbelievable.

Phonics

The lollipop sound, l

Lucas, Lucy and Lottie – you finally made it in the box along with a ladybird, a lemur and two lions.  Well done for spotting the difference and talking about boys (garcons) and girls (filles).  Shhh, don’t tell Mr Mander about his missing lemon and lime….

Maths

3D shapes

Thank you Mrs Edney for letting us use after school club game, Jenga.  So much learning involved in this game.  Recognising three without counting, choosing shapes for construction and combining shapes to make new ones.  All nursery targets.

Communication and Language

Fergus the Sea Dog,

Tony Maddox

A super Summer story about a dog that visits the seaside.  Mrs Allen enjoyed sharing her toy sea creatures during your story activity to bring it to life – they are a huge hit during our Play and Explore.

Physical

Scissors

Mrs Franklin has had her recycling box nearby as you have been showing off those scissors skills.  Being able to pick up, hold and control a pair of scissors safely to make snips in paper is one of our Nursery statements.  Some of you blew her away with your ability to cut shapes out, knowing to turn the paper and not the scissors.

A message for parents – we look forward to seeing lots of you at the Summer Fayre tomorrow.  Please come along to our produce store where the children’s sunflowers are ready to buy and be (urgently) planted at home.  I wonder whose sunflower will grow to be the tallest and whether our cabin butterfly friends will come and visit them?

Enjoy the weekend all,

Mrs Mander, Mrs Allen and Mrs Franklin X

23rd June 2023

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Forest School

Summer

Mrs Allen enjoyed showing you how you could use sticks and string to create your own raft.  You had to collect enough sticks, lay them flat and then wrap.  Did yours float in the gully or sink?

Dough Disco

 Old Songs, New Routines

The “music machine” has made the choice this week as we let it choose two songs from the past.  We danced one sitting down working our fingers, wrists and hands (main in French!) and the second standing up working our arms, shoulder and for lots of you – hips!  The funniest was when it chose Merry Christmas Everyone IN THE SUMMER!!   

Listening Game

Dobble

This simple game using your looking skills was a huge hit this week as you had to select a card and travel around to find “the same” on someone else’s card.  Who knows how this works?  I have never worked it out!

Phonics

The flamingo sound, f

We will never forget the excitement on Freya’s face when the flamingo sound was pulled out of the box.  We enjoyed finding out what was in there with her and Mrs Franklin.  Something tickly, something hot and something sharp.  Can you remember what they were?

Maths

Adding one more

We have enjoyed revisiting a song from our early days – In a Row.  We have learnt that adding one more takes us to the next number and if we move them around, the number stays the same.

Communication and Language

To the Beach,

Thomas Docherty

A very clever story about a little boy using different ways to travel to and from the beach.  Which vehicle would you choose? 

Art

Summer Fayre produce

We have made our finishing touches to our summer fayre produce this week.  We look forward to seeing lots of you there next Saturday (1st July) 12-2pm.  Please come along to the teacher’s stall with some coins as the seeds that the children planted themselves have changed quite a lot with the hot weather and heavy rain.  They are crying out for a bigger home!

A message for parents – our whole school photograph will be taken on Tuesday (27th June) at 9am.  If your little one does not attend usually on a Tuesday and you would like them to be in the photograph - please send them in at normal time and collect at 11.30am.  This photograph is taken once every five years and so for our September school starters, they will be on it now and the year they leave Blackwell (in Blue class).  Quite special for them!

Have a lovely weekend all! 

Mrs Mander, Mrs Allen and Mrs Franklin X

16th June 2023

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Since our return to school, we have all enjoyed two whole weeks of glorious weather.  Thank you for all the hats and cream – we are in a good routine with our longer sunny morning and shorter shady afternoons.  Long may it continue for the next five weeks.

Forest School

Summer and Minibeasts

We have all enjoyed longer plays outdoors and the signs of summer were obvious for all those around.  Making links to your summer story, Mrs Allen showed you how to use the minibeast fact files with magnifying glasses around the Forest School.  We also have our very own minibeast developing in the cabin as you are watching the caterpillars change every day.

Dough Disco

I’m Still Standin, Elton John

Dangerous, David Guetta

Thanks to Harris and our big Blue class friend Jack, we couldn’t have moved the dough to two completely different songs.  We have talked about Elton and his glasses and we finally got to introduce the French flag (our school language) thanks to David.

Listening Game

Who Looks Different – Elton John themed

The glasses of Elton John were a huge hit for the children and so we have all giggled at the game of Who Looks Different with a twist.  We had to use our looking skills to spot who was hiding behind the glasses?

Phonics

The helicopter sound, h

The bear sound, b

Always a favourite circle time – What’s in the Box?  Last week we had a grumpy hippo trampling all over poor Hattie, Harriet and Harris and someone eating Mrs Mander’s ham sandwich!!  This week, a chunky bear sitting on poor Bani, Benji and Billie and a beautiful ballerina twirling in a bucket.

Maths

Comparing Weight

We began by using a wooden plank and block to create some outdoor scales and enjoyed comparing the weights of friends by showing who is heavier?  Who is lighter?  This week we took this learning indoors with the “bucket” scales and compared objects around the cabin and finding heavier, lighter and the same.

Communication and Language

Summer Days and Nights

Molly and her Dad

You enjoyed sharing the summer story with Mrs Allen, spotting those signs of summer in the story and comparing to the world around you.  A father’s day story introducing Moly and her Dad had you all chatting about your own Dad and what job he does.

Music

Let us chase the squirrels

A game that made us all want to be the squirrel as they got to run around and steal the acorns from the old oak tree.  Our friends made the trees for us to climb and we all sang along.

Art

Father’s Day

We have all worked hard to create our second flower print card, for our Dad this time.  We have enjoyed sharing the photos of them and talking about them.  As always, the funniest comments appear in the card.  These are in a brown envelope hiding somewhere in the home.

A message for parents – it is lovely to hear that some children are taking their phonics home with their “sound talk and blend”.  This is a Little Wandle phrase that we introduce the children to as part of school life at Blackwell.  Sound talking is breaking the word down into its sound and blending together at the end e.g. c-a-t cat.  We play your turn, my turn.  It is all part of their reading journey.

Have a lovely Father’s Day everyone! 

Mrs Mander, Mrs Allen and Mrs Franklin X

26th May 2023

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A week of dry, warm weather has meant a week of outdoors.  We have all enjoyed heading straight into Play and Explore on arrival and being out until lunch.  We hope they have been more tired as a result – they never stop!

Forest School

Sports Day preparation

Our mornings have been mostly spent preparing for our big event this afternoon.  A lot of work goes into getting 3 and 4 years old to the “lava” lines safely on the field.  The racing part is the easy bit!

Non Dough Disco

Music for a Sushi Restaurant, Harry Styles

After months of your choices, I finally got mine!  With our disco being outdoors, we have been clapping, slapping and spinning our blocks/hands to this catchy tune.

Listening Game

I Spy

Using our friends around the fire circle as our choices, we have enjoyed listening to and naming friends with the initial sound given.  Why not play at home next week - remember, keep the sound pure. https://youtu.be/-ZtjFIvA_fs

Phonics

The rainbow sound, r

Oooh we had some angry objects for our angry sound!  A grumpy rhino and an angry rectangle.  Can you remember why the rectangle was so angry?  We also enjoyed munching on the raisins before lunch when Mrs Franklin wasn’t watching – shhhhhh!

Maths

Number skills

A chance to check in on the outdoor table with Mrs Mander that all our Maths skills are in place.  We have been naming numerals, patterns, subitising, showing finger numbers and counting groups of objects.  All that Maths learning is coming together nicely ready to send lots of you to school.

Communication and Language

Sports Day, Nick Butterworth and Mick Inkpen

A perfectly themed story for this week as you have watched a different kind of Sports Day come to life.  It was lovely to see some of the races in the story are the same as the ones we did today.

Physical

The Trail

With Monday being a rainy day (you wouldn’t think that today!) we introduced a new area of the trail that doesn’t become slippy – the rocks. You have enjoyed creating your own buildings by stacking in different arrangements.  

A message for parents – thank you for coming along and supporting us all with our event this afternoon.  The children already enjoyed it without an audience in the week but having you there cheering them on made it even more special. 

Have a wonderful sunny half term – one more to go! 

Mrs Mander, Mrs Allen and Mrs Franklin X