Spring 2

 What a busy Spring Term! The Nursery children have been excited and motivated to learn and there has been some fantastic WOW moments! 

 The Space Centre was a huge success. The children watched the first moon landing and then went to the moon to have a picnic, just like the book that we had read- Whatever Next! They made Alien slime and went on google with their own space questions. At the end of the topic we had a Space quiz, they could answer the following questions, Who was the first man on the moon?

How long would a footprint last on the moon? Why?

What is the sun?

What is the moon made out of? What would we see there?

What is an astronaut? 

We are so proud of our Nursery children! They are super smart! 

 Our Space Centre has now changed into The Bakery. It's the best Bakery in town! The children have made their own salt dough cakes and the staff have created some real masterpieces! The cakes look good enough to eat. 

Learning through role-play.

Our Bakery is packed full of excited learners. They do not know this but they are covering the key skills of Maths.

We are learning to...........

• Count accurately 1-10 and beyond. (Can I have 6 cookies please?)
• Use key mathematical language, number names, more, less, how much, altogether, add, take-away, money, change, too many, not enough, cost, large, small, shaped biscuits.
• Find the total of two groups, 'Can I have 3 donuts and 2 cream cakes please?' 
• Solve simple problems,

'If I have 6 cakes and I eat 1 how many do I have left?'                                                               

 'What kind of box should I use for ten cakes?'                               

 ' Can you share 4 cakes between 2 children?'

• Write numbers (every time they buy the cakes they have to write a receipt!)
• Use real money, (every cake at the moment costs 1 pence, 'How much would 7 cakes cost?'

 

 

  Welcome Back!

  We have a very exciting term ahead of us! This week we have been involved in a  'Growth Mindset       Challenge'. 50 things to do before you are 11 years old. For more information on Growth Mindset see

 https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/grownups/help-your-child-try-new-things

  The aim is to get the children involved in problem solving activities that involve teamwork, thinking       outside the box and trying something new!

  

   Everyday this week the children will be involved in these fun challenges. Already this week we have climbed a tree and picked an apple off it, made a kite and watched it fly high!.......it was a very windy day! We have been for a walk barefoot and explored a pond and cave........so busy!

 

 We have a 50 challenges display in the Nursery, we will tick them off as we achieve them. If your child completes a challenge please send in a photo or come and tell us about it!

 

 

 

 

Next week 14th January, the Nursery children will be looking at the story Owl babies. They will be making owl puppets and talking about their sizes, smallest, smaller, larger, largest. They will be giving the same amount of feathers to each bird and will count their feathers carefully. The children will be making nests for the owls using real sticks. They will talk about how the babies feel when they are left alone. We will look on the internet for facts on owls and other birds and make bird food to hang on our trees. 

 Do you have a child under the age of three? Then come and join us every Tuesday afternoon for a 'Stay and Play', session. There's plenty to do! We have new fun activities out each week..... build a house using our large foam bricks, choose one of many fantastic stories to read to your child, make a mess in our Creative area and just have some fun! Stay for a cup of tea and have a chat with our experienced staff. They can offer any advice on your child and their development. We look forward to seeing you!

What new and exciting things are happening in Nursery this term?

We have had such a fantastic start to the first term! The children have settled really well. The staff are so pleased with them, they are little super stars!

You may walk into our Nursery and see lots of children playing. The secret is ………. that every play activity offers wonderful learning opportunities!

We have a new Dinosaur cave!

 

What learning experiences will this offer?

                                    Literacy

Inside the children will have the opportunity to look at and explore books and posters.

• Looks at books independently. • Handles books carefully. •Knows information can be relayed in the form of print. • Holds books the correct way up and turns pages. •Knows that print carries meaning and, in English, is read from left to right and top to bottom. •Beginning to be aware of the way stories are structured. •Suggests how the story might end. • Listens to stories with increasing attention and recall. •Describes main story settings, events and principal characters. •Shows interest in illustrations and print in books and print in the environment.

                                       Mathematical Development

Follow the number footprints into the cave! Sort, count and order the dinosaurs. Can you give the dinosaurs the same amount of eggs? Can you draw a longer or shorter, taller, larger dinosaur?

•Recites numbers in order to 10. •Knows that numbers identify how many objects are in a set. •Beginning to represent numbers using fingers, marks on paper or pictures. •Sometimes matches numeral and quantity correctly. •Shows an interest in numerals in the environment. •Shows an interest in representing numbers.

 

                         Expressive Arts and Design.

Can they draw a dinosaur, or build a cave that can keep a dinosaur dry?

•Beginning to be interested in and describe the texture of things. •Uses various construction materials. •Beginning to construct, stacking blocks vertically and horizontally, making enclosures and creating spaces. • Joins construction pieces together to build and balance.

 

 

                              Muddy Monday’s

This term is going to be very busy! Starting next week, Monday 5^th November the children will be going to Forest School. We have our very own woods on the school site!

They will be exploring the great outdoors! Talking about the weather, making warm animal homes, playing Maths games and listening to stories. What a fantastic opportunity to learn and develop their language and vocabulary!

Please remember to send them in a warm coat, a hat, and wellies.

 

This term we will also be looking at the festival of Diwali, Bonfire Night and of course Christmas!

Get the tinsel out and the tissues ready! The children will be taking part in the Christmas play with the Reception classes. The performance is on Wednesday 5th December 9.30am. 

More details regarding costumes and tickets will follow shortly!

Please remember to book an appointment for Parents evening next week, Monday 5^th or Tuesday 6^th November.  It will be a ten minute chat to discuss how your child is settling into Nursery. We look forward to seeing you.

Please speak to one of the Nursery staff if you have any questions.

Thank you for your support,

The Nursery Team.

Welcome to Nursery

On this page you can find out what we have been learning about in Nursery and how you can help at home. 

 

In Nursery we plan our teaching through the children’s interests.

During the first few weeks we are reminding children of rules and settling children back in after the Christmas holidays.

As we progress into the term children will become more confident and we will learn about what interests them such as babies and growing, doctors or dinosaurs.

 

When a new interest is observed through the children’s learning we plan a range of experiences based on the interest. For example lots of children are observed role playing dinosaurs or using small dinosaurs in water tray. The teachers then look at the needs of the children and use the different areas and resource to the children’s interests e.g. dinosaurs– drawing around dinosaur stencils (physical), researching dinosaurs (Literacy and Understanding of the World) , using dinosaur figures to count and add (Mathematical Development), sorting dinosaurs and discussing similarities and differences (Communication and Language and Understanding of the World) Create our own dinosaur using paints or ‘junk’ modelling. (Expressive Arts and Design). As you can see to enhance their interest in learning helps the children learn through all areas of development.

 

It makes learning fun and enjoyable for children.

 

Phonics-The children will be developing their listening skills to support later teaching of phonemes and graphemes by going on listening walks and by playing a range of listening games. 

 

Maths-The children are learning how to count accurately. So as they count they move or touch one object at a time. they are also learning what each number looks like so they can match the correct amount of objects to the correct number. 

 

How you can help at home-

Maths-Count everything! Steps you walk up, haw many steps do you take when walking to car, how many plates you need at dinner time etc. Point to different numbers when out and and about- on the bus, signs, car registration plates, door numbers etc. 

Phonics-To support your child's phonic development sing the alphabet and other nursery rhymes, read a story before bed every night (even if it the same stories over and over!) Play I- spy but change by saying I spy with my little eye something that is red or something that moves.