Previously in Nursery - Week beginning 28/01/19

Our value this week is: Cooperation

Our song this week will be: Shape Songs

Our story this week will be:

Some of our learning opportunities this week will include:

• learning to be more independent and recapping on different ways we could help to put on our coats.

• naming 2d shapes.

• looking for 2d shapes in our nursery environment.

• using magnetic 2d shapes to make arrangements and pictures.

• playing a 2d snap game.

•  beginning to discuss the properties of 2d shapes, such as: how many sides? Are the sides straight or curved?

• continuing to co-operate with each other and working as part of a teams, particularly during tidy up time 

   

   

With your child at home this week you could:

• Play a 'Guess the shape' game with a family member. Describe the shape, giving as much information about the shape as you can without saying the name. For example - What am I? I have 3 sides, 3 straight sides, 3 corners.   
• It is very 'wintery' weather this week. What signs of winter can you see? What do we wear outside when it is winter?  
•  
• Sit opposite a family member. Look at each other. Talk about things that are the same and different. For example, do you have the same colour of eyes, hair, same or different height.......

Previously in Nursery - Week beginning 21/01/19

Our value this week is: Cooperation

Sesame Street: Big Bird sings "That's Cooperation"

Our song this week will be: Horsie, Horsie don't you stop!

Our story this week will continue to be:

Some of our learning opportunities this week will include:

• Finding a large, mysterious egg in a box. We will describe the egg and talk about what could be inside it!

• Making a Gingerbread Man as part of our Talk for Writing Story. We will be hoping that it wont jump out of the oven and run away on us.

• Using a Sesame Street song (see above for the link) to learn about what cooperation means (very popular with the children).

• Matching numbers and quantities using dragons and eggs.

• Painting our own dragon.

• Continuing to practise holding our pencil using a tripod grip.

With your child at home this week you could:

• Use the internet to find a version of the Gingerbread Man. Does it have the same characters in it as the story we are reading in nursery?

• Count a variety of different objects at home slowly and carefully taking your time. This is called 1:1 correspondence.

• When we will be baking gingerbread men, the individual ingredients will all be mixed together and will change and become a dough. Can you think of anything that you make/eat at home where the process changes from beginning to end (for example weetabix - solid/crumbly at the beginning and then becomes a soft mixture once milk or water is added to it or pasta, rice, potatoes etc) Talk about these changes.

This week in Nursery - Week beginning 14/01/19

Our value this week is: Gratitude

Our poem this week will be: 'Pussy cat, pussy cat'

Our story this week will continue to be:

Some of our learning opportunities this week will include:

• learning a poem about a very famous cat who goes to visit the Queen in London
• looking at the phrase 'run, run as fast as you can, you cant catch me I'm the Gingerbread Man' from the story of the Gingerbread Man and we will introduce other action words (verbs) instead of run, such as jump, swim, hop, wiggle etc
• naming the characters from the story of the Gingerbread man and then ordering them from first to last.
• playing sharing games
• looking at pictures and answering 'why' questions about them
• following an instruction with 2 parts. For example: 'Pretend to sneeze and then touch your toes.'

With your child at home this week you could:

• continue practising putting on and taking off coat, hat, scarves and gloves.
• name other people who help us as well as parents, teachers and doctors.
• think of a verb (action word) and ask your child to act it out (play a game of Simon says)

This week in Nursery - Week beginning 07/01/19

We are looking forward to starting the new term and hearing all about what you have been up to over the holidays. We have two new children starting this week (Airen and Finley) and we are sure they will be made very welcome as they settle in. The nursery staff would like to take this opportunity to thank our parents and children for the lovely cards and gifts we received at the end of last term. We were truly spoilt and you made us feel very special and appreciated, so thank you!

General Notices for this week

• Snack contribution of £5 for this term is due for parents who are paying termly.
• Applications for primary school places need to be completed by 15 January 2019.  If you require assistance, please use guidance for applying online. Click on the following link. Application process for starting Primary School in September 2019
• The morning session begins at 9.15am and ends at 12.15pm. Can parents please collect on time at the end of the session. The main nursery gates to the car park will be locked at 12.20pm so parents who are driving will need to remove cars by then. 

Our value this week is: Gratitude

Our songs this week will be: 'If you're thankful and you know it.....'

Our story this week will be: 

Some of our learning opportunities this week will include:

• sharing our news about what we did over the holidays
• beginning to think about gratitude and singing an action song 'If you're thankful and you know it.......' (to the tune of: 'If you're happy and you know it...'
•  

Welcome to Autumn Term 2 2018

Autumn Term 2 Curriculum Coverage Overview 

Our Topic project  for this half term is called:

'Is it Shiny?

Autumn 2 Topic Outline for Parents

Stay and Play Session

and

Christmas jumper Day!

Wednesday 19th December 2018 

This week in Nursery - Week beginning 17/12/18

Our value this week is: Hope

Our songs this week will be: Christmas Songs, such as Jingle Bells, I'm dreaming of a White Christmas

Our story this week will be: 

Some of our learning opportunities this week will include:

• moving along to the Hey Duggee Stick song (very catchy but maybe a little irritating!)  Hey Duggee Stick Song

• using a bath brush and paint to make a Christmas wreath

• making a Christmas Tree decoration using lolly lop sticks

• decorating biscuits

• writing Christmas cards

• watching the Stickman movie (whilst we eat popcorn)

• pulling a cracker and finding out what is inside it

• wearing our Christmas Jumpers

• playing games and singing songs at our Stay and play session (with Annette from Toddler Time)

• reading stories about Christmas

With your child at home this week you could:

• sing a Christmas related song (modern or traditional - do you have a favourite?
• practise writing your name on Christmas cards to your friends

Nursery opens again on Monday 7th January

This week in Nursery - Week beginning 03/12/18

Our value this week is: Thoughtfulness

Our song this week will be: Christmas Performance Songs 

Our stories this week will be:

Some of our learning opportunities this week will include:

• 'dressing' the nursery Christmas Tree.
• identifying numbers on Christmas tree templates and matching them with the correct number of baubles.
•  using our beautiful knitted characters to retell the story of the First Christmas.
• trying on our performance costumes to help us get into our roles.
• going to the main school hall to practise our Christmas performance on the stage.
• read the story of 'Whatever Next' by Jill Murphy and then using junk modelling to make a space rocket.
• making a paper plate bauble.
• showing thoughtfulness for each other by trying to look after our home corner and maths area better this week.

With your child at home this week you could:

• Do you have any special traditions as a family at this time of year?such as: opening Advent calendars, going to visit Santa, decorating the house etc. Discuss with your child. We will have a group discussion towards the end of the week.
• Sing, sing, sing our Christmas songs this week! 

Previously in Nursery - Week beginning26/11/18

Post Box Walk Wednesday 28th November Thank you in advance to the parents/family members who have volunteered to go on this walk with us. It is very much appreciated. Please make sure your child is dressed appropriately for the weather (especially wet weather) - coat, gloves, hat and sensible footwear, with a spare change of clothes (in day bag to be kept in nursery) just in case! Doors will open at 9.15am as usual, send your child to the toilet if needed and then take your child to the carpet to to registered. Mrs Copeland will brief parents and then we will begin our walk as close to 9.30am as we can. We hope to be back in nursery for 10.30am at the latest. Any questions, please see Mrs Copeland.

Our value this week is: Thoughtfulness

Our song this week will be: Christmas Performance Songs 

Our story this week will be:

Some of our learning opportunities this week will include:

• reading the story of 'How to Catch a Star', focusing on the illustrations and answering simple recall questions.

• imitating movement in response to music - an Aerobic Fitness song for children about stars. Touch the Stars

• using the song 'Twinkle Twinkle' to play a parachute game.

• exploring different solutions to observe which one makes our pennies the most shiny.

• going on our walk around the block to look for shapes and numbers. We will also post our very important letters at the post box on the way back to nursery.
• learning that a group of things changes in quantity when something is added or taken away.

With your child at home this week you could:

• Go on a hunt around your house, see how many sources of light you can find (torch, candle fireworks etc)
• begin to practise/sing our performance songs at home 
• set out a number of objects (up to 5), can your child tell you what happened when you took 1 away? - encourage the language of "took away" "1 less"

Previously in Nursery - Week beginning 19/11/18

Our value this week is: Self-Control

Our song this week will be: Christmas Performance Songs

Our story this week will be:'Were going on a Bear Hunt'

Some of our learning opportunities this week will include:

• retelling the story of the Bear Hunt using illustrations and story actions

• painting a picture of a bear by using a fork to make marks.

• identifying numbers 1-5 and then putting the correct number of bears into the cave.

• looking at objects that create noise and then using our listening ears to say what noise is being made from inside the noisy box.

• beginning to sing our Christmas Performance Songs (Song sheets to go home later in the week).

• moving around in lots of different ways to keep ourselves warm when playing and exploring outside.

• learning how to hold our hands and arms when catching a ball.

• looking at advertising logos to see if we can recognise any.

• writing our letters to Father Christmas (ready to go on our Post Box  walk next Wednesday 28th November)

With your child at home this week you could:

• The weather has definitely turned colder this week. With your child work on putting on their coat independently, as well as hat and possibly mittens.
• sing the Christmas Performance Songs together. (Parts will be issued at the beginning of next week).

Previously in Nursery - Week beginning 12/11/18

Our value this week is: Self-Control

Our song this week will be: 'My Teddy Bear has ..........'

Our story this week will be:'Were going on a Bear Hunt'

Some of our learning opportunities this week will include:

• opening the treasure chest, exploring what is inside it, then grouping the items shiny and non-shiny.
• beginning to match numbers and quantity.
• thinking about our responses to 'why' questions
• following simple instructions
• exploring our new play equipment in the outside area

With your child at home this week you could:

• Give your child an instruction using the following positional language - in, on, under. For example put the plate on the table.
• Give your child a number between 1-5 and ask them to match it with that number of objects. For example, 3 - put down 3 spoons.
• Enjoy using the story map to retell the story of 'We're going on a Bear Hunt' together. Story maps are available on the table where you self register.

This week in Nursery in Nursery - Week beginning 05/11/18

launch our new topic for this Half Term, a treasure chest arrived in the classroom. I wonder what is in it? The children all got a chance to have a guess.

Our value this week is: Kindness

Our song this week will be:Tommy Thumb

Our number of the week will be: number 1

Our story this week will be:

Some of our learning opportunities this week will include:

• sharing our half term news with each other.

• learning about the importance of November 5th.

• using bright colours of paint and every day objects to make fire work pictures

• thinking about why people are wearing poppies at the moment. We will make our own paper plate poppies to put up on our class display.

• reading a story about a giant called George who is very kind and we will be thinking about how we can be kind at home and in nursery. 

With your child at home this week:

• Ask an adult to take you outside when it is dark. What can you see?  What can you hear?

• What does the word shiny mean? Can you think of any other words we could use for the word shiny? Go on a hunt around your house looking for shiny objects. Can you name them?

• Look through photographs that you have taken on a fun family day out. Discuss the photograph together. What can you remember about your day out? What did you enjoy most about your day out? Can you bring the photograph in to nursery to talk to us about it together and then to add to our 'Special times' display. 

 

 Autumn Term 1 2018

Our Topic project  for this half term is called:

'Why do you love me so much?'

Previously in Nursery - Week beginning 22/10/18

Our value this week is: Kindness

Our song this week will be:Autumn Leaves are falling down

Our stories this week will be:

Some of our learning opportunities this week will include:

• discussing why leaves change colours during Autumn
• making our own leaf man
• painting Autumn trees using foil and sponges
• taking part in our funky fingers stay and play session on Thursday 25th October (all parents welcome to attend).Please see the nursery noticeboard for information.
• using our fingers to count to 10

With your child at home this week:

• look at the leaves on trees - what colours can you see? 
• set up your own funky fingers activity using objects you have at home
• enjoy the half term break. Take a photograph of something your child has done over the holidays. Bring in the photograph for your child to share with us.

Previously in Nursery - Week beginning 15/10/18

Our value this week is: Honesty

Our song/rhyme this week will be:

Our stories this week will be:

Some of the children have come in to nursery and asked me had I seen the apple tree outside in the garden. They had noticed it when they were waiting to come into nursery. This week it will be all about apples!

Some of our learning opportunities this week will include:

• using descriptive words to talk about apples
• reading a story about the secret shape that is found in the middle of an apple. (please do not try this at home until after your child has told you - it is a wonderful secret for us to share and then they can share with you at home) 
• counting to 5 and then learning a rhyme to count down to 0 from 5 (see above)
• celebrating National Chocolate Week by making something that uses an apple and chocolate
• printing using apples
• talking about our value of the week and why we should not tell lies, regardless of how small they are!
• making our charity Christmas card, organised by the Howe Park School Friends group. More information to follow about this in the coming weeks as these will be available for you to buy.

With your child at home this week:

• bake or make something together that has chocolate in the recipe

• look for objects at home that your child can compare using the words big and small. For example:

• sing a new nursery rhyme together. Use the BBC nursery rhymes website to help you. Click on the following link. BBC Nursery Rhymes

Previously in Nursery - Week beginning 08/10/18

Our value this week is: Honesty

Our songs this week will be: 1 2 3 4 5 once I caught a Fish Alive and Dingle Dangle Scarecrow

Our story this week will be:

This story is about the most beautiful fish in the ocean who is asked to share one of his shining scales with a little blue fish, and to which he refuses. All the other fish in the sea leave him alone, and he wondered why. He goes to the wise octopus for advice, and she tells him to give away/share his scales. Rainbow Fish reluctantly does so, except for one. In the end, he is less beautiful then he was before, but he has new friends and is now the happiest fish in the sea

Some of our learning opportunities this week will include:

• exploring what is means to be a good sharer when we are in nursery (some of us are struggling to share at the moment.)

• decorating our own rainbow fish and sharing out the special silver scales with each other. All fish will then be displayed on our display in the cloakroom area.

• drawing pictures to represent the idea of numbers

• reciting to 10 by singing a fish counting song

• continuing to learn how to work as part of a team to do good tidying up 

With your child at home this week:

• play a game that involves sharing. Do you think your child is good at sharing? If not, tell him/her talk about why it is important to share.
• practise putting on and taking off coat independently (the weather is getting colder and it will soon be time for the children to wear a coat all the time when outdoors)
• collect different coloured leaves. Count how many red, orange, brown, green leaves you have collected. Are they all the same size? You could play a sorting game sort by colour/size etc.

Previously in Nursery - Week beginning 01/10/18

 General Notice for this week

• Please make sure the following are named fully:

       - coats

       - outside of backpack/bag

       - all spare clothes inside the backpack/bag

       - lunch bag/boxes

       - water bottles

• Snack and cooking money - a reminder slip will be given to you this week if you haven't already paid. Thank you to those who have!
• Our displays in the main room are starting to take shape - Gruffalo, Autumn and In nursery we are learning to..... Remember to take a look!
• It is not too late to sign up for free milk. Some children are asking for milk during snack time and unless you have registered we cannot give it out. The website is Coolmilk.com and you can register. We are called Rabbit class.
• We ask you politely to pick up your child promptly  at lunchtime. Please be at nursery for 12.15pm, not arriving at 12.25pm. This is having an effect on staff who need to have their lunch in order to be ready on time for their afternoon responsibilities.  

Our value this week is: Trust

Our songs this week will be:

 The Gruffalo Song             

Wake up dance - This is our morning song that we have been learning the words and actions to. We sing this just before we either go off to adult led time or off to explore and play. This helps us to be fully wake and ready to go off and learn. 

Our story of the week continues to be:

Some of our learning opportunities this week will include:

• thinking about what is needed to be a good listener.
• singing favourite nursery thymes, acting out the actions and filling in the missing gaps.
• joining in with key words and phrases from our story of the Gruffalo.
• joining in with and taking responsibility for tidying up the areas that are very popular and busy at the minute, such as the home corner, the construction area, play dough and book areas.
• using chalk outside to create marks representing the idea of number.
•  using glue and a spreader as well as different resources to make our own conker paper plate.
• identifying action words (verbs) by pointing to the right picture. Examples will include: jumping, eating, sleeping, swimming etc.
• recognising shapes in pictures and seeing what shapes we can name.
• having a "boogie" on Friday morning to the song 'I like to move it'

With your child at home this week:

• look for signs of Autumn as you travel to and from nursery.
• practise reciting 1-5 and then when confident then up to 10.
• encourage your child to help putting on and taking off their coat
• retell the story of the Gruffalo. 

Previously in Nursery - Week beginning 17/09/18

The children have now completed their settling in sessions and they are beginning to make friends and explore and play in the nursery environment, both inside and outside. I am really proud of how they are coping so far and it is so lovely already to hear the chatter as the children are getting to know each other.

This week we will be continue to learn our nursery routines - using our listening ears, looking eyes, thinking heads, speaking lips and concentrating hands, washing our hands before snack, eating snack, walking instead of running and tidying up!

Our songs this week will be: familiar nursery rhymes  such as: Incy Wincy Spider, When I was 1 I sucked my thumb, Miss Polly had a dolly.

You can find the songs we will song this week on the BBC schools radio website. Click on the following link which will take you to the homepage. BBC early years nursery rhymes

Our value this week is: Friendship

Our story of the week is: 

Some of our learning opportunities this week will include:

• exploring the nursery environment - inside and outside and beginning to express our own preferences and interests
• talking about how to handle books carefully, taking care to turn the pages one at a time.
• reading the story of the Gruffalo. We will encourage the children to use their listening ears and looking eyes. As we read the story hopefully the children will join in with some of the words and phrases from the story.
• use paint to paint our own picture of the Gruffalo
• make a Gruffalo using playdough and other resources
• exploring musical instruments, creating sound by banging, tapping and shaking.
• selecting a small number of objects from a group when asked, eg. ‘please give me one, ‘please give me two’.
• continuing to learn where to put away all the toys and resources after we have explored and played with them.

With your child at home this week:

• practise putting on and taking off their coat

• ask your child who she/he is playing with in nursery. Have any friends been made already?

• discuss what the name of our class is - can you find out any facts about rabbits?

  

Previously in Nursery - Week beginning 10/09/18

The Plan for this week is as follows:

Monday - settling session with a parent(s) - 1 hour

Tuesday - settling session without a parent - 1 hour. Enter and leave the nursery via the nursery gates, not main reception.

Wednesday - settling session without a parent - 2 hours (9.15am - 11.15am). Enter and leave the nursery via the nursery gates, not main reception.

Thursday - children will attend for the full session - 9.15am-12.15pm. Some children will also attend the breakfast club, afternoon session and after school club.

Friday - children will attend for the full session - 9.15am-12.15pm.Some children will also attend the breakfast club, afternoon session and after school club.

Please remember to:

• return the parent information booklet
• pay for snack for either the Autumn term or for the full year 
• name all items of clothing, bag and water bottle 

This week we will:

• be observing the children expressing their own preferences and watching their interests begin to develop.
• sing familiar nursery rhymes
• share our stars from home
• learn our tidy up time song
• listen to a story
• talk about our hands and what we can use our hands for, focusing on washing our hands before snack.

At home you could:

• continue to learn and sing our tidy up song and put your fingers on your lips song (we sang these together on Monday during our parent and adult session)

Tidy up time, tidy up time

everyone, everyone,

put it all away now, put it all away now,

till its done, till its done.

Tune: Frere Jacques

Put your fingers on your lips on your lips,

Put your fingers on your lips on your lips,

Put your fingers on your lips on your lips,

Put your finger on your lips and seal it like a zip,

Put your fingers on your lips on your lips.

Tune: If you're happy and you know it

Please do not hesitate to speak to me if you have any questions - big or small!

Mrs Copeland 

Previously in Nursery - Week beginning 03/09/18

 Hello to our new children and their families!

We are very busy putting the final touches in getting the nursery ready to welcome you all! This is always a very exciting, calm time at the beginning of the year as everything is all sprarkly clean and tidy and all set up ready for the new children to arrive. 

I am looking forward to meeting you all this week when I come out on home visits. The nursery TA's will help to keep me right as we navigate our way around the area!

If you haven't done so already, have a walk to nursery or drive by this week and stop and have a look at your child's new environment! This will hopefully help to ease any little moments of anxiety that may be building up.

Remember to pack a backpack with 2 complete changes of clothing (including socks and pants, with everything named) and remember your child will also need a named water bottle as well.

Looking forward to meeting and chatting with you at some stage this week.

Mrs Copeland