Welcome to Nursery!

We have just started our Summer 2 term. We can't believe how quick the time has come and it is our last term before our children graduate from our class. We have got an amazing fun filled term for them, before they go on their way to Reception.

In Summer 1 our topic was 'Down at the Bottom of the Garden', which has to be one of the children's favourite topics so far. They were allowed to investigate the garden and get very muddy! we made insect houses, wormeries, did minibeast hunts and found insects some of us had never seen before. We thought about different country's minibeasts and researched these on the internet, it was very interesting. We explored the author Eric Carle and the stories he wrote, our favourite being 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar'.

When learning about size, we focused on the story of 'Jack and The Beanstalk' and grew our own beanstalks to see which one would grow the biggest, depending on how we looked after it. We discovered they needed lots of sun and plenty of water-but not too much!

In Spring term, we focused on our topics 'Nursery Rhymes' and 'Bears'. We have had so much fun! We learnt new nursery rhymes, acting these out and drawing story maps of our new rhymes. We learnt all about 2D shapes and even moved onto using mathematical language of 3D shapes, we threw a shape party for Mr 5 and used recycling to make different junk models. Other things we learnt about include: making ramps out of drain pipes for Incy Wincey Spider and seeing how far he can travel and in different ways, making dens and researching on the interent different materials we could use, we described these and compared them to natural objects we found on our Winter Scavenger hunt, we have done lots of baking; sheep cakes where we followed our own method using photographs, rice crispy cakes and pizzas! 

Some of the children's interests this term were wild birds, so we made bird feeders for them, which you can see outside of our nursery, we learnt about London as it was mentioned in the rhyme 'Pussy cat, Pussy cat'. Children wanted to see photographs of London and then went onto making their own replicas of famous buildings you could find there, using different types if construction materials.

Within our topic Bears, we went on a Bear Hunt, which was super exciting for us all! We read various different stories where the main characters were bears and then compared them.

We celebrated 'Book Week', where we did lots of different activities around the story 'The Girl and the Dinosaur'; this led to excavating dinosaur bones, looking at different ABAB patterns and making our own!

We turned our role play area into 'The Three Bear's Cottage' and everything in it had 3 different sizes! We had a wonderful Spring 1 and Spring 2 term.

In Autumn 2, we learnt all about the seasons changing and what we notice at this time of year. We have been busy practising our Christmas Nativity and learning lots of new songs.

Other things that we have been busy doing include; creating bonfire night pictures using fluorescent paint to make bright fireworks. We looked in the mirror and drew self-portraits, showing different emotions. We were lucky enough to have a Doctor come and visit our Nursery and talk to us about being healthy! He even brought all his special equipment with him and showed us how they work. We made poppy suncatchers for Remembrance Day and we wore spotty clothes for Children in Need. We can't wait to see what Spring 1 term has in store!

In Autumn 1 term, our topic was 'Colour me a Rainbow'. We made hedgehog collages and learnt about what animals hibernate over winter. We said goodbye to our Queen and hello to Mr Moon which we saw in the sky! We explored the outdoors and found lots of wiggly worms, so we created a wormery. We learnt our colours and talked about different shapes. We loved trying different fruit so much that we made rainbow smoothies, which were delicious! 

We will carry on having a huge focus on listening to the children's interests in our Autumn 2 term, this has created some wonderful work so far, which we proudly display within our classroom.

The children thoroughly enjoy our role play area, this term we have created a Doctor's surgery, where children will be able to use their imagination and create story lines with their friends. The 'surgery' is well stocked with first aid kits, prescription pads and 'patients'. This enables fun and exciting opportunities and enhances language and communications skills.

Seesaw- Each child will have received their own unique password to access an app called Seesaw. We will use Seesaw as a form of communication and also to send you observations/photographs of your child.

It is also a chance for children to share with us what they have been up to at home.

About us

A warm and welcoming atmosphere awaits your child. We have a range of excellent resources and activities to enable your child to grow, develop and engage in adventurous and imaginative play. We have access to an outdoor area including our wildlife garden, which children are encouraged to use ‘whatever the weather’!

Please ensure your child is suitably dressed for Nursery; clothes that you don't mind getting dirty! Open toe shoes/sandals are not allowed due to health and safety regulations. If you could please provide your child with a spare change of clothes and a water bottle, this would be most appreciated.

Session times

Children attend our Nursery for either five morning sessions per week or five afternoon sessions per week.

Morning sessions run from 8.45am - 11.45am.

Afternoon sessions run from 12.30pm - 3.30pm.

Nursery staff

In Nursery we have two part time teachers; Mrs Bateson and Miss Kitt. We also have two full-time teaching assistants; Ms Duncan and Miss Rutledge.

We also mentor students who are on placement and volunteers.

We are always available to talk to you should you have any concerns about your child. 

Snack time and Keyworker time

We have just started to do a free flow snack time, which seems to be working well. Children can access fruit and milk at anytime during their session. We encourage children to try each of the fruits that we have.

Children are also taught about healthy practices, including washing their hands prior to eating and brushing their teeth twice a day. We also encourage our children to try a range of other healthy snacks such as toast, crumpets, cereals and even scrambled eggs! We are happy to celebrate children's birthdays and parents are welcome to bring cakes or a birthday cake into nursery. We will happily blow the candles out and sing Happy Birthday. We will slice the cake for the children to have at Keyworker Time.

Keyworker time is done half way through the session. Your child is allocated a keyworker within the first few weeks of starting nursery with us. In these sessions, we discuss different topics associated with the early years PSE objectives (personal, social and emotional development) and it is a time for children to listen and tell their own stories, or something that they have done at the weekend etc.

Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum

We follow the new Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) curriculum which ensures that every child at Nursery age receives quality educational opportunities that support their development and learning.

Useful Links

Here are some useful links to fun and educational activities you can enjoy with your children at home.

Parents Information Board

Please regularly check the Parents Information Board (which is situated just outside the entrance to Nursery) for reminders, notices and diary date changes. The board also consists of useful websites, stories and new key language, this is changed on a weekly basis.

We have worksheets printed weekly, to help with your child's learning. If you would like more support and/or information, please do come and talk to us.

There is also a parent's suggestion box outside of nursery. We would love to hear from you. If you have any ideas, your child's current interests or general comments, please drop us a note and we will do our best to make things happen.