The week just gone

Emotion Coaching

Just to say, we are really pleased with how all our new children are settled and enjoying learning to be together and help each other out. They are getting used to being supported to be aware of their feelings, draw a line between helpful and unhelpful behaviour and then work together to fix problems. Every child should by now be feeling their voice and ideas are valued and that no matter how big or small a problem maybe they can talk to someone about it and find a solution.

Highlights from last week include:

• Making delicious pizzas with Maurice and exploring how these tasted. Some children who were suspicious at first decided to take a risk and taste them and it turns out they came back for seconds.
• Planting garlic and digging in the allotment with Morag was a good autumnal experience to get involved with.
• And of course, we had to say goodbye to the chicks, who had by the end of the week grown wings and were starting to jump up and begin to fly. They will now spend 8 more weeks in bigger brooder boxes until they are moved outside to live on free-range farms.
• Making a class chick book full of facts learnt about chicks.
• Exploring rhyme, which has really taken off and been enjoyed by the children.
• Our phonics learning last week was planned around rhythm and rhyme, throughout the week we talked about many words that rhyme. The children have been singing and repeating some of their favourite nursery rhymes such as: Incy wincy spider; twinkle twinkle little star; 5 little men in a flying saucer; 5 little speckled frogs and 5 currant buns in a baker’s shop along with sharing a range of rhyming books.

Good things to repeat / do at home to support last week’s phonics could be:

• When reading with your child encourage them to join in with repetitive phrases.
• Together recognise and repeat words that rhyme, encourage real and nonsense words.
• Look at three objects or pictures, two with names that rhyme and one with a name that does not and ask your child to identify the ‘odd one out’.
• Enjoy sharing favourite nursery rhymes together.
• Use clapping or tapping with sticks or percussion instruments to play different rhythms and model to your child to listen carefully and move to the beat – fast / slow / skipping / matching etc. Remember to keep the beat simple to begin with!

The Arts Festival

• Saturday 5^th October was quite a day at the ACE Centre as we welcomed one hundred people in total, who all enjoyed a beautiful art exhibition in the hall. The ACE Centre Nursery School children provided their own work as a fantastic contribution to the Chipping Norton Art Festival and it was all a huge success. The organisers CNArts are planning to build on the experience again next year. We would like to personally thank Georgia, who is currently working with us in Nursery School, for her large part in bringing this new festival to life and involving the ACE Centre children in such a valuable experience. It was, and will be again, a great opportunity for us all to benefit and lift our spirits by working together.
• The Dreamtime Clay Day, run by Crabby Taylor with her new assistants Maurice and Christian, was an interactive, hands on completely engaging clay experience run in the centre of the exhibition room throughout the day. All ages, parents and children were deeply absorbed– so much so that three people asked where the art exhibition was!

This coming week

• Group time focuses will be around alliteration and maths mastery.
• Parent helpers – sofa superheroes we really want you to be part of the fun and come in regularly.
• Any parents that are willing to come in and share professions / hobbies with the children are very welcome. Please come and talk to us if you would like to discuss this option.
• Now we are settled in we are going to start introducing woodwork as a regular experience for the children. As with clay it is a very rich learning experience, which if properly supported, teaches all areas of the curriculum in a deeply engaging medium. We want all our parents to be on board with us and understand what offering woodwork will involve, so we will be sending a letter and possibly host a meeting before half term.
• Another idea for improving apprenticeship skills and helping hungry children enjoy their day is “Toast Tuesday” where children can make their own toast, with careful supervision and spread it with a range of healthy toppings.
• All new experiences are carefully assessed for risk and as always “how to keep a person safe” while making toast (for example) is carefully talked through at a level which all children can join in with and understand.
• We will be welcoming Zoe and Sarah, our PGCE students from Brookes University.
• Sadly we will be saying goodbye to Maurice and Chris as it is their last week.

The Nursery School Team