School newsletter 24/25 – Term 1, newsletter 12

Hi All

Here is an overview of our week at Nursery School:

Indoor focus – The children had fun exploring and investigating the changes when playing with the gloop (cornflour & water). In the water tray we had some dinosaurs that had been frozen and the children had to think about how they could rescue them. They added warm water, salt, and attempted to break them out using a range of tools. Last week, the children enjoyed making footprints in the snow so in the creative area we put out some animals / dinosaurs and trays of paint so they could create more footprints 🐾 As the weather was windy some of the children were keen to make kites, we discussed what a kite needs to fly and had fun seeing if there was enough wind to make them fly. One of our books this week was ‘Dear Zoo’ so we set up area with a copy of the book and the animals from the story where the children could recall and act out the story. Some children challenged themselves with a world map puzzle (50 pieces), this was a lovely activity and really got the children asking questions about the world. We also had snow dough out which is a different texture from normal play dough, this was a good opportunity to ask children about textures and opposites – is it hot / cold / dry / wet / rough / smooth / soft / hard?

Outdoor focus – We had a great time in the mud kitchen, mixing up concoctions using natural materials such as sand, water, mud, leaves, pinecones etc. This was also another good opportunity to discuss textures. We had fun acting out favourite stories and making up new ones, I particularly enjoyed going on a skeleton dinosaur hunt. During some of our outdoor sessions we had ‘Frozen’ music playing where the children danced and sang along to the words. On the decking we had some fake snow in a tuff spot tray was some animals that live in the arctic regions along with some factual information about these animals.

Forest School – Groups C & D enjoyed listening to nature, checking in with one another’s feelings, making some bird feeders and of course having a warm drink and a biscuit this week. We hope to be having a fire for a last session this term. I will send you out a risk assessment beforehand to read, I will then ask you to sign it to say you have read it and are happy for your child participate in the session.

Maths focus: Preposition – We talked about prepositions at group times thinking about what we were sitting on, who we were sitting next to and which children we were in between. Then the children were asked to demonstrate a range of prepositions to show their understanding. During another group time the children were asked to place an object in different places around the room – in, on, under, beneath, next to, beside, on top of, behind or in front.

Phonic focus: Instrumental Sounds – We continued to develop our awareness of sounds made with instruments and noise makers. We played ‘Adjust the Volume’ where we experimented and discussed a range of sounds. We also played ‘Which Instrument?’ Where the children had to identify which instrument had been played by just listening to the sound. We also looked at rhythm by adding a song to accompany each instrument.

Core Song – Robin is My Name (a Christmas song)

Poem – Five Little Reindeers

Five little reindeers playing in the snow,
The first one said, ‘Can you see my nose glow?’
The second one said, ‘Listen to me sing.’
The third one said, ‘I can hear the bells ring.’
The fourth one said, ‘Let’s eat some pie.’
The fifth one said, ‘I’m ready to fly.’
Then clomp went their hooves,
And the snow fell white,
And five little reindeers flew out of sight.

– See if your child can remember these and the actions. We will be performing this song and poem amongst others to you at the end of the term.

Information / Reminders

– Parent helpers needed – We are planning on taking small groups of children to the Co-op before the end of term but we will not be able to do this without your help as we go down to a 1:2 ratio for trips. We would be looking for 3 – 4 parents per trip. You would need to be able to offer an hour and quarter of your time. Morning visits would be from 10.15 – 11.30 and pm visits would be from 1.15 – 2.30. The dates we are hoping to go on these trips are Wednesday the 11th, Friday the 13th and Tuesday the 17th of December. When you arrive we will go over the risk assessment before heading off, you will be responsible for holding your child’s hand and one other child’s hand. Please comment on here if you are able to help and for which session.

– When phoning into school – Can you please select option 2 for Nursery School Office and not option 4 for Pre-School. If nobody answers then please do leave a message. If it is urgent and nobody is answering then you can select another option to leave a message with Ace Childcare or Ace Pre-School. Thank you.

– Christmas Performance: Thursday the 19th of December at 11.20 and 3pm.

– Christmas Party: Friday the 20th of December. If this is not a day your child attends they are more than welcome to come in for a session that fits with their attendance pattern.

I hope you have had a lovely weekend.

Kind regards

Zoe