Nursery News 15th September 2025

NURSERY NEWS

15^th September 2025 – Edition 382

Find out About:

A. Progress so far….

B. Keeping Children Safe.

C. Milk and Fruit time.

D. Celebrating Birthdays.

E. Family Photographs

F. Early Years Pupil Premium

G. What are the children learning about this week?

A. Progress so far….

We had an unusual start to the term. The roof replacement work that was planned to be completed in the 6 weeks summer holiday ran over slightly due to the very hot, then very wet conditions. We began the term with roofers still busy on our roof. To keep the children safe, we chose to use just a small part of the garden, away from where the work was continuing. Even though some of the children were brand new to us, they coped very well.

I’m happy to say that last week we were able to fully open up our outside spaces. Children were able to spread out and enjoy the space. Things are going well. Staff are getting to know the children, playing with them, talking to them, sharing stories with them, and generally encouraging them to feel happy in school. When children feel secure and have good well-being, they will begin to learn.

So this week a few basics to help with the running of school:

B. Keeping Children Safe.

Parents entrust their children into our care. There are rigorous procedures in place outlined by the government to keep all children safe from harm. I think it is important to let you know about some of the procedures that may affect you and your family whilst being part of our School Community, and I will try to explain the reasons for having these procedures.

We need to know where children are if they are absent from school. If for any reason you decide to keep your child at home, on a day when your child should be at school please telephone in to school as soon as possible and let us know. When registers are completed at the beginning of the session we have to put codes in the registers regarding the reasons for a child’s absence. If we do not hear from you, you will receive a call from one of the office staff or the headteacher asking about the whereabouts of your child.

If you know in advance that you will be absent, for example for a medical appointment, please let staff know and the appropriate code can be entered in the register.

If you plan to go on holiday in term time, please fill in a holiday form (available from the office staff) which again will let us know the dates that you will be absent. Unexplained absences have to be followed up. If a child is absent for any length of time and we have not heard from their parents as to the reasons for their absence, the child become a ‘Missing Child’. In this circumstance we are compelled to contact the Police and Social Care.

We need to record all injuries. If your child has a fall or receives a bump in school that we are aware of, we will fill in an accident letter to tell you about the incident. This letter will be passed on to you outside, by a member of staff. There is another copy kept in school.

Please inform your child’s Keyworker if your child comes in to school with an existing injury that has occurred outside of school time. Staff must make a note of any existing injuries a child has. Our children at Willow are young. They are sometimes unable to tell us how they have hurt themselves. Please tell us if you know of any marks/cuts etc as it will save staff trying to work out what has happened.

Teach your child to use the toilet. Guidelines say that we should offer as little assistance in the bathroom as possible. With the three and four year old Nursery children we prefer to give children verbal assistance from outside their cubicle, only offering physical assistance if absolutely necessary. If an adult is needed to help a child in the bathroom another member of staff will always be aware, and support if necessary.

C. Milk and Fruit time.

The government provides all children at Nursery with a free carton of milk each day. All children in the nursery will be offered milk at mid-morning snack time. (Unless parents have informed us that their child has an intolerance to cows milk)

We aim to provide all children with a fruit snack

We ask all parents to donate some fruit, so we can share these at the snack table. We ask parents to donate a bag of fruit such as apples, satsumas or bananas, for all the children to share. If every parent was to donate a small bag of fruit every half term, we will have lots to share.

D. Celebrating Birthdays.

We have a ‘Birthday Board’ in school where we display the names of staff and pupils who will be celebrating their birthday within the current month. We celebrate every individual child’s birthday during Keyworker time, with their colour group. We have a very real looking iced ‘fake’ cake with candles on. Staff make a fuss of the children on their special day (or near to it if their birthday falls at the weekend or in the school holidays). The birthday child is invited to sit at the front of the group, with their Keyworker. Everyone sings ‘Happy Birthday’ and the birthday child blows the candles out. The birthday child receives a special birthday sticker.

Parents often ask if they can treat all the children on their child’s birthday. We have been saying for a few years now, when asked, that due to allergies and parental choice, we would prefer parents to donate some special birthday fruit for all the children to share on their birthday.

For many years parents have wanted to provide sweets for our children. Sweets are problematic. Some parents would prefer that their child was not offered sweets for health reasons. Some sweets (for example, most ‘Haribo’ jelly sweets) contain gelatin, which makes them unsuitable for some children, for religious reasons. Even chocolate is unsuitable for some children with allergies.

New nutrition guidance for the Early Years Foundation Stage, from the Department of Education, comes into force in September 2025. There is a new requirement in the safeguarding and welfare requirements in the EYFS that providers MUST take this guidance into account and should follow it unless there is a good reason not to.

Pg 28 of the guidance says:

Celebrations

Many families like to celebrate their child’s birthday and other special events by bringing in a cake or sweets to the setting to share. This can mean that some children are eating these unhealthy foods several times a week. The food and nutrition policy could include recommendations for special events to ensure any food brought in from home is balanced and meets the setting’s food guidelines (for example recommending fruit platters to share). Any food shared in the setting should be checked for potential allergens. Communication with parents and/or carers about these practices is key to ensuring they are informed and involved in supporting healthy eating habits at early years settings.

We must request, that as a school community, we should work together to promote healthy choices for all our children.

E. Family Photographs

We have themes that we work on with the children. We begin with learning about something all the children can be familiar with their family. The staff will be working with the children on various activities and talking to them about their families. To help the children understand we would ask if you could send in a family photo that they can share with everyone.

For Big Nursery Children The staff would like to include these photo’s as part of a wall display.

For Little Nursery Children The staff in little nursery will be creating a family booklet with the photographs provided and they will sit with the children to look through their booklet together. This booklet will be available for the children to look at whenever they choose and should be comforting to the children if they are missing home.

So, if you would like to send in a photo of your child and their family, please do so during this week (15/09/25) or at the beginning of next week. Please hand your photo to your child’s keyworker, so we can keep them safe. Please write your child’s name on the back of the photo, and if possible the names of other family members shown in the photograph. We will then be able to return the photos to you, later in the year.

F. Early Years Pupil Premium

What is Early Years Pupil Premium?

The Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) is designed to narrow the attainment gap between young children from low-income families and their peers by improving the facilities, equipment and learning experiences to benefit the growth and development of eligible children.

This information has been taken from Central Bedfordshire’s Website.

Nurseries, pre-schools, childminders, and other childcare providers can claim extra funding through the Early Years Pupil Premium.

This applies to 9 months to 4-year-old children whose:

parents receive certain benefits
have been adopted
are in care

The provider can use the funding to improve the quality of the early years education that they provide. This could include, for example, additional training for staff on early language development.

How to apply

If you believe you are entitled to funding, please contact your childcare provider.

How do I qualify?

The child must attend a setting in Central Bedfordshire. Parents/carers who receive any of the following will qualify for the Early Years Pupil Premium:

Universal Credit – your household income must be less than £7,400 a year after tax, not including any benefits you get
Income Support
Income-based Job Seekers Allowance
Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
the guaranteed element of State Pension Credit
Child Tax Credit, providing you do not also receive Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190
Working Tax Credit run-on – paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit

Or, if they have been:

looked after by us (the Local Authority) for at least 1 day
adopted from our (the Local Authority) care
left care through special guardianship, and subject to a child arrangement order setting out with whom they are to live (formerly known as residence orders) in Central Bedfordshire

You can find out more about the early years pupil premium on the GOV.UK website.

If any parent has considered the eligibility criteria and believes their child is eligible please telephone or email the school office and together we can make a claim.

G. What are the children learning about this week?

What are the children learning about this week? The theme this week is settling into nursery and nursery rules.

We will be teaching the children our school rules this week;

Kind hands

Looking eyes

Walking feet

Little voice

Listening ears

As we teach the children these rules, they will learn that it is important that they follow them in order to learn and play in a safe environment. We will also teach the children about self-care, including taking themselves to the toilet, washing hands and the importance of privacy. We always remind the children to try to close the door when they use the toilet and to adjust clothing where possible before they leave the toilet area.

We begin the school year by focussing our learning on things they are all familiar with in their lives. We begin by spending some time thinking about ‘Myself’. Perhaps starting simply by looking in a mirror and using their finger to point at their features in their reflection.

Just to put things in context….

In the space of the next few weeks, we move on to talking about our families. All families are different, but all children here have one! These activities encourage children to communicate about their lives, sharing their experiences with staff and other children while building social relationships.

We eventually move on to talking about the Nursery Community. We want the children to learn about all the adults who are here to help them in the nursery. Nursery adults are here to help you, when adults from your home are not. We want to build trust with our pupils. We want the oldest children to see themselves as an individual who is part of a wider school community. To learn that they are important, and that they belong.

NURSERY NEWS

8^th September 2025 – Edition 381

Find out About:

A. Welcome

B: Newsletters

C: School Term Dates

D: Labelling belongings

E: A Good Start

F. What are the children learning about this week?

A. Welcome

Hello Everyone!

Welcome back to those families who were with us last term. We are very lucky to have such helpful and sensible children in our school. Even with just a six week break we notice the children have developed greatly in that time. In September we see all existing children move keyworkers. Your child’s Keyworker will greet you and your child(ren) within their colour groups, when families begin to assemble outside in the morning. I expect Keyworkers to be outside 5 minutes before school begins, so if you have something brief to pass on to your child’s Keyworker, this will be possible.

A warm ‘Hello’ is extended to all our new families. We are still having a few tears, as children are learning to spend some time away from their parents, perhaps for the very first time. So far, we have been very impressed with the children’s behaviours and attitudes, so ‘Thankyou’ to all parents for the support you are giving to your children to make their transition into Nursery successful.

B: Newsletters

I (Mrs Davies) write a weekly Newsletter to parents to help keep parents up to date with everything going on in Nursery. This weekly newsletter will be emailed to all families on Mondays.

Copies of this newsletter will also be placed on our website willownursery.co.uk in our ‘Latest News’ section. Previous Newsletters are also available within the latest news section, should you need to search back for some information.

Please do read the weekly newsletter as we share important dates, including parent consultations, open school events etc

C: School Term Dates

The Local Authority, Central Bedfordshire, publishes details of term dates and school holidays on their website: Centralbedfordshire.gov.uk

Type: ‘School term and holiday dates in Central Bedfordshire’ into your search engine to find the correct page.

We are a Local Authority School, and as such we follow the Local Authority term dates.

However, for the academic year 2025-2026 the Local Authority did not set the 5 training days when the school is closed for staff training. Schools were advised to choose our 5 training days. We have planned our 5 training days to be:

Monday 1^st September 2025.

Tuesday 2nd September 2025.

Monday 5^th January 2026

Monday 22^nd June 2026

Monday 20^th July 2026.

We have put Willow Nursery School dates for the 2025-2026 academic year on our website willownursery.co.uk on the ‘Calendar’ tab.

D: Labelling belongings

Label all lunchboxes clearly with your child’s name, on the top, so staff can see the name when the box is on the trolley. Label all drinks bottles and containers.

Label all coats and shoes, and any other items that children can take off-cardigans/jumpers/ fleeces. It is much easier to return items to owners when things are labelled.

E. A Good Start!

What has happened so far?….

We have enrolled all our new starters into Big Nursery. We have had 5 families join this year group that are new to the school. There are 43 children who are Big Nursery Pupils. We are getting to know everyone, trying to settle everyone in, and helping children to learn the daily routines that enable the nursery to run smoothly.

What happens next?………….

Little Nursery continues to enrol new pupils this week. We are expecting 13 new families in this year group.

We will have 28 children who are Little Nursery pupils.

I do have lots of information to share in these newsletters, but I will not share too much until everyone is enrolled in school.

We are so enjoying meeting all our pupils and getting to know them, and hopefully, over time we will get to know all their parents too.

F. What are the children learning about this week?

Mrs Cashmore is the teacher who writes an article every week in the newsletter to share with parents the experiences your children will be having in school. This is to enable you to be part of your child’s learning journey, so you can talk together about their new learning when you are at home.

So for this week:

The theme this week is settling in and nursery rules.

This week, the children will be settling in and learning the rules and routines of school life. It’s all very exciting, as the children have moved into their new classrooms, met their key workers and are making new friends. Our school rules are designed to provide a happy and safe environment for everyone and they are displayed in each classroom. Staff will be reminding children of the rules throughout the week and explaining how important it is that we follow them at all times.

Children will be learning where to put their coats and bags as they come into school, each child has their own peg which clearly displays their name and a picture to them to help with peg recognition. It is important that children can identify their belongings, so we ask parents to label all property clearly to support this.

As the lunches are stored together according to colour groups, we request that parents clearly label lunch boxes on the outside, on the top so names can be seen quickly. This supports children with their lunchtime transition, enabling us to help them to swiftly find their lunchboxes and take them to their assigned seats. Please also remember to label your child’s drink bottle as many children do not yet know which bottle is theirs and may get mixed up with someone else’s drink.

As the children settle into their new routines, they will become more secure and confident to leave their parents. While they are at school, some children may have toileting accidents, or eat and drink less than usual but this is often due to them adjusting to their new environment. We understand that each child progresses at their own pace and we thank you for your continued support and patience with these matters.

NURSERY NEWS

21st July 2025 – Edition 380

Find out About:

A. Lost Property

B. Remember to put your younger children on our wait list.

C. School re-open dates for September 2025

D. Department for Education: Early Years Foundation Stage Nutrition Guidance

E. Choking Hazards.

A. Lost Property.

Our Lost Property will be emptied at the end of term, and any unclaimed belongings will be disposed of. Please look through the Lost Property boxes that are in the storage trolley in the outdoor Library area.

B. Remember to put your younger children on our wait list.

Please remember to add your younger children’s names on our waitlist. We are no longer able to give preference to children who have had brothers and sisters in our school. We look purely at how long children have been on our wait list for each termly cohort when we allocate spaces. Please encourage friends and family members to put their child’s name down as soon as possible, to have the best chance of being offered a space in the future.

C. School re-open dates September 2025

Monday 1st September School Closed Staff Training Day

Tuesday 2nd September School Closed Staff Training Day

Wednesday 3rd September School Open.

· Brand new families have been advised of their start date.

· Existing families should continue with their child’s current attendance pattern.

· Some existing families have increased their child’s sessions from 15 to 30 hours. These children will start on 3rd September.

D. Department for Education: Early Years Foundation Stage Nutrition Guidance

The Department of education has released a new document that we, as a Nursery School must take notice of, and comply with. It comes into force 1st September 2025.

Summary

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework sets the standards that early years providers must meet to ensure that children learn, develop well and are kept healthy and safe.

From September 2025, we intend to include a new requirement in the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the EYFS that providers must have regard to this nutrition guidance. This means providers must take this guidance into account and should follow it unless there is good reason not to.

This guidance will support providers to understand how to implement the existing EYFS requirement that states: ‘Where children are provided with meals, snacks and drinks, these must be healthy, balanced and nutritious’.

Why this guidance is important

Providing healthy, balanced and nutritious food ensures that all children:

• Get the right amount of nutrients and energy they need while they are growing rapidly, which is especially important for children who might not have access to healthy food at home. This can help prevent children from becoming overweight or obese.

• Develop positive eating habits early on. Children’s early experiences with food can shape future eating habits. This can impact children’s long-term health including maintaining a healthy weight, and good oral health.

The early years are a crucial time to reduce health inequalities and set the foundations for a lifetime of good health.

There is some very good advice within this document. We do have a Willow Nursery School Nutrition Policy, but in light of this document we will update it. We may have to introduce new guidelines around foods that are brought into school. This will include fruit snacks, the content of Lunch boxes and birthday treats.

Food brought in from home

Having a food and nutrition policy in place and communicating this to parents and/or carers can help them to understand your regulatory obligation to provide healthy, balanced and nutritious food to children and encourage healthier food choices for packed lunches. It is important to ensure that food provided from home aligns with the healthy options offered by the setting, so that children receive consistent messages about nutrition.

I am suggesting that parents might like to read the document, so you can see the content of it, and understand the framework we are required to work within.

This is the internet address to take you to this document:

www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-nutrition

We will update you in the Autumn term of any changes made to our Nutrition Policies.

F. Choking Hazards.

Within the Nutrition Guidance above, there are many electronic links. I would like to draw your attention to one of these from the ‘Food Standards Agency’ regarding choking hazards and how foods should be prepared.

We will use this advice with regard to our packed lunch guidelines. So please have a look to familiarise yourselves with the advice.

NURSERY NEWS

14^th July 2025 – Edition 379

Find out About:

A. End of Term arrangements July 2025- A reminder

B. Leavers Day –Tuesday 22^nd July – 8:50am-11:50am- A reminder

C. The end of the 2024-2025 Academic Year is rapidly approaching.

Please note that all our previous newsletters are available on our website www.willownursery.co.uk

A. End of Term arrangements July 2025- A reminder

The last day of term in July 2025 for all children will be Monday 21^st July.

This day will run as a normal Monday. Timings of the day will be the same as all Mondays.

B. Leavers Day –Tuesday 22^nd July- 8:50am-11:50am-A reminder

On Tuesday 22^nd July school will open only for the Big Nursery children that are leaving us. The session will be from 8:50 am to 11:50 am. All Big Nursery leavers are invited to attend this session, regardless of your child’s normal attendance days. As children are attending for the morning only, no child will require a packed lunch. Children will require their water bottles. Children should arrive at 8:50 am and wait outside as usual.

C. The end of the 2024-2025 Academic Year is rapidly approaching!

We find ourselves rapidly approaching the end of another year at Willow. I have some ‘Thankyous’ that I would like to share. Firstly, I would like to thank each and every parent who has chosen Willow for their child. Parents rarely realise that our funding is directly linked to the number of pupils we have, so without your children, there would be no Willow. Thank you to those parents who have kept us well stocked with fruit for snack time. The children have really enjoyed the ice-pops that parents have provided during the summer term. Parents have been very generous this year. We have enjoyed hundreds of ice pops! Thank you to everyone who has contributed to our collection of boxes and tubes for the children to build models with. This year there has been a small group of children who love to build detailed models. All support is very appreciated.

A very big thank you is given to the parents and grandparents who have given their time regularly throughout the year to support the teaching and learning in the classrooms. This support really alters the adult to child ratio’s we can provide. We can offer a wider range of activities, but ultimately the greatest benefit is there are more people to hold conversations with your children.

The 2025 Leavers are a very friendly bunch! As a whole they are a very young group:

-17% Autumn born children- Green Group our oldest children,

-22% are Spring born children- Red Group,

–61% are Summer born children, Yellow Group our youngest children in the year.

Let me just say, that as a group, they have kept the staff on their toes! There are a lot of very individual strong personalities within this group, and they still require quite a lot of friendly adult support to resolve conflicts. They are a very creative group, with lots of good ideas for their play. They do make us smile.

There are some very strong friendship bonds that have formed already. Some friendships will last all the way through to Secondary School. Willow children do care for each other. The children going to nearby schools already have a network of friendly faces who will look out for each other day to day. The children joining schools further away will be able to confidently make friends due to their experiences at Willow.

This year is the first year that we have been able to deliver all 12 core books to our pupils, spending three weeks looking at one book. This group have really engaged with this new style of teaching. They love these stories!

The new funding strategies that are around now mean that our pupils are generally starting earlier and attending for more terms than ever before. This September, for the first time, we are now able to enrol children at age 2 who are entitled to 30 hours for working families funded places. The uptake has been good. We are building our termly Keyworker cohort from the age of two now. We know this will have a positive impact upon children’s behaviour and well-being. Some children will be with us for 8 terms!

What will the next year group bring? Blue, Orange and Yellow Group (our 2026 Leavers) are developing well. When I walk through there are happy, chatty children, all playing well together, I think we have another strong year group on the horizon.

So to the families that are staying with us, I look forward to seeing the progress that your children make in the next twelve months as they grow and mature, and I hope all the children will experience some fun with us during that time.

The only thing left for me to say is ‘Have a Safe Summer’.

Leigh Davies

NURSERY NEWS

Tuesday 8^th July 2025 – Edition 378

Find out About:

A. Parents Consultations Scheduled for this week- A reminder.

B. End of Term arrangements July 2025

C. Leavers Day –Tuesday 22^nd July- 8:50am-11:50am

D. Funding for Working Families- Ensure codes are in place /Renew codes.

E. Review of the year- Results.

F. What are the children learning about this week?

A. Parents Consultations Scheduled for this week.- a reminder.

Parents consultations will take place here at the school, face to face this week.

B. End of Term arrangements July 2025

The last day of term in July 2025 for all children will be Monday 21^st July.

This day will run as a normal Monday. Timings of the day will be the same as all Mondays.

C. Leavers Day –Tuesday 22^nd July- 8:50am-11:50am

We have consulted the children about what activities they would like to plan for their last day and this is what they have come up with:

Children may dress up if they want to. Children may come to school in a dressing up outfit if they wish. There should be no pressure on anyone to buy an outfit. Normal Nursery clothes are absolutely fine too.

We have arranged for children to:

Play with My Little Ponies, Super Hero Colouring Sheets
Have songs: Specifically: ‘I’m a Barbie Girl’, and ‘I’m Still Standing,’ dancing, bubbles and balloons
Play pass the parcel and musical chairs.

At 10:30 am all children will sit down together for a picnic time in the garden. Staff will provide the snacks the children requested: cake, apples, pears, sweets, crisps, ice creams and ice pops

The morning will finish with a group time for each colour group, where all children will receive a certificate praising their individual skills and/or qualities.

11:50am Going Home Time- Parents to collect children from the front gate. Children will be dismissed in the regular way, with Green group first, followed by Red group then Yellow group.

D. Funding for working families- Ensure funding codes are in place /Renew codes.

A reminder about the eligibility checker:

Eligibility checker:

Eligibility will be checked via a childcare application developed by HMRC.

Parents are responsible for checking if they are eligible.

Parents need to visit the website www.childcarechoices.gov.uk. This is the online eligibility checker.

Parents will be issued a code to take to the setting (nursery/ childminder etc.).

There will be a grace period for parents where their circumstances change. This will give parents the time to regain employment.

Parents must reconfirm their eligibility every three months via the HMRC online eligibility checker or else they will lose their entitlement, subject to the grace period. Parents are essentially reconfirming that their employment status has not changed and they still meet the criteria. HMRC will send reminder emails to parents to notify them of the need to reconfirm.

For all parents who are entitled to funding for working families for your child, please ensure that your code is in place and valid by 31^st August 2025, to enable us to receive funding for your child for the Autumn term.

The government will send out reminders to families to renew your code. Please be aware that sometimes the government email may go into your Spam/ Junk email folder. If you code is not valid you will not receive funding

E. Review of the year- Results

I have had two families who replied to my request for feedback from parents. I always share what parents say, as there may be some points raised which other parents may relate to….

1.Please comment about what we do well at Willow.

Family 1:

I wanted to share a few points about what works well and some suggestions for improvements:

What works well

-friendly and approachable staff

-really good plans for what the children will be working and focusing on each week which is reflected in the weekly newsletters and is really helpful and informative to know

Family 2:

It is very clear to me that my son enjoys his time at nursery and his key worker Mrs Brinkley clearly works hard at understanding the children and supporting them the best she can. My son also talks very highly of Mrs Gaffney. The one issue my son has had, has been dealt with swiftly and has made an evident impact on my child’s daily life at nursery so thank you for that.

I also appreciate the newsletter as it gives us a talking point at home.

Both families have mentioned the same things…. Friendly, supportive staff and our Newsletters.

Willow is a special place due to the quality and commitment of all our staff. We are a very experienced team, but there is something unusual here at Willow, and that is the way all staff are prepared to give 110% to meet the needs of our pupils. The staff are knowledgeable and proactive, always ready to find new solutions to best support our individual children’s needs. The keyworkers work particularly hard to build positive relationships with parents, both during more formal parental consultations and during day to day interactions. The staff will be pleased that parents appreciate this, so thank you for your comments.

I am pleased you read the newsletter and find it useful. I usually spend a couple of hours a week planning and writing the newsletter, and I’m never sure how many people read it! Mrs Cashmore (one of our teachers) always writes the section ‘What are the children learning about this week?’ We know that two, three and four year olds are not very good at explaining what they have been doing at school! We share this information so you can talk at home and extend your child’s learning. It is good to show interest from early on, so you can continue to support your child as they get older, and begin to get homework in primary and secondary school. Leigh Davies

Please tell us one thing you would like to see at Willow that you would consider to be an improvement and/or development.

I will address each comment in turn, as it is important that we share with parents how we try to manage these aspects in a busy school.. so I hope this helps:

Family 1:

Improvements

-more encouragement for the kids to drink their waters and lunches

Many parents talk to us about this, so I will answer this fully.

As a team we have worked hard to accommodate water bottles into our setting. Pre-Covid, pupils were offered milk at snacktime, and water was always available to the children, as we have drinking fountains in each classroom which we always taught everyone how to use. Parents provided a drink of their choice for their child at lunchtime, within their child’s lunchbox.

During Covid, the use of water fountains was not allowed, so children had to bring water bottles in to school which they could access at all times. Water bottles are placed on the trolleys by parents when children arrive at nursery. Office staff then move the boxes of water bottles near to where the different groups of children register. These are placed in the same space each day, at child height so that they can be accessed by individual children at any time during the day. We ask that children do not walk around with their bottles, and there are seating areas available near to where all the bottles are stored. Staff do remind children at pastoral time at the beginning of the session that children should drink plenty, especially in the recent hot conditions.

Some parents speak to Keyworkers to say that their child is not drinking enough. Keyworkers share this at staff meeting, so all staff are aware of parental concerns.

If a child’s bottle becomes empty, all children are told to tell a teacher, and the adult will refill the bottle.

I lead the two sittings of lunch in Big Nursery. Water bottle boxes are put back onto the lunch box trolleys when placed in the dining area. One member of staff looks after two tables of children. So for example, I look after 12 Green and Red pupils in first lunch sitting. Red and Green lunches and water bottles are placed as close to the Red and Green children’s tables as possible, and always in the same place in the classroom.

I ask Green and Red group to come into the dining area, after washing their hands they are invited to collect their lunch box and water bottles, and sit down. My first job is to ensure all my children are sitting in their designated seat. I then move around the two tables offering personalised help to each child. Children open their boxes take out their food and return empty lunch bags to the trolley. The Bento type boxes stay on the table. I ask each child in turn what help they need, ensuring wrappers are removed, crisp packets opened, yogurts opened, satsumas peeled, bananas opened, spoons found from bags etc. This takes about five minutes. Some children due to their age and stage of development require more help than others. Some children refuse to open their box, so we encourage those children gently, as we cannot force any child to eat.

I then check that all children have their water bottle on the table. I open them and remind children that they should have a big drink at lunchtime. I point to the clock showing what the time is now, looking at the big hand, and show the children where the big hand will be when lunch will be finished.

I return to my twelve children, circulating around the tables encouraging the children who I know to be slow eaters, praising them when they are eating well. I wipe up spills (yogurt is really messy!) daily. As lunch progresses I check my children’s water bottles, and refill any that have less than half a bottle remaining. I point to the clock showing how time is progressing, reminding pupils that we do not have long so we must keep munching!

Our children are very social! They are always trying to tell me their stories or call to their friend sitting at the next table! I always advise them to keep chewing and that I will listen to their story later.

I give children a two-minute warning, by drawing attention to the clock, when lunch time is coming to an end for them. I ask them to finish chewing the item they are eating. I always encourage each child to have a big drink before they get up to leave.

Water bottles are then returned to the classrooms where children know where to find them for the rest of the afternoon. Staff fill them when needed.

-more invites for parents to observe some of their sessions like we had last time. That was really insightful

We plan a timetable of ‘open classroom’ sessions that we repeat each year, mostly for the oldest year group. They will be rolled out to the oldest year group again in the next academic year.

-more updates to be provided about how our children are getting on during day whether it’s by verbal updates, pictures or an app or something like class dojo… something where the parents and keyworkers can keep in contact more easily especially for areas like little nursery where the children are still learning how to communicate.

This is a very valid point. I do take this on board. This comment often appears here in our yearly review. We are quite a big setting. We dismiss up to 78 children at the end of the session. Our priority is to release children safely to their parents. If every parent had just 1 minute with their keyworker on handover it would take 78 minutes to speak briefly to everyone….. So this is not really possible.

In the last few years the government has required staff to spend more of their time interacting directly with children in their play, and less time writing it down and recording it.

We are guided by the following government document:

Early years foundation stage statutory framework

For group and school-based providers Setting the standards for learning, development and care for children from birth to five

Dated: 11 October 2024 Effective: 01 November 2024

Here are some excerpts from this document:

‘Assessment should not involve long breaks from interaction with children or require excessive paperwork. When assessing whether an individual child is at the expected level of development, practitioners should draw on their knowledge of the child and their own expert professional judgement. Practitioners are not required to prove this through collection of any physical evidence. Recorded, written or photographic evidence is not required.’

‘Ongoing assessment

Ongoing assessment (also known as formative assessment) is an integral part of the learning and development process. It involves practitioners understanding children’s interests and what they know and can do, and then shaping teaching and learning experiences for each child reflecting that knowledge. In their interactions with children, practitioners should make and act on their own day-to-day observations about children’s progress…… However, there is no requirement to keep written records in relation to this.’

We have reduced the amount of writing we do and photographs we take on a daily basis. We create some observations to be recorded in each child’s ‘Year Book’ to show evidence of how children are working towards our 7 c’s curriculum. These books are handed to parents when their child leaves They will be handed out at parent’s consultations this week.

On a day to day basis we do not have photos or written observations to share. I want staff to be engaging with our children as much as possible. We have tried to help matters by sending keyworkers out early in the morning to speak to parents before school. A brief daily update is possible for parents. This opportunity does work well when Keyworkers have built up a rapport with the parents from their Keyworker group.

As children leave, group by group, at the end of the afternoon, staff have to return to support the next group of children. The organisation of a safe going home requires a lot of staff. Staff then are involved in staff meetings, planning meetings, discussing children’s needs meetings, immediately after school, so are generally unavailable to give feedback about a child’s day.

Family 2:

The one thing I would say that could be improved upon is the communication around the Christmas period/last day of term. For some time last year I was under the impression that the Christmas party day would involve several hours of nursery, and we found out much closer to the time that nursery would only be open for 1 hour on that day. Obviously I will be aware of this this year, but for new parents it might be worth mentioning early on in the term that about the significantly reduced hours on the last day of term. It is not a problem in itself, just something which needs to be planned for at a busy time of year for all!

Someone did tell me this verbally after the 2023 Christmas parties, and I did listen. It is hard to judge when to put this information in, so in this academic year I added it to the newsletter on the 30^th September 2024, regarding the December 2024 Christmas parties. This was the first Newsletter of the academic year when all our children had been successfully enrolled. So in Nursery News Edition 346, amongst other ‘Important Dates’ I wrote:

‘Friday 20th December 2024 School open for Christmas Parties only (As a guide: Last year Little Nursery Party 9:00am to 10:00am Big Nursery Party 11:15am to 1:00pm, but this may change slightly when we begin planning for this year)’

Further reflection has made me decide to put the information about the Christmas parties in the very first Newsletter in September– so watch out for that if you are staying with us!

Willow Nursery School- Children’s Evaluation. July 2025

We ask all Big Nursery children 5 questions. Here are all their answers. I think they will make you smile!

1. What do you like to do at Nursery?

Trucks

Play with friends

Toys

Insects, centipede and worms.

Pokemon

Play with my friend.

Playing outside. Making an obstacle course.

Playing with bricks

I like making things with sellotape.

Drawing, Spiderman

Play with some Lego

Play with the animals. Playing with all my friends.

Play with toys, I like to go outside and I like new friends.

Play outside

Play with…. Named four specific friends.

Animals, trains

I like playing with my friends.

I like mermaids.

I like to play with sand.

I like to pay.

Play cars, trains,

I like being a cat on the floor.

I like to play

I like playing trains.

Playing with (x)

Playing

Musical chairs

I like to play with my friends.

I love to play.

Playing

Play tigers.

Painting

Doing work

I like to play with the tigers and gorrillas

Like to play in the sandpit. Like to go inside. I like to playgames.

I love having racing cars and marble run.

I like playing with my friends and I like playing in the water.

I like to play with my friends

I like pink books.

Cars and garage

Slide, Trains

2. Is there anything you don’t like at Nursery?

If fighters sit next to me.

Said a child’s name.

No, I like everything.

Cutting

Playing with water.

When my Mummy goes home.

I don’t like the wind as it messes my hair up and mummy will get angry.

When people hit me.

Inside nursery.

I don’t like it when people are mean to me at Nursery.

Hurting myself.

I don’t like the boys catching me.

(x) hurting me.

dogs

Painting

Biting

I don’t like playing with aeroplanes.

When (X) chases me all around.

When I’ve said I’ve hurt myself.

I don’t like lunch, I don’t like my food it tastes like milk.

When I shake like this. – Jumping

I don’t like kicking and pinching.

I don’t like getting splashed

When it is noisy.

3. Tell me something you are good at now since coming to Nursery?

Sliding out of the car when driving.

Sharing

Lining up

Playing in the garden

1,2,3,

I can jump up onto the rope walk, my friend taught me.

Doing upside down things.

Don’t know

Knowing about cars like Mercedes.

Jumping on mummy’s big bed

Not scribbling

Writing my name.

I’m good at Lego.

I’m good at riding bikes.

Dinosaurs.

Reading and writing.

Backflips and Hopscotch

I am good at being helpful

Writing and drawing.

Computer screen

I do good playing outside.

Football, slide.

I’m good at sticking

Good at playing with my friend.

Making obstacles

Puzzles

Football, Soccer balls, Basketballs- I scored 6 goals!

Doing gymnastics.

I love to play with my Daddy at home,and I want to read a book.

I can calm my brother down.

4.Tell me what you have learnt in Phonics:

Learning our names, reading the books,ABCD’s

‘a’ ‘p’ ‘m’ ‘s’

We learnt the letter ‘s’ ‘i’ ‘g’ ‘e’ ‘m’ ‘a’ ‘u’

In the forest.

Some Z or O or A.

I have learnt ‘s’ ‘a’. I don’t know all of them. I know ‘n’ ‘m’

‘t’

‘a’ I know ABCD

I have learned the letters to read and write.

Letters

We can do some actions together ‘p’ ‘s’ ‘a’

Doing cards

‘s’ ‘a’ ‘t’ ‘m’ ‘n’ ‘u’ ‘k’ ‘c’

I learned about the letter ‘a’.

We learned the letter ‘r’

‘a’ ‘t’ ‘c’ ‘s’ ‘e’

I’ve learned at phonics ABC’s

I learnt ‘o’ ‘o’ ‘o’.

The Hungry Caterpillar.

Pokemon

Its very hard. The Hungry Caterpillar

Learnt about sweeties

‘s’ ‘a’

‘a’ ‘b’ ‘c’

snake

5.How can we make Willow better for the new children?

Not sure

Play with the trains

Make some more friends.

Don’t know x3

All my friends finding me.

Get some more animals, like monkeys.

Play with all of us- just yellow group-not red group.

More toys- More Lego –pink Lego

Make even better toys.

We can get some rides.

Make them happy.

When someone’s sad, they need a friend.

Fireworks and balloons, Costumes, Spiderman Mask.

Clear up stuff.

Playing and new friends can read books.

A party.

Don’t know.

Toys and tattoos.

Maths, drawing and painting.

Toys- Pillow Fight, playing with the water.

Make them happy.

F. What are the children learning about this week?

The theme this week is Peace at Last

This week the theme is based on the book Peace at Last by Jill Murphy. Children will be listening to the story and discussing the characters and events of the story with staff. Staff will encourage the children to look at the pages of the book and all of the little details on each page. This promotes conversations, as the children will want to share what they can see and share experiences of their own. Staff will encourage children to listen to each other as they talk and to wait for their turn to talk. Staff will teach the children that it is good manners to wait until someone has finished talking before they take their turn.

Our learning intention this week is for children to recognise the impact of their choices and behaviours on others and to understand that sometimes these actions can hurt the feelings of others. To implement this, we will talk to the children about being kind and empathetic. We will encourage children to consider how they might feel if something was said or done to them. We will also pay close attention to positive behaviours such as sharing and using good manners. It is important that the children understand that their words and actions also have an impact on others. Staff will give lots of praise for kindness and consideration when it is carried out, they will also be modelling the type of language and behaviour we would like to see the children use.

NURSERY NEWS

Monday 30^th June 2025 – Edition 377

Find out About:

A. E2Bn internet issues.

B. Long hot summer continues…

C. What are the children learning about this week?

A. E2Bn internet issues.

E2Bn is the internet provider the Local Authority recommended to schools. Many schools in the area use E2Bn.

On Thursday and Friday of last week we had no internet access. Our technical support service confirmed that we have no problem at our end, it is E2Bn’s server that is down. Other schools have been affected too.

As I am writing this, on Friday afternoon, we have been told to expect E2Bn’s server to be operational by Monday morning.

I must apologise if any parent has experienced a delay when contacting the office by email.

B. Long hot summer continues……

During some summers the very hot weather lasts for just a few weeks and temperatures drop a little. It seems this year the hot weather is continuing for an extended period with no respite in sight!

We have had a wonderful response to our ice pop request this year, but I am told we will run out of ice pops by Wednesday this week. We would be very grateful if parents would consider donating one more box of ice pops, to help keep the children cool on these very hot days. The children enjoy the treat. We all (adults and children) enjoy five minutes of peace when the children sit under the tree and quietly enjoy their ice pops.

We have also used up all our fruit donations. We had a fridge full of apples that kept us fully supplied for 6 weeks from my most recent request for fruit on the 12^th May. We have three nursery weeks left before the summer break. Please could I ask for a small donation of fruit for our snack tables in the mornings?

C. What are the children learning about this week?

What are the children learning about this week?

The theme this week is transport – air and water

Staff will work with children to teach them about the different types of transport that can be used on the water and in the air. Summer holidays are fast approaching and many children will be going on holidays. Some children are lucky enough to be travelling out of the country and this can be used as a discussion point, to share personal experiences of air and water travel. There are many resources in the school that can showcase different transport and how we use it, including books, toy airports and water play with boats and submarines and these will all be available for the children to explore. Staff will model lots of language as they discuss things they have seen while on their own travels and they will encourage children to share their own experiences.

Our learning intention this week is for the children to practice skills of assertion, negotiation and compromise and to look to adults for support in conflict resolution. We will be assisting children as they consider the best way to solve conflicts no matter how big or small. Lots of praise and support will be given to children who try their best to show understanding and kindness to their friends. All children are different and have varying abilities when it comes to being able to problem solve, but being able to try their best or ask for help is key to them becoming successful.

The skill we will be looking at this week is ball skills, this means being able to kick, catch, throw and hit balls with bats. There will be plenty of ball games available for the children to take part in individually or as part of a team. As the weather is so hot, we will continue to remind the children about staying safe in the sun. This means to take shelter in the shade or inside if they need to, wearing hats and sunscreen and drinking plenty. Children are reminded throughout the day to drink plenty and stay hydrated and staff refill bottles once a child has finished their drink.

NURSERY NEWS

Monday 23rd June 2025 – Edition 376

Find out About:

A. Review of the Year

B. Late arrivals are becoming problematic.

C. What are the children learning about this week?

A. Review of the year

At this time of year, we carry out a big review of our school. In the last few days staff been talking to the Big Nursery children individually, to gain their views about their school, with regard to what they like, what they think they have learned and what they would like to see change. All school staff are busy filling in questionnaires too.

This information helps us to plan our areas for development next year.

I always ask parents for their views too at this time of year.

We usually ask just two questions:

Please comment about what we do well at Willow.
Please tell us one thing you would like to see at Willow that you would consider to be an improvement and/or development.

Please write a short email and send to office@willownursery.co.uk

If you wish your comments to inform my review, please send your email by the end of this week, Friday 27^th June. I will then compile all the comments and respond to them in a future newsletter, on Tuesday 8^th July.

B. Late arrivals are becoming problematic.

I explained last week how we admit children who are late. After keyworkers have gone inside the office staff are left to admit latecomers. I wrote:

When children arrive a bit later, after 9:00am, office staff will be putting lunchboxes on the appropriate trolley, escorting your child to their register area and marking your child in that register. There are 5 different rooms where children will be registering. A member of staff may only be able to bring in one child at a time. You may be asked to wait outside, until a member of the office team is able to open the front door and escort your child in.

Parents who arrive late, often just send their child in the front door and leave, unaware if office staff are available or ready to look after their child. From now on, I have asked office staff to make sure the school is secure before admitting latecomers. This means that office staff and myself will bring in the lunchbox trolleys, shut the front door and put the security lock on.

Staff will then bring in pupils one at a time. Parents will not be admitted. Parents will be asked to wait patiently, until their child is admitted. We will look after individual children in a quality way, ensuring they have their belongings stored in the correct places, that they are seated with their Keyworker group, and their name is added to the classroom and lunchtime registers. This process may take 3-4 minutes per child.

These measures are necessary to ensure late arrivals are admitted safely and securely. We are experiencing a regular group of 8-10 children arriving ‘only just late’. These are not the parents who are travelling across town to do two school drop-offs.

C. What are the children learning about this week?

The theme this week is transport – land

Staff will explain to the children what the word transport means and that there are many different modes of transport. There will be a variety of different resources throughout the school, for the children to fully explore this topic. Staff will use these resources to expand the children’s vocabulary, they will explain that on land we can travel by car, train, bus, bicycle, motorcycle and on foot.

Our learning intention this week is for the children to talk extensively about things that are of particular importance to them. This means that they will learn to talk about people and things that are not present and that they will use language to share experiences and thoughts. This will be promoted by having discussions with the children, and encouraging conversations by asking open ended questions. Staff will often relate to the children as they talk about people and things that are of importance to them. These discussions help to build bonds between staff and children. Children are more likely to share more thoughts as their confidence grows.

We will focus on cutting skills this week and there will be plenty of books, magazines and paper for the children to cut. Staff will support the children in holding their scissors effectively to be able to make snips in paper and, for those that are able, to cut carefully and with purpose.

NURSERY NEWS

16th June 2025 – Edition 375

Find out About:

A Reminder: An Open School Event: For Big Nursery Yellow Group Parents: Basic Skills.

B. Trying to be on time.

C. What are the children learning about this week?

A. Reminder An Open School Event: For Big Nursery Yellow Group Parents: Basic Skills.

Miss Howe’s Yellow group parents have been invited in to observe a 30 minute reading/writing activity on Wednesday 18^th June.

Mrs Cashmore’s Big Nursery Yellow group parents have been invited in to observe a 30 minute reading/writing activity on Thursday 19^th June.

The children’s skills are really coming along as we head towards the end of the year. We hope you will enjoy the opportunity to see your child working within a more structured, adult led session.

B. Trying to be on time.

Could we please ask that all families try to arrive on time for the beginning of your child’s session. As a Nursery School our role is to encourage good attendance and punctuality, to prepare families for school. We have a well ordered routine for admitting pupils at the beginning of the session. When children arrive a little late it can mean that the way in can become congested, with late parents trying to add lunch boxes and bottles to the lunch box trolleys. Staff are outside watching the safety of the arriving children. This becomes more difficult with additional people moving around.

We are finding that more children are arriving late. If your child does not arrive with their colour group, there is a chance that your child’s lunchbox will end up on the wrong lunch trolley, and not arrive for lunch when your child needs it, and your child will become anxious. This happened twice last week.

We do understand that some parents drop off at more than one school and cannot be in two places at once and you aim get here as soon as you can. This is fine.

We are just asking that you help to keep drop off time as safe and well ordered as possible, so we can begin our teaching swiftly. Thank you to those parents that help us by arriving on time every day, allowing their children to be escorted in by their Keyworkers.

We will also try our very best to get your children out of school on time. Please remember that very hot days in Nursery can be very draining. Children can, and frequently do, become cross and less tolerant in hot weather conditions, so we may find it more difficult to be at the front of school promptly for collection.

C. What are the children learning about this week?

The theme this week is The Smartest Giant in Town.

The children will be listening to and exploring the book The Smartest Giant in Town. They will get to know the characters and learn how they are all so kind to each other. The characters in the story talk about how they feel in different situations and staff will use this as a discussion point for the children to chat about their own emotions. This fits in nicely with our learning intention for the week, which is to ‘talk about how others might be feeling and respond according to their understanding of the other persons needs and wants’. We will be encouraging everyone to be considerate of each other and to remember to be kind.

We will be talking to the children about different things that may affect our mood such as being hungry, tired and hot. When the weather is hot, we give the children lots of reminders to take breaks from the sun, wear sunhats and to drink plenty. It is important that the children understand that it is okay to feel a range of emotions but also that there are different ways to manage the way we feel so that it doesn’t affect others.

As a staff, we work hard to teach the children to manage their emotions and to understand that the way they feel is important. We model different ways to communicate with each other and offer solutions to support the wellbeing of the children.

NURSERY NEWS

9th June 2025 – Edition 374

Find out About:

A. An Open School Event: For Big Nursery Yellow Group Parents: Basic Skills

B. Parent Consultations July 2025

C. End of term arrangements July 2025

D. What are the children learning about this week?

E. Balance and Breathe with Shelley.

A. An Open School Event: For Big Nursery Yellow Group Parents: Basic Skills.

Miss Howe teaches some Big Nursery Yellow Group children ‘Basic Skills’ on a Wednesday morning. Mrs Cashmore teaches some Big Nursery Yellow Group children ‘Basic Skills’ on a Thursday morning.

The children move to a quiet space in Room 5 where they work in small groups (approx. 8 children) to learn reading, writing, mathematical skills and problem solving.

We would like to invite Miss Howe’s Yellow group parents in to observe a 30 minute reading/writing activity on Wednesday 18^th June.

We would like to invite Mrs Cashmore’s Yellow group parents in to observe a 30 minute reading/writing activity on Thursday 19^th June.

A further invitation letter will follow to Yellow Group parents so that we can match up time slots, so parents can join their child’s small group. Green Group had their Basic Skills groups in the Autumn Term 2024 and Red Group had their Basic skills group in the Spring Term 2025.

B. Parent Consultations July 2025.

We plan to have face to face parent consultations for all the children on 8^th and 10^th July 2025. All consultations will be 5 minutes long. Staff will be in touch with you to arrange an appointment time.

So for Little Nursery…

All the Children who will be staying with us in September

Tuesday 8^th July–

Miss Gaffney’s Blue Group Children. Five minute appointments available between 3:15pm and 4:25pm

Mrs Brinkley’s Orange Group Children. Five minute appointments available between 3:15pm and 4:20pm

Mrs Cashmore, Yellow Group Children. Five minute appointments available between 3:15pm and 3:40pm

Miss Allen, (covering for Mrs McGrath) Yellow Group Children. Five minute appointments available between 3:00pm and 4:35pm

Miss Tyler’s Green group children, ( and Mrs Watson’s Red Group) Five minute appointments available between 3:15pm and 4:15pm

So for Big Nursery…

All the Children who will be leaving us in July:

Thursday 10^th July–

Mrs Patterson’s Green Group Children. Five minute appointments available between 3:15pm and 3:45pm

Miss Skai’s Red Group Children. Five minute appointments available between 3:15pm and 3:55pm

Miss Howe’s Yellow Group Children. Five minute appointments available between 3:15pm and 4:05pm

Mrs Cashmore’s Yellow Group Children. Five minute appointments available between 3:15pm and 4:20pm

C. End of Term arrangements July 2025

The last day of term in July 2025 for all children will be Monday 21st July.

On Tuesday 22^nd July school will open only for the Big Nursery children that are leaving us. The session will be from 8:50 am to 11:50 am. All Big Nursery leavers are invited to attend this session, regardless of your child’s normal attendance days. As children are attending for the morning only, no child will require a packed lunch. Children will require their water bottles. We are going to consult the children about what activities they would like to plan for their last day, and try to enable their ideas. There will be no charge for this session.

D. What are the children learning about this week?

The theme this week is the Royal Family and London.

The children will be learning about the Royal Family and tourist attractions in London. There will be lots of discussion on who the King and Queen of England are, where they live and all about their extended family. Staff will provide lots of media for the children to look at and to familiarise themselves with the Royal Family.

There will be plenty of role play opportunities for the children to explore this week. In Room 3, the cosy corner will be transformed into a magnificent royal area, complete with a throne. In Room 1, there will be a London bus set up for the children to either drive, or be passengers on and go on London adventures. In Room 2, there will be arts and crafts including crown making and collages. All of these wonderful resources should enable the children to use their own experiences and imagination to extend their play and involve others in their games.

We hope that all of our activities in school will promote discussions with the children, where they can share their own experiences of visiting London and seeing some of the sights for themselves.

E. Balance and Breathe with Shelley.

One of our current parents offers a wellness class and she has asked that I add her new poster to our newsletter:

NURSERY NEWS

Monday 2nd June 2025 – Edition 373.

Find out About

A. Summer Heat and Nursery.

B.Is your child ready to learn?

C. What are the children are learning about this week?

A. Summer Heat and Nursery.

We now find ourselves in the last seven weeks (and 2 days!) of the Summer Term. Higher temperatures will now be arriving. Staff are bracing ourselves, as the Summer extreme hot weather brings its own problems.

Across the school, children respond differently to the heat. Some children can take the heat in their stride, and are happy and content. Some children really struggle with the heat, they get too hot, become flushed and sweaty. The intense heat can sap children’s energy. Some children can become extremely grumpy and tired in the hottest part of the day. Staff spend most of their time worrying about keeping everyone safe.

So to help:

Ensure children have their water bottles with them every day.
Provide a hat for your child, please put their name on it somewhere.
Please keep the donations of fruit and vegetables coming in for snack time. These help to keep the children hydrated, and snack time inside is a restful pause away from the heat. I think we have enough fruit in the fridge for two weeks so please don’t buy any just yet!

Donate some Ice Pops, again these can create a reason to pause and sit quietly. The ice also helps the children to cool down.

This is something we have done for many years at Willow. The children look forward to the ice pops as a treat mid-afternoon.

However, we are aware that the government is introducing a new Nutrition Policy for all Early Years settings in September 2025. There are very strict guidelines that we will have to follow. So this may be the last year we will be allowed to give ice pops to the children. The Nutrition Policy will be implemented in September. We will share the new guidance with you. Some of the staff are worried that if we give children ice pops this summer some of the them who will still be here in June 2026 will be disappointed when we explain ‘No Ice pops’ next year. I know some parents have already sent some ice pops in, so we already have some in our freezer.

So, I have decided that we will go ahead with Ice Pops this summer.

B. Is your child ready to learn?

Parents always look eagerly towards finding out which Primary school their child will be attending. Parents of children leaving us in July 2025 have found out which school their child is going to. We work very hard in school to prepare children for the next stage in their learning at their new school. There are some preparations that parents should be aware of, and can work on with your child in order to make your child ‘School Ready’. So together, as teachers and carers, we need to make sure all our children receive the very best possible start.

Central Bedfordshire Council has put together a leaflet which describes some essential skills that your child should be working towards in order to get the best out of school. This leaflet is known as the ‘sixteen ticks’ as it has sixteen things to work towards. These ticks are relevant to all our pupils, even the youngest, because they are all eventually going to go on to Primary School.

I have attached a poster along with this newsletter which details the sixteen ticks and suggests some points for you to consider.

There is an additional link sent with this newsletter. This is the 16 ticks poster.

Please have a look at it, to see the variety of skills children need to have in place in order to have a successful start in their primary school.

C. What are the children learning about this week?

The theme this week is The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Our learning intention this week is for expressive arts and design: to enjoy joining in with moving, dancing and ring games and our 7C’s learning intention is for the children to be able to challenge themselves safely.

We will have some caterpillars visiting us at school and the children will have the chance to watch them grow and change. This may seem familiar to the children, as we have been sharing the story of The Very Hungry Caterpillar. There will be lots of artwork and activities that relates back to this book, including creating symmetrical butterfly paintings and retelling the story.

We will be learning lots of songs and expressing ourselves through music this week. The children will be encouraged to sing and dance to music, learn how to follow simple dance routines and to understand rhythms as they play instruments. There will be opportunities for the children to make and play their own instruments in the box modelling area and we can play them together as we listen to the children’s choice of songs.

There will be lots of exciting ways for the children to challenge themselves throughout the nursery this week as they work hard to create obstacle courses and practice balancing on the climbing equipment in the garden. The children will be able to challenge themselves inside as they use scissors and other resources to create artwork. As they complete different tasks throughout the school, everyone will be encouraged to consider their own safety and the safety of those around them. Staff will prompt the children to remember to stay safe as they work and play.