Nursery News 15th April 2024

NURSERY NEWS

15^th April 2024 – Edition 330

Find out About

A. Dates for the Summer Term 2024

B. Finding out the results of your application for lower or primary school.

C. A Reminder… This Week: An Open School Event: Big Nursery ‘Phonics’.

D. What the children are learning about this week?

A. Dates for the Summer Term 2024

Welcome back everyone. We are now into the third term of the school year- The Summer Term. I just wanted to outline key dates across this term for your information.

Monday 15^th April 2024, Summer Term begins.

Monday 6^th May 2024. Bank Holiday Monday, School Closed.

Monday 27^th May to Friday 31^st May 2024, Half Term Week, School Closed (27^th May is a Bank Holiday)

Monday 8^th July 2024 is a training day for staff. School Closed

Thursday 18^th July 2024 will be the last day of term for all children. School opens for normal hours.

Friday 19^th July 2024 school will be open only for the Big Nursery children that are leaving us. The session will be a morning only session from 8:50am to 11:50am.

B. Finding out the results of your application for lower or primary school.

I have taken this information from the Central Bedfordshire Council website:

When you’ll find out

16 April 2024 is the national offer day for on-time school applications.

If you applied online

You’ll receive an email with the outcome of your application (from the Council).

If the council doesn’t have your email address

(The Council) will post your decision letter to you.

C. A Reminder… This Week: An Open School Event: Big Nursery ‘Phonics’.

The school office sent out emails to all Big Nursery parents (during week beginning 18/03/24) inviting parents to attend on a particular day and time this week to watch your child take part in their phonics session.

(Groups are based on your child’s attendance days and not their Keyworker groups). Sessions last around 30 minutes.

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

The theme this week is ‘The Vets’.

In Catkins the children will be exploring a vet role play using soft toys. They will learn how to take care of pets and other animals as they play. Staff will show the children how to be gentle with the animals as they find out what is wrong and care for them. Staff will model simple language to the children as they play, such as ‘hurt’, ‘sick’ and ‘feeling better’.

Outside, the children will be making marks using chalk. There will be small chalks for the children to use and some chunkier chalks for them to practice drawing with. Staff will support the children with holding their chalk effectively and creating lots of lovely pieces of art.

In Room 3, the staff will set up an area for the children to explore a vets practice. There will be all sorts of animals in different enclosures for the children to discover. Children will learn how to take care of the animals in the vets, they will give them medicine and help heal any injuries with bandages. Staff will encourage the children to focus on mark making skills by writing down important information such as the names of the animals that they help.

In Room 2, staff will set up a ‘muddy’ cornflour area with lots of animals. The children will be able to use this area to refer back to their learning on how to take care of these animals. There will also be a painting area set up, where the children can use pictures of animals as reference to paint their own realistic animal portraits. As they work, the children will be prompted to talk about their pictures and any animals they might have at their own homes.

In Room 1, there will be a larger scale role play area for a veterinary clinic. This will include a waiting area, a reception desk and a consultation area. Staff will model lots of language to support the children’s play and encourage them to do lots of important writing about the animals. Staff will encourage the children to think about how the animals and their owners might be feeling if they are visiting the vets.

Outside, the children will go on an animal hunt, looking for pictures of animals hidden in the garden. They will have a tick sheet with pictures of different animals to find. When the children find their animals, staff will urge them to place a tick next to the picture or to copy the name of the animal. There will be lots of other mark making opportunities too, staff will place chalks, buckets of water (weather permitting) and paintbrushes in the garden for the children to paint and decorate the floors. As the water dries, the children can repaint the same area again and again.

NURSERY NEWS

25th March 2024 – Edition 329

Find out About

A. Term dates. Last day of Spring Term Thursday 28th March. School Re-opens Monday 15th April 2024 for the Summer Term.

B. Confirming parents choices for:

Catkins Class Offers for 3+ Nursery in September 2024 for children with dates of birth from 01/04/21 to 31/08/21 AND

Catkins Class Offers for 3+ Nursery in January 2025 for children with dates of birth from 01/09/21 to 31/12/21

C. What the children are learning about this week?

A. Term dates. Last day of Spring Term Thursday 28th March. School Re-opens Monday 15th April 2024 for the Summer term.

The last day of term for all children is Thursday 28th March. The Nursery is open for normal hours on this day. School re-opens for the Summer Term on Monday 15th April.

B. Confirming parents choices for:

Catkins Class Offers for 3+ Nursery in September 2024 for children with dates of birth from 01/04/21 to 31/08/21 AND

Catkins Class Offers for 3+ Nursery in January 2025 for children with dates of birth from 01/09/21 to 31/12/21

Thank you to all our parents who responded in a timely fashion when I sent out letters offering a place in our 3+Nursery. Parents were able to select which attendance pattern ‘Option’ they would like to choose for their child.

This is confirmation that all parents who returned their Options Form were able to have their first choice option.

We give parents in Catkins Class first choice of spaces for 3+ Nursery. We then go to our waitlist to fill all remaining spaces. All options forms are retained carefully and I begin building pupil lists.

Parents will receive 3+ Parent Packs, information about allocated Keyworkers and your child’s start date just before they begin in 3+ Nursery. So children joining 3+ in September 2024 will receive 3+ Parent Packs in July 2024. Children joining 3+ in January 2025 will receive 3+ Parent Packs in December 2024

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

The theme this week is Easter

In Catkins, the children will be using Lego to improve their fine motor skills. They will work hard to build with the Lego, while the staff talk to them about the colours of the bricks. Staff will model how to push and pull the pieces together and apart while encouraging the children to build big and small structures.

In the link, the children will be learning about Easter and decorating egg baskets and Easter cards. They will use fine motor skills to decorate simple baskets and bring home an egg from the Easter Bunny. Children will also be using pom poms dipped in paint to decorate cards and pictures to share with their families.

In the garden, staff will hide toy eggs for the children to find. They will look all around the garden for the collection of eggs and staff will model lots of language to describe where they might be hidden. Staff will explain to the children we sometimes we celebrate Easter with chocolate eggs.

In Room 3, the children will be retelling and acting out stories that we have learnt recently. Staff will support the children with remembering storylines and characters. The children will have access to toys, books and puppets to support their play. They can re-read some of these stories throughout the week.

In Room 2, children will be doing some still life painting. There will be some beautiful daffodils in a vase for the children to look at and paint. Staff will encourage the children to look closely at the colours of the flowers and the vase and to work carefully. They will be encouraged to really take their time and create a detailed piece of work.

In Room 1, the staff will be recapping the phonics sounds that the children have been learning while they play the ‘Bunny Hop’ game. Staff will encourage children to consider the sounds that each letter makes, and think of words that begin with those letters.

Outside, the children from Big Nursery will go on an Easter egg hunt, they will go out into the garden in small groups and search the area for a chocolate egg. When they have found their egg, the children can sit together in their group and eat their prize.

Throughout the week, the children will be making bunny hats. They can use these hats to pretend that they are the Easter Bunny. Children will be having lots of fun, taking part in Easter Bunny races and will be showing everyone how well they can hop.

NURSERY NEWS

18^th March 2024 – Edition 328

Find out About

A. Term dates. Last day of Spring Term Thursday 28^th March. School Re-opens Monday 15^th April 2024 for the Summer Term.

B. Willow Nursery School Academic Calendar 2024-2025 is now available on our website.

C. An Open School Event: Big Nursery ‘Phonics’.

D. What the children are learning about this week?

A. Term dates. Last day of Spring Term Thursday 28^th March. School Re-opens Monday 15^th April 2024 for the Summer term.

The last day of term for all children is Thursday 28^th March. The Nursery is open for normal hours on this day. School re-opens for the Summer Term on Monday 15^th April.

B. Willow Nursery School Academic Calendar 2024-2025 is now available on our website:

If parents look on our website www.willownursery.co.uk and click on the calendar tab, you will be able to see our academic calendar for 2024-2025.

As a school, we always follow the calendar that Central Bedfordshire Local Authority suggests, however this year each school was required to select their own 5 training days.

(Training days are when schools are closed to pupils, to allow teachers and support staff to receive training.)

Therefore, please be aware that Willow’s training days may be different to other schools in the local area.

C. An Open School Event. Big Nursery ‘Phonics’.

Miss Howe would like to invite all parents of Big Nursery Children to come in and watch your child take part in their phonics session, during week beginning Monday 15^th April. Sessions run at three different times throughout the week. The school office will send emails to parents this week, inviting parents to attend on a particular day and time (wk beginning 15^th April), as groups are based on your child’s attendance days and not their Keyworker groups. Sessions last around 30 minutes.

We try to offer a variety of Open School Activities both during the school day and in the early evening, hoping that parents might be able to attend some of them. We understand parents have different family and work commitments, so we do not expect all parents to attend. It is just another option….

D What are the children are learning about this week?

The theme this week is ‘We’re Going On A Bear Hunt’

In Catkins, the children will be listening to the story of We’re Going On A Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen throughout the week. They will also be taking a look at some colour matching skills, where they can post different coloured balls into pockets, pots and boxes. Staff will help the children name the colours as the children play.

In the Link, the children will be making binoculars and creating simple maps. The children will include simple representations of each area that the characters from our story visit as they go ‘on a bear hunt’. Staff will retell the story to the children as they work.

Outside, the staff will create an area for the children to collect and transport balls. There will be guttering slopes set up for the children to roll balls down and into trays, as well as buckets for them to practice throwing and posting balls towards targets. Moving the balls around the garden will support the children with their gross motor skills.

In Room 3, the children will have a small world story area set up where they can begin to retell the bear hunt story. There will be characters and scenes from the book for the children to use as they play. Staff will model language from the story to extend the children’s vocabulary and encourage them to join in with repeated refrains. (Repeated refrains are the sentences that are repeated over and over again in stories. The repeated refrains in this book include: ‘We’re going on a bear hunt’ and ‘We can’t go over it, we can’t go under it, oh no, we’ve got to go through it.)

In Room 2, the children will have story scenes and characters set up in the builder’s tray so that they can retell the ‘We’re Going On A Bear Hunt’ book through play. Staff will work with children to help them recall key scenes from the book and they will emphasise phonics letters and sounds that we have been learning. Children will begin to recognise that words such as ‘swishy’, ‘swashy’ and ‘scared’ all begin with the letter ‘s’.

In Room 1, the children will make very detailed sensory maps that retrace the steps taken by the characters from the story. They will be encouraged to talk about what they can remember from the story and what the different scenes might have felt like to walk through. Staff will use descriptive language as they talk to the children.

Outside, the children will look for scenes from the story that will be placed around the garden. The children will take staff around the garden on the lookout for some bears. As the children hunt for bears, they will be encouraged to retell the story through song and actions.

On Wednesday, Mrs Patterson will take over Room 2 completely, and create a wonderful large scale sensory bear hunt trail for all of the children to take part in. Small groups of children will get to walk through sensory scenes that include, grass, water, mud, trees and snow until they reach a cave. They might even find a bear at the end of the trail!

NURSERY NEWS

11^th March 2024 – Edition 327

Find out About

A. A reminder: An Open School Event: For Big Nursery Orange Group Parents: Basic Skills, on Wednesday 13^th March.

B. Catkins Class Offers for 3+ Nursery in January 2025 for children with dates of birth from 01/09/21 to 31/12/21

C. Mrs McGrath will be absent for the next few weeks.

D. A reminder to renew 30 hour codes

E. Phonics program Big Nursery: Slithery Snakes!

F What are the children are learning about this week?

A: A reminder: An Open School Event: For Big Nursery Orange Group Parents: Basic Skills, on Wednesday 13^th March.

This character on the left is Biff, she features in the Oxford Reading Tree Scheme books that we use to help teach reading skills. The group on Wednesday will focus on a story about Biff losing her toy aeroplane. We look forward to parents coming in to observe their child in a taught session.

B. Catkins Class Offers for 3+ Nursery in January 2025

for children with dates of birth from 01/09/21 to 31/12/21

We are now beginning our enrolment process for the 3+ Nursery for Autumn born children who attend Catkins Class. Mrs Davies has written an offer letter for the 15 families who attend Catkins Class in this age bracket. Office staff will be handing out these letters to you this week. Please ensure you collect it. You are of course welcome to come in to school to pick up your offer letter.

We would ask that all completed Option Choice forms are returned to us by Monday 18^th March 2024, at the very latest

We assume that all of these families would like a place in Big Nursery. Please let us know as soon as possible if you have other plans.

Note: I am aware that many parents in this age group are entitled to the new Funding for Two Year Olds – Working Families- 15 hour Offer. I know many families would like to increase their sessions in the Summer/ Autumn Term whilst their child is still 2 years old. I am working on this, but I need to know everyone’s choices for January 2025 first.

C. Mrs McGrath will be absent for the next few weeks.

Mrs McGrath underwent planned jaw surgery last week. She is home from hospital now and beginning her recovery.

So, in the next few weeks, myself (Mrs Davies) and Mrs Evans will be providing some cover in Catkins Class. Mrs Chiriac will also be working some additional hours, so the children will be supported by adults they are familiar with.

D. A reminder to renew 30 hour codes

Parents who are entitled to 30 hours free funded Nursery hours must ensure a valid code is in place by 31^st March 2024 if they wish to have 30 hours funding for the summer term 2024. Codes need to be renewed approximately every three months. The government does usually send out reminder emails directly to parents. Do check your Junk Mail or Spam folders, as sometimes the reminder can end up there.

If the code is not valid your child will not get the funding from the government, and would have to fall back to 15 hours attendance or choose to pay for the additional 15 hours.

Similarly, the New Funding for Two Year Olds – Working Families- 15 hour Offer- will begin in April. Parents must ensure their code is valid on 31^st March.

E. Phonics program Big Nursery: Slithery Snakes!

Phonics began last week in Big Nursery. Your child will have made a sock Snake hand puppet, which they will have hopefully brought home. We try to make our sessions interactive and playful. Children will remember the ‘SSSSSS’ sound if they have fun playing with their snake, making a ‘SSSSS’ sound. Adding a movement to the sound does help children to recall it at a later date. Spend just a few minutes each week going over the sounds at home. Each letter sound will come home on a Jolly phonics page, which allows the child to colour in a picture associated with the sound, has some dotted practice letter shapes to write over, and has a little picture at the side of the page to show how the movement should be made that supports the memory of this phonic sound. If you build up your child’s letter knowledge, week by week, adding new letters to the already familiar letters, they will progress with their phonic knowledge.

Give this a go. This will REALLY help your child to learn their phonic sounds which will in turn help them to read and write!

Look out for some ‘Ants on my arm’….. this week.

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

The theme in nursery this week is ‘At the Doctors’.

In Catkins, the children will have a simple role play area set up that includes beds, doctors bags and bandages. The children will use soft toys as patients and will be looking after them and helping them to feel better. Staff will model lots of language to the children as they play.

In the Catkins garden, the children will have a rotary washing line, some clothes and pegs to play with. As they play and open and close the pegs, the children will be strengthening their hand and finger muscles. The clothes that they place on the line will all be dry as the weather is not quite warm enough for outside water play.

In the Link area, the children will be strengthening their fine motor skills as they use scissors to cut through playdough. Staff will support children with holding their scissors effectively and beginning to make snips in the playdough. The children will also be using paint to create pictures that represent Spring.

In Room 3, the staff will set up a doctor’s role play area. There will be a surgery and waiting room for the children to expand their play. Staff will provide a table and chairs for the children, as well as beds and medical equipment. The children will learn what happens at the doctors and can share their own experiences. Staff will model appropriate language as the children play and will encourage the children to learn new words linked to a doctor’s surgery.

In Room 2, the children will be making their own doctor’s bags that can support their play throughout the nursery. They will learn the names of different medical equipment such as ‘stethoscope’, ‘bandage’ and ‘syringe’ as they work. They will also create their own hand x-ray pictures using chalk and cotton buds. The children will look at some real x-rays before they make their own.

In Room 1, there will be an in depth Doctor’s Surgery role play area. The children will have access to dressing up clothes, medicine bags, clip boards and hospital beds. Staff will talk to children about making appointments and telling the doctor what is wrong. The staff will model lots of language that will help the children learn how to name parts of their body, there will be lots of labels and images to support this knowledge.

Outside, the children will be looking at nature and may use natural resources that they find, to create some art. The children will be encouraged to explore the mud kitchen and all the utensils, they will be encouraged to wear aprons but please don’t send your children in their best clothes. As the children play, their imagination can be triggered and this will promote the use of communication skills to express new ideas.

NURSERY NEWS

4^th March 2024 – Edition 326

Find out About

A. Bedtime Stories: A well-attended event.

B. Can you help us with some Sellotape?

C. Overpayments….

D. Would you be interested in becoming a School Governor?

E What are the children are learning about this week?

A: Bedtime Stories: A well-attended event.

Thank you to all the parents who attended the Bedtime Stories event last week. We had around 30 families here. The staff always get a little bit nervous when they have to read in front of the parents, but they all said the event went well. I tried to peep in, but Blue groups room was so busy I could not see anything through the window in the door into the classroom. I know Blue group enjoyed the story of Jack and the Flum Flum Tree, because a group of then asked me to read it to them again during our lunchtime story time. The story was new to me, so the children joined in with the repeated refrain “Don’t get your knickers in a twist,” said Jack, Let’s have a look in the patchwork sack.” to help me. Miss Howe was reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar to Yellow group but I couldn’t look into her room because the children would see me, and it might distract their attention. I did see Orange Group enjoying their warm chocolate and biscuits after their stories of The Gruffalo, and The Tiger Who Came to Tea. The children sat around two tables, looking very mature, drinking and chatting together. They were very well behaved. As a school, we love books and storytelling, and we hope our enthusiasm rubs off on the children (and maybe the parents too!)

B. Can you help us with some Sellotape?

We are very grateful to those parents who are already supporting the school, by donating fruit, tissues, bringing in boxes for our box modelling area or volunteering their time and helping out in the classrooms. We have a number of children who enjoy making box models, using Sellotape to join their boxes together. We probably have more children who just enjoy exploring the sellotape and the sellotape dispensers!

Please could I ask that all parents consider donating some Sellotape to school? We prefer the 3 inch / 7.5cm diameter rolls as these fit on the dispensers. We would be very happy with the cheaper brands, I have seen 4 rolls for £1 in ‘The Works’ recently.

We could also use masking tape, again on the 3inch/ 7.5cm diameter rolls. This gives the children a choice of tape.

We put out this request this time last year and the sellotape donations are only just about to run out. We were overwhelmed by everyone’s generosity. The children use at least one roll a day… so we are looking for about 200 rolls!

Please help us to put a smile on the children’s faces. When a three year old says ‘Can I have some more sellotape?’ we want to be able to say ‘Yes’ and send them away happy, to busily get on with their constructions. There is ALWAYS someone working at the sticking bench.

C. Overpayments…..

We are rapidly approaching Easter, we have only four weeks left to the end of term. The office staff would like me to remind parents that attend Little Nursery that the two year old funding for Working parents will commence in April. So if you are a parent of one of the youngest children and you are currently paying for your sessions and you know you will be entitled to the Free funded 15 hours for Working Families initiative in April….. Please do not overpay!

If you are unsure of how much you need to pay to be up to date at the end of March please ask the office staff and they will be very happy to help you.

D. Would you be interested in becoming a School Governor?

Willow Nursery is a Maintained Nursery School, and is managed like other Government Maintained Schools.

As part of our structure we have a governing body, made up of volunteers, that come together to help the Headteacher to manage the school effectively. As part of our governing body we have two Parent Governors. Parent governors play a vital role on governing bodies, holding the unique position of having a parental viewpoint of the school. Through the children, they have a first hand experience of the delivery of the curriculum, and how the school is perceived from the ‘consumers’ point of view. This enables parent governors to bring a different perspective to the strategic management of the school.

More specifically governors:

help the school with it’s strategy
hold the headteacher to account for the school’s performance
makes sure the school budget is properly managed

What commitment to Parent Governors have to make at Willow?

We ask that governors are available to meet for three governors meetings per year, one in each term. We generally meet at 4:00pm, sometimes we meet face to face, sometimes online and currently due to everyone’s commitments, we operate a blended approach with some people meeting us here at school face to face, and others joining us online. Meetings usually last 60-90 minutes.

We ask all governors to visit the school once a year during the daytime to carry out a short governor visit, so they can see how the school is operating, within an area they are interested in.

You do not need any particular experience, we just ask that you are interested in the development of your child’s school.

We have one parent governor, but we are looking for a second one please! Our next meeting is on Thursday 7th March at 4:00pm…..

So if you think this is something you might be interested in, have a chat with me, Mrs Davies and we can take it from there.

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

The theme this week in nursery is The Tiger Who Came To Tea

In Catkins, the children will be exploring the salt trays to find out what is underneath the salt. Staff will place images and words from the story for the children to find as they make marks with their fingers in the salt. This will promote play and conversations relating to The Tiger Who Came to Tea.

In the Link area, children will learn all about their parents. We will be talking to the children about Mother’s day and explaining to them that it is a time where we thank our mothers and carers for all that they do for us. Children will be encouraged to think about why they love their carers so much.

In the Outside area, the staff will be helping the children to work on their bicycle skills. They will provide some push and ride along toys for the children to practice moving around the garden. The older children will be encouraged to use the two wheeled bikes as well as the tricycles while they are riding safely around children and obstacles.

In Room 3, the children will have two role play areas throughout the week. The first will be Sophie’s house, from the Tiger Who Came to Tea, and the second will be a small café. The children can act out roles such as Sophie or the Tiger, at Sophie’s house or choose what they would like to order at the café. There will be lots of reading opportunities as familiar words will be posted around the role play areas.

In Room 2, the children will use paper plates and paints to create their own stripy tiger masks. They will be encouraged to think about characteristic marks they might put on their mask to make it look more like a tiger. They will discuss the patterns that we usually find on tigers and try to recreate them in their art work.

In Room 1, the children will have a comprehensive role play area set out where they can explore Sophie’s house and also a café. The children will dress up as the different characters and act as they might in the story. There will be food for the children to order from the café, just like Sophie and her family did in the book. Children will play alongside each other as they re-enact the story that is becoming so familiar to them.

Outside, the staff will set up some café tables for the children to pretend to eat at. There will be books and pencils for some children to take the food orders of their friends and extend their role play further by taking it in turns to play different characters. The children will also work on their bicycle skills, they will be encouraged to use the two wheeled bikes as well as the tricycles while they are riding safely around children and obstacles.

NURSERY NEWS

26^th February 2024 – Edition 325

Find out About

A. An Evening Event, For Big Nursery Children: Bedtime Stories Thursday 29^thFebruary 2024 at 5pm –A reminder

B.Catkins Class Offers for 3+ Nursery in September 2024 for children with dates of birth from 01/04/21 to 31/08/21

C An Open School Event: For Big Nursery Orange Group Parents: Basic Skills.

D. Lost Property.

E What are the children are learning about this week?

F. Phonics program starts this week!

A: An Evening Event, For Big Nursery Children: Bedtime Stories Thursday 29^thFebruary 2024 at 5pm –A reminder

All Big Nursery children are invited to bring a parent along for a bedtime story at Willow Nursery School. Children and parents will join your child’s keyworker for a bedtime story. Children can come in their pyjamas and bring a teddy bear or favourite cuddly toy with them. Older and younger brothers and sisters are welcome, but please remember the stories will be aimed at 3 and 4 year olds. Parents will be asked to monitor the behaviour of brothers and sisters, and will be expected to take noisy or wriggly children out of the story circle so as not to upset the quiet atmosphere created. We expect stories to last approximately 30 minutes (perhaps less for the youngest children) and we will then have warm ‘Hot Chocolate’ and cookies together.

B. Catkins Class Offers for 3+ Nursery in September 2024

for children with dates of birth from 01/04/21 to 31/08/21

We would ask that all completed Option Choice forms are returned to us by Friday 1^st March 2024, at the very latest.

We assume that all of these families would like a place in Big Nursery. Please let us know as soon as possible if you have other plans.

C. An Open School Event: For Big Nursery Orange Group Parents: Basic Skills.

Miss Skai teaches Big Nursery Orange Group children ‘Basic Skills’ on a Wednesday 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 Skai’s Orange group parents in to observe a 30 minute reading/writing activity on Wednesday 13^th March. A further invitation letter will follow to Orange Group parents so that we can match up time slots, so parents can join their child’s small group. Blue Group had their Basic Skills groups in the Autumn Term 2023, Yellow Group have Basic skills in the Summer Term 2024. Eventually all parents will be invited to observe Basic skills sessions when their child is being taught.

D. Lost Property.

The staff work hard to ensure children take home all their personal belongings at the end of the day. However, as hard as we try, we always seem to accumulate items of lost property. We have some drawers in the outdoor Library area, at the front of the school where we place Lost Property. Please could we ask that you take a look there if you think your child may have lost something. We will dispose of any items remaining in the Lost Property drawers in two weeks time.

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

The theme in nursery this week is ‘People Who Help Us’

In Catkins, the children will focus on numbers and counting. They will explore making marks with chalks on numeral shaped blackboards. Staff will talk about numbers as the children play. The children will also have dressing up outfits with accessories such as radios, helmets and tabards to wear so that they can act out the roles of Police Officers and Fire Fighters.

In the Link, the children will have number cutters in the playdough and they will work on number recognition. Staff will reinforce number knowledge and promote number play for those that are unsure. They will also be encouraged to paint and explore numerals using handheld number stamps.

Outside, the children will explore Police and Fire role play. They will be encouraged to use their imagination to act out being police and fire officers. Children will have props such as radios and police cars to promote their play.

In Room 3, the children will have a role play area set up where they can explore the tasks of Police and Fire officers . They will have dressing up outfits available to them as well as a police/fire station where they can make phone calls and support people in need.

In Room 2, the staff will have lots of opportunities to explore paint as they use their hands to mix paint and make fire paintings. Staff will talk to the children about the colours as they mix them and what changes they may see. The children will also be asked if they would like to make police and fire badges to support their role play throughout the nursery.

In Room 1, the staff will set up a police van/fire truck for the children to explore. They will encourage the children to play nicely in the van and to take turns with seating arrangements and the steering wheel. In addition to this, there will be a police station set up, with a desk, telephone, keyboard and other supporting objects to expand the children’s play.

Outside, the children will focus on finding lots of objects that they can count. Staff will point out objects such as bikes, logs, hoops etc. Staff will also explain to the children that as well as counting objects, they can count actions such as claps or jumps. There will be some road safety signs for the children to use in their play as well as a pretend speed gun for the children to use, to make sure everyone rides their bikes at a safe speed.

F. Phonics program starts this week!

Willow Nursery School Phonics Programme

‘Phonics’ is one tool children can use when they are beginning to learn to read and write. A definition of phonics follows on the next page.

The Department for Education (DfE) produced a phonics resource called Letters and Sounds: Principles and Practice of High Quality Phonics, which splits the teaching of phonics into six phases. At Willow, we work on phase 1 activities all the time. Phase 1 describes using activities such as storytelling and singing songs, rhymes, music, role play and listening games. This will give the children opportunites to listen carefully and talk extensively about what they hear, see and do. Phase 1 activities are designed to underpin and run alongside activities in other phases. Phase 2 is an introduction to more formal phonics work and involves teaching the children sets of letters in a specified order. The first set of letters to be learnt are s.a.t.i.p.n because these letters make a greater number of words than any other 6 letters in the alphabet. We feel that the children at Willow are ready to begin focussing on letter sounds in a fun and practical way.

What are we going to do?

Each child will participate in 1 x 25 minute phonic sessions each week
We are going to begin teaching 6 letter sounds, s.a.t.i.p.n. and will continue with one letter sound each week until the end of term
We will teach the children that all letters have a name, and that these letters make a sound. For example: the letter S makes the sound ‘sss’
We will use a mixture of songs, games, tongue twisters, art, drama and movement activities to teach the letter sounds.

We will use ‘Jolly Phonics’ with the children. Jolly Phonics is the name of a program used to teach phonics. Each week we will:

Tell the children a story, which includes focussing on the sound we are trying to teach.
Teach an action to represent the sound
Send home a picture (linked to the story) for the children to colour, and they can practise writing the letter which represents the sound.

For example: The ‘s’ story involves finding a snake which goes ‘ssss’. The action for ‘s’ involves making a snaking movement with your hand and forearm and saying ’ssss’. The picture to take home is a picture of a snake

Helping at home:

The picture your child brings home will explain to you how to make the action to represent the sound. Talk with your child about what they have learned at school. Learn the actions along with your child. Making the movement may help your child to remember. Have fun!

Phonics

What is phonics?

Phonics is the word used to describe the sounds the letters make. In simple terms, the word ‘cat’ can be read from its three sounds: c-a-t.

These are not the names of the letters as we say them in the alphabet, but the sounds these letters make. The word ‘thick’ is made up of three sounds: th-i-ck, where pairs of letters combine to make a single sound. Similarly, ‘rash’ is made up of three sounds: r-a-sh.

There are 40+ sounds in English but only 26 letters that are used to represent these sounds.

The five basic skills for reading and writing are:

Learning the letter sounds
Learning the letter formation
Blending
Identifying sounds in words
Spelling the tricky words

When reading, children need to understand the meaning of the words. Before they can do this, they have to be able to work out what the words say. The phonic skill for this is to look at the letters, say the sounds and hear the words. This is called blending.

The main phonetic skill for writing is to start with the spoken word, then listen, identify and write the sound in that word. The ability to hear the sounds in words is called phonological awareness. For example, with the word ’bin’ if you listen you hear the sounds ‘b……i….n’. Then if you know how to write those letter sounds, you can write the word ‘bin’ without help. This is the opposite to the skill needed for blending.

The letters for the 42 Sounds of English:

See below:

a ……ant, sand, caravan

ai……aim, aid, drain, (long a)

b……bat, bend, crab

c ……cat, cot, duck

d……dog, dip, sudden

e……egg, end, shed

ee……eel, creep, tree (long e)

f……fog, lift, fluff

g……goat, gap, digger

h……hop, hit, hill

i……ink, indian, drink

ie……pie, tie, die (long i)

j……jelly, jet, jumper

k……king, kind, kettle

l……leg, lost, shell

m……man, mill, shrimp

n……nut, nip, spin

o……orange, on, spot

oa……oak, oats, boat (long o)

p…….pig, pet, step

q……queen, quick, quin

r……run, rabbit, barrel

s…..sand, sun, twist

t……top, tug, mat

u…….up, under, lung

ue……due, Tuesday, cue

v……van, vet, give

w…..wind, went, swim

x…..x-ray, ox, flex

y……yell, yes, yellow

z……zoo, zebra, buzz

sh……ship, shop, wish

ch……chop, chick, much

th……this, then, with (voiced th)

th……thin, thick, thimble (unvoiced th)

ng……song, bang, string

oo……look, room, foot (little oo)

oo……moon, spoon, shoot (long oo)

ar……art, arm, start

er……kerb, stern, sister

or……order, corn, storm

oi……oil, ointment, spoil

ou……out, cloud, found

NURSERY NEWS

12^th February 2024 – Edition 324

Find out About

A. Some new Forest Furniture!

B. Catkins Class Offers for 3+ Nursery in September 2024 for children with dates of birth from 01/04/21 to 31/08/21

C February Half Term Holiday dates

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

A: Some new Forest Furniture!

Those of you that were outside on Friday at 9am will probably remember that one of our neighbours was having a very large tree removed by a team of tree surgeons. The children were really fascinated. A big group of pupils gathered at our front fence to watch, as soon as they were allowed to go outside after register time.

It was an amazing learning opportunity. Staff were discussing how the men were able to secure themselves to the tree safely and then use a chain saw to take the tree down piece by piece.

Mrs Brinkley is our Level 3 trained Forest School Practitioner. She said as part of her training she was told ‘If you ever see a big tree being taken down go and ask for some logs’…. so Mrs Brinkley did. The team asked how she wanted the trunk cut up. She explained that she would like the trunk cut in to generous slices, big enough for the children to sit on as seats.

The gentlemen set to work….

They arrived with log seats in their wheel barrows and placed them in the garden in a circle. The children were enthralled. The gentlemen were wearing their safety equipment and the children were very impressed. A number of pupils now wish to become tree surgeons and spent the rest of Friday trying to chop down our conifers with our play tools!

A big group of children sat down and filled every log. Some are wide enough for three small people to sit on together. The group started to chant ‘Campfire, Campfire’. So Mrs Brinkley went to find her camp cooking pot that looks like a cauldron and hangs on a tripod.

It was an amazing ‘in the moment’ opportunity, and we now have a marvellous set of forest seats. Sustainable recycling in action!

Thank you to Mrs Brinkley and Miss Skai for supporting this experience for the children.

B. Catkins Class Offers for 3+ Nursery in September 2024

for children with dates of birth from 01/04/21 to 31/08/21

We are now beginning our enrolment process for the 3+ Nursery for Summer born children who attend Catkins Class. Mrs Davies has written an offer letter for the 15 families who attend Catkins Class in this age bracket. Office staff will be handing out these letters to you this week. Please ensure you collect it. You are of course welcome to come in to school to pick up your offer letter.

We would ask that all completed Option Choice forms are returned to us by Friday 1^st March 2024, at the very latest. (Please note the school is completely closed during the February Half Term Holiday)

We assume that all of these families would like a place in Big Nursery. Please let us know as soon as possible if you have other plans.

We will offer spaces to our waitlist children with dates of birth from 01/04/21 to 31/08/21 as soon as all the Catkins Parents have made their choice of attendance pattern and returned their Options Form.

C. February Half Term Holiday dates

We are approaching our February Half Term Holiday. The school will be closed from Monday 19^th February 2024 to Friday 23^rd February 2024.

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

The theme this week in Nursery is Chicken Licken

In Catkins, the children will be learning the story of Chicken Licken. They will learn all of the names of the different characters as they listen to this traditional tale. Staff will talk to the children about the animals in the book and they will have the opportunity to play with some small world animals that represent the characters.

In the Link, the children will be offered an invitation to paint. They will have a picture of Chicken Licken along with paint and resources to use. The children will have the choice of fine paint brushes, cotton buds and chicken footprints to stamp with. Staff will talk to the children about how they can make marks using different resources and focus on enhancing their fine motor skills.

Outside, the children will be wearing animal ponchos and moving around the garden in different ways. They will have access to chalks and use them to make marks around the garden. Staff will model how to hold chalks effectively and support those that need it.

In Room 3, the children will have writing tables set up for them. They have enjoyed making marks recently, so staff will provide lots of paper and mark making tools. Staff will support children with holding their pencils effectively and they will be encouraged to write letters and post them through the letterboxes in the role play area.

In Room 2, the children will focus on fine motor skills and will be using cotton buds to paint characters from the story Chicken Licken. Children will be encouraged to think about the colours that they want to use for their painting and shown how to hold their cotton buds for the purpose of making marks intentionally.

In Room 1, staff will be playing games with the children to encourage them to focus on set activities. They will play matching pairs games, to encourage the children how to notice similarities and as they play, staff will verbalise what is happening in the game to ensure that there is a firm understanding of what to do. Children will also play a matching number game, which encourages them to match, find and name all of the numbers on their board. Children will be encouraged to help each other as they play and wait patiently for their turn.

In the garden, the children will be fine tuning their physical skills as they complete obstacle courses. The children will need to move across apparatus in a safe and sensible manner. They can decide how is best to do this, but staff will support them if they are unsure. Children will need to move in a variety of ways to complete their course and can cheer each other on as they work.

NURSERY NEWS

5^th February 2024 – Edition 323

Find out About

A.Parent Consultations. A reminder….

B.Could you help us with some tissues or some fruit? A big Thank You.

C. An Evening Event, For Big Nursery Children: Bedtime Stories Thursday 29^thFebruary 2024 at 5pm

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

A: Parent Consultations. A reminder….

Big Nursery Consultations will be taking place during this week, week beginning 5^th February 2024. These consultations will be on the telephone, will last 5 minutes and be at the following times:

Mrs Patterson Monday 5^th February between 3:15pm and 4:30pm

Miss Skai Tuesday 6^th February between 3:15pm and 4:20pm

Miss Howe Thursday 8^th February between 3:15pm and 4:20pm

Mrs Cashmore Friday 9^th February between 3:15pm and 4:30pm

B. Could you help us with some tissues or some fruit?

Thank you to all the parents that have responded. We are very grateful.

C. An Evening Event, For Big Nursery Children: Bedtime Stories Thursday 29^thFebruary 2024 at 5pm

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

The theme this week is The Three Little Pigs

In Catkins Class, the children will be learning about how the pigs built a strong house. The children will have access to some oversized soft building bricks, which they will use to build houses, walls and enclosures. The staff will talk with the children about all of the houses that the Three Pigs made and try to blow down their houses made from bricks like ‘The Big Bad Wolf’ did in the story.

In the Link, the children will focus on developing play around the Three Little Pigs story. They will use props such as shredded paper, lollipop sticks and Lego, along with characters from the story and house templates to expand their play. Children will be familiar with the story of The Three Little Pigs and will use their knowledge of the story to retell the tale.

Outside, the children will look for characters from the story. They will try to remember all of the characters and their names in the book. Staff will hide laminated pictures around the garden and encourage children to show where they were hidden using language and gestures.

In Room 3, staff will discuss the materials used by the three little pigs to build their houses. They will provide materials for the children to create their own collages to represent houses of straw, sticks and bricks. Children will talk about using glue to attach their materials to paper and relate what they are making back to the characters from the book.

In Room 2, there will be an invitation to play at the playdough table. The children will be able to explore the resources available and take their play in different directions. Staff will follow the children’s lead and support those that need it. New ideas will flow naturally as the children play.

In Room 1, the children will focus on building. They have really enjoyed using the Lego to create different designs and this will be encouraged with an even bigger range of building resources. The children will also work on number recognition and amounts as they play. There will be some laminates available that have quantities of objects for the children to count and match. As the children count or subitise* the objects, they will be encouraged to add the matching number of blocks to their card. *Subitise means: the ability to look at a small number of objects and instantly recognise how many objects there are without needing to count.

Outside, the children will be role playing as the Three Little Pigs. They will be making and playing in the houses built in the story. Children can choose to be a pig or a wolf and act out their roles accordingly. They will be prompted to say the repeated refrains that their chosen character uses during the story. Children can explore all characters and will be encouraged to swap roles often.

NURSERY NEWS

29^th January 2024 – Edition 322

Find out About

A.Parent Consultations.

B.Could you help us with some tissues or some fruit?

C. Funding for 2 year olds- Working Families -15 hour offer.

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

A: Parent Consultations.

We aim to hold Parent Consultations every term. Big Nursery Consultations will be taking place during the week beginning 5^th February 2024. Parent Consultations are not compulsory, but if you would like an appointment please arrange this with your child’s keyworker when they are outside before sessions begin. These consultations will be on the telephone, will last 5 minutes and be at the following times:

Mrs Patterson Monday 5^th February between 3:15pm and 4:30pm

Miss Skai Tuesday 6^th February between 3:15pm and 4:20pm

Miss Howe Thursday 8^th February between 3:15pm and 4:20pm

Mrs Cashmore Friday 9^th February between 3:15pm and 4:30pm

A reminder of the dates and times of Little Nursery Consultations this week:

Mrs Cashmore Monday 29^th January between 3:15pm and 3:55pm

Miss Gaffney Tuesday 30^th January between 3:15pm and 3:55pm

Mrs Brinkley Tuesday 30^th January between 4:10pm and 4:35pm

Mrs McGrath Wednesday 31^st January between 9:30am and 10:25am*

Mrs Watson Thursday 1^st February between 9:30am and 10:25am*

*Please note that on Wednesday and Thursday morning the phone line will be busy with Parent consultations. If you cannot get through on the telephone, and you need to get a message to us urgently, please email the school office: office@willownursery.co.uk We will check the inbox regularly for any emails.

B.Could you help us with some tissues or some fruit?

We are asking if parents would consider donating a box of tissues for the children to use, as we only have two boxes left in the school! We are firmly back into runny nose season!

I asked parents on the 27^th November for donations of fruit to use at snacktime. Parents were overwhelmingly generous. We had so many apples, we had to refrigerate them over the Christmas break! The fruit has kept us going for so many weeks! Our store of fruit has now finally run out. So, could I please ask all families to consider donating a small bag of apples, bananas or satsumas for all the children to share.

C. Funding for 2 year olds- Working Families -15 hour offer.

On Friday 12^th January we sent out an information email to all parents in the two year old ‘Catkins Class’. Children in this class are the ones who may be eligible for up to 15 hours of free funded education from April 2024.

We asked all parents in the two year old class to help us by finding out if their child is eligible for this funding or not.

We asked that parents return a completed paper copy of a form by today-Monday 29^th January.

Most parents have returned their forms. The office staff will be in touch by email or telephone in the coming few days if you have not yet returned your form to enquire about your family’ status:

Eligible for this funding
Not eligible for this funding.
Choosing not to check for eligibility.

We are aware that some parents who are already registered for Tax Free Childcare have been having difficulty accessing a code that will entitle them to the new Funding for 2 year olds- working families- 15 hours offer. We have recently had additional information from the Department for Education Entitlements Team:

If you already have a Tax-Free Childcare account for your 2-year-old you will be given your free childcare code when you next reconfirm eligibility for that scheme.

The eligibility criteria for Tax-Free Childcare and the new free hours are the same.

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

The focus this week is The Three Billy Goats Gruff.

In Catkins, the children will focus on maths and sorting items by size. Staff will use different resources to show the children the difference between big, medium and small sizes. There will be a range of size puzzles for the children to complete, which will reinforce their learning.

In the Link, the children will be learning about the weather, they will learn about different weather they might see in Winter. Their work will be displayed on the walls and will be used as a discussion point for the children. The children will also use pva glue and paper to create troll pictures, relating to the story The Three Billy Goats Gruff.

Outside, the children will be acting out the story of The Three Billy Goats Gruff. There will be a scene set up with grass, water and a wooden bridge for the children to trip trap across the just like the goats in the story. There will also be some figures and bricks for the children to set up their own small scale version of the story scenes.

In Room 3, the staff will follow the children’s interests with role play. They will have an area set up for a flower shop and a hospital. The children will be provided with supporting resources to encourage their play and staff will follow their lead. Adults will model lots of language for the children, extending their play with open ended questions.

In Room 2, the children will be making trolls using playdough and monster body parts. They will be encouraged to think about what a troll looks like and then to recreate one using their playdough. Children will be encouraged to act out parts of the story as they play.

They will also be focusing on their fine motor skills as they paint characters from The Three Billy Goats Gruff. The children will be supported in writing their own names and holding the pencil and paintbrushes effectively.

In Room 1, the children will be listening to and retelling the story of The Three Billy Goats Gruff. They will use finger puppets to act out the story as they play. The children will be encouraged to share the puppets and remember to be patient. Children will be urged to retell the story using other resources too, such as Lego and wooden blocks.

Outside, the staff will show the children that they can act out the story they have learnt, using the climbing frame and the slide. They will play the parts of the goats moving over the bridge and of the troll, trying to stop the goats. Children will be encouraged to use repeated refrains that they heard in the story, as they play.

NURSERY NEWS
22nd January 2024 – Edition 321
Find out About
A. Parent Consultations.
B. What are the children are learning about this week?
C Willow Lending Library.

A: Parent Consultations.
We aim to hold Parent Consultations every term. Little Nursery Consultations will be taking place during the week beginning 29th January 2024. Parent Consultations are not compulsory, but if you would like an appointment please arrange this with your child’s keyworker when they are outside before sessions begin. These consultations will be on the telephone, will last 5 minutes and be at the following times:

Mrs Cashmore Monday 29th January between 3:15pm and 3:55pm
Miss Gaffney Tuesday 30th January between 3:15pm and 3:55pm
Mrs Brinkley Tuesday 30th January between 4:10pm and 4:35pm
Mrs McGrath Wednesday 31st January between 9:30am and 10:25am
Mrs Watson Thursday 1st February between 9:30am and 10:25am

Details of Big Nursery Consultations will be in next weeks’ newsletter.

B. What are the children are learning about this week?
The focus this week is nursery rhymes.
In Catkins, the children will be focusing on literacy. They will explore lots of books with the adults and practice turning the pages and looking at the pictures in the books. Staff will show the children how to use the books gently and encourage them to put their books back on the shelf when they are finished reading.
Outside, the children will be building on their physical skills by completing an obstacle course. They will climb, jump, balance and run while taking part and adults will support as necessary. There will also be some magnetic fish in the sand pit for the children to find. Each fish will have a number of spots on them and children will be supported with counting the spots.
In the Link, the children will learn the nursery rhymes Five Little Speckled Frogs and Five Little Ducks Went Swimming One Day. They will have access to props for these songs in the water tray and staff will sing along and act out the songs with the children.
In Room 3, the children will use the magnetic boards to choose their favourite nursery rhymes. They will have a range of pictures with lyrics to choose from and will be encouraged to take it in turns to choose and sing.
In Room 2, the children will be building up their scissor skills as they use them to cut playdough. There will be a variety of tools such as rolling pins, scissors and playdough cutters for the children to use. This will strengthen the children’s muscles in their fingers and provide some much needed scissor practice.
In Room 1, the children will have the opportunity to explore construction as they use Lego blocks and plates to build. The children can really be creative as they build, there are no limits to what they can design and staff will encourage the children to be patient and look after each other’s work.
Outside, the children will explore the nursery rhymes Humpty Dumpty and Five Little Monkeys Jumping On The Bed. They can learn these songs and practice singing them using playground equipment as props. Hidden around the garden will also be some nursery rhymes for the children to find. Each time they find a new song they can show staff and they can sing together.

C. Willow Lending Library.
We have had a number of new families joining us this term, so we just wanted to remind parents that we operate a lending library of children’s books.

Willow Lending Library
Welcome to Willow outdoor lending library. We are open every day from 8.15-8.45am and from 3.00pm-3.30pm.
Please choose 1-2 books with your child and write the names of the books under your child’s name in their colour group folder before taking them home to read together.
You can change the books as frequently as you wish.
Please look after our books.

*Please ensure that you have left the library area at 8.45am prompt before children start to enter the school gates in the morning.

THANKYOU