Latest News

Nursery News 8th June 2026

NURSERY NEWS

8th June 2026 – Edition 412

Find out About:

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

B. Parent Consultations July 2026

C. End of term arrangements July 2026

D. What are the children learning about this week?

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 17^th June.

We would like to invite Mrs Cashmore’s Yellow group parents in to observe a 30 minute reading/writing activity on Thursday 18^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. Blue Group had their Basic Skills groups in the Autumn Term 2025 and Orange Group had their Basic skills group in the Spring Term 2026.

B. Parent Consultations July 2026.

We plan to have face to face parent consultations for all the children on 7^th and 9^th July 2026.  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 7^th July–

Miss Gaffney’s Green Group Children. Five minute appointments available between 3:15pm and 4:35pm

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

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

Miss Tyler’s Blue group children,   Five minute appointments available between 3:15pm and 3:35pm

Mrs Chiriac’s Red group children  Five minute appointments available between

1:00pm and 1:30pm

So for Big Nursery, All the Children who will be leaving us in July:

Thursday 9^th July–

Mrs Patterson’s Blue Group Children. Five minute appointments available between 3:15pm and 4:15pm

Miss Skai’s Orange Group Children. Five minute appointments available between 3:15pm and 4:15pm

Miss Howe’s Yellow Group Children. Five minute appointments available between 3:15pm and 3:45pm

Mrs Cashmore’s Yellow Group Children. Five minute appointments available between 3:15pm and 3:55pm

C. End of Term arrangements July 2026

The last day of term in July 2026 for all children will be Thursday 16^th July.

On Friday 17^th 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 Smartest Giant in Town

The children will be listening to and sharing the book ‘The Smartest Giant in Town’. They will get to know the characters and learn how they are so kind to each other. The characters in the story talk to each other about how they feel in different situations and the staff will use this as a discussion point for the children to explore their own emotions. This fits with our learning intention 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 drink plenty. It is important that 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 how 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 1st June 2026

NURSERY NEWS

Monday 1st June 2026 – Edition 411

Find out About

A. Summer Heat and Nursery.

B. Staffing Update

C. Is your child ready to learn?

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

A. Summer Heat and Nursery.

We now find ourselves in the last seven weeks 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. When it is very hot we aim to have times where all staff and children come inside, so we ensure everyone takes a break from the sun.

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.
• Apply sun protection cream before school.

B. Staffing Update

I would like to let everyone know that Mrs McGrath will be leaving us very soon. Her last day with us will be Wednesday 10^th June, which is just next week. Mrs McGrath has been working here since November 2013, so she has made quite a commitment to our school community. She has a gentle and calm approach, so has spent most of her time here working in our 2 year old class. Her own family has grown over time, so she has made the decision that at the moment she would like to spend some time with her own children. We will miss her!

C. 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 2026 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.

 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 discussions about who the King and Queen are, where they live and all about their extended family.

There will be plenty of role play opportunities for the children to explore this week including a London bus that the children can either drive or be passengers on to pretend to visit some of the landmarks they have been learning about. There will be lots of crafting opportunities for the children to create crowns, flags and royal themed collages. Staff will also encourage the children to share their own experiences of visiting London and seeing the sights for themselves.

The learning intention this week is for the children to comment and ask questions about aspects of their familiar world such as the place they live or the natural world. We hope to see that the children are curious to explore new and familiar experiences in nature such as grass, mud, puddles, plants and animal life and that they are able to talk about what they have found and observed.

Nursery News 18th May 2026

NURSERY NEWS

Monday 18^th May 2026 – Edition 410

Find out About

A. Half Term Holiday –Monday 25^th May 2026 to Friday 29^th May 2026. School Closed.

B. Chickenpox Update

C. What are the children learning about this week?

 A. Half Term Holiday –Monday 25^th May 2026 to Friday 29^th May 2026. School Closed.

The school will be closed for half term next week. The school year is speeding along quickly!

We hope the children will be able to have some time to rest and relax next week, to be ready for the last half term of the Academic Year.

B. Chickenpox Update

Chickenpox continues to be moving through the children at the Nursery. We have had three families telephone in today to advise that their child now has chickenpox. We continue to have Chickenpox cases in all age groups in Nursery.

C. What are the children learning about this week?

The theme this week is ‘Chicks’.

We have 7 chicks!!!

In Nursery we have been observing as our eggs hatched and chicks were born. We have been looking after them and making sure their needs are met. The children have been very excited to see the change in the chicks and how they have been growing.

This week, they will be able to sit with the chicks and hold them. The children will be supervised as they handle the chicks and the staff will ensure that all chicks take turns being held, so they do not become overwhelmed. Children will learn the importance of being quiet and gentle as they hold the chicks. They will learn of the importance of hygiene when holding the chicks and will wash their hands with soap and water after handling them.

The skill we will be focussing on this week will be pencil grip/control/mark making. We will use a variety of methods to support strengthening the muscles in the hands and fingers to enable a better pencil grip when making marks. There are many ways to do this including building with Lego, chalking on paper or pavements, using tweezers to pick up items and even playing with playdough.

Every child has their own name card in school and they are encouraged to use their name card for guidance when writing their name and forming the letters that they need to use. Whenever children create some artwork, they are encouraged to try and write their name so they can bring it home and share with friends and family.

Nursery News 11th May 2026

NURSERY NEWS

 Monday 11^th May 2026 – Edition 409

Find out About

A. Please park your cars with consideration.

B. What are the children learning about this week?

A. Please park your cars with consideration.

One of the schools’ neighbours, a resident in Goldstone Crescent, telephoned us last week expressing her frustration that at dropping off and collection times cars are parking across the entrance to her driveway. She said this has been becoming a more frequent occurrence recently. We have explained that we have no control where parents choose to park, but we have pointed out that we raise the issue of considerate parking with all our new parents through our ‘New Parent Pack’.

This little corner of Dunstable sees a lot of school pupils and their families arriving and departing during school drop-off and collection. There must be around 1,000 pupils arriving each day to attend Willow Nursery School, Hadrian Academy and The Vale Academy.

More parents than ever are now working parents, so many parents have to do a quick child drop off by car, then depart for work.

It also seems that recently some parents are beginning to choose to park in the turning into our Car park, blocking the school gates, and the staff’s ability to move in and out of the car park. The majority of the staff have school age children, and some staff need to leave at collection time in the afternoon in order to get across town in time to collect their own children.

We also have refuse trucks that arrive near to 9am every week. I have seen the refuse truck unable to access our car park to empty wheelie bins as there is a car parked blocking our gates. In this circumstance the truck remains sitting in the busy junction, just outside the school, blocking the entire road for everyone. I have seen a parent arrive back to their car after dropping their child into Hadrian Academy. We then all wait for them to leave, so that the refuse truck can have access to our car park, and the road can become useable again.

We should always have unobstructed access to our car park in case of emergencies.

We frequently witness cars being parked right across residents’ driveways.

So, I must ask parents to be considerate, and think of the needs of others.

 B. What are the children learning about this week?

This week the theme is chicks.

We are very lucky to be able to help look after some chicks this week. We will have some eggs arrive in an incubator, which will be placed in Room 1. The children will learn about the life cycle of a chick and that they begin their life inside eggs. They will be able to observe the eggs inside the incubator and keep a watchful eye on them, in case they begin to hatch. Staff will explain to the children that it is important for our eggs and chicks to stay inside their incubator because it helps them to keep warm until they have hatched and are a little bigger.

Ten eggs have been delivered to the school. We are told they should hatch on Wednesday.

Our learning intention this week is to recall a sequence of events in everyday life and stories. The children will be learning about the life cycle of our chicks and staff will support them with sequencing the different stages of a chick’s life. This will be done by discussing the changes form egg to chicks that the children notice through the week and also through reading and completing puzzles.

The discussions staff will have with children will help to support our 7C’s learning intention to confidently use a developing vocabulary appropriate to the individual child’s capabilities.

Nursery News 5th May 2026

NURSERY NEWS

 Tuesday 5^th May 2026 – Edition 408

Find out About

A. Destination Primary Schools for our July 2026 Leavers.

B. Milk.

C. What are the children learning about this week?

A. Destination Primary Schools for our July 2026 Leavers.

Parents found out the results of their applications for Primary or Lower School on the 16^th April 2026. Soon after, Willow was sent information to allow us to see where our 2026 Leavers are moving on to in September 2026.

We have 42 pupils leaving us in September, and I am pleased to say all 42 families applied for a place, so we know where everyone is going. Willow children will be moving on to 9 different destination schools.

Miss Howe liaises with teachers in the destination schools to ensure the transitions are smooth and everyone’s individual needs are met.

B. Milk

The Nursery Milk scheme provides all children under 5 years old, who attend an eligible setting for 2 hours or more, a 189ml (1/3 pint) carton of milk, each day free of charge.

We provide these cartons of milk, on a trolley outside, near to the queue at going home time, for children to take home a carton of milk each if they would like one.

We have noticed during the past week we have run out of milk twice before Yellow group have had a chance to take any. There were also other days last week when we had 10 milk cartons left over. We want to order enough to meet demand, but we do not want to have too many cartons and be throwing milk away.

We will adjust the amount of milk we order, but this may take up to three weeks to be implemented.

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

The theme this week is The Very Hungry Caterpillar

We will be looking at the story The Very Hungry Caterpillar written by Eric Carle, and staff will organize lots of activities for the children that link to the theme of the story. There will be some creative opportunities for the children to take part in such as symmetrical butterfly paintings and caterpillar collages. Staff will also set up some literacy tasks such as magnetic storyboards and practicing writing names in caterpillar templates.

We have been lucky enough to have some caterpillars delivered to our school, which means that the children can see how they live, grow and change. They can watch them building their own chrysalises ready to transform into butterflies. This helps the children to fully understand the life cycle of a butterfly, just like in the book.

Our learning intention this week is to enjoy joining in with moving, dancing and ring games. This includes singing songs, listening to music and playing with instruments.

Our seven C’s learning intention this week is for the children to be able to challenge themselves physically, which can include running, climbing and riding bikes. There will be lots of encouragement for the children to try new things and remember how to act sensibly, keeping themselves and others safe. We hope to see the children’s confidence grow as they realise that they are becoming more independent in their play.