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Nursery News 4th December 2023

Monday, December 4, 2023

NURSERY NEWS

4th December 2023 – Edition 316

Find out About

A. Information regarding the beginning of the New Term in January 2024.

B. Big Nursery Parents joining us for Music Time.

C Parking with Consideration.

D. Labelling hats, scarves, gloves, coats.

E. Lost Property

F. What the children are learning about this week?

G. Christmas Parties

A. Information regarding the beginning of the Spring Term in January 2024.

School reopens on Thursday 4th January 2023

During the Autumn term, all children in Little Nursery have been classed as ‘Two Year Olds’. Little Nursery Children who have had their 3rd birthday between the 1st September 2023 and 31st December 2023 are now entitled to universal 15 hours funding, or for some families, 30 hours funding. These children will be based in Little Nursery, and their keyworker will be Miss Gaffney. They will now be known as ‘Green Group’. In January, five more children will join ‘Green Group’ from our waiting list.

B. Big Nursery Parents joining us for Music Time.

We sent out invitations to all Big Nursery parents (by email on 21st November) to join us for ‘Music’ time. The invitation detailed the date and time of the Music session that your child takes part in. If you would like to join your child to participate in our Music Activity ‘Pigs on Holiday’ then please just turn up at the date and time specified and you will be made very welcome. There is no need to book. Sessions last 25 minutes.

C Parking with Consideration.

On Friday, one of our neighbours came to speak to Mrs Barber as his driveway had been blocked by one of our parents.

We do ask all our parents to park with care and consideration for pedestrians, our neighbours and other road users. There are hundreds of children arriving in this little corner of Dunstable every morning as there are three schools very close to each other. I do tell neighbours that we always mention parking with consideration in our new parent packs, so every parent receives this message from the beginning, before their children even start with us. The family wrote to me on Friday afternoon, detailing the problems they experienced that morning as a consequence of not being able to get their cars off of their driveway. Please see the following:

I decided to include their comments so everyone can see how they were inconvenienced that morning. All parents of young children have pressured lives, juggling parenting, childcare and work responsibilities, but I would hope, as a school community we would still have time to think of others’ needs.

D. Labelling hats, scarves, gloves, coats.

The weather has now become very cold. Children are wearing more items of clothing to school. At the end of each day we end up with a huge pile of gloves, hats and scarves on the floor. We try very hard to match them to the correct child. Please ensure that all removable items are labelled. It does not have to be anything fancy, just your child’s initials written on the manufacturers label in biro would be very helpful. Unlabelled items will be placed in our Lost Property boxes, if staff do not know who the items belong to.

E. Lost Property

We have accumulated a number of items of clothing in our Lost Property box. These items are outside in the Library area. There are three drawers in the top of a cabinet labelled ‘Lost Property’. If your child has lost an item of clothing in the Autumn term: Please check to see if anything belongs to your child, and take it home. We will dispose of any unclaimed items at the end of term.

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

In Catkins the children will be exploring instruments and how to play them. The staff will help the children learn the names of different instruments and show them that the instruments don’t always have to be played in the same way. The staff will be playing Christmas music for the children to play along to.

In the Link, the children will have white playdough set out to represent snow and ice. Staff will talk to the children about the season of winter and explain that it sometimes snows in winter. They will discuss how cold it gets when it snows and there will be a large igloo for everyone to enjoy decorating and playing inside.

In the Catkins garden, the children will look for pictures of presents hidden by Santa. All of the presents will look the same and the children will be encouraged to think about what gifts might be inside the boxes. There will be ten pictures hidden and staff will re hide them in different places once they have been found.

In Room 3, there will be a Santa’s workshop set up for the children to play in. They will have the opportunity to work on their scissor skills and holding their pencils effectively as they cut and draw on Christmas themed paper. Adults will support the children with holding the scissors and making snips in paper.

In Room 1, the children will focus on literacy and writing letters to Santa. They will talk to staff about what they might like for Christmas and staff will encourage the children to write out a list. They will focus on holding their pencils effectively and making marks on paper.

In Room 2, the children will be using forks to create paintings of Christmas trees. They will use their fork to spread paint into the shape of a tree, adding decorations to make it look like the trees we have in school. The children will also work on their scissor skills as they cut out different shapes to make an elf hat. Adults will encourage the children to talk about the shapes that they need to cut out and the colours that they would like to use to decorate them. Outside, the children will be using natural and man-made resources to make a small scale version of a Christmas tree. The children will use clay as a base for the tree and will drizzle glue and glitter over the top to decorate it. Children will also work with staff to make reindeer food while some Christmas music is playing in the background.

F. Christmas Parties

These parties are for all our children regardless of the days you attend.

Unfortunately parents will be unable to stay during the parties as we do not have enough room! Staffing ratio’s will be maintained.

Little Nursery Party.

Wednesday 20th December

9:00am to 10:00am

The Plan:

9:00 Doors Open

Children work in small groups to make ‘Christmas Crowns’

9:20 Party Snacks.

9:30 Surprise visit from Father Christmas

Songs for Father Christmas

Father Christmas leaves gifts for all children.

9:35 Back to groups to make a decoration.

9:50 Pass the Parcel Game.

10:00 Parents arrive to collect all children.

Big Nursery Party

Wednesday 20th December

11:15am to 1:00pm

The Plan:

11:15 Doors Open

11:25am Party Food

11:45am Surprise visit from Father Christmas.

Songs for Father Christmas.

12:00 Christmas Magic Show

1:00pm Parents arrive to collect all children.

Nursery News 27th November 2023

Monday, November 27, 2023

NURSERY NEWS

27^th November 2023 – Edition 315

Find out About:

A School Photographer.

B. Christmas Cards

C. Fruit for snacktime.

D. Wipes and Nappy Sacks

E. Big Nursery 30 hours.

F. What are the children learning about this week?

A School Photographer.

The School Photographer has just delivered the school photographs this afternoon. They will be ready for collection from tomorrow. The office staff will hand them to families, to ensure everyone has the correct pack.

Some parents ordered digital downloads. If you ordered digital images, they have already been emailed to you by the photographer. If you have not received your digital images, check your spam folder in the first instance, and then if you still do not have them, call the photographer directly:

Victoria Mitchell 07845 676258

B. Christmas Cards

We as a staff, would like to ask parents to consider sending just one Christmas card in to school, written ‘To all my friends at Willow’. These cards will then be displayed for all to see in the library corridor.

C. Fruit for snacktime.

We are finding that we do not have quite enough fruit to provide a fruit snack, on a daily basis, to all the children. So, would parents please consider donating a bag of apples, bananas or satsumas over the next few weeks so that we have enough fruit everyday for everyone.

D. Wipes and Nappy Sacks

Please remember to put a pack of wet wipes and nappy sacks in your child’s change of clothes bag.

E. Big Nursery 30 hours.

Are there any parents in Big Nursery that would like to increase their child’s attendance pattern from 15 hours to 30 hours per week in January?

If so, please speak to Mrs Davies/ Mrs Evans. We are suggesting this now because if you wish to use the ‘30 hours Funding for Working Families’ offer you must ensure a valid 30 hour code is in place by the 31^st December 2023.

F. What are the children learning about this week?

In Catkins and Little Nursery, the children will be learning about Maisy Mouse. They will listen to lots of Maisy stories throughout the week and get to know the characters. The older children can discuss the stories with staff and decide which book they liked the best. Younger children will be using sponges and paint to make Maisy paintings. Staff will talk to the children about the shapes that they are using for their work. This week they will be focusing on using circles and triangles.

In the Link, the children will be using their fine motor skills to cut out and stick shapes together to create a Maisy picture of their own. Staff will offer support to individual children with cutting skills, but they will be encouraged to try and use scissors by themselves.

Outside in the Catkins garden, the children will be searching for Maisy characters. When they find them, they can sit in the teepee tent and talk about where they were hidden. There will also be some guttering set up for the children to roll balls and cars down. The staff can talk to the children about pushing the toys down the ramps and catching them in boxes.

Nursery News 20th November 2023

Monday, November 20, 2023

NURSERY NEWS

20^th November 2023 – Edition 314

Find out About:

A School Photographer.

B. Walk in the Dark event

C. BBC Children in Need.

D. An Open School Event: For Big Nursery Blue Group Parents: Basic Skills. A reminder

E. Open School Event: For Big Nursery Children ‘Music Time’. Week beginning 4^th December

F. What are the children learning about this week?

A School Photographer.

The School Photographer will return photo’s to school on Tuesday 28^th November.

B. Walk in the Dark event.

Thank you to all the families who joined us for our Walk in the Dark event last week! The staff were a little worried about the weather, but in the end we had good conditions. It was dark and chilly in the garden which made it all the more exciting. All the food we had bought was consumed. I believe we were left with just four rolls and a packet of biscuits at the end of the evening. The event was very well attended. It is one of the staff’s favourite events during the school year. We hope you enjoyed it too.

C. BBC Children in Need.

Friday 17^th November was Children in Need day. Miss Gaffney shook her little red box with a picture of Pudsey Bear on the front, to make a collection for the Charity.

We raised £67.22

D. An Open School Event: For Big Nursery Blue Group Parents: Basic Skills. A reminder.

Mrs Patterson’s Blue Group parents have been invited in to observe a 30 minute reading/writing activity on Wednesday 22^nd November.

An invitation letter was sent out last week to Blue Group parents advising the time of their child’s group. We look forward to seeing you on Wednesday.

E. Open School Event: For Big Nursery Children ‘Music Time’. Week beginning 4^th December

At the end of every morning session children in Big Nursery participate in a planned group time. Throughout the year children will participate in groups such as: Storytimes, Big Books, Oxford Reading Tree, Theraplay Sunshine Circles, Music Time, Phonics, Maths Stories, Dance, Number time. We plan for 5 different activities each week. We usually offer these activities in blocks of 10 or 20 weeks across the year.

For example children will have one 25 minute music session per week for 10 weeks. The sessions are carefully planned, to increase children’s skills and abilities with music, week on week, building upon what they had learned in previous weeks. For Music Time the staff received tuition from the DeCapo organisation, and we then worked together to plan music sessions around the resources they provided us with.

We would like parents to come in to school and see how we teach your children. Throughout the year we are going to invite parents in to school to join in/observe our grouptimes.

We would like to invite all Big Nursery parents to join us for ‘Music’ time. Each parent of a child in Big Nursery will receive an email tomorrow detailing the date and time of the Music session that you can choose to attend, during week beginning 4^th December. If you would like to join your child to participate in our Music Activity ‘Pigs on Holiday’ then please just turn up at the date and time specified and you will be made very welcome. There is no need to book. Sessions last 25 minutes.

F. What are the children learning about this week?

In Catkins, the children will be exploring small world construction role play. They will use the digger toys to move around sand and soil. Staff will talk to the children about what they are doing. They will model simple language such as push, pull, scoop, dig and build. In the garden, the children will be using different materials to build, improving their fine motor skills.

In Little Nursery, the children will use a variety of building resources including Lego, Wooden blocks and Duplo to construct freeform creations. Staff will join in with the children’s play, supporting them with some construction ideas.

In Room 1, the children will have a shop role play set up. They will be encouraged to write shopping lists and make marks to show what they want to buy. They will have cash registers, pencils, paper and a conveyor belt to explore.

In Room 2, the children will focus on fine motor skills as they use pipettes to drip colourful paints onto paper. Staff will explain to the children how to use the pipettes to drizzle paint onto their paper as well as discuss the vibrant colours they will be using.

Outside, the children have been enjoying roleplay games. They will be provided with masks, capes and materials to make dens and headquarters. They will be encouraged to invite others into their play and take turns with the resources provided.

Nursery News 13th November 2023

Monday, November 13, 2023

NURSERY NEWS

13^th November 2023 – Edition 313

Find out About:

A Walk in the Dark event THIS WEEK

B. BBC Children in Need.

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

D. Volunteering as a Parent Helper in Nursery

E. What are the children learning about this week?

A. Walk in the Dark event THIS WEEK.

Miss Howe is organising a ‘Walk in the Dark’, an activity for children and their parents to attend together, after school, on Thursday 16^th November at 5:00pm. Children will need to arrive, wrapped up warmly, ready to search the Nursery Garden for hidden soft toy animals. Children will need to bring a torch, because the garden is very dark in places! Brothers and sisters are very welcome too. We will provide refreshments for everyone who attends. (Free of charge). We plan to offer hot dogs/ cheese rolls, biscuits and squash.

If you plan to come, please send an email to Mrs Selth cselth@willownursery.co.uk entitled ‘Walk in the dark’ detailing your child’s name and how many adults and children will be coming, so we can buy enough food….

We find this is a very enjoyable event for the children, and for all the adults. It is a simple idea, but the children never usually see their school or garden in the dark.

B. BBC Children in Need.

Friday 17^th November is Children in Need. Parents often ask us what we are doing for Children in Need. –So as in previous years, we will collect money in Charity buckets, should anyone wish to donate. We do organise activities with a Pudsey Bear theme, and we try to share with the children that we are fundraising to help other children. Sometimes the Nursery children want to dress up because they see their older brothers and sisters dressing up for their school’s event. We are happy for children to dress up, or not to dress up. We do not wish any family to feel under pressure.

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

Mrs Patterson teaches Big Nursery Blue 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 Mrs Patterson’s Blue Group parents in to observe a 30 minute reading/writing activity on Wednesday 22^nd November.

A further invitation letter will follow to Blue Group parents so that we can match up time slots, so parents can join their child’s small group.

Big Nursery Orange Group will have their Basic Skills groups in the Spring Term 2024 and Big Nursery Yellow Group will have their Basic Skills groups in the Summer Term 2024.

D. Volunteering as a Parent Helper in Nursery

At this time of year, we ask if any parents are interested in volunteering their time to be a parent helper in school.

Becoming a parent helper isn’t possible for all parents. We know a number of you are working parents and so are very busy. A good number of parents have younger children to look after too, so are unable to commit to help.

However, we, as a school really value the help if parents can contribute their time.

We find help most useful when parents can make a regular commitment each week to help out for a morning or afternoon session. Some parents offer a few hours of their time every week, some parents offer time every other week. If you become a regular parent helper we allocate you to one of our staff members who you will work with each time you come in. In this way staff can plan activities for you to become involved with, from arts and crafts, -little ‘makes’, which children love, to playing table top maths or language games, exploring construction toys, playing in the sand or water trays with the children.

Adult time can make a huge difference to a child’s education. Our staff’s first priority is to maintain safe and stimulating environments. At the beginning of the school year it is very difficult for them to focus on sustained interactions with small groups of children at the activities I have outlined above. Staff really appreciate the help of Parent Volunteers as it means we can offer wider Adult led or Adult supported opportunities in each play space.

So what can the volunteering opportunity offer you?

We are a friendly team. You might like to come and spend a few hours working with other adults.
Come in to school, and find out what your child experiences day to day.
Maybe take your first steps towards being an Early Years Practitioner. See how rewarding the job really is!
Spend some time with our wonderful pupils. They just love to chat with new adults and share what they have been doing.

Please do not feel you are too shy, or that perhaps your English Language skills are not strong. We would encourage you to come forward and give it a try.

If you think you might be interested please mention this to your child’s keyworker, or to any of the staff.

Miss Gaffney is our Parent Volunteer co-ordinator. She will then get in touch with you and invite you to a meeting with other interested parents.

E, What are the children learning about this week?

In Catkins and Little Nursery, the children will be making binoculars with different coloured cellophane and toilet roll tubes. They will be choosing the colours to use and will be talking about what happens when they look through the different coloured lenses.

In Little Nursery, the children will be exploring the dark tent. They will use light up and reflective resources to learn about colour and light. The staff will help the children to practice turn taking and help them to understand the need to wait for their turn.

In Room 1, the focus will be on creating and extending patterns. The children will use loose parts to set out patterns, stack parts and rearrange objects to suit their own play ideas. Staff will model how to create patterns and extend them further, helping children to understand what might need to be placed next to continue a repeated pattern.

In Room 2, the children will focus on attaching different materials together to build and create. Staff will explain to children that they can use different methods of attaching resources together, and suggest ways in which they can extend their ideas. Children will be learning how to use materials in moderation and appropriately.

The children have requested to have music outside in the garden. Staff will provide this for the children and encourage movement to music. This will build on the children’s social skills as they dance on their own and in groups. They will also have the opportunity to perform their dance moves to each other.

Nursery News 6th November 2023

Monday, November 6, 2023

NURSERY NEWS

6^th November 2023 – Edition 312

Find out About:

A Parent Consultations, Big Nursery this week.

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

C. Walk in the Dark.

D. BBC Children in Need.

E. Parking with care and consideration..

F. What are the children learning about this week?

A. Parent Consultations, Big Nursery, this week.

These consultations will be on the telephone, will last 5 mins and will be at the following times:

Monday 6^th November Mrs Patterson’s Blue Group Consultations, 5 minute telephone consultation between 3:10pm and 4:25pm

Tuesday 7^th November Miss Cashmore’s Yellow Group Consultations, 5 minute telephone consultations between 3:10pm and 4:25pm

Wednesday 8^th November Miss Howe’s Yellow Group Consultations, 5 minute telephone consultations between 3:10pm and 4:25pm

Thursday 9^th October Miss Skai’s Orange Group Consultations, 5 minute telephone consultations between 3:15pm and 4:25pm

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

I’m pleased to say that we have had one parent step forward to become a parent governor. We still have one parent governor vacancy to fill. Our next meeting is on Thursday 9^th November…. If you are thinking about it, get in touch!

C. Walk in the Dark.

Miss Howe is organising a ‘Walk in the dark’, an activity for children and their parents to attend together, after school, on Thursday 16^th November at 5:00pm. Children will need to arrive, wrapped up warmly, ready to search the Nursery Garden for hidden soft toy animals. Children will need to bring a torch, because the garden is very dark in places! We will provide refreshments for everyone who attends. Brothers and sisters are very welcome too. If you plan to come, please send an email to Mrs Selth cselth@willownursery.co.uk entitled ‘Walk in the dark’ detailing your child’s name and how many adults and children will be coming, so we can buy enough food….

D. BBC Children in Need.

E. Parking with care and consideration.

I received a telephone call at the end of last week from one of our neighbours. She said that she had lived in Goldstone Crescent for a few years now and was a parent herself of young children, so she understood the pressures of getting children to school on time. However, she said that recently the parking situation in Goldstone Crescent had become much worse, so much so that she felt she needed to telephone and complain.

The school has generally had good relations with our neighbours over the years. Our neighbour asks that parents ‘respect the people who live here’ and I think that is a very reasonable request. Goldstone Crescent is a narrow road. The dropped curbs for driveways are quite small. So, please leave enough space so residents can get on and off their drives without having to do a ‘twenty point turn’.

F. What are the children learning about this week?

In Catkins and Little Nursery, the children will be talking about the fireworks that they might have seen or heard over the weekend. We will use scratch paper to create colourful pictures that represent fireworks. Adults will model lots of language to the children to help them describe the sounds and sights of fireworks.

The theme will continue outside as the staff will provide children with chunky chalks to draw on the ground and paints with rollers to create firework themed art on paper.

In the Link, the children will be using salad spinners and paint to make some wonderfully bright firework pictures. This activity will improve the children’s gross motor skills as they hold onto and spin the salad spinners with paint inside.

Outside, the staff will support the children with improving their ball skills. They will work on catching, throwing and kicking balls, as well as turn taking and supporting our friends.

In room one, we will be learning about Diwali, the festival of lights. There will be a table of Diwali artefacts for the children to respectfully explore after they have heard the story in group time. The children will also get to explore the dark tent and light box, Staff will support the children to take turns in the tent.

In Room 2, the children will be decorating hand templates with Mehndi patterns just like ones they have learned about through the week. Staff will model key vocabulary to strengthen the children’s learning.

Outside, staff will draw Rangoli patterns on the floor, using chunky chalks. They will encourage the children to create their own Rangoli patterns using whichever colours they choose. Adults will talk to children about using bright colours and creating lots of intricate details in their patterns.

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