Nursery News 29th Nov 2021

NURSERY NEWS

29th November 2021 – Edition 244

Find out About

A. Arrangements for the end of term

B. Christmas Parties

C. Big Nursery in January: would you like your child to move from a 15 hour per week space to a 30 hour per week space?

D. Renewing 30 hour codes.

E. School Photographer

F: What are the children learning about this week?

A. Arrangements for the end of term

The last normal school day for the will be Thursday 16th December.

On Friday the 17th December the school will be open for the Christmas Parties only.

The school office will be closed on Friday 17th December. The deadline for payments for the beginning of the Spring Term will be on Thursday 16th December at 9:30am.

B.Christmas Parties.

The school will be open only for the parties.

The Little Nursery Christmas Party is planned to be on Friday 17th December from 9:00am to 10:00am.

All children who attend Little Nursery are invited to attend the Christmas Party regardless of what days they usually attend.

Parents and children should arrive for 9:00am, and wait on the pavement outside the nursery. We will follow normal routines to admit the children. Children will require their change of clothes bag. Children will not require their water bottles as we will be providing refreshments. We will use normal routines for departure, so please arrive to collect your child at 10:00am.

The Big Nursery Christmas Party is planned to be on Friday 17th December from 11:15am until 1:00pm.

All children who attend Main Nursery are invited to attend the Christmas Party regardless of what days they usually attend.

Parents and children should arrive for 11:15, and wait on the pavement outside the nursery. We will follow normal routines to admit the children, with Blue group coming in first followed by Orange group, then Yellow group. Children will not require a water bottle or a packed lunch on this day as we will be providing refreshments. Children will not require their change of clothes bag.

Children may wear party clothes if they wish, or regular nursery clothes.

Please be prompt to collect your child at 1:00pm. We will use normal routines for departure.

C. Big Nursery in January: would you like your child to move from a 15 hour per week space to a 30 hour per week space?

This message is for Big Nursery Parents only. I have some spaces available for January if any Big Nursery parent of a child who attends for a part time, two and a half day,15 hour per week space would like to increase their child’s attendance to 30 hours per week.

You may choose to use ‘30 hours funding for working families’ if you are entitled to it, or you may choose to pay for the additional 15 hours per week at £67.50 per week.

Spaces are limited, as we can have a maximum of 50 children in Big Nursery at any one time. Some sessions already have 46 children attending. So we cannot offer 30 hours to all children, but we can to a few more children.

In the first instance please speak to me, Mrs Davies, and I can have a look at our timetable to see if I can fit your child in.

Please note, this offer is to increase to 30 hours only. Please do not ask for additional hours unless you want to increase to 30 hours.

Please try to talk to me this week, as all arrangements must be in place before the end of term, so we can complete registers, class lists etc. and to ensure those seeking funding from the ‘30 hours funding for working families’ have time to apply for, and receive their 30 hour funding code.

D. Renewing 30 hour codes.

All parents in receipt of 30 hour funding must ensure their 30 hour code is valid on the 31st December 2021, to enable it to be used for the Spring Term 2022.

If you already have a 30 hour code it must be renewed every 3 months. The government sends out reminders by email to all those who need to renew their code. We have had parents have some problems in the past. Sometimes the reminder email from the government has ended up being sent to parents spam email accounts. Please check your spam folders!

Some parents, for example, of children in Little Nursery, may have applied for their child’s 30 hour code earlier in this term in readiness for January. Codes do come with a ‘grace period’ but these only apply when the code is actually being claimed from. So if your code is not yet being used please make sure it is renewed and valid on 31st December.

If a code is not valid, we are unable to claim the 30 hours funding from the government. In this situation your child would revert to a 15 hours universal funded

place, or you would have to pay the top up fee of £67.50 per week to maintain a 30 hour space.

E. School photographer

The school photographer says there has been a delay in delivery, and hopes photos are with us by Tuesday 30th November.

F. What the children are learning about this week?

The theme in little nursery is Maisy Mouse.

In Catkins, the children will be making Maisy character hats. They will be focusing on improving their fine motor skills, Miss Tyler will guide the children by showing them how to make marks with their pencils and how to hold them effectively. The children will also be sharing Maisy stories throughout the week.

In the link, there will be spinner painting and the children can see the effect of spinning paint and paper really fast. This is an interesting way to explore different painting techniques.

Mrs. Watson will have a library roleplay set up in the classroom. The library will give everyone the opportunity to discover a variety of books which they can enjoy reading while snuggled up in the brand-new cozy corner.

Outside in the little garden, the children will be going on a bug hunt to see which creatures they can find. They will be looking high and low in search of a range of insects.

The theme in big nursery is oral health.

In room 1 Miss Skai will be completing a shared read of the book ‘I Care for My Teeth’ by Martha Rustad. There will also be a sequencing activity where the children will be asked to order the steps to brushing teeth and good oral hygiene.

In room 2, Miss Howe will be talking to the children about making healthy food choices whilst they make their own toothbrushes. They will be using scissors to snip the bristles for their toothbrushes which will strengthen the muscles in their hands.

The children can also create their own mouths by gluing teeth and a tongue onto folded paper. They will need to know whose work belongs to who, so will practice writing their names to identify their own work.

Mrs. Cashmore will be helping the children to learn to brush their teeth effectively by asking them to clean some giant teeth for her. The giant teeth will be covered in shaving foam and the children will use real toothbrushes to clean the foam away. This should support them in becoming independent in meeting their own care needs.

While the children are brushing away the foam, Mrs. Cashmore will talk to them about the importance of brushing their teeth, twice daily.

Outside in the garden, Mrs. Patterson will be promoting healthy food choices for the children. She will be placing pictures of happy teeth and pictures of unhappy teeth around the garden. Mrs. Patterson will then ask the children to find healthy food choices and place them on the happy teeth, and the not so healthy food choices on the unhappy teeth. This should help children in the future with making their own healthy food choices.

At Willow Nursery School we have chosen to focus on oral health as part of our school development plan. This means that, as a school, we will be teaching the children how to make positive food choices, how to brush their teeth effectively and all about the dentist. The main points we will focus on are listed below. Please work with us in promoting good oral health for your children.

Brushing

· You should replace your toothbrush if the bristles have become splayed.

· You should have help from a grown up to brush your teeth if you are under 8 years old.

· You should brush your teeth with small circle shapes on your teeth and gums.

· You should only have a pea sized amount of toothpaste on your brush if you are 3, 4, 5 or 6 years old.

· You should spit out the toothpaste if you want to, but you don’t need to rinse your mouth out with water.

Snacks

· You should drink tooth friendly drinks like water and milk.

· You should eat tooth friendly food like breadsticks, cheese, grapes, crackers and vegetables.

Dentist

· You should visit your dentist regularly to get your teeth checked to ensure they are healthy.