Goldstone Crescent
Dunstable
Beds
LU5 4QU
Phone: 01582 662600
Email: office@willownursery.co.uk
Latest News
Nursery News 15th December 2025
NURSERY NEWS
15th December 2025 – Edition 394. Last Newsletter of 2025 (Next Newsletter Monday 12th January 2026)
Find out About
A. Reminder –Big Nursery- Applying for Primary School.
B. Winter Illness
C. Christmas Parties
D. The Elf on the Shelf……
E. What the children are learning about this week?
F. Notes for the end of term /dates for beginning of Spring Term
A. Reminder –Big Nursery- Applying for Primary School.
Who needs to apply?
Children born between 1st September 2021 and 31st August 2022 are due to start Primary school in September 2026. You need to apply before 15th January 2026
B. Winter Illness.
We are currently experiencing an increasing number of pupils with flu like symptoms. This winter virus seems to be very contagious, as it seems to sweep through each Keyworker group, affecting a good proportion of the pupils. For some children it is taking a number of days to get better. It is affecting the staff too. This cold has been around for about three weeks now. I’ve had three staff off for a few days each, and the majority of the staff have been experiencing symptoms. In some cases, after a few days of feeling unwell, we are finding children and staff are complaining about the feeling of an upset tummy. Some children are having diarrhoea.
The Autumn Term is the longest term. Children and staff are tired, which makes us all susceptible to going down with illness. The staff are very committed to keeping the school fully operational, as they know if they take time off for illness, it adds to the workload for the staff who remain in school. Staff are only absent if they feel very unwell.
The Local Authority Early Years Team has asked nursery settings to send out NHS advice to families. Key information is:
If your child has a high temperature they should not be in school.
I know the majority of our families are working families, and it can be difficult for you to find care for a sick child, but I do ask you to help protect the other children and the staff, by keeping your child at home, until they are well.
Is my child too ill for school?
It can be tricky deciding whether or not to keep your child off school, nursery or playgroup when they’re unwell.
There are government guidelines for schools and nurseries about health protection and managing specific infectious diseases at GOV.UK. These say when children should be kept off school and when they shouldn’t.
If you do keep your child at home, it’s important to phone the school or nursery on the first day. Let them know that your child won’t be in and give them the reason.
If your child is well enough to go to school but has an infection that could be passed on, such as a cold sore or head lice, let their teacher know.
What to do about other conditions
High temperature
If your child has a high temperature, keep them off school until it goes away.
Feeling anxious or worried
It’s normal for children to feel a little anxious sometimes. They may get a tummy ache or headache, or have problems eating or sleeping.
Avoiding school can make a child’s anxiety about going to school worse. It’s good to talk about any worries they may have such as bullying, friendship problems, school work or sensory problems. You can also work with the school to find ways to help them.
If your child is still struggling and it’s affecting their everyday life, it might be good to talk to your GP or school nurse.
Find information and advice about how to help children with anxiety
Coughs and colds
It’s fine to send your child to school with slight cough or common cold symptoms, such as a runny nose, sore throat or headache, as long as they’re otherwise well and do not have a high temperature.
But if they have a high temperature, keep them off school until the temperature has gone.
Encourage your child to throw away any used tissues and to wash their hands regularly.
Chickenpox
If your child has chickenpox, keep them off school until all the spots have crusted over.
This is usually about 5 days after the spots first appeared.
Cold sores
There’s no need to keep your child off school if they have a cold sore.
Encourage them not to touch the blister or kiss anyone while they have the cold sore, or to share things like cups and towels.
Conjunctivitis
You don’t need to keep your child away from school if they have conjunctivitis, unless they are feeling very unwell.
Do get advice from your pharmacist. Encourage your child not to rub their eyes and to wash their hands regularly.
COVID-19
If your child has mild symptoms, such as a runny nose, sore throat, or slight cough, and feels well enough, they can go to school.
Your child should try to stay at home and avoid contact with other people if they have symptoms of COVID-19 and they either:
- have a high temperature
- do not feel well enough to go to school or do their normal activities
What to do if your child has tested positive
Your child is no longer required to do a COVID-19 rapid lateral flow test if they have symptoms. But if your child has tested positive for COVID-19, they should try to stay at home and avoid contact with other people for 3 days after the day they took the test.
Ear infection
If your child has an ear infection and a high temperature or severe earache, keep them off school until they’re feeling better or their high temperature goes away.
Hand, foot and mouth disease
If your child has hand, foot and mouth disease but seems well enough to go to school, there’s no need to keep them off.
Encourage your child to throw away any used tissues straight away and to wash their hands regularly.
Head lice and nits
There’s no need to keep your child off school if they have head lice.
You can treat head lice and nits without seeing a GP.
Impetigo
If your child has impetigo, they’ll need treatment from a pharmacist or GP, often with antibiotics.
Keep them off school until all the sores have crusted over and healed, or for 48 hours after they start antibiotic treatment.
Encourage your child to wash their hands regularly and not to share things like towels and cups with other children at school.
Measles
If your child has measles, they’ll need to see a GP. Call the GP surgery before you go in, as measles can spread to others easily.
Keep your child off school for at least 4 days from when the rash first appears.
They should also avoid close contact with babies and anyone who is pregnant or has a weakened immune system.
Ringworm
If your child has ringworm, see your pharmacist unless it’s on their scalp, in which case you should see a GP.
It’s fine for your child to go to school once they have started treatment.
Scarlet fever
If your child has scarlet fever, they’ll need treatment with antibiotics from a GP. Otherwise they’ll be infectious for 2 to 3 weeks.
Your child can go back to school 24 hours after starting antibiotics.
Slapped cheek syndrome (fifth disease)
You don’t need to keep your child off school if they have slapped cheek syndrome because, once the rash appears, they’re no longer infectious.
But let the school or teacher know if you think your child has slapped cheek syndrome.
Sore throat
You can still send your child to school if they have a sore throat. But if they also have a high temperature, they should stay at home until it goes away.
A sore throat and a high temperature can be symptoms of tonsillitis.
Threadworms
You don’t need to keep your child off school if they have threadworms.
Speak to your pharmacist, who can recommend a treatment.
Vomiting and diarrhoea
Children with diarrhoea or vomiting should stay away from school until they have not been sick or had diarrhoea for at least 2 days (48 hours).
C. Christmas Parties
Are Finally Here!
These parties are for all our children regardless of the days you attend.
Little Nursery Party.
Who is invited? Miss Gaffney’s Green Group, Mrs Chiriac’s/ Mrs Cashmores Red Group, Miss Allen’s Little Yellow Group
When: Friday 19th December
At: 9:00am to 10:00am
The Plan:
9:00 Doors Open
Children work in small groups for Christmas crafts.
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 for music time.
10:00 Parents arrive to collect all children.
Big Nursery Party
Who is invited? Mrs Pattersons Blue Group, Miss Skai’s Orange Group, Miss Howe’s/ Miss Cashmore’s Yellow Group.
When: Friday 19th December
At: 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.
D. Elf on the Shelf…..
That cheeky Elf has been busy in Nursery again! Miss England has been taking photographs of him, so that I can share with you all the things he has been up to!
The Elf has been very wet. We found him under the sea, swimming with his new friend, purple Octopus.
He had disguised himself as a mermaid.
We then found him in the garden. It was very wet, but he had remembered to bring his yellow raincoat, so he was lovely and dry.
Our Cheeky Elf loves to dress up. He loves playing computer games. We came in one day to find him dressed as Mario!
Some of the children recognised the Elf was trying to be a character from K-Pop.
I think they liked the Elf’s purple hair.
The Elf arrived with a whole group of mini Santa’s, holding hands and playing games.
The Elf was dressed as a magician. He was waving his magic wand and saying the word ‘Abracadabra’. When we looked closely, the little Santa’s all had the staff’s faces!
E. What are the children learning about this week?
The theme this week is Christmas and Winter
The learning intention this week is to recognise and describe special times and events for family and friends. It is the last week before we break up for Christmas and also the week of the Christmas party. We have been practising singing Christmas songs that we can perform for Father Christmas when he visits the nursery.
There will be lots of Christmas activities for the children to take part in, including dressing up as Father Christmas and Mrs Claus and having a Santa Fun Run in the garden. There will also be a nativity scene set up for the children to dress up and role play as key figures from the story of Christmas. The children will be able to act out different roles, take it in turns to dress up, help each other in and out of costumes and really explore the story of when Jesus was born.
The children will have the opportunity to share their own special experiences with staff and friends, including talking about what their cheeky elves have been up to at home. We have our own elf at school and each day and the children enjoy looking for him and seeing what mischief he has gotten into overnight; it has become a real talking point for everyone!
F. Notes for the end of term /dates for beginning of Spring Term
On Friday 19th December the school will be open for the parties only. The school office will be closed on Friday 19th December.
The staff would like to say Happy Christmas!
to all our families that celebrate Christmas.
We wish all our families a safe and happy break during the school holidays and look forward to seeing you in the New Year.
Spring Term begins on Tuesday 6th January 2026
Nursery News 8th December 2025
NURSERY NEWS
8th December 2025 – Edition 393
Find out About:
A. Christmas at Willow
B. Ensure all payments are up to date by Thursday 11th December.
C. School Office is closed on Friday 19th December.
D. The Elf on the Shelf……
E. What are the children learning about this week?
F. Christmas Parties :A reminder
A. Christmas at Willow.
We put up our Christmas Trees last week. We have a variety of trees across the school. We have a small pink one with a fluffy pink star on the top. We have some great big tall ones with lots of ornaments on for looking at.
We also have two trees which the children can add decorations to themselves in the home corners.- We see ‘Decorations on, decorations off,’ all day long.
We start ‘Christmas activities’ today. We choose that we can sustain Christmas activities for two weeks, this makes the school feel busy, exciting and different.
So, the school looks Christmassy, and sounds Christmassy with Christmas songs playing in the background. We learn Christmas songs. We have lots of arts and crafts on offer using glitter and glue.
Traditionally, we always offer the opportunity to children to make Christmas cards and Calendars to bring home. (This did start a discussion amongst staff about: ‘Do children see as many Christmas cards in their homes now? Due to the cost of postage?’ Do adults actually write many cards now due to the technology available to us in our everyday lives? Do you still use a paper calendar in you home? Or do you use your diary in your phone?) So we have thought about it, but still decided to offer these activities.
We share lots of books and stories with a Christmas theme, because our current Willow children love stories!
We set up a Stable Role play area, with all the costumes and props required to tell the Nativity Story. We retell the story with the children over and over and over again, so everyone can have a chance to be Mary, a camel, and an angel all in one day! Everyone can get involved. After many days of practicing the staff support the children to ‘perform’ the story to an audience of their friends.
We do not have a Christmas show. We do not have the space here, and the children are not old enough to understand what a performance is. Many years ago we’d stage a Nativity but over half the children would cry and nobody but the staff would sing. It was not a happy event, so we stopped trying to do it.
So, as for most things at Willow, we try to work out what is appropriate to explore within the themes and traditions of Christmas, with 2, 3 and 4 year olds. So we end up with glitter and tinsel everywhere! And then of course we have our parties…..
B. Ensure all payments are up to date by Thursday 11th December.
Please ensure that all payments are made by 9:30am on Thursday 11th December for the remainder of this term and for the first week back.
C. School Office is closed on Friday 19th December.
The 19th December is the school party day. The school is only open for the School parties. The office staff join in with the parties too. Staff will not be doing any administration tasks that day.
D. The Elf on the Shelf……
Miss England has invited a cheeky Christmas Elf to visit Big Nursery. The children have been really taken with him. When the children arrive each day, they find the Elf in a different place.
The Elf first arrived in his hot air balloon. Looking for a place to land.
On Day 2 we found him sitting up high in Room 2 watching what was going on with his binoculars.
The Elf had found his shelf!
On Day 3 The Elf found some dressing up clothes and spent the day being dressed up as a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle.
On Day 4 The Elf chose to be friends with all the fashion dolls. He tried living in a Barbie Doll box.
By Day 5 the Elf was feeling very creative. He had been watching all the children painting pictures at the painting table.
He found a big paintbrush, almost as tall as him, and set about painting a magnificent
‘S-Elf Portrait’.
The children couldn’t believe the painting was bigger than their Christmas tree!
They were amazed!
The teachers were amazed that he did not spill any paint on the floor.
Talk to your children about the Elf, they will be excited to tell you about what he has been doing. I will add further photo’s in next week’s newsletter
E. What are the children learning about this week?
The theme this week is Christmas and winter.
There will be lots of exciting Christmas activities this week throughout the nursery and staff will be talking to the children about the upcoming Christmas party. In preparation for our Christmas party, we will be singing lots of Christmas songs and really getting into the festive spirit. When your children come home, you can ask them what songs they have learnt and have a go at singing them together.
In Big Nursery, we retell ‘The Story of Christmas’ with the children. (We are always careful with religious stories to say that ‘This is a story that a lot of people believe to be true’). Our pupil community represents a wide spectrum of religious beliefs and cultures. We aim to create an inclusive environment which is accepting, considerate and mindful of everyone’s family life.
So, for the Christmas Story staff will set up a stable role play area. The children have heard the story of ‘The Nativity’ last week, and can revisit this as they act out the story. Children can choose to take it in turns to retell the story of Jesus being born and people coming from afar to visit the new baby. This is always a very popular activity for the children to join in with, which often culminates in them acting out the story in front of an audience of their friends.
Mrs Griffith’s (volunteer helper) will be coming in on Tuesday to offer a cooking activity: making Mince Pies. As the children cook, they can talk to the adults about whether they like to leave any treats out for Santa on Christmas eve.
F. Christmas Parties
Friday 19th December. The school is open for Christmas parties only.
Children are invited to attend one party for their age group.
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. See below:
Little Nursery Party.
Who is invited? Miss Gaffney’s Green Group, Mrs Chiriac’s/ Mrs Cashmores Red Group, Miss Allen’s Little Yellow Group
When: Friday 19th December
At: 9:00am to 10:00am
The Plan:
9:00 Doors Open
Children work in small groups for Christmas crafts.
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 for music time.
10:00 Parents arrive to collect all children.
Big Nursery Party
Who is invited? Mrs Patterson’s Blue Group, Miss Skai’s Orange Group, Miss Howe’s/ Miss Cashmore’s Yellow Group.
When: Friday 19th December
At: 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.
Please note: All party food and party snacks will be provided by the school. Keyworkers will talk with parents of children with allergies to check the suitability of the foods provided.
Nursery News – 1st December 2025
NURSERY NEWS
1st December 2025 – Edition 392
Find out About:
A. School Photographer.
B. Information regarding the beginning of the Spring Term in January 2026.
C. Big Nursery Parents joining us for Music Time.
D. Christmas Cards
E. Labelling hats, scarves, gloves, coats.
F. Lost Property
G. What are the children learning about this week?
H. Christmas Parties
I. Snack time- Answers to questions.
A School Photographer.
The School Photographer delivered the school photographs last Wednesday. The office staff have been handing 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 or email the photographer directly:
Victoria Mitchell 07845 676258
victoria@victoriamitchellphotography.com
B. Information regarding the beginning of the Spring Term in January 2026.
School reopens on Tuesday 6th January 2026
In January we will be welcoming 13 new families to our school. There will be 9 new 3+ Green group children joining Miss Gaffney.
Little Nursery welcomes our 2+ January intake. We have 4 new families joining us. These children will be known as ‘Little Blue Group’ whilst in Little Nursery and their Keyworker will be Miss Tyler.
Please be aware that each new term brings additional children. There will be more families waiting at dropping off and collecting times. If we all work together we can keep our routines running smoothly. These routines rely on families arriving on time, please try your best!
C. Big Nursery Parents joining us for Music Time.
We sent out invitations to all Big Nursery parents (by email on 18th 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.
D. 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.
E. 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.
F. 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.
G. What are the children learning about this week?
The theme this week is Winnie the Witch
The children will be looking at, and listening to, the story of Winnie the Witch and learning all about Winnie and her cat, Wilbur. The story is all about Wilbur the black cat, living in Winnie’s completely black house. Winnie cannot see Wilbur and often trips over him and gets hurt. Winnie thinks the answer is to change the colour of Wilbur so he will become easily spotted in the home. Wilbur is not happy that his colour is changed again and again, until Winnie realises how sad it has made her friend. She changes him back to black and brightens up her home instead.
Staff will use this story as a teaching opportunity to introduce colour and colour mixing to the children. There will be lots of ways for the children to explore colour in the nursery, including drawing with chalks, mixing powder paints and creating spinner paintings.
As a school, we will be putting up our Christmas trees this week. This is always very exciting for the children and will link nicely with our weekly theme, as staff can talk to the children about all of the colourful lights that they can see. Our Christmas decorations are a conversation starter for the children as they often like to share their own experiences of putting decorations up at home.
H. Christmas Parties
Friday 19th December. The school is open for Christmas parties only.
Children are invited to attend one party for their age group.
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.
Who is invited? Miss Gaffney’s Green Group, Mrs Chiriac’s/ Mrs Cashmores Red Group, Miss Allen’s Little Yellow Group
When: Friday 19th December
At: 9:00am to 10:00am
The Plan:
9:00 Doors Open
Children work in small groups for Christmas crafts.
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 for music time.
10:00 Parents arrive to collect all children.
Big Nursery Party
Who is invited? Mrs Pattersons Blue Group, Miss Skai’s Orange Group, Miss Howe’s/ Miss Cashmore’s Yellow Group.
When: Friday 19th December
At: 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.
I. Snack time- Answers to questions.
As I expected, I have received some emails (5) regarding my decision to cease offering snack time in school for safety reasons. I have replied to parents to say that I will write a full response for my next newsletter, so parents can hear our full reasoning about this issue.
Parents had some questions, so I will try to answer as many as possible within this response. I am not suggesting all parents should read this, but it is included here for those that would like to.
There have been new changes (in September 2025) to the safeguarding rules within the statutory guidance that we must follow
EYFS Statutory Framework for group and school based providers.2025
One of which is new requirements to ensure safer eating:
As follows:
3.68 Babies and young children should be seated safely in a highchair or appropriately sized low chair while eating. Where possible there should be a designated eating space where distractions are minimised.
3.69 Children must always be within sight and hearing of a member of staff whilst eating. Choking can be completely silent, therefore, it is important for providers to be alert to when a child may be starting to choke. Where possible, providers should sit facing children whilst they eat, so they can make sure children are eating in a way to prevent choking and so they can prevent food sharing and be aware of any unexpected allergic reactions.
We have reviewed our lunchtime plans to ensure we comply with this safeguarding strategy.
At lunchtime we have 3 staff in the room in Big Nursery. The staff sit strategically around the classroom to ensure between us we can all see every child’s face.
At lunchtime we try very hard to meet the needs of pupils with allergies and intolerances.
- Each staff member looks after the same two tables of children every day, so that she can learn the needs of individuals.
- Children have their specific seat at their table that they sit in every day.
- Children with severe allergies are very closely monitored. We choose children to sit each side of the child with allergies with care. Choosing children who are tidy with their own food, and children who will not touch the child with allergies food. (to avoid cross contamination of food products).
- Staff monitor the contents of all lunchboxes to ensure there are no allergens present, for example we check chocolate pancakes/ croissants, to ensure the chocolate spread does not contain hazelnuts. Unsafe food is returned to children’s lunchboxes with a note explaining why.
- Staff remind children not to eat each other’s food.
As for choking, we also ensure:
- Food is cut to specific sizes for safety, ie grapes cut in half lengthways. Whole grapes are sent home, with a note explaining why.
We have also reviewed the way we manage lunch for behavioural reasons:
Previously the whole group would have to remain in lunch for 30 mins, as all staff were involved in lunch, or on a break, and there were areas of school closed.
Since Easter in Big Nursery we have reorganised our lunch routines. This has been possible because we now have children attending two and a half days or 30 hours only, so the only lunchtime which requires ‘Going home routines’ is on a Wednesday lunchtime.
Holding children for 30 minutes in lunch was not positive. Safeguarding officers at the Local Authority are clear that children cannot be asked to sit down on a chair against their will, or indeed be asked to sit and eat at lunchtime, if they choose not to. Children have to have the right to leave immediately. We are not allowed to close a classroom door to contain the children.
Due to pupil ratios we have to have 5 staff on duty to support big nursery. The government very carefully only provide just enough money for the number of staff that are required to enable us to maintain prescribed adult to child ratios. We do not have spare money for extra staff.
We decided to improve the lunchtime and play offer. We wanted to make school free-flow throughout the day, including through lunchtime. Children then could choose to eat, and then leave the dining area to go to resume play around the school both inside and out. To make this work, I had to add on three staff to the Lunch routines, including myself and Mrs Evans and the office staff. This way we do not have to pay for extra staff at lunchtime, but management staff are now used at lunchtime from 11:30 until 1:10 to make lunchtime work.
We have enhanced our staffing levels during lunchtime to comply with the new safer eating rules.- Using every member of school staff.
As for snack:
This has to happen mid-morning. In the middle of free flow choosing time. We have been offering snack in room 5 at 10:30am. At this time Rooms 1,2 and 3 are all open with one staff member in each. The outside space has 2 staff on duty, as staff feel that 2 staff are needed outside as it is a big space. That equals 5 staff, the number of staff required to be on duty. During the morning session we employ one extra member of staff to provide cover, to allow specific group time teaching in room 5, and for snack-time.
One member of staff operates snack. Milk cartons and fruit portions are prepared in advance. We set up two hexagonal tables in room 5, each seating 6 children, so a total of 12 children can be seated. Children can free flow in and out. Children are offered milk and fruit.
We have photos up on the wall of each child that has a food allergy or intolerance that may be affected by the milk or fruits on offer.
We have a number of children with milk allergy.
We have children with allergies to basic fruits including apples and oranges.
Staff have 30 minutes to set up the room and support snack then reset for the next activity.
Staff have to offer snack to individual children.
Remove used cartons of milk, empty the unfinished cartons down the sink.
Wipe tables to remove spillages.
Look after the behaviour of the children in the room, including those arriving/leaving/ choosing not to leave.
In light of the new requirements for observing pupils whilst eating staff are uncomfortable because one person cannot see everyone’s face.
We have a number of children that are allergic to foodstuffs. If there are only one or two children to keep safe, it is manageable for staff to keep all the necessary information in their mind when serving individuals. There are too many variables. There is a high risk of human error.
There are too many tasks for a staff member to do alone and be able to watch the children’s faces whilst they are eating. Staff are concerned that they can no longer manage snack safely and comply with the new safeguarding safer eating requirements.
What choices did we have?
Parents have asked if we took time to discuss different options?
We discussed the matter at length at our weekly staff meeting.
We discussed how we could improve snack time.
To upgrade Room 5 snack-time to the minimum quality of support we feel that it needs we felt snack time would require 3 members of staff to support it safely.
One adult to serve the fruit and milk to each child.
One adult to sit at each table to monitor the children, looking at their faces to check for choking, and checking the foodstuffs provided are safe for that individual.
(I still do not think children would be safe, due to number of children with allergies/intolerances and the possibility of human error.)
We only have 6 staff on duty?
We would have to close a significant space for at least 30 minutes. Outside time? Or 2 inside classrooms?
We are trying to keep free flow open to support pupils needs and decrease ‘dysregulated’ children feeling angry or frustrated.
We need to spread the pupils out, supported by all the staff that are on duty.
We are working very hard to give all children free choice during the day to choose where to play. Behavioural needs of children have shifted in recent years. Some children need to have the freedom to choose to go outside to regulate, at any time. If we chose to close outside, or two classrooms, the calmness we are trying to sustain would be lost. Some children would run up and down the interior corridor, pull on the exterior doors to go outside, and become angry. This does have impact on all the children around them.
Parents have asked if snack can operate similarly to lunchtime?
Yes, like lunchtime children could sit at a regular seat, at the same table every day, with a member of staff who really knows how to carefully protect each individual child they are responsible for.
This would involve completely stopping free flow, staff and pupils would have to go back to base rooms. Base rooms would have to be tidied away completely to facilitate this. By the time we get started for the morning session we’d be having to close down for mid-morning snack. The three base room’s would have keyworker groups in each supported by two staff in each room.
This would mean all staff are tied up observing children for choking.
If one child finishes their snack or chooses not to eat or drink and wants to move off….where do they go?…. who will supervise them? Children cannot be asked to remain in a room.
We decided this plan to facilitate snack time was not proportionate to the gains to be made. We were considering a huge disruption to provide a drink of milk and a small snack, we provide: 1/6 of an apple, half a small satsuma or a quarter of a small banana.
I think parents would be surprised at the small portion of fruit which we offer. Our fruit offer has only ever been a small portion to be offered alongside their milk. I calculate the energy nutritional value of our fruit offer is 10 to 15 kcal per portion.
As a staff, the behavioural gains we are working hard to maintain would be completely lost to support snack time.
We currently do not have the financial resources to support snack time in the way the government requires with the new safer eating requirements. I cannot offer additional resources to staff to ensure that they feel safe and adequately supported.
I and the rest of the staff are monitoring the impact of this change. A few children have asked ‘When is snack time?’ last week. The majority of the pupils in lunchtime do not eat the entire contents of their lunchbox. I have monitored food consumption at lunchtime to see if more food was consumed due to no snack time, but the three lunch time staff agreed, in their opinion, we have not see children eating more lunch at lunchtime compared to the previous week. As a school, we constantly keep all aspects of school life under review.
Nursery News 24th November 2025
NURSERY NEWS
24th November 2025 – Edition 391
Find out About:
A. School Photographer.
B. Food Allergies and Snack-time.
C. What are the children learning about this week?
A School Photographer.
The School Photographer has collected all photo orders.
We will let parents know when photo packs are ready for collection.
B. Food Allergies and Snack-time.
We currently have a very high number of pupils with food allergies in our school. The staff want to do their very best to keep all our children safe.
The website ‘Anaphylaxis UK’ describes an Imperial College London study, that found food allergies are most common in young children, with 4% of those under 5 affected.
Currently in our school we have 42 children who are our 2026 Leavers. Of these we have 6 children who have food allergies. This is 14% of these children.
In January we have 41 children who will be our 2027 Leavers. There will be 4 children with food allergies. This is 10% of these children.
So in total we will have 10 children with allergies, out of 83 children, so this equates to 12% of our pupils. This is 3 times the average rate (compared to 4%).
We have pupils who are allergic to milk, as well as all kinds of fruit. The staff have considered a variety of options, but the only outcome we are happy with, in terms of risk, is to discontinue operating snacktime.
In this way, the only food that will be offered to your child to eat during the school day will be food you provide in your child’s lunchbox, to be eaten at lunchtime. We are very aware of allergies at lunchtime, and work hard to ensure children only eat their own lunch.
As a parent group you have been wonderful at providing fruit, but we are asking that you no longer send in fruit donations.
As for 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 want to assure parents that we want to continue with the free milk scheme. We will provide 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 may have to adjust the amount we order each week over the first few weeks to meet demand.
We recently suggested to parents to send in ‘Birthday Fruit’ to help celebrate their child’s birthday, but unfortunately we will no longer be able to celebrate in this way. We do make a fuss of individuals on their birthday, or very near to their birthday if it happens to fall at the weekend or in the school holidays. We have an iced (fake) birthday cake with candles on. We light the candles and the class sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to the child, before the Birthday Child blows out the candles, and then chooses a birthday sticker with their age on it.
I hope you can understand how important it is that we keep children with allergies safe. There is a sliding scale of reactions to food allergens from mild to life threatening. We want all our pupils to be safe and well.
C. What are the children learning about this week?
The theme this week is shop role play.
It will be an exciting week in Nursery as the children will have shop role play spaces set up in different areas. The role play areas will be adapted to suit the children’s different stages of development and staff will tailor the teaching areas to suit the needs of the children.
Some children will have a greater knowledge of what happens when we go shopping, or when we order items online and get them delivered to our houses.
Other children may have a simpler perception of shopping, where they might go to a shop and put items in their basket. Staff will use these teaching opportunities to incorporate the children’s prior knowledge of what happens when we go shopping and add to them as they model different scenarios. They will give visual and verbal prompts to the children to expand their role play and communication skills. Children will learn how to build on their imagination, using real life experiences that they have had with their families.
Role play opportunities such as this are perfect for supporting the children with learning good manners, children will be reminded that when we buy thing in shops, sometimes we have to queue and wait for our turn to pay. It is also a good time to remind our children that we should always try and remember our manners and say ‘Please’ and ‘Thank you’ to all people that help us, including shop keepers.
There will be lots of opportunities for the children to expand their skills through play, as they write shopping lists, interact with other children and recall familiar experiences.
Our learning intention this week is to learn familiar songs, for example pop songs, songs from television programmes, nursery rhymes and songs from home. To achieve this outcome, there will be lots of musical activities and opportunities throughout the nursery. As the children choose and share their favourite songs and rhymes, they will encourage others to join in, improving their social skills and boosting each other’s confidence. This learning intention allows the children the freedom to express themselves in a supportive environment and the opportunity to find out if they have any favourite songs in common with their friends.
Nursery News 17th November 2025
NURSERY NEWS
17th November 2025 – Edition 390
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 Green Group Parents: Basic Skills. A reminder
E. Open School Event: For Big Nursery Children ‘Music Time’. Week beginning 1st December
F. What are the children learning about this week?
A School Photographer.
All orders for school photo’s should be returned to the school office by today.
B. Walk in the Dark event.
Thank you to all the families who joined us for our Walk in the Dark event last week!
It was very dark and in the garden which made it all the more exciting.
We praised all the children on Friday, as they did not play on the climbing equipment in the dark
The event was very well attended- with 88 people signed in! 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 14th 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 £85:00
D. An Open School Event: For Big Nursery Green 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 19th 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 1st December
All children in Big Nursery participate in five planned group times per week. 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 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 have 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 1st 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?
The theme this week in nursery is ‘Keeping Ourselves Safe’
Staff will teach the children about staying safe as an overall theme but teaching will include road safety, using equipment safely, stranger danger and maintaining privacy when changing or using the toilets.
Throughout the nursery, the staff will be encouraging the children to be as independent as possible in all areas. They will be supported where needed, but encouraged to practice getting changed by themselves, put their hats, coats and gloves on to go outside and to be independent with toileting needs. These are important steps for the children to take to become independent and school ready. As the children learn to do these tasks for themselves, they will be reminded of the importance of keeping themselves safe.
When changing, we encourage the children to take off and replace underwear as swiftly as possible, so their genital areas are exposed for as short a time as possible. We encourage similar privacy when children are using the toilet, ensuring children know that there should be only one child in each toilet cubicle.
It is very important that the children understand how to keep themselves safe and to understand that some parts of their bodies are private. We will be using the NSPCC guide on PANTS to explain in age appropriate terms, please see the attached link: https://www.nspcc.org.uk/advice-for-families/pants-underwear-rule/
There will be lots of safety talk in the nursery as the children will learn the significance of staying safe while on the roads, in their homes and out in public. They will learn about the importance of wearing seat belts in cars, crossing roads with adults, holding our adult’s hands when walking and not talking to strangers.
Our 7 C’s learning intention is for the children to be able to solve problems in different ways. To support the children to achieve this goal we will encourage them to talk to us about their problem. Once a problem has been shared, staff will help the children to consider different possible solutions. As the children start to become critical thinkers, it will become easier for them to make decisions that support their needs.
