Latest News

Nursery News 15th September 2025

NURSERY NEWS

15^th September 2025 – Edition 382

Find out About:

A. Progress so far….

B. Keeping Children Safe.

C. Milk and Fruit time.

D. Celebrating Birthdays.

E. Family Photographs

F. Early Years Pupil Premium

G. What are the children learning about this week?

 

A. Progress so far….

We had an unusual start to the term. The roof replacement work that was planned to be completed in the 6 weeks summer holiday ran over slightly due to the very hot, then very wet conditions. We began the term with roofers still busy on our roof. To keep the children safe, we chose to use just a small part of the garden, away from where the work was continuing. Even though some of the children were brand new to us, they coped very well.

I’m happy to say that last week we were able to fully open up our outside spaces. Children were able to spread out and enjoy the space. Things are going well. Staff are getting to know the children, playing with them, talking to them, sharing stories with them, and generally encouraging them to feel happy in school. When children feel secure and have good well-being, they will begin to learn.

So this week a few basics to help with the running of school:

 

B. Keeping Children Safe.

Parents entrust their children into our care. There are rigorous procedures in place outlined by the government to keep all children safe from harm. I think it is important to let you know about some of the procedures that may affect you and your family whilst being part of our School Community, and I will try to explain the reasons for having these procedures.

 

We need to know where children are if they are absent from school. If for any reason you decide to keep your child at home, on a day when your child should be at school please telephone in to school as soon as possible and let us know. When registers are completed at the beginning of the session we have to put codes in the registers regarding the reasons for a child’s absence. If we do not hear from you, you will receive a call from one of the office staff or the headteacher asking about the whereabouts of your child.

If you know in advance that you will be absent, for example for a medical appointment, please let staff know and the appropriate code can be entered in the register.

If you plan to go on holiday in term time, please fill in a holiday form (available from  the office staff) which again will let us know the dates that you will be absent. Unexplained absences have to be followed up. If a child is absent for any length of time and we have not heard from their parents as to the reasons for their absence, the child become a ‘Missing Child’. In this circumstance we are compelled to contact the Police and Social Care.

 

We need to record all injuries. If your child has a fall or receives a bump in school that we are aware of, we will fill in an accident letter to tell you about the incident. This letter will be passed on to you outside, by a member of staff. There is another copy kept in school.

Please inform your child’s Keyworker if your child comes in to school with an existing injury that has occurred outside of school time. Staff must make a note of any existing injuries a child has.  Our children at Willow are young. They are sometimes unable to tell us how they have hurt themselves. Please tell us if you know of any marks/cuts etc as it will save staff trying to work out what has happened.

 

Teach your child to use the toilet. Guidelines say that we should offer as little assistance in the bathroom as possible. With the three and four year old Nursery children we prefer to give children verbal assistance from outside their cubicle, only offering physical assistance if absolutely necessary. If an adult is needed to help a child in the bathroom another member of staff will always be aware, and support if necessary.

 

C. Milk and Fruit time.

The government provides all children at Nursery with a free carton of milk each day. All children in the nursery will be offered milk at mid-morning snack time. (Unless parents have informed us that their child has an intolerance to cows milk)

We aim to provide all children with a fruit snack

We ask all parents to donate some fruit, so we can share these at the snack table. We ask parents to donate a bag of fruit such as apples, satsumas or bananas, for all the children to share.  If every parent was to donate a small bag of fruit every half term, we will have lots to share.

 

D. Celebrating Birthdays.

We have a ‘Birthday Board’ in school where we display the names of staff and pupils who will be celebrating their birthday within the current month. We celebrate every individual child’s birthday during Keyworker time, with their colour group. We have a very real looking iced ‘fake’ cake with candles on. Staff make a fuss of the children on their special day (or near to it if their birthday falls at the weekend or in the school holidays). The birthday child is invited to sit at the front of the group, with their Keyworker. Everyone sings ‘Happy Birthday’ and the birthday child blows the candles out. The birthday child receives a special birthday sticker.

Parents often ask if they can treat all the children on their child’s birthday. We have been saying for a few years now, when asked, that due to allergies and parental choice, we would prefer parents to donate some special birthday fruit for all the children to share on their birthday.

For many years parents have wanted to provide sweets for our children. Sweets are problematic. Some parents would prefer that their child was not offered sweets for health reasons. Some sweets (for example, most ‘Haribo’ jelly sweets) contain gelatin, which makes them unsuitable for some children, for religious reasons. Even chocolate is unsuitable for some children with allergies.

New nutrition guidance for the Early Years Foundation Stage, from the Department of Education, comes into force in September 2025. There is a new requirement in the safeguarding and welfare requirements in the EYFS that providers MUST take this guidance into account and should follow it unless there is a good reason not to.

Pg 28 of the guidance says:

Celebrations

Many families like to celebrate their child’s birthday and other special events by bringing in a cake or sweets to the setting to share. This can mean that some children are eating these unhealthy foods several times a week. The food and nutrition policy could include recommendations for special events to ensure any food brought in from home is balanced and meets the setting’s food guidelines (for example recommending fruit platters to share). Any food shared in the setting should be checked for potential allergens. Communication with parents and/or carers about these practices is key to ensuring they are informed and involved in supporting healthy eating habits at early years settings.

We must request, that as a school community, we should work together to promote healthy choices for all our children.

 

E. Family Photographs

We have themes that we work on with the children. We begin with learning about something all the children can be familiar with their family. The staff will be working with the children on various activities and talking to them about their families. To help the children understand we would ask if you could send in a family photo  that they can share with everyone.

For Big Nursery Children The staff would like to include these photo’s as part of a  wall display.

For Little Nursery Children The staff in little nursery will be creating a family booklet with the photographs provided and they will sit with the children to look through their booklet together. This booklet will be available for the children to look at whenever they choose and should be comforting to the children if they are missing home.

So, if you would like to send in a photo of your child and their family, please do so during this week (15/09/25) or at the beginning of next week. Please hand your photo to your child’s keyworker, so we can keep them safe. Please write your child’s name on the back of the photo, and if possible the names of other family members shown in the photograph. We will then be able to return the photos to you, later in the year.

 

F. Early Years Pupil Premium

What is Early Years Pupil Premium?

The Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) is designed to narrow the attainment gap between young children from low-income families and their peers by improving the facilities, equipment and learning experiences to benefit the growth and development of eligible children.

This information has been taken from Central Bedfordshire’s Website.

Nurseries, pre-schools, childminders, and other childcare providers can claim extra funding through the Early Years Pupil Premium.

This applies to 9 months to 4-year-old children whose:

• parents receive certain benefits
• have been adopted
• are in care

The provider can use the funding to improve the quality of the early years education that they provide. This could include, for example, additional training for staff on early language development.

 

How to apply

If you believe you are entitled to funding, please contact your childcare provider.

How do I qualify?

The child must attend a setting in Central Bedfordshire. Parents/carers who receive any of the following will qualify for the Early Years Pupil Premium:

• Universal Credit – your household income must be less than £7,400 a year after tax, not including any benefits you get
• Income Support
• Income-based Job Seekers Allowance
• Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• the guaranteed element of State Pension Credit
• Child Tax Credit, providing you do not also receive Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190
• Working Tax Credit run-on – paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit

Or, if they have been:

• looked after by us (the Local Authority) for at least 1 day
• adopted from our (the Local Authority) care
• left care through special guardianship, and subject to a child arrangement order setting out with whom they are to live (formerly known as residence orders) in Central Bedfordshire

You can find out more about the early years pupil premium on the GOV.UK website.

If any parent has considered the eligibility criteria and believes their child is eligible please telephone or email the school office and together we can make a claim.

 

G. What are the children learning about this week?

What are the children learning about this week? The theme this week is settling into nursery and nursery rules.

We will be teaching the children our school rules this week;

Kind hands

Looking eyes

Walking feet

Little voice

Listening ears

As we teach the children these rules, they will learn that it is important that they follow them in order to learn and play in a safe environment. We will also teach the children about self-care, including taking themselves to the toilet, washing hands and the importance of privacy. We always remind the children to try to close the door when they use the toilet and to adjust clothing where possible before they leave the toilet area.

We begin the school year by focussing our learning on things they are all familiar with in their lives. We begin by spending some time thinking about ‘Myself’. Perhaps starting simply by looking in a mirror and using their finger to point at their features in their reflection.

Just to put things in context….

In the space of the next few weeks, we move on to talking about our families. All families are different, but all children here have one! These activities encourage children to communicate about their lives, sharing their experiences with staff and other children while building social relationships.

We eventually move on to talking about the Nursery Community. We want the children to learn about all the adults who are here to help them in the nursery. Nursery adults are here to help you, when adults from your home are not. We want to build trust with our pupils. We want the oldest children to see themselves as an individual who is part of a wider school community. To learn that they are important, and that they belong.

 

Nursery News 8th September 2025

NURSERY NEWS

8^th September 2025 – Edition 381

Find out About:

A. Welcome

B: Newsletters

C: School Term Dates

D: Labelling belongings

E: A Good Start

F. What are the children learning about this week?

 

A. Welcome

Hello Everyone!

Welcome back to those families who were with us last term. We are very lucky to have such helpful and sensible children in our school. Even with just a six week break we notice the children have developed greatly in that time. In September we see all existing children move keyworkers. Your child’s Keyworker will greet you and your child(ren) within their colour groups, when families begin to assemble outside in the morning. I expect Keyworkers to be outside 5 minutes before school begins, so if you have something brief to pass on to your child’s Keyworker, this will be possible.

A warm ‘Hello’ is extended to all our new families. We are still having a few tears, as children are learning to spend some time away from their parents, perhaps for the very first time. So far, we have been very impressed with the children’s behaviours and attitudes, so ‘Thankyou’ to all parents for the support you are giving to your children to make their transition into Nursery successful.

 

B: Newsletters

I (Mrs Davies) write a weekly Newsletter to parents to help keep parents up to date with everything going on in Nursery. This weekly newsletter will be emailed to all families on Mondays.

Copies of this newsletter will also be placed on our website willownursery.co.uk in our ‘Latest News’ section. Previous Newsletters are also available within the latest news section, should you need to search back for some information.

Please do read the weekly newsletter as we share important dates, including parent consultations, open school events etc

 

C: School Term Dates

The Local Authority, Central Bedfordshire, publishes details of term dates and school holidays on their website: Centralbedfordshire.gov.uk

Type: ‘School term and holiday dates in Central Bedfordshire’ into your search engine to find the correct page.

We are a Local Authority School, and as such we follow the Local Authority term dates.

However, for the academic year 2025-2026 the Local Authority did not set the 5 training days when the school is closed for staff training. Schools were advised to choose our 5 training days. We have planned our 5 training days to be:

Monday 1^st September 2025.

Tuesday 2nd September 2025.

Monday 5^th January 2026

Monday 22^nd June 2026

Monday 20^th July 2026.

We have put Willow Nursery School dates for the 2025-2026 academic year on our website willownursery.co.uk on the ‘Calendar’ tab.

 

D: Labelling belongings

Label all lunchboxes clearly with your child’s name, on the top, so staff can see the name when the box is on the trolley. Label all drinks bottles and containers.

Label all coats and shoes, and any other items that children can take off-cardigans/jumpers/ fleeces. It is much easier to return items to owners when things are labelled.

 

E. A Good Start!

What has happened so far?….

We have enrolled all our new starters into Big Nursery. We have had 5 families join this year group that are new to the school. There are 43 children who are Big Nursery Pupils. We are getting to know everyone, trying to settle everyone in, and helping children to learn the daily routines that enable the nursery to run smoothly.

What happens next?………….

Little Nursery continues to enrol new pupils this week. We are expecting 13 new families in this year group.

We will have 28 children who are Little Nursery pupils.

I do have lots of information to share in these newsletters, but I will not share too much until everyone is enrolled in school.

We are so enjoying meeting all our pupils and getting to know them, and hopefully, over time we will get to know all their parents too.

 

F. What are the children learning about this week?

Mrs Cashmore is the teacher who writes an article every week in the newsletter to share with parents the experiences your children will be having in school. This is to enable you to be part of your child’s learning journey, so you can talk together about their new learning when you are at home.

So for this week:

The theme this week is settling in and nursery rules.

This week, the children will be settling in and learning the rules and routines of school life. It’s all very exciting, as the children have moved into their new classrooms, met their key workers and are making new friends. Our school rules are designed to provide a happy and safe environment for everyone and they are displayed in each classroom. Staff will be reminding children of the rules throughout the week and explaining how important it is that we follow them at all times.

Children will be learning where to put their coats and bags as they come into school, each child has their own peg which clearly displays their name and a picture to them to help with peg recognition. It is important that children can identify their belongings, so we ask parents to label all property clearly to support this.

As the lunches are stored together according to colour groups, we request that parents clearly label lunch boxes on the outside, on the top so names can be seen quickly. This supports children with their lunchtime transition, enabling us to help them to swiftly find their lunchboxes and take them to their assigned seats. Please also remember to label your child’s drink bottle as many children do not yet know which bottle is theirs and may get mixed up with someone else’s drink.

As the children settle into their new routines, they will become more secure and confident to leave their parents. While they are at school, some children may have toileting accidents, or eat and drink less than usual but this is often due to them adjusting to their new environment. We understand that each child progresses at their own pace and we thank you for your continued support and patience with these matters.

 

Nursery News 21st July 2025

NURSERY NEWS

21st July 2025 – Edition 380

Find out About:

A. Lost Property

B. Remember to put your younger children on our wait list.

C. School re-open dates for September 2025

D. Department for Education: Early Years Foundation Stage Nutrition Guidance

E. Choking Hazards.

 

A. Lost Property.

Our Lost Property will be emptied at the end of term, and any unclaimed belongings will be disposed of. Please look through the Lost Property boxes that are in the storage trolley in the outdoor Library area.

 

B. Remember to put your younger children on our wait list.

Please remember to add your younger children’s names on our waitlist. We are no longer able to give preference to children who have had brothers and sisters in our school. We look purely at how long children have been on our wait list for each termly cohort when we allocate spaces. Please encourage friends and family members to put their child’s name down as soon as possible, to have the best chance of being offered a space in the future.

 

C. School re-open dates September 2025

Monday 1st September School Closed Staff Training Day

Tuesday 2nd September School Closed Staff Training Day

 

Wednesday 3rd September School Open.

 

· Brand new families have been advised of their start date.

· Existing families should continue with their child’s current attendance pattern.

· Some existing families have increased their child’s sessions from 15 to 30 hours. These children will start on 3rd September.

 

D. Department for Education: Early Years Foundation Stage Nutrition Guidance

The Department of education has released a new document that we, as a Nursery School must take notice of, and comply with. It comes into force 1st September 2025.

 

Summary

The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) statutory framework sets the standards that early years providers must meet to ensure that children learn, develop well and are kept healthy and safe.

 

From September 2025, we intend to include a new requirement in the safeguarding and welfare requirements of the EYFS that providers must have regard to this nutrition guidance. This means providers must take this guidance into account and should follow it unless there is good reason not to.

This guidance will support providers to understand how to implement the existing EYFS requirement that states: ‘Where children are provided with meals, snacks and drinks, these must be healthy, balanced and nutritious’.

 

Why this guidance is important

Providing healthy, balanced and nutritious food ensures that all children:

• Get the right amount of nutrients and energy they need while they are growing rapidly, which is especially important for children who might not have access to healthy food at home. This can help prevent children from becoming overweight or obese.

• Develop positive eating habits early on. Children’s early experiences with food can shape future eating habits. This can impact children’s long-term health including maintaining a healthy weight, and good oral health.

 

The early years are a crucial time to reduce health inequalities and set the foundations for a lifetime of good health.

 

There is some very good advice within this document. We do have a Willow Nursery School Nutrition Policy, but in light of this document we will update it. We may have to introduce new guidelines around foods that are brought into school. This will include fruit snacks, the content of Lunch boxes and birthday treats.

 

Food brought in from home

Having a food and nutrition policy in place and communicating this to parents and/or carers can help them to understand your regulatory obligation to provide healthy, balanced and nutritious food to children and encourage healthier food choices for packed lunches. It is important to ensure that food provided from home aligns with the healthy options offered by the setting, so that children receive consistent messages about nutrition.

 

I am suggesting that parents might like to read the document, so you can see the content of it, and understand the framework we are required to work within.

 

This is the internet address to take you to this document:

www.gov.uk/government/publications/early-years-foundation-stage-nutrition

 

We will update you in the Autumn term of any changes made to our Nutrition Policies.

 

F. Choking Hazards.

Within the Nutrition Guidance above, there are many electronic links. I would like to draw your attention to one of these from the ‘Food Standards Agency’ regarding choking hazards and how foods should be prepared.

We will use this advice with regard to our packed lunch guidelines. So please have a look to familiarise yourselves with the advice.

Nursery News 14th July 2025

NURSERY NEWS

14^th July 2025 – Edition 379

Find out About:

A. End of Term arrangements July 2025- A reminder

B. Leavers Day –Tuesday 22^nd July – 8:50am-11:50am- A reminder

C. The end of the 2024-2025 Academic Year is rapidly approaching.

 

Please note that all our previous newsletters are available on our website www.willownursery.co.uk

 

A. End of Term arrangements July 2025- A reminder

The last day of term in July 2025 for all children will be Monday 21^st July.

This day will run as a normal Monday. Timings of the day will be the same as all Mondays.

 

B. Leavers Day –Tuesday 22^nd July- 8:50am-11:50am-A reminder

On Tuesday 22^nd 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. Children should arrive at 8:50 am and wait outside as usual.

 

C. The end of the 2024-2025 Academic Year is rapidly approaching!

 

We find ourselves rapidly approaching the end of another year at Willow. I have some ‘Thankyous’ that I would like to share. Firstly, I would like to thank each and every parent who has chosen Willow for their child. Parents rarely realise that our funding is directly linked to the number of pupils we have, so without your children, there would be no Willow. Thank you to those parents who have kept us well stocked with fruit for snack time. The children have really enjoyed the ice-pops that parents have provided during the summer term. Parents have been very generous this year. We have enjoyed hundreds of ice pops! Thank you to everyone who has contributed to our collection of boxes and tubes for the children to build models with. This year there has been a small group of children who love to build detailed models. All support is very appreciated.

 

A very big thank you is given to the parents and grandparents who have given their time regularly throughout the year to support the teaching and learning in the classrooms. This support really alters the adult to child ratio’s we can provide. We can offer a wider range of activities, but ultimately the greatest benefit is there are more people to hold conversations with your children.

 

The 2025 Leavers are a very friendly bunch! As a whole they are a very young group:

-17% Autumn born children- Green Group our oldest children,

-22% are Spring born children- Red Group,

–61% are Summer born children, Yellow Group our youngest children in the year.

 

Let me just say, that as a group, they have kept the staff on their toes! There are a lot of very individual strong personalities within this group, and they still require quite a lot of friendly adult support to resolve conflicts. They are a very creative group, with lots of good ideas for their play. They do make us smile.

 

There are some very strong friendship bonds that have formed already. Some friendships will last all the way through to Secondary School. Willow children do care for each other. The children going to nearby schools already have a network of friendly faces who will look out for each other day to day. The children joining schools further away will be able to confidently make friends due to their experiences at Willow.

 

This year is the first year that we have been able to deliver all 12 core books to our pupils, spending three weeks looking at one book. This group have really engaged with this new style of teaching. They love these stories!

 

The new funding strategies that are around now mean that our pupils are generally starting earlier and attending for more terms than ever before. This September, for the first time, we are now able to enrol children at age 2 who are entitled to 30 hours for working families funded places.  The uptake has been good. We are building our termly Keyworker cohort from the age of two now. We know this will have a positive impact upon children’s behaviour and well-being. Some children will be with us for 8  terms!

 

What will the next year group bring? Blue, Orange and Yellow Group (our 2026 Leavers) are developing well. When I walk through there are happy, chatty children, all playing well together, I think we have another strong year group on the horizon.

 

So to the families that are staying with us, I look forward to seeing the progress that your children make in the next twelve months as they grow and mature, and I hope all the children will experience some fun with us during that time.

 

The only thing left for me to say is ‘Have a Safe Summer’.

 

Leigh Davies

 

 

Nursery News 8th July 2025

NURSERY NEWS

Tuesday 8^th July 2025 – Edition 378

Find out About:

A. Parents Consultations Scheduled for this week- A reminder.

B. End of Term arrangements July 2025

C. Leavers Day –Tuesday 22^nd July- 8:50am-11:50am

D. Funding for Working Families- Ensure codes are in place /Renew codes.

E. Review of the year- Results.

F. What are the children learning about this week?

 

A. Parents Consultations Scheduled for this week.- a reminder.

Parents consultations will take place here at the school, face to face this week.

 

B. End of Term arrangements July 2025

The last day of term in July 2025 for all children will be Monday 21^st July.

This day will run as a normal Monday. Timings of the day will be the same as all Mondays.

 

C. Leavers Day –Tuesday 22^nd July- 8:50am-11:50am

On Tuesday 22^nd 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. Children should arrive at 8:50 am and wait outside as usual.

We have consulted the children about what activities they would like to plan for their last day and this is what they have come up with:

Children may dress up if they want to. Children may come to school in a dressing up outfit if they wish. There should be no pressure on anyone to buy an outfit. Normal Nursery clothes are absolutely fine too.

We have arranged for children to:

• Play with My Little Ponies, Super Hero Colouring Sheets
• Have songs: Specifically: ‘I’m a Barbie Girl’, and ‘I’m Still Standing,’ dancing, bubbles and balloons
• Play pass the parcel and musical chairs.

 

At 10:30 am all children will sit down together for a picnic time in the garden. Staff will provide the snacks the children requested: cake, apples, pears, sweets,  crisps, ice creams and ice pops

The morning will finish with a group time for each colour group, where all children will receive a certificate praising their individual skills and/or qualities.

11:50am Going Home Time- Parents to collect children from the front gate. Children will be dismissed in the regular way, with Green group first, followed by Red group then Yellow group.

 

D. Funding for working families- Ensure funding codes are in place /Renew  codes.

A reminder about the eligibility checker:

Eligibility checker:

 

Eligibility will be checked via a childcare application developed by HMRC.

Parents are responsible for checking if they are eligible.

 

Parents need to visit the website www.childcarechoices.gov.uk. This is the online eligibility checker.

 

Parents will be issued a code to take to the setting (nursery/ childminder etc.). 

There will be a grace period for parents where their circumstances change.  This will give parents the time to regain employment.

Parents must reconfirm their eligibility every three months via the HMRC online eligibility checker or else they will lose their entitlement, subject to the grace period.  Parents are essentially reconfirming that their employment status has not changed and they still meet the criteria. HMRC will send reminder emails to parents to notify them of the need to reconfirm.

For all parents who are entitled to funding for working families for your child, please ensure that your code is in place and valid by 31^st August 2025, to enable us to receive funding for your child for the Autumn term.

The government will send out reminders to families to renew your code. Please be aware that sometimes the government email may go into your Spam/ Junk email folder. If you code is not valid you will not receive funding

 

E. Review of the year- Results

I have had two families who replied to my request for feedback from parents.  I always share what parents say, as there may be some points raised which other parents may relate to….

1.Please comment about what we do well at Willow.

Family 1:

I wanted to share a few points about what works well and some suggestions for improvements:

What works well

-friendly and approachable staff

-really good plans for what the children will be working and focusing on each week which is reflected in the weekly newsletters and is really helpful and informative to know

 

Family 2:

It is very clear to me that my son enjoys his time at nursery and his key worker Mrs Brinkley clearly works hard at understanding the children and supporting them the best she can. My son also talks very highly of Mrs Gaffney. The one issue my son has had, has been dealt with swiftly and has made an evident impact on my child’s daily life at nursery so thank you for that.

I also appreciate the newsletter as it gives us a talking point at home.

 

Both families have mentioned the same things….                                                               Friendly, supportive staff and our Newsletters.  

Willow is a special place due to the quality and commitment of all our staff. We are a very experienced team, but there is something unusual here at Willow, and that is  the way all staff are prepared to give 110% to meet the needs of our pupils. The staff  are knowledgeable and proactive, always ready to find new solutions to best support our individual children’s needs. The keyworkers work particularly hard to build positive relationships with parents, both during more formal parental consultations and during day to day interactions. The staff will be pleased that parents appreciate this, so thank you for your comments.

I am pleased you read the newsletter and find it useful. I usually spend a couple of hours a week planning and writing the newsletter, and I’m never sure how many people read it! Mrs Cashmore (one of our teachers) always writes the section ‘What are the children learning about this week?’ We know that two, three and four year olds are not very good at explaining what they have been doing at school!  We share this information so you can talk at home and extend your child’s learning. It is good to show interest from early on, so you can continue to support your child as they get older, and begin to get homework in primary and secondary school.   Leigh Davies

2. Please tell us one thing you would like to see at Willow that you would consider to be an improvement and/or development.

I will address each comment in turn, as it is important that we share with parents how we try to manage these aspects in a busy school.. so I hope this helps:

Family 1:

Improvements

-more encouragement for the kids to drink their waters and lunches

Many parents talk to us about this, so I will answer this fully.

As a team we have worked hard to accommodate water bottles into our setting. Pre-Covid, pupils were offered milk at snacktime, and water was always available to the children, as we have drinking fountains in each classroom which we always taught everyone how to use. Parents provided a drink of their choice for their child at lunchtime, within their child’s lunchbox.

 

During Covid, the use of water fountains was not allowed, so children had to bring water bottles in to school which they could access at all times. Water bottles are placed on the trolleys by parents when children arrive at nursery. Office staff then move the boxes of water bottles near to where the different groups of children register. These are placed in the same space each day, at child height so that they can be accessed by individual children at any time during the day. We ask that children do not walk around with their bottles, and there are seating areas available near to where all the bottles are stored. Staff do remind children at pastoral time at the beginning of the session that children should drink plenty, especially in the recent hot conditions.

Some parents speak to Keyworkers to say that their child is not drinking enough. Keyworkers share this at staff meeting, so all staff are aware of parental concerns.

If a child’s bottle becomes empty, all children are told to tell a teacher, and the adult will refill the bottle.

 

I lead the two sittings of lunch in Big Nursery. Water bottle boxes are put back onto the lunch box trolleys when placed in the dining area. One member of staff looks after two tables of children. So for example, I look after 12 Green and Red pupils in first lunch sitting. Red and Green lunches and water bottles are placed as close to the Red and Green children’s tables as possible, and always in the same place in the classroom.

 

I ask Green and Red group to come into the dining area, after washing their hands they are invited to collect their lunch box and water bottles, and sit down. My first job is to ensure all my children are sitting in their designated seat. I then move around the two tables offering personalised help to each child. Children open their boxes take out their food and return empty lunch bags to the trolley. The Bento type boxes stay on the table. I ask each child in turn what help they need, ensuring wrappers are removed, crisp packets opened, yogurts opened, satsumas peeled, bananas opened, spoons found from bags etc. This takes about five minutes. Some children due to their age and stage of development require more help than others. Some children refuse to open their box, so we encourage those children gently, as we cannot force any child to eat.

 

I then check that all children have their water bottle on the table. I open them and remind children that they should have a big drink at lunchtime. I point to the clock showing what the time is now, looking at the big hand, and show the children where the big hand will be when lunch will be finished.

 

I return to my twelve children, circulating around the tables encouraging the children who I know to be slow eaters, praising them when they are eating well.  I wipe up spills (yogurt is really messy!) daily. As lunch progresses I check my children’s water bottles, and refill any that have less than half a bottle remaining. I point to the clock showing how time is progressing, reminding pupils that we do not have long so we must keep munching!

Our children are very social! They are always trying to tell me their stories or call to their friend sitting at the next table! I always advise them to keep chewing and that I will listen to their story later.

I give children a two-minute warning, by drawing attention to the clock, when lunch time is coming to an end for them. I ask them to finish chewing the item they are eating. I always encourage each child to have a big drink before they get up to leave.

Water bottles are then returned to the classrooms where children know where to find them for the rest of the afternoon. Staff fill them when needed.

 

-more invites for parents to observe some of their sessions like we had last time. That was really insightful

We plan a timetable of ‘open classroom’ sessions that we repeat each year, mostly for the oldest year group. They will be rolled out to the oldest year group again in the next academic year.

 

-more updates to be provided about how our children are getting on during day whether it’s by verbal updates, pictures or an app or something like class dojo… something where the parents and keyworkers can keep in contact more easily especially for areas like little nursery where the children are still learning how to communicate.

 

This is a very valid point. I do take this on board. This comment often appears here in our yearly review. We are quite a big setting. We dismiss up to 78 children at the end of the session. Our priority is to release children safely to their parents. If every parent had just 1 minute with their keyworker on handover it would take 78 minutes to speak briefly to everyone….. So this is not really possible. 

In the last few years the government has required staff to spend more of their time interacting directly with children in their play, and less time writing it down and recording it.

We are guided by the following government document:

Early years foundation stage statutory framework

For group and school-based providers Setting the standards for learning, development and care for children from birth to five

Dated: 11 October 2024 Effective: 01 November 2024

 

Here are some excerpts from this document:

 

‘Assessment should not involve long breaks from interaction with children or require excessive paperwork. When assessing whether an individual child is at the expected level of development, practitioners should draw on their knowledge of the child and their own expert professional judgement. Practitioners are not required to prove this through collection of any physical evidence. Recorded, written or photographic evidence is not required.’

 

‘Ongoing assessment

Ongoing assessment (also known as formative assessment) is an integral part of the learning and development process. It involves practitioners understanding children’s interests and what they know and can do, and then shaping teaching and learning experiences for each child reflecting that knowledge. In their interactions with children, practitioners should make and act on their own day-to-day observations about children’s progress…… However, there is no requirement to keep written records in relation to this.’

 

We have reduced the amount of writing we do and photographs we take on a daily basis. We create some observations to be recorded in each child’s ‘Year Book’ to show evidence of how children are working towards our 7 c’s curriculum. These books are handed to parents when their child leaves They will be handed out at parent’s consultations this week.

On a day to day basis we do not have photos or written observations to share. I want staff to be engaging with our children as much as possible. We have tried to help matters by sending keyworkers out early in the morning to speak to parents before school. A brief daily update is possible for parents. This opportunity does work well when Keyworkers have built up a rapport with the parents from their Keyworker group.

As children leave, group by group, at the end of the afternoon, staff have to return to support the next group of children. The organisation of a safe going home requires a lot of staff. Staff then are involved in staff meetings, planning meetings, discussing children’s needs meetings, immediately after school, so are generally unavailable to give feedback about a child’s day.

 

Family 2:

The one thing I would say that could be improved upon is the communication around the Christmas period/last day of term. For some time last year I was under the impression that the Christmas party day would involve several hours of nursery, and we found out much closer to the time that nursery would only be open for 1 hour on that day. Obviously I will be aware of this this year, but for new parents it might be worth mentioning early on in the term that about the significantly reduced hours on the last day of term. It is not a problem in itself, just something which needs to be planned for at a busy time of year for all!

 

Someone did tell me this verbally after the 2023 Christmas parties, and I did listen. It is hard to judge when to put this information in, so in this academic year I added it to the newsletter on the 30^th September 2024, regarding the December 2024 Christmas parties. This was the first Newsletter of the academic year when all our children had been successfully enrolled. So in Nursery News Edition 346, amongst other ‘Important Dates’ I wrote:

 

‘Friday 20th December 2024 School open for Christmas Parties only                            (As a guide: Last year Little Nursery Party 9:00am to 10:00am Big Nursery Party 11:15am to 1:00pm, but this may change slightly when we begin planning for this year)’

Further reflection has made me decide to put the information about the Christmas parties in the very first Newsletter in September– so watch out for that if you are staying with us!

 

Willow Nursery School- Children’s Evaluation. July 2025

We ask all Big Nursery children 5 questions. Here are all their answers. I think they will make you smile!

1.   What do you like to do at Nursery? Trucks Play with friends Toys Insects, centipede and worms. Pokemon Play with my friend. Playing outside. Making an obstacle course. Playing with bricks I like making things with sellotape. Drawing, Spiderman Play with some Lego Play with the animals. Playing with all my friends. Play with toys, I like to go outside and I like new friends. Play outside Play with…. Named four specific friends. Animals, trains I like playing with my friends. I like mermaids. I like to play with sand. I like to pay. Play cars, trains, I like being a cat on the floor. I like to play I like playing trains. Playing with (x) Playing Musical chairs I like to play with my friends. I love to play. Playing Play tigers. Painting Doing work I like to play with the tigers and gorrillas Like to play in the sandpit. Like to go inside. I like to playgames. I love having racing cars and marble run. I like playing with my friends and I like playing in the water. I like to play with my friends I like pink books. Cars and garage Slide, Trains

2.   Is there anything you don’t like at Nursery? If fighters sit next to me. Said a child’s name. No, I like everything. Cutting Playing with water. When my Mummy goes home. I don’t like the wind as it messes my hair up and mummy will get angry. When people hit me. Inside nursery. I don’t like it when people are mean to me at Nursery. Hurting myself. I don’t like the boys catching me. (x) hurting me. No dogs Painting Biting I don’t like playing with aeroplanes. No When (X) chases me all around. When I’ve said I’ve hurt myself. I don’t like lunch, I don’t like my food it tastes like milk. When I shake like this. – Jumping No I don’t like kicking and pinching. I don’t like getting splashed When it is noisy.

3.   Tell me something you are good at now since coming to Nursery? Sliding out of the car when driving. Sharing Lining up Playing in the garden 1,2,3, I can jump up onto the rope walk, my friend taught me. Doing upside down things. Don’t know Knowing about cars like Mercedes. Jumping on mummy’s big bed Not scribbling Writing my name. I’m good at Lego. I’m good at riding bikes. Dinosaurs. Reading and writing. Backflips and Hopscotch I am good at being helpful Writing and drawing. Computer screen I do good playing outside. Football, slide. I’m good at sticking Good at playing with my friend. Making obstacles Puzzles Football, Soccer balls, Basketballs- I scored 6 goals! Doing gymnastics. I love to play with my Daddy at home,and I want to read a book. I can calm my brother down.

4.Tell me what you have learnt in Phonics: Learning our names, reading the books,ABCD’s ‘a’ ‘p’ ‘m’ ‘s’ We learnt the letter ‘s’ ‘i’ ‘g’ ‘e’ ‘m’ ‘a’ ‘u’ In the forest. Some Z or O or A. I have learnt ‘s’ ‘a’. I don’t know all of them. I know ‘n’ ‘m’ ‘t’ ‘a’ I know ABCD I have learned the letters to read and write. Letters We can do some actions together ‘p’ ‘s’ ‘a’ Doing cards ‘s’ ‘a’ ‘t’ ‘m’ ‘n’ ‘u’ ‘k’ ‘c’ I learned about the letter ‘a’. We learned the letter ‘r’ ‘a’ ‘t’ ‘c’ ‘s’ ‘e’ I’ve learned at phonics ABC’s I learnt ‘o’ ‘o’ ‘o’. The Hungry Caterpillar. Pokemon Its very hard. The Hungry Caterpillar Learnt about sweeties ‘s’ ‘a’ ‘a’ ‘b’ ‘c’ snake

5.How can we make Willow better for the new children? Not sure Play with the trains Make some more friends. Don’t know x3 All my friends finding me. Get some more animals, like monkeys. Play with all of us- just yellow group-not red group. More toys- More Lego –pink Lego Make even better toys. We can get some rides. Make them happy. When someone’s sad, they need a friend. Fireworks and balloons, Costumes, Spiderman Mask. Clear up stuff. Playing and new friends can read books. A party. Don’t know. No ? Toys and tattoos. Maths, drawing and painting. Toys- Pillow Fight, playing with the water. Make them happy.

 

F. What are the children learning about this week?

 

The theme this week is Peace at Last

This week the theme is based on the book Peace at Last by Jill Murphy. Children will be listening to the story and discussing the characters and events of the story with staff. Staff will encourage the children to look at the pages of the book and all of the little details on each page. This promotes conversations, as the children will want to share what they can see and share experiences of their own. Staff will encourage children to listen to each other as they talk and to wait for their turn to talk. Staff will teach the children that it is good manners to wait until someone has finished talking before they take their turn.

Our learning intention this week is for children to recognise the impact of their choices and behaviours on others and to understand that sometimes these actions can hurt the feelings of others. To implement this, we will talk to the children about being kind and empathetic. We will encourage children to consider how they might feel if something was said or done to them. We will also pay close attention to positive behaviours such as sharing and using good manners. It is important that the children understand that their words and actions also have an impact on others. Staff will give lots of praise for kindness and consideration when it is carried out, they will also be modelling the type of language and behaviour we would like to see the children use.