NURSERY NEWS

9^th March 2026 – Edition 402

Find out About

A. A reminder: An Open School Event: For Big Nursery Orange Group Parents: Basic Skills, on Wednesday 11^th March.

B. Bedtime Stories: A well-attended event.

C. Fees Increase from April 2026

D . A reminder to renew Funding for working family codes

E. Phonics program Big Nursery: Slithery Snakes and Ants on my Arm

F. What are the children learning about this week?

 

A. A reminder: An Open School Event: For Big Nursery Orange Group Parents: Basic Skills, on Wednesday 11^th March.

Miss Skai teaches Big Nursery Orange Group children ‘Basic Skills’ on a Wednesday morning. The children move to a quiet space in Room 5 where they work in small groups (approx. 8 children) to learn reading, writing, mathematical skills and problem solving.

This character on the left is Biff, she features in the Oxford Reading Tree Scheme books that we use to help teach reading skills. The group on Wednesday will focus on a story about Biff losing her toy aeroplane. We look forward to parents coming in to observe their child in a taught session.

 

B: Bedtime Stories: A well-attended event.

Thank you to all the parents who attended the Bedtime Stories event last week. We had around 22 families here. The staff always get a little bit nervous when they have to read in front of the parents, but they all said the event went well.

Miss Gaffney read Where’s My Teddy? By Jez Alborough. She had a Gigantic Teddy with her, that was taller than the children and a ‘Tiddly Teddy’, like the ones in the story. (Unfortunately Mrs Patterson had lost her voice, so Miss Gaffney stepped in at the last minute!)

Mrs Cashmore read Little Rabbit Foo Foo by Michael Rosen. Little Rabbit Foo Foo is a challenging little rabbit that carries a little hammer whilst riding around on his motorbike ‘Bopping’ animals on the head. The Good Fairy eventually puts him straight! Miss Cashmore had a squeaky hammer which she used as she retold the story to hold the children’s interest.

Miss Howe read The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. She used one of our Storysacks to retell the story. Every child was able to hold a piece of food and feed it to the Very Hungry Caterpillar. Our Very Hungry Caterpillar is made of fabric, and food can be put right inside him. The more he eats the fatter he becomes until he has a ‘stomach ache’, before eventually turning into a butterfly.

Miss Skai read the Gruffalo by Julia Donaldson. This group had a little visitor! The mouse from the story was hiding in the pocket of Miss Skai’s dressing gown!

The children were all very well behaved. As a school, we love books and storytelling, and we hope our enthusiasm rubs off on the children (and maybe the parents too!)

 

C. Fees Increase from April 2026

Very few parents know how we receive our funding to finance the school. Willow Nursery School staff are employed by Central Bedfordshire Council, but our wages are not paid by the council directly. Our funding comes to the school to pay all our costs, including: staff wages, building and grounds maintenance, utilities, educational resources, ICT resources (our admin packages), Insurances, Staff training etc.

The government looks closely at the cost of providing Early Years Childcare and Education. Funding comes from Central Government to our Local Authority, Central Bedfordshire Council. The Local Authority decides how much we are funded per pupil per hour. This rate is increased slightly each year, on the 1^st April.

In the past, we always tried to keep our fees as low as possible, to help parents. However, in the current financial climate finances are much tighter for us. The school governors decided that we will increase our fees annually from 1^st April each year, to be in line with the hourly pupil funding rates we receive from Central Bedfordshire council.

We receive £8.08 per pupil per hour for Two year olds entitled to funding through the Working Families initiative, or funding for underprivileged two year olds.

We receive £5.62 per pupil per hour for three year olds funded through the Universal 15 hours funding for three and four year olds, or three and four year olds entitled to an additional 15 hours funded through the 30 hours funding for Working Families initiative.

Our fees from April 2026 will be: £16.86 for a three hour session for 3+ aged child, and £24.24 for a three hour session for a 2+ aged child.

Children who receive 15 or 30 hours free funding do not pay fees for their free funded sessions

 

The rate for two year olds is higher than the rate for three and four year olds because two year olds are required to have a ratio of 1 member of staff for every 5 children and three and four year olds are required to have a ratio of 1 member of staff for every 13 children.

 

D. A reminder to renew funding for working family codes

Parents who are entitled to 30 hours free funded Nursery hours in Big Nursery must ensure a valid code is in place by 31^st March 2026 if they wish to have 30 hours funding for the summer term 2026.  Codes need to be renewed approximately every three months. The government does usually send out reminder emails directly to parents. Do check your Junk Mail or Spam folders, as sometimes the reminder can end up there.

If the code is not valid your child will not get the funding from the government, and would have to fall back to 15 hours attendance or choose to pay for the additional 15 hours.

Similarly, the Funding for Working Families initiative- in Little Nursery– Parents must ensure their valid code is in place on 31^st March.

 

E. Phonics program Big Nursery: Slithery Snakes and Ants on my Arm

Phonics began two weeks ago in Big Nursery. In week one your child will have learnt their first sound ‘s’. We begin every session by reminding all children that each letter has a name and a sound. The name of the letter is ‘S’ and the sound it makes is ‘sss’. As a parent it is important to teach your children both the letter names and sounds at the same time. Children need to use letter names when spelling words out, and letter sounds when trying to ‘read’ or ‘decode’ words.

We tell a story about a snake in the grass. We try to make our sessions interactive and playful. The children all made a sock Snake hand puppet, to retell the story which they will have hopefully brought home by now. Children will remember the ‘sss’ sound if they have fun playing with their snake, making a ‘sss’ sound. We show the children the letter ‘s’ that represents the sound ‘sss’. We ask them to move their hand like a snake whilst saying the ‘sss’ sound.

We also teach a song for each new sound. The ‘s’ song is:

‘The snake is in the grass, the snake is in the grass, ‘sss’ ‘sss’ , the snake is in the grass.’ (To the tune of ‘The farmers in his den.)

In week two we introduced the sound ‘a’. We tell a story about friends having apples at a picnic. We share some slices of apple for the children to eat. (Again, trying to make a link in their memory that lasts.) In the story a child finds some ants on her arm. We make a very simple ant finger puppet, so the children can move an ant up their arm whilst singing:

‘Ants, ants, ants on my arm, Ants, ants, ants on my arm, Ants, ants, ants on my arm, They’re causing me alarm.’ (To the tune of ‘Skip, skip, skip to my Lou)

Each letter sound will come home on a Jolly phonics page, which allows the child to colour in a picture associated with the sound, has some dotted practice letter shapes to write over, and has a little picture at the side of the page to show how the movement should be made that supports the memory of this phonic sound.

Adding a movement to the sound does help children to recall it at a later date. Spend just a few minutes each week going over the sounds at home.

If you build up your child’s letter knowledge, week by week, adding new letters to the already familiar letters, they will progress with their phonic knowledge.

Give this a go. This will REALLY help your child to learn their phonic sounds which will in turn help them to read and write! If you do this with us, your child will be very prepared for reception class. They will have most of their phonics sounds in place for when they join reception. 

 

F What are the children are learning about this week?

The theme this week is people who help us – Doctors.

The children will have role play areas set up to explore this topic. They will learn about the role of a doctor and the tools that doctors use to help people. Staff will model lots of language to the children to expand their vocabulary and teach them the correct terms for objects that they might see in a doctor’s surgery. Staff will join in with the children’s role play and model language such as ‘appointment’, ‘medicine’ and ‘prescription’. Staff will provide first aid kits for our ‘doctors’ to use as they look after the babies that are hurt or sick. There will be bump notes for our doctors to write for the babies and an ambulance station set up in case any patients need to visit the hospital.

Our learning intention this week is for the children to learn how to name and identify different parts of their body. This will be taught by playing games, reading books, singing songs and interactions with adults.

We will provide lots of resources for the children to use as they explore this topic, these will include a shared read of Doctor Maisy, mirrors for the children to explore their reflections and learn about their body and dressing up outfits to spark the children’s imaginations.

Staff will talk to the children about their own experiences of visiting the doctor’s surgery and encourage the children to recall times where they, or someone they know may have visited the doctor.

 

NURSERY NEWS

2^nd  March 2026 – Edition 401

Find out About

A. An Evening Event, For Big Nursery Children: Bedtime Stories Thursday 5^th March 2026 at 5pm –A reminder

B. Can you help us with some Sellotape?

C. What are the children learning about this week?

 

A: An Evening Event, For Big Nursery Children: Bedtime Stories Thursday 5^th March 2026 at 5pm –A reminder

All Big Nursery children are invited to bring a parent along for a bedtime story at Willow Nursery School. (Big Nursery children are Blue, Orange and Yellow, those who will leave Willow in July 2026.) Children and parents will join your child’s keyworker for a bedtime story. Children can come in their pyjamas and bring a teddy bear or favourite cuddly toy with them. Older and younger brothers and sisters are welcome, but please remember the stories will be aimed at 3 and 4 year olds. Parents will be asked to monitor the behaviour of brothers and sisters, and will be expected to take noisy or wriggly children out of the story circle so as not to upset the quiet atmosphere created. We expect stories to last approximately 30 minutes (perhaps less for the youngest children) and we will then have warm ‘Hot Chocolate’ and cookies together.

 

B: Can you help us with some Sellotape?

We are very grateful to those parents who are already supporting the school, by donating tissues or bringing in boxes for our box modelling area. We have a number of children who enjoy making box models, using Sellotape to join their boxes together. We probably have more children who just enjoy exploring the sellotape and the sellotape dispensers!

Please could I ask that all parents consider donating some Sellotape to school? We prefer the 3 inch / 7.5cm diameter rolls as these fit on the dispensers. We would be very happy with the cheaper brands, I have seen 3 rolls for £1 in ‘The Works’ recently.

We could also use masking tape, again on the 3inch/ 7.5cm diameter rolls. This gives the children a choice of tape.

 

We put out this request this time last year and the sellotape donations are only just about to run out. We were overwhelmed by everyone’s generosity. The children use at least one roll a day… so we are looking for about 200 rolls!

Please help us to put a smile on the children’s faces. When a three year old says ‘Can I have some more sellotape?’ we want to be able to say ‘Yes’ and send them away happy, to busily get on with their constructions. There is ALWAYS someone working at the sticking bench.

 

C. What are the children learning about this week?

The theme this week is ‘The Tiger Who Came To Tea’

This week the children will learn the story of The Tiger Who Came To Tea, written by Judith Kerr. There will be many different opportunities for the children to then retell the story in a variety of ways. There will be comprehensive role play areas set up to expand imaginative play, including Sophie’s house and a café. These areas will include clothes for the children to dress up in which will support their play as they act out different roles from the book.

The learning intention this week is for the children to be able to run with spatial awareness and negotiate space successfully, adjusting speed or direction to avoid obstacles. The children will be supported at each stage of their development to achieve this, the expectations range from being able to walk a considerable distance with purpose, stopping, starting and changing direction, to beginning to understand and choose different ways of moving while staying safe.

This week we will also be encouraging everyone to look around them and take an interest in the natural environment. This includes looking for insects, identifying them and taking care of them. We have lots of magnifying pots, information banners and books to help the children identify insects or birds that they may see this week.

We will also be focusing on ball skills throughout the nursery. We will be encouraging the children to catch and throw balls to each other, kick large balls to their friends and roll smaller balls to and fro. There are plenty of bats and balls available for the children to use, if they wish to practice passing balls and hitting targets.

 

NURSERY NEWS

23^rd  February 2026 – Edition 400

Find out About

A. An Apology, regarding the date of Big Nursery Children’s Bedtime Stories .

B. An Open School Event: For Big Nursery Orange Group Parents: Basic Skills.

C. Can you help with some Tissues?

D. What are the children learning about this week?

E. Phonics program starts this week!

 

A. An Apology, regarding the date of Big Nursery Children’s Bedtime Stories .

I made a mistake in my last newsletter with regard to the date of bedtime stories.  So to clarify, Bedtime Stories will take place on Thursday 5^th March 2026 at 5pm.

 

B. An Open School Event: For Big Nursery Orange Group Parents: Basic Skills.

Miss Skai teaches Big Nursery Orange Group children ‘Basic Skills’ on a Wednesday morning. The children move to a quiet space in Room 5 where they work in small groups (approx. 8 children) to learn reading, writing, mathematical skills and problem solving. We would like to invite Miss Skai’s Orange group parents in to observe a 30 minute reading/writing activity on Wednesday 11^th March. A further invitation letter will follow to Orange Group parents so that we can match up time slots, so parents can join their child’s small group. Blue Group had their Basic Skills groups in the Autumn Term 2025, Yellow Group have Basic skills in the Summer Term 2026. Eventually all parents will be invited to observe Basic skills sessions when their child is being taught.

 

C. Can you help with some Tissues?

Sometimes we ask parents for some specific donations that help our school.

I last asked parents for a donation of tissues at the beginning of November. At that time parents were very generous, and we received lots of donations. Enough in fact for 16 weeks of runny noses!  We have almost run out of tissues. So please, when doing your shopping consider picking up a box of tissues for our children.

 

D. What are the children learning about this week?

The theme this week is police and firefighters

The learning intention this week is to show an interest in different occupations and ways of life indoors and outdoors. This can be shown by children displaying a curiosity about people and showing and interest in stories about people, animals or objects that they are familiar with or that fascinate them. It can also be investigated through pretend play, when children imitate everyday actions and events from their own family and cultural background. This can be everyday routines such as drinking tea, going to the barber, or even pretending to be an animal that they have experience with such as a cat or dog.

We will focus on the police and fire services this week as we teach the children about people who help us. Staff will set up a role-play area where the children can act out the roles of police officers, criminals and people that need help. Staff will provide lots of resources to support and recreate different scenarios that might need the support of the police. We will provide a police role-play area and a role play fire station. The children can use the resources provided and their imaginations to act out many different scenarios. As the skill this week is scissor skills, the children might choose to work on these by creating their own ID badges to support their role play.

Our 7 C’s learning intention is to be able to use their bodies to achieve goals, to have a positive sense of self and to talk about people and experiences that are important to them.

 

 E. Phonics program starts this week!

Willow Nursery School Phonics Programme

‘Phonics’ is one tool children can use when they are beginning to learn to read and write. A definition of phonics follows on the next page.

The Department for Education (DfE) produced a phonics resource called Letters and Sounds: Principles and Practice of High Quality Phonics, which splits the teaching of phonics into six phases. At Willow, we work on phase 1 activities all the time. Phase 1 describes using activities such as storytelling and singing songs, rhymes, music, role play and listening games. This will give the children opportunities to listen carefully and talk extensively about what they hear, see and do.  Phase 1 activities are designed to underpin and run alongside activities in other phases.  Phase 2 is an introduction to more formal phonics work and involves teaching the children sets of letters in a specified order. The first set of letters to be learnt are s.a.t.i.p.n because these letters make a greater number of words than any other 6 letters in the alphabet. We feel that the children at Willow are ready to begin focussing on letter sounds in a fun and practical way.

 

What are we going to do?

• Each child will participate in 1 x 25 minute phonic sessions each week
• We are going to begin teaching 6 letter sounds, s.a.t.i.p.n. and will continue with one letter sound each week until the end of term
• We will teach the children that all letters have a name, and that these letters make a sound. For example: the letter S makes the sound ‘sss’
•  We will use a mixture of songs, games, tongue twisters, art, drama and movement activities to teach the letter sounds.

 

We will use ‘Jolly Phonics’ with the children. Jolly Phonics is the name of a program used to teach phonics. Each week we will:

• Tell the children a story, which includes focussing on the sound we are trying to teach.
• Teach an action to represent the sound
• Send home a picture (linked to the story) for the children to colour, and they can practise writing the letter which represents the sound.

For example: The ‘s’ story involves finding a snake which goes ‘ssss’. The action for ‘s’ involves making a snaking movement with your hand and forearm and saying ’ssss’. The picture to take home is a picture of a snake

 

Helping at home:

The picture your child brings home will explain to you how to make the action to represent the sound. Talk with your child about what they have learned at school. Learn the actions along with your child. Making the movement may help your child to remember. Have fun!

 

Phonics

What is phonics?

Phonics is the word used to describe the sounds the letters make. In simple terms, the word ‘cat’ can be read from its three sounds: c-a-t.

These are not the names of the letters as we say them in the alphabet, but the sounds these letters make. The word ‘thick’ is made up of three sounds: th-i-ck, where pairs of letters combine to make a single sound. Similarly, ‘rash’ is made up of three sounds: r-a-sh.

There are 40+ sounds in English but only 26 letters that are used to represent these sounds.

 

The five basic skills for reading and writing are:

• Learning the letter sounds
• Learning the letter formation
• Blending
• Identifying sounds in words
• Spelling the tricky words

 

When reading, children need to understand the meaning of the words. Before they can do this, they have to be able to work out what the words say. The phonic skill for this is to look at the letters, say the sounds and hear the words. This is called blending.

 

The main phonetic skill for writing is to start with the spoken word, then listen, identify and write the sound in that word. The ability to hear the sounds in words is called phonological awareness. For example, with the word ’bin’ if you listen you hear the sounds ‘b……i….n’. Then if you know how to write those letter sounds, you can write the word ‘bin’ without help. This is the opposite to the skill needed for blending.

 

The letters for the 42 Sounds of English:

See below:

a ……ant, sand, caravan

ai……aim, aid, drain, (long a)

b……bat, bend, crab

c ……cat, cot, duck

d……dog, dip, sudden

e……egg, end, shed

ee……eel, creep, tree (long e)

f……fog, lift, fluff

g……goat, gap, digger

h……hop, hit, hill

i……ink, indian, drink

ie……pie, tie, die (long i)

j……jelly, jet, jumper

k……king, kind, kettle

l……leg, lost, shell

m……man, mill, shrimp

n……nut, nip, spin

o……orange, on, spot

oa……oak, oats, boat (long o)

p…….pig, pet, step

q……queen, quick, quin

r……run, rabbit, barrel

s…..sand, sun, twist

t……top, tug, mat

u…….up, under, lung

ue……due, Tuesday, cue

v……van, vet, give

w…..wind, went, swim

x…..x-ray, ox, flex

y……yell, yes, yellow

z……zoo, zebra, buzz

sh……ship, shop, wish

ch……chop, chick, much

th……this, then, with (voiced th)

th……thin, thick, thimble (unvoiced th)

ng……song, bang, string

oo……look, room, foot (little oo)

oo……moon, spoon, shoot (long oo)

ar……art, arm, start

er……kerb, stern, sister

or……order, corn, storm

oi……oil, ointment, spoil

ou……out, cloud, found

 

NURSERY NEWS

9^th February 2026 – Edition 399

Find out About

A. Continuing Problems with our Phones and Internet

B. Parent Consultations. **CANCELLED**

C. February Half Term Holiday dates

D. Birthday Sweets /Cakes

E. . Children’s Personal Bikes parked in pushchair/bike area.

F. An Evening Event, For Big Nursery Children: Bedtime Stories Thursday 5^th March 2026 at 5pm

G. What are the children learning about this week?

 

A. Continuing Problems with our Phones and Internet

We continue to have problems with our telephones and Internet. We are convinced that our internet connection fluctuates. Every time our internet speed drops our telephone cuts off. Sometimes we can have a full 10 minute telephone conversation, but at other times the telephone call cuts off after just a few seconds.

Any parent who has been talking to us on the telephone recently will be aware how frustrating this is! Mrs Evans has been pushing everyone to get this resolved.

After a thorough investigation from Partnership (our ICT consultants), BT (Phone Supplier), Open Reach (internet cable provider) and Talk Straight (broadband provider) the conclusion is that we need move from a copper wire connection to full fibre broadband. We are instructing this upgrade to go ahead.

We have been told that it will take at least 30 days to upgrade to a fibre system……

So:

B: Parent Consultations. **CANCELLED**

After discussion with all the staff we have decided to cancel all parent consultations scheduled for the coming weeks.

The telephones are working very erratically. We fear the experience of these phone consultations would be very poor, and would feel very unprofessional for the staff involved.

Obviously, staff are happy to talk to parents before school, and if you have something important to discuss with your child’s keyworker that requires privacy, or more time, please speak to your child’s keyworker about this, and we will try to arrange something for you.

 

C. February Half Term Holiday dates

We are approaching our February Half Term Holiday. The school will be closed from Monday 16^th February 2026 to Friday 20th February 2026

 

D. Birthday Sweets/Cakes.

We are working very hard within school to meet all the allergy requirements of our pupils, to keep everyone safe.

Last week, as part of birthday treats at our front gate, one of our pupils, with an egg allergy, took a cake and ate some of it before their childminder realised it may contain egg. On this occasion the child did not have a reaction, but it has highlighted to us that this event may have had a very different, more serious outcome.

For safety reasons, we are now asking that parents no longer bring sweets or cake to celebrate their child’s birthday, to share with other children at school.

We know some of our parents are creative, and will suggest handing out other non-food treats. We are going to say no to these suggestions too. We want to make going home time as swift and safe as possible for everyone.

What do we do in school for 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.

 

E. Children’s Personal Bikes parked in pushchair/bike area.

We have a place where children can leave their bikes from home at the front of the school, when they ride their bike to school in the morning. Please can we remind all parents that our pupils should not be allowed to ride other children’s bikes.

 

F. An Evening Event, For Big Nursery Children: Bedtime Stories Thursday 6^th March 2025 at 5pm

All Big Nursery children are invited to bring a parent along for a bedtime story at Willow Nursery School. (Big Nursery children are Blue, Orange and Yellow group, those who will leave Willow in July 2026.)

Children and parents will join your child’s keyworker for a bedtime story. Children can come in their pyjamas and bring a teddy bear or favourite cuddly toy with them. Older and younger brothers and sisters are welcome, but please remember the stories will be aimed at 3 and 4 year olds. Parents will be asked to monitor the behaviour of brothers and sisters, and will be expected to take noisy or wriggly children out of the story circle so as not to upset the quiet atmosphere created. We expect stories to last approximately 30 minutes (perhaps less for the youngest children) and we will then have warm ‘Hot Chocolate’ and cookies together.

If we know your child has a food allergy, your child’s keyworker will talk to you prior to the event and make necessary adjustments to meet the needs of your child.

 

 G. What are the children learning about this week?

The theme this week is Chicken Licken

This week the children will learn the story of Chicken Licken and his friends, and how they go on an adventure to tell the King that the sky is falling. Staff will read the book throughout the week and the children will be supported in retelling and exploring the tale in a variety of ways. These include making hats based on their favourite character, playing duck themed maths games and using the magnetic story board to sequence the story. We will also look at how all of the characters in the book have rhyming names and the children will be encouraged to think of any other rhymes they know including nonsense words.

Each room will have lots of conversation starters to engage the children, staff will urge the children to think about the characters in the story and consider their personalities. Were they kind and trustworthy or were they sneaky and not to be trusted?

The learning intention this week is to explore a range of their own marks and signs to which they ascribe mathematical meanings. This includes using number words like one or two and sometimes responding accurately when asked to give one or two items. Children may also begin to notice numerals in the environment. There will be some Chicken Licken hunts available for the children to put these skills into practice as they mark down how many of each character they find.

NURSERY NEWS

2^nd February 2026 – Edition 398

Find out About

A Continuing Problems with our Phones and Internet.

B. Parent Consultations.

C. Remember to add younger siblings (brothers and sisters) to our contact list.

D. What are the children learning about this week?

 

A. Continuing Problems with our Phones and Internet.

We are still having ongoing problems with our phone and internet. Our telephone provider BT has confirmed that our telephone system is working correctly at their end. Our problems are not due to our telephone service.

Open Reach attended on Tuesday and Wednesday last week to check the external broadband cabling that connects us physically to the broadband network.

We are now returning back, to follow this up with our Broadband provider.

We are sorry for the inconvenience caused, and I would like to thank parents for their patience when trying to speak with us on the telephone.

 

B: Parent Consultations.

We aim to hold Parent Consultations every term. Big Nursery Consultations will be taking place during the week beginning 23^rd  February 2026. Parent Consultations are not compulsory, but if you would like an appointment please arrange this with your child’s keyworker when they are outside before sessions begin. These consultations will be on the telephone, will last 5 minutes and be at the following times:

Mrs Patterson Monday 23^rd  February between 3:15pm and 4:15pm

Miss Cashmore Tuesday 24^th February between 3:15pm and 3:55pm

Miss Howe Thursday 26^th February between 3:15pm and 3:45pm

Miss Skai Friday 27^th February between 3:15pm and 4:15pm

 

C. Remember to add younger siblings (brothers and sisters) to our contact list.

You may add a child’s name to our contact list at any time from birth.

Currently, and moving forward, we will make offers to families at two points of entry, 2+ and 3+.

2+ intake is at the beginning of the term after a child turns 2.                                             We offer families a choice of 15 hours per week (part time) or 30 hours per week (full time)

3+ intake is at the beginning of the term after a child turns 3. For 3+ intake all families are offered a 15 hour part time space.

We are enrolling two different groups of children every term.

We would recommend putting your child’s name down on our contact list as early as possible to increase the possibility of them being offered a space.

In the past we would be able to give siblings priority over others on the wait list. But we cannot afford to leave empty spaces in a termly intake at age two, to wait for a sibling who might join at age three.

For our full admissions policy please look on our website www.willownursery.co.uk

 

D. What are the children learning about this week?

The theme this week is The Three Little Pigs

This week, the children will be listening to, and learning about the story of The Three Little Pigs. Children will be encouraged to take part in a variety of learning opportunities to retell the story in their own style.

There will be a variety of resources available for the children to use, which will help to build upon their attention and recall skills.

In the garden, the children will have the chance to explore the different houses of the three little pigs. Staff will help the children to set up a house made of straw, one made of sticks and another of bricks. They will have the opportunity to make pig or wolf hats to support their story telling.

As a school for our learning intention, we will be focusing on manipulating tools and equipment. there will be wheelbarrows, bricks and hard hats for the children to use as they build homes out of their chosen materials.

Our skill to focus on this week is riding a bike. Children will be encouraged to take turns and to practice riding the bicycles and tricycles using the pedals to move and handlebars to steer. We emphasise the importance of keeping our bikes on the track and not riding too fast to ensure the safety of all children in the playground.

 

 

 

 

 

NURSERY NEWS

26^th January 2026 – Edition 397

Find out About

A.Problems with our Phones and Internet.

B.Parent Consultations.

C. What are the children learning about this week?

D. Willow Lending Library.

 

A: Problems with our Phones and Internet.

Unfortunately, we are having some problems with our phones and our internet. Our phone calls are randomly cutting off mid call. We are very sorry if this has happened to you. Calls are cutting off on incoming and outgoing calls. If your call gets cut off we will try to ring you back, if we know who you are.

We buy into ICT support services, and our support technician is trying to resolve this. We are contacting our internet provider, and our telephone provider, where checks are being done and tests are being carried out, but we do not know what the problem is yet.

The staff are all finding this very frustrating, and I’m sure parents are too. I can only apologise to everyone and let you know that we are chasing this up daily to enable our services to be working again.

 

B: Parent Consultations.

We aim to hold Parent Consultations every term. Little Nursery Consultations will be taking place during the week beginning 9^th February 2026. Parent Consultations are not compulsory, but if you would like an appointment please arrange this with your child’s keyworker when they are outside before sessions begin. These consultations will be on the telephone, will last 5 minutes and be at the following times:

Mrs Brinkley Monday 9^th February between 4:30pm and 4:55pm

Miss Gaffney Tuesday 10^th February between 3:15pm and 4:00pm

Miss Gaffney Wednesday 11^th February between 3:15pm and 4:00pm

Miss Tyler Thursday 12^th February between 3:15pm and 3:35pm

Miss Allen Friday 13^th February between 3:00pm and 4:05pm

Details of Big Nursery Consultations will be in next weeks’ newsletter.

 

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

What are the children learning about this week?

The theme this week is The Three Billy Goats Gruff

This week we will be reading The Three Billy Goats Gruff in school and there will be lots of learning opportunities based on the book.

Children will be able to retell the story outside, there will be a bridge for the children to ‘trip trap’ across, while pretending to be a Billy Goat and they can take it in turns to be the angry troll, just like in the book. As the children play, they can include repeated refrains from the story such as ‘who’s that trip trapping over my bridge?’.

There will be a variety of small world scenes for the children to explore and become familiar with the story and its characters. As the children play, they can extend invitations for their friends to join them and take on different roles. We also have the story available in different formats, such as pictures on the magnetic board and also on the interactive screens in the classrooms.

The learning intention this week is for the children to understand the concept of heavy, light, long, short and more or less in meaningful contexts. This means we will explore differences in size, length, weight and capacity.

Staff will also support children with our 7C’s learning intention of the week, which is to safely use a wide range of tools. Children will be shown how to use scissors, sellotape dispensers etc. safely and effectively.

 

D. Willow Lending Library.

We have had a number of new families joining us this term, so we just wanted to remind parents that we operate a lending library of children’s books.

 

Willow Lending Library

Welcome to Willow outdoor lending library. We are open every day from 8.15-8.45am and from 3.00pm-3.30pm.

Please choose 1-2 books with your child and write the names of the books under your child’s name in their colour group folder before taking them home to read together.

You can change the books as frequently as you wish.

Please look after our books.

*Please ensure that you have left the library area at 8.45am prompt before children start to enter the school gates in the morning. THANKYOU J

 

Top Tips for Reading with your child

• Let your child choose what they would like to read.
• Make sure there are no distractions.
• Sit close together. Encourage your child to hold the book and turn the pages too.
• Look at the pictures. Talk about what can be seen on the page.
• Ask questions and talk about the book. Give your child time to talk.
• Have fun – there is no right or wrong way to share a story.

 

 

NURSERY NEWS

19^th January 2026 – Edition 396

Find out About

A: Progress so far…

B. What are the children learning about this week?

C. School Rules.

 

A. Progress so far…..

We have been back at school now for almost two weeks. Usually by this time, all enrolments for the Spring Term have happened, and we are well on the way to settling everyone. We do seem to have a number of the very youngest children off with various illnesses, so I cannot say that we are all settled in yet.

We are all really enjoying getting to know all our new pupils. We want the children to learn that all the adults here are friendly adults who are here to help them. We begin by smiling at the children and displaying positive body language, to make them feel welcome. We try to be interested in the children and what they are choosing to play with. We join them in their play and talk gently to them, encouraging children to begin to trust the staff.

These transitions are challenging for children. Before they start nursery, children are used to their family routines, where interactions and organisations are on a much smaller scale. Suddenly, in Nursery, children are surrounded with all these people they do not know, without their familiar toys and surroundings, the noise can be loud sometimes and their familiar grown ups are not around to help them!

Our new starters are looking for their familiar grown ups to come back and collect them. The first few days can be hard, because the children have not yet learnt that their carers will return. When a little time has passed they begin to understand the routine and learn that grown-ups do come back and collect them.

“Is my Mummy coming yet?”

We know parents can find it hard too when your child joins nursery for the first time. It is natural to miss your child and worry how they are doing. We are always happy to take a phone call, and go and find your child in the classrooms and update you about how they appear to be feeling. There is no ‘One size fits all’ solution to settling in children. Each family has individual needs and we do try to support our families individually.

Ultimately, we would like children to feel happy with good well-being when they are in nursery as this is when children become settled and receptive to learning.

 

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

The theme this week is Nursery Rhymes

The children will be learning lots of nursery rhymes this week and they will share their knowledge by making nursery rhyme pages. As the children work they will be taught the words and actions to the song they have chosen. Each page will be collected up and made into a very special book for the children to bring home. This activity will support the children with our learning intention, to recognise rhythm in spoken words, songs, poems and rhymes, increasing phonological and phonemic awareness. Staff will observe and support the children as they make their nursery rhyme pages, focussing on pencil grip and control when making marks.

Our 7C’s learning intention this week if for the children to be able to participate and feel confident in following nursery rules and routines. We have been reminding the children of the school rules and praising the children as they remember that the rules are to keep them safe and help them learn.

 

C. School rules:

We encourage our pupils to be independent children. We introduce 5 simple rules very early on, which we use with all the children. We use positive words for our rules, to remind children what they should be doing.

*Walking feet – We say this to remind children that they should walk carefully inside. We have a long interior corridor, that links our classrooms. It is so tempting for the children to run along the corridor. Other children may exit from a classroom into the corridor and that is when we see a ‘Bump!’. We suggest to children that there is more space outside, including a track. If you want to run, choose to go outside!

*Looking eyes –We remind children to use their ‘Looking eyes’ when we gather for a story time and look at one big book together. We encourage children to look at the pictures and at the adult who is teaching. We teach the children to look this way, to encourage paying attention as they get older.

*Listening ears– Sometimes we need children to listen carefully, for example at going home time, when each child must listen for their name to be called out when we try to match adults to children at the front gate.  We also use the term ‘Listening ears’ if we are encouraging children to pay attention to what is being taught.

*Little voices–  We use this rule to reduce the volume in a workspace. Sometimes at lunchtime the background noise of children chatting together can become quite loud. We remind children to use Little voices so the staff do not have to raise their voices over the children. Children that become excited when taking part in an activity can become loud. Asking for ‘Little voices’ can calm the group.

*Kind hands– Small children who have few words will often use their hands to shove a friend, to make a space to sit on the bench at register time. Some children take part in rough and tumble play at home with family members, but we have to teach them that at school this rough play is not appropriate. We talk about using ‘Kind hands’ as we do not want one child to hurt another.

NURSERY NEWS

12^th January 2026 – Edition 395- First Newsletter of 2026

Find out About

A. Welcome back after the Christmas Break.

B. Change of Clothes Bag

C. School Term Dates

D. Labelling Belongings

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

 

A. Welcome back after the Christmas Break.

We hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas Break. Our pupil numbers grow each term as the academic year progresses, so please try to arrive on time, so we can take everyone safely inside in an organised way as swiftly as possible.

So, as a reminder, Little Nursery Should arrive for 8:45 and Big Nursery should arrive for 8:50. If you arrive late, please be patient, we will admit all those children who arrive on time first, and then come back to admit latecomers. We do understand that parents cannot be in two places at once if you have to drop off older brothers and sisters at other schools.

 

B. Change of Clothes Bag

Can you please ensure your child’s change bag has all necessary items we need in order to change your child if they wet or soil themselves.

There have been a number of children this week who have not had wet wipes in their change of clothes bag. It is important that all children have wet wipes in their bag, to enable staff to clean children who are wet or soiled.

Please get into a routine of checking your change of clothes bag on a daily basis to ensure it is fully stocked.

 

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.

We have put Willow Nursery School dates for the 2025-2026 and the 2026-2027 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.

Two, three and four year olds are not yet reliable when it comes to hanging up their coats, hats and scarves. Our cloakrooms are scattered with children’s belongings by the middle of the session. We do our best to keep belongings with the correct child, but it would be incredibly helpful if parents could name items, especially coats, as this is a time when children often begin to wear heavier winter coats. We do not need fancy nametags, just consider putting your child’s name (or initials), in biro, on the manufacturers label.

 

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

The theme this week is Goldilocks and the Three Bears

In the Nursery this week the children will listen to the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. There will be a role play area set up for the children to explore and act out the story. They will have the chance to dress up, pretend to eat porridge, sit in the chairs and lie down in the three beds. This will give the children a wonderful opportunity to build their confidence as they join others in play and recite memorable lines from the book.

In the Creative area, children will be encouraged to paint portraits of the characters from this story. They can choose to use character templates or to free paint using colours and styles of their own choice.

There are lots of variations on this story and staff will talk to the children about different endings they may have read about. They will also discuss the language of size from the book and encourage the children to think about why the characters each have different sized objects. Staff will ask the children about their own opinions on issues in the story, for example ‘would you like it if somebody ate all your porridge?’. This is a lovely way to really inspire the children to think about the feelings of other people and how our actions impact upon them.

The youngest children will begin to explore the language of size, linked to the story ‘Goldilocks and the three bears’, comparing bowls, spoons, chairs and beds that are ‘Big’ or ‘Small’. Children will also be able to play with a small world house and appropriate characters to retell the Three Bears story.

NURSERY NEWS

15^th 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 31^st August 2022 are due to start Primary school in September 2026.  You need to apply before 15^th 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 19^th 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 19^th 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 19^th December the school will be open for the parties only. The school office will be closed on Friday 19^th 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 6^th January 2026

NURSERY NEWS

8^th December 2025 – Edition 393

Find out About:

A. Christmas at Willow

B. Ensure all payments are up to date by Thursday 11^th December.

C. School Office is closed on Friday 19^th 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 11^th December.

Please ensure that all payments are made by 9:30am on Thursday 11^th December for the remainder of this term and for the first week back.

 

C. School Office is closed on Friday 19^th December.

The 19^th 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 19^th 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 19^th 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 19^th 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.