Latest News

Nursery News 27th April 2026

Monday, April 27, 2026

NURSERY NEWS

 27th April 2026 – Edition 407

Find out About

A. Sun Safety

B. What are the children learning about this week?

 

A. Sun Safety

We are moving swiftly towards the hottest part of the year in school. I have been doing some research online to ensure I can give parents good advice about Sun Safety.

I have taken some information from Cancer Research UK’s website:

  • The best way to enjoy the sun safely and protect your skin is to use shade, clothing and sunscreen.
  • Shade and clothing are better than sunscreen at protecting your skin.
  • Sunscreen shouldn’t be used to spend longer in the sun. But they can be useful for protecting the parts of skin not covered by clothing or shade.

 

Clothing

Clothing should cover your shoulders and have long sleeves. The more skin that’s covered by your clothing, the better the protection.

Choose clothing that’s loose-fitting and darker in colour

Look for materials with a close weave- as a guide you can hold the material up to the light to check you can’t see through the fabric

 

Hats

Choose a wide-brimmed hat that shades your face, ears and neck for the most UV protection.

 

Shade

Spending time in the shade is one of the best ways to protect your skin from the sun’s UV rays.

 

So what does this mean for us at Willow?

We still go outside every day, but we do limit how long children can go outside if it is very hot. We encourage all children to drink plenty, reminding them that their water bottle is always available. We do encourage children to come inside for a rest in the shade. At some points in the day we completely close outside, so that we know all children have had a break from the sun. We are very lucky in that our school remains fairly cool in the summer, with lots of windows for ventilation.

 

You know your child best!   

Some children are more vulnerable to the sun than others. I have red hair and freckles, which means that I can burn very easily, (Sometimes in very strong sun, in as little as 20 minutes). Some children are less likely to burn than others. People with naturally dark or brown skin burn less easily. But people with darker skin can still burn – it might feel itchy or tender rather than changing colour.

So, I can give advice, but you must make day to day decisions regarding your child’s sun safety.

 

How can you help us?

Dress your child appropriately. Try to avoid too much bare skin. A t-shirt gives much more protection from the sun than a strappy sundress or a vest top. Think about children’s feet. Exposed skin in sandals may burn.

We would ask you to apply sun protection cream to your child before they attend school. We will assume that all pupils will have had sun protection cream applied at home.  If your child attends all day and you wish your child to have additional cream applied at lunchtime, please send a bottle of sun protection cream into school (please pass it to their Keyworker) and we will store it safely in the classroom, out of the children’s reach.  This cream should be left in school.  Ensure their name is on it. Staff will assist children to apply sun protection cream at lunchtime. We will help pupils to apply sun protection cream to their face, neck and arms.  Please do not leave sun protection cream in your child’s bag. We do not want children sharing their cream with their friends. One year we found a pair of children applying it to their teeth to use as toothpaste!

Please provide your child with a hat with their name on when the weather is sunny. A hat with a broad brim is better than a cap for sun protection. A cap is better than no hat. Remember 2, 3,and 4 year olds cannot always remember the whereabouts of clothing that they have taken off. Put their name on it if you want it to return home!

More information regarding the summer term:

Consider what you would like your child to wear at school for safety. Children are still climbing and riding bikes so long sundresses and strappy sandals are not always practical!                                 Messy Play:   As the weather improves we take more and more activities outside. More water is used and play can become much messier. Please ensure clothes are play friendly and send in spares as children can become soaked if they pour water down their clothes, even with aprons on!

 

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

What are the children learning about this week?

This week the topic is planting. The children will be learning about the growth and change of people, animals and plants. Staff will explain that everything in nature grows and changes, they will use lots of hands on activities to show how this happens. Children will be offered the opportunity to do some of their own planting, they can then look after their plants and observe the transformations that occur from seed to plant. There will be planting inside and outside and it will be the children’s job to take care of all of the seedlings until they are fully grown.

The 7C’s learning intention this week is to develop attention and listening skills in a range of contexts. Staff will support the children to develop these skills by asking them to join in with shared reads, learning new songs and talking to the children about what they have been learning through the week.

We will also be focusing on scissor skills which includes learning what scissors are for, how to hold scissors effectively and how to make cuts in paper. Children will also learn the importance of using scissors safely and on appropriate resources.

Nursery News – 20th April 2026

Monday, April 20, 2026

NURSERY NEWS

 Monday 20th April 2026 – Edition 406

Find out About

A. Summer Term Challenges

B. Summer Term Opportunities

C. Holiday forms and pupil absence.

D. Allergen reminders.

E. Chickenpox in school: Update.

F. What are the children learning about this week?

 

A. Summer Term Challenges

Summer is our busiest term at Willow Nursery School. Our numbers increase each term from September around to July and the school steadily fills. We have had thirteen new families joining us this term, bringing the total number of pupils using the school to 94 children.

This means that we have a lot of children to take in safely at the beginning of their session, matching them to the correct staff and room base. We also have to ensure children are matched to the correct carer at going home time.

So, to help us greatly, please be on time wherever possible. (We appreciate parents cannot be in two places at once if other siblings attend other schools.)

The staff collect their children in a particular order. Please, if you arrive a little late, be patient and a staff member will invite your child in when someone is available to take them to the correct classroom and mark them into the register. If you are a Little Nursery family, and the Big Nursery children are being admitted, please wait in the Little Nursery queuing area until the Big Nursery children have gone in. If Little Nursery families arrive late, all the Little Nursery Staff are already very busy working in Little Nursery, settling in the children.

Please help us to keep the queues moving steadily.

Please leave adequate space at the front gate for families to drop off and move away from the front gate.

We are trying very hard to release children at the end of the session promptly.                                        These times of coming and going are called ‘transition times’, where we have to move children around the school. Transition times have to be carefully managed and it takes all the staff in school to manage these times safely. Some children are nervous of transition times, particularly new children. Some children become upset when it is time to go home.  It may take us a few weeks to find a successful routine to escort the children out as efficiently as possible.

Please ensure all lunchboxes and drink bottles are named. It is difficult to find a child’s drinks bottle quickly when bottles are not named.

 

B. Summer Term Opportunities

The Summer term is when the school can use the inside and outside areas to their full potential. We try to move many of the inside activities outside. As the term goes on we offer painting and craft activities outside, and provide lots of water play. Mrs Patterson and Miss Gaffney have already been painting outside with the children, and Miss Gaffney has helped children to make huge cardboard butterfly wings decorated with different coloured pieces of cellophane. As the ‘butterflies’ were flying around, there was a feel of carnival outside!  Sometimes a change in the environment can stimulate some exciting play.

 

C. Holiday forms and pupil absence.

We are at the point in the year when some families begin to take holidays. If you have a planned holiday during term time, please ask a member of staff for a holiday form. We ask that you fill in this very short form so that we can update attendance registers correctly.

Please can we also remind parents that if your child is absent for any other reason please telephone the school office and let us know. The school telephone does have an answering machine which is regularly monitored, so do please leave a message letting us know the reason for their absence and again we can update registers.

 

D. Allergen reminders.

When we induct new children to nursery we review all our information regarding all children’s allergens. Obviously we work very hard to ensure children eat only their own food provided for them in their lunchbox. We ask that parents do not provide any foods in lunchboxes containing nuts.  Nuts are found in peanut butter, wafers, chocolate spread, chocolate crepes, cookies etc. The nature of these sticky nut spreads means that the allergen can be transferred from children’s hands to other surfaces, such as tables, chairs, doorknobs, toys etc and can then be touched by another child who may transfer it to their hand and then their mouth. This could lead to anaphylaxis.

 

E. Chickenpox in school: Update.

Last week we had 10 cases of chickenpox across the school. Our prediction is that it will continue to circulate for a few more weeks.

 

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

The theme this week is Handa’s surprise

This week the learning intention is for the children to be able to respond to both formal language used to describe shapes  and common shape names. To support the children with this, the staff will be teaching about shapes using a variety of resources. There will be shape sorting and inset puzzles, magnetic shapes and picture boards, drawing opportunities and hammer and pin boards. Staff will model age appropriate language to teach the children about the shapes that we see in our everyday environment, there will be lots of opportunity for the children to practice their shape recognition as the week progresses and staff will encourage this by playing games, reading books and singing songs.

We will also be reading the story of Handa’s Surprise, which is a tale of a little girl that wants to give a fruit basket gift to her friend. She meets lots of animals on her journey and when she meets her friend, the fruit has been eaten and there is an entirely new surprise for Handa to give to her friend. The children will be encouraged to think about the similarities and differences between themselves and the characters from the book. They will pay attention to all the little details in the pictures and share what they have noticed.

Staff will share a Handa’s Surprise story sack with the children and encourage them to act out the roles of Handa, her friend and all of the animals from the story. This has always been a popular story at Willow and hopefully the children will enjoy retelling it to you at home.

 

Nursery News -13th April 2026

Monday, April 13, 2026

NURSERY NEWS

13th April 2026 – Edition 405

Find out About

A. Dates for the Summer Term 2026

B. For families of children leaving us in July 2026 (Big Nursery Blue, Orange and Yellow Groups): Finding out the results of your application for Lower or Primary Schools.

C. What are the children learning about this week?

 

A. Dates for the Summer Term 2026

Welcome back everyone. We are now into the third term of the school year- The Summer Term. I just wanted to outline key dates across this term for your information.

Monday 13th April 2026, Summer Term begins.

Monday 4th May 2026. Bank Holiday Monday, School Closed.

Monday 25th May to Friday 29th May 2026, Half Term Week, School Closed                                    (25th May is a Bank Holiday)

Monday 22nd June 2026 is a training day for staff. School Closed

Thursday 16th July 2026 will be the last day of term for all children. School opens for normal hours.

Friday 17th July 2026 school will be open only for the Big Nursery children that are leaving us. The session will be a morning only session from 8:50am to 11:50am.

 

B. For families of children leaving us in July 2026 (Big Nursery Blue, Orange and Yellow Groups): Finding out the results of your application for Lower or Primary Schools.

Parents that have applied for Lower/Primary School Places will find out the results of their application this week. There is a National day when results are released.

 

This Information copied from Central Bedfordshire Local Authority website.

Finding out the results of your application for lower or primary school

When you’ll find out

16 April 2026 is the national offer day for on-time school applications.

If we have your email address

You’ll receive an email with the outcome of your application.

If we don’t have your email address

We will post your decision letter to you.

 

C. What are the children learning about this week?

The theme this week is animals and vets.

This week the children will be learning about animals that we might have as pets and how we should take care of them. The children will be able to relate to their own experiences as they may discuss their own pets and how they look after them at home. Staff will discuss the importance of making sure our pets have enough food and water as well as a comfortable bed and home. They will share with the children that if our pets get poorly, we will take them to a veterinary surgeon, just like a person would visit a doctor.

To support this, there will be vet role play areas set up for the children to use their imagination and learn through play. There will be plenty of soft toy animals that need treatment, food, water, medicine and comfortable beds. Staff will model vocabulary to support the children and extend their play.

The learning intention this week is to learn how to catch and throw large balls, bean bags and other items. Children will be shown how to throw items to each other in a safe environment and how to hold their arms out in front of them to catch these items.

 

The learning intention from the 7 C’s is to be able to recognize small quantities without counting. We will be playing simple games where the children will try to estimate how many items are in front of them, without counting. This is a tricky objective to master so we will play lots of games to support this. We want children to be able to look quickly at groups of 1, 2 or 3 objects and accurately identify how many items there are without using their counting skills.

You can help your child to master this at home. Use small objects such as coins, buttons or Lego bricks. Hide 1,2 or 3 items in your hand and briefly open your hand to show your child. Then close your hand around the objects and ask your child ‘How many items did you see?’

Nursery News 23rd March 2026

Monday, March 23, 2026

NURSERY NEWS

23rd  March 2026 – Edition 404

Find out About

A. Term dates. Last day of Spring Term Friday 27th March 2026. School Re-opens Monday 13th April 2026 for the Summer term.

B. What are the children learning about this week?

C. Meningitis outbreak in Kent – advice for educational settings.

D. We have had two cases of Chickenpox in school. Advice on symptoms…

 

A. Term dates. Last day of Spring Term Friday 27th March 2026. School Re-opens Monday 13th April 2026 for the Summer term.

The last day of the Spring Term for all children is Friday 27th March. The Nursery is open for normal hours on this day.  School re-opens for the Summer Term on Monday 13th April.

 

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

The theme this week is Easter

There will be lots of Easter activities happening throughout the week including hunting for Easter images and creating different crafts. The children will learn the story of Easter at group time and as many children will be celebrating Easter over the holidays. Staff will talk to the children about different ways that they may celebrate. This supports the children as they find a sense of belonging through being involved in daily tasks and common interests, which is our learning intention for the week.

We will focus on numbers and counting this week, which will be incorporated into the week’s activities, the children will be supported with finding and recognising numbers hidden in their surroundings.

Our 7 C’s learning intention this week is to be able to use good manners, to be able to say please and thank you at appropriate times and to be considerate towards each other. Learning about each other’s cultures is a way for the children to understand that not everyone is the same and that is okay.

 

C. Meningitis outbreak in Kent – advice for educational settings

Briefing from Shared Public Health Service for Bedford Borough, Central Bedfordshire and Milton Keynes Councils

The UK Health Security Agency is investigating an outbreak of meningococcal disease in Kent. As of 17 March 2026, 20 cases have been reported and sadly two people have died. The outbreak has affected young people studying at Canterbury University and at neighbouring schools. Those who have been identified at risk of infection are being contacted and offered preventive antibiotics and, in some cases, a meningitis vaccine. It is highly unusual to see a meningitis outbreak of this size, but it is currently concentrated in Kent and at this time there is no evidence that the outbreak has spread to other parts of the country.

Meningococcal bacteria can cause rare but serious illness including meningitis (inflammation of the lining of the brain) and septicaemia (blood poisoning), which can rapidly lead to sepsis.

Onset of illness is often sudden and early diagnosis and treatment with antibiotics are vital. Early symptoms are listed below; in many cases not all of these are present:

  • a rash that doesn’t fade when pressed with a glass
  • sudden onset of high fever
  • severe and worsening headache
  • stiff neck
  • vomiting and diarrhoea
  • joint and muscle pain
  • dislike of bright lights
  • very cold hands and feet
  • seizures
  • confusion/delirium
  • extreme sleepiness/difficulty waking

Early symptoms can be confused with other illnesses such as a cold, flu or hangover and students are particularly at risk of missing the early warning signs. If you or anyone you know develops any of these symptoms, seek medical help immediately by contacting a GP, calling NHS 111 or dialling 999 in an emergency. Knowing the signs and taking early treatment can be lifesaving.

If a child/student or colleague falls ill with suspected meningitis in your setting, please ensure that urgent medical care is sought and consult the following guidance:  https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/health-protection-in-schools-and-other-childcare-facilities/managing-specific-infectious-diseases-a-to-z#meningitis

The UK Health Security Agency will contact you if you need to take any action related to a case of bacterial meningitis who attends your setting.

In the meantime, please continue to support the routine childhood and school-aged vaccination programme; meningitis ACWY vaccine is offered to children in Year 9. Catch up vaccination clinics are regularly offered by the Community and School-Aged Vaccination Service throughout Bedfordshire and Milton Keynes; venues are listed here: Children’s immunisations in Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes

The type of meningitis causing the Kent outbreak (meningitis B) is not covered by the ACWY vaccine, and some students are being offered a Men B vaccine as a precautionary measure in response to this outbreak. Since 1 May 2015, Men B vaccine has been offered to infants as part of the routine childhood schedule. Men B vaccine not routinely available for teenagers/students on the NHS and there is currently no catch-up programme for those born before May 2015.

More information about meningitis is available from the UK Health Security Agency blog article: What is meningitis? Symptoms, risks and how to protect yourself – UK Health Security Agency

The following social media asset is also available to share among your pupil and parent networks.

Suggested copy to go with it:

Cases of invasive meningococcal disease have been confirmed in Kent. It’s important to know the signs of symptoms of meningitis and septicaemia. Get more info from @NHSuk

http://nhs.uk/conditions/meningitis

 

D. We have had two cases of Chickenpox in school. Advice on symptoms…

(From NHS Website)

Chickenpox

Chickenpox is a common infection that spreads easily and mostly affects children. It usually gets better on its own after 1 to 2 weeks without needing to see a GP, but can be serious in some people.

How chickenpox is spread

You can spread chickenpox to other people from 2 days before your spots appear until they have all formed scabs, which is usually 5 days after your spots appeared.

 

The spots start appearing around 1 to 3 weeks after you caught chickenpox.

 

You can catch chickenpox from:

 

  • being in the same room as someone with it
  • touching things that have fluid from the blisters on them
  • someone who has shingles if you have not had chickenpox before (but you cannot catch shingles from someone who has chickenpox)

 

Symptoms of chickenpox

The main symptom of chickenpox is an itchy, spotty rash. It can be anywhere on the body.

 

Before or after the rash appears, you might also have:

 

  • a high temperature
  • aches and pains, and generally feel unwell
  • loss of appetite
  • Chickenpox happens in 3 stages, but new spots can appear while others are becoming blisters or forming a scab.

 

Stage 1: small spots appear

The spots can:

  • be anywhere on the body, including inside the mouth and around the genitals, which can be painful
  • spread or stay in a small area
  • be red, pink, darker or the same colour as surrounding skin, depending on your skin tone
  • be harder to see on brown and black skin

 

Stage 2: the spots become blisters

The spots fill with fluid and become blisters. The blisters are very itchy and may burst.

 

Stage 3: the blisters become scabs

The spots form a scab. Some scabs are flaky, while others leak fluid.

 

How you can treat chickenpox yourself

If you have chickenpox, you’ll need to stay off school, nursery or work until all the spots have formed a scab. This is usually 5 days after the spots first appeared.

 

 

 

Nursery News 16th March 2026

Monday, March 16, 2026

NURSERY NEWS

16th March 2026 – Edition 403

Find out About

A. Term dates. Last day of Spring Term Friday 27th March 2026. School Re-opens Monday 13th April 2026 for the Summer term.

B. Role Play Linked to Our Core Books.

C. An Open School Event. Big Nursery ‘Phonics’.

D. Lost Property

E. What are the children learning about this week?

 

A. Term dates. Last day of Spring Term Friday 27th March 2026. School Re-opens Monday 13th April 2026 for the Summer term.

The last day of the Spring Term for all children is Friday 27th March. The Nursery is open for normal hours on this day.  School re-opens for the Summer Term on Monday 13th April.

I would like to take this opportunity to remind parents that if they look on our website www.willownursery.co.uk  and click on the calendar tab, you will be able to see  our academic calendar for 2025-2026 and 2026-2027.

As a school, we always follow the calendar that Central Bedfordshire Local Authority suggests, however this year 2025-26, each school was required to select their own 5 training days.

(Training days are when schools are closed to pupils, to allow teachers and support staff to receive training.)

Therefore, please be aware that Willow’s training days may be different to other schools in the local area.

 

B. Role Play Linked to Our Core Books.

We have been having so much fun in the last few weeks with the imaginative role plays the staff have been putting together. This group of children this year are really interested in dressing up in role and creating storylines. We’ve been looking at traditional tales, The Three Billy Goats Gruff, The Gingerbread Man, The Three Little Pigs and Goldilocks and the Three Bears. All these stories are great for re-telling and acting out as they have lots of repeated refrains in the stories. Even children not using very much language will join in with ‘Run, Run, Run’, or ‘Huff and Puff. All children can access these stories in some way. We are moving on with some role plays linked to our Core Books. A few weeks ago we looked at the book ‘The Tiger Who Came to Tea.’ We had role plays set up all over the school including outside!

 Next week we will be looking at the story of ‘We’re Going On A Bear Hunt’.

Mrs Patterson will transform Room 2 into an immersive role play experience. Children will listen to the story being retold, then experience walking through the long grass, the short prickly grass the thick oozy mud, the water of the river before arriving at the Bear Cave. They then find ‘A Bear!’ (One of the children dressed up.) The children get so excited with this activity. One of the best in our year!

 

C. An Open School Event. Big Nursery ‘Phonics’.

Miss Howe would like to invite all parents of Big Nursery Children to come in and watch your child take part in their phonics session, during week beginning Monday 23rd March. Sessions run at three different times throughout the week.

For your information:

Children who attend for 30 hours per week or 15 hours at the beginning of the week will have their group on Monday 23rd March at 1:00pm or 1:30pm. Children who attend for 15 hours at the end of the week will have their group on Thursday 26th March at 10:50am.

Sessions last around 30 minutes.

The school office will send emails to parents this week, inviting parents to attend on a particular day and time, as groups are based on your child’s attendance days and not their Keyworker groups. We try to offer a variety of Open School Activities both during the school day and in the early evening, hoping that parents might be able to attend some of them. We understand parents have different family and work commitments, so we do not expect all parents to attend. It is just another option….

 

D. Lost Property

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

 

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

The theme this week is ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’

This week the children will be listening to We’re Going on a Bear Hunt, written by Michael Rosen and illustrated by Helen Oxenbury. They will be exposed to lots of different ways to learn the story and then they will be encouraged to retell the story in their own way.

One of the main ways that the children are encouraged to retell the story is by taking part in a physical activity where they will walk through different sensory scenes from the book such as ‘splash sploshing’ through water, ‘squelch squerching’ through mud and ‘stumble tripping’ through a forest. It is a very interactive activity and always very popular with everybody.

We hope to spark the children’s imagination and promote lots of role play. Our learning intention this week is to be able to join in with repeated refrains and anticipate key events in rhymes and stories. There are many repeated refrains in this story and we will be encouraging the children to join in with them as we share this wonderful book.

Our 7 C’s learning intention this week is to be exposed to a wide variety of creative opportunities, which will be supported by the theme of the week. There will be many different ways for the children to express themselves and share their learning, including writing and drawing, and staff will monitor the children’s progress in this area as they work on their pencil grip and control.