Latest News

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nursery News 9th March 2026

Monday, March 9, 2026

NURSERY NEWS

9th March 2026 – Edition 402

Find out About

A. A reminder: An Open School Event: For Big Nursery Orange Group Parents: Basic Skills, on Wednesday 11th 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 11th 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 1st 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 1st 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 31st 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 31st 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 2nd March 2026

Monday, March 2, 2026

NURSERY NEWS

2nd  March 2026 – Edition 401

Find out About

A. An Evening Event, For Big Nursery Children: Bedtime Stories Thursday 5th 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 5th 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 23rd February 2026

Monday, February 23, 2026

NURSERY NEWS

23rd  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 5th 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 11th 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