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Nursery News 21st October 2024

NURSERY NEWS

21^st October 2024 – Edition 349

Find out About:

A. Important dates, a reminder.

B. Update: Parent School Governor.

C. Parent Consultations

D. Pumpkin Patch

E. Hand, foot and mouth disease. What to look out for:

F. What are the children learning about this week?

A. Important dates, a reminder.

Mon 28^th October 2024 to Fri 1^st November 2024: Autumn Half term – School Closed

Mon 4^th November –Teacher training day- School Closed.

Wednesday 6^th November and Thursday 7^th November-School Photographer to visit.

B. Update: Parent School Governor.

Two parents approached me to volunteer to be a parent governor. We now have a full governing body! Thank you!

C. Parent Consultations

Little Nursery will be having their Parent Consultations this week! Parents have made appointments with Keyworkers, here are the times staff will be speaking to parents on the phone, as a reminder:

Monday 21^st October Mrs Brinkley’s Orange Group Consultations, between 3:15pm and 3:55pm

Tuesday 22^nd October Miss Gaffney’s Blue Group Consultations, between 3:15pm and 4:20pm

Wednesday 23rd October Mrs Cashmore’s Little Yellow Group Consultations between 1:00pm and 1:25pm

Thursday 24^th October Mrs McGrath’s Little Yellow Groups Consultations, between 3:15pm and 3:35pm

Each appointment lasts only five minutes. Please help staff to remain on time.

D. Pumpkin Patch

The children have had so much fun with the pumpkins that parents have donated. They have enjoyed moving them in wheelbarrows and rolling them around the garden. Mrs Patterson carefully cut the top off of a big pumpkin and left it in the mud kitchen for children to investigate. They had their hands and arms fully in it, scooping out the seeds and the flesh.  Another popular activity is where we provide golf tees and little hammers so children can hammer the golf tees into the pumpkin.

The children transported the pumpkins into the big sandpit then used them as building brick to build a ‘Pumpkin Castle’, packing sand around the piled up pumpkins to build walls.

Children decorated the biggest pumpkins with chalk, so this week we will wash them and have a go at painting them.

E. Hand, foot and mouth disease. What to look out for:

We have had a number of cases of ‘Hand, foot and mouth disease’ in Little Nursery. It is a very common viral illness in childhood.

It is generally a mild illness. In rare cases it can be more severe.

I have included some information below from the East of England Health Protection Team regarding this illness:

The individual may develop a fever, reduced appetite and generally feel unwell. One or 2 days later a rash may develop with blisters, on hands, feet, insides of their cheeks, gums and on the sides of the tongue. Not all cases have symptoms. The incubation period is 3 to 5 days. Persons affected are most infectious during the first week of the illness.

The illness is usually mild and clears up by itself in 7 to 10 days.

If the individual develops the rare additional symptoms of high fever, headache, stiff neck, back pain, or other complications then they should seek prompt medical advice.

Spread is caused by direct contact with the secretions of the infected person (including faeces) or by aerosol spread such as coughing and sneezing. Younger children are more at risk because they tend to play closely with their peers.

Advice from the Health Protection Team is:

If a child has a temperature they should stay at home.

Children with hand foot and mouth disease may attend the Nursery if they feel well.

We are encouraging more frequent hand washing. We are encouraging the frequent use of tissues to keep noses clean.

I am hopeful that the half term break may stop the spread through the school

F. What are the children learning about this week?

The theme this week is keeping healthy.

Staff will teach the children about the importance of keeping healthy by exercising and eating well. There will be some activities focused on dental hygiene, which will involve showing the children how to brush their teeth correctly, for how long and how often. They will learn all about visiting the dentist and how they help us to look after our teeth. Looking after our teeth and staying healthy both link to eating well, and staff will use resources to teach the children about balancing their diet and keeping snacks as a treat item, only to be had every so often.

The children will learn value of exercise and rest. As they work and play, staff will talk to the children of the effects exercise has on their bodies. They will encourage the children to pay attention to how fast their hearts beat after exercise and the importance of staying hydrated.

We will also be focusing on scissor skills. The children will learn how to use scissors safely and effectively. We will be providing lots of cutting opportunities to upskill our children and encourage them to cut appropriate materials such as paper, card and boxes in the creative areas. Scissor skills are tricky to master so we aim to provide as much practice as possible.

Nursery News 14th October 2024

NURSERY NEWS

14^th October 2024 – Edition 348

Find out About:

A. Would you be interested in becoming a School Governor?

B. Parent Consultations

C. What are the children learning about this week?

A. Would you be interested in becoming a School Governor?

As yet, nobody has said that they might be interested. We are a friendly group! Please come and have a chat with me if you are thinking about offering your time. We value everyone’s contribution, and no particular skills are required.

We have a good crowd of parents here. This doesn’t have to be a long term commitment. Maybe you would like to volunteer for just one year?  It might give you an insight into what goes on behind the scenes in the management of schools, or you might just learn a little more about what all the children do in school.

We still have a vacancy, so I have to continue to try to fill it! Will one of you consider stepping up?

B. Parent Consultations

We aim to offer all parents the opportunity to have a Parent Consultation with their child’s keyworker once per term.

Now it is time for Big Nursery parents to book appointments to speak with your child’s Keyworker.

These consultations are offered to talk about how your child is settling in and the progress your child is making. They are not compulsory, but if you would like an appointment please arrange this with your child’s keyworker when they are outside before morning sessions, or after afternoon sessions.

These consultations will be on the telephone, will last 5 minutes and will be available at the following times:

Tuesday 5^th November  Miss Skai’s Red Group Consultations, 5 minute telephone consultations between 3:15pm and 4:00pm

Tuesday 5^th November Miss Howe’s Yellow Group Consultations, 5 minute telephone consultations between 3:15pm and 4:25pm

Thursday 7^th November Mrs Patterson’s Blue Group Consultations, 5 minute telephone consultations between 3:15pm and 4:25pm

Thursday 7^th November Mrs Cashmore’s Yellow Group Consultations, 5 minute telephone consultations between 3:15pm and 4:25pm

C. What are the children learning about this week?

The theme this week focusses on the storybook ‘Happy In Our Skin’. The children will be using mirrors to look at their reflections and adults will take these opportunities to talk to the children about what they can see. This can then evolve into an opportunity to discuss things that make us different, and any similarities that we may have with each other. Children will be learning the names of their friends and will be able to take photographs of each other using the ipads. After the photographs have been taken, the children can analyse them to identify familiar features such as eye and hair colour.

Mrs Patterson and Miss Gaffney are planning to set up a Pumpkin Patch in our outside area and are requesting donations of pumpkins. They are looking for pumpkins of all sizes to add to the patch, so, if you are able to add one to your shopping list, please do! There are so many activities that can stem from having a collection of pumpkins, including; transportation of pumpkins in wheelbarrows and on bikes, pumpkin painting, hammering items into the vegetables and even opening up the pumpkins to see what’s inside. It will be a very exciting week, full of art, science and cognitive and physical development. Thank you for your support!

Nursery News 7th October 2024

NURSERY NEWS

7^th October 2024 – Edition 347

Find out About:

A. Display of Family Photographs- For Big Nursery Children

B. Parent Consultations- A reminder

C. Would you be interested in becoming a School Governor?

D. Public Health Information: How to keep your child healthy over the coming Autumn/ Winter season.

E. What are the children learning about this week?

A. Display of Family Photographs- For Big Nursery Children

A few weeks ago I told everyone about the display we would like to put up of Family photo’s in Big Nursery. We have had a few photographs come in, and we have put them on the wall. The children have been very interested in looking at the photographs, but a few were concerned they could not find pictures of their family..

We know people have lots of photos on their phone, but people do not always print them. I am suggesting that you might like to send a family photo to the school office, and we can print it off, and place it on the wall. The school email address is office@willownursery.co.uk

B. Parent Consultations-A reminder

We aim to offer all parents the opportunity to have a Parent Consultation with their child’s keyworker once per term

Little Nursery will be having their Parent Consultations during week beginning Monday 21^st October, 2024

These consultations are offered to talk about how your child is settling in. They are not compulsory, but if you would like an appointment please arrange this with your child’s keyworker when they are outside before morning sessions, or after afternoon sessions.

C. Would you be interested in becoming a School Governor?

Willow Nursery is a Maintained Nursery School, and is managed like other Government Maintained Schools.

As part of our structure we have a governing body, made up of volunteers, that come together to help the Headteacher to manage the school effectively. As part of our governing body we have two Parent Governors. (We have one in place, we are hoping to recruit a second Parent Governor)  Parent governors play a vital role on governing bodies, holding the unique position of having a parental viewpoint of the school. Through the children, they have a first hand experience of the delivery of the curriculum, and how the school is perceived from the ‘consumers’ point of view. This enables parent governors to bring a different perspective to the strategic management of the school.

More specifically governors:

• help the school with it’s strategy
• hold the headteacher to account for the school’s performance
• makes sure the school budget is properly managed

What commitment to Parent Governors have to make at Willow?

We ask that governors are available to meet for three governors meetings per year, one in each term. We generally meet at 4:15pm, sometimes we meet face to face, sometimes online and currently due to everyone’s commitments, we operate a blended approach with some people meeting us here at school face to face, and others joining us online. Meetings usually last 60-90 minutes.

We ask all governors to visit the school once a year during the daytime to carry out a short governor visit, so they can see how the school is operating, within an area they are interested in.

You do not need any particular experience, we just ask that you are interested in the development of your child’s school.

Our next meeting is on Monday 14^th October at 4:00pm, online.

So if you think this is something you might be interested in, have a chat with me, Mrs Davies and we can take it from there.

D. Public Health Information:

How to keep your child healthy over the coming Autumn/ Winter season.

We have received some information from Vicky Head, Director of Public Health, Central Bedfordshire Council. She has asked schools to share with parents ways you can keep your children healthy over the coming Autumn/ Winter season.

She says:

With the new school term starting, children spend more time together, which can lead to more colds,flu, and other illnesses.

Here are some ways to keep your children healthy and in school:

1.Keep your child’s vaccinations up to date.

Measles and whooping cough are still around. The best way to protect your child from getting sick is to make sure they have had all their vaccines. If you are unsure. you can ask your GP or use the NHS app to check.

2. Make sure your child gets the flu vaccine.

Flu can make children very sick. The Flu vaccine reduces the risk of needing hospital care. Most children from age 2 to 16 can get the vaccine. The vaccine is usually a quick, painless spray in the nose. There is also a version without pork ingredients. Children aged 2-3 can get the flu vaccine at their GP. Vaccinating your child also helps protect others, like family members, from getting the flu.

3.Teach your child good handwashing habits.

Washing hands helps stop the spread of germs. Remind your child to wash their hands after using the toilet and before eating. Teach them to use tissues for coughs and sneezes and to throw them in the bin afterwards.

4. Know when to keep your child at home.

Sometimes it is hard to know if your child should stay home. For minor illnesses, like a slight cough or cold, it’s usually OK to send them to school. But if they have a high temperature or a rash, keep them at home and speak to your GP

E. What are the children learning about this week?

The theme this week is who is who in nursery. The staff will work with the children in the mornings on recognising different members of staff and learning their names. Staff will also encourage the children to try to remember each other’s names and use them during play.

Throughout the school we will also be focusing on becoming familiar with the sequence of numbers and being able to sing and say them in order. To support this, the children will be learning lots of number and action songs. Staff will teach the children how to represent numbers as they sing, this will be done by using props and fingers as concrete objects to count. To support your children with this objective you can sing with them at home, some popular songs are ‘5 currant buns’, ’10  green bottles’ and ‘1,2,3,4,5 once I caught a fish alive’.

The children will also be learning how to take turns on the bikes outside, we know that they are a very exciting resource and want everyone to be able to have a fair turn at learning to ride a bike. To enable this, we will introduce sand timers for the children to use to monitor when their time is finished and someone else should get a try.

Nursery News 30th September 2024

NURSERY NEWS

30th September 2024 – Edition 346

Find out About:

A. Important dates

B. Parent Consultations

C. Forest School Program

D. Willow Lending Library.

E. What are the children learning about this week?

 A. Important dates

It is time to give parents an overview of the term, as most families are now enrolled and attending in Big Nursery and Little Nursery.

The school year has three terms, Autumn, Spring and Summer. Each term has a Half Term break in the middle of the term. So dates for this term are:

Mon 28^th October 2024 to Fri 1^st November 2024: Autumn Half term – School Closed

Mon 4th November –Teacher training day- School Closed.

Thursday 19^th December 2024 Last normal school day of the Autumn Term.

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

Monday 6^th January 2025 –Teacher Training Day- School Closed

Tuesday 7^th January 2025 First day of Spring Term- School open.

We have some other notable dates to share with you. Further information will be included in these newsletters nearer to the time, regarding each event.

Wednesday 6th November and Thursday 7th November-School Photographer to visit.

Thursday 14^th November 5pm- Open School Event ‘Walk In the Dark’.

Friday 15^th November ‘Children in Need Day’ We make a collection for this charity.

Wednesday 20^th November Open School Event Big Nursery Green Group –Parents to watch Basic Skills Literacy Session.

Week beginning Monday 2nd December Open School Event: Big Nursery Parents invited in to watch their child’s Music Session.

B. Parent Consultations

We aim to offer all parents the opportunity to have a Parent Consultation with their child’s keyworker once per term

Little Nursery will be having their Parent Consultations during week beginning Monday 21^st October, 2024

These consultations are offered to talk about how your child is settling in. They are not compulsory, but if you would like an appointment please arrange this with your child’s keyworker when they are outside before morning sessions, or after afternoon sessions.

These consultations will be on the telephone, will last 5 minutes and will be available at the following times:

Monday 21^st October Mrs Brinkley’s Orange Group Consultations, 5 minute telephone consultations between 3:15pm and 3:55pm

Tuesday 22^nd October Miss Gaffney’s Blue Group Consultations, 5 minute telephone consultations between 3:15pm and 4:20pm

Wednesday 23rd October Mrs Cashmore’s Little Yellow Group Consultations, 5 minute telephone consultations, between 1:00pm and 1:25pm

Thursday 24^th October Mrs McGrath’s Little Yellow Groups Consultations, 5 minute telephone consultations between 3:15pm and 3:35pm

Big Nursery will be having their Parent Consultations (on the telephone) during week beginning Monday 4^th November, 2024. Dates and times for appointments will be detailed in Nursery News 348 (published on Monday 14^th October).

C. Forest School Program

Mrs Brinkley has started teaching our Forest School program to Big Nursery Yellow Group. I just wanted to tell you a little about Forest School at Willow.

Mrs Brinkley spent a year studying to become a Level 3 Forest School Practitioner. In order to support her work in school, all other school staff studied to become Level 1 Forest School Practitioners.

What is a Forest School? -this is a quote which outlines what a Forest School is and the ethos of them:

‘An inspirational process that offers children, young people and adults regular opportunities to achieve, develop confidence and self-esteem through hands on learning experiences in a local woodland environment’ (Forest School (England) network 2002)

Whilst we have some trees and shrubs, we acknowledge that we do not have a ‘Forest’, but Forest School teaching and learning is all about participating in activities in the outdoors, learning new skills, building strong relationships and thinking creatively. Mrs Brinkley has planned 7 activity sessions that Big Nursery children will take part in during their final year at nursery. Mrs Brinkley will work with a small group once a week for 7 weeks. We aim to have worked with Yellow, Green and Red group children by Summer 2025.

So, for your information, these are the seven activities the children will be participating in:

1.Fairy/ Gnome Dens. Children will use natural materials that they find in the garden to build a small den for an imaginary fairy or gnome.

2. Making Fairies or small people. Children will be shown how to make a fairy using twigs and clay. Children will be encouraged to make their own character, using their imagination to add hair, wings or other accessories.

3.Larger Dens. Working as part of a small group children will build a den from tarpaulins and ropes. Children will then join Mrs Brinkley inside the den for a story together.

4. Clay Faces. Children will mould a flat circular clay shape onto a tree trunk. Children will then add natural objects to the clay to create a face. Children will be shown how to make marks in the clay using sticks found in the garden. Children will compare their own features with those of their friends. Children will discuss similarities and differences.

5.Bug Hunt. Children will look around the garden areas, trying to find bugs to put into their bug collecting pot. They will tip their collections out onto a white paper surface, then use a magnifying glass to look carefully at the bugs. We will be teaching them about being careful with the wildlife and to look after nature.

6. Mud Kitchens, Mud Potions and Mixtures. Children will be provided with pots and spoons. They will have the opportunity to mix soil with sand and water to make liquid mud. Children will then be able to add leaves and grass, and anything else that they find in the garden, into their mixture.

7. Making Woodland Medals. Children will be shown how to use a hand drill to drill a hole in a small disc of wood in order to make a medal. Children will decorate their medals using felt tip pens

Mrs Brinkley’s Thoughts….

I am really excited to be now teaching our children ‘The Forest School Way’. The children are enjoying the new experience and their ideas are extending learning further. Forest School learning has so many benefits to the child’s learning and covers all areas to support the overall well being of the children.     

Welcome to Forest School learning Willow!

D. Willow Lending Library.

Miss Howe worked hard last year to create ‘Willow Lending Library’ which has proved to be quite a success. We want to invite all new parents to explore our Lending Library:

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.

Free tips and advice in more than 20 languages on ‘sharing books with young children’ can be found at:

https://www.booktrust.org.uk/books-and-reading/tips-and-advice/reading-with-your-child-3-4years/#!?q=&sortOption=AtoZ&pageNo=1

E. What are the children learning about this week?

The theme this week is ‘All about me’ and staff will be working with the children to teach them about the similarities and differences they may have with each other. Staff will talk to the children about themselves, each other and being part of the Willow Nursery community. We feel that it is important to have a strong sense of identity and this comes from knowing about yourself and those that are close to you.

During some activities, children will be encouraged to look at themselves in mirrors, to see their key features and will be encouraged to talk about what they can see. Staff will model language for those that are unsure of naming features such as cheeks, chin, eyebrows, etc. Other resources we may use to maximise the learning opportunities are playdough, potato heads, puppets and chalk drawings. Through using these tools, we can encourage the children to share similarities and differences they may have with each other. Children will be encouraged to celebrate their differences because this is what makes them unique. We have received lots of family photo’s from parents for our display board and these are often a talking point for the children. If you haven’t yet sent in a family photo, there is still time to do this. The children get very excited to have the opportunity to share their own experiences with their friends and their photo’s are a tool we use to support this.

Nursery News 23rd September 2024

NURSERY NEWS

23^rd September 2024 – Edition 345

Find out About:

A. Severe Rainfall.

B. What to put in your child’s change of clothes bag.

C. Applying for Primary School.

D. What are the children learning about this week?

A. Severe Rainfall- an update.

The water was rising in Hadrian Academy Playground until about 9:30pm last night. At our rear boundary with Hadrian Academy the water in our playground was 30cms deep.  More rainfall was predicted overnight. I could not give a clear decision about whether the school would be able to open until I had arrived this morning.

There had been no leaks inside the school, and the toilets, heating, electrical systems, phone and internet were all working appropriately.

I was however receiving messages from staff who were stuck on their journey in to school.

Our ability to function as a school is also impacted upon what is happening in nearby schools. Staff children have to be looked after if their schools are closed, and again we cannot function here without enough staff.

We do, as a school, try really hard to remain open, during adverse weather conditions but in my 25 years of being here at Willow I have never seen Hadrian Academy’s field and playground become a lake!

Parts of our garden were very waterlogged. I did not want children playing in such wet mud. This is why our outside area remained closed for the day!

So, our plan for tomorrow Tuesday 24^th September is that we will be open, but I cannot be 100% sure of that until we see what happens overnight…..

Assume we are open. If we are closed we will endeavour to send an email at a similar time to the one this morning at approx. 8:15am

B. What to put in your child’s change of clothes bag.

We ask that all children bring a small bag or backpack to school with items of spare clothing inside. Sometimes children may become very wet or messy when playing in the nursery and we cannot leave them in wet clothes. Sometimes children will have a toilet accident and require changing.

Please provide clothes that are easy to change. Please provide more than one pair of underpants/knickers/trousers/socks if your child is not yet reliable with their toileting. Put plenty of clothes in! Some children are changed three or more times a day!

We would ask that all parents provide a pack of wet wipes in their child’s bag to enable us to clean your child after a toilet incident.

We would also ask that parents provide some carrier bags in their child’s bag to put wet or soiled clothes into. A packet of Nappy sacks will do the job!

C. Applying for Primary School. (Taken directly from Central Beds website.)

This applies to all children in Big Nursery

Apply for a lower or primary school place in Central Bedfordshire

15 January 2025 is the deadline for on-time applications.

How to apply

• if we’re your council, you need to apply through us
• if we’re not your council, you’ll need to apply through them (find out who your council is on GOV.UK)

Apply online for your school place

Applying online is quick, simple and safe. In fact, nearly 95% of parents and carers apply online for a lower/primary school place.

What you’ll need to apply

Proof of your child’s date of birth, such as a passport or short birth certificate. You’ll be prompted to upload a copy of this during your application.

Apply by post

If you can’t apply online, don’t worry; you can also apply by post. Here’s how:

1. get an application form
   You can download an application form (PDF)
2. complete the form and ensure you have proof of your child’s date of birth, like a passport or short birth certificate (please don’t send us original documents; copies are fine)
3. send the completed form and copies of documents to:
   School Admissions
   Central Bedfordshire Council
   Priory House
   Monks Walk
   Chicksands
   Shefford
   Bedfordshire
   SG17 5TQ

We need to receive your application by the 15 January 2025 deadline.

Please don’t make both an online and postal application. We’ll only process the latest one (if it’s sent before the deadline).

Apply by email

Please note: Email is not a secure medium. Please ensure you take appropriate steps to protect your child’s personal information.

1. get an application form
   You can download an application form (PDF)
2. complete the form and ensure you have proof of your child’s date of birth, like a passport or short birth certificate
3. ensure you’ve protected all documents containing personal information
4. send the completed form and copies of documents to admissions@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk

We need to receive your application by the 15 January 2025 deadline.

If Central Bedfordshire is not your council, you’ll need to apply through your home Local Authority.

You will need to look on your Local Authority Council’s website for further information on how to apply.

D. What are the children learning about this week?

This week, the topic in nursery is Maisy Goes Swimming. This is themed around the book written by Lucy Cousins. The children will be learning how to listen to familiar stories with increasing attention. They will be building on their recall skills and talking about the story and characters with each other and staff. Adults will ask questions relating to the story, which will improve the children’s ability to hold a conversation and allow them the opportunity to share their favourite parts of the book.

Music will be played outside throughout the week to help the children build their listening skills and also improve the confidence of those that want to join in with singing familiar songs. In keeping with the Maisy theme, the children will have the chance to paint portraits of the characters from the Maisy story. They will be encouraged to pay particular attention to the colours and features of their chosen character.

There will also be lots of activities throughout the nursery that focus on strengthening muscles in the hands, including writing, drawing, playdough and painting. Lots of the children’s artwork will be displayed in the setting but much of their work will come home on Wednesday for you to look at and enjoy with your child.