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Nursery News 3rd July 2023

Tuesday, July 4, 2023

NURSERY NEWS

3rd July 2023 – Edition 303
Find out About:
A. Arrangements for September 2023.
B. Reminder about consultations this week.
C. What are the children learning about this week?

A. Arrangements for September 2023.
We have finalised our plans for the beginning of term in September 2023. So this information is for all the families staying with us in September. We had to make some changes to the way the school operated due to Covid in the last few years. Some of the changes made have felt very positive. One of these changes was how we managed the first few days in September. So, in discussion with the staff we have decided to roll out the beginning of the Autumn term in 2023 the same way as we did last year. We are aware that a number of our parents are working parents, and look for the school to be operating for all children as soon as possible. We have made our plans trying to strike a balance for everyone’s needs.

Let us start with Catkins Class in Little Nursery…..

Little Nursery will reopen on Thursday 7 th September. In the Autumn term all children in Little Nursery are 2+ children known as Catkins Class. Children’s attendance patterns remain the same, unless you have spoken to me about additional hours for your child. New starters in Catkins Class have received paperwork advising parents what their child’s first day will be. In Catkins Class each
Keyworker will settle only one of their new keyworker children in each session. New Catkins Class children have start dates somewhere between the 11th September 2023 and 2nd October 2023.
Catkins hours remain 8:45am – 11:45am for a morning session, 11:45am-2:45pm for an afternoon session or 8:45am to 2:45pm for a full day session.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………..
Big Nursery:
Tuesday 5th September 2023 and Wednesday 6 th September 2023 have been scheduled as visit days. The school will not be open as usual on these two days. Attendance on these days is by invitation only. See details below:
Tuesday 5 th September:
All children who will be moving from Catkins 2 year old class to Big Nursery Yellow Group in September are invited to attend a Stay and Play session, lasting for 90 mins , with a Parent. Invitations will be given to parents this week within the Yellow Group Big Nursery Starter Packs. Yellow Group have all been allocated a start date between Thursday 7th September and Wednesday 13th September. These start dates have also been communicated to the brand new Yellow Group children, joining in September, from our waitlist.

Wednesday 6 th September.
This day will offer a transition session for all 3+ children (and their parents) in Miss Gaffneys/ Mrs Watson’s Blue Group and Mrs Brinkley’s Orange Group. We will offer a morning session or an afternoon session. The idea of these sessions are that you and your child will arrive at school to have a scheduled meeting lasting ten minutes with your child’s current Little Nursery Keyworker and with your child’s new Big Nursery Keyworker So, Blue Group children will meet with Miss Gaffney/Mrs Watson and Mrs Patterson Orange Group children will meet with Mrs Brinkley and Miss Skai. You will arrive at your specified appointment time, meet with your child’s Keyworker’s and discuss anything you wish to share to enable the transition into Big Nursery to go as smoothly as possible. You will then be free to move around the school together, both inside and outside. Classrooms will be set up with activities, and we invite you and your child to explore their new spaces and chat to staff who will be available to talk with you.

Morning session: 10 minute appointments will be available to choose from between 8:50am and 10:20am. Parents may choose to stay and play after their appointment, but all parents and children should leave by 11:00am.

Afternoon session: 10 minute appointments will be available to choose from between 12:30pm and 2:00pm. Parents may choose to stay and play after their appointment
but all parents and children should leave by 2:40pm. All these meetings/ stay and play are optional. You do not have to attend, but it will be a way to see the school with your child. You may choose to just have the meeting and then you and your child can choose to leave to go home. You may choose to have the meeting and then stay for a short time and then go. We cannot offer meetings at alternative times or dates as we are looking to get the school up and running as quickly as possible for those parents who are working. Parents must stay with their children at this event.
Parents can arrange these appointments for Wednesday 6th September with their Little Nursery Keyworkers (Miss Gaffney/ Mrs Watson/ Mrs Brinkley) during the parent consultations that are scheduled for this week. If you do not have a consultation this week please do not worry as staff will get in touch with you regarding a transition session in September.

Thursday 7th September – Big Nursery Re-opens for regular Nursery sessions. Blue Group, Orange Group and Yellow Group (who have attended in Little Nursery) return to Big Nursery, attending for their agreed attendance pattern. So for example, if your child currently attends for two and a half days at the end of the week, they would return on Thursday 7th at 8:50am with their lunch box.
Big Nursery hours are:

Morning session: 8:50am to 11:50am
Wednesday afternoon session: 11:50am to 2:50pm.
Full day session: 8:50am to 2:50pm

B. Reminder about consultations this week.
We will have face to face parent consultations for all the children on 6th, 7th and 8th July 2023 as follows:. All consultations will be 5 minutes long. Parents of Little Nursery children will have an end of year meeting where staff will hand over your child’s Little Nursery Yearbook:
Tuesday 4th July

Miss Cashmore’s Catkins Children. Five minute appointments available between 3:15pm and 4:05pm Catkins children will all receive their Yellow Group Big Nursery Starter Packs.

Mrs Watson’s Blue Group Children. Five minute appointments available between 3:15pm and 3:55pm

Wednesday 5th July

Mrs McGrath’s Catkins Children. Five minute appointments available between 9:00am and 9:30am Catkins children will all receive their Yellow Group Big Nursery
Starter Packs.

Miss Gaffney’s Blue Group Children. Five minute appointments available between 3:15pm and 3:55pm

Thursday 6th July

Mrs Field’s Catkins Class Children. Five minute appointments available between 3:15pm and 3:50pm Catkins children will all receive their Yellow Group Big Nursery Starter Packs.

Mrs Brinkley’s Orange Group Children. Five minute appointments available between 3:15pm and 4:15pm

Parents of Big Nursery children will have a Leavers Consultation, where staff will hand over your child’s yearbook :

Tuesday 4th July

Mrs Patterson’s Green Group Children. Five minute appointments available between 3:15pm and 4:25pm

Wednesday 5th July

Miss Skai’s Red Group Children. Five minute appointments available between 3:15pm and 3:55pm

Thursday 6th July

Miss Howe’s Yellow Group Children. Five minute appointments available between 3:15pm and 4:10pm

Miss Cashmore’s Yellow Group Children. Five minute appointments available between 3:15pm and 4:00pm

C. What are the children learning about this week?

The theme in little nursery is traditional and fairy tales In Catkins the children will focus on literacy skills, there will be a variety of fairy tales for the children to look at in thecosy corner. They will be encouraged to choose which book they would like to sit down together to read. To follow along with the fairy tale theme, the children will use different resources to create magic wands.
In Room 3, Mrs Watson will be telling the children the story of The Gingerbread Man using both the screen and a book. She will discuss what happens in the book with the children and they will be given the opportunity to retell the story to their friends. This will build the children’s memory skills and confidence when talking in big groups.
In the Link, Mrs Brinkley will focus her activity around Goldilocks and the Three Bears. She will provide props such as porridge, bowls and spoons for the children to use. They will be acting out scenes from the story and Mrs Brinkley will model lots of story-telling language for the children to copy. Outside, Miss Gaffney will be re-enacting stories such as The Three Little Pigs, The
Billy Goats Gruff and The Gingerbread Man. She will encourage the children to act as different characters from each story building on their memory recall to retell what they have learnt.

The theme in big nursery is transport – air and water
In Room 1, Miss Skai will be talking to the children about summer holidays. She will be explaining to them that if they go abroad for a holiday that they will need a passport. Miss Skai will show the children what passports look like and they will get to make one of their own. The children will practice writing as they put all their information on their passports, and practice drawing as they design their own passport photos.
In Room 2, Miss Howe will be making peg aeroplanes with the children. The children will work on their fine motor skills as they colour in wooden pegs and lollipop sticks. They will attach the pegs and sticks together using glue and once the planes are dry, the children can take them home and fly them. Mrs Cashmore will be making shape boats with the children, there will be an example boat for the children to use as a reference. They will be asked which shapes they would like to use on their boat pictures and then Mrs Cashmore will talk to the children about the properties of the shapes they have chosen.
Outside, Mrs Patterson will encourage the children to use their imagination to fuel unstructured play. There will be crates and wooden boxes available to support the children’s play ideas and they will be encouraged to use their imagination to create anything they want, enabling open ended fun. Mrs Patterson will provide building ideas if the children need some imaginative prompts.

Nursery News 26th June 2023

Monday, June 26, 2023

NURSERY NEWS
Monday 26th June 2023 – Edition 302
Find out About:

A.Review of the Year
B.We are running very short of tissues……
C. A reminder: Open School Event: For Big Nursery Yellow Group Parents: Basic Skills.
D. What are the children learning about this week?
E. Central Bedfordshire Council Demand for early years childcare Survey 2023– Consultation with parents and carers of 0 – 5 year olds

A. Review of the year

At this time of year, we carry out a big review of our school. In the last few days Miss Howe and Mrs Cashmore have been talking to the Big Nursery children individually, to gain their views about their school, with regard to what they like, what they think they have learned and what they would like to see change. All school staff and Governors are busy filling in questionnaires too.
This information helps us to plan our areas for development next year. I always ask parents for their views too at this time of year.
We usually ask just two questions:
1. Please comment about what we do well at Willow.
2. Please tell us one thing you would like to see at Willow that you would consider to be an improvement and/or development.

Please write a short email and send to office@willownursery.co.uk

Covid had a big impact at Willow, particularly on our ability to invite parents in to our school. During this past academic year we have been keen to re-establish our program of events where parents are invited in to school. This has been a focus of our School Development Plan So, with this in mind I would like you as parents to share with us your responses to a third question:

3. Have you any ideas regarding how parents could feel more involved with the school?

If you wish your comments to inform my review, please send your email by the end of this week, Friday 30th June. I will then compile all the comments and respond to
them in a future newsletter, on Monday 10th July.

B.We are running very short of tissues……
We are running very short of tissues. Children seem to have colds year round, plus some children suffer from hay fever. We would be grateful for donations of tissues.

 

C. A reminder: Open School Event: For Big Nursery Yellow Group Parents: Basic Skills.
Miss Howe’s Yellow group parents have been invited in to observe a 30 minute reading/writing activity on Wednesday 28th June.
Mrs Cashmore’s Yellow group parents have been invited in to observe a 30 minute reading/writing activity on Thursday 29th June.

D. What are the children learning about this week?
The theme in Little Nursery is sports skills In Catkins Mrs McGrath will set up an obstacle course for the children to navigate. They will be encouraged to jump and crawl over different obstacles as well as throw bean bags into specific areas. Mrs McGrath will model how the children should move safely around the course and praise them for using their listening ears.
Outside, Miss Gaffney will be holding a race day for the children. There will be a space for friends to sit and watch the competitions. The children will be encouraged to take part in an egg and spoon race, a sack race and a beanbag balancing race. All children will be cheered on for trying their best and Miss Gaffney will explain the importance of taking part and good sportsmanship.
In the link, Mrs Brinkley will be helping the children to create medals for each other. She will talk to them about the numbers on their medals and that they represent 1st 2nd and 3rd place in competitions. She will be working with children to practice reciting numbers 1-5 and further.
In Room 3, Mrs Watson will be sharing a group read called ‘Maisy Goes Swimming’. She will show the children that we read from left to right and also name the different parts of a book. Mrs Watson will encourage the children to share their own swimming experiences after the story.

The theme in Big Nursery is transport – land
In Room 1, Miss Skai will support the children with making number trains. They will cut out and order train carriages with the numerals 1-5 and 1-10 on them. Once the pictures have been correctly ordered, the children will stick them down to make a train picture. Miss Skai will also have a group read of the ‘Big Red Bus’, which she will share with the children.

In Room 2, Miss Howe will be showing the children how to make buses with moving wheels. The children will revisit their recently acquired skills of using split pins, these will enable the wheels on the bus pictures to turn around. Mrs Cashmore will set up a table with paint and toy vehicles, she will model how to dip the wheels of the vehicles in paint and push them along paper to make marks. The children will be encouraged to observe the marks made by the wheels and discuss the difference between using toys to paint rather than traditional paintbrushes.

Outside, Mrs Patterson will set up water canals for the children to investigate. She will encourage the children to take turns and play sensibly with the water so that the boats can move along the waterways. She will also provide milk crates to support imaginative play. Mrs Patterson will suggest vehicles that can be made with the crates, such as cars and trains. The children can then use their imagination to travel anywhere they want to in their crate vehicles.

E. We have had a request from Central Bedfordshire Council to forward a survey to our parents: see below:
Central Bedfordshire Council
Demand for early years childcare Survey 2023 –Consultation with parents and carers of 0 – 5 year olds
The government is considering providing a set number of hours of free funded childcare for children aged 9 months to 2 years. In Central Bedfordshire we will need to make sure that we have enough places in early years settings (including pre-schools, day nurseries and childminders) to meet the demand. We want parents/carers to let us know if you are planning to use formal
childcare for your children in the future. We also want to know if a set number of funded hours would influence your decision around when your child might start attending childcare and also
how many hours a week they spend in childcare. In line with the 2018 Data Protection Act and General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), all of the information that you feedback will be kept in
the strictest confidence and will be used only for the purposes of this research. No personal testimony will be used and you do not have to give us your name or any children’s names. We would be grateful if you could kindly complete this survey before Friday 7th July 2023.

If you have any questions or would like any further information about the
purpose of this survey, please contact:
The Early Years Team at: Earlyyears@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk
Your help with this survey is much appreciated.
https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/CBCchildcaredemandsurvey2023

Nursery News 19th June 2023

Monday, June 19, 2023

NURSERY NEWS

19th June 2023 – Edition 301

Find out About:

A. An Open School Event: For Big Nursery Yellow Group Parents: Basic Skills.

B. Parent Consultations July 2023

C. End of term arrangements July 2023

D. What are the children learning about this week?

 

A. An Open School Event: For Big Nursery Yellow Group Parents: Basic Skills.

Miss Howe teaches some Big Nursery Yellow Group children ‘Basic Skills’ on a Wednesday morning. Mrs Cashmore teaches Some Big Nursery Yellow Group children ‘Basic Skills’ on a Thursday 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 Howe’s Yellow group parents in to observe a 30 minute reading/writing activity on Wednesday 28th June.

We would like to invite Mrs Cashmore’s Yellow group parents in to observe a 30 minute reading/writing activity on Thursday 29th June.

A further invitation letter will follow to Yellow Group parents so that we can match up time slots, so parents can join their child’s small group. Green Group had their Basic Skills groups in the Autumn Term 2022 and Red Group had their Basic skills group in the Spring Term 2023.

 

 B. Parent Consultations July 2023.

We plan to have face to face parent consultations for all the children on 6th, 7th and 8th July 2023.  All consultations will be 5 minutes long. Your child’s keyworker will be in touch with you to arrange an appointment time.

Some staff work part time. Individual staff members will each have a designated block of time slots to meet with parents and discuss their Keyworker children.

So for Little Nursery:

Tuesday 4th July–

Miss Cashmore’s Catkins Children. Five minute appointments available between 3:15pm and 4:05pm

Mrs Watson’s Blue Group Children. Five minute appointments available between 3:15pm and 3:55pm

Wednesday 5th July–

Mrs McGrath’s Catkins Children. Five minute appointments available between 9:00am and 9:30am

Miss Gaffney’s Blue Group Children. Five minute appointments available between 3:15pm and 3:55pm

Thursday 6th July–

Mrs Field’s Catkins Class Children. Five minute appointments available between 3:15pm and 3:50pm

Mrs Brinkley’s Orange Group Children. Five minute appointments available between 3:15pm and 4:15pm

 

So for Big Nursery:

Tuesday 4th July- 

Mrs Patterson’s Green Group Children. Five minute appointments available between 3:15pm and 4:25pm

Wednesday 5th July-

Miss Skai’s Red Group Children. Five minute appointments available between 3:15pm and 3:55pm

Thursday 6th July-

Miss Howe’s Yellow Group Children. Five minute appointments available between 3:15pm and 4:10pm

Miss Cashmore’s Yellow Group Children. Five minute appointments available between 3:15pm and 4:00pm

 

C. End of Term arrangements July 2023

The last day of term in July 2023 for all children will be Thursday 20th July.

On Friday 21st July school will open only for the Big Nursery children that are leaving us. The session will be from 8:50 am to 11:50am. All Big Nursery leavers are invited to attend this session, regardless of your child’s normal attendance days. As children are attending for the morning only, no child will require a packed lunch. Children will require their water bottles. We are going to consult the children about what activities they would like to plan for their last day, and try to enable their ideas. There will be no charge for this session.

 

D. What are the children learning about this week?

The theme in Little Nursery is Aliens Love Underpants.

In Catkins Mrs Field will be reading the story of Aliens Love Underpants, then she will set up a washing line in the garden and provide the children with lots of (clean) underpants to wash and hang on the line. The children will work on their fine motor skills as they use the pegs to hang up their washing.

In the link, Miss Gaffney will be making alien hats with the children. They will use a range of resources to create their own alien hats, the children will be shown how to attach different materials to their work.

In Room 3, Mrs Brinkley will be reading lots of stories with the children. They also will work together to complete large floor puzzles. Mrs Brinkley will encourage the children to really look at their puzzles and think about where each piece goes.

Outside, Mrs Watson will have a matching patterns game for the children to play. They will be shown pictures of underpants that are different colours and have different patterns on. The children will look for a matching pair which they can show Mrs Watson and discuss the patterns and colours.

 

The theme in Big Nursery is London.

In Room 1, Mrs Patterson will be helping the children to create images of the King’s Guard. She will show the children how to attach split pins to the guards to allow them to move the arms and legs of their guardsmen. This activity will build upon their fine motor skills as they manipulate the pins with their fingers.

In Room 2, Miss Skai will provide the children with images of famous London landmarks to look at so they can paint their own interpretations. She will talk to the children about what makes these landmarks so iconic, i.e. the colour red on a London Bus or the way Tower Bridge lifts to let boats pass. There will also be some pictures of the Royal family for the children to use as reference if they decide they would like to paint a portrait.

Outside, Miss Howe and Mrs Cashmore will both be working with the children to improve their personal, social and emotional skills. They will support the children with conflict resolution and explain why it is so important that we are kind to each other. They will be teaching the children that their actions have consequences which is why we must follow the rules to stay safe.

 

 

Nursery News 12th June 2023

Monday, June 12, 2023

NURSERY NEWS

Monday 12th June 2023 – Edition 300.

Find out About

A. Summer Heat and Nursery.

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

 

A. Summer Heat and Nursery.

We now find ourselves in the last six weeks of the Summer Term. Higher temperatures have now arrived. Staff are bracing ourselves, as the Summer extreme hot weather brings its own problems.

Across the school, children respond differently to the heat. Some children can take the heat in their stride, and are happy and content. Some children really struggle with the heat, they get too hot, become flushed and sweaty. The intense heat can sap children’s energy. Some children can become extremely grumpy and tired in the hottest part of the day. Staff spend most of their time worrying about keeping everyone safe.

So to help:

  • Please keep the donations of fruit and vegetables coming in for snack time. These help to keep the children hydrated, and snack time inside is a restful pause away from the heat.
  • Donate some Ice Pops, again these can create a reason to pause and sit quietly. The ice also helps the children to cool down.
  • Ensure children have their water bottles with them every day.
  • Provide a hat for your child, please put their name on it somewhere.

 

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

The theme in Little Nursery is The Tiger Who Came To Tea

In Catkins, the staff will be talking to the children about patterns in nature. They will help the children to recreate images of the tiger we have been learning about by creating stripy patterns with paint. There will be some patterned animal dressing up outfits for the children to wear which the staff will use to promote mathematical language.

In Room 3 Mrs Brinkley will be reading The Tiger Who Came To Tea. The children will be encouraged to look at the pictures as she reads and think about what might happen if a tiger came to their own house. She will set up a café role play for the children to act out the story they have listened to with their friends.

In the link, Miss Gaffney will encourage the children to get messy. She will make cornflour for the children to explore using their sense of touch. Miss Gaffney will be showing the children how the consistency of the cornflour changes as the children investigate it.

Outside, Mrs Watson will use crates and tables to set up a kitchen area for the children to sit at. They will have toy food, plates and utensils to act out their own versions of the story. There will also be an area with lots of natural resources available for the children to examine, while Mrs Watson models lots of descriptive language.

 

The theme in Big Nursery is We’re Going On A Bear Hunt

In Room 1, Mrs Patterson will be re-enacting the story ‘We’re Going On A Bear Hunt’. She will provide sensory props to support the children’s re-enactment, including water, soil and grass. It will be a really immersive experience for the children which I am sure they will enjoy sharing with you at home.

In Room 2, Miss Skai will support the children with making ‘bear hunt’ maps. She will encourage the children to think about the story we have been reading and what landmarks they might need to add. They will also have the opportunity to make binoculars to use when following their maps.

Outside, Miss Howe will be playing a variety of physical games with the parachute. She will focus on the children’s listening skills when explaining how to use the parachute safely and when explaining to the rules.

Mrs Cashmore will have a bear hunt prepared for the children. There will be laminated pictures hidden around the garden for the children to find, they will be asked to identify the colour of the bears and how many are on each laminate, the children will then write down the amount on their paper.

 

 

Nursery News 5th June 2023

Wednesday, June 7, 2023

NURSERY NEWS
Monday 5th June 2023 – Edition 299.

Find out About
A. Willow Nursery School Ofsted Inspection Report
B. We are now enrolling two year olds, to begin at Willow Nursery School, in September 2023
C. Fees Increase from September 2023
D. Ice Pops
E. Mud Kitchen Ingredients
F Things to bring to school, Things to leave at home.
G. What the children are learning about this week?

A. Willow Nursery School Ofsted Inspection Report
As you are all aware, we had an ungraded Section 8 inspection on 21st April 2023. Our Inspection Report has been made available to us today. I have attached the report to this email for you to read. Ofsted Inspections are important. Ofsted Inspectors are experienced educators. Myself and the Senior Team respected the Inspectors findings, but remember they were here for just one day. Their aim is to help with school improvement and development, as well as measuring schools against standardised criteria. The standards required of schools is ever increasing. The bar is constantly being raised. The Lead Inspector told us that for schools to maintain an Outstanding grading moving forward, they would have to be functioning as a beacon school, with other schools visiting from far and wide to see the very best practice. We have always worked extremely hard, as a team, to provide the very best education we can for the children in our Local Community, and we still continue to do so. We have listened to the Inspectors about what the school needs to do to improve, and we have already started working on new ideas.

B. We are now enrolling two year olds, to begin at Willow Nursery School, in September 2023
Children who already attend Willow Nursery School in our two year old class do not need to do anything. If there are any younger brothers or sisters that you wish to enrol in the Little Nursery in
September 2023 speak to Mrs Davies. We are looking to enrol children who will be aged two by 30th September 2023. (Children with dates of birth from 1/9/20 to 30/9/21) Please ensure you have put your younger children on our contact list. If you have any friends or family who are looking for a two year old nursery space, please do tell them to get in touch.

 

C. Fees Increase from September 2023
We have not increased our fees since 2016. We have always tried to charge as low fees as possible to help our families. We have looked at what other similar settings charge and discussed this with School Governors. Our fees from September 2023 will be: £15.00 for a three hour session in Big Nursery 3+, and £18.00 per session in Little Nursery 2+. Children who receive 15 or 30 hours free funding do not pay fees for their free funded sessions.

D. Ice Pops
We are moving swiftly towards the hottest part of the year in school. To help keep the children cool and hydrated we like to offer children ice pops when it is very hot. We also use the ice pop snack break as a way to encourage children to sit quietly inside or in the shade for a few minutes. We would ask all parents to consider buying a box of ice pops to donate to school for us to share with the
children. We have a freezer in the classroom to store them in.

 

E. Mud Kitchen Ingredients
We have a wonderfully messy mud kitchen in the garden. During the summer months, children are encouraged to get creative, mixing muddy mixtures. We provide soil and water, and children add grass, leaves or anything else they can find outside. Mrs Patterson has asked if parents have any out of date herbs or spices that they would like to donate to the mud kitchen. Please nothing sweet though, if we start playing with sweet substances we will attract ants!

F. Things to bring to school, Things to leave at home.
Please can we remind parents to provide spoons or other necessary cutlery for your child’s lunchbox. Our spares in school disappear over time. We have seen an increase in the number of children
bringing toys to school. Please encourage your children to leave personal toys at home. Children become upset if they get lost or broken, and personal toys can often cause arguments between children

G. What the children are learning about this week?

The theme in Little Nursery is The Very Hungry Caterpillar.

In Catkins, Mrs McGrath will read The Very Hungry Caterpillar to the children. The children will then create their very own caterpillars. Mrs McGrath will support the children as they count out and stick down circles to create their caterpillar, they will then add eyes and legs to their artwork. In Room three, Miss Gaffney will be helping the children to make name caterpillars. They will work hard to write out some of the letters in their name and focus on holding their pencils in an effective way. Miss Gaffney will support children by modelling how to write the letters in their names. In the link, Mrs Watson will use inflated balloons to create caterpillar paintings. She will support the children with dipping the balloons in different coloured paints and then pushing them down gently onto paper. The finished effect should look like a colourful caterpillar. Mrs Watson will talk
to the children about the different colours that the children are using. She will also explain that the caterpillar changes into a butterfly over time. Outside, Mrs Brinkley will be teaching everyone how to transport items safely from one area to another. She will encourage the children to think about safety and working as a team. They will transport large urns filled with water to the sandpit. The children will be shown that the sand changes consistency when water is added and is better for building and creating sandcastles.

The theme in Big Nursery is science week.

In Room one, Miss Howe will be making popcorn with the children. They will watch how the heat changes the kernels into popcorn. Miss Howe will let everyone make their own bag of popcorn and they will be allowed to sit down at the table to eat it. Mrs Cashmore will set up a dark tent for the children to be able to explore light and dark. She will provide some letters, numbers and
shapes for the children to explore on the walls of the tent and on top of a light box. Children will be encouraged to take turns in the dark tent, with only two children using the tent at a time and a timer to help them share. In Room two, Mrs Patterson will encase some toys in ice and allow the children time to figure out how to free the toys. She will urge the children to think about how they might get the toys out of the ice in a safe manner and discuss things such as the temperature of the ice, how it is different to room temperature and what might happen because of these changes.
Outside, Miss Skai will be using buckets and paintbrushes to teach the children about evaporation. She will model how to write and draw using the water and brushes and watch the
effects of the sun on the water. While outside, Miss Skai will also use the sun to explain how shadows are made. She will encourage everyone to look at their own shadows and any other
shadows they may find in the playground