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Nursery News 7th November 2022

NURSERY NEWS

7^th November 2022 – Edition 277

Find out About

1. School Photographer

2.  Moving Forward, Considering Covid…

3.End of Summer Term 2023

4.Volunteering as a Parent Helper in Nursery.

5.Walk in the Dark.

6. Local Visits

7. Central Bedfordshire Local Authority Childcare Sufficiency Survey

8. What are the children learning about this week?

1. School Photographer.

Our school photographer was here last week on Wednesday 2^nd November and Thursday 3^rd November. Victoria Mitchell is a very talented photographer. She usually manages to get some wonderful images of even the most reluctant children. We had some very productive sessions. I have asked how long will it take for photo’s to arrive. Victoria says that she should have the proofs back to school in about a weeks time, then parents have about a week to make their orders, if they wish to do so, and the completed prints should be returned after one further week, so all in all, the entire process should take around three weeks.

2. Moving Forward, Considering Covid….

Covid -19 has had a major impact in all our lives in the past two years. At this time last year I was about to tell all our parents about all the Open School Activities we were planning. At the same time, the Omicron variant was becoming the dominant Covid strain. We then experienced our worst two months at Willow with regard to staff absence due to Covid 19. We were unable to invite parents to come into school at all last year.

So, this year we are keen to offer a normal programme of activities. We have Open School Activities in each term that we invite parents to. We also organise a range of activities for the children, such as our Local Visit which will be happening next week.

I do not like outlining details of any activities and then finding ourselves having to cancel an activity. We do not want to let any child or parent down. All of these things that we plan can only go ahead if we have the sufficient adults to supervise them.

We still do not know quite how Covid will affect us all this winter, or further into next year. I do not like to plan too far ahead with schedules and dates for parents in case our plans change.

However, after sending out my newsletter last week which had information on regarding the Christmas parties, one of our pupils’ parents contacted the school and asked if there would be any other days in our year when the school would close early or be partially open so please see the next point….

3.End of Summer Term 2023

There is just one other day where we do something very special for the children and that is the very last day of Summer term. On this day school is closed to all the Little Nursery Children. We have a special Leavers Event for all those children leaving us from Big Nursery and going on to Primary Schools. We plan to hold our Leavers event on Friday 21^st July 2023 from 8:50am to 11:50am. This event is for all Big Nursery children regardless of your child’s normal attendance pattern. Further information will be given near the time.

4.Volunteering as a Parent Helper In Nursery

During Covid we were unable to routinely have parents in to school. This is something we really missed because each year we always encourage parents to volunteer to help us in school. I haven’t written to parents regarding parent helpers since November 2019, which seems such a long time ago.

Becoming a parent helper isn’t possible for all parents. We know a number of you are working parents and so are very busy. A good number of parents have younger children to look after too, so are unable to commit to help.

However, we, as a school really value the help if parents can contribute their time.

We find help most useful when parents can make a regular commitment each week to help out for a morning or afternoon session. Some parents offer a few hours of their time every week, some parents offer time every other week. If you become a regular parent helper we allocate you to one of our team members who you will work with each time you come in. In this way staff can plan activities for you to become involved with, from arts and crafts, -little ‘makes’, which children love, to playing table top maths or language games, exploring construction toys, playing in the sand or water trays with the children.

Adult time can make a huge difference to a child’s education. Our staff’s first priority is to maintain safe and stimulating environments. At the beginning of the school year it is very difficult for them to focus on sustained interactions with small groups of children at the activities I have outlined above. Staff really appreciate the help of Parent Volunteers as it means we can offer wider Adult led or Adult supported opportunities in each play space.

So what can the volunteering opportunity offer you?

• We are a friendly team. You might like to come and spend a few hours working with other adults.
• Come in to school, and find out what your child experiences day to day.
• Maybe take your first steps towards being an Early Years Practitioner. See how rewarding the job really is!
• Spend some time with our wonderful pupils. They just love to chat with new adults and share what they have been doing.

Please do not feel you are too shy, or that perhaps your English Language skills are not strong. We would encourage you to come forward and give it a try.

If you think you might be interested please mention this to your child’s keyworker, or to any of the staff.

Miss Gaffney is our Parent Volunteer co-ordinator. She will then get in touch with you and invite you to a meeting with other interested parents.

5. Walk in the Dark. A reminder….

Miss Howe is organising a ‘Walk in the dark’, an activity for children and their parents to attend together, after school, on Thursday 17^th November at 5:00pm. If you plan to come, please send an email to Mrs Selth  cselth@willownursery.co.uk entitled ‘Walk in the dark’ detailing your child’s name and how many adults and children will be coming, so we can buy enough food….

6.Local Visits

Going out of school on a small trip or visit provides the children with good learning opportunities. Miss Howe and Mrs Patterson spent an afternoon planning these short trips. Staff will explore the area finding talking points to discuss with the children. A change of environment can create lots of opportunities to share ideas These trips have been rigorously risk assessed and a Senior member of staff will accompany the children at all times.

Big Nursery Children will be going out of school in very small groups (maximum of 8 children) during week beginning Monday 14^th November to explore their Local environment, from Goldstone Crescent to the post box at the junction of Wilbury Drive and Ridgeway Avenue. Staff to child ratio will be 1 adult to every 2 children.

7. Central Bedfordshire Local Authority Childcare Sufficiency Survey

I have recently taken part in a childcare sufficiency survey with the Local Authority.

Central Bedfordshire Council have also been promoting an online survey about childcare to local parents, carers and guardians. This survey is not focused on individual provisions – it seeks to find out from parents how they feel about their broad childcare options across the Local Authority area.

The survey is open until Friday 11^th November, if you would like to share your views please follow the link below:

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/CBCSA22

8. What are the children learning about this week?

The theme in Little Nursery is fireworks

In Room three, the children will be beginning to recognise the letters in their name. Miss Gaffney will show the children their names and how to write each letter. She will support the children in trying to copy the letters in their name onto paper squares. Together they will order the letters in their name and create named firework pictures.

In the link, Mrs. Watson will be using lots of bright coloured paint and salad spinners to produce artwork. The children will talk about the effects of spinning paper quickly to mix paint and create beautiful paintings.

Outside, Mrs. Brinkley will be making firework streamers using coloured crepe paper and lollipop sticks. She will talk to the children about any fireworks they may have seen over the weekend and the noises they may have made.

In Catkins, Miss Tyler will be using scratch paper and wooden sticks to design vibrant pictures that look like fireworks displays. Miss Tyler will talk to the children about the sights and sounds of the fireworks and any experiences that the children may have had over the weekend.

The theme in big nursery is colour and light

In room one, Miss Howe will be sharing the story of Brown Bear, Brown Bear, what do you see? with the children. She will teach the children that print has meaning, using the words and pictures in the book to tell the story.

Mrs. Cashmore will be playing ‘Doodlebugs’ with the children. ‘Doodlebugs’ is a colour and picture matching game which teaches the children to recognise and match colours and pictures. In the game the children should take turns to choose a card that matches the card on the table, they can match by colour or picture or both.

In room two, Mrs. Patterson will be decorating large Elmer the elephant pictures using coloured paper and glue. The children will scrunch up the paper and glue each piece into a square on Elmer’s body. Mrs. Patterson will also supply the children with lots of loose parts to use at the playdough table, this is to encourage free, imaginative play and allow them to be as creative as possible.

Outside, Miss Skai will have road signs out to teach the children about stopping, getting ready and moving around on bikes. She will encourage children to be mindful of others as they cycle and move safely around the playground. Miss Skai will have some leaf templates and wool for the children to wrap around the templates. This will build on the fine motor skills of the children as they hold the templates and wrap the wool neatly around their leaves.

Nursery News 31st October 2022

NURSERY NEWS

31st October 2022 – Edition 276

Find out About

1. Welcome back after Half Term
2.  School Photographer Visit.
3. Walk in the Dark.
4. BBC Children in Need.
5. End of Term Arrangements
6. Open School Activities.
7. Local Visits
8. Doing up their own coats.
9. What are the children learning about this week?

1. Welcome back after Half Term

I hope everyone enjoyed their break from school. It is important that our young pupils have a chance to rest a little and recharge their batteries! Now we arrive back, we have just seven school weeks before we break up for Christmas. We have quite a few things going on in school this half term, so I thought I would share with you dates and times that might be of interest to you.

2. School Photographer Visit.

A school photographer will be here on Wednesday 2^nd November, for Big Nursery children, and Thursday 3^rd November for Little Nursery children. If your child is in Little Nursery but does not attend on a Thursday, and you would like your child to come in just for a photograph, please arrive on Thursday at around 9:30am, sign in as a visitor, and be prepared to stay and play for a short time with your child, until staff can organise for your child to be photographed by the photographer. Our photographers name is Victoria Mitchell and she is based in Dunstable. She uses colourful backdrops and props within her photography.

3. Walk in the Dark.

Miss Howe is organising a ‘Walk in the dark’, an activity for children and their parents to attend together, after school, on Thursday 17^th November at 5:00pm. Children will need to arrive, wrapped up warmly, ready to search the Nursery Garden for hidden soft toy animals. Children will need to bring a torch, because the garden is very dark in places! We will provide for refreshments for everyone who attends. Brothers and sisters are very welcome too. If you plan to come, please send an email to Mrs Selth  cselth@willownursery.co.uk entitled ‘Walk in the dark’ detailing your child’s name and how many adults and children will be coming, so we can buy enough food….

4. BBC Children in Need.

Friday 18^th November is Children in Need. Parents often ask us what we are doing for Children in Need. –So as in previous years, we will collect money in Charity buckets, should anyone wish to donate. We do organise activities with a Pudsey Bear theme, and we try to share with the children that we are fundraising to help other children. Sometimes the Nursery children want to dress up because they see their older brothers and sisters dressing up for their school’s event. We are happy for children to dress up, or not to dress up. We do not wish any family to feel under pressure.

5. End of Term Arrangements

The last day of regular Big Nursery and Little Nursery will be on Thursday 15^th December. Friday 16^th December will be our Christmas Party Day. The School will be open for the Christmas Parties only on this day.  Much fuller information will be given nearer the time, but we are aware that parents need notice to organise childcare etc. Especially if they are working parents.

So as an outline:

Little Nursery’s party will be from 9:00am to 10:00am.

Parents do not need to stay.

Big Nursery’s party will be from 11:15am to 1:00pm

Again, parents do not need to stay.

6. Open School Activities.

We would like parents to come in to school and see how we teach your children. Parents hear about the activities that take place during choosing time through our newsletter, but often parents are unaware of the quality of Grouptimes that we offer towards the end of each session. So, throughout the Year we are going to invite parents in to school to join in/observe our grouptimes.

So to begin, we would like to invite all Big Nursery parents to join us for ‘Music’ time. Each parent of a child in Big Nursery will receive an email today detailing the date and time of the Music session that you can choose to attend. If you would like to join your child to participate in our Music Activity ‘Pigs on Holiday’ then please just turn up at the date and time specified and you will be made very welcome. There is no need to book. Sessions last 25 minutes.

Little Nursery want to be involved too. On the week beginning Monday 12^th December Little Nursery Parents are welcome to join their child for a Stay and Play session. Parents are welcome to stay and play with their child during one of their child’s normal booked morning sessions (between 8:45am and 11:45am) on Monday 12^th, Tuesday 13^th, Wednesday 14^th or Thursday 15^th December. You are welcome to stay for the whole morning, or just stay for a short time. We hope that the children will be settled well by then, and this will give you an opportunity to see what your children do whilst at nursery, and give you the opportunity to join in with them too.

Mrs Patterson teaches Big Nursery Green 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 Mrs Patterson’s Green group parents in to observe a 30 minute reading/writing activity on Wednesday 23^rd November. A further invitation letter will follow to Green Group parents so that we can match up time slots, so parent can join their child’s small group. Red Group have Basic Skills in the Spring Term and Yellow Group have Basic skills in the Summer Term. Eventually all parents will be invited to observe Basic skills sessions when their child is being taught.

7. Local Visits

All main Nursery Children will be going out of school in very small groups (max 8 children) during week beginning Monday 14^th November to explore their local environment, from Goldstone Crescent to the postbox at the junction of Wilbury drive. Staff to child ratio will be 1 adult to every 2 children more information will follow in next weeks’s newsletter.

8. Doing up their own coats.

We try to help children to learn a whole range of skills in school, including Self Care skills. The weather is getting colder now. The children continue to have the choice to play outside every day should they wish to. In Big Nursery we have been focussing on teaching the children to put on and fasten their own coats. Please encourage this at home too. It is important that you show your child what to do if the sleeves on their coat are inside out. If a coat has a hood, it helps to show your child to put their hood on their head first, then the sleeves are in the right place for your child to find the arm holes to their sleeves by themselves. At this age, children will often say ‘I can’t do it’ and expect their parent or teacher to do this for them. Putting their own coat on moves them further towards independence with their self-care skills. We ask all children to ensure that their coats are fastened before they go outside to ensure they keep warm.

9. What are the children learning about this week?

The theme in Little Nursery is the Bakers Shop. In Catkins the children will be creating some Halloween artwork. They will drizzle glue across paper to make spider webs and then they will sprinkle glitter over their glue to make their spider webs very sparkly. The children will learn the difference between big and little as they use sponges to paint pumpkins of different sizes.

In Room three, the children will be making and tasting toast with Miss Gaffney. They will choose white or brown bread and when it has been toasted, they will choose to spread either butter or jam on their toast. Miss Gaffney will be making cardboard cookies with the children and adding chocolate chips to them, they will count the chips as they are added.

Outside, the children will be making dens with Mrs. Brinkley. They will have tunnels to crawl through and sheets to sit under.

In the link, Mrs. Watson will have the baker shop role play set up for the children to play as the baker and the customer. There will be bread, cakes and rolls as well as tills, baskets and trolleys for the children to use.

The theme in Big Nursery is Colour and Light

In Room one, Miss Howe will be playing the ladybird game with the children. The game requires the children to match and count the spots on the ladybirds as they play. Children will be encouraged to wait patiently for their turn. The children will be working towards fast recognition of up to three objects without counting them.

Mrs. Cashmore will be supporting the children in following the rules in school. The dark tent will be set up for the children to explore colour and light but the children will be asked to enter the tent two children at a time. Mrs. Cashmore will explain to the children that this is to keep the children safe in the tent and that they will have to take it in turns so that everyone is able to play.

In Room two, Mrs. Patterson will be supporting the children with spinner painting and box modelling. She will follow the children’s ideas on box modelling and help them to find and use any resources that they may need. Mrs. Patterson will fill the tough tray with dyed spaghetti for the children to play with.

Outside, Miss Skai will be playing a hungry bird game with the children and they will be looking for coloured ‘worms’ (pipe cleaners) to wrap around their sticks. Children will widen their vocabulary by talking about where they found their ‘worms’ and the colours that they have collected. Children will be encouraged to support each other in spotting ‘worms’ hidden around the garden.

Nursery News 17th October 2022

NURSERY NEWS

17th October 2022 – Edition 275

Find out About:

A. Parent Consultations for Little Nursery.- A reminder

B. School Closed- a reminder

C. 3+ Offer letters for all children in Little Nursery are ready today.

C.What are the children learning about this week?

A. Parent Consultations for Little Nursery.

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

Monday 17th October Miss Tyler’s Yellow Group Consultations, 5 minute telephone Consultations between 3:15pm and 3:55pm

Tuesday 18th October Mrs Field’s Yellow Group Consultations, 5 minute telephone consultation between 12:20pm and 12:45pm

Wednesday 19th October Mrs McGrath’s Yellow Group Consultations, 5 minute telephone Consultations between 1:00pm and 1:20pm

Wednesday 19th October Mrs Brinkley’s Orange Group Consultations, 5 minute telephone consultations between 3:15pm and 4:10pm

Tuesday 18th October Mrs Watson’s Blue Group consultations, 5 minute telephone consultations between 1:00pm and 1:30pm

Tuesday 18th October Miss Gaffney’s Blue Group Consultations, 5 minute telephone consultations between 3:15pm and 3:50pm

B. School Closed –A reminder.

Willow Nursery School will be closed on Friday 21st October for a teacher training day. Staff will be having input from a Local Authority Early Years Specialist teacher regarding Special Needs.

Willow Nursery School will be closed for the Autumn Half term break from Monday 24th October 2022 to Friday 28th October 2022.

C.3+ Offer letters for all children in Little Nursery are ready today.

I have written offer letters to the parents of all our current Little Nursery pupils. Children who attend Little Nursery should have the opportunity to continue their education seamlessly at Willow Nursery School when they become 3+age and entitled to 15 or 30 hours of funded education.

Each child has a letter which the office staff will try to give to parents as soon as possible, bearing in mind all children have individual attendance patterns. You may come and collect your offer letter from the school office if you wish to.

Please read your offer letter carefully and choose from the attendance offers shown. We would ask that you return your completed form WITH YOUR CHILD’S NAME ON IT as soon as possible, and at the very latest by Monday 31st October, 2022.

Once all parents of current Little Nursery pupils have made their choices I can then begin to offer spaces to families on our waiting list regarding starting in January, April and September 2023.

So, please help me, and other parents by replying swiftly.

C. What are the children learning about this week?

The theme in little nursery is Transport

In Catkins the children will be going on a transport hunt. They will look high and low in Catkins garden for pictures of different modes of transport. Mrs. McGrath will help the children look and when they spot each transport picture, she will name the mode of transport and praise the children.

In room three, the children will be creating pictures of trains made from different shapes. The children will focus on squares, triangles, rectangles and circles. Mrs. Watson will encourage the children to look for shapes that they can see around the classroom.

In the link area, Mrs. Brinkley will assist the children with box modelling. Together, they will use a range of recycled materials to create their own vehicles. The children will use tape and glue to join the materials together.

Outside, Miss Gaffney will promote good listening and safety. The children will listen to the instructions of stop, get ready and go, while riding on their bikes. The children will learn the meaning of the instructions ‘stop’ and ‘go’ and how to play safely on their bikes.

The theme in big nursery is who’s who in school

In room one, Miss Skai will be talking to the children about who is who in school. She will provide the children with clipboards and pictures of all staff members. The children will then search the school for each member of staff on their paper. When they find the staff members the children will tick the box next to them and once all pictures have ticks the children can put their work away. Miss Skai will also be talking to the children about Diwali and making cards to celebrate.

In room two, Miss Howe will be helping the children to understand the differences between people and building positive attitudes towards each other. She will show the children pictures of hands decorated with henna for Diwali. The children will draw around their own hands and decorate their hand pictures with beautiful patterns just like those they have seen.

Mrs. Cashmore will support the children in painting portraits of staff from big nursery. They will choose which member of staff they would like to paint and use appropriate colours for their work. The children will focus on details such as eye and hair colour and will discuss this as they work.

Outside, Mrs. Patterson will be showing the children how to create rangoli patterns on the floor using chalks. There will also be lots of conkers available for the children to transport around the garden using digger trucks and tippers.

Nursery News 10th October 2022

NURSERY NEWS

10th October 2022 – Edition 274

Find out About:

1. Parent consultations for Big Nursery- A reminder
2. Parent Consultations for Little Nursery.

3. What are the children learning about this week?

1. Parent consultations for Big Nursery- A reminder

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

Monday 10^th October Miss Howe’s Yellow Group Consultations, 5 minute telephone consultation between 3:15pm and 4:20pm

Tuesday 11^th October Mrs Patterson’s Green Group Consultations, 5 minute telephone consultations between 3:15pm and 4:20pm

Thursday 13^th October Mrs Cashmore’s Yellow Group Consultations, 5 minute telephone consultations between 3:15pm and 4:20pm

Friday 14^th October Miss Skai’s Red Group Consultations, 5 minute telephone consultations between 3:15pm and 4:20pm

2. Parent Consultations for Little Nursery.

We are offering Parent Consultations to parents of children in Little Nursery during the week beginning 17/10/22. These consultations are to talk about how your child is settling into Little Nursery. 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.  Please note, some of our Little Nursery staff work part-time, so consultations have to be scheduled for when they are in work. So look carefully at the appointment times.

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

Monday 17^th October Miss Tyler’s Yellow Group Consultations, 5 minute telephone Consultations between 3:15pm and 3:55pm

Tuesday 18^th October Mrs Field’s Yellow Group Consultations, 5 minute telephone consultation between 12:20pm and 12:45pm

Wednesday 19^th October Mrs McGrath’s Yellow Group Consultations, 5 minute telephone Consultations between 1:00pm and 1:20pm

Wednesday 19^th October Mrs Brinkley’s Orange Group Consultations, 5 minute telephone consultations between 3:15pm and 4:10pm

Tuesday 18^th October Mrs Watson’s Blue Group consultations, 5 minute telephone consultations between 1:00pm and 1:30pm

Tuesday 18^th October Miss Gaffney’s Blue Group Consultations, 5 minute telephone consultations between 3:15pm and 3:50pm

3. What are the children learning about this week?

The theme in little nursery is Autumn watch

In Catkins, the children will be exploring nature with an assortment of resources such as conkers, leaves and sticks. Staff will talk to children about these items and their textures, they will model descriptive language for the children to learn.

In room 3, Mrs. Watson will be sharing stories with the children and she will focus on building a love of books. The children will read ‘Spot Goes to the Farm’ and will chat about the noises that the animals in this story make.

In the link, Mrs. Brinkley will be showing the children how to paint using their fingers and other tools. Children will paint leaves and then use the painted leaves to make leaf prints on paper. The children will learn that they can paint with tools other than a paintbrush.

Outside, Miss Gaffney will have an area set up for investigating items found in the natural environment such as conkers and fallen leaves. She will talk to the children about where these items can be found in the autumn. This will be a sensory area and the children can use their sense of touch and sight to study the materials.

The theme in big nursery is Maisy Mouse

In room one, Miss Skai will complete shared reads of ‘Maisy’s Bus’ and ‘Happy Birthday Maisy’. She will encourage the children to read along with her and look at the pictures on each page as they read. Miss Skai will also focus on number recognition, using the numbers 1-5.

In room two, Miss Howe will be talking about using glue and sellotape to join materials together. She will support the children in using 2D and 3D shapes to make an image of Maisy Mouse. Miss Howe will encourage the children to be independent as they work and will model mathematical language by naming the shapes as they use them.

Mrs. Cashmore will provide reference pictures of characters from the Maisy Mouse story books and paints for the children to create their own Maisy character portraits. The children will discuss why they chose specific characters to paint and what they look like.

Outside, Mrs. Patterson will ask the children to help her find the different Maisy characters that will be placed around the garden. The children will use a tick sheet to prove that they have found all of the hidden characters.

Nursery News 3rd October 2022

NURSERY NEWS

3^rd October 2022 – Edition 273

Find out About:

1. Parent consultations for Big Nursery- A reminder
2. What are the children learning about this week?
3. Government advice regarding respiratory infections including Covid-19

1. Parent consultations for Big Nursery

We are offering Parent Consultations to parents of children in Big Nursery during the week beginning 10/10/22. These consultations are to talk about how your child is settling in to Big Nursery. 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.

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

Monday 10^th October Miss Howe’s Yellow Group Consultations, 5 minute telephone consultation between 3:15pm and 4:20pm

Tuesday 11^th October Mrs Patterson’s Green Group Consultations, 5 minute telephone consultations between 3:15pm and 4:20pm

Thursday 13^th October Mrs Cashmore’s Yellow Group Consultations, 5 minute telephone consultations between 3:15pm and 4:20pm

Friday 14^th October Miss Skai’s Red Group Consultations, 5 minute telephone consultations between 3:15pm and 4:20pm (Please note change of date as to what was advertised in last week’s newsletter.)

Parent Consultations for Catkins children will follow later in the term: more details will follow nearer the time.

2. What are the children learning about this week?

The theme in little nursery is cleaning and tidying toys away

The staff in Catkins will make corn flour for the children to play with. It is a sensory activity where everyone can explore different textures and how consistencies change. The children will be working with Miss Tyler to return toys to the place where they belong and helping to sweep the leaves outside as she explains why we must keep our environment clean and tidy.

In room three, Mrs. Brinkley will be showing the children how to use different instruments and toys that make interesting sounds. She will encourage the children to be careful when they use these resources and show them where to put them when they have finished playing.

In the link, Miss Gaffney will be using paint and various resources such as rollers and tubes to make marks. Miss Gaffney will talk to the children about the marks that they are making and explain that they can use a range of resources to paint rather than just brushes.

Outside, Mrs. Watson will be focusing on improving the children’s ball skills. She will work with the children on catching, throwing and kicking balls to each other.

The theme in big nursery is All about me

In room one, Mrs. Patterson will have the light box set up with a range of accessories to use with it. She will support the children with turn taking and taking care of the light box so that it everyone gets a turn. Mrs. Patterson will also be extending the work she has been doing about families by talking to the children about their families and the people they share their homes with.

In room two, Miss Skai will be creating natural artwork by using leaves to make hedgehog pictures. Miss Skai will talk to the children about what hedgehogs look and feel like as well as where they live. There will be pictures and books for the children to look at as they work.

Outside, Miss Howe will set up an obstacle course using hoops, blocks and balancing beams. The children will focus on developing movement and balancing skills.

Mrs. Cashmore will provide the children with lots of coloured chalk and encourage them to use gross motor skills to draw self-portraits.

3. Government advice regarding respiratory infections including Covid-19

I have found this guidance on Gov.uk which gives quite a lot of information about how we as a society should live with Covid-19 and other respiratory infections.

People with symptoms of a respiratory infection including COVID-19

Guidance for people with symptoms of a respiratory infection including COVID-19, or a positive test result for COVID-19.

From:

UK Health Security Agency

Published

1 April 2022

Last updated

10 June 2022

The guidance is very full and detailed, but I have included one part which describes action to be taken with children. It describes that children with temperatures should not attend school:

Children and young people (aged 18 years and under) who have symptoms of a respiratory infection, including COVID-19

Respiratory infections are common in children and young people, particularly during the winter months. Symptoms can be caused by several respiratory infections including the common cold, COVID-19 and RSV.

For most children and young people, these illnesses will not be serious, and they will soon recover following rest and plenty of fluids.

Very few children and young people with respiratory infections become seriously unwell. This is also true for children and young people with long-term conditions. Some children under 2, especially those born prematurely or with a heart condition, can be more seriously unwell from RSV.

Attending education is hugely important for children and young people’s health and their future.

When children and young people with symptoms should stay at home and when they can return to education

Children and young people with mild symptoms such as a runny nose, sore throat, or slight cough, who are otherwise well, can continue to attend their education setting.

Children and young people who are unwell and have a high temperature should stay at home and avoid contact with other people, where they can. They can go back to school, college or childcare, and resume normal activities when they no longer have a high temperature and they are well enough to attend.

All children and young people with respiratory symptoms should be encouraged to cover their mouth and nose with a disposable tissue when coughing and/or sneezing and to wash their hands after using or disposing of tissues.

It can be difficult to know when to seek help if your child is unwell. If you are worried about your child, especially if they are aged under 2 years old, then you should seek medical help.