Goldstone Crescent
Dunstable
Beds
LU5 4QU
Phone: 01582 662600
Email: office@willownursery.co.uk
Latest News
Nursery News 22nd Nov 2021
NURSERY NEWS
22nd November 2021 – Edition 243
Find out About
A. School Photographer
B. Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Public Holiday 2022
C. Local Visits
D. Box Modelling
E: What are the children learning about this week?
A. School Photographs
The School Photographer has said the photographs parents have ordered should be with the school by Monday 29th November, all going to plan.
B. Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Public Holiday 2022
As you will be aware, an additional bank holiday has been announced for 3rd June 2022 for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.
The Department for Education (DfE) has laid regulations to reduce the minimum number of sessions schools are required to meet in the academic year 2021/22 as a result of this additional bank holiday.
Most schools will be on their half term breaks in the week commencing 31 May 2022 and the DfE has advised that schools and councils should observe the Bank Holidays on Thursday 2nd and Friday 3rd June. In practice, this means that where this additional bank holiday falls during half-term week, schools will be able to identify another day of ‘holiday’ elsewhere in the year on which staff will not be required to work and will be given an equivalent day’s paid leave.
To reflect the additional bank holiday, the School teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document (STPCD) 2021 reflects a change in the number of days that teachers must be available to work under their terms and conditions for this academic year. Teachers will be required to be available to work on one less day for the academic year 2021/22, An extra day of holiday, therefore, will need to be allocated by individual schools.
After discussion with the staff and governors, Willow Nursery School will be closed for an additional days holiday on Monday 27th June 2022.
C. Local Visits
The walks we went on last week were very successful. All the children were very well behaved. Mrs Patterson lead 6 tours of the Local Area. I’m pleased to say that I was able to join her twice. Even I was surprised at the amount of things Mrs Patterson drew the children’s attention to. We met a postman on one of the trips I went on. A couple who were gardening asked us what we were learning about. The community just seemed to like seeing the children out and about. We also discussed how to cross the road safely, and all the children took on board the importance of holding a grown ups hand when crossing the road.
D. Box Modelling
We are running very short of recycled materials for our box modelling area. The children like to have a selection of boxes and other items to glue together to create models. The school provides some items that we buy, for example, lolly sticks, doilies, all colours of tissue paper/ cellophane, paper plates. Mrs Patterson also visits a ‘scrapstore’ once or twice a year, to choose from a selection of industry donated by products that may be of use to organisations. In the past she has sourced paper cups from coffee shops, little plastic pots, small plastic toys, paper and card.
We do need your help!
We would like parents to donate useful, interesting recycled items for our box modelling area.
What we like:
Interesting boxes, not too big. Children like to build on smaller boxes, such as toothpaste boxes, stock cube boxes. The biggest boxes we use are probably cereal packets.
Bottle tops, (Washed please) make great wheels.
Yogurt pots, margarine tubs and other other small plastic containers.
Toilet roll tubes are very versatile.
What we do not like:
Plastic bottles- children cannot build much with these.
Soap powder boxes that contain soap powder- all products sent in should be clean.
The long tubes from wrapping paper- The children can’t help but use them as swords! Sword play has its place, but not in the art area when we are helping children to make Christmas decorations.
E. What the children are learning about this week?
The theme in little nursery this week is colour. The children will be excited to see that the dark tent will be available for them to play in and explore colour and light.
The dark tent is fantastic for inspiring children to experiment with colour. They will be able to use the light box and a variety of clear, translucent, and sensory resources to ignite their curiosity.
A fun and simple activity you can do at home with the children, to help teach them about light and colour, is to make shadow puppets on the wall. All you need is a torch.
Miss Gaffney will be reading the story of ‘Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?’ with the children, which is a lovely tale, written by Eric Carle and Bill Martin Jr. that focuses on animals of assorted colours. Outside the children will be dancing with coloured scarves and moving through tents and tunnels to music. The children will also have access to sensory play in the link. (The ‘link’ is the small messy play room that links Room 3 to Room 4) They can explore soap flakes, corn flour, salt, sand and shaving foam with Miss Tyler. This allows them the opportunity to broaden their vocabulary as they talk about how the messy play feels on their hands, arms, and even faces.
The theme in big nursery this week is electricity.
In room one, Mrs. Patterson will be using circuit boards and remote-control cars to teach the children how different objects can be powered by electricity and batteries. The children will also have fun ‘fixing’ things with the drill activity sets.
In room two, Miss Skai will be working with the children to tune their fine motor skills by using pipettes and paint to create some masterpieces. The children will also be able to fine tune and showcase their singing voices, as Miss Skai will build them a stage to sing and dance on.
The theme continues outside, where Mrs. Cashmore will be playing ’Buzz Tag’ with the children – the children will chase each other and pass their power onto everyone by tagging them and saying ’buzz.’
This will build the children’s confidence by playing in a group and making new friends.
Miss Howe will be encouraging the children to represent numbers using their fingers, by playing a mobile phone counting game. Miss Howe will model how to correctly represent each number to those that need support. Some children may want a challenge and will be asked to try and show one more and one less than the number of phones that they have.
Nursery News 15th November 2021
NURSERY NEWS
15th November 2021 – Edition 242
Find out About
A. School Photographer
B. Local Visits
C: What are the children learning about this week?
A. School Photographer
School Photograph order packs arrived on Wednesday 10th November. We have been handing them out to parents when we see them.
Orders must be returned by Wednesday 17th November.
B. 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 this week 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.
However, these trips will only be able to go ahead if we have sufficient staffing levels on the day.
C. What the children are learning about this week?
The theme in Little Nursery this week is: 5 currant buns.
In Catkins, Miss Tyler will be working with the children on expressing their creative side and constructing cake collages. Miss Tyler will have an array of materials for the children to choose from and use on their artwork. The children will also be focusing on learning the nursery rhymes ‘Incy Wincy Spider’ and ‘Old Macdonald had a farm.’ If you hear your children practicing these songs at home, please encourage them.
Outside, the children will be working towards recognising numerals 1-5 while on a ‘currant bun number hunt’ and inside they will be exploring musical instruments with Miss Gaffney.
In Big Nursery, the theme for this week is ‘Our Local Area’.
It is going to be an exciting week as Mrs. Patterson is planning to take the children on a local area walk, where they will learn about the local area and discuss the numbers and colours that they might see while walking. Mrs. Patterson will draw the children’s attention to writing on everyday objects, such as postboxes and street signs, that they might not have noticed before. The aim is to spark an interest in recognising letters and numerals in the environment. All children will be accompanied by staff and will be wearing Hi-Viz jackets to ensure their safety.
In room 2, Miss Skai will be continuing with the local area theme by painting traffic lights. The children have been using road signs in the playground to practice colour recognition and this is a wonderful way to continue their learning.
Outside in the garden, Miss Howe will be playing ‘What’s the Time Mr Wolf?’ with the children. This is a timeless classic that the children love to play. This game is fantastic for building confidence and encouraging children to play as part of a group.
While outside they will also have access to pots, magnifiers, trays, and books about bugs. This is so the children can get closer to nature and search the garden for insects. Miss Howe will talk to the children about the importance of taking care of living creatures in our environment. Miss Howe will model a wider vocabulary for the children and together they can discuss what they have found.
Nursery News 8th Nov 2021
NURSERY NEWS
8th November 2021 – Edition 241
Find out About
A. School Photographer visit
B. Local Visits
C: What are the children learning about this week?
D. We need a little bit more fruit!
A. School Photographer visit
Last week, Victoria Mitchell, a local Photographer was at Willow on Wednesday and Thursday taking portrait photo’s of the children. I observed her for a short time, and she spent a good deal of time with each child, trying to capture a good image. She has said that the proof’s will be with us by the end of this week. We will try to get them out to parents promptly as soon as we receive them.
B. Local Visits
All Big Nursery children will be going out of school in very small groups (max 8 children) during week beginning Monday 15th 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 week’s newsletter.
C. What the children are learning about this week?
The children in little nursery will be learning through role play, linked to the baker’s shop this week.
In Catkins, the children will have the opportunity to decorate pre bought cakes with icing that they will make with Mrs Field, they will also be exploring with cake cases and rolling pins to make their own tasty looking playdough cakes.
The theme continues in little nursery where the children will listen to and share stories, including ‘Maisy Makes Gingerbread’ with a focus on communication and language. They will be able to play in the baker shop that will be set up in the link area, they can role play as the customer and the baker with a selection of cakes and bread. There will be plenty of cakes for the children to choose from and aprons for
the little bakers to wear, the children will be using the tills and money to buy and sell their baked goods.
Outside in the little garden, Mrs Brinkley will be finding natural resources with the children to use in our new mud kitchen!
In big nursery the theme for the week is colour and light.
Miss Howe will be working in room one, she will be focusing on maths and playing the ladybird game. While playing the game the children will practice counting and recognising numbers as well as turn taking and helping our friends.
Mrs Cashmore will be creating patterns with coloured beads and asking for help in spotting any mistakes she may make in her patterns. The children will then have the chance to create their own patterns or copy some from picture cards.
In room two, Mrs Patterson will be working with the children to create a piece of art for the children’s yearbook folders. Children will be creating art with their feet! Feet will be dipped in different coloured paints and pressed onto paper. This can get very messy! I am sure everyone involved will have great fun and there will be a foot washing station to clean up your children as soon as they have finished.
Outside, Miss Skai will be wrapping cardboard leaves in different coloured wool and the children will be able to bring these home. This lovely activity will help to strengthen the children’s fine motor skills and may encourage talk about the different colours that they have used as well as the colours of the leaves in the garden.
A great way for you, as parents/carers, to get involved with your children’s learning this week could be to discuss the different colours that you can spot on the journey into school.
D. We need a little bit more fruit!
We are running a little short of fruit supplies for snack time. I am very aware of how the cost of food is increasing week on week in the shops, and I know an increasing number of families are having to stretch their family budgets further. So I know not all families are in a position to donate fruit for snack time.
We provide children with a fruit snack, only if we have enough for everyone. Apples are a good choice, as we can stretch them quite far. A pack of six apples can provide 36 portions if we cut each apple into 6 pieces. Apples keep well for a number of days too.
So please think of us when you next go shopping. We do not need huge donations, a carrier bag full of fruit may perish before we have chance to use it! The children look forward to snack time, as it is a social time, a moment to sit and chat to their friends or to the staff.
Nursery News 1st Nov 2021
NURSERY NEWS
1st November 2021 – Edition 240
Find out About
A.Additional Public Health Advice to reduce Covid-19 transmission in schools.
B.School Photographer visit
C: Wednesday lunchtime drop off and pick-ups.
D. School governor update.
A. Additional Public Health Advice to reduce Covid-19 transmission in schools.
I have forwarded to you a letter to all Parents and Carers from Vicky Head, Director of Public Health, for your information. It seems that levels of infection among children and young people in Central Bedfordshire have risen to very high levels. All school leaders have been advised to put in place additional temporary measures to reduce transmission and keep educational disruption to a minimum.
As our year groups are separated into Little Nursery and Big Nursery, we already have reduced the mixing of all children in nursery. Our parents drop our pupils at the front door, so we do not have a huge number of parents in our building.
The current recommendations go further, asking us to limit visitors to the school for exceptional reasons only. I am pleased we were able to invite all parents in to visit the school, either in September as a settling in visit/consultation in Big Nursery, or as a stay and play session in Little Nursery in October. All our current parents have had an opportunity to see the school in operation. We had more plans to invite parents in to school, in the next few weeks, to observe grouptimes, but these will have to be paused for the time being.
I try to give lots of notice of any special events, and usually this newsletter after the half term break would set out all the important dates for this half term. I do not wish to set dates and then cancel them, so we will just have to take things a week at a time and follow current public health advice.
Click here for Letter from Vicky Head, Director of Public Health
B. School Photographer Visit.
A little reminder that a school photographer will be here on Wednesday 3rd November, for Big Nursery children, and Thursday 4th 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 talk to Miss Tyler or
Mrs Brinkley and they will suggest a time.
C: Wednesday lunchtime drop off and pick-ups.
Miss Howe gave me some feedback regarding the drop offs and pick ups on the last Wednesday children were in, on Wednesday 20th October. She said it went very smoothly. So thank you to all the parents who read the newsletter, and worked together to drop off and collect their children in an organised manner.
D. School Governor update.
I’m pleased to say we have had a parent of a child in Little Nursery volunteer to be our new parent governor.
Nursery News 18.10.2021
NURSERY NEWS
18th October 2021 – Edition 239
Find out About
A.Parent Consultations for Big Nursery. A reminder
B: October Half Term Break Approaching:
C. School Photographer Visit.
D. Doing up their own coats.
E Wednesday lunchtime drop off and pick-ups.
F. Becoming a school governor.
A. Parent Consultations for Big Nursery.
This week (week beginning 18/10/21) will see Big Nursery Consultations taking place.
These consultations will be carried out on the telephone. These consultations are scheduled to last no more than 10 minutes.
Miss Skai Monday 18th October.
Mrs Cashmore Tuesday 19th October
Miss Howe Wednesday 20th October
Mrs Patterson Thursday 21st October
B: October Half Term Break Approaching:
Time has flown seven weeks of this school year has passed already. Next week will be the Autumn Half Term break. School will be closed from Monday 25th October to Friday 29th October. School is also closed for staff training day on Monday 1st November.
C. School Photographer Visit.
A school photographer will be here on Wednesday 3rd November, for Big Nursery children, and Thursday 4th 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 talk to Miss Tyler or Mrs Brinkley and they will suggest a time. Our photographers name is Victoria Mitchell and she is based in Dunstable. She uses colourful backdrops and props within her photography.
D. 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.
E. Wednesday lunchtime drop off and pick-ups.
We aim to make drop off and pick up routines work as swiftly and smoothly as possible. On Wednesday lunchtimes we have to manage the changeover of children who attend the 2 ½ day beginning of the week attendance pattern and the children who attend the 2 ½ day end of the week attendance pattern.
So please think through what happens:
- Little Nursery children are dismissed out to parents
- Big Nursery children are dismissed out to parents.
- Big Nursery children arriving for the afternoon session are taken in.
Parents for Little Nursery children should wait at the Little Nursery side of the front gate. Parents of Big Nursery children should wait at the Big Nursery side of the gate.
Big Nursery Parents: This is the one time of the week where you do not need to wait by your child’s colour group sign. If you are collecting, you need to be at the front of the queue. If you are dropping off a child, please queue behind the parents who are waiting to collect their child (these will be the parents waiting without a nursery age child). My guess is that the queue for dropping off children should begin near the orange group sign.
Staff will not send children out if the front gate area is congested. Please try to keep the area near the front gates as clear as possible. Step up when it is your turn, then move away.
This process will work quickly and smoothly if all parents work together.
F. Becoming a school governor.
Ever Thought About Getting Involved At School As A Parent Governor?
The governors are responsible for making sure that the school provides a good quality education for the children at Willow. The Governing Body comprises of voluntary representatives from the local community (3 people), the staff (2), and of course the parents (2). We are a small friendly group who meet to discuss the Headteacher’s termly report, the budget, policies and matters arising. The Governing Body usually meets once per term for approximately 90 minutes. Meetings are usually at 4:15 pm, and recently due to Covid have been happening online. Our next meeting is on Thursday 4th November. We currently have a Parent Governor Vacancy. Please speak to Mrs Davies if you might be interested in the role.
