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Nursery News 14th June 2021

NURSERY NEWS

14th June 2021 – Edition 228

Find out About:

A..Is your child ready to learn?

B. Keeping Children Safe in the Heat

C. What the children are learning about this week:

D.End of Term arrangements July 2021

A. Is your child ready to learn?

One tick from ‘the sixteen ticks’ to work upon:

To talk in sentences and use an extending vocabulary.

Do you listen to your child and model appropriate speech and conversation when talking to them? Do you share new words with your child and explain what they mean?

Children absorb so much about language from what they hear around them. The average 3 year old knows 200 words. By the age of 4 this increases to around 1500 words. We talk to the children all day long at Nursery, about what we are doing and what they are doing, giving them the vocabulary to describe their experiences.

B. Keeping Children Safe in the Heat.

We are now moving into the last part of the school year. Summer brings it’s challenges, one of which is keeping the children hydrated. The children should all have their own water bottles and we remind the children to drink frequently. All children are offered a carton of milk at snacktime. We would like to ask all parents to donate a box of ice pops. We have a freezer in the classroom. When it is very hot we can then ask all the children to sit quietly in the shade or inside for a few minutes, to have a break from the sun and eat their ice pops. This has worked very well in past years. The children enjoy the treat.

C.What the children are learning about this week:

In the Main Nursery Bubble, we will be exploring another classic storybook ‘We’re Going on a Bear Hunt’

Mrs Patterson creates an adventure in the classroom! In the story the children walk through all different environments, short grass, long grass, thick oozy mud, a river, a snow storm. Mrs Patterson creates a trail around the classroom, so the children can explore all these different textures. At the end of the story the children find a big dark cave, and peep inside…. Mrs Patterson builds a big dark tent to represent the cave, and maybe the children will find a bear inside!

Miss Howe will organise a bear hunt in the garden, moving around with the children looking for different illustrations from the story hidden in the trees and bushes. The children will then retell relevant parts of the story at each stop. Miss Skai, working in the Art area will help children to make some binoculars and maps to help them on their bear hunt! We are running very low on tubes and boxes in our box modelling area. We would be very grateful for donations of these items.

Miss Howe will also be teaching the children traditional ring games, such as: ‘Isn’t it funny how a bear likes Honey, I wonder why he does, Buzz Buzz!’

The younger Bubble will be having a role play café, organised by Mrs Brinkley. (We have considered Covid carefully when planning, children will only handle their own food, and utensils will not be shared), Children will have the opportunity to prepare and eat sandwiches in the café. Children will also learn about the story of the ‘Tiger who came to tea’, because at the end the story the family eat at a café.

To help keep the children cool, we will be allowing them to play with ice blocks in the water tray. Please remember to keep your child’s bag well stocked with spare clothes as the good weather means we can play with more water activities. The younger the children are, the more likely they are to become very wet.

D. End of Term arrangements July 2021

The last day of term in July 2021 for all children will be Wednesday 21st July.

On Thursday 22nd July school will open only for the Main Nursery children that are leaving us. The session is likely to be a ‘morning only’ session. More details will follow.

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We usually invite new September starters to visit the school for one afternoon visit with their parents during the school day in July. We are not sure if this will be able to happen this year. A lot depends on what the government decides to do with it’s roadmap to reopening. The school has received this advice from Public Health regarding transition days:

Update from Public Health

Transition days

Schools across Central Bedfordshire will already be planning for transition days in the summer term. These days, whilst incredibly valuable for pupils and staff, could increase the risk of transmission of COVID as pupils from multiple settings will be arriving in schools across Central Bedfordshire. We know that, at the moment, we are experiencing the highest rates of cases in school aged children and their families, therefore, minimising any additional risk is really important as the Delta (Indian) variant appears to be more transmissible.

As such, we will be closely monitoring the situation but would advise that you actively plan alternative arrangements for in-person transition days. We hope that as we get closer to the next stage of the national roadmap in mid-June, and when we see how our patterns of infection are changing locally, that we can provide more definite advice about transition days.

So we are waiting to hear.

We may have to use some time at the beginning of the September term for new children and families to visit the school when the school is empty of other pupils.

We have already had some enquiries from existing parents about when children will restart in September. At the moment we are waiting for advice, to enable us to plan transitions.

Nursery News 7.6.21

NURSERY NEWS

7th June 2021 – Edition 227

Find out About:

A..Is your child ready to learn?

B.What the children are learning about this week:

C. Covid 19 updates

A. Is your child ready to learn?

One tick from ‘the sixteen ticks’ to work upon:

To understand the word ‘no’ and the boundaries it sets.

To understand the word ‘stop’ and that this might be used to prevent danger.

Do you and others treat behaviour of your child consistently e.g.child carer, relatives? Do you model behaviour in a way that you would expect your child to behave? Are there non-negotiable rules that your child understands, such as holding hands when crossing the road? Do you explain why you are saying ‘no’ or ‘stop’?

At Willow we try to be positive with the children, using positive language to encourage desirable behaviour. Sometimes though we do have to use a firm ‘No’ to catch a child’s attention, to prevent a child from getting hurt or indeed to stop them hurting someone else.

Children need to know when you are being serious. Boundaries are needed to keep everyone safe.

B.What the children are learning about this week:

In the Summer term we try to learn lots about the world around us, usually as the weather becomes warmer and we can spend more time outside. The chicks were a wonderful success and, as always, the children gained so much from the experience. So, we continue with the ‘animal’ theme this week.

In the older, Main Nursery Bubble: Miss Howe will be exploring the story of Handa’s Surprise.

The story introduces a number of animals found in Africa, and they enjoy eating Handa’s exotic fruits.

Miss Howe has provided the fruits from the story for the children to taste. All going to plan, this fruit tasting activity will happen on Wednesday.

Mrs Patterson will be exploring textured painting this week. This activity does get messy. Children are encouraged to mix their own powder paint with water, but then explore adding textured substances such as sawdust, porridge, sand, rice, or anything they can think of, and then try applying the paint to paper. Children find that a paint brush will not do the job, so explore tools that will spread their textured paint onto paper.

Miss Skai spends the week outside. She is following the children’s interests by developing a scavenger hunt, where children have a list of items that are hidden in the nursery garden, and the children have to see if they can find them.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………. In the younger Bubble, children will be learning about the story of the Very Hungry Caterpillar.

Staff will be retelling the story. Children will be learning to sequence the story with Miss Gaffney. Mrs Watson is helping children to paint Caterpillar pictures, printing round shapes using balloons dipped in paint.

The Hungry Caterpillar is a brilliant storybook to teach concepts from. Children begin to hear the names of the days of the week within the story, as the story tells of what the Caterpillar ate on Monday, then Tuesday etc. The illustrations are very bold and colourful. The caterpillar eats lots of fruits. Children hear that the caterpillar eats 1 to 5 pieces of fruit as the week progresses. Children can begin to count the fruits in the illustrations, using their finger, so they give one number name to each fruit as they touch them with their finger.

C. Covid 19 updates.

I am personally very concerned that the spread of the Indian variant may lead to a greater risk of school closures. Remember, one confirmed case of Covid 19 in a child or staff member will cause a bubble to close for 10 days. Please continue to make safe Covid decisions in your social choices, to help us to keep the school open. Leigh Davies, Headteacher.

Our Local Public Health Team sent out a letter to all Early Years settings for us to share with parents and carers. This letter is very important as it details how we should work in our Local Area. There are some significant changes to procedures. Please read the letter below very carefully.

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Dear Parent/Carer

An important message from Vicky Head, Director of Public Health

Cases of the new COVID-19 variant first identified in India (known as VOC-21APR-02 or B1.617.2) have recently been identified in Central Bedfordshire. These cases are not related to travel and include cases in children and families in early years settings.

We are working closely with Public Health England to investigate the cases and will undertake additional testing where this is appropriate.

Evidence suggests this variant spreads more easily than previous strains. In nearby Bedford, cases of this variant are increasing, and there has been a rapid rise in cases overall, particularly amongst children, including nursery and pre-school aged children.

The emergence of this new strain locally, and the speed with which it has spread in Bedford, is a reminder that we must all continue to be cautious and do what we can to control the spread of the virus.

Around 1 in 3 people do not have symptoms of COVID-19; increased testing will help to find other cases, and to limit the spread of this disease.

There are 4 key things that you can do to help:

1. Please watch out for symptoms of Covid-19 in your family

We are currently seeing more cases in young children. Please keep your child at home if they are unwell and book a PCR test at:

https://www.gov.uk/get-coronavirus-test or by calling 119.

2. People who have been in close contact with someone who tests positive should also self-isolate and book a PCR test as soon as possible

Please book a PCR test for all close contacts of positive cases at: https://www.gov.uk/get-coronavirus-test or by calling 119.

PLEASE NOTE THAT, EVEN IF THE RESULT OF THAT PCR TEST IS NEGATIVE, ALL CLOSE CONTACTS WILL NEED TO CONTINUE TO SELF-ISOLATE FOR THEIR FULL 10 DAYS.

3. Continue to participate in regular LFD testing.

Everyone over the age of 11 in Central Bedfordshire is encouraged to take up the offer of twice weekly testing. We have test centres across Central Bedfordshire for people to get tested, which can provide results usually within 30 minutes. You can also collect tests from test centres, from local pharmacies or order tests for home delivery at: https://www.gov.uk/order-coronavirus-rapid-lateral-flow-tests

4. If you (as a parent/carer) are eligible for vaccination, please book this promptly.

You can book your vaccination at: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronaviruscovid-19/coronavirus-vaccination/book-coronavirus-vaccination/ or visit the Clinical Commissioning Group website for details of drop-in sessions: https://www.blmkccg.nhs.uk/

We will continue to work with our education settings to ensure that they remain as safe as possible for our children, young people and staff.

Whilst we are concerned about this new variant, there is little evidence at present to suggest it causes more severe illness or makes the vaccines less effective.

Thank you for your ongoing support.

Yours sincerely, Vicky Head

Director of Public Health Central Bedfordshire, Bedford Borough and Milton Keynes Councils

Nursery News 24.5.2021

NURSERY NEWS

24th May 2021 – Edition 226

Find out About:

A..Is your child ready to learn?

B. Chick Success.

A. Is your child ready to learn?

One tick from ‘the sixteen ticks’ to work upon:

Recognise numbers and quantities in the everyday environment.

Children need to have lots of experience with maths to feel confident with it. Children need lots of hands on experience with real objects to begin to count accurately. A simple idea to get started is to count the stairs on the way up to bed. Your child will then hear the number order repeated 1,2,3,4,5 etc This will help them to learn to count by rote. Reciting numbers to 10 is like being able to recite a learnt rhyme. Children need more experience in order to count quantities. Ask your child to count objects when playing with their toys: ‘How many cars are in the queue for the garage?’ ‘How many ducks are in the bath?’ Encourage your child to touch each item as they say the number. Help children to put the objects into the line. A line of objects is easier to count than a randomly scattered group. Children need to be able to name numerals. Look at door numbers or bus numbers when out. Books are great too. Some stories are full of maths, for example ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’, the Thomas the Tank Engine stories (each engine has a number). Eventually your child will be able to piece all these skills together. They will be able to count a group of objects accurately and be able to label the group with the correct numeral. At grouptime, with the July 2021 Leavers, we count the number of children in the group, so children hear us counting every day. We plan lots of maths activities to stimulate the children’s number recognition. Over 10 weeks we watch a BBC tv program called ‘Numbertime’, once per week, focusing on one new number each week, and doing lots of repetitive counting to 10. Children’s counting skills start to come together around now, ready for big school. To give children challenge, pose mathematical problems: ‘How many biscuits will we need if everyone in our family has two each?’ Most importantly try to make maths fun -Happy Counting!

B. Chick success.

Our eggs arrived on Monday afternoon last week. Our eggs began to hatch overnight between Tuesday and Wednesday. When we arrived on Wednesday morning we had two very tired and wet looking chicks who looked like they had very recently emerged from their eggs.

During the day, a further 5 chicks hatched, which the children were able to observe during the school day.

By Thursday morning all 10 eggs had hatched. We had 5 boys and 5 girls.

Today, Monday, the children were able to handle the chicks. The children were really careful. A few children were a little nervous but staff supported everyone individually., to encourage all to have a go.

Nursery News 17.5.2021

NURSERY NEWS

17th May 2021 – Edition 225

Find out About:

A..Is your child ready to learn?

B. Eggs arriving.

C. What the children are learning about this week.

A. Is your child ready to learn?

One tick from ‘the sixteen ticks’ to work upon:

To eat a meal or snack unaided and identify and enjoy healthy foods.

It is important that children learn how to feed themselves to enable them to have some independence with their eating both at home and at school. As with other skills, parents need to be aware that children should be prepared for the next stage in their lives. Coming in to Catkins Class we expect children to drink their milk from a carton through a straw. We expect them to be able to use a regular cup to drink water from. Catkins staff encourage our youngest children to learn how to use a spoon to feed themselves by providing cereal with milk to eat at the beginning of the morning session.

A few children stay for lunch in Catkins, a larger number of 3+ children stay for lunch, but eventually all children will have lunch at school when they join reception classes. Children need to be prepared for this. Children need to practise using their cutlery as it is difficult to learn. At home, try to have meals with your children, so they can see you using cutlery. At school we encourage children to use knives in cookery sessions, for example to prepare fruit for fruit salads.

Lunchtime brings its challenges. A pot of yogurt or jelly with a spoon is quite a tricky task for a three year old. Your child has to be able to hold a spoon and move it so that it goes into the yogurt. They then have to pick up some food, but not too much, so that it will fit into their mouth without going all over their face. Children also have to learn about wanting to be clean after eating, so we encourage the children to check their face in the mirror and wash their face if necessary after eating. All these

things can be taught at home. Some children will try to eat food through the packaging, they need to know the packet must be opened before they can eat the biscuit. Some children squeeze their foods in their hands and sprinkle it onto the floor. Others tip food onto the floor and then tread on it to break the biscuits or crisps into crumbs. Children are all at different stages of independently eating, and it is not always linked to a child’s age. Some of our youngest children already have very good table manners, so well done to parents who have obviously spent time practising with their children.

Before half term the staff in Main Nursery Bubble spent quite considerable time discussing the theme of healthy eating with groups of children. The younger Bubble will be looking at healthy eating this week. We work on the concept that all food is okay for you in moderation, but some foods are healthier than others. We try to help children make informed decisions to help them over time. We explain that fruit and vegetables are really good for you because they provide lots of vitamins. Try talking to your child about the topic of healthy eating, to test their knowledge. I think most children in Main Nursery could talk confidently on the subject. Encourage children to help you prepare food at home. Maybe let them chop the carrots after you have peeled them, or help them to make their own sandwiches.

B. Eggs arriving.

How Egg-citing!

This week we will be receiving a delivery from ‘Living Eggs’.

The eggs arrive almost ready to hatch, so we hope by Tuesday or Wednesday we should see the chicks beginning to hatch out from their eggs. We keep the chicks for about 10 days so that the children can watch them grow, and learn about how to care for them. We plan lots learning opportunities around the eggs/chicks over the next two weeks. Updates to follow……

C. What the children are learning about this week.

The younger bubble will be focusing on Healthy Eating this week. To promote an interest in food Miss Tyler will be setting up a fruit and vegetable shop role play area. We have lots of plastic fruit, and the children love to buy lots of fruit and put it into their shopping bags. Children begin to use the names of different fruits, as well as learning about quantity, sharing, being in role as the shop keeper or customer, and exchanging money for goods.

To compliment this, they will investigate fruit shapes, by using pieces of fruit to print with, using paint. They will play some table top card games with a healthy eating theme, and eventually have the opportunity to prepare their own fruit salad.

Miss Gaffney will be looking at the effect of exercise on their bodies, in a very basic way. Helping them to observe that their breathing rate changes when they are active, and that you can feel your heart beating when you are physically working hard.

In the older bubble:

If the weather is good Mrs Patterson will develop more water play this week. Her plan is to provide the dolls clothes, washing up bowls, a washing line and pegs, so children can explore washing and drying clothes.

Most of the week we will be focusing on chicks. As I am writing this a small group of children keep coming to check at the front door to see if the lady from Living eggs has delivered them yet! I hope to offer some photos next week!

Nursery News 10th May 2021

NURSERY NEWS

10th May 2021 – Edition 224

Find out About:

A.Is your child ready to learn?

B. Baby announcement.

C. What the children are learning about this week.

A. Is your child ready to learn?

One tick from ‘the sixteen ticks’ to work upon:

To recognise own name and familiar signs and logos.

A child will begin to recognise their name if they begin to see it written down. At home you can make sure your child sees you adding their name to birthday cards, or writing their name on drawings your child completes. At Willow children see their names on their coat pegs and folders. They have a name card, which they can use to copy their name onto their artwork. Every term, with the 3+ children we ask them to draw a picture and to write their name and we keep this sample of work, to see how their letter formation is progressing.

This week Miss Howe is helping children to make a caterpillar with their name on. They are using their namecards to enable them to copy their names. (This is Miss Howe’s example )

Children are already reading familiar logos and signs– shop names, and brand names. Most 3+ Nursery children could identify the names of supermarkets from their shopfronts and logos. This should be encouraged as it is an early stage of reading. Take an interest in words you see in the street. Look at street names to see if any of the letters in your child’s name appear on the street signs.

B. Baby Announcement

C. What the children are learning about this week.

We are continuing with our theme of Minibeasts across the school.

Main Nursery Children are beginning to look at lifecycles. Miss Skai is looking after an caterpillar to butterfly demonstration. We hope that the children will observe the butterfly lifecycle.

We have lots of resources in school to support our themes. We have sets of puzzles that teach about life cycles.

We have sequencing cards that feature minibeasts that promote pattern making.

Our Younger bubble will have the opportunity to print using minibeast stamps.

Our planting is beginning to grow, both inside and outside.

Early Summer is an exciting time to be in Nursery, as there are lots of things growing and changing in the classrooms.

One tick from ‘the sixteen ticks’ to work upon:

To recognise own name and familiar signs and logos.

A child will begin to recognise their name if they begin to see it written down. At home you can make sure your child sees you adding their name to birthday cards, or writing their name on drawings your child completes. At Willow children see their names on their coat pegs and folders. They have a name card, which they can use to copy their name onto their artwork. Every term, with the 3+ children we ask them to draw a picture and to write their name and we keep this sample of work, to see how their letter formation is progressing.

This week Miss Howe is helping children to make a caterpillar with their name on. They are using their namecards to enable them to copy their names. (This is Miss Howe’s example )

Children are already reading familiar logos and signs– shop names, and brand names. Most 3+ Nursery children could identify the names of supermarkets from their shopfronts and logos. This should be encouraged as it is an early stage of reading. Take an interest in words you see in the street. Look at street names to see if any of the letters in your child’s name appear on the street signs.