Goldstone Crescent
Dunstable
Beds
LU5 4QU
Phone: 01582 662600
Email: office@willownursery.co.uk
Latest News
Willow Nursery Reopening
Dear Parent/Carer,
Willow Nursery School will be fully open from Thursday 13th January. Thank you for your understanding and patience at this time. Mrs Davies has spoken at length with Central Bedfordshire Public Health Advisory Team. They are totally satisfied that all cases within the school are community related. They also recognise that we had no other choice but to close the school to keep everyone safe. The finance staff will ensure that all monies will be refunded or rolled forward for people who pay for their child’s sessions.
Mrs Leigh Davies
Willow Nursery Temporary Closure
Nursery News 4th January 2022
NURSERY NEWS
4th January 2022 – Edition 247
Find out About
A. Important Reminder for Big Nursery Children: Deadline for Local Authority Applications for Primary Schools.
B. Term Dates.
C What the children are learning about this week?
A. Important Reminder for Big Nursery Children: Deadline for Local Authority Applications for Primary Schools- 15th January 2022.
Parents of all children in Big Nursery must apply to their Local Authority for a place in their chosen primary school by 15th January 2022. Make sure that you do this! We always have at least one parent each year who fails to apply, and their child is not allocated a Primary school place.
B. Term Dates.
We follow the term dates set by Central Bedfordshire Council. If you look on the Central Bedfordshire Council website you can find school term dates. School term dates can sometimes be changed by the Local Authority, so I do not put more than the current terms dates in my newsletter. If you are planning to book a holiday, always check the Central Bedfordshire website for most up to date school holiday dates.
So for this term: Spring term 2022:
Term Begins Tuesday 4th January 2022.
Half Term holiday is from Monday 14th February to Friday 18th February
The last day of the Spring Term is Friday 1st April.
Within this term we plan to offer all parents a Parent Consultation. These are likely to be at the beginning of February. I will advise of specific dates nearer the time.
C. What the children are learning about this week?
The theme in Little Nursery this week is sharing experiences.
In Catkins and Room 3 the children will be talking about what they have been doing at home over the festive period. The children will be drawing pictures of their Christmas activities and any gifts that they received. Staff will talk with them as they draw and ‘write’ encouraging them to discuss what they have drawn.
There will be an obstacle course set up outside by Mrs. Brinkley, and in the link area, Mrs. Watson will be looking at different painting techniques. The children will be using balloons and string dipped in paint to create some amazing artwork.
The theme in Big Nursery is people who help us / postal workers.
There will be a role play area set up in Room 1, where the children can role play being a postal worker, they will carry out tasks such as sorting and posting letters and parcels. The children will also listen to a story called ‘Letter’s from Maisy’ and will have the opportunity to write and post their own letters.
In Room 2, Mrs. Patterson will help to children to make and paint their own post boxes. She will also encourage the children to explore colour mixing by painting their hands and feet with different colours and looking at the changes that happen if the colours are blended together.
Outside, Miss Skai will turn all the bicycles into delivery vehicles. She will have delivery destinations set up around the playground and ask the children to deliver their parcels to each area.
Nursery News 13th December 2021
NURSERY NEWS
13th December 2021 – Edition 246- Last Newsletter of 2021
Find out About
A.Christmas Parties
B. What the children are learning about this week?
C Notes for the end of term/ date for beginning of Spring term
A. Christmas Parties.
These parties are for all our children regardless of the days you attend.
Unfortunately parents will be unable to stay during the parties as we do not have enough room! Staffing ratio’s will be maintained.
Little Nursery Party.
Friday 17th December
9:00am to 10:00am
The Plan:
9:00 Doors Open
Children work in small groups to make ‘Christmas Crowns’
9:20 Party Snacks.
9:30 Surprise visit from Father Christmas
Songs for Father Christmas
Father Christmas leaves gifts for all children.
9:35 Back to groups to make a decoration.
9:50 Pass the Parcel Game.
10:00 Parents arrive to collect all children.
Big Nursery Party
Friday 17th December
11:15am to 1:00pm
The Plan:
11:15 Doors Open
11:25am Party Food
11:45am Surprise visit from Father Christmas.
Songs for Father Christmas.
12:00 Christmas Magic Show
1:00pm Parents arrive to collect all children.
B. What the children are learning about this week?
The theme in Little Nursery is Christmas.
Catkins will be focusing on expressive arts by making Santa handprints with Mrs. Field, she will paint an image of Santa onto their hands and they will press this image onto card. The children will also be learning some Christmas songs, including Jingle Bells and We wish you a merry Christmas.
Little Nursery will be making Christmas lanterns and reading a collection of festive stories. In the link they will be decorating reindeers and outside in the garden, the children will be making Christmas hats.
The theme in Big Nursery is Christmas.
In Room 1, Miss Howe will be making Christmas calendars with the children, other activities will include the Christmas surprise game, which teaches about colour, and the Christmas list game, which will have a focus on counting.
In Room 2, Mrs. Patterson will be retelling the story of the nativity. The children will have the opportunity to dress up as Nativity characters and act out the story.
Outside, Miss Skai will be working with the children to make outside decorations. They will use glittery pipe cleaners and pasta. This activity really helps the children to fine tune their motor skills and the decorations will look beautiful hanging in your gardens.
C Notes for the end of term/ date for beginning of Spring term
On Friday 17th December the school will be open for the parties only. The school office will be closed on Friday 17th December. The deadline for all payments for the beginning of the Spring Term will be on Thursday 16th December at 9:30am.
The staff would like to say Happy Christmas! to all our families that celebrate Christmas. We wish all our families a safe and happy break during the school holidays and look forward to seeing you in the new year.
Spring Term begins on 4th January 2022.
Nursery News 6th December 2021
NURSERY NEWS
6th December 2021 – Edition 245
Find out About
A.Information regarding the beginning of the New Term in January 2022.
B. Christmas Cards
C. What the children are learning about this week?
A. Information regarding the beginning of the Spring Term in January 2022.
School reopens on 4th January 2022.
During the Autumn term, all children in Little Nursery have been classed as ‘Two Year Olds’. Little Nursery Children who have had their 3rd birthday between the 1st September 2021 and 31st December 2021 are now entitled to universal 15 hours funding, or for some families, 30 hours funding. These children will be based in Little Nursery, and their keyworker will be Miss Gaffney. They will now be known as ‘Green Group’. At this time, eight more children will join ‘Green Group’ from our waiting list. Mrs Watson will be the keyworker for these brand new children.
We will put a Green Group sign on the fence, so Green Group parents will know where to wait in the morning. It will be on the Little Nursery side of the front gate, but will be behind our 2 year olds.
B. Christmas Cards.
We as a staff, would like to ask parents to consider sending just one Christmas card in to school, written ‘To all my friends at Willow’. These cards will then be displayed for all to see in the library corridor.
C. What the children are learning about this week?
The theme in little nursery is ‘Christmas’.
In Catkins this week we will be making tree decorations, using card. The children will explore marble painting and make their own unique baubles to hang from the tree or use as a keepsake.
The children will also have access to our brand-new soft play equipment, they can build up their physical skills by climbing, rolling and stretching across these soft and colourful shapes.
In the link the children will have great fun baking a variety of cakes and biscuits throughout the week. There will be a different recipe every day, including mince pies and Christmas cupcakes. By the end of the week the children will be expert chefs and may even be able to help with Christmas dinner!
Outside, the children will be making reindeer food to help keep Rudolph and his friends full of energy for their long journey around the world. Miss Gaffney will also
be using natural resources, found by the children, to build and decorate a Christmas star.
In the classroom, the children will make their Christmas cards and handprint Christmas tree pictures. This is a lovely way to express themselves through art and use their hands as tools to paint.
The theme in big nursery is also ‘Christmas’.
In room 1, Miss Skai will be working from a literacy point of view and encouraging the children to write letters to Santa. She will also be reading ’Dear Santa’ written by Rod Campbell, with small groups of children and encouraging them to make predictions regarding what happens next in the story.
In room two Miss Howe will be teaching the children about 2D shapes, by working with the children to create a picture of a Christmas tree. The children will use paint, stars and sequins to decorate their trees and will discuss the shapes they have used. Miss Howe will explain that the shapes we see all around us have names and will support the children in learning the names of the shapes used in this activity, for example, the tree is a triangle, the card used is a rectangle and the tree stump is a square.
Mrs. Cashmore will be working with the children on their Christmas cards, they will be using different resources to create a wreath card. Mrs. Cashmore will be talking to the children about the resources they will need in preparation for making their cards, as well as encouraging the children to improve their math’s skills by counting the pom-poms used for their wreath.
Outside, Mrs. Patterson will be making miniature Christmas trees, using clay and real branches that have fallen from trees in our garden. Mrs. Patterson will show the children how to drizzle glue and sparkles over their tree. This gives the children their very own sense of ‘Christmas magic’ and is a beautiful memento for them to either keep or give to a loved one.
