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Nursery News 7th October 2024

Monday, October 7, 2024

NURSERY NEWS

7^th October 2024 – Edition 347

Find out About:

A. Display of Family Photographs- For Big Nursery Children

B. Parent Consultations- A reminder

C. Would you be interested in becoming a School Governor?

D. Public Health Information: How to keep your child healthy over the coming Autumn/ Winter season.

E. What are the children learning about this week?

A. Display of Family Photographs- For Big Nursery Children

A few weeks ago I told everyone about the display we would like to put up of Family photo’s in Big Nursery. We have had a few photographs come in, and we have put them on the wall. The children have been very interested in looking at the photographs, but a few were concerned they could not find pictures of their family..

We know people have lots of photos on their phone, but people do not always print them. I am suggesting that you might like to send a family photo to the school office, and we can print it off, and place it on the wall. The school email address is office@willownursery.co.uk

B. Parent Consultations-A reminder

We aim to offer all parents the opportunity to have a Parent Consultation with their child’s keyworker once per term

Little Nursery will be having their Parent Consultations during week beginning Monday 21^st October, 2024

These consultations are offered to talk about how your child is settling in. 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, or after afternoon sessions.

C. Would you be interested in becoming a School Governor?

Willow Nursery is a Maintained Nursery School, and is managed like other Government Maintained Schools.

As part of our structure we have a governing body, made up of volunteers, that come together to help the Headteacher to manage the school effectively. As part of our governing body we have two Parent Governors. (We have one in place, we are hoping to recruit a second Parent Governor) Parent governors play a vital role on governing bodies, holding the unique position of having a parental viewpoint of the school. Through the children, they have a first hand experience of the delivery of the curriculum, and how the school is perceived from the ‘consumers’ point of view. This enables parent governors to bring a different perspective to the strategic management of the school.

More specifically governors:

help the school with it’s strategy
hold the headteacher to account for the school’s performance
makes sure the school budget is properly managed

What commitment to Parent Governors have to make at Willow?

We ask that governors are available to meet for three governors meetings per year, one in each term. We generally meet at 4:15pm, sometimes we meet face to face, sometimes online and currently due to everyone’s commitments, we operate a blended approach with some people meeting us here at school face to face, and others joining us online. Meetings usually last 60-90 minutes.

We ask all governors to visit the school once a year during the daytime to carry out a short governor visit, so they can see how the school is operating, within an area they are interested in.

You do not need any particular experience, we just ask that you are interested in the development of your child’s school.

Our next meeting is on Monday 14^th October at 4:00pm, online.

So if you think this is something you might be interested in, have a chat with me, Mrs Davies and we can take it from there.

D. Public Health Information:

How to keep your child healthy over the coming Autumn/ Winter season.

We have received some information from Vicky Head, Director of Public Health, Central Bedfordshire Council. She has asked schools to share with parents ways you can keep your children healthy over the coming Autumn/ Winter season.

She says:

With the new school term starting, children spend more time together, which can lead to more colds,flu, and other illnesses.

Here are some ways to keep your children healthy and in school:

1.Keep your child’s vaccinations up to date.

Measles and whooping cough are still around. The best way to protect your child from getting sick is to make sure they have had all their vaccines. If you are unsure. you can ask your GP or use the NHS app to check.

Make sure your child gets the flu vaccine.

Flu can make children very sick. The Flu vaccine reduces the risk of needing hospital care. Most children from age 2 to 16 can get the vaccine. The vaccine is usually a quick, painless spray in the nose. There is also a version without pork ingredients. Children aged 2-3 can get the flu vaccine at their GP. Vaccinating your child also helps protect others, like family members, from getting the flu.

3.Teach your child good handwashing habits.

Washing hands helps stop the spread of germs. Remind your child to wash their hands after using the toilet and before eating. Teach them to use tissues for coughs and sneezes and to throw them in the bin afterwards.

Know when to keep your child at home.

Sometimes it is hard to know if your child should stay home. For minor illnesses, like a slight cough or cold, it’s usually OK to send them to school. But if they have a high temperature or a rash, keep them at home and speak to your GP

E. What are the children learning about this week?

The theme this week is who is who in nursery. The staff will work with the children in the mornings on recognising different members of staff and learning their names. Staff will also encourage the children to try to remember each other’s names and use them during play.

Throughout the school we will also be focusing on becoming familiar with the sequence of numbers and being able to sing and say them in order. To support this, the children will be learning lots of number and action songs. Staff will teach the children how to represent numbers as they sing, this will be done by using props and fingers as concrete objects to count. To support your children with this objective you can sing with them at home, some popular songs are ‘5 currant buns’, ’10 green bottles’ and ‘1,2,3,4,5 once I caught a fish alive’.

The children will also be learning how to take turns on the bikes outside, we know that they are a very exciting resource and want everyone to be able to have a fair turn at learning to ride a bike. To enable this, we will introduce sand timers for the children to use to monitor when their time is finished and someone else should get a try.

Nursery News 30th September 2024

Monday, September 30, 2024

NURSERY NEWS

30th September 2024 – Edition 346

Find out About:

A. Important dates

B. Parent Consultations

C. Forest School Program

D. Willow Lending Library.

E. What are the children learning about this week?

A. Important dates

It is time to give parents an overview of the term, as most families are now enrolled and attending in Big Nursery and Little Nursery.

The school year has three terms, Autumn, Spring and Summer. Each term has a Half Term break in the middle of the term. So dates for this term are:

Mon 28^th October 2024 to Fri 1^st November 2024: Autumn Half term – School Closed

Mon 4th November –Teacher training day- School Closed.

Thursday 19^th December 2024 Last normal school day of the Autumn Term.

Friday 20th December 2024 School open for Christmas Parties only (As a guide: Last year Little Nursery Party 9:00am to 10:00am Big Nursery Party 11:15am to 1:00pm, but this may change slightly when we begin planning for this year)

Monday 6^th January 2025 –Teacher Training Day- School Closed

Tuesday 7^th January 2025 First day of Spring Term- School open.

We have some other notable dates to share with you. Further information will be included in these newsletters nearer to the time, regarding each event.

Wednesday 6th November and Thursday 7th November-School Photographer to visit.

Thursday 14^th November 5pm- Open School Event ‘Walk In the Dark’.

Friday 15^th November ‘Children in Need Day’ We make a collection for this charity.

Wednesday 20^th November Open School Event Big Nursery Green Group –Parents to watch Basic Skills Literacy Session.

Week beginning Monday 2nd December Open School Event: Big Nursery Parents invited in to watch their child’s Music Session.

B. Parent Consultations

We aim to offer all parents the opportunity to have a Parent Consultation with their child’s keyworker once per term

Little Nursery will be having their Parent Consultations during week beginning Monday 21^st October, 2024

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

Monday 21^st October Mrs Brinkley’s Orange Group Consultations, 5 minute telephone consultations between 3:15pm and 3:55pm

Tuesday 22^nd October Miss Gaffney’s Blue Group Consultations, 5 minute telephone consultations between 3:15pm and 4:20pm

Wednesday 23rd October Mrs Cashmore’s Little Yellow Group Consultations, 5 minute telephone consultations, between 1:00pm and 1:25pm

Thursday 24^th October Mrs McGrath’s Little Yellow Groups Consultations, 5 minute telephone consultations between 3:15pm and 3:35pm

Big Nursery will be having their Parent Consultations (on the telephone) during week beginning Monday 4^th November, 2024. Dates and times for appointments will be detailed in Nursery News 348 (published on Monday 14^thOctober).

C. Forest School Program

Mrs Brinkley has started teaching our Forest School program to Big Nursery Yellow Group. I just wanted to tell you a little about Forest School at Willow.

Mrs Brinkley spent a year studying to become a Level 3 Forest School Practitioner. In order to support her work in school, all other school staff studied to become Level 1 Forest School Practitioners.

What is a Forest School? -this is a quote which outlines what a Forest School is and the ethos of them:

‘An inspirational process that offers children, young people and adults regular opportunities to achieve, develop confidence and self-esteem through hands on learning experiences in a local woodland environment’ (Forest School (England) network 2002)

Whilst we have some trees and shrubs, we acknowledge that we do not have a ‘Forest’, but Forest School teaching and learning is all about participating in activities in the outdoors, learning new skills, building strong relationships and thinking creatively. Mrs Brinkley has planned 7 activity sessions that Big Nursery children will take part in during their final year at nursery. Mrs Brinkley will work with a small group once a week for 7 weeks. We aim to have worked with Yellow, Green and Red group children by Summer 2025.

So, for your information, these are the seven activities the children will be participating in:

1.Fairy/ Gnome Dens. Children will use natural materials that they find in the garden to build a small den for an imaginary fairy or gnome.

Making Fairies or small people. Children will be shown how to make a fairy using twigs and clay. Children will be encouraged to make their own character, using their imagination to add hair, wings or other accessories.

3.Larger Dens. Working as part of a small group children will build a den from tarpaulins and ropes. Children will then join Mrs Brinkley inside the den for a story together.

Clay Faces. Children will mould a flat circular clay shape onto a tree trunk. Children will then add natural objects to the clay to create a face. Children will be shown how to make marks in the clay using sticks found in the garden. Children will compare their own features with those of their friends. Children will discuss similarities and differences.

5.Bug Hunt. Children will look around the garden areas, trying to find bugs to put into their bug collecting pot. They will tip their collections out onto a white paper surface, then use a magnifying glass to look carefully at the bugs. We will be teaching them about being careful with the wildlife and to look after nature.

Mud Kitchens, Mud Potions and Mixtures. Children will be provided with pots and spoons. They will have the opportunity to mix soil with sand and water to make liquid mud. Children will then be able to add leaves and grass, and anything else that they find in the garden, into their mixture.

Making Woodland Medals. Children will be shown how to use a hand drill to drill a hole in a small disc of wood in order to make a medal. Children will decorate their medals using felt tip pens

Mrs Brinkley’s Thoughts….

I am really excited to be now teaching our children ‘The Forest School Way’. The children are enjoying the new experience and their ideas are extending learning further. Forest School learning has so many benefits to the child’s learning and covers all areas to support the overall well being of the children.

Welcome to Forest School learning Willow!

D. Willow Lending Library.

Miss Howe worked hard last year to create ‘Willow Lending Library’ which has proved to be quite a success. We want to invite all new parents to explore our Lending Library:

Willow Lending Library

Welcome to Willow outdoor lending library. We are open every day from 8.15-8.45am and from 3.00pm-3.30pm.

Please choose 1-2 books with your child and write the names of the books under your child’s name in their colour group folder before taking them home to read together.

You can change the books as frequently as you wish.

Please look after our books.

*Please ensure that you have left the library area at 8.45am prompt before children start to enter the school gates in the morning. THANKYOU J

Top Tips for Reading with your child

Let your child choose what they would like to read.
Make sure there are no distractions.
Sit close together. Encourage your child to hold the book and turn the pages too.
Look at the pictures. Talk about what can be seen on the page.
Ask questions and talk about the book. Give your child time to talk.
Have fun – there is no right or wrong way to share a story.

Free tips and advice in more than 20 languages on ‘sharing books with young children’ can be found at:

https://www.booktrust.org.uk/books-and-reading/tips-and-advice/reading-with-your-child-3-4years/#!?q=&sortOption=AtoZ&pageNo=1

E. What are the children learning about this week?

The theme this week is ‘All about me’ and staff will be working with the children to teach them about the similarities and differences they may have with each other. Staff will talk to the children about themselves, each other and being part of the Willow Nursery community. We feel that it is important to have a strong sense of identity and this comes from knowing about yourself and those that are close to you.

During some activities, children will be encouraged to look at themselves in mirrors, to see their key features and will be encouraged to talk about what they can see. Staff will model language for those that are unsure of naming features such as cheeks, chin, eyebrows, etc. Other resources we may use to maximise the learning opportunities are playdough, potato heads, puppets and chalk drawings. Through using these tools, we can encourage the children to share similarities and differences they may have with each other. Children will be encouraged to celebrate their differences because this is what makes them unique. We have received lots of family photo’s from parents for our display board and these are often a talking point for the children. If you haven’t yet sent in a family photo, there is still time to do this. The children get very excited to have the opportunity to share their own experiences with their friends and their photo’s are a tool we use to support this.

Nursery News 23rd September 2024

Tuesday, September 24, 2024

NURSERY NEWS

23^rdSeptember 2024 – Edition 345

Find out About:

A. Severe Rainfall.

B. What to put in your child’s change of clothes bag.

C. Applying for Primary School.

D. What are the children learning about this week?

A. Severe Rainfall- an update.

The water was rising in Hadrian Academy Playground until about 9:30pm last night. At our rear boundary with Hadrian Academy the water in our playground was 30cms deep. More rainfall was predicted overnight. I could not give a clear decision about whether the school would be able to open until I had arrived this morning.

There had been no leaks inside the school, and the toilets, heating, electrical systems, phone and internet were all working appropriately.

I was however receiving messages from staff who were stuck on their journey in to school.

Our ability to function as a school is also impacted upon what is happening in nearby schools. Staff children have to be looked after if their schools are closed, and again we cannot function here without enough staff.

We do, as a school, try really hard to remain open, during adverse weather conditions but in my 25 years of being here at Willow I have never seen Hadrian Academy’s field and playground become a lake!

Parts of our garden were very waterlogged. I did not want children playing in such wet mud. This is why our outside area remained closed for the day!

So, our plan for tomorrow Tuesday 24^th September is that we will be open, but I cannot be 100% sure of that until we see what happens overnight…..

Assume we are open. If we are closed we will endeavour to send an email at a similar time to the one this morning at approx. 8:15am

B. What to put in your child’s change of clothes bag.

We ask that all children bring a small bag or backpack to school with items of spare clothing inside. Sometimes children may become very wet or messy when playing in the nursery and we cannot leave them in wet clothes. Sometimes children will have a toilet accident and require changing.

Please provide clothes that are easy to change. Please provide more than one pair of underpants/knickers/trousers/socks if your child is not yet reliable with their toileting. Put plenty of clothes in! Some children are changed three or more times a day!

We would ask that all parents provide a pack of wet wipes in their child’s bag to enable us to clean your child after a toilet incident.

We would also ask that parents provide some carrier bags in their child’s bag to put wet or soiled clothes into. A packet of Nappy sacks will do the job!

C. Applying for Primary School. (Taken directly from Central Beds website.)

This applies to all children in Big Nursery

Apply for a lower or primary school place in Central Bedfordshire

15 January 2025 is the deadline for on-time applications.

How to apply

if we’re your council, you need to apply through us
if we’re not your council, you’ll need to apply through them (find out who your council is on GOV.UK)

Apply online for your school place

Applying online is quick, simple and safe. In fact, nearly 95% of parents and carers apply online for a lower/primary school place.

What you’ll need to apply

Proof of your child’s date of birth, such as a passport or short birth certificate. You’ll be prompted to upload a copy of this during your application.

Apply by post

If you can’t apply online, don’t worry; you can also apply by post. Here’s how:

get an application form
You can download an application form (PDF)
complete the form and ensure you have proof of your child’s date of birth, like a passport or short birth certificate (please don’t send us original documents; copies are fine)
send the completed form and copies of documents to:
School Admissions
Central Bedfordshire Council
Priory House
Monks Walk
Chicksands
Shefford
Bedfordshire
SG17 5TQ

We need to receive your application by the 15 January 2025 deadline.

Please don’t make both an online and postal application. We’ll only process the latest one (if it’s sent before the deadline).

Apply by email

Please note: Email is not a secure medium. Please ensure you take appropriate steps to protect your child’s personal information.

get an application form
You can download an application form (PDF)
complete the form and ensure you have proof of your child’s date of birth, like a passport or short birth certificate
ensure you’ve protected all documents containing personal information
send the completed form and copies of documents to admissions@centralbedfordshire.gov.uk

We need to receive your application by the 15 January 2025 deadline.

If Central Bedfordshire is not your council, you’ll need to apply through your home Local Authority.

You will need to look on your Local Authority Council’s website for further information on how to apply.

D. What are the children learning about this week?

This week, the topic in nursery is Maisy Goes Swimming. This is themed around the book written by Lucy Cousins. The children will be learning how to listen to familiar stories with increasing attention. They will be building on their recall skills and talking about the story and characters with each other and staff. Adults will ask questions relating to the story, which will improve the children’s ability to hold a conversation and allow them the opportunity to share their favourite parts of the book.

Music will be played outside throughout the week to help the children build their listening skills and also improve the confidence of those that want to join in with singing familiar songs. In keeping with the Maisy theme, the children will have the chance to paint portraits of the characters from the Maisy story. They will be encouraged to pay particular attention to the colours and features of their chosen character.

There will also be lots of activities throughout the nursery that focus on strengthening muscles in the hands, including writing, drawing, playdough and painting. Lots of the children’s artwork will be displayed in the setting but much of their work will come home on Wednesday for you to look at and enjoy with your child.

Nursery News 16th September 2024

Wednesday, September 18, 2024

NURSERY NEWS

16^th September 2024 – Edition 344

Find out About:

A. Progress so far….

B. Keeping Children Safe.

C. Milk and Fruit time.

D. Hadrian Academy Open Mornings

E. Can you help with some Tissues?

F. A Display of Family Photographs-For Big Nursery children.

G. Early Years Pupil Premium

H. What are the children learning about this week?

A. Progress so far….

Things are going well. The new children are really enjoying exploring the school. This generally means that every piece of play equipment is taken out of the drawers, and explored on the floor. The entire school floor is covered in toys! The staff are very patient. They begin by teaching the children where all the toys and equipment can be found, and where they should be returned to. Staff are getting to know the children, playing with them, talking to them, sharing stories with them, and generally encouraging them to feel happy in school. When children feel secure and have good well-being, they will begin to learn.

So this week a few basics to help with the running of school:

B. Keeping Children Safe.

Parents entrust their children into our care. There are rigorous procedures in place outlined by the government to keep all children safe from harm. I think it is important to let you know about some of the procedures that may affect you and your family whilst being part of our School Community, and I will try to explain the reasons for having these procedures.

We need to know where children are if they are absent from school. If for any reason you decide to keep your child at home, on a day when your child should be at school please telephone in to school as soon as possible and let us know. When registers are completed at the beginning of the session we have to put codes in the registers regarding the reasons for a child’s absence. If we do not hear from you, you will receive a call from one of the office staff or the headteacher asking about the whereabouts of your child.

If you know in advance that you will be absent, for example for a medical appointment, please let staff know and the appropriate code can be entered in the register.

If you plan to go on holiday in term time, please fill in a holiday form (available from the office staff) which again will let us know the dates that you will be absent. Unexplained absences have to be followed up. If a child is absent for any length of time and we have not heard from their parents as to the reasons for their absence, the child become a ‘Missing Child’. In this circumstance we are compelled to contact the Police and Social Care.

We need to record all injuries. If your child has a fall or receives a bump in school that we are aware of, we will fill in an accident letter to tell you about the incident. This letter will be passed on to you outside, by a member of staff. There is another copy kept in school.

Please inform your child’s Keyworker if your child comes in to school with an existing injury that has occurred outside of school time. Staff must make a note of any existing injuries a child has. Our children at Willow are young. They are sometimes unable to tell us how they have hurt themselves. Please tell us if you know of any marks/cuts etc as it will save staff trying to work out what has happened.

Teach your child to use the toilet. Guidelines say that we should offer as little assistance in the bathroom as possible. With the three and four year old Nursery children we prefer to give children verbal assistance from outside their cubicle, only offering physical assistance if absolutely necessary. If an adult is needed to help a child in the bathroom another member of staff will always be aware, and support if necessary.

C. Milk and Fruit time.

The government provides all children at Nursery with a free carton of milk each day. All children in the nursery will be offered milk at mid-morning snack time. (Unless parents have informed us that their child has an intolerance to cows milk)

We aim to provide all children with a fruit snack

We ask all parents to donate some fruit, so we can share these at the snack table. We ask parents to donate a bag of fruit such as apples, satsumas or bananas, for all the children to share. If every parent was to donate a small bag of fruit every half term, we will have lots to share.

D. Hadrian Academy Open Mornings

The Office Manager at Hadrian Academy has been in touch with us to ask if we could hand out Hadrian Academy prospectuses to all families in Big Nursery.

Mrs Barber (our Finance Manager) handed some out on Thursday and Friday of last week, and will continue to hand them to parents this week.

It may appear very early to be thinking about the next step in your child’s education when some children have only started at nursery last week.

However, all children that currently attend Willow Nursery, in Big Nursery, will leave Willow at the end of the Summer Term in July 2025. These children will begin reception class in your chosen Lower/Primary School in September 2025.

Applications for Lower/Primary School places must be made direct to your Local Authority by15 January 2025

I will provide more information about this process in my next newsletter.

So, in the meantime, Hadrian Academy would like us to make you aware of some Open Mornings they are running, to enable you to see their school.

Open Mornings: Fridays on 4^th October, 18^th October, 15^th November, 6^th December 2024 – 9.30 – 10.30am

Hadrian Academy, Dunstable

T: 01582 618400
www.hadrianacademy.co.uk

E. Can you help with some Tissues?

Sometimes we ask parents for some specific donations that help our school. During Covid, we were asked to teach the children about the importance of using tissues hygienically to blow their nose. As a staff we discussed which elements of the previous Covid requirements we would like to continue with. We think that the hygienic use of tissues, combined with frequent handwashing helps maintain a cleaner, healthier school environment. So, I am asking if all parents could help us by donating a box of tissues for the children to use, to help keep everyone healthy.

F. A Display of Family Photographs- For Big Nursery Children

We have themes that we work on with the children. We begin with learning about something all the children can be familiar with their family. The staff will be working with the children on various activities and talking to them about their families. To help the children understand we would ask if you could send in a family photo of Big Nursery children that they can share with everyone. The staff would also like to include these photo’s as part of a display. So, if you would like to send in a photo of your child and their family, please do so during this week (16/09/24) or at the beginning of next week. Please hand your photo to your child’s keyworker, so we can keep them safe. Please write your child’s name on the back of the photo, and if possible the names of other family members shown in the photograph. We will then be able to return the photos to you when we take our display down later in the year.

G. Early Years Pupil Premium

What is Early Years Pupil Premium?

The Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP) is designed to narrow the attainment gap between young children from low-income families and their peers by improving the facilities, equipment and learning experiences to benefit the growth and development of eligible children.

This information has been taken from Central Bedfordshire’s Website.

Nurseries, pre-schools, childminders, and other childcare providers can claim extra funding through the Early Years Pupil Premium.

This applies to 9 months to 4-year-old children whose:

parents receive certain benefits
have been adopted
are in care

The provider can use the funding to improve the quality of the early years education that they provide. This could include, for example, additional training for staff on early language development.

How to apply

If you believe you are entitled to funding, please contact your childcare provider.

How do I qualify?

The child must attend a setting in Central Bedfordshire. Parents/carers who receive any of the following will qualify for the Early Years Pupil Premium:

Universal Credit – your household income must be less than £7,400 a year after tax, not including any benefits you get
Income Support
Income-based Job Seekers Allowance
Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
the guaranteed element of State Pension Credit
Child Tax Credit, providing you do not also receive Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190
Working Tax Credit run-on – paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credit

Or, if they have been:

looked after by us (the Local Authority) for at least 1 day
adopted from our (the Local Authority) care
left care through special guardianship, and subject to a child arrangement order setting out with whom they are to live (formerly known as residence orders) in Central Bedfordshire

You can find out more about the early years pupil premium on the GOV.UK website.

If any parent has considered the eligibility criteria and believes their child is eligible please telephone or email the school office and together we can make a claim.

H. What are the children learning about this week?

This week, the children will be settling in and learning the rules and routines of school life. It’s all very exciting, as the children have moved into their new classrooms, met their key workers and are making new friends. Our school rules are designed to provide a happy and safe environment for everyone and they are displayed in each classroom. Staff will be reminding children of the rules throughout the week and explaining how important it is that we follow them at all times.

Children will be learning where to put their coats and bags as they come into school, each child has their own peg which clearly displays their name and a picture to them to help with peg recognition. It is important that children can identify their belongings, so we ask parents to label all property clearly to support this.

As the lunches are stored together according to colour groups, we request that parents clearly label lunch boxes on the top and outside so names can be seen quickly. This supports children with their lunchtime transition, enabling them to swiftly find their lunchboxes and take them to their assigned seats. Please also remember to label your child’s drink bottle as many children do not yet know which bottle is theirs and may get mixed up with someone else’s drink.

As the children settle into their new routines, they will become more secure and confident to leave their parents. While they are at school, some children may have toileting accidents, or eat and drink less than usual but this is often due to them adjusting to their new environment. We understand that each child progresses at their own pace and we thank you for your continued support and patience with these matters.

Nursery News 9th September 2024

Monday, September 9, 2024

NURSERY NEWS

9^th September 2024 – Edition 343

Find out About:

A. Welcome

B: Newsletters

C: School Term Dates

D: Labelling belongings

E: A Good Start

F. What are the children learning about this week?

A. Welcome

Hello Everyone!

Welcome back to those families who were with us last term. We are very lucky to have such helpful and sensible children in our school. Even with just a six week break we notice the children have developed greatly in that time. In September we see all existing children move keyworkers. Your child’s Keyworker will greet you and your child(ren) within their colour groups, when families begin to assemble outside in the morning. I expect Keyworkers to be outside 5 minutes before school begins, so if you have something brief to pass on to your child’s Keyworker, this will be possible.

A warm ‘Hello’ is extended to all our new families. We are still having a few tears, as children are learning to spend some time away from their parents, perhaps for the very first time. So far, we have been very impressed with the children’s behaviours and attitudes, so ‘Thankyou’ to all parents for the support you are giving to your children to make their transition into Nursery successful.

B: Newsletters

I (Mrs Davies) write a weekly Newsletter to parents to help keep parents up to date with everything going on in Nursery. This weekly newsletter will be emailed to all families on Mondays.

Copies of this newsletter will also be placed on our website willownursery.co.uk in our ‘Latest News’ section. Previous Newsletters are also available within the latest news section, should you need to search back for some information.

Please do read the weekly newsletter as we share important dates, including parent consultations, open school events etc

C: School Term Dates

The Local Authority, Central Bedfordshire, publishes details of term dates and school holidays on their website: Centralbedfordshire.gov.uk

Type: ‘School term and holiday dates in Central Bedfordshire’ into your search engine to find the correct page.

We are a Local Authority School, and as such we follow the Local Authority term dates.

However, for the academic year 2024-2025 the Local Authority did not set the 5 training days when the school is closed for staff training. Schools were advised to choose our 5 training days. We have planned our 5 training days to be:

Monday 2^nd September 2024.

Tuesday 3^rd September 2024.

Monday 4^th November 2024

Monday 6^th January 2025

Monday 7^th July 2025.

We have put Willow Nursery School dates for the 2024-2025 academic year on our website willownursery.co.uk on the ‘Calendar’ tab.

I have looked on the Central Bedfordshire website today. They have published dates for academic year 2025-2026. The academic calendar for 2025-2026 does not show when schools are closed for 5 training days. We have not made our decision yet as to when to schedule these training dates. When we have made our decision the term dates for academic calendar 2025-2026 will appear on our website.

D: Labelling belongings

Label all lunchboxes clearly with your child’s name, on the top, so staff can see the name when the box is on the trolley. Label all drinks bottles and containers.

Label all coats and shoes, and any other items that children can take off-cardigans/jumpers/ fleeces. It is much easier to return items to owners when things are labelled.

E. A Good Start!

What has happened so far?….

We have enrolled all our new starters into Big Nursery. We have had 13 families join this year group that are new to the school. There are 47 children who are Big Nursery Pupils. We are getting to know everyone, trying to settle everyone in, and helping children to learn the daily routines that enable the nursery to run smoothly.

What happens next?………….

Little Nursery adds new pupils this week. We are expecting 10 new families.

We will have 30 children who are Little Nursery pupils.

I do have lots of information to share in these newsletters, but I will not share too much until everyone is enrolled in school.

We are so enjoying meeting all our pupils and getting to know them, and hopefully, over time we will get to know all their parents too.

F. What are the children learning about this week?

Mrs Cashmore is the teacher who writes an article every week in the newsletter to share with parents the experiences your children will be having in school. This is to enable you to be part of your child’s learning journey, so you can talk together about their new learning when you are at home.

So for this week:

The main objective throughout Nursery is to help the children settle in to nursery life and to help them build relationships with their key workers.

The staff will be focused on teaching everyone how to access different resources and how to tidy up their toys when they have finished playing.

Staff will also focus on staying safe outside and taking turns with toys.

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