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Nursery News 25th March 2024

NURSERY NEWS

25th March 2024 – Edition 329

Find out About

A. Term dates. Last day of Spring Term Thursday 28th March. School Re-opens Monday 15th April 2024 for the Summer Term.

B. Confirming parents choices for:

Catkins Class Offers for 3+ Nursery in September 2024 for children with dates of birth from 01/04/21 to 31/08/21 AND

Catkins Class Offers for 3+ Nursery in January 2025 for children with dates of birth from 01/09/21 to 31/12/21

C. What the children are learning about this week?

A. Term dates. Last day of Spring Term Thursday 28th March. School Re-opens Monday 15th April 2024 for the Summer term.

The last day of term for all children is Thursday 28th March. The Nursery is open for normal hours on this day. School re-opens for the Summer Term on Monday 15th April.

B. Confirming parents choices for:

Catkins Class Offers for 3+ Nursery in September 2024 for children with dates of birth from 01/04/21 to 31/08/21 AND

Catkins Class Offers for 3+ Nursery in January 2025 for children with dates of birth from 01/09/21 to 31/12/21

Thank you to all our parents who responded in a timely fashion when I sent out letters offering a place in our 3+Nursery. Parents were able to select which attendance pattern ‘Option’ they would like to choose for their child.

This is confirmation that all parents who returned their Options Form were able to have their first choice option.

We give parents in Catkins Class first choice of spaces for 3+ Nursery. We then go to our waitlist to fill all remaining spaces. All options forms are retained carefully and I begin building pupil lists.

Parents will receive 3+ Parent Packs, information about allocated Keyworkers and your child’s start date just before they begin in 3+ Nursery. So children joining 3+ in September 2024 will receive 3+ Parent Packs in July 2024. Children joining 3+ in January 2025 will receive 3+ Parent Packs in December 2024

C. What are the children are learning about this week?

The theme this week is Easter

In Catkins, the children will be using Lego to improve their fine motor skills. They will work hard to build with the Lego, while the staff talk to them about the colours of the bricks. Staff will model how to push and pull the pieces together and apart while encouraging the children to build big and small structures.

In the link, the children will be learning about Easter and decorating egg baskets and Easter cards. They will use fine motor skills to decorate simple baskets and bring home an egg from the Easter Bunny. Children will also be using pom poms dipped in paint to decorate cards and pictures to share with their families.

In the garden, staff will hide toy eggs for the children to find. They will look all around the garden for the collection of eggs and staff will model lots of language to describe where they might be hidden. Staff will explain to the children we sometimes we celebrate Easter with chocolate eggs.

In Room 3, the children will be retelling and acting out stories that we have learnt recently. Staff will support the children with remembering storylines and characters. The children will have access to toys, books and puppets to support their play. They can re-read some of these stories throughout the week.

In Room 2, children will be doing some still life painting. There will be some beautiful daffodils in a vase for the children to look at and paint. Staff will encourage the children to look closely at the colours of the flowers and the vase and to work carefully. They will be encouraged to really take their time and create a detailed piece of work.

In Room 1, the staff will be recapping the phonics sounds that the children have been learning while they play the ‘Bunny Hop’ game. Staff will encourage children to consider the sounds that each letter makes, and think of words that begin with those letters.

Outside, the children from Big Nursery will go on an Easter egg hunt, they will go out into the garden in small groups and search the area for a chocolate egg. When they have found their egg, the children can sit together in their group and eat their prize.

Throughout the week, the children will be making bunny hats. They can use these hats to pretend that they are the Easter Bunny. Children will be having lots of fun, taking part in Easter Bunny races and will be showing everyone how well they can hop.

Nursery News 18th March 2024

NURSERY NEWS

18^th March 2024 – Edition 328

Find out About

A. Term dates. Last day of Spring Term Thursday 28^th March. School Re-opens Monday 15^th April 2024 for the Summer Term.

B. Willow Nursery School Academic Calendar 2024-2025 is now available on our website.

C. An Open School Event: Big Nursery ‘Phonics’.

D. What the children are learning about this week?

A. Term dates. Last day of Spring Term Thursday 28^th March. School Re-opens Monday 15^th April 2024 for the Summer term.

The last day of term for all children is Thursday 28^th March. The Nursery is open for normal hours on this day.  School re-opens for the Summer Term on Monday 15^th April.

B. Willow Nursery School Academic Calendar 2024-2025 is now available on our website:

If parents look on our website www.willownursery.co.uk  and click on the calendar tab, you will be able to see  our academic calendar for 2024-2025.

As a school, we always follow the calendar that Central Bedfordshire Local Authority suggests, however this year each school was required to select their own 5 training days.

(Training days are when schools are closed to pupils, to allow teachers and support staff to receive training.)

Therefore, please be aware that Willow’s training days may be different to other schools in the local area.

C. An Open School Event. Big Nursery ‘Phonics’.

Miss Howe would like to invite all parents of Big Nursery Children to come in and watch your child take part in their phonics session, during week beginning Monday 15^th April. Sessions run at three different times throughout the week. The school office will send emails to parents this week, inviting parents to attend on a particular day and time (wk beginning 15^th April), as groups are based on your child’s attendance days and not their Keyworker groups. Sessions last around 30 minutes.

We try to offer a variety of Open School Activities both during the school day and in the early evening, hoping that parents might be able to attend some of them. We understand parents have different family and work commitments, so we do not expect all parents to attend. It is just another option….

D What are the children are learning about this week?

The theme this week is ‘We’re Going On A Bear Hunt’

In Catkins, the children will be listening to the story of We’re Going On A Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen throughout the week. They will also be taking a look at some colour matching skills, where they can post different coloured balls into pockets, pots and boxes. Staff will help the children name the colours as the children play.

In the Link, the children will be making binoculars and creating simple maps. The children will include simple representations of each area that the characters from our story visit as they go ‘on a bear hunt’. Staff will retell the story to the children as they work.

Outside, the staff will create an area for the children to collect and transport balls. There will be guttering slopes set up for the children to roll balls down and into trays, as well as buckets for them to practice throwing and posting balls towards targets. Moving the balls around the garden will support the children with their gross motor skills.

In Room 3, the children will have a small world story area set up where they can begin to retell the bear hunt story. There will be characters and scenes from the book for the children to use as they play. Staff will model language from the story to extend the children’s vocabulary and encourage them to join in with repeated refrains. (Repeated refrains are the sentences that are repeated over and over again in stories. The repeated refrains in this book include: ‘We’re going on a bear hunt’ and ‘We can’t go over it, we can’t go under it, oh no, we’ve got to go through it.)

In Room 2, the children will have story scenes and characters set up in the builder’s tray so that they can retell the ‘We’re Going On A Bear Hunt’ book through play. Staff will work with children to help them recall key scenes from the book and they will emphasise phonics letters and sounds that we have been learning. Children will begin to recognise that words such as ‘swishy’, ‘swashy’ and ‘scared’ all begin with the letter ‘s’.

In Room 1, the children will make very detailed sensory maps that retrace the steps taken by the characters from the story. They will be encouraged to talk about what they can remember from the story and what the different scenes might have felt like to walk through. Staff will use descriptive language as they talk to the children.

Outside, the children will look for scenes from the story that will be placed around the garden. The children will take staff around the garden on the lookout for some bears. As the children hunt for bears, they will be encouraged to retell the story through song and actions.

On Wednesday, Mrs Patterson will take over Room 2 completely, and create a wonderful large scale sensory bear hunt trail for all of the children to take part in. Small groups of children will get to walk through sensory scenes that include, grass, water, mud, trees and snow until they reach a cave. They might even find a bear at the end of the trail!

Nursery News 25th September 2023

NURSERY NEWS

25^th September 2023 – Edition 307

Find out About:

A. Progress so far….

B. Keeping Children Safe.

C. Milk and Fruit time.

D. Can you help with some Tissues?

E. A Display of Family Photographs

F. Early Years Pupil Premium

G. 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 carton of milk. However, this year in Big Nursery we have a child who is very allergic to milk. We carry out rigorous risk assessments in these situations. So this year, to keep this child safe, we have decided not to give Big Nursery children milk at snack time.

Children in Little Nursery will receive milk at snack time.

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. Can you help with some Tissues?

Sometimes we ask parents for some specific donations that help our school. During Covid, we were asked to provide ‘Tissue Stations’ in every classroom and 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. We have a tissue bin in each classroom, stored near to tissues for the children to use. 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.

E. A Display of Family Photographs

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 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 (25/09/23) 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 displays down later in the year.

F. Early Years Pupil Premium

What is Early Years Pupil Premium?

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

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.

All children aged 3 and 4 who meet the eligibility criteria will benefit from the funding. It will be paid to early years providers on an hourly rate basis, linked to claimed hours for eligible children. The annual value for a 15 hour place over a full year will be just over £350, or 62p per hour.

Any provider registered to offer funded early years places will receive the EYPP if they have entitled children. All parents will be asked to supply details to allow a check to be run by the local authority, eligible parents will trigger a payment direct to the childcare setting.

Eligibility criteria

Children will be eligible if:

• they are 3 or 4 years old and receiving government-funded Free Entitlement in any OFSTED registered childcare provider and their parents are in receipt of one or more of the benefits used to access eligibility for free school meals
• parents receive Universal Credit
• parents receive Income Support
• parents receive Income-based Jobseekers Allowance
• parents receive Income-related Employment and Support Allowance
• parents receive support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• parents receive the guaranteed element of State Pension Credit
• parents receive Child Tax Credit (provided you’re not also entitled to Working Tax Credit and have an annual gross income of no more than £16,190)
• parents receive Working Tax Credit run-on – paid for 4 weeks after you stop qualifying for Working Tax Credits

or if they have been:

• looked after by the local authority for at least one day
• have been adopted from care in the local authority
• have left care through special guardianship; and subject to a child arrangement order setting out with whom the child is to live (formerly known as residence orders) in Central Bedfordshire

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.

G. What are the children learning about this week?

Little Nursery

In Catkins, the children will be learning about cleaning and tidying away their toys after use. They will begin to learn that when they hear the ‘tidy up song’, it is time to clear the toys away. Staff in Catkins will remind children to pick their toys up when they have finished with them.

Outside, the children will see the adults tidying up and sweeping the garden, they can join in with this by using smaller brooms to clear away some leaves. As they work, the staff will talk about why the leaves have fallen from the trees.

The children in little nursery will also focus on keeping their area clean and tidy. Staff will explain that we must take care of our toys, so when we finish playing, we should tidy up. The adults will explain that if we keep our classroom tidy, it will be a safe place for us to be. Lots of praise will be given to the children as they work together as a team to tidy their area.

Big Nursery

In Room 1, there will be a focus on loose parts play. This means there will be a variety of smaller objects for the children to explore and arrange however they would like. These will be set out with purpose but the children can change this and expand their play and the adults will follow their lead. There will also be an area for some Duplo that the children can build and create with, the adult will follow the interests of the children as they play and use lots of language to describe what they are building.

In Room 2, the easels will be set up to allow the children to paint in a different style. They will be shown how to hold their paintbrushes effectively and make marks on their paper. The children will be shown where they should put their finished art work for it to dry and be taken home. Staff will talk to the children about their creations and the colours that they are using, this will help expand their language skills and build their confidence when talking to new people.

Outside, the children will learn how to play safely in the sandpit and when using the wooden equipment. They will be encouraged to include other children in with their activities as they play and explore the playground equipment. Throughout the week, adults will model inclusive behaviour by inviting others to join in with games and activities, they will use lots of positive language such as ‘kind hands’ and ‘let’s play together’.

Nursery News 18th September 2023

NURSERY NEWS

18^th September 2023 – Edition 306

Find out About:

A.Welcome

B: Newsletters

C: School Term Dates

D: Labelling belongings

E. Booking forms and payments.

F: A Good Start

G. 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.

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 2023-2024 the Local Authority set 4 training days when the school is closed for staff training. The school was advised to choose a 5^th training day on a day of our choice. We have planned our 5^th training day to be on Monday 8^th July 2024.

We have put Willow Nursery School dates for the 2023-2024 academic year on our website willownursery.co.uk on the ‘Calendar’ tab.

This 2023-24 academic calendar is titled as ‘Final’ on the Central Beds Website. These dates are now fixed.

Be aware that sometimes the Local Authority adjusts school holiday dates. I would recommend you check the holiday dates on their website before booking a holiday.

I have looked on the Central Bedfordshire website today. They have published dates for academic year 2024-2025. The academic calendar for 2024-2025 does not show when schools are closed for 5 training days. Also, this 2024-2025 academic calendar does not have ‘Final’ in its title, so it is subject to change.

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: Booking Forms and Payments.

Most children in Big Nursery have funded 15 or 30 hour places. These families do not have to make payments.                                                                                                         A small amount of families (who are not entitled to ‘30 hours funding for working families’) choose to pay for wraparound care to increase their child’s attendance pattern from 15 hours to 30 hours per week.  The charge for this is £75 per week.

Most parents of children in little Nursery have to pay for their child’s sessions. A three hour session costs £18.                                                                                      A small amount of families are entitled to ‘free funding for two year olds’, generally where families are in receipt of certain benefits, or meet other criteria prescribed by the government.

We ask parents to make electronic payments to pay for their child’s sessions. Parents may choose to pay for their sessions weekly, monthly, half termly or termly. We try to be flexible to enable parents to pay in a way that suits their household budgeting. Every time an electronic payment is made, parents MUST submit a completed paper booking form. Parents must add their child’s name, circle the sessions they are paying for, add the total cost of sessions and sign the booking sheet, before handing the booking form to office staff. Staff can then process the booking forms and payments, then receipts can be issued to parents.                                                                                          Booking forms are available from the Office staff: Mrs Barber or Mrs Selth. Generally, these ladies will be outside at the beginning and end of sessions (where possible!) with a blue folder which contains Booking Forms. They will be looking to offer parents the correct forms, please just ask them. If you require any help with the forms, please just ask, we are very happy to help.

F. A Good Start!

What has happened so far?….

We have enrolled all our new starters into Big Nursery. We have had 11 families join this year group that are new to the school. There are 57 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 continues to add new pupils this week. We add a maximum of four new children to each session, to enable staff to give their keyworker children their full attention. This means that it will take us at least two more weeks to induct the 33  new Little Nursery children.

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.

G. What are the children learning about this week?

This week the staff will focus on helping the children settle into nursery.

In Little Nursery, the children will have a range of books available to read and look at. They will be shown how to look at the books carefully and encouraged to turn the pages for themselves. There will be set areas for the children to snuggle down and listen to lots of different stories with staff and friends.

The children will be exploring natural resources outside in the garden. They will be supported in investigating different items in the tough tray such as leaves, logs and sand. They will be encouraged to look around the garden to see how many exciting insects and creatures they can find.

In the Link (small classroom area for creative play), there will be the opportunity for the children to engage in messy play, there will be paint, pens and water out for the children to choose from. Children will be urged to wear aprons for messy play but can get a little dirty, please don’t put your children in their best clothes.

Book work will continue in the garden as the children will have some books that they can read in a den that they will help to construct. Children will be given the freedom to choose which books they want to take into their den and read.

Staff will also focus on staying safe outside, listening to the school rules and taking turns with toys.

In Big Nursery….

In Room 1, the staff will be focused on teaching the everyone how to access different resources and how to tidy up their toys when they have finished playing.

In Room 2, children will be taught the six steps of painting. They will be shown how to mix their paint with water to the correct consistency and then how to wash their own utensils when their paintings are complete.

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.

Nursery News 10th July 2023

NURSERY NEWS

10^th July 2022 – Edition 304

Find out About:

1. End of Term arrangements July 2023
2. Leavers Day –Friday 21^st July- 8:50am-11:50am
3. Ensure 30 hour codes are in place /Renew 30 hour codes.
4. Review of the year- Results.
5. What are the children learning this week?

1. End of Term arrangements July 2023

The last day of term in July 2023 for all children will be Thursday 20th July.

This day will run as a normal Thursday. Timings of the day will be the same as all Thursdays.

2. Leavers Day –Friday 21^st July- 8:50am-11:50am

On Friday 21st July school will open only for the Big Nursery children that are leaving us. The session will be from 8:50 am to 11:50am. All Big Nursery leavers are invited to attend this session, regardless of your child’s normal attendance days. As children are attending for the morning only, no child will require a packed lunch. Children will require their water bottles. Children should arrive at 8:50 am and wait outside as usual.

We have consulted the children about what activities they would like to plan for their last day and this is what they have come up with:

Children may dress up if they want to. Children may come to school in a dressing up outfit if they wish. There should be no pressure on anyone to buy an outfit. Normal Nursery clothes are absolutely fine too.

We have arranged for children to:

• Watch cartoons,
• Play with bikes, dolls, cars
• Have songs and music, dancing, party lights, bubbles and balloons
• Play pass the parcel.

At 10:30 am all children will sit down together for a picnic time in the garden. Staff will provide the snacks the children requested: cake, pizza, apples, cheese, crisps

The morning will finish with a group time for each colour group, where all children will receive a certificate praising their individual skills and/or qualities.

11:50am Going Home Time- Parents to collect children from the front gate. Children will be dismissed in the regular way, with Green group first, followed by Red group then Yellow group.

3. Ensure 30 hour codes are in place /Renew 30 hour codes.

A reminder about the eligibility checker:

Eligibility checker:

Eligibility will be checked via a childcare application developed by HMRC.

Parents are responsible for checking if they are eligible.

Parents need to visit the website www.childcarechoices.gov.uk. This is the online eligibility checker.

Parents will be issued a code to take to the setting (nursery/ childminder etc.). 

There will be a grace period for parents where their circumstances change.  This will give parents the time to regain employment.

Parents must reconfirm their eligibility every three months via the HMRC online eligibility checker or else they will lose their entitlement, subject to the grace period.  Parents are essentially reconfirming that their employment status has not changed and they still meet the criteria. HMRC will send reminder emails to parents to notify them of the need to reconfirm.

For all parents who are entitled to 30 hour funding for your child (3+ children) please ensure that your code is in place and valid by 31^st August 2023, to enable us to receive funding for your child for the Autumn term.

The government will send out reminders to families to renew your code. Please be aware that sometimes the government email may go into your Spam/ Junk email folder. If you code is not valid you will not receive funding

4. .Review of the year- Results

I have had one family who replied to my request for feedback from parents. It is a lovely well rounded review which I would like to share with you.   There may be some points raised which other parents may relate to….

1. Please comment about what we do well at Willow.

We have loved seeing how children interact so well with their key workers and vice versa. Mrs Cashmore has been brilliant with X and gives the impression that she knows X well and genuinely enjoys spending time with them, whilst also seeming to encourage X out of their comfort zone and to try new and different things. All of the teachers seem to be very caring and there is a definite culture of gentleness, care and understanding at the nursery. I have been very impressed in my conversations with Miss Howe and Mrs Cashmore with their care for us as a wider family as well as with X as an individual. When I have expressed concern over challenges we are having with X at home both teachers provided helpful advice showing that they care about the children and their families even outside of the nursery context. I have also been impressed to see how staff are willing to go outside of their comfort zone to include parents – teaching a phonics lesson etc. in front of a group of parents must be intimidating but it is very much appreciated as we love to see how X is learning and how we can build on this with them at home.

2. Please tell us one thing you would like to see at Willow that you would consider to be an improvement and/or development.

We would have liked more face-to-face feedback time with teachers at the termly review but understand that doing this on the phone may be a hangover from COVID restrictions? It would also have been helpful to have a more detailed document about the children’s learning once they start focussing more on phonics and numbers in the Summer term. We have loved the opportunity to come in and view phonics, key skills and music sessions but would have also appreciated more information on how far the children are pushed in terms of their writing – what the expectations are for them to be able to do so that we can work on that at home. This information has always been provided when I have asked however! The only other thing is that ‘party days’ at Christmas and end of term should be marked as such on the school calendar so that working parents can plan in advance for those days.

3. Have you any ideas regarding how parents could feel more involved with the school?

No – we have felt very involved.

Leigh Davies- My response….

Face to face consultations. The staff all felt it was important to offer face to face consultations at this time of the year, with the majority of children moving from Little Nursery to Big Nursery or off to reception classes in their Primary Schools. We were getting the feeling that most parents would like this. We are aware though, that as consultations are only for 5 minutes, sometimes it is a big ask to ask parents to travel in to school for such a short time. Some parents are still working during early evening, and some have family situations that make a face to face consultation difficult. So with all decisions we make in school it is hard to meet everyone’s needs. We do always say that these consultations are not compulsory, and staff will always try to find time to talk to parents if you have any concerns about your child.

After our recent Ofsted Inspection, our plan for the coming year is to take a close look at our curriculum. The teachers will be considering what are the most important things that we teach at Willow, What is Willow all about? What key skills do we want Willow children to achieve?

Within this work, we will be writing written plans about our curriculum. We will be writing about what we plan to teach, what we would like the children to learn. We will be noting the progression children will need to make between the ages of 2 and 4, and trying to plan the steps of teaching required, and the vocabulary we will use, to ensure all children can access our curriculum and make good levels of progress. We hope to be able to share these curriculum guides with our parents, so you can be fully aware of our intentions and you can support your children on their learning journey.

I will ensure that the Party Day in December, and the Leavers Day in July is communicated to parents in the very first newsletter of the academic year in September to allow working parents to be aware and make arrangements ahead of time. I will consider adding it to our calendar, but I do feel it needs some explanation alongside it so parents are aware who it applies to.

Willow Nursery School- Children’s Evaluation. July 2023

5.What are the children learning about this week?

What are the children learning about this week?

The theme in little nursery is water play

In Catkins, Mrs Field will set up water canals for the children to play with. She will provide colourful boats for the children to push around the canals. Mrs Field will model mathematical language as she interacts with the children, discussing the shapes and colours on the boats. Don’t forget lots of spare clothes as your children will get wet!

In the link, Mrs Watson will be exploring ice in the water tray. She will talk to the children about how the ice was made and what it feels like. Mrs Watson will place lots of sea creatures in with the ice and the children will be encouraged to talk about what animals they see and where they might live.

In room three, Miss Gaffney will set up a Goldilocks role play area. The children will be able to revisit previous learning by playing in the house and retelling the story by themselves. They will have many props to support the story telling. Mrs Gaffney will praise the children for taking part and sharing the resources.

Outside, Mrs Brinkley will be teaching the children the importance of listening to each other, taking turns and solving their own conflicts. She will encourage the children to think about how they might solve issues that arise when more than one person wants to do the same thing.

The theme in big nursery is the ice cream parlour

In room one, there will be an ice cream parlour set up for the children to explore. They will have menus, tables, food, plates and telephones. The children will also have clipboards to take ice cream orders from each other, which will build the children’s language and literacy skills.

Mrs Cashmore will be working with the children to write some or all of the letters in their name. They will be encouraged to write each letter of their name on a picture of an ice cream scoop, then once all letters have been written the children will have their own ice cream name.

In room two, Mrs Patterson will provide materials for the children to make their own ice lolly pictures, they will use PVA glue and tissue paper to create a lovely shiny effect when their work dries. She will also provide paints for the children to create sponge print ice cream pictures.

Outside, Miss Skai will encourage the children to work together to complete a scavenger hunt. She will provide pictures to groups of children and ask them to look around the whole garden to find each item. All items on Miss Skai’s scavenger hunt are natural items and can only be found in the garden.