Nursery News 15th September 2025

NURSERY NEWS

15th September 2025 – Edition 382

Find out About:

A. Progress so far….

B. Keeping Children Safe.

C. Milk and Fruit time.

D. Celebrating Birthdays.

E. Family Photographs

F. Early Years Pupil Premium

G. What are the children learning about this week?

 

A. Progress so far….

We had an unusual start to the term. The roof replacement work that was planned to be completed in the 6 weeks summer holiday ran over slightly due to the very hot, then very wet conditions. We began the term with roofers still busy on our roof. To keep the children safe, we chose to use just a small part of the garden, away from where the work was continuing. Even though some of the children were brand new to us, they coped very well.

I’m happy to say that last week we were able to fully open up our outside spaces. Children were able to spread out and enjoy the space. Things are going well. 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. Celebrating Birthdays.

We have a ‘Birthday Board’ in school where we display the names of staff and pupils who will be celebrating their birthday within the current month. We celebrate every individual child’s birthday during Keyworker time, with their colour group. We have a very real looking iced ‘fake’ cake with candles on. Staff make a fuss of the children on their special day (or near to it if their birthday falls at the weekend or in the school holidays). The birthday child is invited to sit at the front of the group, with their Keyworker. Everyone sings ‘Happy Birthday’ and the birthday child blows the candles out. The birthday child receives a special birthday sticker.

Parents often ask if they can treat all the children on their child’s birthday. We have been saying for a few years now, when asked, that due to allergies and parental choice, we would prefer parents to donate some special birthday fruit for all the children to share on their birthday.

For many years parents have wanted to provide sweets for our children. Sweets are problematic. Some parents would prefer that their child was not offered sweets for health reasons. Some sweets (for example, most ‘Haribo’ jelly sweets) contain gelatin, which makes them unsuitable for some children, for religious reasons. Even chocolate is unsuitable for some children with allergies.

New nutrition guidance for the Early Years Foundation Stage, from the Department of Education, comes into force in September 2025. There is a new requirement in the safeguarding and welfare requirements in the EYFS that providers MUST take this guidance into account and should follow it unless there is a good reason not to.

Pg 28 of the guidance says:

Celebrations

Many families like to celebrate their child’s birthday and other special events by bringing in a cake or sweets to the setting to share. This can mean that some children are eating these unhealthy foods several times a week. The food and nutrition policy could include recommendations for special events to ensure any food brought in from home is balanced and meets the setting’s food guidelines (for example recommending fruit platters to share). Any food shared in the setting should be checked for potential allergens. Communication with parents and/or carers about these practices is key to ensuring they are informed and involved in supporting healthy eating habits at early years settings.

We must request, that as a school community, we should work together to promote healthy choices for all our children.

 

E. 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.

For Big Nursery Children The staff would like to include these photo’s as part of a  wall display.

For Little Nursery Children The staff in little nursery will be creating a family booklet with the photographs provided and they will sit with the children to look through their booklet together. This booklet will be available for the children to look at whenever they choose and should be comforting to the children if they are missing home.

So, if you would like to send in a photo of your child and their family, please do so during this week (15/09/25) 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, later in the year.

 

F. 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.

 

G. What are the children learning about this week?

What are the children learning about this week? The theme this week is settling into nursery and nursery rules.

We will be teaching the children our school rules this week;

Kind hands

Looking eyes

Walking feet

Little voice

Listening ears

As we teach the children these rules, they will learn that it is important that they follow them in order to learn and play in a safe environment. We will also teach the children about self-care, including taking themselves to the toilet, washing hands and the importance of privacy. We always remind the children to try to close the door when they use the toilet and to adjust clothing where possible before they leave the toilet area.

We begin the school year by focussing our learning on things they are all familiar with in their lives. We begin by spending some time thinking about ‘Myself’. Perhaps starting simply by looking in a mirror and using their finger to point at their features in their reflection.

Just to put things in context….

In the space of the next few weeks, we move on to talking about our families. All families are different, but all children here have one! These activities encourage children to communicate about their lives, sharing their experiences with staff and other children while building social relationships.

We eventually move on to talking about the Nursery Community. We want the children to learn about all the adults who are here to help them in the nursery. Nursery adults are here to help you, when adults from your home are not. We want to build trust with our pupils. We want the oldest children to see themselves as an individual who is part of a wider school community. To learn that they are important, and that they belong.