Autumn 2 - Fairy tales

In Autumn 2, we explore Fairy tales and read a collection of traditional tales. We will be acting out the stories using props and role play and we will be working on size language, prepositions and discussing what happens next in a story. 

Please see below for some details on what we will be working on in all 7 areas. 

Autumn 1 - Me and My Community

During Autumn 1, we spend lots of time getting to know our new classroom, the routines and our new friends and teachers. We have a tour of the school and even get to see where Miss Kneller's office is.

We learn about our bodies and how we can keep them fit and healthy and talk about what happens to our bodies when we exercise. We also talk about how we can keep ourselves clean and learn how to wash our hands independently with lots of soap. We have also been working on using the toilet independently! 

Towards the end of Autumn 1, we start to look for signs of Autumn and the changes we can spot outside. We go for Autumn walks in our playground and hunt for conkers, acorns and fallen leaves. The children then use these natural resources to create art, work on their counting and investigate closely using magnifying glasses. 

We are delighted to welcome prospective Nursery parents in to view the Nursery, on the following dates - please call or email the school office to book your place:-

Thursday 10th November - 10am

Tuesday 22nd November - 2pm

Wednesday 7th December - 10am

Telephone: (020) 8953 3139

Email: admin@summerswood.herts.sch.uk

Nursery Activities w.c. 07.12.2020

Happy Friday Nursery families! What an exciting week we have had this week, learning about the festival of Hanukkah! We read the story together of why Jewish families celebrate it and remembered the key vocabulary, such as King Antiochus, Judah Maccabee, temple and Menorah. The children also learned how families celebrate the day and ate their own party food in celebration, which went down a treat! 

Next week is our last week before the end of the Autumn term. Nursery's last day will be Thursday the 17th of December at the usual times. We will be having a party day on Wednesday the 16th, so children are welcome to come to school in their party clothes. We will be providing party food during the morning (thank you for your voluntary contributions that have helped make this happen!) and the afternoon children will watch a pantomime on the screen as well.

If you would like to send in Christmas cards for your child's friends or the class, please do so by Monday the 14th of December, as we have to quarantine the cards for 72 hours before we can hand them out. Any Christmas cards later than Monday will not be able to be handed out by us.

NOTICE

A small area of fencing outside the Nursery has been removed within the bushes of the school boundary. This does not affect the safety of the Nursery garden or indeed the school boundary itself, but it will be replaced in due time. Please be aware as you are walking to Nursery or are collecting your child at 12pm.

Nursery Activities w.c. 23.11.2020

This week we have been learning about our feelings and emotions, discussing the names of different feelings and what makes us feel this way. We used clips from the film 'Inside Out' to help us describe them.

All of the children thoroughly enjoyed making heart shaped biscuits. Most of the children decided to show love to themselves and ate the biscuits as soon as they were finished decorating! We used the Interactive Whiteboard to create pictures of things that we love. 

Next week on Monday, we will be decorating the classroom with your wonderful Christmas decorations, thank you to everyone who brought things in for us. On Friday the 4th of December, school will be closed.

Have a lovely weekend!

The Nursery Team 

Nursery Development Matter Statements

Please see below links to PDFs of the assessment that we use throughout the Nursery year. We use these documents to baseline the children when they come into Nursery, track their progress across the year and give them an end of year judgement ready for Reception.

The 3 documents are split into age bands, either 22 to 36 months, 30 to 50 months and 40 to 60 months of age. Within each of these age bands, a child may either be ENTERING it (achieving a one or few statements), DEVELOPING in it (achieving some statements) or SECURING in it (achieving most or all statements).

Children in Nursery who are born in September to April are expected to come into Nursery ENTERING the 30-50 month age band. Children who are born between May and August are expected to come into Nursery SECURING the 22-36 age band.

Please feel free to use these documents as a way of tracking your child's development at home as well, they are particularly useful if you are stuck for activities to do with your child at home. You will notice that the language we use in our Tapestry observations is directly taken from these statements, so we invite you to use them in your home observations also if you would like. Bear in mind that these documents are not a 'tick list' per se when assessing a child's development, but gives you an overview of best fit age bands the children are working within.

If you have any questions, please feel free to get in touch.

Have a lovely weekend! 

Nursery w.c. 16.10.2020 - Diwali!

This week, the children have thoroughly enjoyed learning about the story of how the Festival of Light began. If you would like, please follow this link to find the story we have been reading each day, the children have become very skilled at remembering what happened to Rama and Sita!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/z4dc47h

For our group times, we have tasted some traditional foods eaten during Diwali and decided whether we liked it or not. We made Rangoli patterns using lots of colours and shapes. We also decorated pictures of our hands with Henna. The afternoon children even learned a Diwali dance!

Please see below a montage of our favourite bits. Thank you for your donations of Christmas decorations and hamper treats. Now that we are getting ready for the Christmas season, we would grately appreciate some monetary donations to Nursery this half term, to cover getting party food and such things in December.

We hope you enjoy the extra day off tomorrow! Thank you to Elephant and Bear group families for attending the Parent Meetings over this week, Mrs Punter and Mrs Hilling have thoroughly enjoyed discussing how well the children have settled into Nursery. If you are a Tiger Group family, Miss Walker looks forward to your video calls tomorrow, please make sure you sign in to Parent Cloud ready for the call.

Have a lovely long weekend!

The Nursery Team 

Our Week of Learning: w/c 05.10.2020

What another wonderful week at Nursery! The children are learning lots with us about how to use the Nursery well, including taking turns, lining up and sitting on the carpet. They can all cross their legs, listen and learn with us already! We do hope you are enjoying the Tapestry observations this week on our Topic of 'Why Do Leaves Go Crispy?" and their PAL Time activities. We have uploaded a few extra ones just to let you know about other things that happen during our week, including Mark Making Fridays, Library Mondays and Sports Afternoon on Wednesdays. Please also watch the video about how we are going to line up in the Nursery Garden to drop off the children in the mornings as of Monday.

Google Classroom

We have sent you an email to activate your Google Classroom log in. If you haven't done so already, please log in to Google Classroom and complete the first 'test' assignment - a colour quiz! This is just a practise to check everything is working so that, should the Nursery need to shut for any reason, we can still carry on learning together from home. The rest of the school will also be using it to set homework, but Nursery will not. If you have not received your log in emails or are having trouble, please email tumble@ so we can assist you.

Mental Health Day

On Monday, children and staff are invited to wear clothes that make them happy to celebrate Mental Health Day. This is a gentle reminder that Nursery children will still need to wear clothes that they can pull up and down themselves to support them in using the toilet. We look forward to seeing your happy outfits! 

Have a wonderful weekend!

The Nursery Team 

Our First Week at Nursery

Happy Friday everyone! What a wonderful first week we have had in the Nursery. The children have done so well adapting to the longer hours and are beginning to settle in to the Nursery daily routine. The children have now been assigned their 'Key Worker Group', either Tiger Group with Miss Walker, Elephant Group with Mrs Punter or Bear Group with Mrs Hilling. These are their groups for completing their 15 minute daily adult-led activity. These groups will change each term so the adults have the opportunity to work with every child.

Tapestry is now live! If you haven't done so already, please sign in and take a look at your child's observations, we have captured lots of photos and videos already. Each child will have at least 1 observation uploaded each week to show you what they are learning in either their adult-led or child-initiated (also known as PAL Time) learning. They may get other observations such as pictures of their WOW cards for special achievements, birthdays, or anything else that is extra special during our week. Please feel free to 'like' and comment on the observations, and you can even upload your own for us to see! If your child has achieved something special at home we welcome you to upload it too.

Next week, we will begin out topic on 'Why Do Leaves Go Crispy?' We will explore the season of Autumn and the changes and celebrations that occur in this time. 

Please ensure you check the Newsletter each week to keep up to date with the latest information from the school.

Have a wonderful weekend!

The Nursery Team 

Nursery Transition Week!

We have completed our first week and have been absolutely amazed at how well the children have walked into Nursery happy and ready to learn! Thank you to all the parents and carers who have been so patient with us as we walk in and release your children at the end of each session one at a time to ensure social distancing is adhered to. Thank you also for keeping a respectful distance from each other as you line up and for wearing your masks. This is just a gentle reminder that masks need to be worn at pick up times as well.

You should have recieved an email today regarding changes to our morning drop off routine, in light of the tightened national guidelines. These changes will begin on Monday and until further notice, again, thank you for bearing with us as we work hard to keep you and your children safe.

We are also in the process of getting Tapestry up and running. If you haven't done so already, please send back your Tapestry permission slip so that we can process the parents accounts and go live as soon as possible, we have lots of photos to share with you!

In the mean time, please feel free to look at the photos below, the children have had a fabulous first week! Our focus has been teaching the children about how to use the Nursery environment and resources safely, where to keep their coat, how to wash their hands and and how to go to the toilet. We must say that the children have adapted to their new environment very quickly and we look forward to next week when we will sort the children into their Group Time Groups (either Tiger, Elephant, or Bear group) for their daily 15 minute adult-directed learning task.

Have a wonderful, well-earned and restful weekend. We look forward to seeing you again on Monday!

The Nursery Team 

Transition Week Begins!

Good morning Nursery families!

Thank you for taking the time over the past few weeks to meet with us so that we can share important information about Nursery and to give us a chance to get to know you and your child before Nursery starts. If you haven't done so already, please watch the information video about what the Nursery will look like for your children; it also shows you how drop off and pick up will work this term: 

https://youtu.be/6YVbXFAhbmU 

Transition week begins this week, woohoo! For this week, drop off and pick up times run slightly differently to the normal day, and as such, there will be different gates for the different timings. Please see below for each Transition Group:

Group A:

Group B:

From Monday the 28th September and onwards, drop-off times will be:

at 8:50am through the Arundel Drive entrance and walking down to the Nursery Garden Gate.

Pick up at 12pm through the Furzehill Road entrance (morning only children).

Pick up at 3pm through the Arundel Drive entrance (all-day children).

If you have any questions, do get in touch. We look forward to seeing you all this week!

P.S.- Thank you to those of you who were able to send us a photo of your child ready for Tuesday; if you haven't done so, please email us the photo by this evening so we can get them up for their first session on Tuesday.

Thank you! 

The Nursery Team 

Nursery Photo!

Before the children start Nursery, can you please email a headshot of your child to tumble@summerswood.herts.sch.uk. This is so we can allocate coat pegs for the children straight away and make resources for them that are relatable to support their transition. Thank you! 

Welcome to Nursery - September 2020

Hello to our new Nursery class of 2020!
We have made a video giving you a tour of the Nursery environment as it will look when the children start Transition week beginning Tuesday the 22nd of September. More information on this will be shared during your 'Home Visits'.
'Home visits' will take place via Zoom or an on-site appointment starting this Monday.  An email has been sent on how to book a slot.

Access our Nursery Virtual Tour Video here: https://youtu.be/6YVbXFAhbmU 

We look forward to seeing you soon!

Miss Walker, Mrs Punter & Mrs Hilling 

Farewell and Thank you!

It has been an absolute pleasure to teach and get to know the children and their families in the Nursery this year. We had the most amazing send off through our virtual graduation and are delighted to share this final memory with you all. Please check your emails for a private link to watch the Graduation if you were unable to make it, or just want to watch it again!

We want to make a class photo as we didn't get a chance to do so in school this year. Please send tumble@summerswood.herts.sch.uk a photo of your child holding a blank A4 piece of paper, the paper and the photo itself must be in portrait position. Once we have all the photos, we will put them together and make the class photo to send to you.

Next week I will email out a 'Summer Transition Pack' to help support you and your child transition into Reception.

Well done for a fantastic year in Nursery. To our families who are moving on to other schools, we send our love and well wishes with you. To our families who are staying with us, we look forward to waving to you from the Nursery garden in September!

Have a wonderful summer holiday!

Lots of love,

Miss Walker, Mrs Punter, Mrs Hilling and Miss Leatham 

Final Week of Activities w/c - 13.07.2020

Good morning Nursery families! I hope you are doing well and had a lovely weekend.

Well it has finally arrived, our last week as Nursery together. We will be sending out a Transition Activity Pack next week that you can use over the summer holidays to help prepare your child for Reception at Summerswood, but it is not deemed official formal learning. Here is your final list of activities from us this year.

Activity 1 - Phonics!

We have made our way through the alphabet! Now it is time to remember all the sounds we have learned together and put them into practise by making words.

I have uploaded a Twinkl alphabet game for you to play, you may also like to remember all the Jolly Phonics Alphabet songs here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=12&v=euxN7LGOoLc&feature=emb_logo 

I have uploaded a CVC word reading game from Twinkl also. Can you name the sound shown? Which picture starts with that letter? (Adults, may be best to play this on a computer/laptop rather than a phone.

Activity 2 - One less!

Well haven't week worked hard on our numbers of the week? You are all Marvellous Mathematicians! We are going to remember all the numbers to 20 we have learned so far. I have uploaded a Twinkl powerpoint to help with this (the shapes that you see with each number all called Numicon, a very handy resource that they will learn to use in Reception, so I thought I would introduce it now).

Now that we can recognise and count up to 20, we are going to practise our 'One less than' skills.
I have uploaded a Twinkl game for you to play on a computer or laptop. The cheeky Zoo monkey is back! He keeps taking one animal way from the enclosures this time, and we need your help to count them! Can you count how many animals there are after the monkey takes one animal away?

Activity 3 - Class Photo!

In light of recent events, we have been apart and therefore unable to have a class photo together. But this will not stop the Nursery team, oh no! We are going to get creative and make one ourselves. To do this, we would like to ask you to do the following:

Take a picture of your child holding a BLANK piece of A4 paper. The paper must be held in the portrait position, and the photo must also be taken in the portrait position. Please either upload the picture here or email it to us at tumble@summerswood.herts.sch.uk. We need these photos by next Monday at the very very latest. When we receive all the pictures, we will put them together to make our class photo!

Activity 4 - Graduation Message!

We are SO excited to see you through Microsoft Teams on Wednesday at 10:30am! We are going to give you a short space of time at the beginning of the session to say your hello's and perhaps share a message with everyone, no more than around 15 seconds (there are a lot of us after all!) So perhaps you would like to think about what you are going to say, perhaps make a poster or picture for us to see on the screen?

If you are unable to join us - you can write to us at the above email address with a short message/picture of you that we can share on your behalf.

REMINDER - You must join the 'Team' BEFORE Wednesday in order to see the scheduled meeting. Please do so by Tuesday evening at the very latest to ensure we have time to sort out any technical difficulties that may arise. If you have forgotten or misplaced the link to join the team, please email us at the tumble address.

You MUST use a laptop or computer for joining the team and joining the meeting.

When you copy and paste it into your browser, then click on the link, it will ask you to open teams. You can either download the app but you really do not have to, just use the web app instead. It will then ask you to log in or sign up to teams, then send you straight to our group where you press join. I will then accept you as a guest and you will be part of the group.

If you have any problems please get in contact as soon as you can so we can help you.

We look forward to seeing you!

Activity 5 - Seventh Continent - Europe!

As our final topic is Animals, we are going to travel the continents together to find what kinds of animals live on each! We are moving to the final continent: Europe.

Here is a video of animals that live in Europe: https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-animals-live-in-north-america.html  

BBC Earth is also very good: https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m000bqjg/seven-worlds-one-planet-series-1-5-europe 

Here are some animals that live on the European continent http://www.walkthroughindia.com/wild-world/10-wild-animals-amazing-fauna-europe/ 

Pick an animal that lives in Europe and create a fact file. Draw a picture, tell me its name, where it lives and an exciting fact about it.

It has been an absolute pleasure teaching you this year in Nursery. Although half of the year has been different and sometimes difficult, we want to celebrate all that we have achieved together this year. Watching you learn and grow, whether it has been in the Nursery itself, seeing your videos and pictures sent to us or uploaded on to Tapestry, or listening to your adventures over the phone, we are so proud of all the children have achieved through what is undoubtedly a challenging time for us all.
To all our parents and carers, you have done an incredible job navigating this unprecedented time in our lives. And whether you have been able to join in with the activities or not, you have kept your children safe, happy and healthy, which is the most important of all. You are a fabulous bunch and we look forward to seeing you continue to grow in Reception and beyond. And of course, we cannot wait to see you one final time this year on our Graduation meeting on Wednesday!

All our love,

The Nursery Team

Nursery Activities w/c- 06/07/2020

Good morning Nursery families! I hope you are doing well and had a lovely weekend. Can you believe this is our penultimate (second to last) week of the year? The time has gone by so quickly! Here are the activities for this week.

Activity 1 - Phonics!

The letter for this week is: z! We made it to the end of the alphabet, yay!
Can you say the sound, sing the Jolly Phonics song, write it, find it in your home?

I have uploaded a sorting game for you to play. Can you name all of the pictures? Which ones start with a 'z'? (Adults, may be best to play this on a computer/laptop rather than a phone.)

BONUS - Can you think of any more 'z' words?

I have also an animal related quiz! Can you guess all these animals beginning with z?

1 - this animal looks like a horse but with stripes.

2 - this animal is a type of fish, also with stripes!

3 - this animal's name rhymes with 'gorilla' but is actually a type of weasel.

4 - this animal is a type of fox that lives in South America.

5 - this animal is a type of cattle that lives in Southern Asia (https://a-z-animals.com/animals/zebu/)

BONUS - Can you tell me another animal that begins with z and share a fact about it? (Good luck, there are some great names out there but they are tricky, you can also pick one of the animals from the quiz to write about!)

Helpful link: https://www.activewild.com/animals-that-start-with-z/ 

Activity 2 - One more!

Well haven't week worked hard on our numbers of the week? You are all Marvellous Mathematicians! Now that we can recognise and count up to 20, we are going to practise our 'One more than' skills.
I have uploaded a Twinkl game for you to play on a computer or laptop. A cheeky Zoo monkey keeps adding one more animal into the enclosures, and we need your help to count them! Can you count how many animals there are after the monkey adds one more?

BONUS - Can you add one more to all the numbers up to 20?

Activity 3 - Rhyming!

So now we know lots of letters and sounds of the alphabet, and are beginning to put them together to make words, we are now going to look at words that have the same end sounds, or rhyming sounds. You were so good at finding the rhyming word last week, we are going to add more words this week. I have uploaded a rhyming sound sorting game from Twinkl, see if you can find the pictures that has the same end sounds.

BONUS - Can you think of another word that rhymes with each picture?

Activity 4 - Sixth Continent - North America!

As our final topic is Animals, we are going to travel the continents together to find what kinds of animals live on each! We are moving to the penultimate continent: North America.

Here is a video of animals that live in North America: https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-animals-live-in-north-america.html 

BBC Earth is also very good: https://www.bbcearth.com/sevenworldsoneplanet/north-america/ 

Here are some animals that live on the North American continent https://themysteriousworld.com/animals-found-only-in-north-america/ 

Pick an animal that lives in North America and create a fact file. Draw a picture, tell me its name, where it lives and an exciting fact about it.

Activity 5 - Magic Dancing Milk!

This is a fun science experiment that I have done with a variety of classes of different ages, and the effect is super cool! I have attached a link here to show you how to do it, but all you need is:

A shallow dish or plate
Full-fat milk
Cotton Bud or ball/ Cocktail Stick
Food Colouring
Washing-up Liquid

Follow the instructions here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=ayhUTZPZ8pk&feature=emb_logo 

For an added effect, you can add glitter!

You can do as many activities as you wish, in any order that you wish. If you have any other home learning activities you would like to share, please do so! Have a wonderful week!

The Nursery Team 

Nursery Activities w/c- 29.06.2020

Good morning Nursery families! I hope you are doing well and had a lovely weekend. Here are the activities for this week.

Activity 1 - Phonics!

The letters for this week are: x and y!
For both letters, can you say them, sing the Jolly Phonics song, write them, find them in your home?

For the letter x - Now this is a funny sound, that only makes the camera shutter sound when it is in the middle or at the end of a word, not at the beginning, so this time we will be looking for words that END with this sound. I have uploaded a sorting game for you to play. Can you name all of the pictures? Which ones end with a 'x'? (Adults, may be best to play this on a computer/laptop rather than a phone.)

BONUS - Can you think of any more 'x' words?

For the letter y - I have an animal related quiz! Can you guess all these animals beginning with y?

1 - this animal looks like a woolly cow and has two big horns.
2 - this animal looks like a lobster and is bright blue.
3 - this animal is a small and long-haired type of dog. ( https://a-z-animals.com/animals/yorkshire-terrier/ )
4 - this animal is a type of penguin that has eyes coloured with a 'y' sound.
5 - this animal is a young horse. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yearling_(horse) )

BONUS - Can you tell me another animal that begins with y and share a fact about it? (Good luck, there are some great names out there but they are tricky, you can also pick one of the animals from the quiz to write about!)

Helpful link: https://www.activewild.com/animals-that-start-with-y/

Activity 2 - Number of the Week!

Our number of the week this week is 20! Can you count it, find it, make it, write it? What number comes before and after it?
We are going to try Sharing again this week. Get 20 objects, it could be pencils, grapes, toys or even drawn dots. How many do you have each if you share between 2 people. Or 3 people? What about 4 people?

BONUS - Can you share 20 between 4 people fairly? Why/ why not?

Activity 3 - Rhyming!

So now we know lots of letters and sounds of the alphabet, and are beginning to put them together to make words, we are now going to look at words that have the same end sounds, or rhyming sounds. I have uploaded a rhyming sound game from Twinkl, see if you can find the pictures that has the same end sounds.

BONUS - Can you think of another word that rhymes with each picture?

Activity 4 - Fourth and Fifth Continent - The Arctic and Antarctica!

As our new topic is Animals, we are going to travel the continents together to find what kinds of animals live on each! We are moving to the next 2 continents: The Arctic and Antarctica.

H

ere is a video of animals that live in the Arctic: http://www.bbc.co.uk/earth/tags/arctic 

Here is a video of animals that live in the Antarctic: https://www.bbcearth.com/sevenworldsoneplanet/antarctica/ 

BBC Earth is also very good: https://www.bbcearth.com/shows/frozen-planet/ 

Here are some animals that live on the Arctic continent: https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-animals-live-in-the-north-pole.html 

Here are some animals that live on the Antarctic continent https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-animals-live-in-antarctica.html

Pick an animal that lives in either the Arctic or Antarctica and create a fact file. Draw a picture, tell me its name, where it lives and an exciting fact about it.

Activity 5 - Make Your Own Lava Lamp/ Sensory Bottle!

This is a fun science experiment that I have done with a variety of classes of different ages, and the effect is dazzling! I have attached a link here to show you how to do it, but all you need is:

An empty bottle or twist-lid jam jar
Water
Sunflower Oil
Food Colouring
Glitter
Alka-Seltzer tablet/ Vitamin or Berocca tablet/ table salt

Follow the instructions here:  https://fun-science.org.uk/lava-lamp-experiment/

For an added effect, put your phones flash light on and stand the bottle on top, making sure it is sealed of course!

You can do as many activities as you wish, in any order that you wish. If you have any other home learning activities you would like to share, please do so! Have a wonderful week!

The Nursery Team 

Nursery Activities w/c: 22.06.2020

Good morning Nursery families! I hope you are doing well and had a lovely weekend. Here are the activities for this week.

Activity 1 - Phonics!

The letters for this week are: v and w!
For both letters, can you say them, sing the Jolly Phonics song, write them, find them in your home?

For the letter v - I have uploaded a sorting game for you to play. Can you name all of the pictures? Which ones start with a 'v'? (Adults, may be best to play this on a computer/laptop rather than a phone.)

BONUS - Can you think of any more 'v' words?

For the letter w - I have an animal related quiz! Can you guess all these animals beginning with w?

1 - this animal is a bug that stings you if you get too close.
2 - this animal has a pouch, but is not a kangaroo, and lives in Australia.
3 - this animal likes to howl at the moon.
4 - this animal has two big tusks and swims in the sea.
5 - this animal lives in the oceans and has a blowhole.

BONUS - Can you tell me another animal that begins with w and share a fact about it?

Helpful link: https://www.activewild.com/animals-that-start-with-w/ 

Activity 2 - Number of the Week!

Our number of the week this week is 19! Can you count it, find it, make it, write it? What number comes before and after it?
We are going to try Sharing again this week. Get 19 objects, it could be pencils, grapes, toys or even drawn dots. How many do you have each if you share between 2 people. Or 3 people? What about 4 people?

BONUS - Can you share 19 between 4 people fairly? Why/ why not?

Activity 3 - Boggle!

So now we know lots of letters and sounds of the alphabet, it is time to put them together to make words! I have uploaded an image of some letters we have learned. Can you pick any 3 letters to make a word? There are some pictures to help you think of some. Can you write the word?

BONUS - Can you find any other words?

Activity 4 - Third Continent - Australasia!

As our new topic is Animals, we are going to travel the continents together to find what kinds of animals live on each! We are moving to the next continent: Australasia.

Here is a video of animals that live in Australasia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkCq54_ho-A

BBC Earth is also very good: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdkeQLsoUE0

Here are some animals that live on the Australasian continent: https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-animals-live-in-australia-and-oceania.html

Pick an animal that lives in Australasia and create a fact file. Draw a picture, tell me its name, where it lives in Australasia and an exciting fact about it.

Useful link: https://www.bbcearth.com/sevenworldsoneplanet/australia/ 

Activity 5 -  Make your own Oobleck!

This is a fun science and sensory activity to make your own slime like substance that acts like both a liquid and a solid depending on how you interact with it. It might get messy so I would advise doing it outside or on an easily washable surface!

All you need is:
Between 3 and 5 cups of Cornstarch
1 cup of Water
A mixing bowl
Food colouring (optional)

•Put the cornstarch in the mixing bowl.
•Add the water to it and stir well.
•If you want your Oobleck to be colourful then you can add food coloring as well.
•Keep adding water until it feels like a liquid when you are mixing it slowly.
•Now your magic slime is ready. You can squeeze, scoop, and squish it slowly for liquid, or quickly for a solid

Here is a video to show you how it works: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXkwv_zWL84

You can do as many activities as you wish, in any order that you wish. If you have any other home learning activities you would like to share, please do so! Have a wonderful week!

The Nursery Team

Nursery Activities w/c 15.06.2020

Good morning Nursery families! I hope you are doing well and had a lovely weekend. Here are the activities for this week.

Activity 1 - Phonics!

The letters for this week are: t and u!
For both letters, can you say them, sing the Jolly Phonics song, write them, find them in your home?

For the letter t - I have uploaded a picture with lots of 't' objects to find! Can you find them all?

BONUS - Can you think of any more 't' words?

For the letter u - I have an animal related quiz! Can you guess all these animals beginning with u? (Adults: I would highly recommend using the link below as this was a challenge!)

1 - this animal is a monkey that has a pink face.
2 - this animal is an antelope that lives in Africa.
3 - this animal is a type of chipmunk that has stripes.
4 - this animal has two big blue wings and lives in Australia.
5 - this animal is a type of black bird with a red chest.

BONUS - Can you tell me another animal that begins with u and share a fact about it?

Helpful link: https://www.activewild.com/animals-that-start-with-u/ 

Activity 2 - Number of the Week!

Our number of the week this week is 18! Can you count it, find it, make it, write it? What number comes before and after it?
We are going to try Grouping again this week. Get 18 objects, it could be pencils, grapes, toys or even drawn dots. Can you make 18 in different ways? For example, you could have a group of 10 objects and a group of 8 objects, but altogether they make 18. Or you could have a group of 4, 8, and 6, but it still adds up to 18! There are lots of ways to group 18, try as many as you can!

BONUS - Can you share 18 between 3 people fairly? Why/ why not?

Activity 3 - Boggle!

So now we know lots of letters and sounds of the alphabet, it is time to put them together to make words! I have uploaded an image of some letters we have learned. Can you pick any 3 letters to make a word? There are some pictures to help you think of some. Can you write the word?

BONUS - Can you find any other words?

Activity 4 - Second Continent - Asia!

As our new topic is Animals, we are going to travel the continents together to find what kinds of animals live on each! We are moving to the next continent: Asia.

Here is a video of animals that live in Asia: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezipnML5_5o 

BBC Earth is also very good: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCVXR2k0sFM 

Here are some animals that live on the Asian continent: https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-animals-live-in-asia.html 

Pick an animal that lives in Asia and create a fact file. Draw a picture, tell me its name, where it lives in Asia and an exciting fact about it.

Useful link: https://www.bbcearth.com/ 

Activity 5 - Father's Day

On Sunday it is Father's Day, where we can celebrate the hard work that our care givers do for us every single day. They give us a home, yummy dinners, toys to play with and much much more! Have a think about how you would like to say thank you to your care giver. It doesn't have to just be your dad, it can be a brother, uncle, grandfather, or anyone who is special to you that you are thankful for. Perhaps make them their favourite meal with the help of an adult? Make them a card? Sing them a special song! Thank you to all our care givers who have taken care of us!

You can do as many activities as you wish, in any order that you wish. If you have any other home learning activities you would like to share, please do so! Have a wonderful week!

The Nursery Team 

Nursery Activities - w/c. 08.06.2020

Good morning Nursery families! I hope you are doing well and had a lovely weekend. Here are the activities for this week.

Activity 1 - Phonics!

The letters for this week are: r and s!
For both letters, can you say them, sing the Jolly Phonics song, write them, find them in your home?

For the letter r - I have an animal related quiz! Can you guess all these animals beginning with r?
1 - this animal has 2 long ears and a fluffy tail
2 - this animal helps pull Santa's sleigh
3 - this animal has a horn on its nose
4 - this animal is a type of black bird
5 - this animal is small, has a long tail and is often mistaken for a mouse.

BONUS: Can you tell me another animal that begins with r and share a fact about it?

Helpful link: https://www.activewild.com/animals-that-start-with-r/ 

For the letter s - I have uploaded a picture with lots of 's' objects to find! Can you find them all?

BONUS - Can you think of any more 's' words?

Activity 2 - Number of the Week!

Our number of the week this week is 17! Can you count it, find it, make it, write it? What number comes before and after it?
Last week we started learning about sharing, now we are going to try Grouping. Get 17 objects, it could be pencils, grapes, toys or even drawn dots. Can you make 17 in different ways? For example, you could have a group of 10 objects and a group of 7 objects, but altogether they make 17. Or you could have a group of 4, 8, and 5, but it still adds up to 17! There are lots of ways to group 17, try as many as you can!

BONUS - Can you share 17 between 2 people fairly? Why not?

Activity 3 - Boggle!

So now we know lots of letters and sounds of the alphabet, it is time to put them together to make words! I have uploaded an image of some letters we have learned. Can you pick any 3 letters to make a word? There are some pictures to help you think of some. Can you write the word?

BONUS - Can you find any other words?

Activity 4 - First Continent - Africa!

As our new topic is Animals, we are going to travel the continents together to find what kinds of animals live on each! We are starting with Africa. There are a wide range of African folk tales that include and are about animals! Let's watch some Tinga Tinga Tales together!

Their official channel is here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWQLkOZV1aHXB0ihn2EwSbw 

Pick a story and retell it in your own words. Why does the Rhino charge? Why do monkeys swing in the trees? Now, can you tell me an interesting fact about the main animal in the story?

For an extensive list of African folk tales, please follow this link: https://fairytalez.com/region/african/ 

For facts about African animals, look here: https://www.activewild.com/african-animals-list/ 

Activity 5 - Storm in a glass!

Over the weekend, you may have noticed the weather change from hot and sunny to cloudy, rainy and in some places a thunderstorm appeared! This is Miss Walker's favourite weather so this week we are going to try our own Science experiment to make our very own storm in a glass!

You will need: Shaving cream, a large glass, water, food colouring, a spoon

Instructions:
1. Fill the glass 1/2 full with water.
2. Spray some shaving cream on top of the water to fill the glass to ¾ full.
3. Use your finger or a spoon to spread the shaving cream evenly over the top of the water. The top of the shaving cream should be flat.
4. Mix ½-cup water with 10 drops of food coloring in a separate container. Gently add the colored water, spoonful by spoonful, to the top of the shaving cream. When it gets too heavy, watch it storm!

Watch Scientist Joe conduct the experiment here: http://www.sciencefun.org/kidszone/experiments/storm-in-a-glass/ 

You can do as many activities as you wish, in any order that you wish. If you have any other home learning activities you would like to share, please do so! Have a wonderful week!

The Nursery Team 

Nursery Activities - w/c 01.06.2020

Good morning Nursery families!
I hope you enjoyed the week of glorious sunshine and were able to take some well earned rest! We are now in our final half term of the year and our topic is.. Animals! Here are some activities for you to try for the week:

Activity 1 - Phonics!
We will now have 2 letters of the week! How exciting! The letters for this week are: p and q!
For both letters, can you say them, sing the Jolly Phonics song, write them, find them in your home? A great way to remember which way they are written, p and q are next to each other in the alphabet, and they love to look at each other!

For the letter p - I have an animal related quiz! Can you guess all these animals beginning with p?
1 - this animal is a type of colourful and talkative bird
2 - this animal is a bird that cannot fly and loves snow
3 - this animal has a curly tail, a snout, and loves mud! (It is also Miss Walker's favourite animal!)
4 - this animal is a black and white bear that eats bamboo
5 - this animal is also a bear, but lives in the Arctic!

BONUS: Can you tell me another animal that begins with p and share a fact about it? Helpful link: https://www.activewild.com/animals-that-start-with-p/ 

For the letter q - now this sound is a tricky one to learn, as it is the only letter in the English alphabet that does not make a sound all by itself! Did you know that q has a best friend and never goes anywhere in a word without them? q's best friend is u! Together they make the digraph (that means two letters that makes one sound) qu! Here are some clues to words that have a 'qu':
1 - this is the sound a duck makes
2 - the opposite of slow
3 - a game where you have to answer questions
4 - a female ruler of a kingdom
5 - the opposite of loud

BONUS - Can you think of any more 'qu' words?

Activity 2 - Number of the Week!
Our number of the week this week is 16! Can you count it, find it, make it, write it? What number comes before and after it?
Now we know the Nursery children are super sharers, so let's see if we can share 16! Grab 16 toys, pencils, or even draw 16 dots. Can you share the 16 items between 2 people? What about 4 people? How many do you each have?

BONUS - Can you share between 3 people fairly? Why not?

Activity 3 - Measuring!
So it has been a while since we have seen each other and I have a funny feeling you have all grown quite a bit! Find an object that you have plenty of around you, maybe pencils, books, toy cars, shoes, and line them up from the bottom of your heel to the top of your head when you lie down. How many of these items are as tall as you? Miss Walker did it this morning with her books, and she is 9 books tall (just about)! Can you try with another set of objects and see the difference (you might be 5 books tall but 7 pencils tall!)

BONUS - Who is the shortest and tallest in your family? Can you put yourselves in order from shortest to tallest? (Pets can be included!)

Activity 4 - Animals!
As it is the start of our new topic of animals, I would like to know what your favourite animal is! It can be any animal from anywhere in the world, it can live on land, in the sky, or deep in the ocean!
Can you draw a picture of your favourite animal? Can you write its name? Can you tell me one interesting fact about your favourite animal?

Activity 5 - Space X Launch!

Something very exciting happened over the weekend, a rocket was launched into space! In case you missed it, take a look at the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OI3fiNkgTOU  The two men who were in the rocket are known as astronauts and they are going to the International Space Station which hovers over the Earth. If you were an astronaut, where would you like to go? You could go to the Space Station if you like, or visit another planet altogether! What would you do when you got there?

For ideas on different planets, take a look at these Storybot videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vb2ZXRh74WU 

NASA also has a livestreaming page you can take a look at here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21X5lGlDOfg 

You can do as many activities as you wish, in any order that you wish. If you have any other home learning activities you would like to share, please do so! Have a wonderful week!

The Nursery Team :)

Happy Half Term!

Good afternoon Nursery families!
As I am sure you are aware, it is half term next week - hooray! This means that there will be no set activities uploaded for you to complete next week. If you would still like activities to do you can always look back on previous uploads by the Nursery team but there is no obligation to do so.
On behalf of the Nursery team, I would like to say well done for all your amazing home learning, uploaded here or not, whether it be sitting at a table or enjoying the great outdoors, you are all Summerswood Superstars!
Enjoy your week off and we will be in touch on the 1st of June for next half term's topic of Animals!
Sending our best wishes, keep safe!
Miss Walker, Mrs Hilling & Mrs Punter

Week commencing    18.05.20

Hello to all our wonderful nursery children and families.

Hope you enjoy this week’s activities

You are all our Summerswood Nursery super stars!

Activity 1                           Phonics

Our sound of the week is o

Listen to the Jolly Phonic o song and practice the action.

Remember to practice writing the letter o and think of 5 words or objects beginning with the sound o to share on tapestry.

Have you or any of your family got the letter sound o in your name?

Keep practicing writing your name; remember only use a capital for the first letter of your name.

Activity 2 

Our sound of the week is o.  Opposite begins with o

Do you know the opposite of these words……………………

Night……..

Hot………..

On……….

Soft………

Big ………

Can you think of some more opposites to tell us? 

Activity 3                           Maths / PD

Our number of the week is 15

Practice counting 15 objects and writing 15.

Remember to find 15 objects to show us.

When you clap on Thursday evening for the NHS count and clap 15 times.

If you have some string or wool at home thread 15 buttons, beads or pieces of pasta onto your string.

Number hunt game

Ask your adult to hide some numbers 1-5 or 1-10 in the house or garden.

When you find all the numbers see if you can put them in a number line in the correct order.

1    2    3    4    5    6    7    8    9    10 

Activity 4

For your exercise …………..

Choose your favourite song and make up some dance moves to the music.  Ask your adult to video you and put your funky moves on tapestry.

Activity 5           Positional Language     Maths

Choose your favourite teddy or toy to play this positional game.

Can you ………………………

Put your teddy under something

Put your teddy in something

Put your teddy on something

Put your teddy next to something

Put your teddy behind something

Put your teddy in front of something

If you do not manage to complete all these activities, that is fine. Chose the ones you fancy doing and have fun!

Remember to post your activities onto Tapestry, it is a great record of all the learning you are doing at home.

We look forward to seeing all the wonderful activities you are doing at home.

Keep safe and well

The Nursery Team 

                                   Week commencing    11.05.20

Hope you are all keeping safe and well!

Here is another week of home learning activities

Activity 1      Phonics

Our sound of the week is n

Listen to the Jolly Phonic n song and practice the action.

put a video of you singing the n song on tapestry.

Here is an n quiz – all the answers are words beginning with the sound n

• Someone who works for the NHS saving lives.
• The mouse in “The Gruffalo” story found one of these.
• Someone who is not behaving might be called this.
• He lives in Toyland with big ears.
• You smell with this.
• This is a number.
• Sometimes you have these in a McDonalds happy meal.
• Opposite of day is.

Remember to practice writing the letter n and think of 5 words or objects beginning with the sound n to share on tapestry.

Activity 2       Maths

Our number of the week is 14

Once again practice counting 14 objects and writing the number  14.

We love to see what objects you have chosen to count!

For your exercise …………..

Tap your head (gently) 14 times

Tap your knees 14 times

Wriggle your hips 14 times

Open and close your fingers 14 times

Blow 14 kisses

Activity 3         Literacy

Our story this week is “The Very Hungry Caterpillar”

If you have this story at home that is brilliant.

If not you can watch it on you tube.

When you have listened to the story see if you can answer these questions about the story.

• How many oranges did the caterpillar eat?
• What did he eat on Tuesday?
• What did he feel like after eating all that food?
• Can you remember what he built around himself?
• How long did he stay in his cocoon?
• What did he change into?

The pattern on a butterflies wings is the same each side.

Do you know what this is called?

We would have been learning all about this in nursery this week.

It is called symmetrical.

Draw a butterfly and make the patterns on the wings symmetrical.

If you have paints at home try this butterfly painting.

Fold a piece of paper in half and paint just on one side.

Now fold the paper back over onto the painted side and rub over it.

Open up your paper to reveal a beautiful butterfly just like the one in the story.

You will have the same pattern on each side of your paper.

This is symmetry.

Activity 4       UW

Mini beast hunt

When you go out for your exercise or in your garden go on a mini beast hunt.

If you have a magnify glass use this to look for the tiny insects. 

Be kind to the insects; remember they are more scared of you!

Take a photo of the mini beast you find and put it on tapestry.

We can try and guess what it is!

Activity 5        EAD

Make your own caterpillar.

You can cut out circles and stick them together to make a caterpillar.

Draw a face on the last circle.

Or you can use your paints and print a caterpillar using something round to print with.

If you do not manage to complete all these activities, that is fine. Chose the ones you fancy doing and have fun!

Remember to post your activities onto Tapestry, it is a great record of all the learning you are doing at home.

We are missing you all and can’t wait until we are all back together again.

Keep up the good work

Thank you for taking part in our nursery weekly activities.

It is lovely to see all your smiley faces and the fantastic home learning you are doing!

The Nursery Team

   Week commencing    04.05.20

Welcome to the month of May!

Hope you are all well and staying safe at home

Thank you for taking part in our nursery weekly activities.

It is lovely to see all your smiley faces and the fantastic home learning you are doing!

Keep up the good work

Here are our activities for this week………………….

Activity 1                           Phonics

Our sound of the week is m

Listen to the Jolly Phonic m song and practice the action.

Have a go at drawing your favourite meal like the song says, the Mums and the Dads make many meals!

Draw a circle for your plate and you can even practice cutting it out (be careful using the scissors) now draw what you like your adult to make you for your meal on your cut out plate.

We can’t wait to see all those yummy meals.

 Remember to practice writing the letter m and think of 5 words or objects beginning with the sound m to share on tapestry.

Activity 2                           Maths

Our number of the week is 13

Once again practice counting 13 objects and writing   13.

We love to see what objects you have chosen to count!

For your exercise …………..

Do 13 fairy claps – show your adults what fairy and crocodile claps are.

Do 13 crocodile claps

Do 13 hops – that is really tricky

Do 13 squats

After your exercise put your hand on your heart, what does it feel like?

Activity 3                Literacy

We know you love to listen to stories so here is a story activity.

Read your favourite story with your adult. Post a picture on Tapestry of you holding your favourite book or retell us the story and post the video for us to see.

Ask your adult who wrote the story; remember this person is called the "Author"

Can you remember what the person is called who does the illustrations/ pictures in the story?

Activity 4       UW

This week if we had been at nursery we would have been learning about mini – beasts.

Watch on you tube the story “Mad about Mini Beasts” to help you with this activity.

Which is your favourite mini-beast from the book?

Draw your favourite mini-beast from the story or design your very own mini-beast and make up a name for it.

Does it have wings?

What colour is it?

How many legs does it have?

 We look forward to seeing your wonderful mini- beast creations!

Activity 5                     PSED

We are really missing you and would like to know what you miss doing at nursery most.

Do you miss playing with your friends?

Do you miss painting?

Do you miss singing the hello song in the morning?

Do you miss playing in the garden?

Put a video on tapestry telling us what you can’t wait to do when you come back to nursery.

If you do not manage to complete all these activities, that is fine. Chose the ones you fancy doing and have fun!

Remember to post your activities onto Tapestry, it is a great record of all the learning you are doing at home.

We are missing you all and can’t wait until we are all back together again.

Billy Bear, Eddie Elephant and Tommy Tiger say hello and send their love to you all

Keep smiling

The Nursery Team

Week  commencing 27.04.20

Good morning Nursery, hope you had a fun week at home and are all keeping safe and well.

Here is another week of activities you may like to take part in. Please share with us what you have been doing while spending time at home.

We love to read all about the fun you are having.


Activity 1

This is a science challenge - see if you can find 3 objects that you think might sink and 3 objects you think might float. Now fill up you washing up bowl and test your ideas.

What happened to the heavy objects, did they float or sink?

Take a picture of the objects you found and show us on tapestry.




Activity 2

Today we have a mini quiz........ good luck!

* What letter sound does house begin with?

* In the jolly phonics ‘a’ song which insect do we sing about?

* What is Mrs Knellers favourite colour?

* What animal is in the film “Happy feet”?

* What colour is a banana?

The first letter of each answer make a word.

We hope you are all that word 
Post a picture of your “Happy face” on tapestry.





Activity 3.    Maths

This week our  number of the week is 12.

Once again you can do this when taking part in your daily exercises...........

Clap 12 times 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
Hop 12 times 🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸
Touch your toes 12 times 👣👣👣👣👣👣👣👣👣👣👣👣
Do 12 bicep curls 💪💪💪💪💪💪💪💪💪💪💪💪                                        

Practice writing number 12.
Count out 12 pieces of pasta.




Activity 4

Thursday 30th April is Captain Tom Moore’s 100th Birthday. Today’s activity is to sing Happy Birthday to Captain Tom Moore.

When you go out tonight to clap for the NHS (if you are still awake at 8.00pm)  give an extra clap for the amazing Captain Tom Moore for raising lots of money for the NHS by walking 100 lengths of his garden. “Well done Captain Tom”

Activity 5     Phonics

Our letter of the week is  ‘l’

Can you think of 5 objects or words beginning with the letter sound ‘l’

Practice singing and doing the action for the Jolly Phonics  ‘l’ song.
See if you can write the letter ‘l’

Have you or any of you family got the letter sound ‘l’ in their name?

Have a great week - keep safe and stay at home.

We are missing you all

The Nursery Team 🐘🐻🐯

 Activities for week commencing 20.04.20

Good morning to all our lovely nursery children. Hope you are all keeping safe and well.
We all miss seeing your smiling faces 🙂 each morning but until we can all get back together here are a few activities you might like to try at home.

Activity 1

In our phonics we learnt up to the letter sound j so this week we are looking at the letter sound k

This week we will be looking at objects beginning with the letter sound k. Look around your house to see if you can find anything beginning with the sound k.

Listen and learn the jolly phonics k song and action.
Practice writing the letter k (lower case)

play i-spy thinking of k words and objects.

Activity 2

In our maths number activity we learnt up to number 10, so this week we will be learning all about number 11.

When you are doing your daily exercise do.......

11 star jumps ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
11 claps 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
11 Hops. 🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸🐸

Count out 11 objects

Practice writing the number 11

Activity 3

This term we would have been looking at Spring and the changes we notice in the outdoor environment. So when you go on your daily exercise walk have a look to see what is different.

Is there blossom on the trees?
Are the flowers 🌷 in bloom?
What is the weather like?

We look forward to seeing and hearing about what you have noticed 🙂

Activity 4

Artists at work.
Do an observational drawing of something you have noticed in the environment.

Take a picture of something you have noticed outside, or if you have a garden or balcony with flowers growing see if you can draw a picture of what you can see.

Look carefully at the colours you will need to use.

Look carefully at the shape of the object you are drawing.✏️ 🌷🌼🐝🌳🍃🏠

Activity 5

Practice writing your name. Have you got the sound of the week in your name?

Ask an adult to write your name (lower case letters apart from the first letter of your name) for you to copy. If that is a little tricky maybe copy over the top of your name or even joining dots for each letter is good practice.

Remember how to hold your pencil ✏️

Hope you enjoy taking part in some of these activities. Ask your adult to put what you have done on tapestry. We love to see anything you have joined in with or other fun activities you have been doing with your families.

Keep safe and have fun

The Nursery Team 🙂👍

Home Learning Challenges Information for Adults

Once you have completed your challenge, you can upload a photo or video on to Tapestry OR send them to the email address: tumble@summerswood.herts.sch.uk

If you have any questions or queries about the challenges or things to do at home, email the above address and I will help as best I can.

Useful links and websites! I will share some as I go along in the videos but if you want to share any that you have found useful please email me and I will put it on the next video for everyone to see.

If you have any requests for learning or you complete any alternative learning challenges, please upload or email them over, I'd love to see what you have learned regardless!

If you have any shout outs for birthdays or challenges for Miss Walker to do, email the above address and I can put it in the next day's video! Have fun!

Miss Walker 

Summerswood Nursery Learning Challenges!

​​​​​

Happy Friday everyone! I hope everyone is enjoying their time at home with family. This is just a note to say that Miss Walker, Miss Leatham, Mrs Punter and Mrs Hilling miss you all very much and hope that you are all well!

Keep an eye on the Nursery class page and your Tapestry account. As of Monday, Miss Walker will be posting videos of learning challenges for you to complete either by yourself, with your siblings or the whole family! They might be to do with phonics, maths, art, dance or other special activities!

When you have completed your challenge, you can upload it on your Tapestry account or email a photo or video of the challenge to:

tumble@summerswood.herts.sch.uk

The aim is to do an activity that is engaging for the whole family and to share our learning and fun with each other from the safety of our own homes, so the more that join in, the merrier! I am looking forward to learning with you soon!
 

Miss Walker 

9.3.20

This week we have continued learning about "Dinosaurs"

We have made our own fossils using salt dough, we have learnt lots of new vocabulary such as paleontologist, fossil, skeleton, bones, pletes, claws, spikes, and wings. 

We practiced using our fine motor skills by threading around a dinosaur.

We used our problem solving skill to make dinosaur puzzles.  We worked in pairs, helping each other with the tricky parts.

We used the dinosaur sponges to print a dinosaur picture and tried to name as many dinosaurs as we could. The ones we couldn`t remember we looked up in our dinosaur book.

We practiced our scissor skills by cutting out pictures of dinosaurs.

Number of the week 9

The children practiced counting, writing and finding the number 9

Go on a number 9 hunt at home and post on tapestry to show your friends!

Sound of the week i

We learnt the Jolly Phonics song and action for i

We looked at different objects beginning with i 

The children enjoyed playing the fishing for sounds game and saying which sound they had caught

 We practiced writing i on the interactive white board and in sand.

Reminders

Remember to post all the fun activities you do at home onto tapestry. Your children can  then share it with their friends on fridays.

Nursery  is closed on Friday 20th March for an inset day.

Thank you for your continued support in providing tissues for the children. Please remember to buy an extra box when shopping.

If you have not yet paid your £5.00 voluntary contribution please place in a named envelope.

Have a restful weekend 

The Nursery Team 

Week 2 2.3.20 – 6.3.20

It has been another busy and fun filled week in nursery.  We have continued to learn all about dinosaurs and have had a go at remembering some of their tricky names and what they look like, i.e. they have long tails or short arms etc.  During our key worker groups we have read the story ‘Dinosaurs love underpants’ and then had a go at designing our own dinosaur underpants.  We also did some dinosaur foot measuring and dinosaur shape pictures.  During PAL time the children enjoyed joining the adults to do dinosaur repeated pattern and dinosaur paintings.  We have enjoyed reading and thinking about the story ‘Up, up and away’ which is the book that Summerswood are using this week as part of our take one book activities.  Thank you to all parents who were able to make parents evening; it was great to see you all and chat about your wonderful children.

Our number of the week has been ‘8’ and our sound of the week has been ‘h’.  For our number of the week activities we have looked at what number 8 looks like and how it can be shown in different ways, i.e. written as a word and number, 8 spots and 8 fingers etc.  We have also done lots of counting to 8.  For our sound of the week we have thought about what words begin with a ‘h’ sound and we are now experts at the ‘h’ song.  Can your child remember any words that begin with a ‘h’?  Here is a link to the song - https://vimeo.com/106231366. Please scroll through to the letter ‘H’. 

Thank you so much for all the hard work and effort with the world book day costumes.  The children looked fabulous.  Please see below some photos. 

Our Makaton sign of the week is ‘sad’! Here is a link to the video for the action - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zl5ijXizHRw.

  Just a reminder

• Any boxes of tissues you are able to donate would be greatly appreciated.
• A huge thank you from Miss Leatham for your continued support across the year.
• We have welcomed Miss Walker this week and she is looking forward to becoming part of Tumble class for the remainder of the year.

Have a lovely weekend,

The Nursery Team J

Week 1 24.2.20 – 28.2.20

A huge welcome back after the half term break; we do hope the children had a rest and that you all has a wonderful time with whatever you got up to.  Thank you to those who have shared photos, videos and comments on tapestry. 

We have had a great first week back learning all about dinosaurs.  We have had fun trying to correctly pronounce some common dinosaur names and even listened to the story bots song about T-Rex’s.  Why not take a look at it:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfICoMlHmdg.   During our group time we have played the game dotty dinosaur; made a paper plate dinosaur and completed a dinosaur dig (pretending to be palaeontologists and brushing off dinosaurs and their bones with a brush).  The children also really enjoyed making a dinosaur mask and doing an observational drawing of a dinosaur.  The children also enjoyed taking part in a drama workshop in the hall on Wednesday…. They all took part in using their imaginations to travel to Australia and speak different languages such as ‘banana’ language. Thank you for supporting our ‘Fun PE Day’ on Monday, it was great to see the children in their sports clothes and they really enjoyed having a visit from the Wheelpower Ambassador and being shown a Paralympic torch. 

Our number of the week has been ‘7’ and our sound of the week has been ‘g’.  For our number of the week activities we have looked at what number 7 looks like and how it can be shown in different ways, i.e. written as a word and number, 7 spots and 7 fingers etc.  We have also done lots of counting to 7.  For our sound of the week we have thought about what words begin with a ‘g’ sound and we are now experts at the ‘g’ song.  Can your child remember any words that begin with a ‘g’?  Here is a link to the song - https://vimeo.com/106231366. Please scroll through to the letter ‘G’. 

Our Makaton sign of the week is ‘happy’! Here is a link to the video for the action - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JoJC0TSFb5I.

Just a reminder

• Don’t forget parents evening next Tuesday and Wednesday – please ask if you are unsure of your day and time.
• We are in need of boxes of tissues; any you are able to donate would be greatly appreciated.
• We say goodbye to Miss Leatham next Friday (March 6^th) as she goes on maternity leave

Have a lovely weekend,

The Nursery Team J

Week 6 10.2.20 – 14.2.20

This week in nursery we have celebrated Valentine’s Day by thinking of all the people we love and why.  We read the book ‘Guess how much I love you’ and then thought about how much we love those special people around us.  In our key worker groups the children threaded hearts, did heart shape printing, made Valentine’s cards and wrote their names inside   The children have also really enjoyed making heart biscuits and they had the best time decorating them during our play and stay session.  Thank you to those who were able to make the session and join their child in decorating their biscuits.  It was great to see you all J

Our number of the week has been ‘6’ and our sound of the week has been ‘f’.  For our number of the week activities we have looked at what number 6 looks like and how it can be shown in different ways, i.e. written as a word and number, 6 spots and 6 fingers etc.  We have now learnt that we need to use both hands to show 6 fingers.  For our sound of the week we have thought about what words begin with a ‘f’ sound and we are now experts at the ‘f’ song.  Can your child remember any words that begin with a ‘f’?  Here is a link to the song - https://vimeo.com/106231366. Please scroll through to the letter ‘F’. 

Our Makaton sign of the week is ‘icy’.  The children have become very good at using the weather actions we’ve learnt in our weather song that we sing every morning! Here is a link to the video for the action - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKb9-5Jcv-4.

Just a reminder

• School is closed next week for half term.  Children return back on Monday 24^th February.
• Monday 24^th February is fun PE day in school – we will be doing some fun PE activities.  Children can come to school dressed in PE clothes in exchange for £1.  
• See tapestry for stay and play photos
• Do share any photos or videos on tapestry of what you get up to over the half term week
• Just to let you all know that I will be leaving for maternity leave on Friday 6th March.  I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your support over the year.  It has been a pleasure teaching your children and I look forward to seeing how well they get on during the rest of the year.  I will be coming back to visit them - Miss Leatham :-) 
•  

Have a lovely and safe half term,

The Nursery Team :-) 

Week 5 3.2.20 – 7.2.20

This week in nursery we have continued to learn about ‘people who help us’ with a focus on ‘vets’ and how they can help us by helping our pets.  In our key worker groups we have listened to the story ‘Paula the Vet’; played the spotty dog game and we have had a go at ordering pet pictures according to their size.   The children have also really enjoyed creating a life size vet painting and painting their own pet pictures.

Our number of the week has been ‘5’ and our sound of the week has been ‘e’.  For our number of the week activities we have looked at what number 5 looks like and how it can be shown in different ways, i.e. written as a word and number, 5 spots and 5 fingers etc.  For our sound of the week we have thought about what words begin with an ‘e’ sound and we are now experts at the ‘e’ song.  Can your child remember it?  Here is a link to the song - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Out8AklQHmY.

Our Makaton sign of the week is ‘windy’.  The children have become very good at using the weather actions we’ve learnt in our weather song that we sing every morning! Here is a link to the video for the action - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvfrvuhB8Es

Just a reminder

• Nursery play and stay session is on Thursday 13^th February from 9:00-9:30.  Please drop your child to nursery as normal and wait outside for us to register them and then we will invite you in.
• Please return permission slips and payment for the Living Street workshop on Friday 14^th February.  Thank you.
• Fun PE day on 24.2.20 - more details to follow next week. 

Have a lovely weekend,

The Nursery Team J

Week 4 27.1.20 – 31.1.20

This week in nursery we have continued to learn about ‘people who help us’ with a focus on ‘firefighters’.  In our key worker groups we have painted fire fighter helmets; played a firefighter number counting and matching game, as well as completing a people who help us matching picture activity.  The children have also really enjoyed creating a life size firefighter painting and making hand print firefighters.   

Our number of the week is ‘4’ and our sound of the week is ‘d’.  For our number of the week activities we have looked at what number 4 looks like and how it can be shown in different ways, i.e. written as a word and number, 4 spots and 4 fingers etc.  For our sound of the week we have thought about what words begin with a ‘d’ sound and we are now experts at the ‘d’ song.  Can your child remember it?  Here is a link to the song - https://vimeo.com/106231366.

Our Makaton sign of the week is ‘cloudy’.  The children have become very good at using the weather actions we’ve learnt in our weather song that we sing every morning!  Here is a video link for the cloudy Makaton sign - https://www.facebook.com/thegrangeatbookham/videos/391629194975747/.

Just a reminder

• Nursery play and stay session is on Thursday 13^th February from 9:00-9:30.  Please drop your child to nursery as normal and wait outside for us to register them and then we will invite you in.
• Please return permission slips and payment for the Living Street workshop on Friday 14^th February.  Thank you.

Have a lovely weekend,

The Nursery Team J

Week 3 20.1.20 – 24.1.20

What a fun and exciting week we’ve had in nursery this week.  We have been learning all about Chinese New Year and how it’s the year of the Rat.  During our key worker group activities we have been doing Chinese dragon dancing; making Chinese lanterns and tasting Chinese noodles and prawn crackers.  We have also been making Chinese dragons and having a go at Chinese writing.  See tapestry for photos of the food tasting. 

During phonics this week we have been learning the sound for curly ‘C’ and looking at a variety of pictures and objects that start with this sound.  The children have practiced fishing for objects, singing the ‘clicking castanets’ song and writing the letter ‘C’ using the IWB.  Here is the link for the ‘C’ song – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bZNxhoxSAFA.  Our number of the week this week has been ‘3’.  The children have been spotting the number ‘3’, counting 3 fingers, showing 3 fingers and drawing around 3 spots on the IWB.    

Our Makaton sign of the week is ‘rainy’.  Please see the video link for the action - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6D6yOWq0YNg.

On Thursday 13^th February there will be a play and stay session in nursery from 9-9:30.  Please feel free to drop your child at normal time and wait outside for us to register them.  Then we will invite you in for our play and stay session. 

Just a reminder

• We are running low on tissues so any donations would be very much appreciated
• Please pay the voluntary £5 for this term if you’re able to – thank you J

Have a lovely weekend,

The Nursery Team J

Week 2 13.1.20 - 17.1.20

We have had another great week in nursery full of exciting activities.  We have continued to learn about people who help us with a focus on ‘doctors and nurses’.  The children did a fantastic job at creating a child sized nurse.  See the pictures below.  This week we have really enjoyed having games of ‘people who help us’ bingo; reading a ‘going to hospital’ story and using the beebots.  See tapestry for the fantastic learning from our beebot activity.     

Our number of the week is number 2 and our sound of the week is ‘b’.  Can your child remember the ‘b’ song or remember what a number ‘2’ looks like?  Here is a video link to the ‘b’ song we have learnt (please scroll through to ‘b’) - https://vimeo.com/106231366.

Our Makaton signs for the whole of this half term are displayed outside of nursery.  We will be learning the signs for different types of weather.  This week the sign we are learning is ‘sunny’. Here is a link to the video for the action - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E91KX3jPgyo.

Just a reminder

• Please bring in your voluntary £5 if you are able to do so
• Please remember to keep checking tapestry to see what your child has been doing in nursery – comments back are always welcome

Have a lovely weekend,

The Nursery Team J

Week 1 6.1.20 – 10.1.20

We have had a great first week back after our Christmas break and the children have done so well getting back into the nursery routine.  Our new topic this half term is ‘people who help us’ and this week we are focussing on ‘police’.  In our key worker groups we looked at a police officer story; hunted for numbered pictures of police cars and police helmets in the garden and practiced our cutting skills by cutting out police pictures.  The children even got to watch a few short videos of a police dog in training. 

This term we are introducing the children to a letter and a number every week.  This week our number of the week is ‘1’’ and our letter of the week is ‘a’.   Can your child remember the ‘a’ song or remember what a ‘1’ looks like?  Here is a video link to the ‘a’ song we have learnt. https://vimeo.com/106231366

Just a reminder

• Please bring in your voluntary £5 if you are able to do so
• Please remember to keep checking tapestry to see what your child has been doing in nursery – comments back are always welcome

Have a lovely weekend,

The Nursery Team J

Week 7 16.12.19 – 19.9.19

Wow, what a busy and fantastic last week of term we’ve had in nursery!  On Monday we got to go and watch the KS1 Christmas production; the children really enjoyed it and their behaviour was amazing.  On Tuesday the children very much enjoyed the nursery Christmas party.  We played lots of fun games and were then ready for some party food.  The children all looked great in their party clothes!  We also had Y6 classes visit us on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon to do some buddy reading.  It was great to see the children talking about their books to their Y6 buddy J

It has been a very busy but very successful term.  The children are all doing so well and have worked so hard.  They are all definitely ready for a break and we hope you all enjoy some lovely family time over the next two weeks.  The nursery team would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your support, as well as your generosity with Christmas gifts.  We are overwhelmed with your kindness and are so grateful for the presents… thank you!  We hope you all have a restful break and we look forward to seeing you in 2020.

Just a reminder

• Nursery starts back on Monday 6^th January 2020
• Please see tapestry for a photo of our Christmas party
• We will be collecting another £5 for Spring term activities when we return after Christmas.  We would be extremely grateful if you’re able to contribute – thank you!

Merry Christmas everyone,

The Nursery Team J

Week 6 9.12.19 – 5.12.19

What a busy week it has been in nursery this week.  I think you will all agree that the children were amazing in their sing-a-long performance on Tuesday.  Well done to all the children and thank you to everyone for coming.  As many of you would have seen on Tuesday the children have learnt some Christmas Makaton signs.  This week we recapped the previous two weeks Christmas signs and we will learn a new one next week.

We have been getting into the Christmas spirit this week by doing lots of Christmas activities.  We have been making Christmas cards, doing a Merry Twistmas dance for ‘phsyi-gym’ and much more. 

On Monday morning the children really enjoyed watching a Christmas pantomime in the school hall based on Cinderella.  The children’s behaviour was fantastic and they all sat so beautifully during the entire performance.  Please see photos below.  They also watched Reception’s sing-a-long on Wednesday afternoon and again showed great sitting and behaviour – well done Tumble class. 

As the term draws to a close we just wanted to say a huge thank you for all your support this term.  It has been a pleasure to have your children with us and we cannot believe they have been in nursery for almost a full term.  Thank you to those of you who share photos and comments on tapestry, it really is lovely to see what your child gets up to outside of nursery.  Do share anything on tapestry from your Christmas break, we would love to see and the children love sharing this with the rest of the class.

Just a few reminders for next week:

-Christmas party is on Tuesday 17^th December.  The consent for eating party food will be available to sign from Friday 13^th December when you drop or collect your child.  Children can come in party clothes. 

-Nursery closes for Christmas on Thursday 19^th December, please collect at normal times. 

We hope you have a lovely weekend,

The Nursery Team J

Week 5 2.12.19 – 5.12.19

We’ve had a busy and fun week in nursery this week!  We have continued learning about fairy tales with a focus on ‘The Gingerbread Man’.  The children were so excited to make Gingerbread man biscuits and then decorate and eat them.  They also enjoyed sequencing the story and acting it out.  We have been practicing retelling the story and joining in with repeating phrases. 

We have been working really with our singing in preparation for our sing-a-long next week.  Don’t forget your child is able to wear a red, green or Christmas top on the day.  Please drop your child at nursery for normal time and then wait outside so we can get them ready before inviting you in. 

Our Makaton signs of the week are for ‘Father Christmas’ and ‘Merry Christmas’.  Please see the pictures below of the actions and the link to view the videos of the signs in action. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hQokxEBWnI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OAH4a4_MjvE.

Just a Note

-Don’t forget that your child can come to nursery in a red, green or Christmas top / jumper for our sing-a-long on Tuesday 10^th December.  Drop them off at normal time in the morning and then wait outside nursery for us to let you in when they’re ready.

-Please remember that nursery finishes for Christmas on Thursday 19^th December at normal times (12 and 3pm).  NO NURSERY ON FRIDAY 20^th DECEMBER.

-We will be having a nursery Christmas party on Tuesday 17^th December and children can come in their party clothes.  We will send a message out nearer the time to remind you all.

-It is really important to note that we are unable to take any money unless it is in a sealed envelope with your child’s name, the amount of money inside and what it is for.  We do not keep envelopes in nursery so are unable to give any out – thank you J

We hope you have a great weekend,

The Nursery Team

Week 4 25.11.19 – 29.11.19

What a great week we’ve had in nursery!  We have continued with our fairy tale learning this week and have been focussing on ‘The Three Billy Goat’s Gruff’.   The children were great at exploring some positional language by putting the goat on top of, under, next to, behind and in front of the bridge.  They even had a go at acting out parts of the story using troll and goat masks; so many of them got into character and were able to recall repeated phrases from the story.  The children then had a go at building a bridge using bricks.  This was really interesting to see the children work together and use a trial and error approach to get their bridge just right so the troll could fit underneath and the goat could fit on top.  Well done Tumble Class J  Please see tapestry observations from this week!

In phonics this week we have been playing rhyming bingo and continuing with our Christmas sing-a-long practice. 

Our Makaton signs of the week are for ‘reindeer’ and ‘Christmas tree’.  Please see the pictures below of the actions and the link to view the videos of the signs in action. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-OYRpYPImzA.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thgCBbYChf0.

Just a Note

-Please remember that school is closed next Friday (6^th December) for an occasional day

-Please remember to return your slip and money for the Christmas Sing-a long.  There will be mince pies and drinks afterwards.

-It is really important to note that we are unable to take any money unless it is in a sealed envelope with your child’s name, the amount of money inside and what it is for.  We do not keep envelopes in nursery so are unable to give any out – thank you J

We hope you have a great weekend,

The Nursery Team

*** Important ***

Please, please ensure that grapes are cut into halves or quarters if sending them into nursery in your child's lunch box. If grapes are sent into nursery that have not been cut then they will not be given to your child due to health and safety reasons.  Please see the image below on how to cut grapes you send in packed lunch boxes.  

Week 3 18.11.19 – 22.11.19

What a great week we’ve had in nursery this week.  It has been road safety week this week and the children really enjoyed going to the library and listening to Mrs Storms read a book all about keeping safe when crossing the road.  We also learnt a new song to help us remember –

Stop, look, listen, stop, look, listen,

Before you cross the road, before you cross the road,

You use your eyes and you use your ears,

And if no traffic at all appears,

Then you cross the road,

Holding your grown-ups hand!

Why not see if your child remembers the song and the actions; video to follow. 

We have also continued our fairy tale theme these week and have been looking at the three little pigs story.  The children have been fantastic at remembering key characters and phrases in the story.  We had a lot of fun building a 3 pigs scene on the interactive whiteboard, acting out the story using props, as well as building a brick, stick and straw house to experiment which one could or could not blow down.  Please see tapestry.  We had some fantastic language to describe the different materials used such as strong and weak. 

In phonics this week we have been looking at words that rhyme.  We used the song silly soup to help us.  Can your child remember the words or what they have to do?  Why not sing it with them:

We’re making lots of silly soup,

We’re making soup that’s silly,

We’re going to put it in the fridge to make it nice and chilly!

The idea is to have a bowl and spoon, pretend to mix the silly soup and then choose some pictures in the bowl to find the rhyming words. 

You have all probably noticed that your child is singing some Christmas songs.  We have started practicing for our sing-a-long which will be held in nursery on Tuesday 10^th December from 9-10.  Please drop your child at normal time and then wait outside whilst we get them ready for you to come in and watch our sing-a-long.  This will be followed by a stay and play session in nursery where you will be able to come and play alongside your child. 

This week we have learnt two Makaton signs for ‘please’  and ‘thank you’.  Please see below the picture of the actions and the link to view videos of the signs -   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MAE1NMN0rU. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPZEG8YzCR0.

We hope you have a lovely weekend,

The Nursery Team J

Week 11.11.19 – 15.11.19

We have had another busy and fantastic week in nursery.  This week we have been learning about Goldilocks and the Three Bears.  We have been reading, listening, retelling, role playing and exploring the size language used in the story.  The children absolutely loved the tuff tray filled with porridge; what amazing language we have heard i.e. hot, cold, big, small and middle size.  As it has been anti-bullying week we have also been thinking about how we can be kind to one another.  On the carpet we discussed what being kind could look like.  The children had the great ideas of using kind hands, kind words, sharing and helping one another.   Thank you to those who wore their odd socks on Tuesday in support of anti-bullying week.

In our key worker groups we did lots of fun activities.  One of the favourites was making and trying porridge.  The children thought about what the porridge looked and felt like before cooking, what it looked and tasted like once cooked and the temperature of the porridge when tasting it.  See the photos below.  We also learnt a song about Goldilocks and had a go at putting pictures of bears, beds and chairs in size order from small to big.

This week we have learnt two Makaton signs for ‘hello’  and ‘goodbye’.  Please see below the picture of the actions and the link to view videos of the signs -   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M02P2ntiUoU.

Just a note

Please do remember to let us know if you are having trouble accessing your child’s tapestry account. 

We are running very low on wipes.  Any donations would be greatly received.  Not toilet wipes, just general baby wipes.  Thank you so much!

Enjoy your weekend,

The Nursery Team :-) 

*Don't forget to come to school on Friday 15th November dressed in your favourite colour in exchange for a bottle for our Christmas Fair on November 30th*

Week 1 4.11.19 – 8.11.19

We’ve had a fantastic first week back after half term.  This week we have been learning all about fireworks and Diwali; the festival of lights.  We looked at the firework code and shared ideas about how to stay safe.  We then looked at how people celebrate Diwali.

In our key worker groups the children really enjoyed making firework pictures using paint.  They were so good at choosing their colours and using glitter to add an extra bit of sparkle.  They also had a go at making rangoli patterns using rice and learnt more about how Hindu’s celebrate Diwali. 

Lots of children decided to continue their learning about fireworks during PAL time by creating firework splatter paintings and chalk firework paintings.  There was some amazing language to describe what fireworks look and sound like, i.e. loud, beautiful, pretty, sparkly, boom, bang, pop, loud, whizz.   

Thank you everyone for coming to see your child’s key worker for parents evening.  It was lovely to chat with you all and share your child’s targets for this half term.  The targets you were given have also been uploaded onto tapestry.   Please do let us know if you are having any difficulties with tapestry. 

Have a lovely weekend.

The Nursery Team :-) 

Week 6 21.10.19 – 25.10.19

We’ve had another busy week in nursery! In our key worker groups this week we have been listening to stories and talking about them; counting objects one at a time up to 10 and having a go at tracing our names.  The children have done so well and it has been lovely to see many of them continue this learning themselves in their PAL (play and learning) time.  Please do take a look at tapestry to see what else your child has been getting up to.      

During phonics this week we have been listening to the sounds of claps and taps.  The children had a go at repeating a clapping and tapping pattern and passing it around the circle! 

This week our Makaton sign has been ‘water’.  Please see below the picture of the action and the link to view a video of the Makaton sign for ‘water’ - 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-q3Uq5AP0y4.

Just a reminder

If you have not already activated your tapestry account then please do so in order to access the photos and comments we upload for your child.

Unfortunately we are no longer able to accept cash that is not in a sealed envelope.  Please do ensure that any money is in an envelope labelled with your child’s name, the amount inside and what the money is for.  Thank you!

Don’t forget parents evening on Monday 4^th and Wednesday 6^th November.  You will see your child’s key worker; either Mrs Punter, Mrs Hilling or Miss Leatham. 

We hope you have a lovely, well rested half term and we look forward to welcoming the children back on Monday 4^th November. 

The Nursery Team J

Week 5 14.10.19 – 18.10.19

What a fantastic week we’ve had in nursery!  We have been learning all about how to keep our bodies healthy.  This included healthy eating, exercising, and washing / keeping clean.  The children really enjoyed making healthy and unhealthy food plates and sorting some healthy and unhealthy foods.  The PowerPoint we used to do this can be found below….. why not give it a go at home and see if your child can remember which foods are healthy and unhealthy. 

In our key worker groups we continued to think about healthy eating, exercising and keeping clean.  The children named some common fruits before making and eating a fruit salad.  They then did an obstacle course in the garden and thought about the difference in their bodies once they completed the obstacle course.  The children noticed they were a little out of breath and that their hearts were beating faster.  Finally, the children all learnt the correct steps for washing their hands properly and when they should be washing their hands.  They then had a go at doing it themselves.

In phonics we have been listening to the sounds we can hear and playing pass the clap.  We have had a go at copying simple claps and clapping the syllables of our names. 

This week our Makaton sign has been ‘brother’.  Please see below the picture of the action and the link to view a video of the Makaton sign for brother -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWAYg1RMNkw.

Just a reminder

Parents evening will be on Monday 4^th and 6^th November. Please do sign up for a slot with your child’s key worker from Friday morning.  Thank you.

On Wednesday 23^rd October there is a tapestry meeting at school from 2:45 - 3:05.  Please do come along if you are new to tapestry so we can go through how to use it and answer any questions.  Please sign in at the office for this meeting.   

If you have not already donated £5 and you are able to do so, please could you do this before the end of this half term (October 25^th).  This really does help with all the perishable goods we buy to do fun activities with your children and to make things like play doh.  Thank you!  

Have a lovely weekend,

The Nursery Team J

Week 5 7.10.19 – 11.10.19

Wow!  We cannot believe your children are completing their 5^th week in nursery!  They are all becoming super members of Tumble Class and have continued to settle beautifully!

We have had a fantastic week learning all about our senses.  Each day your child’s key worker has carried out an adult led activity to do with our senses.  We have been using our noses to smell various things such as flowers, onions and chocolate, and have also been using our mouths and tongues to taste different food like oranges, lemons, crisps and strawberries.  Another activity was our feely box where the children had to put their hand in a box and feel different objects and describe how they felt.  We have heard some amazing descriptive language from the children including bumpy, soft, spiky, hard, cold, warm, crunchy and many more.   They even made their own feely board using different textures.

The children really enjoyed playing a'throw the beanbag in the hoop' game in the garden.  See below for photos!

Don’t forget to log into tapestry to see photos and read all about our learning to do with senses.  All observations will go live by the end of the week. 

As part of World Mental Health day we have thought about being kind.  We have looked at our hands and thought about what it means to have kind hands.  The children made a painted hand print and we included a comment they made about kind hands.  See below for some photos of this activity.

This week our Makaton sign is for ‘sister’.  Please see below the picture of the action and the link to view a video of the Makaton sign for sister - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkjyWsrVFMk.

Just a reminder

If your child stays at nursery for lunch and they have a yogurt to eat, please can you ensure you include a spoon in their lunch box; as well as forks if they do not have finger food.

Please remember to say goodbye to your child at the door when dropping them off at nursery if you’re able to do so; this really helps to encourage their independence and helps them to get into the routine for the nursery day.   

Next week we will be making and eating a fruit salad; please sign the permission for your child to participate in this activity when dropping them at nursery on Monday morning.

Have a lovely weekend,

The Nursery Team J

Week 4 30.9.19 – 4.10.19

In nursery this week we have been thinking about our bodies and have had so much fun completing various activities.  During our group time we have made pasta skeletons, monster pictures and had a go at playing Simon Says to help the children learn the different body parts! Why not have a go at playing Simon Says at home. 

Thank you so much to all who donated their £1 for cancer research so their child could come to school dressed in their own clothes, including something purple to celebrate Miss Kneller's 40th birthday!

Please see below some photos of what the children have been getting up to.

Our Makaton sign this week is ‘daddy’.  Please see below the picture of the action and the link to view a video of the Makaton sign for daddy - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnOT-iLDsuI.

Just a reminder

-If you have not already activated your tapestry account then please do so.  Next week we will be starting to upload observations so you can see what your child has been learning and getting up to.  

- We are running low on plastic bags so if you have any spare ones at home we would be grateful for some donations – thank you.  

- We are still collecting the Aldi stickers so please do bring them into school if you have any!  Thank you!

Have a lovely weekend,

The Nursery Team J

A quick Note

If you are sending your child into nursery with grapes in their packed lunch box, please ensure they are cut into halves or quarters.  This also includes grapes that are already in pre-packaged fruit pots; thank you! 

Does anyone have any plastic bags they can donate??? We are running low on plastic bags; if you have any spares at home we would be very grateful for any donations - thank you! 

Does anyone shop in Aldi??? As a school we are collecting the stickers that are handed out when you spend £30 or more in store; if you have any at home please send them into school and if you're at the checkout and have spent £30 or more but have not been given a sticker, be sure to ask - thank you! 

Week 3 23.9.19 – 27.9.19

What a great week we have had in nursery.  The children have continued to settle and get to know the nursery routines.  They are becoming very quick at knowing what to do and when to do it!  We are so impressed with their tidying skills J

This week we have been thinking about our family at home and our family at school.  We talked about mums, dads, grandparents, aunties, uncles, brothers, sisters and more.  We also learnt about our nursery family and the children were introduced to our class name – ‘Tumble Class’.  They have also been trying really hard to remember their key worker groups and the adult’s names. 

The children had a go at making a flag from the country they’re from, drawing a self-portrait and we even went on a tour of the school.   They very much enjoyed seeing other adults and children from around the school.  Unfortunately, only one group got to see Miss Kneller on their tour as she is very busy!  See the photo below.

Each week at nursery your child will be learning a new Makaton sign in order to promote and encourage communication and language.  This week we had a go at learning mummy; see below for the action.

Thank you to everyone who sent a family photo into school for our display board.  If you haven’t done so already there is still time, so please send one in as soon as possible – thank you J

Just a reminder:

-If you haven’t already donated a box of tissues, we are asking that a pack of flushable wipes are donated instead.  For the time being we have plenty of tissues so flushable toilet wipes would be great, thank you!

-If your child has an accident at nursery, please return their spare clothes in a labelled plastic bag so we can put them straight back into the box ready, should they be needed again, thank you.

Have a lovely weekend,

The Nursery Team J

Week 2 16.9.19 – 20.9.19

We have had another fabulous week in nursery!  The children are really getting to know the nursery routines and have done so well at coming into nursery in the mornings – what super stars!

The children have really enjoyed our physi-gym this week; this is a morning song and dance we do to wake up our bodies.  This week it was ‘shake your sillies out’.  Why not try it at home - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwT5oX_mqS0. They have also had fun doing some hand printing with paints and we did a self-portrait to go on our classroom door. 

This half term we have our role play area set up as a home corner and we would love to display some family photos.  If you are able to, please send your child into school with a family photo that we can put up on display.  It will be returned to you after half term but please remember to label the back with your child’s name.  Thank you.

Just a few reminders:

-If you haven’t already donated a box of tissues, we are asking that a pack of flushable wipes are donated instead.  For the time being we have plenty of tissues so flushable toilet wipes would be great, thank you!

- Remember to donate £5 if you haven’t done so already

-Remember to return any spare clothes your child has worn home after an accident

Please do check the website regularly to see what we have been up to.  We will begin to upload some photos of the children next week.

Have a lovely weekend,

The Nursery Team J

Week 1 9.9.19 – 13.9.19

Wow, what a fantastic first week we have had in nursery!  The children have done amazingly well during their transition week and it was great to see them all in together for the first time too.  

Thank you so much for getting your children to nursery on time, collecting them promptly and ensuring they were in the correct uniform; it really did help to ease the transition.  I am sure you will agree that the children looked so smart in their new nursery uniforms. 

They have had lots of fun playing in the garden and exploring our nursery environment.  

Just a few reminders:

- Remember to donate your voluntary £5 if you haven’t done so already (in a named envelope please)

- Remember to return any spare clothes your child has worn home after an accident

- Morning drop off is at the Arundel Drive entrance (gate opens at 8:50 and closes at 9:00)

- Lunch time pick up (12 noon) is at the Furzehill Road entrance

- End of the day pick up (3:00pm) is at the Arundel Drive entrance

- Full sessions start on Monday 16th September

Have a lovely weekend,

The Nursery Team 

Useful information from The Becc

Autumn Programme - http://ow.ly/d0gh50vrnwq

Family Centre Registration - https://bit.ly/2JvnWuv