Summer 2023

Sunflowers 

Another life cycle we have been exploring is the life cycle of the sunflower. We planted tiny seeds together and watched it grow into a seedling. We then watched as our seedling grew into a young plant. Some of them are now showing a bud and we hope to see a flower soon. The children are so excited watching their sunflower grow and understand that in order for it to grow it needs sunlight and water.

Minibeasts

This term, one of our topics has been minibeasts. We have enjoyed having a new bug hotel to look for many insects. We find a lot of snails! This supports our maths as we talk about patterns on the shell, practicing 1:1 correspondence and subitising small amounts of snails. We have also looked at and spoke about the life cycle of a caterpillar which inspired us to make beautiful butterfly art. 

Phonics

This term we have begun learning our Set 1 sounds from Read, Write, Inc. We have been learning two sounds a week and have been having lots of opportunities to practice and embed our new sounds. 

Spring 2023

Story Maps

We have been getting into story mapping this term and have enjoyed deciding what to draw on the maps to represent each part of the story. We then use this to figure out what actions to use for each part of the story. We can then retell the story with actions just from using the pictures mapped out. Nursery are amazing storytellers!

Red Nose Day

In Nursery we enjoyed celebrating Red Nose Day by exploring the colour red and making our own red nose faces. We had a fun time raising money for charity whilst wearing our red clothes.

Animals

In the first half of the Spring Term, our topic was animals. Some members of the class were kind enough to show off and talk to us about their pets at home. We loved seeing and hearing what your pets get up to. This really helped the children's confidence to talk in front of the whole class and we loved hearing it too. We read a lot of story books about many different animals but one of our favourites was Goldilocks and the Three Bears. We particularly enjoyed going to the 'porridge maker' (later found out it is called a microwave) to make and eat some delicious porridge. 

Maths

This term, we have been focusing on classification in Maths. Classification involves categorising objects by their characteristics. We have been using the key vocabulary within this: different, same, most, fewer, few, less, many, none, together, some. The children have enjoyed doing this through playful games and have done so well that we are now ready to start exploring pattern.

Changes

This term, we have been exploring changes in Nursery. We have been looking at how things combine and mix, whether things are absorbent or non absorbent, whether things dissolve or not, how colour an travel up a flower stem and also how magnets work. It has been fun to explore and discover together and talk about all the things we have noticed and show off our new scientific vocabulary. We are so impressed with the children's attitude towards wanting to find out more when investigating.

Mad Hair Day!

Growing

This term we have been attempting to grow and care for tiny seeds. The children have grown some seeds at school and have also taken home cress pots. We enjoy talking about the process and hope to see many things grow. 

We have also been lucky enough to have chick eggs. We watched the eggs hatch and then grow from a tiny new chick into bigger chicks that we then waved good bye to as they went to start their next journey on the farm. The children were so gentle with the chicks and enjoyed talking about the life cycle and learning Makaton signs for 'egg', 'chick' and 'chicken'.

Art Week

In January, we took part in Art Week where we developed our drawing skills over the week. On Monday, we drew in a round circular motion to the music, practising drawing fast and slow. On Tuesday, we drew ourselves wearing glasses. This helped to refine our circular movements. On Wednesday, we drew ourselves laughing. We noticed what our faces look like laughing - squinty eyes and big open mouths! On Thursday, we had a dance and then drew ourselves dancing. Lots of limbs flying around! On Friday, we drew a final portrait. Everyone was so proud of what they had achieved.

Phonics

This term we have been continuing building our phonological awareness through listening and sound discrimination games. We have been focusing on alliteration and rhyming so now we can notice when words begin with the same initial sound or end with the same sound - which makes it rhyme! 

Spring Newsletter

OUR CLASS

Welcome to Nursery! We are led by the class teacher Miss Mayhew and supported by Mrs Cook and Miss Price. We are an enthusiastic class who love to learn through our play and by having rich experiences. We are very proud of our caring and nurturing environment.

AUTUMN 2022

*Forest School is now on a Tuesday Morning.

Important Dates

 Thursday 1st September

 First day back 

 Monday 17th October to Friday 21st October

 Black History Week

 Monday 24th October to Friday 28th October

 Half-Term holidays

 Monday 31st October

 Inset Day

 Tuesday 1st November

 Return to school

 Friday 4th November

 Read with your child - 9am-9:15am (Every Friday)

 Friday 2nd December

 Occasional Day

 Tuesday 20th December

 2pm finish for Christmas

Forest School: Forest school is every Tuesday morning. Please ensure pupils have their wellington boots in school with them. It would be helpful if the children could have wellington boots to stay at school. We have weatherproof overalls in school that your child can wear to Forest School.

Reading: Please aim to read with your child every day to ensure they develop a love and enthusiasm for reading which will help build strong foundations in literacy.

Labelling: Reminder to please label bags/lunchboxes/clothing/shoes to ensure that your child’s personal items do not get misplaced.

AUTUMN CURRICULUM NEWSLETTER

WHAT WE HAVE BEEN UP TO THIS TERM

Settling in

In the morning the children come into nursery, put their belongings on their pegs and join hand control. 

The children have been learning our core nursery rhymes in group time and they are enjoying listening to stories before home time. 

Every morning and afternoon we have our Child Initiated Learning time. The children have been very busy exploring the learning environment, using their investigative skills and learning new skills! 

Below are some pictures that show how we have been learning and exploring in nursery!

This half term, we are focusing on the theme ‘All About Me’. Learning about ourselves is a fundamental part of childhood development and the children have really been enjoying sharing their interests with us. We are working on developing emotional literacy in nursery by giving the children the tools and confidence to be able to express and understand their emotions. The children are enjoying getting to know each other and building good relationships.

Maths

This term in nursery, we have been focusing on comparison in maths. We have been looking at similarities and differences throughout the curriculum such as through dance, self-portraits and musical instruments. In small group activities, we have been focusing on comparing and using the language of measures. This is also done through the children’s child-initiated learning where we explore a wide range of materials and objects in many different situations. We began by comparing things according to less formal measures such as ‘these are the same’ and ‘these look nicer than those’ which supports the children in developing the idea that comparing things is something we do in life. We then moved on to comparing objects through contrasts such as big and little, fast and slow, high and low. Recently, we have been ordering the sorting bears in order of size and making groups of big and small. In Forest School, we have enjoyed exploring how we can make conkers roll down guttering faster or slower by adjusting the height of the guttering.

Phonics

This term we have begun on our phonics journey and developing our phonological awareness by listening to and distinguishing sounds. We have been focusing on environmental sounds, recognising vocal sounds, recalling sounds, identifying instrumental sounds, rhythm and rhyme, oral blending and segmenting, auditory discrimination, and body percussion. This will prepare us to learn how letters and sounds go together in words. These phonological awareness skills will also support the development of speaking and listening skills. We practice these skills daily and play Fred Games with Fred the Frog who talks only in sounds. We have even been on a listening walk around the school where we heard many different sounds such as the “squeaky door”, “noisy cars”, “someone closing the gate”, “crunchy leaves”, and “heavy footsteps!”

Black History Month

In Nursery, we have been exploring and seeking to understand African and Caribbean culture and develop our understanding on communities and cultures. We have discussed the concept of similarities and differences in peoples and their experiences through folk songs such as ‘Long Time Gal’ and ‘Linstead Market’. We have discovered a way of greeting in Jamaica through dance and also spoke about the different foods you can find in Jamaica. We have enjoyed a Ghanaian call and response song called ‘Che Che Kule’. We tried Jamaican Carrot juice and discussed tastes and textures. This week, we have been listening to traditional and modern Jamaican and African music. We have been moving our bodies to the rhythm and the beat which we have incorporated into our body percussion phonics lessons. We listening to a beautiful South African lullaby called 'Thula Baba' and spoke about the comparison between the traditional South African lullaby and the traditional English lullaby 'Rock-a-by baby'. The children enjoyed practising different ways of baby-wearing and caring for their dolls.  All the grown-ups in spoke about their travels to the Caribbean and also spoke about the times Miss Mayhew and Mrs Cook have been to Africa and what amazing animals they saw on their travels! 

Children in Need

The children enjoyed raising money for Children in Need by dressing down and wearing spotty/Pudsey clothing. We enjoyed a dance-a-thon in the hall and then came back to the classroom to make Pudsey biscuits. The children showed care and precision when making their biscuits and importantly they had lots of fun!

DT Week

For Design and Technology week, nursery have created their own Christmas decorations. We began the week by planning which shape we would like to make our decoration by choosing between a tree, a star and a stocking. The children designed ow the decoration would look by thinking about and choosing the colour they would like to use. The children then brought their plan to life by following a salt dough recipe. We took it in turns in groups to measure and mix the ingredients. Next, we rolled out the dough and used the cutter from our original plan to cut out the Christmas decoration. Once the decorations had been cooked and set hard, we painted them and referred to our original designs. We then carefully threaded metallic wire through the holes so that we can hang them up at home. Our Christmas decorations will be ready to come home for Christmas.

Let it snow!

In nursery, we don't look at weather charts... the best way to learn about the weather is to get outside and experience it! As we came in on Monday, the children wanted to talk about the snow outside as it had snowed overnight. We all bundled up warm and went outside to play and explore. Outside, we were able to have a tangible real life experience of winter. We sung about Frosty the snowman and discussed how snow happens because the water in the rainclouds has frozen and fallen out of the clouds as snow. We enjoyed making snowballs, snow sculpting and snow painting before finally coming inside to warm up.