Nursery School Newsletter 3 

23.09.2022 

Dear Parents 

Well, another week has whizzed by! Here are some of our Nursery School highlights: 

  • Having toast for snack – this week the children have had the chance to build their independent skills. They have been encouraged to make their own snack thinking about each step and discussing the process involved. 
  • Woodwork – the children have been introduced to hammers, nails, and pliers this week. They have focused on keeping themselves safe and have been experimenting with building on their skills when using real tools. 
  • Forest school for ‘Yellow’ and ‘Green’ groups this week – the children repeated what the other groups did last week. They have been on a bug hunt, digging in the allotment and have enjoyed coming together for a hot chocolate and a biscuit. We have also introduced a composter into our allotment area and the children will be using this as part of their provision moving forwards. 
  • STEM (science, technology, engineering, and maths) opportunities – the children have been busy creating water runs using guttering and other resources. This is building on children successfully becoming resilient and independent learners. 
  • Making crowns and discussing the Queen/new King – this activity allowed children to express own ideas/thoughts encouraging two-way conversations. 

In group times this week we have continued learning the days of the week and discussing the weather. We do sing a song about the days of the week: 

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday too 

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 days 

Each day different and each day new 

Our core book has been ‘The Three Billy Goats Gruff’, the children have enjoyed reading this and acting out the story with some great expression. What can your child remember about the story? 

Phonics – We have been focusing on the ‘s’ sound this week, on Wednesday we all made silly soup. All the items the children placed in the soup began with the sound ‘s’. See if they can tell you what they put in their silly soup! Throughout the week some of the children have been identifying other words that begin with or have the ‘s’ sound in. We have also been focusing on environmental sounds, so talking about what sounds they can hear at different times, what sounds they can make in the environment, discussing and comparing the identified sounds. 

Maths – We have continued looking at cardinality and counting, the children have had fun representing number through activities, stories and songs. 

Our poem this week has been: 

Cup of Tea 

Here’s a cup 

And here’s a cup 

And there’s a pot of tea. 

Pour a cup, 

And have a drink with me. 

To help with clear communication here are a few reminders/helpful information: 

  • Next week you will be given an envelope with your child’s name on, this is for a termly voluntary contribution of £10. This is to ensure we have funds available to enhance our learning curriculum experiences. The money will be spent on cooking/playdough ingredients, extra snack, materials for woodwork, hot chocolate/biscuits for forest school etc. 
  • Each week one child from each group will be a ‘focus child’, if your child is a focus child you will receive ‘An all about me update’ on the Friday before. We ask that you fill this in and return on the Monday. This then informs us of your child’s current interests/enthusiasms, new skills/learning you have noticed, activities or ideas you would like to see incorporated into our planning and if there is any other information we should be aware of which is affecting your child. We then as a team will carry out snapshot observations the following week which we will share with you the week after. You will receive a copy which will then be followed up by a short phone call from your child’s key person – this will be on a Friday. If you are unable to take the call, we will arrange another suitable time to discuss. 
  • If you would like to speak to your child’s key person about anything that may take longer than we have at handover times, please do not hesitate to speak to a member of staff and we can arrange an appointment. 
  • Chastleton House Saturday (15th of October) – please do remember to sign up (sign up sheets by back door/disabled toilet) if you are able to help with:
    • Making a cake for us to sell on the day (to be delivered on Friday the 14th of October by 2.30pm)
    • Serving teas on the day for an hour slot (12noon – 5.00pm) 

Thank you and for any other questions/information please email Zoe Wakefield. 

Thank you to those of you who have come up with ideas to help raise money for the ACE Centre, we will get a date in the diary soon to discuss these ideas and ultimately create a new group of ‘Friends of the ACE Centre’ and get organising some events. 

I hope you have great weekend. We look forward to seeing you all next week. 

Best wishes 

Zoe Wakefield