Nursery Mrs Smith 2021 - 2022

Nursery 2020 - 2021

Mrs Smith

Nursery News

Welcome to a new school year! It was lovely to see some old faces and to welcome all our new children. The children are already starting to make new friends and getting to know the adults that work with them.  They have all settled really well and are enjoying taking part in lots of activities.

We have been encouraging the children to become more independent by:

. going to the toilet (pulling clothes up and down themselves)

. washing hands using soap and water.

. putting coats on (we use the super hero method)

. putting shoes on (No laces please)

. getting their own resources to complete a task.

Tips to help build children's independence at your setting

• Tell your child that making mistakes is okay – the most important thing is to have a go in the first place.
• Give them plenty of praise when they attempt something new/challenging.
• Set aside time for your child to have a go at activities for themselves (like getting changed or putting their coat on

We encourage independence because it promotes confidence and self-esteem as well as motivation and perseverance. It also fosters self-reliance, allowing your child to feel they have control over their life. ... It teaches them self-motivation as they have the freedom to find their own reasons to achieve.

We have some exciting things planned for the children this term as we continue our topic “Autumn”. We will be providing exciting opportunities and fun filled activities for the children to investigate the patterns and changes as we move from the season of autumn to winter. So keep an eye on Tapestry to see what the children are learning and getting up to.

Thank you for sending in family photos for our class photo album. The children love looking at the phots and talking about their families.

Our topics over the term are as follows:

The season of Autumn, Winter, Myself, Welcome, Birthdays.

Come and See

Myself:  Investigate the importance of my name. God knows and loves me.  God knows my name. God loves me.

Our Big Question  - How do I know God loves me?

Welcome: Celebration of welcome into school. How we welcome people into a family. Welcome into

God’s family through Baptism.

Our Big Question— How are we welcomed into God’s family?

Birthday: Discover what a birthday is and how it may be celebrated. Advent, when people get ready for the birthday of Jesus at Christmas. Christmas, the birthday of Jesus.

Our Big Question— Why do we receive presents on Jesus’ birthday?

Personal, Social and Emotional Development

Adult led and independent activities will be set up to help the children in making relationships with their peers and teachers, grow in their self-confidence and self-awareness and managing their feelings and behaviour.

Physical Development

Children will be taking part in adult lead and independent activities designed to help develop their fine and gross motor skills such as, cutting and sticking activities, games to encourage them to skip, hop and travel in lots of different ways. They will take part in cooking activities and learn about healthy foods and not so healthy foods. They will learn why it is important to wash their hands before they eat food and after going to the toilet.

Communication and language

The children will continue to develop their listening skills through learning and singing new rhymes or songs and sharing lots of stories with each other and adults. Through play, rhyme, games and story the children will learn new words and be encouraged to use these new words when playing. They will be encouraged to use words like “first”, “next” and “then” when they are telling a story or telling others about something they have done.

We will be taking part in Nursery Rhyme Week which is a free, world-wide initiative celebrating the importance of nursery rhymes in early childhood development. The dates for 2020 are 16th-20th November. It is open to parents and Early Years practitioners, all resources are provided free of charge to registrants. The nursery rhymes we will be learning this year are, The Wheels on the bus, Five Little Speckled Frogs, Hickory Dickory Dock, Old McDonald Had A Farm and Miss Polly Had a Dolly. The children will be taking part in lots of activities based on the rhymes e.g. Numeracy:

Sing the nursery rhyme, Wheels on the bus, in a group. At the end of each verse stop the bus for some of the children to get off. How many children are left? How many seats are on the bus? How many spaces after each verse?

Check it out online for ideas to do at home. 

Literacy

Our literacy this term includes the books, Brown Bear, Brown Bear – Bill Martin, My Mum and Dad Make Me Laugh by Nick Sharatt , The Happy Hedgehog Band – Martin Waddell. Hedgehog, Howdedo – Lynley Dodd, It Was a Cold, Dark Night – Tim Hopgood, Pete the Cat and his Four Groovy Buttons – Eric Litwin, Big Pumpkin by Erica Silverman, The Nativity Story, Kippers’s Birthday – Mick Inkpen

When your child is ready, they will take part in games, rhymes, songs and other activities  that encourage them hear and identify rhyming words, to hear first sounds in words and  write some letters of their name. 

Number

This term we will be learning about the numbers 0, 1, 2, 3. This will be done through, ICT and a practical activity such as songs, games, rhymes. They will learn fast recognition of up to 3 objects, without having to count them individually (subitising) and will be encouraged to use and understand the language of more, fewer, altogether, add, take away, count, one more, one less.

 The children will continue to learn the names of simple shapes and talk about quantities, simple fractions E.G. half, and positional language. This will be done through purposeful and practical activities, rhymes, songs, cooking and stories. E.G. cutting their apple in half during snack or sorting all the shapes when tidying away. 

Understanding the World:

The children will begin to make sense of their own life-story and make connections between the features of theirs and other families by talking about differences and what they notice e.g. “how come your hair feels different to mine?” and talking about what their parents tell them about their life story and family.

 The children will use their sense in hands on exploration of natural materials and talk about, what they see building on their vocabulary. They will observe how the season changes from autumn to winter. 

Expressive arts and design

The children will  taking part in simple pretend play and begin to develop more complex stories using small world equipment like animal sets, dolls, blocks and the home corner. They will be exploring different materials freely, in order to develop their ideas about how to use them and what to make. They will be exploring colour mixing e.g. yellow and blue make green and learning and singing entire songs, dances and action rhymes.

 “Snack” money

We are working on establishing a cashless system for our snack money and thank you for your patience.

Children’s clothes

We do have a small supply of spare clothing in nursery in case your child has an accident. It would be helpful if your child could bring some spare underwear with them to nursery as we often run out! Please can you ensure that all your children’s clothes including coats and shoes are clearly labelled, especially school uniform as it all looks the same!

The weather is getting colder but we will continue to try to play outside as much as possible, even in the rain! Please make sure your child has a suitable coat with them that will keep them warm and dry. Your child can bring in their own wellington boots to keep in Nursery or we have a supply of wellies in our outdoor area that the children can wear, but they will need their own hat scarf and gloves. Remember to label these as well! Can I also request that children do not wear shoes with laces.  

P.E

The children will be taking part in PE sessions this term in the school hall and outside, weather permitting! It would be helpful if the children can come to school in pumps or trainers on PE days. We do have a small supply of black pumps that the children can use too. PE days are Tuesday afternoon and Friday morning.

Tapestry

Tapestry is a website which can be accessed on a computer or laptop, and also on any Apple or Android device such as a tablet or smart phone. We have chosen this company because they are a secure and also exciting way of keeping track of your child’s development and their time with us.

Instead of using the old paper book style way of recording, we will be able to instantly upload photos, videos and observations of your children. You are then emailed to alert you that something new has been added to your child’s Learning Journal and can log on and view what your child has been up to. A massive advantage of this system is that you can instantly add your own comments to entries, upload any Wow! Moments, family outings or celebrations as well as show your child’s online book to members of the family who would not usually be able to attend parent drop-in sessions at school.

If you haven’t already sent your Tapestry form to Mrs Smith, now is the time. Once Mrs Smith has your email she can send you a link. You will then be able to view and comment on your child’s profile.

Keeping our children safe.

We work hard to keep all our children safe in school. Staff will hand children over to parents personally or to a designated person who is already know to them. Parents are required to give the class teacher or office staff (who will inform the class teacher) a password if their child is to be picked up by a person unknown to staff.  Your child will only to be handed over on presentation of the agreed password.

You can either let the staff know at the start of the session or ring the office, who will pass the message on.

We hope that you and your children are enjoying their Nursery experience with us. If you have any concerns or worries please feel free to discuss them with us. You can contact us through Tapestry , by emailing the office or requesting a telephone consultation.

Thank you for your continued support

Mrs Smith & Mrs McCombs