COVID-19 UPDATE
As rules begin to ease with regards to Covid-19 please keep an eye on the Famly app where we regularly communicate updates and changes as they happen. We continue to work hard to make the nursery a safe and fun environment for all of our children and want to thank you for your support and understanding during this difficult time.
Can we also please ask that parents remain vigilant for signs of your child being unwell and keep them at home if they are not themselves. All children should be clear of both a temperature and Calpol for 48 hours before coming into nursery.
Please also remember to keep sanitising both big and little hands on arrival at the nursery and wear masks for drop off and collection. We will continue to provide feedback via the app or telephone, to limit contact between adults.
If you have any questions or specific concerns, please do not hesitate to discuss these with a member of the team (socially distanced of course!) or message us through the app.
In the month of August, the Bluebells have really enjoyed the topic of mini-beasts – because we have had to have some time off isolating and the children’s high interest in mini-beasts, we have decided to extend the topic through to September.
We have been super busy with lots of different activities. We have been digging for worms in the soil, going on many bug hunts on our walks, checking the bugs off on our check sheets as we go, looking at natural habitats whilst on our walks too, creating our own ladybirds with the playdough, observing insects and using our mark making skills to draw them and looking at our own ant house and watching the ants move their eggs around and much more!
The children have shown a real interest in the story “The Hungry Caterpillar”, where they have been a part of the story, joined in with the words, made their own caterpillars and learning about the life cycle of a caterpillar. We will begin to look at the life cycle of other bugs and animals throughout September.
We have also developed a feelings board to help the children be able to express their own feelings and emotions throughout the day. This especially works with the children who may not be able to verbally express how they have been feeling; they can use the images instead.
The children also participated in their own mini Olympic sports! They all gave it a good go and did an egg and spoon race, a relay race and a running race – of course everyone received a certificate for their participation!
Our letters for the month of September will be Q, R, S and T. We will also continue focusing on our number of the week alongside our letter of the week.
This month lilies enjoyed learning about the Olympics. We the Olympic Rings, talked about the different colours and tried to make their own, they also made their own medals using clay. One of the activities that the children enjoyed the most was doing an Olympic events morning on the farm, exploring jumping, archery and throwing balls. The Lilies children also looked at the different counties involved in the Olympics, their flags and all about Tokyo as the host country.
Next month will be dedicated to discovering colour. The children have shown an interest in the different colours in the environment and talking about their favourite colours. Each week will be a different way they can incorporate colour such as texture, colour and shapes and colour in nature. We will also be exploring emotions linked to this using the colour monster book as it uses different colours to display different emptions. This will fit with our emotion board where we are able to speak about how we are feeling.
Daisies (Ages 15 – 24 months)
Throughout August Daisies have enjoyed our topic of ‘transport’ this month as we have explored lots of different activities. We have discovered new vehicles and their names. We had fun painting whilst using a mirror as we looked up at the sky searching for aeroplanes and tried to paint our own. Discovered mark making through flour play watching as we rolled vehicles back and forth as the created tracks in the flour, gloop, paint and other messy play. As well as washing cars in the garden, using cloths and soapy water as we scrubbed them clean and many more exciting activities.
Following the Daisies children’s interest, we have noticed that they have shown a keen interest in ‘nursery rhymes’ throughout August, so we have decided this will be our new topic in September. They’ve have enjoyed singing them and joining in with the actions too and enjoying learning new ones. We will be incorporating nursery rhymes into activities. For example, exploring nursery rhymes boards, building walls for Humpty Dumpty, creating our own spiders and lots more. We are very excited for our new topic and look forward to sharing our activities with you!
Tulips (Ages 3 – 15 months)
Throughout August the children in Tulips have been using their senses to explore colour. They have been busy…
This month we will be looking at animals! The children have all been showing an interest in animals as well as finally getting the opportunity to visit the fam/zoo with their families so we felt it appropriate to bring this theme into the nursery. We will be using all or our senses to explore animal based tuff trays with farm, jungle and sea themes. Along with this we will incorporate lots of stories especially the ‘that’s not my…’ books! To build on our physical development we will be creating our own animals with various mark mating materials and going on animal hunts around the farm. Finally we will be continuing to learn animal names and sounds through our favourite nursery rhymes such as old macdonald.
If you have any photos of your children at our and about with different animals please share these with us on Famly as it would be great to incorporate into our tuff trays!
Hot Weather Reminder
We follow guidance based on the UV levels when applying sun cream and ensuring the children are wearing hats and so there will be certain points in the day the children cannot go out without a sunhat on. Please note that even if it is a cloudy day it may still require your child to have sun cream and hats on!
The nursery is currently completing the Skcin Sun Safe Accreditation, please check Famly for our updated policy and parents information and keep an eye out for any changes we make to ensure we are keeping your children as safe as possible.
As the nursery continues to get busier, please can you make sure all clothing items are labelled with your child’s name or initials so we can make sure they are returned to the correct family.
EYFS Changes
From the 1st September 2021 the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) has been reviewed and updated by the Department for Education. The EYFS is the curriculum we use within the nursery that lays out the statutory requirements and the outcomes that we support children to achieve whilst they are in our care.
The management team have been putting new things into place over the last few months ready for these changes including revising the planning to follow ‘In the Moment Planning’ and carrying out lots of training meetings with the staff to ensure they are confident in their understanding of the new EYFS.
With regards to our practice not much will change however, how we assess your children and their development will. We will post further information to Famly for you to read and if you have any questions on what this will mean for your child then please do not hesitate to get in contact with Natasha/Abi for more information.
Monkey Puzzle Astwick
