Author: Mrs Pollard

This week the children have made Christmas wreaths using the willow from the tree in our garden and these will be sold to help us fundraise towards the development of a quiet/sensory space in the nursery.

Please pop in either at drop off or pick up time, any day next week to see and hopefully buy your child’s wreath.

We appreciate that this is an expensive time of the year so a donation no matter how big or small will get you a wreath!

With the weather now becoming wetter and colder, can we ask that you ensure that your child has a bag containing a change of clothes everyday. We currently have no spare socks or trousers in nursery so if anyone gets wet feet we are having to phone home for clothes to be brought in.

If you have any spare socks which you no longer need we will happily take them off your hands or should that say feet!

Thank you to the parents who popped in for a cup of tea and a slice of toast this morning. This is a really relaxed informal way for parents to get to know each other. There is no formal agenda and this morning the chat ranged from how hard it can be to get children to bed, how the nursery hours have changed and Christmas nights out! If you can, please come along to our next one on the 12th January 2024.

Just a reminder that the PTA are running a Christmas Hamper Raffle.

If you can, please help by donating food from around the world and or buying raffle tickets. We have extra tickets in nursery if needed. Thank you.

This week we have been investigating floating and sinking with different objects in the garden. First we guessed what would happen when we put the item in the water and then we checked to see if we were right.

This week Leigh came in to see us with a selection of nocturnal animals. Our curious cats in the nursery enjoyed hearing all about the animals, stroking them and finding out about their poo.

The children had fun icing their own Pudsey biscuit and then eating it with a cup of tea!

The respectful rhinos in nursery have been learning about Remembrance Day and why we have poppies. They then made their own poppies with Mrs Hardman and created a wall of poppies. This week each group will have a chance to take a walk to the war memorial and see the wreaths which were laid at the weekend.

It was lovely to see some new parents and carers as well as some familiar faces at our third ‘Tea and Toast’ session for parents and carers last Friday.

The ‘Tea and Toast’ sessions are a great opportunity for parents and carers to chat to each other and members of the nursery team in a relaxed and informal way and be involved in the continuous improvement of the nursery by sharing views and opinions. 

We understand that not all Parents and Carers are able to attend ‘Tea and Toast’. At our last two sessions, discussions centred around this year’s Nursery Improvement Plan. There are three main priorities that we are focussing on this year.

Priority 1 – Further develop how we record and share children’s learning

We  are currently working on enhancing how we record and share children’s learning through our Learning Stories.  We are reviewing how learning is recorded, how next steps are identified and acted on and shared with home. We will be seeking your views shortly about your child’s learning story.

Priority 2 – Self-evaluation for continuous improvement.

We are developing a range of ways to engage with and listen to the views of the children, parents/carers and the nursery team which will help us improve how we identify our strengths and areas for development. This term we have introduced a Children’s Voice floorbook so that we can record the children’s opinions on the nursery and show them how they influence what happens.

Priority 3 – To develop communications skills for all learners

One of the ways that we are developing communication skills for all learners is through ‘Interactive Book Reading’. Linzi Fowler, a Speech and Language therapist who works in the nursery and the school is running workshops for parents and carers on Friday 3rd November at 9am and  Wednesday 15th November at 2.15pm. We hope you can attend one of these sessions. 

If you would like any further information or you would like to contribute to what was discussed at ‘Tea and Toast’, please speak to a member of the Nursery team. 

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