Thank you to all who came to meet the Oaks 1 team on Wednesday evening; we are so pleased to hear your suggestions and hope that you thought it was of value.
News from the Rooms
Oaks 1:
We’ve spent the week taking a closer look at our nursery ground rules, while highlighting the importance of using kind words during interactions with one another.
Our team of practitioners have also been developing the children’s independence when using the toilet, putting on their coats and acknowledging their emotions.
All of the staff are so proud of the way Oaks 1 followed our directions when asked as we made our way back inside; being mindful of others and using fantastic self-help skills as they removed their coats, shoes and hats and tidied them away. It’s something we’ve worked hard on and it’s such a joy to be able to praise the group for their excellent listening.
As well as introducing sand timers to ensure sure each child gets a fair go when playing with different toys, we’ve engaged in lots of games that promote turn-taking too. This included Bingo, Duck, Duck Goose and a special Sporty Stars ball game.
The letter ‘B’ is something else we’ve focussed on, with Ottie cleverly exclaiming “B is for Becca!”. Maia also pointed out that ‘bus’ begins with the letter B, while several others said the same about the word ‘book’. The class really enjoyed learning the phonics too and all excelled at recognising their names on cards.
During our weekly forest school session, the children had a great time making their own Stick Man. It’s safe to say everyone loved having a swing in our hammock too. The mince and potatoes we tucked into at lunch went down well, as did the hot chocolate Oaks 1 were treated to after a long walk through the woods. The children were disappointed to see that their beloved ‘dinosaur’ tree had been felled but used acute critical thinking to realise that with a little reconfiguration they could turn the trunks into fabulous walking beams so all was not lost!!
Michelle kindly gifted the class with a new wooden kitchen and Oaks 1 were so excited to help unpack it. It proved to be very popular and became a restaurant, cafe and kitchen during the children’s role-play games. The group happily browsed menus before Nova whipped up several tasty dishes. Imogen and Sofia made fabulous waitresses.
We wasted no time decorating the boxes the kitchen came in later in the week to add to the scenery.
Star of The Week:
Danny – For winning several of our group games!
Oaks 2:
For the first half of the week, Oaks 2 honed their fine motor skills through a range of activities.
They got experimental with Play-Doh, using their hand muscles to flatten it with a rolling pin. The children then put on their creative hats to think carefully about what they could make with each colour. Some made a ‘runaway pea’ with the green clay, while others used the blue to make delicious-looking blueberries.
Oaks 2 also used their fine motor skills to explore squashes. With support from the adults, the children helped cut and pull them apart to inspect the orange seeds inside the autumnal vegetable.
To extend this, the group worked with the practitioners to create a Tuff Tray comprised of cornflakes and squash chunks. Cars were then eagerly driven around the tray, with the children delighted to see the wheels crush up the cereal.
Towards the end of the week, Oaks 2 listened to Julia Donaldson’s story Room on The Broom. While the audio version played, a staff member turned the pages of the book. The children were excited to hear all of the interesting sound effects that accompanied the text.
Star of The Week:
Arabella – For being less reliant on adult support as she engaged in child-led activities, both independently or with peers.
Saplings:
The new season of autumn has remained our theme with the Saplings.
We started our week with a hunt in the garden that saw the children search for leaves, sticks and other natural resources. This was great for developing their understanding of nature and the world around us.
The items the children gathered were later used to adorn beautiful tree pictures. Fine motor skills were strengthened as the group were required to use precision to paste glue on to the tree outlines.
We’ve continued to extend the Saplings’ love for reading too. Maryann Cocca-Leffler’s book Let It Fall was a firm favourite among the group. Hearing and engaging with new and exciting stories is wonderful for developing language and communication skills, while promoting the use of single words and longer phrases.
Due to the cold weather, we thought it would be nice to spoil the Saplings with some warm and tasty hot chocolate topped with mini marshmallows. It was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone. The children practised counting as they each selected ten marshmallows.
Star of The Week:
Leo S – For growing in confidence and starting to talk to new adults and children.
Seedlings:
The Seedlings’ love of bugs inspired our mini-beasts topic this week.
We spent lots of time out in the garden, challenging the children to use magnifying glasses to hunt for insects under wood, stones and plants which were plentiful give the recent downpours.
Inside the classroom, the Seedlings busied themselves crafting ladybirds using tissue paper and card. Together, we carefully cut out circles from black card to represent the spots. To extend this, we listened to What the Ladybird Heard by Julia Donaldson during story time.
In a bid to further boost the children’s confidence, we’ve started asking the Seedings to prepare their own beds for naps. Each child is asked to take a bed and place it on the floor before finding their own sleeping bag using the photo on it to aid identification. The group seem to all enjoy having this responsibility.
Star of The Week:
The whole class – For demonstrating the ability to follow simple instructions so well.
Acorns:
The Acorns have loved learning all about autumn this week.
We’ve really embraced the new season by taking a closer look at all of the leaves that have fallen from the trees into the garden. As they waded through them in their wellies, the children were amused to hear them crunch and crackle underfoot.
The Acorns adored gathering up the leaves in a basket and pouring them back out on to the grass; they continued to repeat this gathering and scattering action for some time.
A crafty hedgehog-themed activity had the youngsters captivated. This saw the Acorns dip their hands in brown paint before printing them on to white card. The children were intrigued to see how the shape their fingers made became the prickles. A practitioner then added the nose and eyes. To finish off their creature creations, the group decorated their collages with leaves they’d foraged while outside. This enhanced fine motor skills as well as hand/eye co-ordination.
In a second mark-making task, the little ones had fun using a brush and water to ‘paint’ the black borders in the garden.
Play-Doh manipulation is something else the Acorns have enjoyed this week. The class maintained concentration as they stretched and rolled out the modelling clay. Not only did this boost fine motor skills, it enhanced the children’s understanding of different textures too.
Star of The Week:
Sebastian – For beginning to use his spoon independently and feeding himself.
Yours sincerely
The team at Broughton