Dear Parents,

As we welcome Zachary to Acorns we send a fond farewell to Jamie and Reeve as they leave to start their new adventures at school; good luck to all who have now started their reception year.

We have decided to revert to paper medicine form completion from Monday and will no longer use Babysdays for this form of communication and record keeping; this will mean parents will not need to sign digitally going forward.

Also, effective Monday, please drop and collect Seedling children to/from the front door and not the baby room door to avoid disturbance to our very youngest children. Thank you in advance for your co-operation.

Oaks 1:

We created a new post office role play area for Oaks 1 to enjoy this week as a response to discussions within the room. The children demonstrated excellent team-working skills as they made and painted a bright red post box.

To strengthen the children’s writing skills, we spent time identifying the different letters of the alphabet – looking closely at the ones that can be found in our names. Oaks 1 then carefully copied them on cards to post.

Additionally, the group worked on fine motor skills as they cut tape and paper to wrap cardboard parcels. The new role play area has come in very handy for practicing numerical skills too, with the children tasked with weighing parcels on a scale. They then analysed which ones were heavy and which were light.

Number recognition has also been a focus this week, and the class wowed us while matching digits on the whiteboard with quantities on the abacus.

After Nova suggested that we make flying birds, we decided to draw and decorate our own carrier pigeons for our homemade post office. Everyone concentrated well while copying pictures of birds. Pipe cleaners were artfully added to the sketches to replicate features.

When Danny proved to have a keen interest in superheroes, we thought Oaks 1 would enjoy putting paint to paper and dreaming up their own crusaders.

Turn-taking is something else we’ve worked on this week and was a feature of many small group activities. In our shopping trolley game, the children had to match items on their lists to pictures of corresponding produce. James MT, Theo, James F, George and Imogen all played particularly well together. They shared and took turns brilliantly, even when the adults stepped back to observe.

Star of The Week:

Thomas – For writing his name without any help. 

Well done!

Oaks 2:

Oaks 2 continued their All About Me theme this week, and during circle times, we talked about the children’s families, friends and pets. Sophia told everyone that she has two dogs.

We also looked at our emotion pillows, discussing our golden rules and how certain scenarios might make the children feel. We asked questions such as, “How would you feel if a friend took a toy from you?”, and “How would you feel if you had a big cuddle from your friends?”. Some children were able to answer these questions – proving they’re able to think about emotions on a deeper level while understanding that it’s always important to consider the feelings of others.

Oaks 2 enjoyed making faces with different expressions using cereal too. We did this at the start of the day to ascertain how everyone felt about coming into nursery and their new room.

While teaching the group about the anatomy, a practitioner asked a child to lie down on paper so they could be drawn around. Oaks 2 were then tasked with sticking images on to different parts of the body. The children were rewarded with stickers and were all very proud of themselves.

We’ve also started to make magnifying glasses decorated with pens, glitter and stickers for our All About Me display. A picture of each child was then attached by a member of staff. This made the children feel happy and secure in our room!

Star of The Week:

Felix – For having brilliant manners and for being more positive about his new room!

Saplings:

The Saplings have had an excellent week and have all done a fantastic job of adapting to their new routine.

The children were very keen to explore and participate in a whole host of activities. Some of the group enjoyed exercising their independence by giving out spoons and bowls during mealtimes. Malia truly relishes having this responsibility.

Since all of the children are new to the room, we took the opportunity to work on our All About Me topic. The class loved seeing their own photos on the welcome board and were excited to point out their new friends, successfully identifying them by name too.

Messy foam play went down very well with the Saplings this week. The children giggled and squealed with delight as they squished the cloud-like foam between their palms.

We introduced the concept of shape, space and measure too, by asking the children to attempt to draw oval shapes with their fingers to represent faces. Freddie made us proud when he said ‘circle’ for the first time. This activity was not only excellent for aiding mathematic development – it strengthened physical development too as the children were required to use their fingers as a mark-making tool.

Following on from this, the Saplings got arty decorating biscuits with various toppings. We asked them to create a self-portrait and it was wonderful to see them assert their independence when choosing which ingredients to use. The Saplings gladly tucked into their biscuits at snack time enjoying the fruits of their labour.

Star of The Week:

Freddie – For settling in so well and getting involved in our activities.

Seedlings:

Seedlings have spent the week exploring different animals after they showed an interest in a variety of stories covering ground and aquatic animals and delving into our small world mammal collection.

We tested the children’s pincer grips in an activity that saw the class create a lion’s mane by delicately using finger and thumb to attach colourful paper strips in an attempt to replicate fur.

The Seedlings also crafted stained glass window sea creatures, inspired by Marcus Pfister’s book The Rainbow Fish. A fish template was mounted onto sticky back plastic whilst the children added their own flurry of multi-coloured sequins and glitter to achieve a sparkly effect. The group love seeing these glisten as the sun’s rays flood the nursery windows.

We’ve taken full advantage of the lovely weather by enjoying our garden. We filled up and emptied plant pots and different sized bottles into our water tray – an activity that kept the Seedlings cool. The children also practised their balancing, climbing, jumping and rolling skills by exploring our outdoor soft play.

Alfie and Theo retained concentration during song and story time when asked, often selected animal ‘touch and feel’ books.

Star of The Week:

Theo – For being so kind and caring towards his friends.

Acorns:

We’d like to wish a warm hello to Zachary who has joined Acorns. We’re so pleased with how quickly he’s settled in and hope he and his family enjoy their time at Broughton Cottage.

All Around Me has remained the focus of the group this week. And as our nursery is located in such a beautiful setting, we took a closer look at the farm next door to us. The children love spotting the horses in the field and were thrilled when a friendly robin visited as they played in the forest section of our garden.

We decided to create an outdoor small world farm set-up, using various types of cereal to help the children discover different textures, tastes and sounds. This activity furthered the Acorns’ social skills as they were required to play alongside one another around the table. By hearing the staff and their peers make animal sounds, it also boosted the children’s speech and language development.

The Acorns really loved making their own gloop. Using their hands and wooden spoons to stir cornflour and water together, the youngsters had so much fun making marks in the sticky solution.

As an extension of sensory play, we attached sheets and balloons to the ceiling of our classroom. This helped the children hone their pointing skills. Oscar cleverly worked out that he’d be able to touch the balloons if he climbed up the slide. We were so impressed by his creative thinking and determination. We also treated the children to a stimulating visual display, reflecting different lights on the walls and ceiling.

To embrace the sunny September weather, we of course made time for plenty of fresh air. An outdoor play highlight for all Acorns was exploring magnetic sand and scented water.

Star of The Week:

Jamie – He’s wowed everyone with how well he’s adapted to nursery life. It’s wonderful to see him feel confident and comfortable among peers.

Messages:

Please may parents supply photos that we can add to our family tree wall. It’ll help the children develop a sense of belonging as they settle into the room.   

We hope you all have a fantastic weekend.

Yours sincerely

The Team at Broughton