Dear Parents,
Welcome to Arabella who joined our Oaks 2 room this week and is settling in so well. Summative assessment reports have been written and staff will present and discuss them with you during the week. Any questions, please do not hesitate to ask. We are looking forward to seeing our Leavers families at their party next Saturday; we have ordered lovely sunny weather.
Oaks 1
This week Oaks 1 have been preparing for their leavers party by making mortar boards, modelled on Annie’s which she kindly brought in after her graduation. The children gained an understanding of whilst ending their time at nursery, new opportunities and new friends are waiting for them at ‘Big’ school. They are all so excited.
Imogen brought in one of her favourite books (Feeding Babies and Toddlers) which she was so excited to show and share with her friends.
As a result, we decided to make something exotic out of the recipes. The children duly elected banana, apple and chocolate milkshake; this extended their fine motor skills and their independence as they used index finger and thumb to cut the fruits with knives concentrating on making small pieces to ensure a smooth texture once blended.
Theo said he “could taste small bits of the apple skin” causing it to be slightly “crunchy.” To extend their communication and understanding of the world we discussed what their mummies and daddies put in their trolleys with the majority siting fruit and vegetables which led to a discussion about healthy and unhealthy foods and how our milkshake will help our immune system as fruit contains vital vitamins. To further the topic we played our shopping game which was greatly enjoyed by all.
We started our mornings with a yoga session. After every yoga pose the children counted backwards from 20 thus supporting their mental arithmetic.
As the weather grew warmer, we spent longer periods outdoors enjoying water play to cool us down. Marnie and Charlotte ducked and weaved as the children doused them in water! We created a car washing station, complete with homemade signs such as a one-way system, created to drive efficiency. All children played together beautifully as Danny said “team work makes a dream work” and the children did show their amazing team work skills! All children have joined in, some cleaning their cars while others brought the bikes into the car washing area, extending their pretend play.
We have also enjoyed our mud kitchen cooking challenge. All the children have used fresh grown herbs such as : mint, rosemary and fennel and created some delicious sensory cakes. Theo E used a spoon to crush the fresh leaves in order to heighten the smell and then proceeded to mix them with water. Ottie made her own special soup concoction using mint leaves, water and sand. The children used measuring cups to ‘weigh’ out their ingredients and gained some crucial mathematical skills. We had lots of fun cooking, but we have also used our problem-solving skills, worked together and used our amazing communication skills as we described our incredible meals to our friends.
Messages
Could we please ask that all children have sun cream applied before coming into the nursery- to ensure sun and UV protection from early morning. We will of course continue to apply the cream throughout the day.
Star of the week: Imogen who showed her most amazing social skills, as she encouraged all her peers to join in with her activity, and helped us make the most delicious milkshakes. Also, for settling right back into Oaks 1.
Oaks 2
The Oaks 2 group have been exploring shapes in their immediate and extended environment; we took a walk to further their understanding of the world and spotted different shapes along the way. One child said that the letter box “looks like a rectangle” and a bin “was a circle” whilst another said “the fence has got squares on it”. By researching in this way, the children’s knowledge of maths, particularly shapes, spaces and measurements is enhanced. The children used their technology skills by photographing all the shapes they found en route. The children followed this up with Lego painting and mark making using wooden blocks which testing their language of size such as ” that is a big block” ” I have little circle” pointing to the marks that they made.
The children have a keen interest in robots and are fascinated to learn just how they operate so they set about creating their own using junk modelling (currently a work in progress). Initially they drew their own versions then worked as a team using critical thinking skills as they pooled their ideas.
The children enjoyed making up their own game of musical robots incorporating lots of robotic movements; we’re sure if you ask them they will show you how to move like one.
Fantastic turn taking was displayed by all. We shall develop this idea further by watching a short clip and discussing just what their role is.
Star of the week: Is Rafe for talking in full sentences and understanding basic instructions.
Saplings
Some of the Saplings have been visiting the seaside over the summer with mummies/daddies/grandparents/pets. Therefore we decided it would be fun for the children to explore sea sides in more depth as we felt this was something many of our children were greatly interested in.
The Saplings have had a lovely time, creating their own seaside themed tuff tray. Instead of sand the children opted for other forms of medium, notably, rice. We used blue coloured rice to represent the sea and yellow rice to represent sand. The activity was further enhanced with the addition of a few small world sea creatures. Discussions continued about the kind of objects you might expect to find at the seaside and whose habitat it might be. Oscar said “A big whale in the sea”, this was a great opportunity to not only develop the children’s imagination but also their wider understanding of the world.
Following on from this, we put on sea animal soundtracks for the children to listen and guess the corresponding sea animal. Many of the children guessed really well, focusing their attention on the activity and learning more about the subject.
The children then decorated their own pictures of sandcastles, cutting and sticking adding shells, flags and various other objects that they thought they would find there. The children carefully cut around their items, using concentration and precision. This was a great opportunity to further enhance the children’s fine motor skills and physical development.
Messages
If any parents would like to send in any photos from your trips seaside over the summer period we would love to see them and share them with our friends in the Saplings room.
Star of the week: Flynn for settling into his new room and gaining confidence and focus going up and down the stairs, great job! 
Seedlings
This week in Seedlings we have continued to explore and note different textures. The children have made sensory books and herb bags which has been enjoyed by all.
Outdoors, the children have loved playing with water using various vessels to fill and empty helping to develop both hand-eye co-ordination and their fine motor skills. We have also used this opportunity to count just how long it takes for the water to empty out but as this is their favourite pastime, the numbers reached were low!
Some of our older children have shown a growing interest in puzzles and have been able to complete the 9-piece puzzles helping to extend their concentration, develop their fine motor skills and encourage their pincer grip.
Star of the week: Is Arabella for helping to tidy away the toys during tidy up times.
Acorns
This week the Acorns have continued their summer theme; expressing ourselves using sand and other textured materials to depict our interpretations of a beach where many have visited recently. The process focussed on the Palmer grasp and helped strengthen hand-eye co-ordination.
Alfie loved taking handfuls of sand and watch as droplets formed when combined with sticky glue. Their magnificent art work continued as they gladly tore tissue paper, scrunched it, dipped it and delighted as they placed it upon the ‘canvas’.
Raul paid particular attention and devoted considerable time to his. We introduced a variety of coloured sands with the children expressing a preference for the bright green sand, enjoying using moulds to add interest and contrast furthering their understanding as practitioners introduced new language.
Outdoors saw the Acorns involved in a spot of car washing using cloths and sponges; not minding get rather wet in the process.
In our small world tuff tray, we have been exploring our dinosaurs adding natural plants and grasses to the scene which we sourced from the garden. We also checked on our flower pots to make sure our produce is growing, nurturing the children’s understanding of how things change and grow or diminish over time.
Star of the week: Parker for becoming more settled and growing in confidence in physical play.
Have a lovely weekend.
The Broughton Team