“This morning, the sun endures past dawn. I realise that it is August: the summer’s last stand.”

Sara Baume – A Line Made by Walking

Staffing news – Annette will be leaving us soon to pastures new as will Vickie at the end of the month whilst Kianna will leave shortly for university to commence her midwifery course. We wish them all the very best for the future.

Oaks 1

Oaks One have been busy helping transform the garden area as we prepare our new bug area. We hope to have a new big hotel, a snail house and wormery. Focusing on the circular economy we have been reusing, recycling and reducing. The children happily broke down an old wicker play house which will be reused as part of the bug hotel.

It’s been incredibly hot this week and the children have done a fantastic job of keeping cool with various water activities. They’ve also shown how their independence has grown by applying their own suncream and pouring their own drinks.

We read The Lion in the Meadow and asked the children if they remembered the storyline from its first reading the previous week. Luca relayed it beautifully, demonstrating perfect recall.

We spent a lovely afternoon last Friday as Commandos; we painted our faces and took to our course. It was physically demanding for the children but they had great fun weaving in and out, crawling up, over and under obstacles which they had helped to construct, all based upon their interests particularly those involving ‘Gladiators.’

Stars of the Week:

For all those settling into the group; they have all had fantastic visits.

Forest School

We made our way along the winding track and as we arrived at basecamp, elected to stay put for the duration particularly as it was so hot away from the canopy of the leaf laden trees. We welcomed Luca and Peggy and played our ‘sound direction’ game. This is great for the children to take the time and turns to explain where they think certain sounds might be emanating from. We use the getting hotter, getting colder method as a way to search for the exact point and ask the children initially from which direction it came from (in front, behind, to the left, to the right, above, below etc)

Ottie and Theo decided to take their own registers mimicking their teachers. We were all present and correct! Bodhi and Charlie helped with lunch prep, Cindy and Peggy made a feather laden ‘bouquet’ and the remaining team had lots of fun testing their core strength and balance as they climbed and tentatively crossed the natural balance beam.

With a little time left, we all sat beneath the story tent as I read our current favourite, Stone Soup with Rosie remembering that the addition of mushrooms would make all the difference!!

Saplings

This week, the Saplings have been concentrating  on the different foods we eat. As a number of children have restricted diets by necessity due to allergies, we discuss with the children alternatives and how we need to be so careful.

The Saplings cut up vegetables with a safety knife under adult supervision. Alice demonstrated excellent control as she sliced up a pepper using her right hand. She counted the strips as she went along and removed all the seeds.

William peeled a big onion, diligently removing of layers of skin before having a go at cutting it. Once chopped, he seemed fascinated at the vein like patterns and silvery flesh.

In another food-themed activity, the children baked healthy biscuits and cakes incorporating vegetables and fruits and whipped up a meal that accounted for special dietary requirements as we had been discussing. All agreed they were absolutely delicious.

Star Of the Week:

William – For being so brave in cutting up the big onion; he didn’t shed a single tear.

Seedlings

This week the Seedlings celebrated everything messy, notably (and in a departure from the norm) using socks as a mark making tool. They popped them on their hands and delved into lots of brightly coloured paints to explore touch and feel and made some beautiful art. 
The children loved this new way of exploration; Genvieve told us how silly we were, “we wear socks on our feet not our hands” she declared while Ashlynn was happy to get messy any which way.
Since the weather has warmed up this week the children furthered their creativity in the garden, making a tuff tray composing of water, fairy liquid and paint. The children loved making marks through the bubbly mixture and explaining what they saw.

They then turned their attention to the exploration of gloop mixing pink and blue together to make purple. Willow told us she liked this colour while Annabelle was happy to tell us she preferred pink. 

Finally, the children were given child friendly knives and tasked with chopping soft fruits for their snack.

Any skins or pieces which fell by the wayside were gathered and moved to the mud kitchen for further culinary enjoyment.

Star of the week:

Willow for doing so brilliantly during her visits to Saplings.

Acorns

Enjoying getting messy, the children enjoyed some messy play with cars. For this mark-making activity, we used brightly coloured paint to create a rainbow effect. The Acorns enjoyed moving the cars back and forth using a pushing/ pulling motion. This encouraged the youngsters to use gross motor skills as well as keen hand/eye coordination.

The children also took part in a sensory mark-making task involving everyday items and particularly, socks. The Acorns were intrigued by the shades they created as they popped their hands in the socks and swept through the paint mounds, swirling this way and that.

Star Of the Week:

Harvey – For settling well into our Broughton family.

Oaks 2

It’s been another wonderful week rounding things off for Oaks 2 before they transition into Oaks 1.

We’d like to thank all the parents who took the time to send in an object beginning with the letter ‘A’. The children were really keen to share their items with their peers and speak about the different sounds that can be made within the words.

The children participated in some fun new group singing and dancing games this week, which included The Goldfish Song and Tooty Ta. For the former, Oaks 2 had a blast pretending to be fishes, brush their teeth, ride their bikes and wash their hair. Songs with actions are excellent for helping to develop children’s imagination.

Next week marks Zoe’s final week at Broughton Cottage. She would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the parents for their support over the years. It has certainly not gone unnoticed and truly makes the world of difference. Zoe is looking forward to her last week jam-packed with engaging activities.

Star Of the Week:

Dylan – For such excellent behaviour

Until next week …….

Yours sincerely

The Broughton team.