‘Once upon a Christmas Eve,

Just after it had snowed,

The Jolly Postman (him again!)

Came down the jolly road.

And in the bag upon his back

An… interesting load.’

Seedlings and Acorns:

This week we have been getting ready for Christmas and have worked hard to finish off our little gifts for our mummies and daddies.

We started the week making some Christmas tree calendars, which the children decorated with pom-poms and paint. We asked the Seedlings and Acorns to show us what their own trees at home look like.

On Tuesday we had our Christmas party. In preparation for our celebration, we made some biscuits. The youngsters did some brilliant counting, pouring, scooping and mixing.

The children loved moulding salt dough into various festive shapes to make ornaments to proudly display at home. We were able to paint them once they were dry.

The Polar Express was our theme on Thursday and we invited the children to attend nursery wearing their pyjamas. Our day began with a train ticket decorating activity which was so much fun. In the afternoon, the children were presented with a train, one of course borne out of our own resources, cardboard, chairs and (imaginary) safety belts; It’s safe to say Jamie was absolutely delighted at the sight of it. We sat down with some Christmassy tunes playing in the background before the children sipped on warming cups of hot chocolate.

Towards the end of the week, the Seedlings and Acorns made some delicious chocolate bars. They loved decorating them as a surprise for their parents.

Stars Of the Week:

Seedlings: Nellie and Annabel – For transitioning up to Saplings so well. We will miss them both when we return in January.

Acorns: Millie – For treating us to such wonderful singing.

Saplings:

Our Saplings have continued to embrace all things Christmas.

We spent lots of our week singing and dancing to seasonal songs, and also carefully decorated our salt dough ornaments with paint, green, red in fact any the children chose. Practitioners lent a helping hand when it came to applying the glitter. We think they’ll sparkle beautifully when hung on your tree.

While out in the garden, the Saplings have wowed us with their fine motor skills when scooping up baubles into various sized pans. Leo was thrilled when he managed to scoop all the baubles into his pan.

The children loved showing off their dance moves at our Christmas paty where we also played Pass The Parcel. The Saplings impressed the practitioners with their effortful control while waiting for their turn.

We would like to take a moment to wish all our children and parents a very happy Christmas.

Star Of the Week:

James – For always being so kind to others.

Oaks 2:

This week, Oaks 2 have been boosting their physical skills.

Their Sporty Stars activity saw the instructor call out a colour to prompt the children to jump into the hoop in the corresponding shade. Jasper did very well at listening to instructions and happily jumped into the green hoop. Later, he helped a friend to understand a game involving balls and soft toys where the children could only take one object.

All our Oaks 2 children thoroughly enjoyed our Christmas party and danced their socks off.

We spent some time chatting to the children about healthy eating too and got them to demonstrate their cutting techniques when chopping up some fruit to add to the Christmas fayre.

Star Of the Week:

Jasper – For helping his peer during Sporty Stars. Well done.

A special message from Cindy:

‘I would like to thank all our parents for the beautiful compliments they have given to me.

‘I now leave Broughton for my new journey and wish each and every one of you a brilliant Christmas and a happy New Year.’

Oaks 1:

It’s been a busy week writing letters to the elderly at our local care home, we have discussed how we might help those less fortunate than ourselves and spoke of those without family and friends at Christmas time and how we might feel if we were in that situation. The children put their hearts and souls into the task and hope to bring joy to those who’ll receive them. We were so proud of the empathy they showed and the genuine heartfelt messages they sent.

We had a blast at our Christmas party with everyone getting into the spirit and finding Captain Fantastic soooo funny and being perplexed by his clever tricks!

Star Of the Week:

Must be awarded to all our little champions for their forethought this week.

Forest School

The children are really beginning to appreciate the woods and all it offers them in terms of creativity, exploration and discovery! 

They are building every week as a team, realising that ‘teamwork makes the dreamwork’ and working together beautifully.

Alaire needed an extra pair of hands to help transport (very) long trunks to build a den and enlisted Lola, Alice, Daphne and Ela to help; how wonderful to watch these relationships unfold and listen to the conversations unfold as they battle and use all their strength to move the weighty goods from one place to another. Well done, one and all.

Yours sincerely

The Broughton Team.