Nursery

Welcome to Nursery!

Huge welcome to the nursery class of 2023!

Mrs Hazelwood is the class teacher on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and Mrs Higby is the class teacher on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday! Mrs Stephens and Mr Kane work with the children Monday to Friday!

The children are split into two key worker groups:

Red Group - Mrs Hazelwood/Mrs Higby

Yellow Group - Mrs Stephens

W/B 28th November- This week we are doing work around the story, Dear Santa

These are the key vocabulary words we are using this week:

Christmas, Father Christmas, Christmas tree, Santa, presents

Star of the Week - 25th November

This week our two Stars of the Week are:

Hafsa and Melody! They were chosen for their super tidying up! Well done!

Times of the Nursery Day

08:40 - 08:55 - Welcome, registration and start of the day activities

9:00 - 9:20 - Teacher focus activity in key worker groups

9:20 - 11:20 - Child initiated time (music, forest school and PE session also take place within this time)

11:30 - 11:45 - Phonics and story time in key worker groups

11:55 - Home time

Nursery Rhyme Books, Homework and Reading Books

We encourage all parents to come into nursery when you drop your child off and choose a library book to take home! You can choose a different book every day if you'd like! Just make your way to the foyer area when you bring your child in and the books will be ready for you to choose from!

We want to encourage all children to learn a range of nursery rhymes and to enjoy singing and performing them! We will send home a nursery rhyme book for you to keep at home for your child to keep. Each week we will send home a new nursery rhyme for you to stick in their books. Then they will have their very own nursery rhyme book for you to share as a family!

We will often send home some ideas for ways you can help your child to learn and develop at home. We love to see what they get up to at home so please encourage your child to share with us what they have been doing! They can even bring in photos to help encourage them to talk about what they have been up to!

Nursery journal (21st - 25th November)

This week in nursery we continued doing work around the story We’re Going on a Bear Hunt!

We really enjoyed using musical instruments to make sound effects for the story and enjoyed performing! We were very creative this week and made different scenes from the story! We used scissors to cut and tear paper to make the long wavy grass, we did bubble paintings to create the deep cold river, we used welly boots in mud and brown paint to make the thick oozy mud, and we used leaves and sticks to make the big dark forest! We were so proud of our work our teachers stuck it up for everyone to see! What a busy week!

Nursery journal (14th - 18th November)

This week in nursery we read the story We're Going on a Bear Hunt! We have been collaging bears using brown material to practise our gluing skills, we have explored water, mud and grass and used different words to describe them and we even acted out the story outside! 

Also this week we talked about anti-bullying week and we read some books about sharing. We talked about the different ways we can be kind to each other.

On Friday we raised money for Children in Need by dressing up in spots! We even made spotty iced biscuits!

What a busy week!

Nursery journal (31st October - 4th November)

This week in nursery we have been reading the story, Room on the Broom! We had a go at making our own magic wands by wrapping wool and pipe cleaners around sticks. It was quite tricky at first but we soon got the hang of using our fingers carefully to wrap the wool around! We also made some objects from the story to go on display. We collaged the witch and painted her hat and bow using the appropriate colours. We also explored potions outside and used our fine motor skills to use pipettes as well as tipping and pouring. We talked about which jugs were full and which were empty. 

We had an exciting morning on Thursday when Batman rode his motorbike across the nursery classroom! The boys said he was going to the shops so we quickly grabbed some paper to write a shopping list so Batman wouldn't forget what he needed! Maybe the children could have a go at writing a shopping list at home to help with the weekly family food shopping! Their marks may not look like letters just yet but that's ok! Ask them if they can read their marks to you! These marks are early writing and we encourage all mark making at nursery!

It's been another busy week but we've had so much fun!

Nursery journal (17th - 21st October)

This week in nursery we have continued to do work around the story Owl Babies! We have been practising holding a pen and pencil to colour in owl masks and choosing the appropriate colours. We have also been exploring natural materials such as autumn leaves, pine cones and conkers and using them with playdough.

We also invited our parents and carers to come to forest school with us! We all had so much fun and our parents enjoyed seeing how much we learn in forest school!

Our teachers told us how proud they are of us for settling in so well this half term! We're really enjoying nursery and we can't wait to come back after the holiday, but we definitely deserve a rest!

Nursery journal (10th - 14th October)

This week in nursery we read the story, Owl Babies. We talked about how the young owls would have felt when their mummy owl was late coming back home and we thought about times when we felt scared. We also learnt some collage skills when we created owl collages! We were shown how to use glue spreaders, how to select the right colour material and the different ways we can scrunch, cut, trim and pinch the materials to achieve different effects! We also investigated feathers and experimented with different ways we can make marks with feathers! It's It was also World Mental Health Day this week so we talked about how cooking can be a relaxing activity to do, so we mixed ingredients together and made shortbread! It was delicious! It's been another busy week and we've loved every minute!

Nursery journal (3rd - 7th October)

This week in nursery we have been exploring all the signs of autumn we have seen! We collected leaves outside and talked about how they had changed colours. We took some inside to make our own leaf printing pictures and we even created autumn frames by arranging some of the leaves inside a frame! We used our fine motor skills to make little balls from playdough to stick on the autumn playdough mats and we enjoyed poking, pinching and rolling the playdough! During our Teacher Focus lessons we have been taking it in turns to talk and we've thought about the different ways we can show kindness to our friends! It's been another busy week and we've had so much fun!

Nursery Journal (26th - 30th September)

This week in nursery we have enjoyed exploring our environment! We have had lots of fun playing outside on the bikes and using the tools to fix the house. Inside we have been working together to build tall towers with the blocks, printing with dinosaurs, threading with cotton reels, mark marking with shaving foam and role playing in the house! We also started to make a height chart to record how tall we were when we started nursery! Our teachers told us when we finish Nursery in July we will have grown lots! We are really enjoying coming to nursery and have settled in well, we can't wait to come and play again next week!

Nursery journal (11th - 15th July)

This week in Nursery we have been continuing to talk about all the things that make us unique! We talked about the different countries we have visited and where our families come from. We found some different countries on the map and talked about some of the similarities and differences between them!

We also talked about our hobbies, what we enjoy doing and what we are good at. We practised our scissor skills and cut out pictures to represent the things we like doing. We've come a long way with our scissor skills compared to when we started nursery back in September!

Next week is our final week in Nursery before we move to Reception in September! We can't believe how fast the year has gone! We can't wait to look back at some photos and special memories next week of our time in nursery!

Nursery journal (4th - 8th July)

This week was sports week! We had lots of sporting events and activities planned based around the Commonwealth Games! In forest school we had to go and find little cards that we had to put together to make Perry the mascot! Our parents came to watch us take part in some of our sporting events. We even had boxing lessons from a boxer! We learnt how to make a fist!

On Wednesday we spent the morning in Reception with our new class teachers! Our nursery teachers said they can't believe how grown up we are now! They said they are very proud of how we have grown and developed and we are definitely ready for Reception! What a brilliant week!

Nursery journal (27th June - 1st July)

This week in nursery we prepared for our very first class assembly! We rehearsed our songs, practised our lines and made sure our dance was ready to perform! We had a full dress rehearsal on Thursday so we got to see what is was like performing on the stage with our props and costumes! We felt a little bit nervous but very excited too! On Friday our families, Y1 and Reception were our audience and they watched us perform! Our teachers said we did a brilliant job and were really confident! It was so much fun! We can't wait to do another assembly next year when we are in Reception!

Here are some photos of all our wonderful props that we made!

Nursery journal (6th - 10th June)

This week in nursery we started our minibeasts topic! We read the story Superworm which we really enjoyed! By the end of the week we were able to draw pictures of the characters in the story and retell some parts of the story! In forest school we explored the area and went on a hunt to look for minibeasts! We dug and rummaged to see what we could see! Also this week we started to prepare for our class assembly which is really exciting! Stay tuned to find out more!

Nursery journal (23rd - 27th May)

This week we have been learning all about the Queen's Platinum Jubilee! We found out that she has been our Queen for 70 years! To celebrate we created our own union jack flags using chalk, felt tip pens and collage materials and we also designed our own royal crown! On Friday we joined the rest of the school outside on the playground for a special celebration party! We wore our crowns and waved our flags! We sat on picnic blankets and enjoyed a picnic lunch! The sun was shining, it was such a lovely day! 

We have now got a week off which is good as we definitely deserve a rest after all the hard work we have done this half term! 

Nursery journal (16th - 20th May)

This week in nursery we have continued learning about the jobs that people in the community do. On Monday we had a visit from two police officers! They talked to us about how they keep us safe and then they let us have a look in their van. They played the siren and it was so loud! We even had a turn at holding a shield!

On Wednesday, Jane from the kitchen came and made pizza with us! She told us about her job as the school cook and how she makes all the school dinners for everyone! We had our own pizza bases and we were allowed to add tomato sauce, cheese and a variety of toppings! She then took them back to the kitchen and cooked them for us before we took them home! To thank her, we made her a card and we used collage resources to recreate the pizzas that we made!

It's been another fun and busy week!

Nursery journal (9th - 13th May)

This week in nursery we have been learning about people who help us! We talked about the various jobs that we know of and then prepared some questions for different people who do different jobs. Mr Marlowe and Mr Bryan told us all about their jobs and how they look after the school site and make sure it is safe. We also read a book about police officers and discovered how they help to make sure everyone in the community abides by the law. We then role played working in a police station and pretended to respond to 999 calls! We then role played being fire fighters and cut out paper flames to stick onto the house we built using the large building blocks!

Mrs Stephen also helped us to plant potatoes in the garden! We had to ensure we dug deep enough to cover them completely with soil and then we watered them! 

It's been another brilliant week!

Nursery journal (2nd - 6th May)

This week was a short week in nursery due to the Bank Holiday and local elections! We had an Eid party on Tuesday and were able to wear our party clothes and bring party food! We had lots of fun playing games and dancing with our friends and teachers! 

On Wednesday we helped Mrs Stephens in the garden and we planted onions! We made sure we covered them with enough soil and then watered them. We can't wait to watch them grow! We also discovered some dinosaur footprints in the playground so we set off on an adventure and followed them to see where they went! We didn't find any actual living dinosaurs though, even though we thought we might!

On Friday we used art straws for make dinosaur skeletons! We had to use scissors to cut the art straws to the correct size and then use glue to secure the straws to the card!

It's been another fun week!

Nursery journal (25th - 29th April)

This week in Nursery we have been learning about dinosaurs! On Monday we found dinosaur bones in forest school and discussed how they might have got there. Back in the classroom we enjoyed role-playing with the small world dinosaurs and creating footprints! Then we used watercolour paints to create a background image before printing dinosaurs onto our backgrounds! We then put them on the wall so everyone can see how creative we are!

We are really excited because this weekend is Eid! Our teachers wished us a happy Eid and we're all so excited!

Nursery Journal (4th - 8th April)

This week in Nursery we have continued caring for our chicks! We held them and stroked them and talked about how much they had changed!

On Wednesday we received a letter from Peter Rabbit telling us he had dropped all of his number cards in the playground and asking us if we could help find them. So we searched high and low and found them all! When we got back into nursery a basket of chocolate eggs appeared as a thank you for helping!

On Thursday we made chocolate Easter nests! We melted chocolate and crunched up Shredded Wheat. We mixed the Shredded Wheat with the chocolate and then poured the mixture into cake cases and put a mini egg on top!

On Friday we invited our mums and dads in to watch our Easter bonnet parade! We walked around in a circle outside so everyone could see our amazing hats!

It's been such a busy week! Our teachers told us we definitely deserve a two week holiday!

Nursery journal (28th March - 1st April)

This week we had some very exciting visitors in Nursery! We had some special eggs that we kept warm in an incubator. We watched them and after a couple of days they hatched and we had 8 little fluffy chicks! We found out that the yellow chicks are boys and the brown chicks are girls! On Friday we moved them into a special box called a brooder. This box is much bigger so they have more space to move around! We put some special food in a bowl for them and gave them water to drink! Mrs Hazelwood has taken them home for the weekend to care for them but we can't wait to see how much they've changed when we get back to Nursery on Monday!

Also this week we made salt dough Easter shapes! We then decorated them using paint and cotton buds! Our teachers then helped us put ribbon through the holes so they can be hung up!

Nursery journal (21st - 25th March)

What an exciting week we've had! On Wednesday we visited Ash End House Farm! We got on a coach outside nursery and then travelled on the motorway to get there! When we got there we were allowed to feed the ducks! Their beaks tickled our hands when they ate the food! We then went to see the goats and sheep and we held a bottle of milk for a sheep called Mario to drink! When Mario sucked at the teat it made our hands shake! He drank it all up so we think he enjoyed it! Then we went to see some little fluffy chicks and we held two in a basket and used our finger to stroke them gently. We could hear them chirping as we stroked them! We also saw horses, pigs, cows, rabbits, guinea pigs and chickens and we were even allowed to choose a fresh free range egg to take home! We ate our lunch and then had some time to play on the playground before getting back on the coach to go back to nursery. It was such a busy day but we had so much fun! On Thursday and Friday we enjoyed looking at all the photos from our trip and we talked about our favourite memories of the trip and we painted our favourite animals! Our teachers have told us that next week we are having some special visitors in nursery and apparently they are going to hatch.... I wonder what they could be?!

Nursery journal (14th - 18th March)

This week in nursery we have been busy learning about how to grow plants! We read the story Jasper's Beanstalk and talked about all the ways you care for plants. We then had a go at planting our very own sunflowers! We put soil into a plant pot, pressed a seed into the soil, watered it and then put it by the window to get lots of sunlight! We can't wait to watch our sunflowers grow taller and taller!

We also put some bird feeders in the garden for the birds to eat! We filled special balls with bird food and we poured special food into a feeder! Hopefully the birds will like coming into our nursery garden to have a snack!

This week in maths we had a go at comparing height! We used words such as "taller" and "shorter" and we managed to work as a group to sort ourselves into height order!

Next week is our trip to the farm! We are so excited!

Nursery journal (7th - 11th March)

This week in Nursery we have been getting ready for our farm trip by talking about animals! We read the story Farmer Duck and role played with the farm animals. When we went to forest school we found lots of insects and spent time talking about and observing a worm!

On Thursday and Friday we did some special activities for STEM day! We focused on learning about length and comparing different measures. On Thursday we used string to measure the length of our bodies. We then compared the length of our string to various things in nursery, such as the interactive whiteboard and chairs. We had a go at comparing lengths by using the words "longer" and "shorter".

On Friday our teachers set us a challenge! We had to work in our 3 groups to see who could join art straws together to reach from one side of nursery to the other! Some of the art straws had been cut and were different lengths and we had to sort the art straws in order to find the longest ones. We also had to use scissors to cut sellotape and then use our fine motor skills to wrap the sellotape around two art straws to secure them together! We worked really hard as a team and helped our friends! In the end our teachers decided it was a draw as all 3 constructions were of a similar length! It was such good fun!

Nursery journal (28th February - 4th March)

This week in nursery we read the story Rhino's Don't Eat Pancakes! As it was Shrove Tuesday this week we had a go at making and tasting our own pancakes! We helped measure the ingredients, mixed them together and then went to the nursery kitchen to watch our teacher cook them! We then added our favourite toppings and ate them! Some of us didn't like them but others of us thought they were delicious!

It was also World Book Day this week so we came to nursery on Thursday dressed in costumes! We spent the morning reading and talking about our favourite stories! We then created a giant rhino and painted some pancakes like in the story and made a display! 

What a fun but busy week! 

Nursery journal (14th-18th February)

This week we have been reading and singing The Animal Boogie! We have been putting some actions to the words and performing the story and role playing the story using small animals!

We also had a creative morning and created our own version of the setting from The Animal Boogie! We did bubble painting and finger painting to create the background and then practised our scissor skills to cut out leaves and animals!

It's been such a great half term and we've had so much fun playing and learning but we're definitely ready for a rest! Our teachers said they were really proud of how hard we've been working! We can't wait to come back to nursery after half term!

Nursery journal (7th -11th February 2022)

This week in nursery we have continued reading Handa's Surprise. We used lots of language to talk about the setting and we described some of the animals you may find in Africa, such as a giraffe, zebra and a lion! We talked about the different patterns and colours on a zebra and giraffe and even had a go at creating our own animal print using masking tape and paint!

We looked at the basket that Handa put the fruit in to give to her friend and talked about weaving. We then had a go at weaving using paper! It was really tricky but once we got the hang of it we were able to do it easily! 

It's been another busy week but we've loved every second!

Nursery journal (31st January - 4th February)

This week we read the story Handa's Surprise! We talked about all the delicious fruit that Handa put in the basket to take to Akeyo. We then explored lots of different fruit! We used a knife to chop soft fruit to make a fruit salad! We explored the shapes, patterns and the feel of the skin and flesh! The passion fruit was really fun to look at!

We also continued to explore different ways of mark making with paint. We used sponges to print and used tin foil wands as paint brushes! Our favourite was using art straws and pegs to make marks with!

Emma the Music Lady talked to us about Chinese New Year and we sang some songs and looked at the Chinese dragon!

We can't wait to see what fun we can have next week!

Nursery journal (24th - 28th January 2022)

This week we have continued to read The Three Little Pigs. We have been using sticks to build and talking about how we can make a stick house stronger!

We practised our scissor skills by cutting out bricks and sticking them onto a house template! Scissors are really tricky but we know that if we keep trying then eventually it will be much easier!

Our teachers challenged us to draw everything that we can remember from the story! We remembered that the wolf huffed and puffed and we could talk about the materials used to build the houses!

Nursery Journal (17th-21st January)

This week in nursery we have been reading The Three Little Pigs! We enjoyed listening to the story in forest school and created our own mud drawings of the three pigs!

We acted out the story using puppets as well as straw, sticks and bricks. We even had a go at sequencing pictures from the story!

Our teachers have been setting up some different ways of making marks on paper which has been really fun! We painted with different materials clipped onto pegs, we drew with long sticks with crayons attached and we made squiggles on bags filled with paint using cotton buds!

We've had such a fun week!

Nursery Journal (10th - 14th January)

This week in nursery we have been reading the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears! We had a go at retelling the story and enjoyed using big, deep voices to pretend to be Daddy bear!

We also sequences the pictures from the story!

Our favourite part of the week was making porridge! We measured out the oats and milk/water and watched what happened when we put them in the microwave! We added some jam and tasted it. It was delicious! Now we know why Goldilocks gobbled it all up!

Nursery journal (5th-7th January 2022)

This week in nursery we have been reading the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears! We have been mixing and exploring porridge, retelling the story and singing songs to compare the sizes of the bear's bowls, chairs and beds!

We also explored ice this week as when we came to school on Wednesday our water tray had frozen!

We also enjoyed exploring our new Investigation Station! We used magnifying glasses to see things close up, we used binoculars to see things far away and we used magnets to find which objects in our classroom were magnetic!

We've had a brilliant first week back and we can't wait until next week!

Nursery journal (13th - 17th December)

This week we have been reading lots of Christmas stories and we sang our Christmas song 'When Santa Got Stuck Up the Chimney' in assembly!

We have been developing our fine motor skills by making snowflakes and paper chains! We worked together to make a really long paper chain! We've also made cards and calendars to give to our family.

On Thursday we had a christmas party and even got a Christmas present! We had such a good time! 

Our teachers told us we have worked so hard this term and they are very proud of us. We are proud of ourselves too! We are definitely ready for a two week holiday! 

Nursery journal (6th December - 10th December)

This week in nursery we have been reading the story One Snowy Night! We counted the animals that knocked on Percy's door and practised recognising the number of animals without having to count them! This is a skill we are working hard on!

We also talked about how cold it was for the animals and discussed how birds sometimes find it difficult to find food in the winter when the ground is frozen, so we made bird feeders for them! We used sunflower seeds, cereal, raisins and vegetable fat and then hung them to the trees! We can't wait to check on Monday to see if they have been eaten!

We also had lots of fun decorating our Christmas tree!

Nursery Journal (29th November - 3rd December)

We couldn't believe it when we woke up on Monday morning! It had snowed overnight! We had such a fun morning exploring the snow in forest school!

We continued to read 'We're Going on a Bear Hunt' and sequenced the pictures from the story. We worked with Claire the artist to create all the different scenes from the story. We used our developing scissor skills to create long, wavy grass.

On Thursday it was really cold and we talked about how cold the bear would be in his cave so we decided to build him a house! We looked at a book about houses for inspiration and then designed our own! We made sure we had windows, doors and a roof. We then used the large blocks to build our house and then labelled the various parts! The bear would have loved it!

Nursery journal (22nd - 26th November)

This week in nursery we have been reading the story We're Going on a Bear Hunt! 

We have been mark making and drawing various parts of the story and then telling our teachers what our marks meant! We'll be writing letters before we know it!

We also worked in the construction area to build narrow, gloomy caves like in the story. We worked as a team and listened to each others ideas on how to improve the cave!

Nursery journal (15th - 19th November)

This week was anti-bullying week so we talked about how we can be kind and use kind words. We made a card for our friends and said what we liked about them.

On Friday it was Children in Need so we had lots of fun wearing spots and doing spotty activities! We watched and joined in with a Joe Wicks and Pudsey PE session and we created our own spotty Pudsey hats by finger painting spots on them! Outside we found a ladybird and we loved it because the ladybird had spots! So we decided to find stones and create our own ladybirds! Finally we made spotty playdough by adding various round objects and using our fine motor skills to pick them up and press them into the dough! 

Another busy week, we've had so much fun!

Nursery journal (8th - 12th November)

This week in nursery we have been reading the story, 'Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See?'. The children have enjoyed making and listening to animal sounds during phonics lessons. They created dens for the animals to shelter in when it rained on Friday and followed the paw prints to collect number cards in the correct order. We also did some observational drawings of animals in the story and used playdough to create bears!

On Thursday it was Remembrance Day so we took part in a two minute silence and painted our own poppies.

Nursery journal (1st - 5th November)

This week in nursery we have been reading the story Room on the Broom! We made our own wands using sticks and various ribbons, wool and material. We had to twist the ribbons around the wand and then use sticky tape to secure the ends. We also explored creepy crawlies and eyeballs in the gloop!

We also talked about Bonfire Night and made our own firework pictures using paint and chalk. On Friday we talked about how cold it usually is on Bonfire Night so we tasted hot chocolate! It was delicious!

Nursery journal (18th - 22nd October)

This week in nursery we have been talking about autumn! We were exploring pumpkins and even cut one open to have a look inside! We also talked about Black History month and talked about all the things that make up special and unique. We looked at ourselves in mirrors and had a go at drawing and painting self-portraits! 

Our teachers told us they were very proud of how well we have settled in to life at nursery! We've worked so hard and had so much fun, we are definitely ready for a rest over half term!

Nursery journal (11th - 15th October)

This week in nursery we have been reading the story Owl Babies! We talked about feelings and how the baby owls felt when their mother wasn't there. We also had a go at creating our own owls using a range of collage materials. We talked about the colours and how the different materials felt. We also used finger paint to create owl pictures!

Outside, we worked with a partner to collect sticks. We then glued the sticks onto card to create owls. We also used sponges to print on large paper to create a tree for our owls to sit on. We helped each other gather leaves and our teachers put holes in them so we could practise threading string through them.

It's been a very busy but fun week for us!