Summer 2 'At the Seaside/Under the Sea'

  Our last topic this year in Nursery is ‘At the Seaside/Under the Sea’. We will have a mini beach in the classroom with an ice cream parlour! We will be learning facts and reading stories about sea creatures such as sharks, fish and octopus. All our learning activities will be linked to this theme. If your child is starting Reception at St Mary’s school in September they will be involved in transition visits to their next classroom and will have opportunities to meet their new teacher and teaching assistant.

  We will be having our last Family Creative session for Nursery on Tuesday 19^th June. If you haven’t been to one already please take the opportunity to do so. It is a good opportunity to see how your child interacts in the classroom with some structured and free flow activities inside and out. We ask parents to wait in our outdoor classroom so that staff can register the children safely before they come in to join in the activities. All family members are welcome, and you can bring your child in for the session even if they are not normally in that day.

Many thanks,

Mrs Wortley

Summer 1 - Topic and Family Creative Session 10th May

Our new topic in EYFS is ‘In the Garden’ so we are learning about growing and mini-beasts. In Nursery this week each child has planted a sunflower seed to grow at home. Please bring photos in of your growing sunflower! The children have also been painting sunflowers inspired by the Van Gogh Sunflower picture. Next week we are learning about Jack and the Beanstalk. We will be making a giant beanstalk and practising our counting with magic beans. Later on this half term we will be learning about mini- beasts such as The Hungry Caterpillar and The Busy Bee. The children will be able to see butterflies hatching from cocoons and go on mini-beast hunts.

We will be having another Family Creative session this half term as the last one was so popular, on Thursday 10 May, 9.00-10.00am. Put the date in your diaries! You will need to sign up for the event on the sheet in your child’s classroom which will be available from Monday 30 April. We will ask parents to wait in our outdoor classroom so staff are able to register the children safely before they come in to the activities. It is a good opportunity to see how your child interacts in the classroom with some structured and free flow activities inside and out. All family members are welcome, and you can bring your child in for the session even if they are not normally in that day.

Mrs Wortley
Foundation team

Our next topic for Spring 2 in Nursery is Perfect Pets! We want to visit all the animals in school… rabbits, chickens and guinea pigs and we may have a visit from a vet and a dog too!

We will be learning about pets through a range of fact and fiction books. Children will learn how to look after animals and read some stories they may identify with.

Maths will be taught through pet themed activities. We will be learning about 2D shapes, positional language and matching numerals to quantities.

The children will be making cages, kennels, cat baskets and stables out of construction and junk modelling materials.

We would like the children to make pet portraits using paint on canvas, so please can you bring in a photo of your child’s pet for them to paint? If you do not have a pet, please bring in a picture of a pet your child would be interested in for them to paint.

Many thanks,

Mrs Wortley

Foundation Team

Dear Parents/Carers,

  Our next topic after the holidays in Nursery is Space! We will be learning about space through stories such as ‘Aliens Love Underpants’ by Claire Freedman and ‘Alien Tea on Planet Zum Zee’ by Tony Mitton. We will also be looking at space fact books.

  This half term we have started having a phonics lesson every day from the Read Write Inc scheme as part of the school programme. We teach the sound as well as the letter formation, which some children have started applying in writing. We are also encouraging lots of large and small scale mark making and name writing next half term.

  In our daily Maths lessons, we will be practising lots of touch counting and reciting numbers to 10. We will also be practising number formation to 5 using songs and rhymes.

  The children will be making individual rockets using construction materials, and role playing as astronauts using a large rocket the children are helping us to build! We are hoping to have an alien picnic too!

Thank you for your support this term. Have a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year!

Many thanks,

Mrs Wortley

Nursery Team

World Nursery Rhyme Week

A huge thank you to all the parents and carers who were able to support us for our performance to celebrate World Nursery Rhyme Week. The children spent a long time practising the rhymes and were very brave to perform in front of lots of grown ups! We are still adding up the total raised, but the money will be put to good use providing resources for children to use in our outdoor provision.

If you missed it, you will have an opportunity to see your child perform in the EYFS Nativity production which will be on Monday 11th December at 10.15am and 2.15pm. We hope to see you there!

A message to Reception Parents

Reading Books

Over these next few weeks we should be ensuring that you child has a reading book. Books that are handed out may not have words in it. This is to get the children to familiarise themselves with sharing a book and discussing ideas and what they can see. From here, we will ensure that they have books with words, both tricky words that cannot be sounded out, but also with words that match their phonic knowledge (words that they can sound out.)

Please do not worry if your child has not yet got a book. This is because we want to ensure that the children are ready for reading books having a basic understanding of some letters and sounds and at this age, children develop at different stages.

Should you wish to discuss this, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Dates for this half term

17th November - Anti-Bullying Assembly at 2.30

21st November - Nursery Rhyme Performance at 2pm

29th November - Christingle Service at Church 2pm

8th December - Panto trip in afternoon

11th December - Foundation Stage Nativity at 10.15am and 2.15pm

20th December - Christmas Meal at lunch time (if requested)

21st December - Christmas parties during afternoon

22nd December - Christmas Church Service at 2pm

BACK TO SCHOOL ON THE 8th JANUARY

Autumn Two

Topic: Autumn/Light and Dark

This half term in Nursery we have been learning about Autumn and light/dark through fact and fiction books such as Owl babies by Martin Waddell and The Very Helpful Hedgehog by Rosie Wellesley. The children have been listening to and joining in with stories and poems, one-to-one and also in small groups. We have also been enjoying rhyming and rhythmic activities such as learning Nursery Rhymes for Nursery Rhyme Week. Nursery children will also begin to be aware of the way stories are structured through learning the Nativity Story ready for our performance and through our role play area. This will see the first introduction of Talk 4 Writing; a whole school strategy that sees the children internalising texts confidently in order to tell or retell a story. We have begun daily phonics sessions where children practise a few sounds and letter formations each week. In Maths we will be concentrating on reciting numbers to 10, touch counting accurately using 1:1 correspondence and number recognition. 

In Nursery, the children have been involved in a range of activities to enhance their learning in the 7 areas of the EYFS curriculum: Personal, Social and Emotional Development; Communication and Language; Physical Development; Literacy; Maths; Understanding the World; Expressive Arts and Design. The provision in each area of the classroom ties into each one of these areas, supporting your child's holistic development. 

A Change to the People you will see in your classroom

Mrs Wortley - Reception & Nursery Teacher

Mrs Bevington - Reception & Nursery Nurse

Mrs Chapman - Support Assistant

Mrs Kabesh -  Reception & Y1 Teacher (SENCo)

Mrs Powell -  Reception & Y1 Teaching Assistant

Welcome back everyone!

I hope that you have had a lovely holiday and are well rested and ready to start the new school year. I am raring to go so I hope you are too!

How this works...

I will update this page as we go along to bring you information, dates and photographs of the children's learning. I update by putting the most recent at the top BUT always scroll down in case I have added new information or changed the page over.

Happy reading and happy learning!

People you will see in your classroom

Mrs Kabesh -  Reception & Y1 Teacher (SENCo)

Mrs Powell -  Reception & Y1 Teaching Assistant

Mrs Renshaw -  Reception & Nursery Teacher

Mrs Bevington -  Reception & Nursery Nurse

Autumn Term One

RECEPTION & NURSERY

Our topic is called 'Animals and Me!' We will be looking at the animals around us and the patterns that they have. We will be having daily phonics lessons in order to build up a bank of letters and sounds which we can then practice writing out own names and the names of animals. In Maths we will concentrate on counting up to 5 and beyond as well as forming the numbers correctly.

Being the first term, we will get to know the children through play and circle times, allowing their confidence and trust in themselves and others grow. Nursery children will develop an understanding of themselves and others, concentrating on discovering the 5 senses.

MUDDY MONDAY!

We will be taking our learning outside on Monday afternoons (come rain or come shine!) so please can you ensure you bring wellies on this day. You can leave them at school should you wish, but please ensure that they are labelled.

FITNESS FRIDAY

PE kits will be needed for Reception children. Our PE lessons will take place on a Friday afternoon during 'Fitness Friday'. PE kits can be left at school for each half term and then taken home to be washed during the holidays! Please ensure all kits are labelled clearly with names (shorts included please.)