Nursery Newsletter 13.11.26

Look at our busy week in nursery this week...

We rolled out a lovely big sheet of paper on the floor and let the children get creative! They loved having so much space to draw, making big sweeping movements with their arms and filling the paper with their wonderful marks and pictures. It was a great opportunity to explore their creativity, experiment with different lines and shapes, and develop their early mark-making skills. There was plenty of room for everyone to join in, share ideas and see where their imaginations took them!

The colder weather has brought lots of exciting things for us to explore! This week, the children discovered that the water in our garden had frozen into sheets of ice. They were fascinated by the changes and loved picking up the ice, feeling how cold and hard it was, and breaking it into smaller pieces. There was lots of curiosity as they explored the different textures and watched the ice crack and crumble. A wonderful little bit of hands-on science, exploring how water changes when the temperature drops!

The children have been getting creative making their own beautiful Rangoli patterns! Using colourful sequins and pipe cleaners, they enjoyed arranging, twisting and moving the materials to create their own unique designs. There was lots of lovely experimenting with colours, shapes and patterns, with the children carefully choosing where to place each piece. As well as exploring their creativity, they were developing their fine motor skills, hand-eye coordination and early mathematical understanding as they noticed patterns, shapes and colours.

Our mud kitchen has been a very busy place this week! The children have loved getting stuck in, mixing mud, bark and water to create their very own special soups and potions. There was lots of scooping, pouring, stirring and experimenting as they decided what ingredients to add next. We had some wonderful imaginative creations, with the children using their own ideas and getting wonderfully messy along the way! Mud kitchen play is fantastic for developing creativity, language, teamwork and early mathematical skills as the children explore quantities, textures and mixtures.

We have been practising our independence this week, and the children are becoming such little helpers! From putting on their own coats and getting dressed up in our role-play clothes, to pouring their own milk at snack time and having a go at peeling their fruit. There is so much pride in doing things for ourselves! These everyday little moments are really important for building confidence, developing coordination and learning valuable self-care skills. We love seeing the children becoming more independent and saying, "I can do it myself!"

The children have been busy little builders outside this week! They enjoyed using the crates to build their very own houses and structures, working together to move, stack and arrange the crates until they were happy with their creations. There was lots of teamwork, problem-solving and sharing of ideas. The tyres also proved very popular, with the children carefully rolling them around and thinking about how to control where they went. All this outdoor construction is fantastic for developing physical strength, coordination, spatial awareness and confidence. We love seeing what they come up with when they put their heads together!

In PE this week, we had lots of fun dancing and moving to music! We used colourful ribbons to swish, swirl and create different shapes and patterns in the air. The children explored making big movements, stretching their arms high, swooping down low and moving their ribbons in all sorts of directions. These lovely, energetic movements help to strengthen our shoulder and arm muscles, building the foundations we need for developing good control when writing. Who knew getting our dance moves on could be such good exercise for our writing skills too!

The children had a brilliant idea this week – to see just how long they could make their train track! They worked together to collect the pieces and decided to move their construction to a different area of the room so they could spread the track out even further. There was lots of joining, rearranging and problem-solving as they worked out how to connect the pieces and keep their track going. The children were fascinated to see how far they could make it stretch! This kind of play is wonderful for developing teamwork, communication, spatial awareness and early mathematical thinking. We wonder just how long their track will get next time

The children have been enjoying getting creative outdoors with paint rollers and brushes! They loved experimenting with different ways to spread the paint, making big sweeping strokes and exploring the marks they could create. Using the larger rollers encouraged lots of lovely, big arm movements, helping to build shoulder and arm strength. These movements are really important for developing the physical control needed for early writing. It's been lovely seeing the children experimenting, expressing their ideas and getting creative on a much bigger scale!

The rainy weather hasn't stopped our outdoor adventures! The children have been popping on their puddle suits and wellies and heading outside to enjoy the wonderful opportunities that wet weather brings. From splashing in puddles to exploring the changes in our outdoor environment, there's always something exciting to discover, whatever the weather! 

A little reminder for parents: Please make sure your child has a named puddle suit and pair of wellies in school so we're ready for all our outdoor adventures. It would also be really helpful if children have coats and shoes that they can practise putting on and taking off themselves, to the best of their ability. This is a lovely way to encourage independence and build confidence with everyday self-care skills. Thank you! 

 

Reception Learning W.C - 9.11.26

 

Year Reception: What We Are Learning 

Reception have been working really hard this week. Our focus book was The Little Hen and the Great War.

Here is what we have been up to: the children painted poppies to remember all of the soldiers who sacrificed their lives during war. They also painted their hands red and from their hand prints made their own poppy wreaths to display. We looked inside a ‘soldiers bag’ and saw what items they needed including  a tin of food, a water bottle, a pen to write home and a blanket. We also participated in a 2 minute silence. 

The children have also been working hard in Read, Write, Inc this week. The children have all been assessed and are now working in groups based on this.  In Literacy, we learned CVC words about Remembrance day and found the sounds we needed to write them. Our words included - 

red - the red poppy

mud- soldiers walked through mud

dug - dug a trench

hut - a place to rest

tin - a tin of food

bag - a soldier's bag 

hat - a soldier's helmet

pen - write a message of thanks

den - a safe hiding place

dog- used to perform vital, dangerous roles across the battlefields

tank - An army tank is a very big, strong military vehicle built like a moving shield to protect soldiers

In Maths this week the children have been working hard on counting to 5: This is when children learn to count forwards from 1 to 5 in the correct order, recognising and saying each number. We have learned the order and position of numbers for example, knowing that 1 comes before 2 and 3 comes after 2. We have also learnt that the last number counted tells us how many objects there are altogether. For example, counting five blocks and knowing there are 5 blocks in total.

Children in Need

On Friday it was Children in Need Day. Children in Need Day is a special day when people come together to help children who might need a little extra support. We learnt about what the day is about, coloured, danced and created. 

🌟 Junk Modelling – We Need Your Help! 🌟

We would love your help with our junk modelling activities in Reception! We are asking children to bring in any clean, safe recyclable materials from home so that we can use them to create some exciting models and imaginative creations.

Some ideas of things you could bring in include:

📦 Empty cereal boxes and cardboard boxes

🧻 Kitchen roll and toilet roll tubes

🥛 Clean plastic bottles and cartons

🥚 Egg boxes

🧃 Clean yoghurt pots

📦 Small cardboard packaging

🎄 Reception Christmas Performance – Save the Date! 🎄

We are very excited to announce that our Reception Christmas Performance will take place on Tuesday 8th December!

There will be two performances on the day:

🎅 Morning performance: 9:15am

🎄 Afternoon performance: 2:00pm

Each child will receive 2 tickets for their family to attend.

The children will be looking very festive in their Christmas jumpers, and each child will also have a special Christmas headband, which will be made at school.

Our Learning Next Week – 🍂

Next week in Reception, we will be learning all about Autumn in our Topic lessons. We will be looking at the changes that happen during this season, such as the leaves changing colour and falling from the trees, the weather becoming cooler and the different signs of autumn we can spot around us.

In Maths, we will be learning about comparing numbers. This means looking at groups of objects and deciding which group has more, fewer or the same amount. We will also be practising counting carefully and recognising numbers.

How can you help at home?

• Go on an autumn walk and look for different coloured leaves, conkers, acorns and signs of the changing season.

• Practise counting everyday objects, such as toys, pieces of fruit or steps.

• Compare groups of objects by asking, "Which group has more?", "Which has fewer?" or "Do they have the same amount?"

• Encourage your child to use the words more, fewer, less and equal.

Reading and Phonics 📚

Please remember that children should be reading at home 5 times a week. Little and often makes a big difference to their confidence, fluency and enjoyment of reading.

Well done Reception for an amazing week - keep up all your brilliant work!

Nursery Newsletter - 06.11.26

 Please see vbelow for a potty training workshop, hosted but Havering Child Centre. 

Our Autumn Adventure! 

We wrapped up warm and headed out on an autumn walk around our school grounds to see what changes we could spot in the environment. The children became little explorers, looking closely at the trees, noticing the beautiful autumn colours and discovering how the world around us is changing as the seasons move on.

There was lots of excitement as the children collected interesting autumn treasures along the way, including leaves, sticks and other natural objects. We brought our treasures back to nursery to create our very own Autumn Explore Table, giving the children the opportunity to investigate their finds, look closely at different textures, compare colours, sort objects and share their discoveries with friends. 

These experiences encourage children to develop their curiosity about the natural world, build their observation skills and use new vocabulary as they describe what they can see, feel and discover. It's also a lovely way to develop early scientific thinking as they begin to notice similarities, differences and changes in their environment.

Our sand pit is looking a little emptier than usual as we're waiting for our next delivery of fresh sand next week! But that didn't stop the children from wanting to get stuck in. They were keen to explore what was left, scraping the sand together, scooping it up and investigating its lovely damp texture.

The children really enjoyed feeling the wet sand between their fingers and noticing how it moved and changed as they played. They experimented with scraping, gathering and moving the sand around, developing their fine motor skills, hand strength and coordination.

It's lovely to see how children can find so much enjoyment in exploring everyday materials, using their curiosity and imagination to make the most of the resources around them. Sometimes the simplest play leads to the richest learning!

We've been busy exploring shapes in our maths area, using the tangrams to investigate different shapes and how they fit together. The children enjoyed naming, sorting and matching the shapes, noticing their similarities and differences.

As they played, they were developing their mathematical language, recognising shape properties and thinking carefully about how different pieces could fit together. These activities also encourage problem-solving, spatial awareness and early mathematical thinking.

We've been working on developing our shoulder and wrist pivots through some fun physical activities. The children practised rolling balls up and down the wall, thinking carefully about how they moved their arms and controlled the ball. We also had lots of fun throwing beanbags into hoops, practising our aim and seeing how close we could get!

These activities help children develop their upper body strength, hand-eye coordination and control of their movements. They're also learning to judge distance, adjust their movements and persevere when something doesn't quite go to plan.

Lots of concentration, determination and, of course, plenty of fun!

Reception Learning - W.C 2.11.26

 
Reception: What We Are Learning 

Reception have been working really hard this week. Our focus book was Rama and Sita.

Here is what we have been up to: The children learnt all about the Hindu Festival of Light: Diwali. We read the story of Rama and Sita, made beautiful diya lamps, danced to Hindu music, looked at traditional objects used in a household throughout Diwali and made Rangoli patterns. 

The children have also been working hard in Read, Write, Inc his week. The children have all been assessed and are now working in groups based on this. In Literacy, The children have worked hard to write the initial sounds that they can hear in words. We talked about what sounds fireworks make such as pop, bang and zip. The children worked hard to write sounds they could hear in each word. Please continue to read 5 times a week with your children and work on Set 1 sounds as well as word time words (1.1, 1.2, 1.3 etc).

In Maths this week the children learned to compare 2 sets of objects and say which is ‘more than’ or ‘fewer than’. ‘More than’ means a larger amount of objects or a bigger number, while ‘less than’ means a smaller amount or a lower number. We showed this through making two different groups and showing different numbers on our fingers.

Next week, in Topic, we will be learning about Remembrance Day. We will be talking about why we remember those who fought in the wars and learning a little about the history of this important day. We will also be getting creative by making our own handprint poppy wreaths.

In Maths, we will be focusing on counting objects, actions and sounds, making sure we count each one only once. You can support your child at home by finding opportunities to practise counting together. For example, count toys as you put them away, steps as you walk upstairs, claps, jumps or taps. Encourage your child to touch or move each object as they count, helping them to understand that each item should only be counted once.

As always, please continue to practise forming numbers and letters correctly, as well as writing their own names independently. Little and often is best, and practising through everyday activities can make learning fun!

Thank you for your continued support!

Well done Reception for an amazing week - keep up all your brilliant work! 

Reception Learning W.C 19.10.26

Reception learning

Our focus book was Room on the Broom:

Here is what we have been up to:

The children have also been working hard in Read, Write, Inc this week. They revisited the first 16 sounds from Set 1 to reinforce their phonics knowledge. Please continue to read with your children and work on these sounds with them everyday. 

In Topic, we have been reading the story Room on the Broom.  We played Guess who and the children were able to guess what costume their teachers were describing from the clues. They danced to Ghostbusters and moved like the different characters. The children also made fairy wands using a rang of materials including sticks and leaves.

In Maths this week the children have been learning to compose numbers to 4 which means understanding that numbers can be made up of different combinations of smaller numbers. Children explored how 4 can be made in different ways, such as 3 and 1, 2 and 2, or 1 and 1 and 2. Through practical activities, using objects, fingers and pictures, children begin to recognise that the total stays the same even when the parts change. This helps to develop their number sense, counting skills and early addition skills, building a strong foundation for future maths learning.

Our next topic after half term will be Celebrations! 🎉 We will be exploring a range of celebrations, including Diwali, Guy Fawkes Night, birthdays and Christmas.

Over the half term break, please continue to practise reading every day, including 1.1–1.8 word blending, as well as other basic skills such as writing their name, writing numbers to 9 and forming lowercase letters correctly.

Thank you for your continued support. Have a lovely half term, enjoy a well-deserved rest, and we look forward to seeing you all soon! 😊