Nursery updates
- We would like to introduce you to our new staff member, Sue, who is usually based at Ashbourne Day Nurseries at Swanbourne. Sue will be spending the next few weeks with us to learn how other Ashbourne settings operate. Sue will be introduced to you over the next week. We hope that you will join us in welcoming her to the team.
- The staff at the setting will be bringing down your child / children’s learning journals for you to look through every other week. We are implementing this to involve you as much as possible in your little ones development at nursery. Any WOW moments caught on camera will also be shown to you on the iPad at collection feedback.
- As we move closer to summer we will soon be implementing our new menu. The new dishes are going down a treat with the children during our taster sessions. Once the menu has been published this will be sent to you directly via email.
- If you have not booked in your parents evening phone call slot yet, please speak to a member of our team during drop off or collection to find out what times we have available.
- Shout out to one of our Toddler room staff members, Tamzin. She has received fantastic reviews this month by multiple parents for her high quality care and approachability. Thank you for your continued hard work Tamzin!
What we've been up to...
Cosy home corners
Our pre-school and toddler room leaders, Tristan and Jake, have been adapting their rooms this month to make the home corners cosier, warmer and more welcoming.
They have both created areas to showcase the work of our budding young artists. Artwork with be framed and displayed for two weeks and rotated to allow every child to proudly display their creations.
Please do continue to send in family photos for use to make the nursery rooms as homely as possible.
Toddlers express themselves
Last week the toddlers were busy getting creative! They all got into ‘puddle suits’ and got stuck in painting.
The children used their whole bodies to create marks all over the paper and used descriptive words to describe the textures.
The children talked about the colours that they chose to use and discussed the different colours that they could make by mixing the paints together.
The children’s masterpiece has been kept and will be made into a banner for the toddler room.
Pyjama Day for Red Nose Day
All our children came in their pyjamas for Red Nose Day. The had lots of fun comparing the colours and patterns of each other’s pyjamas and enjoying a range of craft opportunities.
St. Patrick's Day
On St. Patrick’s Day the children enjoyed reading stories and getting creative.
The learning opportunities on offer helped the children to learn about St Patrick’s Day and the meaning behind the celebration.
The children used their imaginations and fingertips to make rainbows. They also had the opportunity to develop their fine motor skills by using scissors safely under supervision.
Mother's Day bouquets
The toddlers had so much fun creating their own flower bouquets.
The children were able to choose as many flowers as they wanted from a variety of different types.
This promoted free choice and independence and gave the children confidence to choose and create.
The opportunity also sparked conversations amongst the children about who cares for them, why they love them and all the things that they do.
Celery painting Mother's Day cards
The children enjoyed getting creative with celery when making their cards for Mother’s Day!
They used celery to print different marks onto their cards. The children joined in with discussions about Mother’s Day and who they were going to give their cards to.
The children thoroughly enjoyed using the celery to print, talking about the smell and textures. One child said, ‘its bumpy!’. While painting, the children spotted that the bottom of the celery looked like a flower. The children used all parts of the celery and investigated with the different patterns each part makes.
St. David's Day
The children enjoyed painting their own interpretations of daffodils to celebrate St David’s Day.
They had lots of fun discovering the smell and texture of the daffodils as well as painting what they could see.
This learning opportunity helped to develop the children’s understanding of the world by teaching them about the growth and decay of plants.
World Book Day
World Book Day in the toddler room
On World Book Day we provided many different learning opportunities for the toddlers to enjoy all based on their favourite stories.
Two table opportunities were set up for the children to explore, ‘Dear Greenpeace’ and ‘Animal Music’
The aim of the ‘Dear Greenpeace’ opportunity was for the children to understand the use of letters, envelopes, and stamps, posting them through the letterbox and delivering them to others.
The intention of the ‘Animal Music’ table was for the children to explore the different sounds that instruments make and how they can use them.
We also provided a bookmark making opportunity to support the children’s fine motor skills and building strength in their fingers, wrists, and hands.
The children used a range of resources to create their own individual bookmarks.
World Book Day in the pre-school
To celebrate World Book Day in pre-school the children enjoyed listening to ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar’ story while making their very own hungry caterpillars.
The children used scissors under adult supervision to cut the card which helped to develop their fine motor skills.
