Nursery Spring Term

Firstly, a warm welcome back to all of our Nursery Children and their families. We are looking forward to another exciting term full of fun, laughter and lots of learning opportunities. We will be building on everything that they have learned so far and continuing to develop their skills in all 7 areas of the curriculum.

These are

· Personal, Social and Emotional Development

· Communication and Language

· Physical Development

· Literacy

· Numeracy

· Understanding the World

· Expressive Art and Design

New Starters

We would also like to welcome all of our new starters and their families who are starting their Dunalley journey with us. It’s been such a joy getting to know your children and watching them become familiar with their new environment. Both Vicky and I (Rachel) are incredibly proud of how well each and every child has settled into Nursery life—they’ve shown such confidence, curiosity, and kindness already. We are looking forward to getting to know your children and their interests throughout their time with us and helping them to grow and develop through their learning and play.

As mentioned on Tapestry, there are a few items we’d like you to bring in for your child to keep at Nursery. Here’s a quick reminder:

· Slippers

· Wellies and waterproofs

· A change of clothes bag – including spare clothes, underwear (for potty training), nappies, wet wipes, barrier cream, and nappy sacks. We’ll send the bag home or request items if anything needs replenishing. Please ensure all clothing and belongings are clearly labelled.

Thank you to those who have already brought these items in—your support is much appreciated.

Termly News

During the spring term, we will be continuing to work on our listening skills and introducing them to our new starters particularly emphasising them during group time activities. These are shown to the children by widgets and are displayed in the classroom for all the children to become familiar with.

Independence is another important skill for your children to master and is a big part of their development and will help them to be ready for the next stage of their journey, which is why we will be concentrating on it this term. This will include putting toys and resources away once they have finished playing with them or using them, helping each other to tidy up the classroom after playtime (team work and kindness) and being able to put on and take off their own footwear and coats. Please encourage independence at home as much as possible.

Our Focus books this term are

· Dear Zoo

· The Very Busy spider

· Tickle, Tickle

· 5 little Ducks

· The Colourful Day

We will also have a weekly rhyme that you will be able to share with your children in their activity books which are sent home in their book bags.

Please can we ask that, when sharing the book your child brings home from the Nursery that you record it on the back of their activity book, so that we know how to change the book with your child during the next session.

We are hoping to invite parents/ carers in for a Stay and Play session during the term to show you your children’s story telling of the ‘Dear Zoo’ Book through words and actions. We hope you will be able to join us and that you will be able to stay and have time with your child playing and exploring their favourite activities in their Nursery setting.

A Day in the life of our Nursery Children

AM Session (9am-12 noon)

9am - Nursery Session Starts (Doors open)

- Greeting, Register, counting our friends.

- Rhyme of the Week (and other rhymes)

- Explaining and introducing any new provision or activities

9.10am – Play time (Continuous provision) and 1:1 activities

10.10am – Tidy up Time

10.15am – Story Time

10.20am – Snack time (social snack in classroom)

10.30am – Free flow (inside or outside play)

11.20am – Tidy up time

11.25am – Group activity for example, playdough, dough disco, funky finger activities such as peg boards.

11.45am – Story time (variety of books) / Speaking and listening activity

11.50am – Washing hands and morning children getting ready to go home.

11.55am – Lining up for Lunch Time

PM Session (12 Noon – 3pm)

12noon- 12.30pm – Lunch time and time in the Preschool classroom.

12.30pm – Back to the nursery classroom

- Afternoon register and Rhyme of the week

12.35pm – Rest time for those that want/choose to. (calming music/story/sleep mats available/blinds down/lights off)

- Quiet or outside play for those who choose not to rest.

1.30/2pm (or before if all the children are up and about) – Blinds up and sleep mats away.

- Inside/Outside play, nature walk/dancing or movement.

2.20pm – Tidy up time/ Back to classroom

2.25pm – Story time (Book of the week)

2.30pm – Snack time (social snack)

2.45pm – Getting ready for Home time.

2.55pm – Goodbye song

3pm – Home time

Note – On Tuesday Morning at 10am and on Wednesday afternoon at 2.15pm we have Hall time when we do a wide variety of physical activities such as parachute games, balancing and climbing equipment, movement and ball skills.

We hope this information is useful and gives you an insight into your child’s day at Dunalley Nursery.

To finish, we would just like to say that we are really looking forward to this term — continuing to work in partnership with you and, most importantly, supporting your children as they continue their Nursery Journey learning and growing in our setting.

Warm regards,

Rachel (Nursery Room Lead) & Vicky (Early Years Practitioner)