Newsletter October 2024
We break up on Friday 25th October for half term, so we hope you have a lovely week and will see you back on Monday 4th November for term 2.
Reminders;
Primary school applications open Friday 1st November
If your child is sick the best place for them is at home, it also prevents staff from becoming ill and not having a nursery to open. If they are sick or have diarrhoea, its 48 hrs from the last episode before they can return yo nursery.
Please encourage your child to wash hands on entering nursery.
Water only in bottles please, we are not allowed to provide juice.
Please make sure your child wears soft shoes and are easy to put on and off at nursery as this aids climbing and running skills.
Please use the nursery phone to let us know if your child will be absent - 07979092993
We do have an emergency 9 am drop off (£3) if you are in need of support, but it is by prior arrangement as we need to keep numbers to a minimum, and only provide 4 spaces.
We have a lunch club till 1pm if you need a little more time - bring their own packed lunch- £3- and pay on the day.
As Halloween is during half term, children can come dressed up for Halloween on Monday 4th and Tuesday 5th, and if you would like to donate £1 for this, we will put it towards buying Christmas craft for the children.
Our theme for term 4 will be shapes. Again, it’s a topic to help bring all the 7 areas of learning together in a fun way and that helps you at home to work with us. Shapes is a solid foundation for future learning.
Ideas for home.
Communication and language- use new words such as crescent, cube, 2D, 3D, curves and edges. Look at shapes in the environment and how we use them in construction. Would wheels work if they were a different shape?
Personal social and emotional-talk about size and shape in a meaningful way to children, how we grow and can reach different things, shape of a door etc play shape snap or shape lotto.
Physical development- make shapes with their hands or whole body for gross motor skills and draw around shapes, cut out shapes for fine motor skills.
Literacy-books about shapes, sing and make up shape songs. Trace shapes, use sand trays and mark make with fingers or brushes, and look at how shapes can go on to make letters e.g. 0 can be an a or b.- zigzags can make triangles.
Maths- weigh shapes, group different shapes in size or colour. Make pizzas (real or craft) with shaped toppings, divide it and put it back together, talk about whole, half, quarters. You could organise shape blocks in columns and see which has the most, while teaching children the first form of graphs and recording information.
Understanding the world- look at shapes in buildings and how we need them to construct things. Go on a shape hunt. Look at shapes of food.
Expressive arts and design-make shape collages, sponge painting or shapes blocks for painting. Create pictures out of shapes. Sing action songs about shapes.
However you teach your child about shapes it will inevitably involve another area of learning, so be assured you are doing a good job. Let us know if you have any ideas that have worked well at home.
Newsletter Term 1 SEPT 2024
TERM 1 NEWSLETTER 2nd September 2024
Hi everyone, so lovely to see you all back and a big welcome to our new families. We hope you had a great summer.
Some reminders first;
· Dates– term 1 is 8 weeks and ends Friday 25th Oct.
· Term 2 is 6 weeks – Mon 4th Nov to Fri 13th Dec.
· The weather is still warm so please remember suncream and hats if needed. Also socks with sandals or enclosed shoes to protect little toes.
· Remember water bottles and let us know if you have forgotten to bring one in.
· Keep bags to a minimum as we don’t have the space. Preferably for those that are toilet training only as we have change of clothes for older children should they need to.
· Please support your child to wash their hands before starting their day with us, either in the entrance or in our bathroom.
· Encourage your child’s independence by supporting them to put their photo on the self-registration board and then to put their water bottle and coat etc on the trolley.
· Remove any jewellery other than stud earrings.
· Leave all toys at home unless it’s a comfort toy and you have discussed this with your key person.
· All our newsletters, term dates and more can be found on our website standrewsplaygroup.com
· A useful document for you is What To Expect In Early Years Foundation Stage. This will help you explore the areas of learning and stages of learning. We also have a copy in the setting we can share with you.
· Our theme this term will be colours. Some of you will know I love a long letter to share ideas with you at home to support you child, so more to follow.
THEME COLOURS
Please don’t think this is just about teaching rainbow colours and that your child already knows them, its so much more. Its an enjoyable theme to base a curriculum around while integrating the 7 areas of learning, and making sure children learn this skill before they leave us (school readiness).
For children, colours are captivating and visually stimulating and they have a significant impact on their development and overall wellbeing- from influencing their emotions and creativity, to aiding in cognitive development. Colours are a powerful tool in shaping a childs world.
We will introduce colours through play, provide activities that help learn the names of colours and make the cognitive link between visual cues and words.
So, here are some ideas for you to help suport your childs learning at home. We would also welcome any input or ideas from you.
Colour bingo – this builds vocabulary and knowledge of colour names. Don’t be afraid to introduce new words such as fluorescent, mauve, cream, shade, opaque etc.
Colour walk – can be done in different ways eg use a chart or stick pictures on paper or use a tablet to take pictures of all things green or blue. This is great for outdoor exercise and bringing in counting skills.
Brown bear brown bear – a book, story that’s fun , interactive and supports communication and interaction skills. You could continue this provision and make role play masks for this to enhance learning and creative development.
Traffic light game – supports gross motor development and you can enhance this by using other colours with different instructions. Eg purple means jump.
Colour blocks – while learning colours with blocks, children will also be engaging in pairing, sequencing, patterns, stacking and balancing skills. It involves listening and attention and can include turn taking and sharing.
Colour mixing – doesn’t just have to be with paint but with many types of media even food. An activity that supports mark making and early writing skills, also an understanding of how colour works and how they can use it creatively.
I spy – you can enhance this by giving your child a wand or a torch for dramatic play. ‘ I spy something (blue)’ – let your child walk around till they find something blue, then your turn.
Little mouse – coloured houses, can be cut outs or small toy play houses. Add a cut out or small toy mouse. Hide the mouse while your child doesn’t look and say ‘ little mouse, little mouse, where is your house ? is it in the ( red) one? No mouse here etc until you find it and take turns. Children will love the responsibility of hiding the mouse.
Makaton – learn the makaton signs for colours. We use makaton in our setting and learn new signs all the time to support the children with communication.
Book ideas - The day the crayons came home -
The day the crayons quit -
The colour monster – shows how colour links to emotions
Pink is for boys- reform stereotypes and empower children and
adults to express themselves with colour.