This Week

The nursery classes have been learning about animals which inhabit the polar region. This seems good planning to me considering the drop in temperature this week! I walked into rooms to see children hammering blocks of ice to release polar bears, penguins, arctic foxes and whales to name but a few, playing with magic snow and generally enjoying related small world activities. On the subject of cold weather please send your children in wearing warm coats, hats, scarves and mittens which all need to be named.

New children have been visiting the nursery rooms this week and have been made to feel very welcome by your little ones, which is lovely to see.

December arrives and Christmas is upon us. Trees seem to have magically arrived in the classrooms, the children are busily making all sorts of seasonal things and decorations are everywhere! Transition children have started some Christmas crafts, their room is looking very jolly and there is a buzz of excitement about everything they are doing.

Thank you to our PTA!
What excitement was seen and heard when the children went into the playground this week and discovered six new “piggy back trikes”. These allow twelve children to take turns pedalling or travelling on the rear platform, developing both their social and physical skills. Our generous PTA regularly gives the Nursery Department exciting toys and equipment so my thanks go to them for all their efforts in fund raising. My thanks also go to Stewart and Tony, our Maintenance staff, for assembling these.

Reminders

• Please check your email as I have sent the “2build a profile” observations of your child for this half term.
• Please return your child’s photograph order by Friday 10 November at the latest.
• Please inform us if your child will be away at the time of our Nursery Department Christmas production which will take place on Tuesday 12 December at 9.00am with the dress rehearsal happening the day before. We ask that all children attend both mornings even if it is not a booked session. I will be sending out your seat requests form with costume requests nearer the time.
• Following the publication by Public Health England please be aware that all 2, 3 and 4 year old children (born between 1.09.2013 - 31.08.2015) and all children in school years Reception, 1, 2 and 3 are now eligible for the ‘flu vaccination. More information can be found on NHS Choices here.
• We wish you all a very happy half term fortnight and will take this opportunity to let you know the Thames Valley Police Halloween code:
  • Please only call at houses you know! Don’t knock on doors where there is a “No trick or treat” sign.
  • Be visible – your children may be dressed as dark beings but they need to be seen by other road users.
  • Take a torch with you.
  • Stay in areas lit well by street lights. Be careful not to frighten vulnerable people, especially the elderly.
  • Don’t let your children talk to strangers on the street.
  • Don’t let your children go into any houses.
  • No treat means no trick – don’t let a good night go bad. Please respect other people’s wishes!

Individual Photographs

The children will be having their photographs taken on Monday 16 October and if your child does not attend on Mondays you are more than welcome to come in and have the picture taken at 8.30am. These make lovely family Christmas presents.

Reminders

• We look forward to seeing you at the Fireworks Evening on Saturday 14 October held at the Claires Court Junior Boys site, Ridgeway, as it is always a wonderful family occasion for all ages. Please see posters/ask staff for details.
• Please return any clothes which your children have borrowed from the Nursery and remember to name all outdoor clothing, jumpers, tee shirts, boots and shoes. If you have clothing for 3 year olds such as joggers, leggings, underwear and socks that you no longer require we would welcome them.

Sainsbury’s Active Kids Vouchers

A big thank you goes to all our parents who brought in the vouchers during the summer term. Maintenance very kindly shortened the 24 hockey sticks, we have 36 footballs and have half a dozen watering cans so we can ensure the physical development of your children, which I talked about last week, continues with this bright, new equipment.

This week

This week Nursery children have made farm animal face masks, have played with small world farms, sorted animals by type and counted them, and have been learning a farm related song. They discovered how to make the colour pink and have created some lovely paintings related to the “m” sound. They all went for a walk around the school, managing the staircases really well and discovering the offices and dining room.

Transition children have been busy learning about where animals live, the location of the countries and the environments preferred by different animals. They have looked at books and listened to stories related to the topic and cut out and matched pictures of animals and habitats. They have also been trying to follow beats by clapping hands.

We all celebrated Rosh Hashanah, Jewish New Year, by eating apple dipped in honey on Thursday which the children thoroughly enjoyed.

A very big thank you goes to everyone who joined in our “Jeans for Genes” day on Friday. We raised £42.10p for this very worthy cause.

We have welcomed lots of new children into the three nursery rooms and are pleased to say how well they are settling in. The Transition class children are having a great time too and have had no problems transferring from their nursery rooms. The children are showing great kindness to their new friends who have just started at Claires Court. It is lovely to see so many smiling faces and we are looking forward to a really happy term ahead. The children are delighted with the new “mud kitchen” which has been built in our garden over the summer!