As some children brought apples to add to our Autumn display, we decided to make apple crumble. A simple apple crumble can provide so much learning: the importance of hygiene and safety in the kitchen, fine motor control, counting and chopping skills and the effect of heat on the apples. Most of all, it’s great fun and the children have certainly been excited to take something home that they could eat.
As Summer slowly fades away, we have been learning about the signs of Autumn. We have enjoyed a variety of activities in Nursery and have spent time with our families, collecting things in nature which tell us that Autumn is here.
The children have been excited to show us their finds and most have shown confidence to sit in the Star Seat to talk to everyone about their Autumn “treasure”. We loved one little boy’s description of “going adventuring” to find chestnuts and brambles.
Here are some of the children’s thoughts on how we know it’s Autumn:
Lee: the leaves change colour
Katie: it’s windy and a bit sunny.
Rhiannon: the weather gets dull.
Jaylin: leaves curl and go brown.
Struan: the leaves are red, yellow and orange.
Ryan: leaves fall on the ground.
Mya: flowers go and it’s windy.
Turn up the volume and click below to hear our voices .
As we were so good at helping Miss Young to tell the story of “We’re Going on a Bear Hunt”, she invited our teddies in to Nursery to try out the cave where Honey, her teddy, was living. The teddies all seemed excited to try out the cave although some needed a little encouragement so we were very brave and went in to the dark cave with them.
Everyone showed good listening and talking skills as each person talked about why their teddy was so special. We thought you might like to hear some of their comments and see some of the very special bears who visited us.
Caleb He’s a boy teddy. He’s wearing a jumper so he doesn’t get cold.
Lee My teddy’s name is Ashleigh. He’s a boy. He always wears his jumper. He feels nice and soft.
Reece He’s got a black nose the same as his fur and tail.
Jordy He likes bouncing on the trampoline with me when it’s sunny. He’s called Daddy Bear. He can bounce very high.
Mya It’s Ruby the teddy. I sleep with him quiet at night in my bunk bed. He’s got nice eyes and a pink tongue.
Sam L. I bought him at Tesco when I was a baby. I cuddle him at night. He disappears when I cuddle him.
Finlay He’s called John Wayne. He usually likes running and jumping out the window but not if it’s wet outside. He likes jumping on the bed.
Miley I bought him from a shop. His name’s Red Ted. I cuddle him lots of times and I have lots of teddies in a bag.
Ryan It’s a boy. He’s a special agent. He helps people when they don’t know what to do.
Mischa He’s called Jake. He’s old. It shrinked when I was wee.
We decided to use this money to buy a playhouse and there was great excitement when it arrived this week. There was no shortage of volunteers to help when Miss Kerr and Miss Boyd set about the task of building our new house. They did have a few teething problems with their apprentices who were keen to carry off doors, walls and even those fiddly screws to different parts of the garden but once the rules of the workplace had been established, we saw some good teamwork by the morning children and they were delighted with their efforts. By the time the children arrived for the afternoon session, the building team had constructed a fantastic playhouse.
Thank you so much again to all those who contributed to provide us with these super additions to our outdoor play area. We hope you are happy with how we have spent your generous donation.
After less than two weeks in Nursery, most children are growing in confidence in their new environment. We are establishing the rules and the children are developing into confident and happy Nursery pupils, as you can see from the pictures below. Later in the week we will send home a note of the Nursery rules and how we are teaching the children the days of the week, to help keep you informed of our current focus.
We feel sure that you are all very proud of the way your children have settled so well in to Nursery in such a short space of time because we certainly are.
Miss Young, our student teacher, has been enjoying getting to know our children this week and the children have had good fun learning about shape and colour with her. So far, they have been making pictures using shapes in different colours and have had great fun with a jumping and colour matching game in the garden. We hope Miss Young enjoys her placement with us and look forward to her activities in the next few weeks.
Click on the photos to make them bigger.
This week Ruby Rabbit has been meeting all our new children. It was such a surprise when she popped out of her basket to say hello. Some people guessed it would be a football, someone thought a pig and some people thought it might be a fairy in the white basket but everyone was very surprised to meet a shy little rabbit. So far, Ruby Rabbit’s ears have only started to hurt and go red once, when we forgot to use little voices, so she is very happy with all the Nursery children. Well done, everyone!
What a delightful start we have had to our year, getting to know our new children and their families, as well as welcoming back the familiar, smiling faces. The children are beginning to settle in to the Nursery routine and, as the coming weeks unfold, they should grow in confidence in their new environment. If your child takes a little while to feel comfortable, please give them time to take things at their pace: we, as adults, cope with change in different ways and at different rates and children are exactly the same. If you have any concerns about your child, please speak to staff who can offer you advice based on their experiences.
Most children have had fun and been adventurous in trying out a variety of activities. Once we have blog permission slips returned, we will be able to put photos here to encourage children to show their families and friends at home. In the meantime, we thought you might like to see a few of the first drawings the children have produced this week.
Click on the photos to make them bigger.
As we start our new year, we are looking forward to getting to know all our new children and their parents/carers. This poem was given to us by a parent last year to thank us for her son’s experience in our Nursery. We will try our very best to live up to her kind and very generous comments this year and hope that you and your child have a similar experience with us.
Helpful
Excellent
Caring
Kind
Lovely
Exciting
Great
Incredible
Real good fun
Terrific
Happy
Nurturing
Understanding
Really fantastic
Superb
Extraordinary
Really fab
Yipee for Hecklegirth Nursery!
It’s not long now until the start of a new year in Nursery. We would like to remind parents and carers that the children will attend for one hour only on the first two days, Thursday 25th and Friday 26th of August. You will find details of your child’s time on the letter you received, allocating your child a place. If anyone is not sure of their time, staff will be in Nursery on Wednesday 24th August and we will be happy to take your call to confirm this.
Likewise, if you have ordered a Nursery sweatshirt but have not picked it up yet, please feel free to call in to school, via the main entrance, on Wednesday. It is advisable to put the children’s names on their sweatshirts and shoes as they very easily get mixed up.
We are looking forward to seeing everyone soon. Enjoy the last few days of your holidays!
