We are in the swing of preparing for our Moving On ceremonies for our children who will be leaving us to go to school after the summer.
If you would like to practise at home here are the words to our chosen songs.
How Far I’ll Go (Glenwood Version)
Let’s hope the sun shines for our special day!
Our rehearsals are going well – the children are looking forward to sharing their nativity with their families on Wednesday.
In case you would like to do any last minute practising at home here are the words…
The Christmas Star 2023 Song words
Happy Diwali to our families and friends celebrating this week.
Diwali is the five-day Festival of Lights, celebrated by millions of Hindus, Sikhs and Jains across the world.
Diwali is a festival of new beginnings and the triumph of good over evil and light over darkness, and for some also coincides with harvest and new year celebrations.
One of the ways people celebrate Diwali is by decorating their homes with colourful rangoli designs, lighting diyas or displaying lights around the house.
We have been learning about Diwali through stories, research and activities.
We painted colourful rangoli designs to decorate our nursery.
We created clay diya lights and painted these in bright colours.
Happy Diwali!
We have been learning about the Muslim month of Ramadan and the celebration of Eid-ul-Fitr.
A special thanks to Idrees’ mum for visiting to read us a story and tell us about their family’s celebrations.
We also had a special snack of chapati, dates and raita.
The staff would also like to say a special ‘thank you’ to the families who gifted us a yummy cake.
We marked the start of the Chinese New Year and the year of the Tiger with some wonderful celebrations.
It was fantastic to engage with some of our families to help us learn all about the Chinese New Year celebrations; A huge thank you to Gerald’s mum for sharing how this is celebrated in their home using Google Meet and also to Mrs Wilson’s daughter who shared her experiences having lived in Hong Kong for some time.
The children have been learning about some of the ways families may celebrate Chinese New Year and taking part in art experiences, Chinese mark making, dragon dancing and tasting Chinese food to name a few opportunities on offer.
We have been busy practising for our outdoor nativity performances next week – we hope that the weather is kind and that you can join us!
If you would like to help your child practise at home, here is a copy of the words to our songs.
Recently, the children had the opportunity to learn about and celebrate Diwali. The children were able to choose from different experiences throughout the nursery.
The children in the Orchard room got to create their own fireworks in the shaving foam and there was lots of discussion . 
“Oh look red, that is my favourite colour.”
“ I like how the colour is splashed all over.”
“I love fireworks.”
In the Orchard room the children also go to try and make Chapatis. The children did very well following the recipe and listening to what we needed to do. The children were very patient in waiting for their turn.
“We need to pour until it says 100.”
“ I love baking.”
“These taste good ….. I love them.”
The children in the Willow room, participated in a variety of Diwali experiences as they learned about The Festival Of Light. They listened to the story of Rama and Sita with great interest. The children were keen to ask and answer questions about the story. We discussed ways that we can be kind to each other and how our behaviour can affect others. The children were given time to discuss and share their own experiences.
“I can be kind by helping to tidy the playroom.”
“I can share with my friends.”
Some of the children designed Divas made from clay. The children demonstrated good concentration and followed the instructions well.
They also had the opportunity to design Rangoli Patterns.
“Wow look what I made!”
“ Can I take this home to show my mummy.”
Today marks the start of the Chinese New Year. This year is the year of the Ox. The Ox represents strength and confidence in others, something those of us at Glenwood have shown in recent months.
Chinese New Year has been celebrated in China and other Asian cultures for thousands of years. It is also celebrated as part of the Spring festival which allows this holiday to mark the end of the coldest days and allows the people to welcome in the Spring season with planting and new beginnings.
Fireworks are a big tradition to mark the celebrations of Chinese New Year with firecrackers used to scare off bad luck with these being set off at midnight. The following day firecrackers are used again to welcome in the new year with good luck.
Red and gold envelopes which contain money are given during the festival to children from their relatives. The envelopes are a symbolism of good luck and wishes, but it is the red paper which is significant and not the money inside as this represents happiness and blessings to the children receiving them.
There are 12 different Zodiac Signs which the years are named after: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig.
Find out more about Chinese New Year celebrations and how the years got their names here Chinese and Lunar New Year – CBeebies – BBC
Here are some ideas to try at home with your families:
Miss Chrystal’s Chinese Vegetable Stir Fry
Ingredients:
Remember to keep stirring!
Enjoy your tasty stir fry – I wonder if you can use chopsticks?
Creating our own firework paintings 
You will need: cardboard tubes, scissors, (paper) plates, different colours of paint, paper
Cut up the cardboard tubes to give a fringe – why not try different lengths.
You can use as many different colours of paint as you wish. Pour your paint onto the plates.
Press the cardboard tube down into the paint and then print your firework onto the paper.
Repeat this process by using all of your colours.
Find more ideas for firework crafts here Firework Crafts – Easy Firework Crafts and Activity Ideas – Science Experiments for Kids (science-sparks.com)
Chinese Lanterns
Can you create your own Chinese lanterns using A4 sheets of paper, glue or sticky tape and scissors.
You can decorate your lanterns using whatever you like. You might like to draw the animals of the zodiac in them using colouring pens or pencils.
Chinese New Year Dancing 
The Lion Dance is an important part of the celebrations – find out more and why not have a go!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/watch/lets-go-club-chinese-lion-dance
Chinese Lion Dance | An introduction (Hello China #39) – YouTube
Don’t forget to let us know how you get on by sharing with us on Google Classroom or Twitter @GlenwoodFC #Glenwoodlearningathome
We have been exploring the festival of Diwali.
Diwali is the five-day Festival of Lights, celebrated by millions of Hindus, Sikhs and Jains across the world.
The children have been busy creating ‘Rangoli’ pictures, making lanterns and reading books about the festival and why it is celebrated!
“These Patterns are nice, I’m going to make one” CW
“I can copy this one I think. Actually no, I will do it myself” LW
“Pattern” FM
“My pattern has loads of colours just like the book”. AK
“We are making rangoli pictures and cutting them out” AB
“I like the one in the book with the glitter, that’s what I want to make” LM
Eid Mubarak to all our Muslim families. We have been learning about Ramadan and Eid festivities and shared a story Aleena brought into nursery. Some of our children told us about how they celebrated Eid last Wednesday with their families.
“I went to the Mosque and I got presents. I got a microphone.” Ayla.
“It wasn’t a good Eid because it was raining. We had to watch for puddles when we were getting our photos taken.” Zara.
“I got my hands painted with Mendhi”. Zainab.
“So did I.” Azan.
We have enjoyed some Chinese food for snack this week as part of our celebrations for the Chinese New Year.
“I don’t like the noodles but I like the rice.” Naomi.
“It’s good and yummy.” Marnie.
“I don’t like the stir fry. My daddy likes stir fry.” Euan.
“Lovely. I want some more. It’s delicious. I don’t like the corn.” Matthew.
