Nursery and Preschool

Welcome to Nursery and Preschool

Summer Term

Welcome to the Nursery and Preschool class page!

Welcome to the nursery and preschool class page. Here you will find information about the classroom, curriculum learning and key dates. Please check back regularly for updates.

Dear parents,

We hope you are all well and have had a restful break with your children and family. 

We have a lot of exciting things to look forward to this term. We can't wait to meet some new children who will be joining our class over the first few weeks of the term. We are really looking forward to working with the children and their families.   We are also welcoming a new member of staff to the team. Miss Sheikh will be joining us as a key worker. She has already spent some time working at Brookhouse and we know she is going to be a fantastic addition to the team. We have had to change the key worker groups slightly and will inform you if your child's key worker has changed. 

We are always vigilant at home time to make sure children leave safely and with a known adult. With new children and staff joining us it can take time to get to know all the members of new families. Please make sure if somebody we have not met before is collecting your child they know the password as without this we cannot let the children leave with an adult we have not met. We understand this can be frustrating for both the adult and child but it is a measure we have in place for safety. If possible, we would also really appreciate it if you could let us know to expect somebody different. 

For those of you who have children going into Reception class in September 2021 you will find out the school they have been allocated a place at on Friday 16th April. This information is usually sent to you in an email. If you have any questions or queries please contact the schools admissions team at the council. We hope you are all successful in getting the first choice of school for your child/ren. If your child is remaining with us at Brookhouse School we send out information about transition in the next few weeks.

As we enter the Summer term we hope to be seeing some more sunny and warm weather. Please apply sun cream to your child before they come to nursery and send them with a sun hat that they can wear during outdoor provision.

Please do remember that although Covid restrictions are beginning to lift we must still follow the guidelines. Please remember to socially distance when dropping off and collecting your children and wear a face covering if you are able. In order to help prevent congestion we will continue to open the gates between 11.15am - 11.30am at the end of the morning session and 3.00pm - 3.15pm at the end of the afternoon session. Unfortunately we are still not able to have parents in the classroom. We are also unable to take children into the classroom through the office entrance so please arrive promptly for the session. We appreciate your support and cooperation with this.

As always, if you have any questions or queries please do come and speak to us.

Mrs Leyland, Mrs Ubaid, Miss Iqbal and Miss Sheikh

Curriculum and Learning

If you would like more detailed information about the early years curriculum at Brookhouse for the 2 year old, 3 year old and 4 year old children please visit the Early Years section on the curriculum page.

This half term our topic is 'Marvellous Minibeasts!'

Please see the knowledge organiser to see the stories, songs and rhymes we will be using to support our learning.

Personal Social and Emotional Development

We will continue to use the class rules and visual clues to reinforce the expectations in the classroom. There will be lots of planned opportunities for children to work together - learning to take turns, share, build friendships and work collaboratively. Staff promote positive behaviour through praise and encouragement. 

Communication and Language

Our curriculum is language rich and based around books and rhymes. Please see the knowledge organiser for the stories, songs and rhymes we will be using this half term. By the end of the half term we want children to know the stories, songs and rhymes and be able to use resources to retell them as well as using the vocabulary in different contexts. Please spend time at home sharing stories and singing songs. This could be in English or in Home Language. We will also be encouraging children to say what they need or want and communicate with their friends.

Physical Development

Children will have daily opportunities to develop their gross motor skills using the bikes, large outdoor equipment and large mark making equipment. This will help children to develop core strength and strong bodies. Children will also focus on a fundamental skill each week such as running, kicking, throwing or catching.

Children will also have daily opportunities to develop their fine motor skills through mark making activities, threading, completing jigsaws and using tweezers or playdough. This will help children develop the hand strength they will need to be able to write.

Children who are going to school in September will be learning to write the letter sounds they are learning and then their name.

Literacy

Early Literacy skills are very closely linked to Communication and Language skills. Children need to communicate effectively if they are going to read and write. Stories are shared daily and left for children to access. Nursery children will have a daily phase 1 phonics session where they learn about and explore sounds. Preschool children will begin to learn letter sounds using the Read, Write Inc phonics scheme used across school. We will send these sounds home so children can practice them. 

Maths

Maths opportunities are everywhere!

We will support children to access maths in lots of different ways. For example when using the construction resources children may be counting how many blocks they have as well as exploring length and height by building tall and short towers. We will also be using number rhymes as a way to teach children about the number system.

Preschool children will have a daily maths session where they will be taught a range of mathematical concepts, with opportunities to apply this learning within provision. 

Understanding the World

As our topic is 'Marvellous Minibeasts' we will be spending a lot of time exploring the outdoor area, learning about the creatures that live there and their habitat. We will continue to learn about plants and what they need to grow after the planting we did in the Spring term. We will also be learning about Ramadan and Eid, and how this is a special celebration for Muslims around the world.

Expressive Art and Design

Children will have lots of opportunities to develop their painting and drawing skills, both indoor and outdoor. Children will also be encouraged to build models using a range of resources and talk about their work. Staff will encourage children to use the resources in the classroom to retell the stories they have been learning about.