Nursery and Preschool

Welcome to Nursery and Preschool

Autumn 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. After such a challenging year, we are really looking forward to welcoming back the children who were part of our class last academic year on Wednesday 2nd September 2020. We are also very excited to welcome a lot of new children to our nursery. If your child is new to our nursery a member of staff will have contacted you before the holidays with your child's start date and time. Please contact the office if you need a reminder of this. 

 

Safety is always our priority and with Covid-19 still a risk and concern for many we have put additional measures in place to keep everyone as safe as possible. Please discuss these changes with your child to help prepare them for returning to or starting nursery.

• Parents and carers will not be able to come into the classroom or the office area. A member of staff will meet you at the door and help your child safely into the classroom. Please use the markers by the gate and in the playground to maintain distancing when dropping off or collecting your child.
• Children will have to stay in their key groups for snack time and when using the outdoor area. This is to make sure they can be supervised when washing their hands before they eat and when coming in from outdoors. By doing this we will know they have washed their hands thoroughly.
• Children will wash their hands when coming into the classroom and before they go home.
• Only coats and bags with nappies or a change of clothes can come into the classroom. No toys or other things from home.
• The classroom has been changed so there is space between the different activities and all resources will be regularly cleaned. Different resources will be provided for the morning and afternoon children.
• The classroom will be thoroughly cleaned between the morning and the afternoon session and again at the start and end of each day. 
• There are some resources, such as play dough and sand, we will not be using at the moment as we are unable to clean them. We will still have lots of other lovely resources that the children can use.
• If your child wears a nappy, please make sure they have a clean nappy on when they arrive for their session. Nappies will only be changed if needed to help minimise close personal contact.

 

Key Dates

Wednesday 2nd September - school reopens for children

Friday 23rd October - school closes for half term

Tuesday 3rd November -school reopens for children

Friday 18th December - school closes for the Christmas holidays at 1.30pm. Afternoon children are welcome to attend the morning session on this day.

 

 

Curriculum and Learning

This half term, the topic is 'All About Me!'. There are plenty of nursery rhymes and stories suggested on the knowledge organiser with information on where to find these.

 

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.

 

Personal Social and Emotional Development

As so many of our children have not attended nursery since March and we have so many new children starting nursery for the first time, we will be focusing on building relationships with both staff and other children. Activities and games will help children to play alongside others, with others and make friends with others. Children will begin to learn the rules and routines of the nursery and be encouraged to join in with a range of activities, learning how to share and take turns. Children will be encouraged to have some independence, such as finding their own coat or hanging it on their hook when they have finished playing outside.

 

Communication and Language

Our curriculum is language rich and based around books and rhymes and we will be using these to help develop children's language skills. Children will be encouraged to listen at story time, singing time and when taking part in activities. Staff will encourage children to use words, phrases or sentences to talk about their learning and share their feelings or ideas. Children will be encouraged to develop their language skills by joining in with rhymes, songs and stories. Staff will model using language correctly and encourage children to do the same.

 

Physical Development

Children have daily access to the outdoor area where they can practise and develop skills such as running, climbing, balancing and jumping using the large equipment. Smaller equipment such as bats, balls, hoops and beanbags are used to develop hand eye coordination and kicking, throwing and catching skills. Children will also learn how to ride a bike and scooter. Children are provided with regular opportunities to draw, paint and colour to develop their pencil control. Activities such as threading or using tweezers will help to develop children's hand strength and get them ready for writing. At snack time, children will learn about how to stay healthy and be encouraged to pour their drink and peel their fruit.

 

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. We will share stories which will help to develop children's interest in books and children will have daily access to the reading area. Mark making is encouraged to develop early writing skills.Children will take part in a daily phonics session, with all children focusing on phase 1 in the Autumn term. However, the learning and activities are matched to their age and stage of development. 

 

Maths

In nursery there are daily maths opportunities that are taught through play. Children learn about length when building towers, capacity in the water area or mud kitchen, learn about shape when using the jigsaws and have regular opportunities to count and use this in context e.g. "how many children do we have for snack? How many plates and cups do we need?" Number rhymes are also a regular part of the learning. In addition to this, the preschool children who are going to school in September have a daily Maths session with follow up activities to develop a range of mathematical concepts.

 

Understanding the World

Children will learn about themselves and others as part of the All About Me topic. Children will begin to learn about the world around them by using the nature garden and looking at how the local area is changing as the seasons change. They will also be able to use a range of age appropriate technology such as the CD player in the listening station and age appropriate games and activities on the screen in the classroom and ipads. Children will learn about special events for themselves and others this term, such as Harvest, Diwali, Bonfire Night and Christmas.

 

Expressive Art and Design

This area of learning is all about being creative. Children will learn to make music using instruments as well as singing, create artwork using a range of media and materials, build models using a range of construction equipment and will begin to role play stories and songs they have learnt using different resources. 

 

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to speak to the member of staff that greets you at the classroom door. If you would like a more in depth chat, please let us know and we can make arrangements to speak to you at a mutually convenient time. Alternatively, you can contact nursery by emailing or phoning the school office. 

 

We are really looking forward to working with the children and their families.

Mrs Leyland (Assistant Headteacher/Early Years Leader/Nursery Class Teacher)

Mrs Ubaid (Key worker)

Miss Iqbal (Key worker)