Nursery and Preschool

We are really looking forward to welcoming back some of our nursery and preschool children back soon, hopefully the week beginning 22nd June 2020. We understand this remains an anxious time and we have had to change quite a few things to make the classroom safe for the children. Please share these pictures with your child and talk about the changes to help them to prepare for when they return.

• Instead of having the big classroom to share with everybody, we have put tape on the floor to make 2 smaller classrooms. 
• Instead of working with everybody we will be working in our 2 bubbles. We will have the same teachers and same friends in our bubble every day. We will stay in the same space every day.
• We won't be able to play with friends or teachers in other bubbles, but if we see them we can still give them a smile and a wave from across the room.
• We still have toys and games to play with, but not as many as we had before. We can only use the toys that are in our space. We can't share with other groups.
• Everybody has their own special place to sit when working at the table, own special spot to sit on when sitting on the carpet and own pack of pens, colours and own book to work in.These will stay in school.
• We will still be able to play outside with our group. We won't be able to use the climbing equipment or toys, but the teachers have planned lots of new, fun games that we can play instead.
• We will need to leave space between each other when we are working and playing. Teachers will help with this.
• We will need to make sure we regularly wash our hands. We might need to use different sinks or toilet areas than we are used to. 
• You might see the teachers cleaning and washing during the day. This is to make sure things stay clean and safe for everyone in the group to use.
• We will still have story time, rhyme time, outside time, work time and choosing time every day.

Until we reopen we will continue to put work on the class page of the website and will continue to do so when we reopen for those children who are still learning from home. You will also still receive regular contact from someone in school, although this might not be from your child's usual teacher or key worker. If you have any questions please contact the school by telephone or email rather than coming to the office, which is currently closed for visitors.

Dear Parents,

Following the school closure, your child is expected to complete daily tasks from home. If you click on the Home Learning Star, you will find a link to a weekly home learning plan. This plan has daily tasks assigned for your child to complete on the specified days. There are also links to websites for your child to go on which you will find by clicking on the Website Star.  

Please help your child to keep learning.

These are unforeseen times and we hope you stay healthy, safe and happy!  

From all of the Nursery and Preschool team

In preparation for Nursery reopening, staff from school will contact you this week. Remember, staff may be calling from a private number so please do answer these calls. 

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 curriculum and learning as well as key dates. Please check back regularly for updates.

Unfortunately, at this stage we are still unsure how long the school closure is likely to last. We hope you are all staying safe and well during this time. We are all really missing the children and are looking forward to returning to normality. Despite the difficulties we are all currently facing we would like to support you as much as much as possible during this time. There will work uploaded on a weekly basis for you to complete with your children at home. You can find this by clicking on the home learning star. You will also find links to online rhymes, songs, stories and activities by clicking on the website star. In addition to this, either Mrs Leyland or your child's key worker will telephone you each week to make sure you are all happy, safe and well. If you have any questions or queries this would be a good opportunity to ask them. If your question or query cannot wait until your weekly phone call, please email the school office and somebody will get back to you. Please check the website, texts and emails regularly, as soon as we receive any updates we will let you know.

Key dates

Thursday 16th April - if your child is due to start in Reception in September, you will find out which school they have been allocated a place at. If there are any problems, please contact school admissions. Unfortunately, we as a school are unable to change the school a child has been allocated.

Monday 20th April 2020 - New work will be posted for the week. This can be found by clicking on the home learning star.

Sunday 16th June - Father's Day. 

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

In addition to using the knowledge organisers and the information on the home learning page, please find below other ways in which you can support your child's learning.

Personal Social and Emotional Development

Try to keep to a routine as much as possible. Keeping to set meal times, bed times and getting up and dressed at a similar time each day will help the children feel some normality during these difficult times. Young children love to be involved with what the rest of the family are doing. As long as it is safe for them to do so, involve them in helping out with jobs around the home.

Communication and Language

Use rhymes, songs and stories to continue to develop children's language skills at home. When looking at books or online stories, stop and various points and ask your child what they can see, what has happened or what do they think might happen next? Talk to your children about what you are doing to provide them with new language. This can be in English or in Mother Tongue. 

Physical Development

Even when isolating in the home it is important to get up and move every day. This not only helps to keep our bodies healthy but our minds too. There are a lot of physical development activities you can find by clicking on the website star.

It is also important for children to develop their hand strength and pencil control for writing. There are a lot of tasks to support the development of these skills on the home learning page, but activities such as using playdough, threading or drawing and colouring are all great activities to support this.

Encourage children to eat a healthy diet and speak to them about the importance of this.

Literacy

Early Literacy skills are very closely linked to Communication and Language skills. You will develop children's Literacy skills by sharing stories and talking about what is happening in them. It is important children learn to sit and listen for short periods of time, listening to stories are great for developing these skills. Rhyme is also linked to literacy so singing nursery rhymes helps with this. Every day, children going to school in September should practice writing their name, remember only the first letter should be a capital letter and the other letters should be lower case.

Maths

There are so many maths opportunities that can be done through play. Grouping and sorting toys then counting how many in each group is a great way to develop maths skills. Children can learn about height and length when building towers. At bath time give children different sized containers, this will help them to learn about capacity. Go on a shape hunt around the home. Which shapes can you see? Hoe many of each shape can you see? Count objects around the home, how many stairs do they walk up to go to bed? How many socks have come out of the washing machine? How many shoes are by the door? Singing number and counting songs are another great way to develop maths skills, links to these can be found by clicking on the website star.

Understanding the World

Although it is difficult to learn about the world during isolation there are still plenty of things you can do to support your child's learning. Look out of the window and see how many birds you can spot. Are they all the same or are they different? Do you see the same number every day? Use your outdoor space to look for creatures. Children could draw a picture of what they find. Talk to your children about special celebrations and involve them in preparations for Ramadan and Eid.

Expressive Art and Design

This area of learning is all about being creative. Your child could make pictures using paint, colouring pens and pencils or by making a collage. Maybe they could go into the window for people to spot or if it is safe for you to do so they could be posted to family and friends you are unable to see at the moment.

Children could act out their favourite story, TV programme or film. They might even want to act out being the teacher in school.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to talk to us about them during the phone call or if urgent, please email the school office.

We really hope it won't be long until we see the children and their families again.