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. 

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 Hesford will be joining us as our new nursery teacher. She has already spent some time working in other schools 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. 

As we enter the Autumn term we hope to be seeing some more cold and rainy weather. Please make sure your child has a suitable coat and is wearing appropriate footwear. 

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. 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.

Miss Hesford, Mrs Ubaid, Miss Iqbal

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 'There's No Place Like Home!'

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 be making sure the children are familiar with the rules, routines and expectations within the nursery. We will use visual clues to reinforce expectations in the setting. We will be encouraging the children to become independent to select, use and tidy up the resources. the children will have lots of opportunities to play, share and take turns with their friends.

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. We want the children to be able to listen to longer stories, to talk about the stories and to remember a lot about what happens in the story. 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 your child's home language. We will also be encouraging children to follow two part instructions such as " Get your coat and wait at the door" . The staff will be encouraging the children to use a wider range of vocabulary.

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 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.

The children will be encouraged to put on their own coats, cardigans and jumpers. The children will be encouraged to go to the toilet independently and wash their hands.

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. The children will have a daily phase 1 phonics session where they learn about and explore sounds. 

Maths

Maths is all around us!

We will support children to access maths in lots of fun ways. For example when using the construction resources children may be counting how many blocks they have. We will also be using number rhymes as a way to teach children about the number system. The children will be exploring 2D shapes and using mathematical language to describe them- such as straight, curved, sides and corners. Staff will be encouraging the children to use mathematical language to talk about the size of different objects.

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 'There's No Place Like Home' we will be talking about our families and who lives in our house. As it is coming up to Autumn, we will talking about how the leaves and weather change. We will be looking at different leaves and making leaf prints. Inside and out we will be using our senses to explore lots of natural materials and talking about how they feel.

The children will have the opportunity to learn about different occupations during our special 'People Who Help Us' week.

Expressive Art and Design

Children will have lots of opportunities to make up their own stories using a variety of small world toys, such as the farm animals and cars. They will also be encouraged to retell familiar stories using story props and masks. 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.