Spring Term Update

Happy New Year! Welcome back to Nursery. We hope you have had a lovely Christmas and have enjoyed spending time with your family.

This Term is very exciting as we have lots of friends joining us for Nursery. We would like to welcome all our new starters to Nursery as they embark on a new learning journey.

Our Curriculum is based around our children’s interests and we use Power of Reading key texts within our provision. Our current topic is based around Teddy Bears; with our key text being “The Everywhere Bear”. Please try to read different stories about bears with your child at home. We also ask you to share stories about your favourite bear with your child at home. We will be having a bear reading challenge using Tapestry in the Spring term.

This term we will be introducing a new special St Joseph’s “Everywhere Bear”. He will be given to our Star of the week to take home each Friday and return to school on a Monday. Inside his bag will be a special book to record his weekend activities. We would also love you to upload any photographs you take using Tapestry – we will share them in class using our interactive whiteboard.

This Term we will also be celebrating Chinese New Year.

Chinese New Year officially begins on February 5th and ends on February 19th. It is Year of the Pig. In school we will listen to stories, learn new phrases, create artwork and collages, taste Chinese food and take part in dragon dances in PE and music lessons. Please talk to your child about this interesting topic and share any home learning stories using Tapestry.

We will continue with our focus upon ‘Communication and Language’ and ‘Personal, Social and Emotional’ skills. This will be further enhanced by our Come and See, Phonics and Maths sessions. We also have nurture and talk boost groups which will help to develop our speech and language skills.

Our continuous provision supports us in developing all our skills, as weekly enhancements are changed to match the topic and ultimately to accommodate the interests and needs of our learners. We use Tapestry, an online journal, to record all the learning and fun that takes place in Nursery.

Nursery Information

Staff

Mrs Murphy – Nursery Teacher
Mrs Holt – Nursery Teaching Assistant
Miss Catterall – Nursery Teaching Assistant
Miss Bellair _ Nursery Teaching Assistant
Mr Rigby -1:1 SEN Teaching Assistant

Session times

Morning Nursery 8.30 – 11.30am
Afternoon Nursery 12.30- 3.30pm

Picking up and Dropping off

Please ensure that Nursery Staff are informed if someone different will be picking your child up from Nursery.

Snack

Costs £1 per week – please send this to school each Monday. At the beginning of each term (three times a year) we ask for an extra 50p as a contribution to pay for your child’s milk.

Uniform

We wear a purple school jogging suit, with a yellow polo shirt and velcro shoes/trainers .

This uniform is designed to encourage the children to dress themselves independently. It is also specifically designed as we play in the outdoor classroom each day. Your child will need a waterproof coat with a hood.

Please ensure that all of your child’s items of clothing are marked clearly with their name, but we do not advise parents to get full names printed on the back of sweatshirts.

Children can wear more formalised uniform of school slip and polo shirt or school shorts and polo shirt but we ask that children have sensible school shoes (not sandals or trainers).

30 Hour Provision

8.30am – 3.30pm

Lunches

Children can have a hot dinner which costs £1.90 per day – this can be purchased in the Office using Parent Pay. Please see Mrs Cullinane for further Information. Please mark on the clipboard outside Nursery your child’s Hot dinner choices.

or

Children can bring a healthy packed lunch to school. Please place your Child’s packed lunch on the trolley each morning.

 

If you have a code for thirty hours or would like further information regarding 30 hours provision please discusses this with a member of staff as soon as possible.

PLEASE NOTE CODES APPLIED FOR AFTER 1st January 2019 WILL ONLY NOW BE ELIGIBLE FOR THE SUMMER TERM.

Online Learning Journal

We use Tapestry, a secure online learning journal to record your child’s progress and learning in the Early Years Foundation Stage. When your child starts school we will send you log in details and you can change your password.

We also encourage parents to share their home learning stories using tapestry. You can upload photographs and videos of exciting learning experiences and we will share them in class on our interactive whiteboard.

If you need any support please contact a member of the EYFS team.

Useful Website to use at home

Loose Parts

We need your Help!!!         Clear out After Christmas!!!!         Help us to recycle you beautiful items.

What Are Loose Parts?

In early childhood education settings, loose parts mean alluring, beautiful, found objects and materials that children can move, manipulate, control, and change while they play. Children can carry, combine, redesign, line up, take apart, and put loose parts back together in almost endless ways. The materials come with no specific set of directions, and they can be used alone or combined with other materials. Children can turn them into whatever they desire: a stone can become a character in a story; an acorn can become an ingredient in an imaginary soup. These objects invite conversations and interactions, and they encourage collaboration and cooperation. Put another way, loose parts promote social competence because they support creativity and innovation. All of these are highly valued skills in adult life today.

We are using loose parts in our Early Years classrooms and wondered if you had any items to donate

Here is a list of items that we are looking for at the moment

  • Gift boxes with lids
  • Wooden curtain rings
  • Shells and pebbles
  • Conkers
  • Dividing trays
  • Wooden trays, wooden bowls or wooden dividers
  • Buttons
  • Solid bangles or costume jewellery
  • Metal tea set, milk jug, tea pot, sugar bowls etc
  • Gift boxes with lids
  • Electrical cable reels
  • Material
  • Cardboard tubes from kitchen rolls, wrapping  paper  or carpets _ we cannot use toilet rolls.

All items will be shared in Nursery and Reception and used by all EYFS children. Please speak to a member of staff if you think that you can help us!

Nursery Gallery