Weekly Updates

W/C 17.4.23

We have had a busy first week. The new children have settled well and are still getting used to our daily routines.
We have discussed what we have been up to over the half-term holidays and were able to show our friends some of the pictures you have provided over tapestry.
Our topic over the next few weeks will be minibeasts, this week we have been focusing on their names and where we can find them. We will continue to look at this further next week, exploring their important job in our eco-system.
Towards the end of the week some of the children have shown an interest in bees, we will be exploring how they produce honey and how they pollinate the environment. We will be trying honey and if any parents do not wish for their child to participate in this please inform a member of staff.

W/C 13.3.23

We have continued our Spring topic, exploring the life cycle of plants. We have investigated the different parts of plants and what they need to grow.
The children used their scissor skills to dissect a plant, looking closely at the leaves and roots.
We have been watching our seeds grow, making sure we provide them with everything they need.
We will continue to explore life cycles next week.

We have been exploring weight, looking at scales to identify which items weigh more/less.

The children really enjoyed celebrating the Holi festival and they have been telling us about their funny coloured baths/showers. To say we were colourful is an understatement but we had a blast joining in with the older children.

W/C 6.3.23

This week we have been exploring Spring, investigating what happens during this season.
We had a go at some observational art using Daffodils, using positional language to make marks. We investigated the names of flower parts and explored bulbs.
Next week we will be exploring seeds, planting and caring for the plant as it grows.
The children have enjoyed exploring the snow and splashing in the puddles it left behind. We will continue discussing what snow is and looking at water in different contexts.

W/C 20.2.23

We have had a relaxed first week back, allowing the children to settle back in to the routine.
We enjoyed making and tasting pancakes on Shrove Tuesday, investigating why some people celebrate this day.
We have began looking at Spring and how the environment changes. We will be exploring this throughout the term.
Some of the children have had an interest in Jellyfish and Octopus. We had a go drawing them using chalk and discovered that neither has a spine. Some children were amazed that some Jellyfish are bioluminescent, creating their own light. We have also began exploring other sea life.
We are continuing this topic next week.

30.1.23

We have had another busy week. We explored space and found out there are 8 planets. We used the laptop (with help from an adult) to print pictures of the planets and put them in the correct order from the sun.
We got really messy creating some of the planets using paper mache, it was super sticky. The children have enjoyed researching space and used this knowledge in their play.
Next week we are continuing our exploration of space, investigating rockets and space stations, wow!

W/C 9.1.23

This week following an interest our topic has been Superheroes. The children have enjoyed getting dressed up in superhero costumes. They have used scissors to cut out their very own superhero masks and have acted out scenarios using props. Next week we will incorporate real life superheroes, for example, police officers, fire fighters and Health care staff.
We have explored different generations within a family, concentrating on grandparents. We will continue this next week by exploring objects from the past i.e. toys, cameras and telephones, which our Grandparents may have used growing up. We would like to thank those Grandparents that came in for the stay and play session, all the children enjoyed seeing them and we hope they enjoyed themselves too.

We would also like to welcome a new staff member, Danielle.

W/C 12.12.22

The children have been fascinated with ice this week. We have discussed what ice is and how it is created. Building in our language skills by using descriptive words.
The children have been working hard at conflict resolutions, using their words to communicate their needs.
We have been practicing our maths skills for example subitising, ordering and matching numerals to quantity. The children have been becoming more confident in this skill.
We have also had a very exciting visit from Santa this week, who the children all spoke to about what they would like for christmas. We sang him a Christmas song before he had to go back to his busy work at the North pole! I
What a busy week! We look forward to enjoying more festivities over the last few days next week.

W/C 5.12.22

This week we have explored the story 'Stick man'. The children enjoyed creating their own versions of a stick person.
We have also explored different clothes we wear when the weather turns colder. We have enjoyed trying these clothes on indoors and discussing what items were most suitable for the cold weather.
We all thoroughly enjoyed the Christmas craft afternoon and would like to thank you for coming, we hope you enjoyed it as much us.

W/C 27.11.22

We have continued our interest in hedgehogs this week. The children have learned lots of different facts about hedgehogs and have shown lots of interest in them by asking questions. We then used this new knowledge during our play.
The children have also shown an interest in counting this week. We provided gems for them to practice their maths skills and this then led to the children using the gems to create different pictures too.
Next week we are looking at how the clothes we wear change as the weather gets colder and what effect this has on our bodies.
Our book of the week will be Stickman- could we please have a collection of sticks to create our own stick people.

W/C 21.11.22

We have had a busy week this week. We have investigated woodland animals after reading the story 'Tidy', we looked at their habitats and features. This sparked an interest in hedgehogs, which we will continue to explore next week.
We have also had an interest in the story 'Goldilocks and the Three bears', we have looked closely at different sized objects, categorising them by size (small, medium, large).
The children have been fascinated in creating a variety of woodland animals using playdough i.e. bears, hedgehogs, moles etc. This sparked lots of conversation about the different features each animal has.

W/C 14.11.22

This week we have looked at Remembrance Day, we watched a clip called 'Poppies' to help the children understand what this day means and have taken part in various activities to explore this event.
Our book this week has been 'The Gruffalo', the children have enjoyed acting it out using props and recited parts of the story.
We have had an interest in teeth this week, we investigated how different foods can impact teeth and what we must do to keep them healthy.
The children enjoyed celebrating Children in need with some Pudsey playdough.
We hope you have a lovely weekend.

W/C 07.11.22

We have had a very busy first week back.
We investigated the Hindu festival of light, Diwali. We explored rangoli patterns and created our own Diya lights.
The children were very excited to tell us all about the Bonfire night experiences, so we created some firework pictures, using the colours they saw.
Following an interest we used our counting skills to make hot chocolate, adding three scoops of powder to our milk. It smelt amazing.

W/C 10.10.22

We have had a lovely week exploring farming. We looked at different crops and farm animals. The children had a go at grinding wheat to make flour, using weighing scales in their play and then used this skill to measure out ingredients to make a bread dough.
We investigated which items came from which animal i.e. wool from sheep, eggs from chickens and milk from cows.
Next week, our story of the week will be 'Pumkin Soup' and we shall explore Diwali, the Hindu festival of light.

W/C 03.10.22

Our book this week has been 'My Granny went to market'. We have used our senses to explore our fruit and veg that we collected from the market last week.

We have been investigating the changes that happen in autumn. We practised our cutting and gluing skills, which we then used to create 'leaf man' pictures.
We went for a walk to collect autumn treasures for our tray which we enjoyed exploring with magnifying glasses.
There has been an interest in balancing this week, the children created varied obstacle courses to practice this skill on.

Next week our book of the week will be 'Farmer duck', we will begin exploring harvest and produce.

W/C 26.09.22

We have had a very busy week. We explored different materials used whilst building homes and had a go ourselves using the building blocks. We went for a walk to the church and looked at how it is different from our "homes".

We were very lucky to have a visit from the police and the fire brigade. The police explained how they help people and what to do in an emergency.
The fire brigade showed us all their equipment and used the hoses.
Towards the end of the week the children had an interest in bats. We discovered some facts about them and created our own bar puppets.

Next week we are going to look at Sleaford town.

W/C 12.09.22

We have had another busy week.

We have been discussing our family's and how they all look different, this then moved on to knowing the difference between family and friends which we will continue next week. Thank you to those that have added photos on Tapestry, the children enjoyed showing their friends these pictures and who everyone is.
We have had an interest in ladybirds this week and some of the children painted their own interpretation of what a ladybird looks like, which were amazing.
We visited the monument in the market place and laid flowers for the Queen, we then discussed how a King has taken over her very important role.
We hope you have a lovely weekend and shall see you on TUESDAY.

W/C 05.09.22

Wow! The first week is over and we can honestly say the children have amazed us. Every single one has settled in amazingly and we are very proud of them all.
The first couple of weeks is all about getting to know them individually, allowing them time to settle and getting them used to our routine.
Next week we will be looking at people that are important to us, you are welcome to add any photos of your family members (including pets) to your child's observations page.
We hope you have a lovely weekend and we can't wait to see your pictures.

W/C 11.07.2022

We have been exploring a school role-play, the children have enjoyed being the teacher, as well as creating school jumpers using different materials.
Our sunflower heads have been picked and the children used tweezers to pick out the seeds.
Following an interest we also explored the tale 'Little Red Riding hood'. We have loved acting out the story using props and came up with alternate endings.
As we are fast approaching the end of term could you please return your child's reading books ready for September.

W/C 04.07.2022

We have had a very busy week, we have been looking at the story 'Billy goats gruff'. The children were able to act out the story using props and used different materials to build their own bridge.
The children also drew and used play dough to create their own trolls.
Floating and sinking has been an interest outside, using natural materials.
We had an exciting visitor, a duckling was found in the school car park alone and the children were able to sneak a peak at it.
We also found a toad, which was fascinating too, he had very bumpy skin.

W/C 27.06.2022

This week we have been exploring the artist William Morris, using repeated patterns to create artwork similar to his. The children have enjoyed printing to create these.
We have looked at healthy eating, categorising items in to healthy and unhealthy categories. We have discussed how some foods are healthier is cooked in specific ways and how everything should be eaten in moderation.
During P.E we have used the big climbing equipment, the children did a great job risk assessing how they move to keep safe.

W/C 20.06.2022

This week we have been reading ' we're going on a lion hunt'. The children have really enjoyed reading this story and have been asking for it to be read numerous times throughout the day. We have talked about the story setting and the similarities and differences between our environments and the environment in the story.
We have also been looking at different habitats this week. The children have been sorting the animals into their correct habitats and have explored this through different activities such as small world and cutting and sticking.
Floating and sinking is another activity that we have been looking at this week. The children have enjoyed experimenting with our beans and different objects to see if they would float or sink. We then used the outer shell of the beans as a boat for the small beans to float on too.
What a busy week!

W/C 13.06.2022

Following an interest we have been investigating dinosaurs. The children have loved making footprints in dough and helping baby dinosaurs hatch. We discussed that dinosaurs are extinct and what that means. Next week we are going to discuss other animals that have now become extinct and how we can look after wildlife to prevent it from happening to more species.
The children discovered our potatoes and broad beans had grown. We dug them up or picked them and gave them a good clean. Under adult supervision some of the children had a go at peeling the potatoes.

W/C 06.06.2022

The children have settled really well back in to the nursery routine. There has been lots of different interests especially Humpty Dumpty. We really enjoyed creating our own Humpty Dumpty using playdough and other materials. We loved decorating eggs to create Humpty Dumpty too.
We have been discussing which animals you would see in a zoo and what their natural habitats should be, which we are hoping to continue next week.
The older children are doing a great job getting themselves changed for PE. Our new PE days are on a Monday and Friday, please can we have a change of clothes for these days to continue their development ready for Reception.

W/C 23.05.2022

This week we have been looking at the difference between toys now and in the past. We discussed how they were different and what other objects have changed over time. This led us to investigate transport too.

We have also been discussing the Queens Jubilee and what her role is. The children loved building their own palace, made cucumber sandwiches, flags and even had a visit from the "Queen" who read them a story.

To aid our letter formation we have been practising making anti-clockwise marks, which the children are getting good at.
We are looking forward to continuing expanding our knowledge on the Queen after the half-term.
Hope you all have a lovely week!

W/C 15.05.2022

This week we have been looking at recycling and reusing items. The children have been cutting out and placing numerous items in the correct "bins". We discussed how important recycling is for the environment and watched videos showing the recycling process. We loved seeing the bin men taking away our bins!
We have used construction materials to build our own water recycling machine and used problem solving skills when our containers sprung a leak.
The children have shown an interest in letter formation this week, they have enjoyed practising how to write different letters using the correct way, focusing on anti-clockwise movements for a and o. The younger children have also been exploring letters using beads.
Next week we will be exploring a variety of toys from now and then. 
We shall also be exploring how technology and clothing has changed over the years, including old cassettes, telephones and items of clothing.

W/C 24.01.2022

We have explored ice with the hammers setting the bears free. We talked about the changes in the ice and how the ice was made.
We have also been making birthday cakes with the play dough. We added candles and cases and sung happy birthday to each other. We used great maths skills to count out the candles!
Our book this week was all about a penguin. We used imagination skills whilst exploring the arctic animals in the tray to act out role play and tried creating our own penguins using a variety of materials.
Towards the end of the week we had a big interest in pizza! We used this idea to create our own pizzas. The children chose their own toppings and used their motor skills to chop the ingredients. We hope you enjoyed eating them!

W/C 17.01.22

We have had a very busy week. We continued talking about families and how every family is unique, using paint to draw ourselves. We also investigated how we change as we grow up and what is needed for our body to grow in a healthy way.
We explored a variety of vegetables, discussing their properties and how they are healthy.
Following a number of interests we have also made cakes with play dough, using rolling pins and cutters for our creations.
Towards the end of the week we explored and discussed ice and how it forms, whilst using the hammers to save our frozen bears.
On Friday we went for a walk to see seasonal changes, discussing why we needed to wear clothes to keep warm and to our surprise we returned to find superheroes had taken over the hall. The children thoroughly enjoyed dancing with Spider-Man, the Flash and Wonder Woman.

W/C 10.01.22

This week we have been reading the book 'Grandads Island'. This has sparked lots of conversations about families and grandparents. The children have been creating pictures of their family members paying close attention to detail when adding features.
We have also been looking at artwork by an artist named Slava Ilyayev who uses flowing lines and shapes based on flowers and plants. We used our own skills to create jungle artwork using lines too.

W/C 12.12.21

We have had an exciting week this week as we decorated ready for Christmas. The children have been taking part in lots of different activities such as exploring peppermint play dough and lots of different crafts. It was lovely to have some of our parents/carers join us for our Christmas craft session we hope you enjoyed it too.
Our book this week has been 'Dream Snow'. The children have taken part in lots of discussions about the book and even made honey sandwiches like the man in the story.
We have shown a great interest in brushing our teeth this week as we explored the new teeth set in the classroom. We have looked at the book alongside this and talked about dentist's and what they do.

W/C 22.11.2021

Our book of the week has been 'Goldilocks and The Three Bears.' We have explored different measurements, small, medium and large. We looked at a variety of different objects and tried to group them in their correct sizes.
We have also been looking at Art by George Seurat and had a go ourselves; we can see lots of budding Artists already.
Next week our book will be 'Shark in the Park on a Windy Day'.

W/C 15.11.2021

We have had another busy week in Pre-school. We have read 'the wind blew' and enjoyed watching the wind outside blow a variety of items, we also dressed up in some of the outfits from the book.
The children enjoyed making leaf piles on the field and jumping in them.
We peeled, chopped and mashed a butternut squash for soup, everyone tried it but only some of us liked it.
On Friday we really enjoyed watching the teachers being pranked.

W/C 08.11.2021

We have had a lovely first week back in preschool. The children have settled straight back in and we have been discussing what we have been up to during our half term. (If you have any photos of your half term that you would like to share, please upload them to Tapestry, we would love to see them!)
Our book of the week this week has been 'Peppa's Diwali'. We have been reading this to learn about Diwali, the Hindu festival of light. We have learnt lots of new facts about Diwali and took part in different activities such as making Diya lights out of paper plates and painting Rangoli patterns. We have also been talking about fireworks and creating our own firework pictures using the chalks.
Towards the end of the week we began learning about Remembrance day. We watched a short video about remembrance day and talked about poppies and why we wear them. We have also been baking poppy biscuits too! Such a busy first week back!
Next week we look forward to reading our book 'The Wind Blew'.

W/C 04.10.2021

This week we have been busy learning about farming. Our book of the week was ' the runaway tractor', which the children have thoroughly enjoyed.
We have been exploring a variety of vegetables, chopping, peeling and tearing them. Discussing how they grow and where they come from. The children have really enjoyed scooping and pouring oats and other materials.
We have also been on some outings to visit the local library and to feed the ducks at the River Slea.
For Mental health awareness day we have looked at the book 'The colour monster', talking about how we are feeling and what emotions are.
We hope you have a lovely weekend and we are looking forward to seeing what adventures next week brings.

W/C 06.09.2021

We have had a very busy first week back. The children have settled amazingly and we are very proud of them. The first week back is all about building new relationships and allowing the children to settle in to their new environment.
We have read the story 'Owl babies' to aid the transition into nursery and have enjoyed getting to know each other.

W/C 10.05.2021

Story of the Week: Pirates Love Underpants.

This week's story has been about pirates, where the children have enjoyed digging and searching in the sand for hidden treasure.
Our water tray has had glitter and gem enhancements. We added small boats to the water to explore sinking and floating.
We enhanced our Writing and Art area with treasure maps to encourage the children to use different materials to create their own treasure maps. 
We've had various group times where we have incorporated pirate themed number games, a game called across the water which supported early Phonic skills. The children demonstrated fantastic oral blending skills. Oral blending is a key skill to develop when starting school.
We created treasure chests and the children created coins and treasure out of play dough to add to the chests.
Our number song this week has been '5 Little Monkeys.'
The children decided that our nursery rhyme of the week would be 'Twinkle Twinkle Chocolate Bar.'
We've had lots of fun throughout the week that has enhanced the children's developments in all areas.

W/C 26.04.2021

This week the children have enjoyed the rhyming book 'Twist and Hop Minibeast Bop' alongside our nursery rhyme of 'Incy Wincy Spider' and number song of ;Five Little Men in a Flying Saucer.'
We have looked at different habitats of minibeasts, having a tough tray filled with wood chips, stones, wood and minibeasts. The children used tweezers to help encourage fine motor skills.
We have also looked at sequencing using different colours and materials to make a pattern. 

W/C 19.3.2021

Our book of the week this week has been 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar.' The children have enjoyed learning about the numbers of fruit that he ate, learning what a 'cocoon' is and how he turns into a beautiful butterfly.

The children have engaged in gross motor activities, where we have had our group times on the field. They can run to enhance their gross motor by kicking balls, rolling hoopla and finding the number that goes with the fruit on each day.

We have encouraged their fine motor by using cheerios and pipe cleaners to careful place the cheerios into the pipe cleaners to make their own hungry caterpillars. We have also enhanced the area by putting out a variety of different fruit and vegetables to cut up and tweeting out the seeds, which once dried out we shall be planting them to see if they grow.
We have added lemons to the water tray which some children have been making lemonade.

The children have also enjoyed being outside with the warmer weather and we have been looking at different bugs, making mud pies and painting on our outside board.

W/C 22.3.2021

This week our story has been 'Farmer Duck', leading into our Farmers visit on Wednesday via zoom.
The children have been practicing their printing skills using different vegetables, making carrots out of playdough.
We have had ducks in our water tray for the children to explore and sing the 5 little ducks song.
The children have been exploring the farm that was created in our small world area. The children have been interested in where our food comes from.
Today, the children have been creating their own potato and carrot heads using the arms, eyes and feet from the plastic potato head. They have then used their imagination to create their own stories.
As the children have shown a varied interest in this week's activities, our book next week will be 'Supertato' alongside Easter activities.

W/C 15.3.2021

This week we have been reading the story of 'The Tiger Who Came to Tea.'
The children have enjoyed doing activities relating to the story. We have been playing what's the time Mr Tiger, where we have been encouraging the children to count their steps, wait their turn and run on the field helping to support their gross motor skills.
We have had play dough out where the children have been creating tigers, tea party food and spoke about the different food's that the tiger may like at our tea party.
We have also encouraged the children to make sandwiches using bread, butter, ham and cream cheese, using our spreading and cutting skills.
In the water tray we have had a tea set with a tiger in to encourage the children in the tipping and pouring skills, using words such as full, empty, careful pouring as cups of tea are hot.
In our fine motor tray we have added some coloured sand, pom poms, tweezers, tigers and pots to encourage the children to use the tweezers so that it helps with their writing skills.
Key words in the story has been asking the children what a grocer was, as well as a milkman.
We were asking the children if it was nice for the tiger to eat all the food, or if it would of been nice to share it?
Towards the end of the week the children have created some tiger faces of their own using paper plates and tissues.

W/C 8.3.2021

This week our story has been 'A Squash and a Squeeze'. The children have taken part in many activities based on the story. Some of the children acted out the story in the small world tray and some children have been practising squashing and squeezing different fruits in the water tray. They then used these fruits to pretend to make potions. Whilst reading the story, we talked about the different rhyming words we could hear. Some children have also been practising their mark making skills. They used the large paper and chose to paint lots of different pictures onto it. Outside we explored the windy weather. The children used the ribbons to twirl them in the wind and we also took a kite onto the field and had a go at flying it in the wind too.

 W/C 1.3.2021

This week we have been reading the story 'Jack and the beanstalk'. The children have taken part in many activities throughout the week. We have baked Frittata's and included green beans in our recipe. Some children have been acting out the story with the props and some of the children have painted pictures of beanstalks too. We have been using lots of language about size to talk about the story and the beanstalks.