This week the nursery has been learning about Spring. The Preschool children have been doing counting activities with carrots and they have chick feathers in their playdough. They have been exploring spring time plants, grass, seeds and are going to have a go at planting them later today. We wll learn about how plants grow and how to care for them. We also have Spring themed flashcards to use during small group time where the children have been talking about animals and their young. The children have shown so much interest in this topic that they have even brought some Easter/ Spring themed items in from home to show to their friends. 🐑🐰🐣🐥🐤

We are having a Parent's Evening on Monday 30th April between 6:30 - 8:00pm. We will have 10 minute slots for parents to come in and share how their child is developing here at nursery and at home. To find out availibility and book your time slot please speak to a member of staff in your child's class.

Say hello to Mikey and Sally Sock :) Each room in the nursery is introducing puppets to their circle time routine. This is to help encourage communication skills as Mikey asks the children to talk about themselves within a small group. We have made some 'postcards' that Mikey (and other characters) will be sending home for parents to write down what their child has been doing at home. Your child will then talk about what they have done during circle time with help from Mikey and then the whole group joins in to contribute their knowledge or experiences on the subject. For example, the Toddlers have spoken about their trips to the seaside, trips to the theatre to see Dear Zoo, new baby siblings and their bedtime routines. Please ask your room for a postcard to fill in for your child.

Today the Preschool have had a sports day as part of their learning about Sports Relief and what the charity supports. The children have been engaging in their own sports challenges 🏏🏀🎾. We have been throwing bean bags into targets, balancing bean bags on tennis rackets, jumping over hurdles, balancing along our soft bricks and hoola hooping.

Is your child signed up to the Imagination Library? Your child could be entitled to a free book each month as part of Dolly Parton's Imagination Library. Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library is a 60 volume set of books. It begins with the children’s classic 'The Tale of Peter Rabbit' by Beatrix Potter. Each month a new, carefully selected book will be delivered to your home and addressed to your child. It is completely free of charge. The programme has now been launched across the whole of North Lincolnshire. All children from birth to five years who live in North Lincolnshire are eligible to register. To find out more see the video below. If you would like to sign up please ask for a registration form from the nursery.

Today the children have all been sampling pancakes for Pancake Day. To enhance the children's learning, they have also been choosing their fillings, talking about the ingredients that make up pancakes and reading Mr Wolf's pancakes 📖📚📙

DID YOU KNOW? Experts in literacy and child development have discovered that if a child knows 8 nursery rhymes by heart by the time they are four years old, they are usually among the best readers and spellers in their class when they are in Year 3. Nursery Rhyme Top Tips 1. Start with simple nursery rhymes like ‘Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star’, ‘Baa Baa Black Sheep’ and ‘1,2,3,4,5 Once I Caught a Fish Alive’ 2. Use actions, facial expression and vary your voice to capture interest 3. Clap along to establish a steady beat 4. Say the words wrong and let your child correct you! 5. Change the words to make personalised rhymes “One for the master, one for the dame and one for Olivia Jones, who lives down the lane” 6. Miss out rhyming words and encourage your child to finish the line. 7. If you are unsure of the tune, why not search them on YouTube or ask one of our wonderful nursery staff to sing it to you!

Just a reminder for those children that have funded (term time only) places. Term end this Friday, 9th February, and the children return to nursery on Monday 19th February. We hope you all have a lovely holiday :)

One of our staff members has been on an Early Literacy training course recently and would like to share a video that she watched whilst there. It is a video from Save the Children. The film follows a boy through scenes of his life as he struggles to comprehend the written word after his father avoids reading to him as a child. Slightly extreme some might say, but the message is to teach parents the importance of reading to their child. Just 10 minutes a day could help them build strong foundations ready for when they start school and begin deveoping further reading and writing skills. It is also a great way to have fun and bond with your child! 📖📚📙 Does your child have any favourite books? Have you tried any of our chatter packs?

This morning we had a scheduled fire drill at the nursery. All the children listened to staff really well and evacuated the building in a calm and safe manner. Well done everyone! To continue your child's learning about fire safety at home, why not ask them about it? What did they do? What did the noise sound like?

Kayleigh, our nursery manager, has had a baby girl! 👶 Libby-Wren was born on 4th January 2018 at 20.49 by c section. Both Kayleigh and Libby-Wren are happy and healthy. Congratulations Kayleigh! We can't wait to meet your little bundle of joy 😀

The children in preschool and out of school club have been using their creativity today, making slime, getting busy moulding with clay, and makng their own winter wonderland with play foam and glitter