Parent News

Dear Parents and Carers,

On Friday May 29^th (4pm – 5pm) we shall be holding an information session for those parents who will be applying for schools this year.  The session will outline the processes that take place and will also be an opportunity for any questions that you may have.  If you would like to attend, please could you advise Michelle via email.  Thank you

 

Please note that we close at 18.00 on Friday May 22^nd and re open on Tuesday May 26^th at 08.00am.

 

If any parent has any of the following items that are no longer in use and would like to donate them to the nursery it will be very much appreciated. Hairdryers, curling tongs, hair rollers, empty shampoo and conditioner bottles, big clips, headbands, brushes, and combs. If you have any of the following items, please may they be passed on to Michelle in the office. Thank you!

 

Pre-school would like to ask parents not to bring in toys from home if these are not your child’s comforter as they get broken or lost. Thank you

 

Policies

Please find attached our healthy eating policy.

Snails

The focus in the snails this week continues to be settling in new starters. The children will be able to experience a range of activities, including clay hand prints, cornflour play, mirror play, looking at books independently and with a key worker, exploring the treasure baskets, building towers with the mirrored blocks and exploring paint by mixing the colours. Garden activities this week include, sensory activities, such as exploring sensory bottles and sensory shapes and also exploring the sand pit with happy land people. Planned activities within the Snails surround each child’s current interest in conjunction with supporting and extending their development.  To find out what activities are planned for your child for this week, please see your child’s keyworker who will be happy to take you through the planning.

Amy – Monday

 

Caterpillars

This week the Caterpillars team will focus on heuristic play.  The children will be encouraged to explore the heuristic play, experiment with different weighted objects and explore the uses of the objects. Activities this week include, shape sorters, filling and emptying containers, sponge painting, gluing and sticking, cornflour play, and water play. Outdoor activities this week include, tents and tunnels, sand play and walking with the walkers. Planned activities within the Caterpillars surround each child’s current interest in conjunction with supporting and extending their development.  To find out what activities are planned for your child for this week, please see your child’s keyworker who will be happy to take you through the planning.

Days off       

Jamie – Thursday

Alisha – Monday

 

Ladybirds

The current interest in the Ladybirds this week is block play and planting. The children will have the opportunity to water the flowers in the garden, plant sunflower seeds, decorate petals as a giant sunflower, explore large block play, take part in  an obstacle course, water painting using different types of bricks, exploring the ball run with water and different sized balls and exploring chalk drawing on the pavement. Planned activities within the ladybirds surround each child’s current interest in conjunction with supporting and extending their development.  To find out what activities are planned for your child for this week, please see your child’s keyworker who will be happy to take you through the planning.

 

Days off  

Abi – Thursday      

Naomi – Friday

 

 

Bumblebees

This week the children will be focusing on cooking and mark making. Activities this week include block play, making a car with the blocks and recognising the shapes, listening to familiar stories and the story of the week, which is, Peace at last and going on a bear hunt. Further activities are, balance on the balancing beam, action cards, building a train track and playing with happy land people and the village. The bumblebees this week will be making pizza muffins and drawing shapes and also exploring the texture of gloop play. Outdoor activities this week include, rolling different sized balls down the sloped guttering, using the climbing frame, painting with our feet, cars and trucks, parachute games and running games such as ‘what’s the time Mr. Wolf’. Planned activities within the Bumblebees surround each child’s current interest in conjunction with supporting and extending their development.  To find out what activities are planned for your child for this week, please see your child’s keyworker who will be happy to take you through the planning.

 

Days off     

Jani – Friday

Jenni – Monday

 

Butterflies     

This week the butterflies are going to focus of animals and pets. The activities include making animal footprints, making up a puppet show, taking part in animal worksheets (matching games), creating pictures of our pets, playing with animals, talking about where we live and the difference between us and animals, role playing a vets practice, a pet show on Friday (show and tell), and making animal masks. Outdoor activities include, balancing on one leg, building tents with the parachute, water play and exploring bubbles. Cooking club will take part on Wednesday and the children will be making cheese straws. The children will be focusing on the letter of the week, which is, ‘P’ and the number of the week, which is number 9. Planned activities within the Butterflies surround each child’s current interest in conjunction with supporting and extending their development.  To find out what activities are planned for your child for this week, please see your child’s keyworker who will be happy to take you through the planning.

 

Pre-school have asked if it is possible for children not to bring in toys from home as they get broken and lost, comforters however are still welcomed.

 

Days off   

Stani – Friday, training on Thursday, annual leave Wednesday                                

Tara – Tuesday

Jade – Monday

Lee – Forest School all day Monday, Forest School am Tuesday

 

Michelle is day off on Friday

 

Healthy Eating Policy

 

Aim of Policy

We at Castle Nursery want all of the children in our care to be healthy and happy. Eating healthy is vital to achieve this goal. We aim to provide the children in our care with a wide and nutritionally balanced diet to develop their health, growth and well being. This policy works with Every Child Matters (2003) and The Early Years Foundation stage (2012)

 

Points to Consider

 

We devise menus that are balanced and varied and contain foods from the four main food groups:

• Breads, cereals and potatoes
• Fruit and vegetables
• Full fat milk and dairy products
• Meat, fish or alternatives such as pulses

We offer water and milk to drink.

 

We offer healthy snacks such as different fruits, vegetable sticks, breadsticks or cheese cubes during the day.

 

The staff help the children to understand what is healthy and what is not. The staff also act as role models by eating healthy themselves, for example this may mean eating the same food as the children at meal or snack times.

 

Festivals and celebrations provide a valuable opportunity to include special occasion foods and to extend our knowledge of other cultures.

 

Promoting healthy eating is interwoven into daily practice at Castle Nursery, for example by talking about healthy foods, positively promoting healthy foods, and by making meal times a relaxed fun occasion.