CARRICK NURSERY UNIT NEWSLETTER
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER
Welcome to our first Newsletter of the year. You will be receiving one every two
months. Our Nursery newsletters provide you with lots of information about the
Nursery e.g. our Nursery curriculum, trips, visitors to Nursery, topics, colours, rhymes
and songs, advice on how to help your child at home and lots more.
Settling In
Starting Nursery is a very exciting time for both you and your child.
Our Settling In timetable allows each child to become familiar
with our environment and the adults in the Nursery. They are
initially in small groups which gives them the opportunity to
explore our activities and become familiar with our rules and
routines before they join the bigger group.
It is very helpful at this time for you to:
-Talk positively with your child about their new Nursery e.g.
discuss the toys they will be playing with, having snack, playing
outside every day, meeting other boys and girls, names of
adults, listening to story in Quiet Room before dinner etc
-Encourage your child to be as independent as possible at home especially putting
on/taking off coat and shoes and tending to themselves at the toilet.
-Bring your child into the Nursery classroom every morning and briefly talk about which
Area of Play they would like to choose first.
-Be honest and let them know that you are leaving but reassure them that you will be
coming back shortly to pick them up.
-Do not put pressure on your child to make friends quickly - initially they are just
becoming familiar with the whole Nursery experience and exploring all the Areas of
Play.
-Speak regularly to Nursery staff about how your child is settling in and discuss
possible strategies if they are still becoming distressed leaving you in mornings e.g.
bringing familiar toy from home, keeping small photograph of you in pocket etc.
-Be aware that your child will probably initially be exhausted after Nursery and that
their sleep pattern may change.
-Enjoy your first school experience together.
Please feel free to ring the school at any time during these early days if you are
concerned about your child or simply require reassurance that everything is alright (tel:
028 3832 2458).
Staff
Photographs of our Nursery staff are displayed in our
Entrance Hall including Mrs Brown (Nursery Coordinator),
Mrs Elliott (Teacher), Mrs Murray(Nursery Assistant),
Mrs Black (Nursery Assistant) and Mrs Koshina
(Newcomer Assistant)
Routines
During the months of September/October we will be
concentrating on settling in the new children and teaching
them our routines – Snack, Art & Toilet. These routines
are the basis of our Open plan Nursery day and it is essential that all children become
familiar with them and can carry them out independently before moving on to longer
hours.
Topics
We will be introducing topics regularly throughout the year. During
September and October we will be introducing Topics on “Settling
in”, “Myself” and then “Autumn”.
More details of our Topics will be on our Information Board in our
Entrance Hall and also advice on “How to Help Your Child AT Home”
will be displayed. Encourage your child to look at the topic displays
and talk about them to extend their vocabulary but please ensure
that all items on our displays are returned to their original place
before moving on.
Trips
We will be going on several Nursery trips during the year and we are always in need of
adults to come with us. If you would be available to come on our trips during the year
please speak to Mrs Brown ASAP.
Our first trip will be to Lurgan Park to explore Autumn in our environment will be on
20th October.
Details to follow.
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Rules
Rules are a vital part of our Nursery as they provide structure and consistency for
children. We quickly introduce our Nursery rules to our new children as well as
continually reinforcing and rewarding positive behaviour with stickers, Good News
Notes and praise from all adults.
Nursery Rules We listen
 We share
 We help to tidy up
 We are kind
 We tell the truth
Colours
We have introduced our first colour – ‘RED’ and during Oct/Nov we
will be introducing the other Autumn colours brown, orange and
yellow. We will be doing lots of activities reinforcing these colours
and setting up Autumn displays. If you have any chestnuts, acorns or
red leaves please bring them in. No berries please.
Money
We collect all money on Mondays. Money will only be accepted if
it is in an envelope with your child’s name on it. Envelopes can be
purchased from Nursery Staff at a cost of £2.00.
Dinner Money is £2.20 per day (£11 per week) and can be paid
by cheque or cash weekly or monthly .Cheques should be made
payable to EA).
Toy/Snack Money is £3 every week. This money is used first of
all to buy food for our healthy snack and then to buy resources
for the Nursery. We will let you know of any big purchases made during the year and
are extremely appreciative of your support.
Car Parking
The Entrance to our school at opening & closing times is very
busy and raises the chance of an accident. Please try to park on
Sloan Street and avoid bringing cars into Sloan Avenue. Parking
is not allowed in school grounds or in the staff car park at
any time.
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Lending Library
We will be setting up a Lending Library in our Entrance Hall
from Monday 21st September. Please feel free to borrow
books at any time. You may borrow as often as you like – but
always write the title of the book in the appropriate file and
score out when you return the book.
Community Notice Board
We have a Community Notice Board in our Entrance Hall
which provides information on local events for parents. If
you have anything you would like to display please speak to
Nursery Staff.
Parent Interviews
We are very keen to discuss your child’s progress with you
during the year and also for you to have the opportunity to talk
to us about your child so we will be having three interviews
during the year. Our first interviews will be held in two
sessions during September and October.. Details of interview
times will be put up on Information Board in Entrance Hall
nearer the time.
Clothes
Outdoor Play is a vital part of our Nursery Curriculum and we offer it every day
weather permitting. Please make sure your child wears suitable footwear for running,
climbing etc and that it is clearly labelled with their name.
Encourage your child to be independent at home and to try to put
on their own coat and shoes if possible. We provide Carrick
Nursery coats for outdoor play and welly boots for the children to
wear in our outdoor sand house. All clothing must be clearly
labelled.
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Breakfast / After School Clubs
Breakfast and After School Clubs are available for all Carrick
children. Breakfast club is available from 8 am and Afternoon Clubs
are available from 1.30 pm for children when staying full time.
Nursery children attending Breakfast Club are brought down to their
class by a Classroom Assistant at 8.55am. If your child is attending
Club they must bring a school bag and leave it on their peg for Art
work, letters for parents etc. Please note that medicine must
NEVER be sent in a child’s school bag to Nursery or Clubs.
Picking up / Collecting children
Children are welcome to come between 8.55 am and 9.10 am. We
complete our register at this time and unfortunately children who
arrive after 9.10 am will be given a Late mark unless you have
informed Nursery Staff beforehand. If your child is sick please
either ring our School Office (028 3832 2458) or provide a written
note for your child’s teacher when they return.
When your child is full time they should be picked up punctually
between 1.15pm and 1.30pm. If your child is not collected by 1.30pm they will go up to
our Club and you will be charged accordingly.
Feel free to look at books with your child if you are waiting in the hall. You may also
look at the displays in the hall and discuss them with your child. Please ensure that
displays are left neat and tidy for other children to benefit from.
Please don’t let children climb on our coat area or run about as space is very
limited.
The security lock on our outside door will be kept on at all times for the children’s
safety. Please push the button and be patient – a member of staff will open it when
they can. Please do not allow your child or siblings to press any of our door buzzers at
any time.
Toys
We appreciate that some children have a special toy/teddy that
they like to bring to Nursery when they first start and indeed
they can be a vital link between home and school. Please inform
your child’s teacher if this is the case but if not please do not
allow your child to bring toys to school, even in a school bag as
they can cause problems for both staff and children.
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Healthy Eating
We operate a Healthy Eating Policy in our Nursery Unit –
and offer a healthy snack including fruit each day for the
children. There is no need for you to send any sweets /
drinks or food for your child to Nursery.
Nursery Monitor
Our monitor in our Entrance Hall is on every day and provides you with information on
staff, children’s birthdays, photographs of school trips and lots more.
Suggestion Box
We are constantly evaluating our practice and are very keen to take on board any
ideas/suggestions you as a parent have concerning our Nursery. Feel free to write
suggestions on the paper provided in our Porch and pop it into our Suggestion Box. We
will then bring the ideas to our Nursery Team Meeting and discuss appropriate action
to be taken if required.
Scrapbooks
Each child will have a Scrapbook when they first start Nursery for their Art Work.
We keep the scrapbooks in our Staff Room and regularly put a selection of each child’s
paintings, printing, collage work etc into them as a celebration of their creative work
during their Nursery year. We will show you your child’ s scrapbook at Parent/Teacher
Interviews and then you will get it home in June.
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Holidays and closures for the year are set and are available online along with other
information including our Uniform policy and photographs of Nursery children.
You are always welcome to come into the Nursery when you pick your child up to look at
the displays and see their work. The children love showing their paintings etc to
parents and explaining how they produced them. Please appreciate that every child’s
work is at different stages.
We are really looking forward to having your child in our Nursery for their Pre school
year and hope that this Newsletter has provided you with lots of information about our
school. Next Nursery Newsletter will be distributed at the beginning of November.
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Rhymes
Here is a list of the rhymes we will be doing in class. You can help your child by
saying them together at home.
1. The Autumn leaves are falling down,
falling down, falling down.
The Autumn leaves are falling down
falling down.
2.
Five little leaves so bright and gay
Were dancing about on a tree one day.
The wind came blowing through the town,
Who o o o o o
And one little leaf came tumbling down.
Four little leaves etc
3. Here is a tree with leaves so green,
Here are the apples that hang between,
When the wind blows the apples will fall.
Here is the basket to gather them all.
4. Row, row, row your boat
Gently down the stream.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Life is but a dream.
Row, row, row your boat,
Gently down the stream.
If you see a crocodile
Don’t forget to scream.
5. A sailor went to sea, sea, sea,
To see what he could see, see, see,
But all that he could see, see, see,
Was the bottom of the deep blue sea, sea, sea.
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