Hello and Happy New Year to you all! At this time of year it
always seems amazing how quickly the Christmas break
recedes to become a dim and distant memory and the short
days and dark nights seem to drag on. However, children
are a great antidote to this, as they seem to embrace all the
seasons, and if this week’s snow is anything to go by, they
enjoy anything the weather throws at us! We have some
lovely photos on our Facebook page if you need cheering
up or are fed up with the snow getting in your way.
I hope you and your children enjoyed the numerous
activities in the nurseries in the run up to Christmas. Thank
you to all of you who supported the various events and
made it such a special time. Thanks also to everyone who
gave lovely cards and gifts to the staff teams, they really do
appreciate it hugely.
We are now back to a busy New Year, with lots going on
everywhere. The pre-school terms are well underway,
although we still have a few spaces in most of our preschools, so if you have friends who aren’t claiming their 15
hour free entitlement, do let them know. We have really
worked hard at embedding the changes to the curriculum
(the Early Years Foundation Stage) since it was updated in
September, and I know some of the nurseries have held
information evenings about this, with more to come. Do
please ask staff if you want to know any more about this
and in particular how we will be working with local schools
to prepare your child if he or she will be moving on to school
in the summer.
Before we know it, we will be working on Valentine’s Day
cards, making pancakes for Shrove Tuesday and then
looking forward to Easter. There is a definite rhythm to the
year in a nursery, so here’s to a fun and stimulating couple
of months, with the Easter holidays just around the corner.
Stay warm and safe!
Best wishes,
Sarah Steel
HEAD OFFICE CONTACT DETAILS:
[email protected]
tel: 07725 049744 (Sarah Steel)
[email protected]
tel: 07791 806502 (Rachel Attwood)
[email protected]
tel: 01522 521758 (Jo Bowley)
Operations Manager Update
I hope you all had both a lovely and relaxing Christmas and
may I take this opportunity to wish you all a very Happy
New Year. If you’re anything like me, you’re probably
wondering where on earth last year went as well as being
full of resolutions for this year. I’ve thought of one more that
you may like to add to your list - more messy play!!
I usually get one of two reactions to this, ‘that sounds like
fun’ or ‘you must be joking; that’s what nursery is for’.
Whether you love it or hate it, the importance of it in your
child’s early years cannot be overstated... think of it as
sensory and manipulative play.
At home we often have staples like sand, water and playdough, all of which can become boring for you and your
child, so what can you do to make messy play fun again?
Here are a few ideas:
 How about flinging paint dipped spaghetti at paper
to create a spiders web?
 Make big marks, using a broom in puddles and add
some bubbles.
 Mix a garden soup in a water tray/bucket, collecting
grass, leaves, berries, feathers or infact anything
you and your child can find. You could also add
food colouring, porridge oats or pasta and mix it all
up with a big wooden spoon. Glitter would add a
real sparkle!
 Make fairy rice – pink rice, sequins, stars and petals
and place it into fairy bags to leave at the bottom of
the garden.
 Purchase fine coloured sand, and make designs in
small bottles (you could use small plastic water
bottles for this).
 Create a dinosaur landscape on a tray using
leaves, grass, twigs, bark, stones and moss found
in your garden or the park, and then enjoy a few
moments peace as they play happily with their
dinosaurs. How about adding green jelly to the
garden, to spark further imaginative play?
 How about experimenting with frozen paint ice
cubes on paper or in Daddy’s shaving foam, to see
what happens as the cubes dissolve?
 Try rolling footballs, tennis balls, or marbles in
paint, then swirling them around the paddling pool,
lined with paper. Definitely a masterpiece for the
fridge!
 Have a treasure hunt in your sand pit, hiding small
toys and objects for your child to find.
 If your child is bored with sand, how about filling the
sand tray with cereals, leaves, compost, mud or
sawdust?
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
And how about swapping the water play for gloop
(cornflour mixed with water) or slime (cornflour,
water and soapflakes). You’ll really enjoy this one
too!
I hope I’ve given you food for thought and I hope that you all
have some fun getting messy this year too!
Rachel Attwood
Notes from the office
I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and New Year.
Here in the crèche we were lovely and busy and we
enjoyed every minute of the festive season!
We have hired a new member of staff this year – Lauren,
who is a great addition to the team and will work weekends
with Tanisha. Do say hello when you are next in.
We are looking to update some of our areas in the crèche
and are always looking for new ideas to make it exciting for
the children; at the moment we are focussing on winter
animals to match the cold conditions outside! If you would
like us to look at a particular topic or if you have any good
ideas, do pass them on.
We are looking forward to celebrating the Chinese New
Year in February – this is China’s biggest festival and this
year will be the year of the snake. We will be decorating
the crèche with the children and will be making lots of things
for the children to take home and for our displays. Do come
and see what we are up to.
Many thanks,
Crèche team
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