Penny Bridge Nursery
Newsletter Feb/March 2016
Welcome to the March half
term. Over the past few
weeks we’ve been doing lots
of work on reading stories,
telling stories and role play to
help boost the children’s
language and communication
skills. Stories promote
imaginative play, encourage
why, how, where, what if
questions and problem
solving. The children have
loved working with their
friends to create and act out
stories, as well as listening to
stories.
Over the next few weeks we
will be developing themes
that build on the children’s
interests. We are starting
with the moon, space and
rockets, inspired by children’s
reactions to stories and books
we’ve been reading together
and discussions about the
British astronaut, Major Tim
Peake.
The children have been asking
lots of questions such as,
‘where is the moon? What
does it look and feel like?
How do you get there? Why
can’t I see it in the daytime?’
We are helping the children
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to find answers to some of
their questions using creative
and imaginative activities as
well as information books and
video clips. (Cbeebies have
some aimed at the nursery
age group, if your child is
interested).
Other activities to try at home
include looking out of the
window at bed time, making
up stories about travelling to
the moon or stars, using
household objects to role play
flying in a rocket and counting
up to 10 and then back down
to one and finishing with
‘blast off!’.
Learning and playing We are
often asked about how
children learn at nursery. All
our children are learners and
they are learning all the time.
They learn through playing,
talking, exploring, working
things out for themselves and
interacting with others. Many
children like to return to
familiar games, ideas, stories
time and again; this helps
them test their thinking,
incorporate new ideas and
make sense of their
experience.
Play is at the heart of early
learning. It enables children
to engage with other people,
new experiences and the
world around them. Our
youngest children really
benefit from lots of
opportunities to use their
senses. As children grow in
confidence they consolidate
their skills and become ready
to move on. Older children
often choose role play, based
on their experience or
imaginative themes; this can
give them ways of discussing
ideas or practising skills in a
way that feels purposeful and
that they are in control of.
If you would like to know
more about learning at
nursery see our new display
on the cloakroom notice
board. To see how this fits
with the early years
curriculum, the Early Years
Foundation Stage, see
www.foundationstage.org.uk
or www.4Children.org.uk
World Book Day On 3rd March
we will be taking part in world
book day. Your child is
welcome to come dressed as
a favourite character or bring
a book in for us to read
together if they wish. (Please
ensure any books are named).
We would love to compile a
list of favourite stories both
from Nursery and at home so
if you and your child would
like to share your ideas about
books you love please let us
know.
Assessment Your child’s
spring assessment will be
ready for you w/c 14th March.
We are trying out a new
format that we hope you will
find clearer and easier to
understand. Your child’s key
person’s comments will focus
on your child’s progress since
their last assessment. There is
space for you to add your
own comments or
information about your
children’s progress at home.
We really appreciate you
taking time to do this; many
children are very different at
home and your views can
help us gain valuable insight
into how to support your
child effectively. Also, we’d
love your feedback about the
format and we'd be happy to
answer any queries you have.
Parents meetings All parents
are invited to make an
appointment for a meeting
about their child’s progress.
Parent’s meetings will be held
on Monday 21st March from
3.30 to 6pm. If this time is not
convenient for you your
child’s key person would be
`
happy to make an
appointment at an alternative
time, such as when you drop
off or pick up, so please speak
to us about this. If you have
any worries or concerns
about your child’s progress
please don’t feel you need to
wait for a parents’ meeting.
We are always happy to talk
to parents and to work with
you to meet your child’s
needs.
On line learning journals If
your child has an online
learning journal you may have
noticed that we can now do
video observations, enabling
you to see for yourself some
of the things your children are
doing in nursery. We’d love to
know if you find these useful
or interesting or if you have
any other feedback. Please let
us know!
Policies Did you know that
you can find many of our
policies and procedures on
our website? We also keep
paper copies in a box file in
the children’s cloakroom for
parents to read if they wish.
So, if you want to know more
about how we work to care
for, safeguard or teach your
children please feel free to go
through them. If you can’t
find what you are looking for,
please ask.
The Change4life campaign
has launched a new app to
help families identify added
sugar in their foods and plan
‘sugar swaps’ (food
alternatives that contain less
added sugar). As well as
downloading the app you can
find lots of tips and ideas and
handy vouchers to help the
whole family adopt a
healthier lifestyle. See the
leaflets in our lobby area, the
Apple app store, Google play
or www.nhs.uk/Change4life
The Child Accident
Prevention Trust has
published a new leaflet ‘How
safe is your child in the car’
with safety tips and a
summary of the legislation
around children’s car seats.
You can find a copy in our
lobby or see www.capt.org.uk
Fire safety Do you and you or
family know what to do if you
have a fire in your home?
Advice for parents and carers
can be found on our notice
board or on
www.facebook.com/firekills
or see www.gov.uk
Copies of these leaflets are
displayed in our lobby.
Penny Bridge Nursery Limited,
Tel: 01229 861777
www.pennybridgenursery.org.uka
[email protected]
k Company Number: 7740766