Welcome back! We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and would like to wish you all a healthy and happy 2019! We would also like to extend a warm welcome to the new children starting in our afternoon Nursery We hope that our existing children will be able to show the new children the general rules and expected behaviour in the Nursery and make them feel at home very quickly.

The topic for this half term is ‘Jack Frost’. The children’s learning will focus around the season of winter. Attached is a break down of some of the activities that the children will be taking part in and also a few ideas you might like to try at home.

Whilst the cold weather is upon us can you please ensure your child has a suitable coat, hat and some gloves as we will still be taking our learning outdoors on a daily basis. Please ensure your child’s clothing and belongings are clearly marked with their name.

We are trying hard to encourage the children to put on their own coats and do them up. Independence is a key skill children need to learn and we would really appreciate it if you could support us with this at home.

Please do have a look on the Nursery Blog where you can find out about some of the learning that has been taking place throughout our topic and there is also an opportunity for you to make some comments. Looking at the blog with your child can be a good ‘way in’ to talking about Nursery particularly with those children who say they either do “nothing” or “can’t remember” at Nursery. You can find it on the school’s website.

We are really pleased with the way the children are holding their pencil using the ‘nip and grip’ technique and progressing with writing their names. We want to thank all the parents and carers for their help with this at the beginning of the sessions..

Lots of children are using the Library in the cloakroom, it would be great to see everyone making the most of this resource. Please do not hesitate to ask if you are unsure of the procedure for borrowing a book. We all look forward to another fun filled and exciting half term.

Mrs Tucker, Mrs Ahmad and the Nursery Team.

Nursery Newsletter

Spring Term 1

January 2019

Jack Frost

PERSONAL, SOCIAL & EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

– Making relationships, Self-confidence and self-

awareness &managing feelings and behaviour

EXAMPLE ACTIVITIES

Introduce the new intake of children to the existing children explaining that they need to show our new children how we behave by setting a good example. Discuss Nursery rules.

Encourage existing children to talk about what they could do to help settle the new children into Nursery. (Taking turns, sharing, helping them follow routines such as snack and tidying up, being kind etc).

Lots of ‘getting to know you’ circle time games to encourage good relationships to form with each other e.g. roll the ball to a friend and call out their name, ring games and parachute games.

Children will be encouraged to take part in carrying out small tasks such as putting out name cards for snack, feeding the pet snails, being a tidy up time monitor and running errands etc.)

PHSE activities relating to Health and Wellbeing. (SCARF Coram Life Education)

Set ourselves a challenge; what we would like to learn to do or what we would like to get better at.

COMMUNICATION & LANGUAGE – Listening and

Attention, Understanding & Speaking

EXAMPLE ACTIVITIES

Singing time – Leaning songs and rhymes relating to the topic –

Little Jackie, Jack Frost Funny Little Snowman Put your coat on 5 Little Snowmen Fat

Story time – Children will be encouraged to talk about the story and join in with certain ac-tions.

Children will help to develop a story about Olaf the snowman after watching a video clip and then tell the story using Pie Corbett actions and a story map.

Henry’s Holiday

Lost and Found

The Emporer’s Egg

A Carrot Tale

Child of the week stories.

Information books about penguins and polar bears

Question time –

What is winter?

How can we keep warm?

Why is it important to keep warm?

What is ice?

What do we know about polar bears/penguins?

LITERACY – Reading & Writing

EXAMPLE ACTIVITIES

Singing – learning our topic based songs.

Phonic based activities taken from Letters and Sounds teaching programme:-

Rhyming bingo

Rhyming books

Alliteration – silly soup – I spy names.

Lots of mark making activities will be available both inside and out. Focus on name writing.

Reading – Winter stories and information books about winter and polar animals/regions.

The Writing area will be a ‘Winter’ themed area with booklets and different mark making materials.

Writing down orders in the Snowflake café.

Jack Frost

UNDERSTANDING THE WORLD – People and

communities, The world & Technology

Talking and writing about what we got for Christmas and did in the holidays.

Learning about polar bears

What to wear in winter sorting games, matching and lotto.

Learning about penguins. Use information found on the internet and from books.

Role play – Snowflake café.

Learn about ice and what happens to it- (Olaf’s nose is stuck in a block and defrosting Elsa’s frozen hand)

Looking at the globe – South Pole and North Pole and what lives there.

ICT - Winter activities on Poisson rouge and es-presso

ICT - Introduce iPads and cameras.

MATHEMATICS – Numbers & Shape, space

and measure

Playing number games on IWB and learning more Ten Town Characters.

Put into sequence events that take place in the Olaf story what happened first, next etc.

Lotto games – Dress a character in winter woollies.

Exploring the resources available in the number area – balancing penguins, matching numeral with quantity

Matching patterns on mittens and hats, describing and recognising the patterns.

Singing number songs.

Playing number games on IWB

Using the till in the role play area, writing

orders and reading numbers on the menu

Building with small and large construction bricks, making arrangements with shapes, making snowflake patterns in a range of media.

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT - Moving and Handling

and Self care Outdoor activities - Ring game ‘Here we go

round the Mulberry bush on a cold and frosty morning’. Play musical icebergs.

Moving to music like a penguin trying to balance a beanbag ‘egg’ on their feet.

Getting coats and wellies on independently.

Bikes and scooters, large construction/building igloos and ball games.

Mark making will be available in all areas of provision and outside to develop both gross and fine motor movements.

EXPRESSIVE ARTS AND DESIGN – Exploring and

using media and materials & Being

Imaginative

Learning new topic based songs

Make snowmen pictures using different materials and effects

Explore role play in all provision areas especially The Snowflake café.

Ice – investigate the properties.

Making ‘Heart shaped Valentines

Biscuits’.

Ideas to try at home

Make up your own story about a snowman, penguin or polar bear. What will your character be called? What happens first, next and in the end? Ask a grown up to write down your words and bring your story in to share with us.

Sing our topic based song

Make a model of a snowman, penguin or polar bear and bring it in to show us.

Play in the snow (when/if we get some!)

Go ice skating

Jack Frost By C.E. Pike

Look out! Look out! Jack Frost is about!| He’s after our fingers and toes; And all through the night, The gay little sprite Is working where nobody knows.

He’ll climb each tree, So nimble is he, His silvery powder he’ll shake. To windows he’ll creep And while we’re asleep Such wonderful pictures he’ll make.

A cross the grass He’ll merrily pass, And change all its greenness to white. Then home he will go And laugh ho, ho ho! What fun I have had in the night.

Little Jackie, Jack Frost

Little Jackie, Jack Frost bites my nose,

Little Jackie Jack Frost stings my toes.

Little Jackie Jack Frost climbs the trees,

Little Jackie Jack Frost paints the leaves.

Little Jackie Jack Frost thinks it’s fun,

Knocking all the leaves down one by one.

When the winter wind begins to blow,

Little Jackie runs a way, Ho Ho!

Funny Little Snowman

Funny Little Snowman, round and fat,

With his eyes of coal and his stove pipe hat.

Funny Little Snowman smiles all day ,

When the wind is cold and the skies are grey,

Funny Little Snowman sees the sun,

Quick Little Snowman, Run! Run! Run!

Put Your Coat On

Put your coat on, Put your coat on

And make yourself nice and cosy.

Put your coat on, Put your coat on

And come along out to play.

Repeat with different versions of winter clothing (hat, scarf, gloves)

Song sheet

Look out, look out, Jack Frost is about!

Five Little Snowmen Fat

Five Little snowmen fat,

Each had a funny hat,

The sun came out and melted one,

And that was the end of that!

Four little snowmen fat etc.