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Nursery

Welcome to Nursery!

In Nursery, the teacher is Mrs Guest and the teaching assistants are Mrs Hall and Miss Ryder. We follow a two-year rolling programme of topics in the Foundation Stage and we plan our adult led learning around our current topics. We also respond to the interests of the children which means we may divert from our planned topics. The provision of activities in the areas of our Nursery classroom aim to support the development of all areas of the Early Years curriculum and the specific needs of the children. We access learning opportunities both indoors and outdoors throughout the school year. Here is an overview of the topics to be covered over the coming year in Nursery:

TermTopics CoveredBrief Outline
Autumn 1It’s Good to be Me!We start the year by settling our children into Nursery, making friends, learning about routines and establishing our Nursery rules.  In this topic, we focus on ourselves and our families.  We learn about our bodies, naming the parts and their uses. We make a collage of our face and look closely at our features.  We also look at the five senses and explore these in exciting practical and sensory activities.  We talk about our different families and the different kinds of homes people can live in. Using the wonderful story “The Colour Monster”, we learn about our feelings and emotions.  The change of season is observed and we talk about and celebrate Harvest.  Our children make music, dance and move to express their ideas and feelings.
Autumn 2CelebrationsIn Autumn 2, we learn about different celebrations, their meaning and what people do to celebrate.  Through creative activities and role play, we learn about the special times of Bonfire Night, Remembrance, christenings, birthdays and Christmas.  We talk about and experience, the significance of lights, food, clothing, gifts and ceremony in celebrations. Children are given opportunities to discuss the similarities and differences, reflecting that people celebrate different things and in different ways.  Children and families are invited to talk about celebrations they have experienced.  We also learn, and use, appropriate vocabulary linked to our topic and role-play our own celebrations. Our mark making and writing, is based on cards, lists, invitations and letters.  There are many opportunities to explore a range of art techniques and media within this topic.
Spring
1
Yummy Scrummy in my TummyOur topic in Spring 1, is “Yummy Scrummy in my Tummy”. Firstly, we will observe and record the seasonal changes and work on scientific investigations linked to these changes. Healthy living will be the focus and we will look at how we can have a healthy lifestyle. A range of artists will be looked at and how they use food in their art work. We will also consider how different fruits and vegetables are produced. A range of stories will be shared around the topic.
Spring
2
SpaceThis topic is based around Knowledge and Understanding of the World. We will look at our world, focusing on sea, land and sky. We will look at the different planets and learn some simple space facts.  We will think about how astronauts travel into space and the work that they do. Art work will be completed with a focus on 3-D art. We will also focus on the ‘Easter’ celebration and reflect on the significant parts.
Summer 1Traditional TalesThis topic is Literacy based with a particular focus on creative and personal development activities. A selection of traditional and modern stories are focused on including; “The Three Little Pigs”, “Jack and the Beanstalk”  and  “We’re Going on a Bear Hunt”. We read the stories and retell them through role-play, dance, songs and rhymes. Story structure, characters, settings and language are looked at. We learn a variety of traditional songs and rhymes.
Summer 2Creepers and CrawlersIn this topic, we will be looking at common mini-beasts, focusing on their features and habitats. The life cycles will be observed up close as we watch the amazing metamorphosis from caterpillar to butterfly.  We will be creating a ‘Bug Hotel’, go on a Bug Hunt and make observations in the outdoor area. There will be opportunities to visit the school pond and children will be able to explore and make observations. A range of fiction, non-fiction and poetry books will be explored. Opportunities will be given to experience working with clay and making mini-beast models.

Home Learning:

Children will receive new home learning tasks on a Friday and they will have until the following Thursday to complete them. Home learning tasks are often phonic or number based, but can take the form of talking tasks, topic or creative activities. All communications about home learning will be sent out via Seesaw.

Phonics:

In Nursery, our children are encouraged to develop an awareness of sound, through activities that develop focused listening and attention.  We will listen to environmental sounds, body percussion, musical sounds, voice sounds and alliteration. Using nursery rhymes, songs, stories, games and activities the children learn to recognise rhymes, count syllables and hear initial sounds.

Reading:

Please read with your child as often as possible at home and ideally every day. Developing a love of reading at an early age, is one of the most important and effective ways that parents and carers can actively support their child’s learning and development.  Encourage your child to talk about the events in the story, its setting and the main characters. Nursery has a lending library in the conservatory which parents and carers are able to use.

PE:

Our PE sessions are on Mondays and Wednesdays this term. You do not need to send a PE kit into school.

Our current Nursery cohort photo gallery

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