In the garden will be noticing signs of spring and growing cress and sunflower seeds. We will be reading Jasper’s Beanstalk to help the children understand about caring for plants and realising that they don’t grow instantly! Enjoy the story together here.

The children will be able to see a sped-up version of how beans grow in this amazing video here.

We would also like to look at baby photos with the children to help them notice how they have grown and changed. Please can you send your child’s baby photo to [email protected]

We Are Learning… To Listen To and Re-Tell the Story of The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Linked to our activities around growth and change, our core book this term is The Very Hungry Caterpillar. You can watch the story together here.

We will be using our counting skills to find out how many items are eaten and exploring the taste and texture of the different fruits. We would love to try lots of different fruits from all around the world and would be grateful for any donations.

We will also be joined by Kelly from The Children’s Kitchen who will be helping us to use knives and kitchen tools safely, introducing different foods and teaching us about healthy eating. We hope to be able to invite parents along to some after school food activities too.

We Are Learning… About Important People in the Community Who Help Us

The children will be able to dress up and explore role play resources linked to people who help us. We will be looking at non-fiction books about doctors, dentists, bus drivers, firefighters, hospital workers and many more, as well as reading stories and learning songs and rhymes.

We would love the children to be able to meet some of these extraordinary people.
Do you know a fight fighter, police officer or medical professional who would like to come for a visit?
Please let us know.

Home learning – Find out about The Walk and Talk Trail

The free walk and talk trail is a set of cards designed to support parents and carers of 0 to 5-year-olds to talk and play more with their children while they are out and about engaging in their daily routine. The cards have been produced by the National Literacy Trust to support the Start for Life campaign.

Designed to be used in an urban environment, the cards provide a range of tips and activities that can be completed anywhere outside. The aim being to increase the frequency of interactions and enhance the quality of interactions between parent or carer and child.

Find out more on the link below. Translated versions are also available.

Click here.

Free Online Learning

Families in Focus are excited to launch a new package of FREE online learning for every parent and carer in Bristol. The courses have been developed by the Solihull Approach, alongside the NHS and parents. The learning is for everyone, not only for when parents are struggling. The courses cover a whole range of topics including:

• Pregnancy and post-pregnancy support
• How to understand your child or teenager’s mental health
• Help for understanding relationships
• Support for children with additional needs
• Courses for teenagers to help them understand their mental health and feelings.

You can access the courses through this link Family Hubs virtual offer or by taking these 5 simple steps:

1. Go to the Solihull Approach
2. Go to inourplace tab on front page
3. Click on Apply Access Code tab
4. Enter code : GROWING
5. Answer the monitoring questions and add your Bristol postcode, and you ready to go.

The post In Willow Room We Are Learning… (April 2025) appeared first on Little Hayes and Speedwell Nursery Schools.

We will be using patterns of actions in songs and stories, as well as thinking about the pattern of the daily routine, with language such as first, now, next, after, and later.

Linked to our core book we will be learning the vocabulary of size (small, medium and large), height (short, shorter, shortest, tall, taller, tallest) numbers 1,2,3 and ordering (first, second, third).

We Are Learning… To Be Independent

We will continue to explore the outdoors in all weathers. The children will be learning to be independent by changing their shoes and putting on their own coats and waterproofs.

We are teaching them the coat flip method. Watch and learn together here. It really helps their independence if they wear shoes that are easy to put on and do up.

Please remember to name their shoes and clothes, so that they can find them at the end of the day, and provide spare clothes each day in case they get wet or muddy. Thank you.

We Are Learning… To Take Part in Shared Reading and Tales Toolkit activities, and Respond to the Features of Stories

Our core book is the traditional tale, The Three Billy Goats Gruff. We are using props and story maps to re-tell the story and creating different voices for the characters—a deep, gruff voice for the big Billy Goat Gruff, a tiny voice for the little Billy Goat Gruff and a scary troll voice.

We will be continuing to talk about characters, settings, problems and solutions in our Tales Toolkit story sessions and using the story props in our play. The children are loving exploring our exciting new Tales Toolkit area.

The Three Billy Goats Gruff

Once upon a time there were 3 Billy Goats Gruff.

Little Billy Goat, Bigger Billy Goat and Biggest Billy Goat Gruff.

One day, they went for a walk over the bridge to eat the sweet green grass.

But Uh Oh! Under the bridge there lived a very hungry TROLL!!!

First, Little Billy Goat went over the bridge…. Trip Trap Trip Trap

The Troll said…. Who’s that trip trapping over my bridge? I’ll eat you up!

No, you won’t! Said the goat. You can eat my brother he’s bigger than me.

And he ran away, over the bridge to eat the sweet grass.

Next, Bigger Billy Goat went over the bridge…Trip trap trip Trap

The Troll said…. Who’s that trip trapping over my bridge? I’ll eat you up!

No, you won’t! Said the goat. You can eat my brother, he’s bigger than me.

And he ran away, over the bridge to eat the sweet grass.

Finally, Biggest Billy Goat Gruff went over the bridge…Trip trap Trip Trap

The Troll said…Who’s that trip trapping over my bridge? I’ll eat you up!

No, you won’t! Said the goat. And he ran at the Troll with his two huge horns and bumped him off the bridge and into the water

AAAAGHHH! SPLOSH!

And he ran away, over the bridge to eat the sweet grass.

The three Billy Goats Gruff lived Happily Ever After.

THE END

Download the Story Map below.

Home Learning Links

While children are moulding play dough into different shapes, they are building up strength in their tiny hands. The act of manipulating, squishing, rolling, and flattening helps the children to develop muscles in their hands that they need for fine motor movements, such as holding a pencil or using scissors.

This term, as well as exploring playdough, we will be using clay and other malleable materials.

You can create your own playdough to explore together at home with this easy recipe.

What will you create?

The post In Willow Room We Are Learning… (January 2025) appeared first on Little Hayes and Speedwell Nursery Schools.

Dave gave us a very informative presentation and we learned about the different parts of the owl’s body, what they eat and much, much more.

You can see some of the pictures from the presentation below. We also learned lots of new vocabulary. One highlight for the children was when Loki pooed on the classroom floor!

The children couldn’t hold Loki, but were able to get up really close to see his eyes, feathers, and talons. Some of the adults were able to hold Loki and the parents met him too.

Later at circle time we read What am I? by Moira Butterfield. Can you guess what it is?

Thank you, Dave, for such an exciting and informative visit.

The post Owls Visit Little Hayes Nursery School appeared first on Little Hayes and Speedwell Nursery Schools.

We will be focusing on developing number confidence, in particular knowledge around number and counting.

We will be exploring maths resources, singing number songs and looking at number stories.
Some children are interested in numbers, particularly those that are significant to them, such as their age and can join in with counting animals in their favourite songs.

We will be noticing that numbers are all around us. You might like to play a number spotting game with your child and encourage them to keep an eye out for any numbers in the environment (house numbers, car registrations, speed signs etc).

Get spotting!

We Are Learning… To develop an Awareness of Number Names Through Our Enjoyment of Action Rhymes and Songs

We will be reading a variety of number books and using props and actions to support our learning. We are starting with Ten in the Bed, by Penny Dale.

You can watch the story together on YouTube.

We will also be reading One Mole Digging a Hole and singing lots of number songs. five Little Ducks, five Little Monkeys and Old Mr Fox are our some of our favourites.

We Are Learning… To Actively Cooperate with Nappy Changing, Dressing and Undressing

This term we will be encouraging the children to learn how to put on their own boots and coats.
We will also be supporting those children who are ready to begin independent toileting , and working together with parents to support this.

ERIC is a very useful website providing a handy How to guide to potty training.

REMINDER—for those children in nappies, please can you supply wet wipes, nappies and spare clothes everyday. Thank you

We Are Learning… To Join in with Actions and Sounds in Songs and Books

We will be re-introducing Tales Toolkit (see details over) and continuing to offer daily story times. The children can access books throughout the day and we offer a variety of fiction, non-fiction, familiar and new stories.

Please continue to support their reading at home by bringing in their book bags every Wednesday. If your child doesn’t have a book bag yet, please let their key person know.

We will be reading 1,2,3 Do the Dinosaur by Michelle Robinson . Why not watch the video and join in the actions together. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73GZx4aeMOs

Find out more about sharing stories and supporting your child’s reading at www.wordsforlife.org.uk/

Tales Toolkit

This term we will be re-introducing the children to Tales Toolkit – a Toolkit for creating Tales.
Story has been shown to improve all types of learning and increase engagement and memory capacity.

All of the resources are labelled with easily recognised symbols for Character, Setting, Problem and Solution giving the children a tool to independently weave magical tales.

We start by introducing labelled bags for each elements of the story (character, setting, problem, solution) and modelling how to create stories using the props hidden inside.

Soon the children will be creating their very own stories.

Find out more https://talestoolkit.com

The post In Willow Room We Are Learning… (October 2024) appeared first on Little Hayes and Speedwell Nursery Schools.

We have been busy re-settling returning children as well as welcoming new children and their families.

We have been finding out which groups we are in and where we meet. We are using visual registers, songs and games to learn the names of the children and adults in our key group. Which group is your child in? Yellow or green?

We are creating family boards and the children have enjoyed sharing their family photos and talking about them.

If you haven’t yet supplied a family photo, please email one to [email protected]
It has been amazing to see how well the children are settling, exploring our learning environments and finding out where everything belongs.

We Are Learning… To Notice and Talk About Things that We Observe in The Natural World.

The children have been exploring the garden and noticing seasonal changes as autumn arrives.
Don’t forget, the children will be outdoors in all weathers and need a warm coat everyday throughout autumn and winter.

Welly boots can be left on their outside peg and waterproof trousers will be very useful on rainy days. Please name all items. Thank you.

We Are Learning… To listen to and Join in with Stories, Rhymes and Poems.

At the start of term we are revisiting traditional and sometimes familiar nursery rhymes using books, puppets and props.

Our core books this term focus on personal, social and emotional development (PSED) and the topics of feelings, separation, making friends and starting school. We have a daily story time and the children will be learning to retell some of the stories using story maps (see over) and props.

We Are Learning… To Enjoy a Range of Books, Both Fiction and Non-Fiction.

We know how much children enjoy a story, particularly at bedtime, and how important it is for their language development and love of reading. To support this, we have given each child a book bag and the opportunity to borrow books every Wednesday to share at home.

Please remember to return the book, in the named book bag, each Wednesday ready to swap it for a new one.

We would also really love your feedback on which stories the children enjoy.

Find out more about sharing stories and supporting your child’s reading at www.wordsforlife.org.uk

Getting Ready for Potty Training

Are you planning on potty training your child soon, or have you already started your journey?

Please come and talk to your child’s key person and we can work together to support this.

The ERIC website’s Potty Training Section has lots of helpful tips. Why not sign up for their Toilet Train campaign to support you with getting your child toilet-ready.

Important Dates for Your Diary

Term dates 2024-2025

• ​Term 1: 2 September 2024 to 25 October 2024 
• (There will be staggered start dates and times for all returning and new children due to home visits and settling in sessions)
• Term 2: 4 November 2024 to 20 December 2024
• Term 3: 6 January 2025 to 14 February 2025
• Term 4: 24 February 2025 – 4 April 2025
• Term 5: 22 April 2025 to 23 May 2025
• Term 6: 2 June 2025 to 22 July 2025

Inset Days 2024-2025
Nursery will be closed for staff training (Inset) sessions on the following days.

• Term 1 – Wednesday 2nd October – Whole day
• Term 2 – Wednesday 4th December – Morning (8.30am – 12.30pm)
• Term 3 – Wednesday 5th February – Whole day
• Term 4 – Wed 5th March -Afternoon (11.30am – 3.30pm)
• Term 5 – Wednesday 4th June – Morning (8.30am – 12.30pm)
• Term 5 – Wednesday 18th June – Afternoon (11.30am – 3.30pm)
• Term 6 – Wednesday 2nd July – Whole Day         

The post In Willow Room We Are Learning… (September 2024) appeared first on Little Hayes and Speedwell Nursery Schools.

The project, called ‘Little Lights’ came about after some families from Little Hayes attended performances of the Travelling Light show ‘Igloo’ at the Oldbury Court Children’s centre in the spring.

This production was a non-verbal story about two siblings waiting for it to snow. Rebecca and Mike from Travelling Light brought some of the props from the show into the Nursery as a starting point and have since been exploring imaginative play, visual arts and non-verbal story with groups from across the setting.

The post Imaginative play with The Travelling Light Theatre Company appeared first on Little Hayes and Speedwell Nursery Schools.

The first week we learned about were moving and stopping, whilst singing ‘we walk and we walk and we walk and we stop, and then we dance around’. The children thought of different ways to move – dancing, flying, stomping and moving like different animals.

Ellie had something exciting in her bag. It was a ukulele! We learned that the ukulele has a head, a neck, and a body, just like us. We counted the 4 strings, each with different pitches. Everyone had a chance to carefully strum the strings and listen to the sounds they made. We had to be really gentle. Ellie played her ukulele and we accompanied her on the egg shakers.

Our final activity was conducting. Ellie showed us how to follow her visual instructions, playing when she held her thumbs up, then stopping when she held up both palms. We tried a few times with Ellie conducting, then the children had a turn too. We had to remember to watch the child’s hands all the time so we know when to stop.

The post Music with Ellie appeared first on Little Hayes and Speedwell Nursery Schools.

According to the Chief Medical Officer, children under 5 need 180 minutes of physical activity each day!
This term we are getting active. We will be reading stories linked to animals and their movements and having a go at moving like the animals, as well as learning new vocabulary to describe our actions. We will be waddling like penguin s and slithering like snakes. Check out the stories Monkey and Me, Walking through the Jungle and Head to Toe

We will be learning more yoga moves and dancing to different types of music. Hopefully Karol will be teaching us some Colombian dancing.

We Are Learning… To use Descriptive and Positional Language to Describe a Journey and Communicate Our Ideas

We will be marching up and down the big hill using our gross motor skills and following the rhyme ‘The Grand Old Duke of York.’ We will be using positional language to go UP and DOWN the hill and even finding out where HALFWAY UP or DOWN is.

We will also be reading Rosie’s Walk and using our wonderful garden to go Under the bridge? Over the hill? Behind the pond? Please see the you tube video to read the story with your children, Rosie’s Walk (youtube.com)

We Are Learning… To use Our Fine and Large Motor Skills

Along with other fine motor activities, we will be making small flags to place carefully in our sandcastles and making large flags to wave in the garden and follow instructions such as high and low.

We will be experimenting with different ways of attaching the material to the sticks, using glue, staples. tape or string.

End of Year Family Picnic

Come and join the fun for a stay and play family picnic on
Wednesday 17th July 2024 from 11am to 2pm.
Please bring along your own picnic and blanket.
(There will be no nursery sessions that day.)

New starters September 2024

We will be holding some welcome events this term for children who will be starting nursery in September.

We still have a few places available so please spread the words to your family, friends and neighbours. They can access an application on our website or call the office to come in for a visit.

The post In Willow Room We Are Learning… (June 2024) appeared first on Little Hayes and Speedwell Nursery Schools.

The garden will be noticing signs of spring and growing cress and sunflower seeds.

We will be reading Jasper’s Beanstalk to help the children understand about caring for plants and realising that they don’t grow instantly!

Enjoy the story together here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23INhyreb8M The children will be able to see a sped-up version of how beans grow in this amazing video.
https://thekidshouldseethis.com/post/kidney-bean-and-spinach-plants-soil-cross-section-time-lapses

We would also like to look at baby photos with the children to help them notice how they have grown and changed.

Please can you send your child’s baby photo to [email protected].

We Are Learning… About Important People in the Community

The children will be able to dress up and explore role play resources linked to people who help us.

We will be looking at non-fiction books about doctors, dentists, bus drivers, firefighters, hospital workers and many more, as well as reading stories and learning songs and rhymes.

We would love the children to be able to meet some of these extraordinary people.

Do you know a fight fighter, police officer or medical professional who would like to come for a visit?
Please let us know.

We Are Learning… To Listen and Re-tell the Story of The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Linked to our activities around growth and change, our core book this term is The Very Hungry Caterpillar. You can watch the story together here.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar – Animated Film – YouTube We will be using our counting skills to find out how many items are eaten and exploring the taste and texture of the different fruits. We would love to try lots of different fruits from all around the world and would be grateful for any donations.

We will also be joined by Kelly from The Children’s Kitchen who will be helping us to use knives and kitchen tools safely, introducing different foods and teaching us about healthy eating.

We hope to be able to invite parents along to some after school food activities too.

Home Learning—Find Out About the Walk and Talk Trail

The free walk and talk trail is a set of cards designed to support parents and carers of 0 to 5-year-olds to talk and play more with their children while they are out and about engaging in their daily routine.

The cards have been produced by the National Literacy Trust to support the Start for Life campaign.

Designed to be used in an urban environment, the cards provide a range of tips and activities that can be completed anywhere outside. 

The aim being to increase the frequency of interactions and enhance the quality of interactions between parent or carer and child. Find out more on the link below. Translated versions are also available.

Go to, https://literacytrust.org.uk/resources/walk-and-talk-trail/

Free Online Learning

Families in Focus are excited to launch a new package of FREE online learning for every parent and carer in Bristol. The courses have been developed by the Solihull Approach, alongside the NHS and parents.

The learning is for everyone, not only for when parents are struggling. The courses cover a whole range of topics including:

• Pregnancy and post-pregnancy support
• How to understand your child or teenager’s mental health
• Help for understanding relationships
• Support for children with additional needs
• Courses for teenagers to help them understand their mental health and feelings

You can access the courses through this link Family Hubs virtual offer  or by taking these 5 simple steps:

1. Go to the Solihull Approach
2. Go to inourplace tab on front page
3. Click on Apply Access Code tab
4. Enter code : GROWING
5. Answer the monitoring questions and add your Bristol postcode, and you ready to go.

The post In Willow Room We Are Learning… (Term 5, 2024) appeared first on Little Hayes and Speedwell Nursery Schools.

Our maths focus this term is around SHAPE. We will be exploring and noticing shapes in the environment, in books and in our creative exploration.

Adults will be using informal language e.g., slanty, pointy, twisty, wiggly, bumpy as well as mathematical names e.g., triangle, rectangle, circle, square.

What shapes can you find around your home or on your journey to nursery?

We Are Learning… About Dancing and Exploring Moving in a Range of Different Ways

We will be listening and moving to music from around the world, as well as creating our own music through singing and exploring instruments.

Karol will be teaching us some Columbian dancing.

If there are any parents/carers or family members with dancing or music skills that they would like to share with the children, please let us know.

We Are Learning… To Explore Colour and Notice how Colour can be Changed

We will be reading Colour and Me by Michaela Dias-Hayes and Mouse Paint by Ellen Stoll Walsh to support our colour mixing activities.

We will also be creating with boxes and using them in our role play and storytelling. Boxes are a great starting point for creative and imaginative play.

We can stack them, and climb in them, create cars, houses and spaceships, the possibilities are infinite.

We Are learning… To Explore and Experiment with a Range of Media and Materials

We will be offering a range of different materials and encouraging the children to explore and make marks in different ways e.g. fingers in cornflour gloop, sticks in mud, hands, and feet in paint etc.

We always encourage the children to wear aprons and roll up their sleeves but sometimes they still get dirty. This usually means they are having a good time!

Please remember to send your child to nursery in clothes that you don’t mind getting dirty.

We Welcome Donations of Boxes of all Sizes

From small food boxes for the home corner and for junk modelling, to large boxes that the children can get inside and use in their story telling and imaginative play.

We can’t wait to see what we can create.

Don’t forget Your Bookbag

Please remember to bring your book bag in every Wednesday to choose a different book to share at home.

For those children in nappies, please can you supply wet wipes, nappies, and spare clothes every day.

Thank you

World Book Day 2024

We will be celebrating World Book Day on Thursday 7th March.

The children (and staff) can dress up as their favourite story book character.

Who will you be?

The post In Willow Room We Are Learning… (Term 4, 2024) appeared first on Little Hayes and Speedwell Nursery Schools.