General Information

Welcome back! We hope you had a lovely summer and are refreshed and ready for another busy term.  We would like to take this opportunity to give a warm welcome to the new children and their parents.  We have some staff changes; Mrs Jeffry will be working every afternoon and one morning.  We all look forward to working with you and your child over the coming school year.  Here are some additional bits of information as well as some important dates for your diary:

• We will continue to provide a piece of fruit or vegetable for snack time; however you are also welcome to provide a healthy alternative.
• Wednesday will be our P.E day, so please ensure your child is wearing shoes (without laces) and socks (rather than tights) that are easy for them to take off and put on independently. Also can you provide a pair of named shorts that can stay at school? 
• Afternoon children will have Parents Evenings on Wednesday 21st and Thursday the 22nd October.  Morning children will have Parents Evenings on Wednesday 2nd and Thursday 3rd December, during which you will receive and discuss your child’s report.  In the meantime we are always happy to discuss your child’s progress or any concerns you may have at the end of a session
• Please note that the Nursery will be closed for the day on Wednesday 18th November to enable the staff to carry out home visits for the children starting in January 2010.
• Please make sure you read the Nursery notice board regularly.  We will display important notices, anything we would like the children to bring in to Nursery and a brief description of what your child will be doing in their ‘Small Group Time’ every day. 
• Please consider us if you are having a ‘clear out’ of any kind- we can normally make use of most things! 
• We welcome any volunteers to come and help in the Nursery.  If you or anybody in your family would be able to give any time to help please come and speak to a member of staff.

Many Thanks!  Please feel free to approach any member of staff if there is anything you wish to know or discuss.  We are only too pleased to help. 

Communication, Language and Literacy

A range of activities are covered for this area of your child’s learning.  During Small Group Time we read and discuss various ‘big books’ connected to our topic.  All children are shown how to hold a pencil correctly and will be encouraged to ‘write’ from their first day in Nursery.  Children are encouraged to start with the letters in their name, trying to write all letters (in lowercase) with the correct formation.
Every child will have opportunities to speak in front of their peers during ‘Circle Time’ or during our daily ‘recall’ sessions.

Mathematical Development

All the children will continue to have a Maths session in their small groups once a week.  In addition to this there will be Maths activities available for the children to use inside and outside every day during Free Play sessions. 
For the Morning children we will be concentrating on counting at least 10 objects accurately and recognising numbers to 10 and beyond.  For the Afternoon children we will consolidate their knowledge of numbers to 5 then extending to 10 and beyond when they are ready.
All the children will be taking part in activities to help them learn about 2D (flat) and 3D (solid) shapes e.g. looking at shapes in the environment, printing, building and making collages with shapes.

Topic Work (PSE, Knowledge and Understanding of the World, Creative Development, Physical Development

Our topic until half term is ‘Ourselves’.  We have planned a variety of activities related to this topic, including, looking at our appearance, learning about keeping our bones and teeth healthy, and thinking about how we have changed from being a baby.  Just before half term we will be learning about Autumn which will start with an Autumn walk.
After half term our topic changes to ‘Colour and Pattern’.  For this topic we will be covering a range of different things such as clothes from different cultures, uniforms that people wear at work and clothes made from different materials. 
If you feel you could contribute to these topics in any way please come and see a member of staff.

Planned Educational Visits:

We will be going on an ‘Autumn walk’ around the school grounds.