Nursery

The Nursery Team

Welcome to Nursery! On this page we will keep you up to date with all the exciting learning that has been taking place. Please also check you child's Tapestry account which will be personal to your own child's learning. Your child's keyworker will check Tapestry regularly therefore this it is a great way to communicate with the Nursery team about your child. Communication between your child's keyworker and parents is vital to ensure your child makes progress and reaches their true potential. We use a child-led approach to learning which allows children in Nursery to thrive and make accelerated progress. Children's interests are key to this approach so please send in your own observations and tell us about your child's current interests so we are working in partnership to move their learning forward. 

Healthy Teeth

This week the children have been learning all about how to keep their teeth healthy. All children took part in “The Big Brush” where we all brushed our teeth for 2 minutes. They enjoyed taking on the role of being a dentist and learning which foods are good or bad for their teeth. 

The Three Billy Goats Gruff

This week the children have learned The Three Billy Goats Gruff. They have enjoyed acting the story in the outdoor provision, building some super bridges.  

The Gingerbread Man

The children have been learning The Gingerbread Man story by putting words and actions to the text map. They are getting very good at sequencing pictures from the story and retelling it. The children have also made their own gingerbread men, in maths have been counting out the correct amount of buttons for their gingerbread man, drawn pictures of gingerbread men and in Science we found out what happens to a gingerbread man when he is put in cold and warm water. Unfortunately the gingerbread man did not survive! 

Zones of Regulation

This week we introduced the children to the “Zones of Regulation.” This is something the whole school is introducing in their classrooms to support children with understanding different emotions and the impact they have on themselves and others. The children in Nursery were very good at identifying emotions in the pictures and sorting them into the correct zone. 

Arrival of the Eggs!!

The children were very excited when the eggs arrived at Nursery. This week they have been learning all about the life cycle of a chick. 

Happy Easter!

This week we have been learning all about Easter. The children learned the Easter  story, tasted hot cross buns, made Easter nest Krispie buns, went on an egg hunt, did an Easter bonnet parade and ate lots of chocolate which the Easter bunny had left for us. What a busy week! 

Science!

During Science week we explored what happened to the cornflour when water was added. We also did an experiment using Jack’s magic beans (from Jack and The Beanstalk). The children are now getting very good at predicting what they think will happen. 

Planting

This term the children have enjoyed doing lots of planting and learning all about the life cycle of plants. 

World Book Day

It was great to see year three building positive relationships with the children in Nursery as they shared stories together.  We saw a lot of smiles and laughter as they read to each other. 

Pancake Day

We celebrated Pancake Day in lots of different ways. In maths we voted for our favourite topping using duplo bricks so it was really visual for the children to see which was the favourite topping (chocolate of course! ). We read a very funny story called Mr Wolf’s pancakes, the children were quite shocked at how the story ended they certain,y did not predict what the wolf would do! We wrote pancake shopping lists and practised using a knife and fork to eat the pancake. 

Science! The water bead experiment

Telling a story through mark making

Today the children were fantastic at getting their pens to make marks linked to the words from The Bear Hunt story. We had Marks to represent swishy swishy grass, squelchy squelchy mud, a swirling whirling snowstorm etc. 

Teddy Bears Picnic

We had to have our teddy bears picnic inside because of the storm! The children enjoyed eating their own sandwiches they had made and had biscuits for after. During the picnic we talked about the children’s favourite stories. 

Preparing for the picnic

Today the children completed another part of the SharpLane journey and all made their own sandwich. This was in preparation for our teddy bears picnic. 

Valentines Activities

Bedtime Story Session

Today the children came dressed in their pyjamas and brought in their favourite teddy for a bedtime story session. We enjoyed having hot chocolate and cookies whilst listening to lots of lovely stories. 

Imaginary play with open ended resources

The children have been creating all sorts of treats using the open ended resources in the outdoor cafe! They have wonderful imaginations! 

Number 1

This week we have learned all about number one and it wasn’t as easy as you think! When showing a picture of two children; one with a giant paint brush and one with a small paint brush when asking who had the most paint brushes the majority of the children chose the boy with the larger brush! The answer was neither of them as they both had one they both had the same amount. We need to make sure children truly understand what the cardinal value  of the number is. We will continue to challenge children with this next week. 

Happy Chinese New Year

This week the children took part in various activities linked to celebrating The Chinese New Year. They made Chinese lanterns, wrote good luck messages, took part in a dragon dance parade and tasted prawn crackers. Lots of fun was had by all! 

Kandinsky’s Concentric Circles

We looked at an image of Kandinsky’s concentric circles and discussed what an artist does. Afterwards we were inspired to create our own interpretation of his artwork. All children contributed to the display. 

Old Bear

The children have been comparing old and new bears and trying to decipher where the old bears came from and who they belong to! 

Science or Magic

Den Building (Our Bucket List)

This term our topic has been all about “Bears” which has led to many exciting opportunities for the children. We have learned that bears like to make dens so the children had a go at building their own dens. We have made dens both inside, outdoors, including in the garden. The children have used a variety of materials to make dens for themselves and dens for small world toy bears. This was also part of our Sharp Lane Journey and another item ticked off of our list!  

Exploring coloured ice

We have been continuing to explore ice at Nursery. Today the children explored what happened when the coloured ice melted , making new colours. 

Melting Ice and Rescuing Animals

The children explored different ways of melting ice to rescue the animals stuck inside. They are loving Science at Nursery this term! 

Exploring Ice!

The first day back at Nursery, after the Christmas holidays, was a freezing cold one! The children were excited to find huge pieces of ice in the playground. We talked about how it got there and what would happen to it. We brought some of the ice inside and the children observed what happened to it throughout the session. The children were intrigued by this, we will continue to explore ice next week. 

Celebrating Christmas at Nursery

Letter to Santa

The children have been writing their letters this week, we are going to post the letters in the magical post box we found in the garden. Hopefully Santa Claus will receive them and send a letter back to each child! (Don't forget we need a stamped addressed envelope for each child)

The Nursery Nativity

The children performed the Nursery production of the Nativity, beautifully. Thank you to all the parents for showing their support and for raising £113 for Candle Lighters.

Hungry Little Minds

Nursery Christmas Stay and Play

Pudsey Bear Visits

Celebrating Diawli

The children enjoyed learning about Diwali. We made Diva lamps, created Rangoli patterns, did Bollywood dancing and learned the Rama and Sita story. 

Halloween Fun!

The children have shown a real interest in Halloween this year! The children have engaged in many activities based around this theme. We have made repeating patterns, created a pumpkin shop, learned new Halloween counting rhymes, hammered into pumpkins and chopped up pumpkin to practise fine motor skills, we've been on a Halloween hunt around school (the children's favourite part was finding the sweets), we've created a witches den which initiated lots of role play, made witches potions, played with witches slime, drawn on pumpkins, used loose parts to make pumpkin faces , read different stories about witches and much more! To finish off this celebration we had a Halloween party!

Nursery Rhyme Text Maps

These are the text maps we have used to teach the children several different Nursery Rhymes. They learn to track the pictures from left to right and top to bottom just as they will when they begin to read words. We encourage the children to look at the title of each rhyme and count the words. The children are taught words snd actions which correspond to each picture in the rhyme. Show your children and get them to teach you the rhymes! We have been very impressed with the children when learning these rhymes. Remember you can share your own pictures and video with us on Tapestry. 

Our Autumn Walk!

We have ticked off the first thing on our Sharp Lane Journey bucket list. The children were excited and enthusiastic about  going on a walk around the school grounds hunting for Autumnal objects. We found different coloured leaves, berries, mushrooms, pine cones, apples, plums and much more. They were a little disappointed we didn't see any squirrels! 

Don't forget to go on your own Autumn walks and collect items for the Autumn table. 

Repeating Patterns

Construction

The children have shown an interest in building towers. They seem to love to build vertically! We have introduced them to some famous towers and as they build model language such as long, short, tall, tallest , higher, lower, round, curved, straight, pointy etc as well as using the names of shapes. 

Movement Play

The movement area is a very popular place at Nursery. This is great as in this area the children are strengthening many different muscles. The children need a strong core if they are going to be able to sit on a chair to write in the future. They need strength in their arms, hands and fingers if they are going to be able to hold a pencil correctly. Spinning helps the brain make connections which is needed for children to be able to track a text from left to right. As the children move it is helping make connections between both sides of the brain which is needed for it to function properly. Encourage your child to move in lots of different ways at home too!

We have also been developing the children's language in this area by encouraging them to use the verb to describe the movement they are doing. 

The children have also made links between the ways in which their bodies move to the marks they can make on paper. 

Visiting the Garden

Today we had a very exciting trip to the garden and found lots of different things growing. We picked apples, tomatoes and plums and then took them back to Nursery for snack. 

The Maths Area

Subatising

This term the maths area has many items for the children to sort, categorise and count. We encourage children to do what is called "subatising" which is being able to instantly recognise small amounts such as 1,2 or 3 without counting. You can help your child's early maths skills by singing number rhymes, counting whenever possible, sorting and matching objects found both inside and outside, talking about patterns you see e.g spotty, stripy and then making your own patterns. 

Outdoor

This term we are focusing on modelling how to play in the many different outdoor areas of provision. Children enjoy learning on a "bigger scale" in the outdoor environment. The children have the freedom to explore, use their senses, take risks and be physically active and exuberant.  As we encourage children to engage with nature on a daily basis throughout the four seasons  it is essential that the children have suitable clothing and a change of clothes. 

Stories and Nursery Rhymes

We are beginning to introduce reading to children through sharing both stories and teaching children different Nursery Rhymes. We have also incorporated maths through number rhymes. The children are taught words and actions to Nursery Rhymes using a text map. Adults model reading from left to right and top to bottom as they teach the words and actions to the songs. We will be sending home the text maps in the future so that you can support your children to learn several different Nursery Rhymes. 

Our Familes

We have used the family photos to set up a display in the home corner. Many children go to this area to find their pictures and talk about members of their family. If you have not sent in your picture please do so to eyfs@sharplane.co.uk. We still have space to put up more photos!

Stay and Play

It was lovely to welcome both parents and children back into the setting. The children had a great time engaging in play with their special "grown ups" and discovering the many different areas of provision. Look out for stay and plays which will be held in the future! 

New Sharp Lane Journey.mp4

We are beginning something brand new at Sharp Lane. Each child will be given a special book  which has some very exciting activities the children will take part in throughout their time at Sharp Lane. Take a look at what they shall be doing throughout their Sharp Lane Journey, all the way from Nursery to Year 6!