week commencing 4th November

Dear Parents

 

Charlotte’s party!!!! This week!

It is Charlotte’s 15 year anniversary working at Castle Nursery so we are having a surprise party!

The party is this Thursday (7^th November) from 4 pm to 5pm everyone is invited, children not in on this day will need to be accompanied by an adult.

We will be having a party tea, games and dancing.

If you would like to contribute to a present for Charlotte there is a collection and a card, just see Jess or Caroline.

It is also Emma’s five years at Castle so we will be celebrating this too!

 

Policies

We are currently reviewing all of our policies. If you would like to read through them and give your feedback, you could help shape the way we operate.

Just let Caroline know and we can email you a copy of the policies to look at. All feedback is gratefully received.

 

Staff news

This week Caroline is attending a training session on the Special Educational Needs and Disability reforms and Emma is attending a training session on ‘Tummy Time’ for the babies.

 

This week’s activities

Each key person will be responsible for designing an activity based on their key children’s needs; however, all children who are in on that day will have the opportunity to access the activity too.

If the key person is on holiday or off, another staff member will be able to lead the activity in their place so that the children do not miss out.

For more information on the Early Years Foundation stage, the guidance we use to support our planning and practice, visit:

http://www.foundationyears.org.uk/

 

Buttercups

Monday – Charlotte’s group is developing vocabulary as they explore objects and name them.

Tuesday – Charlotte’s group will be stacking blocks and knocking them down counting the blocks as they go!

Wednesday – Magda’s group are developing relationships with their key person as they play peek – a –boo

Thursday – Nilem’s group will be understanding what happens when we can’t see objects when they play hide and seek

Friday – Emma’s group are building large physical skills and getting creative as they use rollers and large paint brushes to paint

Charlotte is off on Friday, Emma is off Monday and Thursday, Magda is off Tuesday, Nilem is off Friday and Becci is in all week

 

Bluebells

Monday- Leanne’s group are exploring textures as they make leaf paintings

Tuesday – Leanne’s group will be developing an understanding of the world as they play with the small world toys.

Wednesday -  Sophie’s group is using the tiger and dinosaur feet in the garden to build large physical skills

Thursday – Donna’s group are taking turns with their friends as they play ball games.

Friday – Sophie’s group will be learning about shape and space as they use the shape sorter toys.

Donna is off on Friday, Sophie is off on Monday, Leanne is off Wednesday and Rose is in all week

 

Sunflowers

Books of the fortnight are:

4^th – 11^th November – Weather by First Hand Science

18^th – 25^th November – The Lion’s Share by Matthew McElligott

2^nd -9^th December – One, Two, That’s My Shoe by Alison Murray

16^th – 23^rd December – Spotty Dotty Got Chickenpox  By Miriam Moss and Joanna Mockler

Monday  - Chloe’s group are making Diwali candle holders

Tuesday –Jess’s group are getting creative as they make Pirate hats for role play games.

Wednesday – Jess’s group will be sorting and matching with the toys cake stack.

Thursday – Jess’s group is developing fine motor skills as they print with vegetables.

Friday – Chloe’s group will be developing pencil control skills as they have a go at Hindi writing for Diwali

Jess is off Tuesday, Chloe is off Thursday and Alison works Monday to Thursday 9.30-2.30

 

Caroline and The South Hill Team

week commencing 28th October

Dear Parents

 

Children in Need

This year to raise money for Children in Need we have decided to do something a little different! We are going to be playing ‘Through the Keyhole’.

You will have the chance to guess which staff member “lives in a house like this” the forms will be going out next week. Each entry costs £5.00. All correct answers will go in a prize draw to win a free full day session or two half sessions in December. 

You will be able to select the session (s) from a list of dates given to you upon winning the prize. The session(s) will only be able to be used in December 2013 and cannot be be deducted from your invoice as these will be sessions in addition to your normal sessions. Please return all entry forms by Friday 15^th November and the draw will be made on this day.

 

Sssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

It is Charlotte’s 15 year anniversary working at Castle Nursery so we are having a surprise party!

On Thursday 7^th November from 4 pm to 5pm everyone is invited, children not in on this day will need to be accompanied by an adult.

We will be having a party tea, games and dancing.

If you would like to contribute to a present for Charlotte there is a collection and a card, just see Jess or Caroline.

 

Christmas Party

The children’s Christmas party is on Friday 6^th December from 3.30- 5pm. We are having party games, a party tea  and a visit from Father Christmas.

Everyone is invited, but children not in on this day will need to be accompanied by an adult.

 

Nativity play

There will be two performances of the nativity play on Thursday 12^th December, one in the morning at 9.30 and one in the afternoon at 4.15. These will be limited to two tickets per family and they will be allocated on a first come first served basis.

Please be aware that all children in the nativity play will be photographed and videoed by other parents, so if you would prefer your child to not take part please let us know.

If your child is not in on this day, they only need to come to the performance you will be seeing, not both.

We ask parents to provide costumes but please don’t pressure yourselves, a tea towel head dress is perfectly acceptable! The Buttercup children can be either stars or Angels and the Bluebells will be the villagers.

 

Pantomime

The sunflower children will be going to see the pantomime on Friday 13^th December at the Yvonne Arnaud theatre. The sunflower staff will be talking to all parents about this.

All children will be invited but  children not in on this day will need to be accompanied by an adult. Ticket money will need to be paid by 1^st November.

 

Buttercups

Monday – Charlotte’s group will be having fun with water play

Tuesday – Emma’s group is using mirrors to look at themselves

Wednesday – Nilem’s group is exploring cornflour gloop

Thursday – Charlotte’s group are having a teddy bears picnic

Friday – Magda’s group are getting scientific as they experiment with ice

Charlotte is off Friday, Emma is off Monday and Thursday, Magda is off Tuesday, Nilem is off Friday and Becci is in all week

 

Bluebells

Monday – Leanne’s group is developing communication skills as they sing “Old Mac Donald”

Tuesday – Leanne’s group will be learning about shapes as they use the shape flash cards

Wednesday – Donna’s group are building physical skills as they roll hoops down the hill

Thursday – Rose is encouraging the children to free paint their own pictures.

Friday – Sophie’s group will be developing pencil control as they make marks on paper.

Donna is on holiday all week, Leanne is off Wednesday, Sophie is off Monday and Rose is in all week

 

Sunflowers

Monday- Chloe’s group are getting physical as they “welly wang” in the garden

Tuesday – Chloe’s group will be creating a cup pyramid and explore how water moves over the cups

Wednesday -  Jess’s group is learning letters as they make alphabet necklaces

Thursday –Alison is supporting the children’s rhyming skills as they explore nursery rhymes

Friday – Jess’s group is working together to make friendship bracelets

Jess is off Monday, Tuesday and Friday, Chloe is off Thursday and Alison is off for half term

Have a great weekend
Caroline and the South Hill team

week commencing 21st October

Dear Parents

 

Sssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

 

It is Charlotte’s 15 year anniversary working at Castle Nursery so we are having a surprise party!

On Thursday 7^th November from 4 pm to 5pm everyone is invited, children not in on this day will need to be accompanied by an adult.

We will be having a party tea, games and dancing.

If you would like to contribute to a present for Charlotte there is a collection and a card, just see Jess or Caroline.

 

Good news

We have lots of lovely events happening in the next few months:

 

Christmas Party

The children’s Christmas party is on Friday 6^th December from 3.30- 5pm. We are having party games, a party tea  and a visit from Father Christmas.

Everyone is invited, but children not in on this day will need to be accompanied by an adult.

 

Nativity play

There will be two performances of the nativity play on Thursday 12^th December, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. These will be limited to two tickets per family and they will be allocated on a first come first served basis.

Please be aware that all children in the nativity play will be photographed and videoed by other parents, so if you would prefer your child to not take part please let us know. We are sorting out the “roles” and you will know shortly what part your child will play.

If your child is not in on this day, they only need to come to the performance you will be seeing, not both.

We ask parents to provide costumes but please don’t pressure yourselves, a tea towel head dress is perfectly acceptable!

 

Pantomime

The sunflower children will be going to see the pantomime on Friday 13^th December at the Yvonne Arnaud theatre. The sunflower staff will be talking to all parents about this.

All children will be invited but  children not in on this day will need to be accompanied by an adult. Ticket money will need to be paid by 1^st November.

 

Bad news

Due to unexpected circumstances at one of our sister nurseries the building work in the baby room will now take place in January. The positive side of this is the buttercups will now be taking part in the nativity!

 

Photographs

Please can everyone make sure all photographs are returned to nursery asap.

 

This week’s activities

Each key person will be responsible for designing an activity based on their key children’s needs; however, all children who are in on that day will have the opportunity to access the activity too.

If the key person is on holiday or off, another staff member will be able to lead the activity in their place so that the children do not miss out.

For more information on the Early Years Foundation stage, the guidance we use to support our planning and practice, visit:

http://www.foundationyears.org.uk/

 

 

Buttercups

Monday – Charlotte’s group will be developing fine motor skills as they use the brushes outside

Tuesday – Nilem’s group are creating pictures with different media

Wednesday – Magda’s group is building towers and counting blocks.

Thursday – Charlotte’s group is playing peek-a-boo to develop relationships

Friday – Emma’s group will be exploring treasure baskets

Charlotte is off Friday, Emma is off Monday and Thursday, Magda is off Tuesday, Nilem is off Friday and Becci is in all week.

 

Bluebells

Monday – Donna’s group are moving like jungle animals!

Tuesday – Leanne’s group is playing a throwing and catching game

Wednesday –Sophie’s group will be exploring the parachute as they play physical games

Thursday – Donna’s group are using the linking elephants to develop counting skills

Friday – Sophie’s group will be looking at books as they develop language skills

Donna is off Friday, Leanne is off Wednesday, Sophie is off Monday and Rose is in all week.

 

Sunflowers

Books of the fortnight are:

14^th – 23^rd October Are the Trees Alive? – Debbie S Miller

Monday – Jess’s group are making fruit kebabs

Tuesday – Chloe’s group is looking at numbers and counting, using dice, mini motors and number cards

Wednesday – Alison is asking the children to set up a picnic for the teddy bears

Thursday – Jess’s group are creating message pebbles as they build their letter skills

Friday -  Chloe’s group will be talking about their favourite things and listening to their friends as they do the same.

Jess is off Tuesday, Chloe is off Thursday and Alison works Monday to Thursday 9.30-2.30

 

Have a great weekend

 

Caroline and the South Hill team

Social Contact policy

Social Contact policy

 

Aim of policy

 

To give guidance to both Staff members and parents/carers to appropriate social contact outside of the nursery.

 

Points to consider

 

This policy works with the Parents as Partners policy and confidentiality policy.

 

Castle Daycare and Preschool aims to achieve this by:

 

At Castle Daycare and Preschool we understand they may be social occasions outside of the nursery where parents meet staff members. We want our staff to form bonds with the children’s families however professional boundaries need to be drawn in order to maintain these bonds appropriately.

We would ask all staff and parents to not make links on social networking sites, such as requesting “friendships” on facebook. This is to protect confidentiality and professional boundaries.

Whilst Castle Daycare and Preschool do not facilitate babysitting, we do understand that it may occur. We would ask all parents and staff not to discuss nursery life (even regarding their own child) outside of Nursery times. This can create awkward situations and problems that may affect the parents/staff bond.

There may be other occasions where the staff meet the parents/ carers outside of nursery again we ask all parents and staff not to discuss nursery life (even regarding their own child) outside of Nursery times.

The Nursery is happy to arrange a time for the Parent/Carer to discuss their child within nursery time.

week commencing 14th October

Dear Parents

 

Babies building work

Exciting news!!!!! The building work to the baby room is commencing from 21^st October.

 

Hopefully most of our baby room parents should know what our plans are but for those of you who don’t or need a reminder (it’s been on the cards for a while now!) The plans are to remove the old boiler room from the cot room to create a bigger sleep area and additional storage.

In the main room we will be removing the internal walls to create a larger open planned play space. We will then use furniture to create areas, such as  little baby areas or push everything back to have a large space. We feel this will better meet the needs of the wide age group in the baby room.

The work will be done in stages to minimise the disruption to the children (and staff!)

The cot room work will be completed first. Whilst this work is taking place the cots will be put in the smaller baby area.

Once the cot room is completed the children will then be able to play in that room whilst the work in the baby room takes place.

So there is as little disruption as possible the builders will be based in the back garden. The front garden will be shared by the whole nursery, so we will timetable garden playtimes so each room has their own time slot outside every morning and afternoon.

Due to this work the babies will not be taking part in this year’s nativity play but the Christmas parties will go ahead as normal.

 

The builders have given me an approximate time scale of a month, however I feel 6 weeks is more likely. This is going to be a big job but we will do everything we can to make this time as normal for the children as possible and once finished, the baby room will have been redecorated, have new flooring and be a much more flexible space for the children to play in so it will be worth it!

 

Charlotte and I will be talking to all baby room parents about the work but if anyone has any questions please let me know.

 

Staff news

We are delighted to introduce you to our new bank staff member Julia. Julia has a level 2 and 3 childcare qualification and experience working in other nurseries. Julia will be helping us cover staff holidays and (the dreaded) staff sickness.

She will be working in every room so the Room leaders will be introducing her to you all over the next few weeks. 

 

Photos back

For those of you whose children had their photos taken last week, the proofs are back! You can take them home for a few days but please make sure they are returned by next week so we can make sure all orders are returned in plenty of time for Christmas!

 

Direct debits

You are still able to sign up for direct debit payments, these will start from 1^st December Just see Caroline for more details.

 

This week’s activities

Each key person will be responsible for designing an activity based on their key children’s needs; however, all children who are in on that day will have the opportunity to access the activity too.

If the key person is on holiday or off, another staff member will be able to lead the activity in their place so that the children do not miss out.

For more information on the Early Years Foundation stage, the guidance we use to support our planning and practice, visit:

http://www.foundationyears.org.uk/

 

Buttercups

Monday – Nilem’s group are exploring a range of ICT toys.

Tuesday – Charlotte’s group is exploring towns as they use the small world toys.

Wednesday – Emma’s group will be playing together in the hideaway cube with the dolls

Thursday – Magda’s group are reading picture books with flaps as they discover the hidden pictures and words.

Friday – Magda’s group will be playing hide and seek!

Charlotte is off Friday, Emma is off Monday and Thursday, Magda is off Tuesday, Nilem is off Friday and Becci is in all week.

 

Bluebells

Monday – Donna’s group is counting with the compare bears

Tuesday – Donna’s group will be playing with the skittles as they develop physical skills

Wednesday – Sophie’s group are developing language skills as they explore the puppet books

Thursday – Donna’s group is using the sensory box as a group

Friday – Sophie’s group will be finding sea creatures in the water tray!

Donna is off Friday, Leanne is off Wednesday, Sophie is off Monday and Rose is in all week.

 

 

Sunflowers

Books of the fortnight are:

30^th September – 7^th October  The Lion’s Share – Matthew McElligott

14^th – 23^rd October Are the Trees Alive? – Debbie S Miller

Monday – Chloe’s group  are working together to make Duplo models

Tuesday – Alison will be supporting the children as they use a variety of musical instruments.

Wednesday – Jess’ group is using descriptive language as they create junk models

Thursday – Chloe’s group are developing letter skills as they play alphabet fishing

Friday – Jess’ group will be creating sticky viewing boxes.

Jess is off Tuesday, Chloe is off Thursday and Alison works Monday to Thursday 9.30-2.30

 

Have a great weekend!

Dear Parents,

 

Chicken Pox

We have had 15 cases of chicken pox throughout the nursery.  Please keep your children off of nursery until all the spots have crusted over.  We hope everyone feels better very soon!

Wet wipes packets

We are still collecting empty wet wipes packets for The charity Ellie’s fund.

Please give your empty wet wipes packets to Donna.
For more information on Ellie’s fund go to:
http://www.elliesfund.com/

 

 Policies of the week

 

We will be displaying a different policy every week in the hallway and on our blog:  http://castlenursery-southhill.blogspot.co.uk  (you may have to cut and paste this link).

If you would like to see this or any of our policies please ask Caroline.

Our Policy this week is:  Complaints policy

 

 This week’s activities

Each key person will be responsible for designing an activity based on their key children’s needs; however, all children who are in on that day will have the opportunity to access the activity too.

If the key person is on holiday or off, another staff member will be able to lead the activity in their place so that the children do not miss out.

For more information on the Early Years Foundation stage, the guidance we use to support our planning and practice, visit:

http://www.foundationyears.org.uk/

 

Buttercups

Monday -  Charlotte’s group are playing hide and seek games in the garden

Tuesday – Emma’s group will be developing their control over using equipment as they explore dry pasta with spoons and containers

Wednesday – Nilem’s group are passing balls to each other to encourage cooperative play

Thursday – Charlotte’s group will be singing a variety of songs with musical instruments and animal puppets

Friday – Magda’s group are exploring communication through music as they dance with the ribbon streamers.

 

Bluebells

Monday – Donna’s group will be listening to the story ‘Snap’ and repeating words and phrases from the story

Tuesday – Donna’s group are practising their balance and coordination through kicking balls to each other in the garden

Wednesday – Sophie’s group are exploring the electronic toys and learning how to operate them

Thursday – Donna’s group will be singing a variety of songs to develop their vocabulary

Friday – Sophie’s group are developing awareness of themselves as they play naming and pointing to the parts of their bodies game.

 

Sunflowers

Books of the fortnight are:

30^th September – 7^th October  The Lion’s Share – Matthew McElligott

14^th – 23^rd October Are the Trees Alive? – Debbie S Miller

Monday – Chloe’s group are going to be making yummy sausage rolls to eat at tea time

Tuesday – Alison’s group will be developing their skills in operating the computer through completing an educational program

Wednesday – Chloe’s group are making their own necklaces out of pasta and painting them

Thursday- Jess will be playing the ‘Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes’ game with her group to encourage turn taking

Friday – Jess’s group are developing their mathematical language and counting skills as they hide and find the coloured bricks in the sand.

 

 

Have a great weekend!

 

Charlotte and the South Hill Team