Dear Parents and Carers,
Nursery News:
Up
Coming Events
All of the nursery had a
super fun walk to the Castle this afternoon. All three rooms went together, we
enjoyed exploring the Castle grounds. We saw a few friends on our way too!
Up Coming Events
27th April – Muddy Puddle Walk
Photos
from this week
Next weeks 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, please visit:
This week’s planned activities are also on the ILD’S.
Buttercups
Topic of the month: Sign Language
Monday - Hannah’s
group is learning different signs. Each day the children will be taught a
different sign, for example, hello, please and thank you.
Tuesday – Sammy’s group are having an emotion doll picnic
building an awareness of emotions.
Wednesday
– Jamie’s group will be exploring the shape sorters encouraging investigation
skills.
Thursday
– Leanne’s group is building an awareness of nature while taking turns to
water the plants in the garden.
Friday
– Hannah’s group are playing group ball games with their friends supporting
making relationships.
Jamie is off Monday, Leanne is off Wednesday, Sammy and Hannah are
in all week.
Bluebells
Topic of the month: Spring
Monday – Megan’s group is story telling using a range of
puppets building an interest in stories.
Tuesday – Donna’s group will be building number skills in the
garden while counting our flowers and trees.
Wednesday – Maria’s group are recognising different objects
relating to spring in a group game.
Thursday - Chloe’s group is playing the animals noises game supporting
their awareness of the environment they live in.
Friday – Ruby’s group will be developing their motor skills while
discovering the stepping stone and cones in the garden.
Donna is off Wednesday and Thursday, Chloe is off Monday and
Tuesday, Megan is off Thursday and Friday, Ruby and Maria are in all week.
Sunflowers
In the Sunflower room each Key Person plans and implements their
own Key Group activity, but the room works on the same area and aspect to
ensure the activity is individual to each Key Group and therefore meets the
specific Key Group’s individual needs.
This will work alongside their weekly planned activity list which
you can see in the room and on the ILD’S.
Ines’s
group will be taking part in a group obstacle course building confidence and
motor skills.
Almu’s
group is moving in different ways around the garden following instructions
given by their peers.
Becci’s
group are running skilfully and negotiating space in the garden while having a
fun relay race with their friends.
Topic of the month: The life cycle of plants
The letter of the week is: S
The children will be:
Talking about words beginning with S
Playing snakes and ladders
Writing the letter S on the easel
Counting sunflowers.
Finding the letter S in the water tray
The Number of the week is: 11
The children will be:
Talking about the number 11 and what it looks like
Stomping 11 times
Writing the number 11 in the air
Playing a number puzzle
The shape of the week is: rectangle
The children will be:
Recognising the rectangle shape
Talking about the shape
Find rectangles around the room
Making the rectangle shape with our hands
Becci is off Wednesday, Almu is off Thursday, Ines is off Tuesday
and on holiday on Friday.
Jenni and Ottilia are in all week.
I am in every day 7.30 – 4.00. So I will get to see you all in the
morning, If you have any queries in the evening please speak to your child’s
Room Leader or Jamie.
Interactive Learning Diary
Don’t forget to check out all the exciting things your child has
done this week, on their ILD profile.
We aim to put at least one observation up per week.
Facebook
Castle Nursery and Preschool Facebook page promotes the company, engages with
parents and team members across our nurseries.
If you would be interested in following this page, here is the
link: https://www.facebook.com/Castle-Nursery-and-Preschool-790319011138020/. We will be
regularly adding events and photos to the page.
Menus
There are no planned changes to this week’s menu.
See attached document for the weekly menu.
If you would like to see a copy of our allergens menu at any time
please ask!
Useful websites
Here are the links for the Surrey Family Information Service, Free
Early Education (the 15 hours funding), Free Early Education for Two year olds
and Early Years Pupil Premium (EYPP).
Our Policy of the Week:
Teaching policy
Aim of policy
The aim of the policy is to
state Childcare and Learning Group’s shared vision of teaching and to give
guidance to practitioners about what teaching means to them and the children in
their care. It links to the guidance Teaching and play in the Early years- a
balancing act? (July 2015)
Points to consider
Teaching can seem a scary
concept in Early Years, where learning through play is our way of life. However
it is important for staff, parents and children to understand that by working
with children we are teaching them.
High quality teaching is
not all about one preferred style or methodology but should help the children
to learn and reach their full potential.
Research shows that
children’s development is at its greatest between birth and five. Therefore the
activities that they do are absolutely crucial in giving them a good start in
life.
High quality teaching can
only come when we also have high quality, accurate assessments of the children.
Teaching should not be
taken to mean a formal way of working. It is a broad term that covers the many
different ways in which adults help young children to learn.
It includes their
interactions with children during planned and child- initiated play and
activities: communicating and modelling language, showing, explaining,
demonstrating, exploring ideas, encouraging, questioning, recalling, providing
a narrative for what we are doing, facilitating and setting challenges. It
takes into account the equipment and the attention to the physical environment
as well as the structure and routines of the day that establish expectations.
Integral to teaching is how practitioners’ assess what children know,
understand and can do as well as take into account of their interests and
dispositions to learning (characteristics of effective learning) and use this
information to plan children’s next steps in learning and monitor their
progress.
Early Educations is about
every aspect of a child’s development. It is about more than imparting
knowledge. It is about providing a wide range of experiences and opportunities
so that every area of development receives attention.
Childcare and Learning Group aim to achieve this by:
• Helping children to learn
• Teaching children to listen
to instructions and be attentive
• Teaching children to
socialise
• Motivating children to try
things for themselves
• Supporting children to
manage their personal needs
• Challenging children to
think and find out more
• Encouraging children to
speculate and test ideas through trial and error
• Providing good models of
language
• Developing children’s
ability to express their ideas and use their imagination
• Extending children’s
vocabulary and teaching them new words
• Teaching children the early
stages of mathematics and reading
• Focusing on children’s
learning
• Spending time engaged in
purposeful dialogue with children
• Giving children sufficient
time to practice and reinforce what is being taught
• Assessing children’s
skills, knowledge and abilities accurately and use this information to plan how
to improve children’s progress
• Ensuring staff have
sufficient expertise to teach children basic skills in the three prime areas of
learning as well as in literacy and mathematics
• Having a well organised,
regular and effective development programme that is improving the quality of
teaching.
• Ensuring that children are
supported to “catch up” if they start with skills that are lower than those
typical of their age.
• Having high, achievable
expectations
• Staff asking high quality
questions to the children
• Listening carefully to the
children and thinking about the best time to intervene rather than just jumping
in.
• Staff motivating children
and encourage them to be independent and support them to manage their personal
needs relative to their ages rather than being merely concerned with
supervising and caring for children.
• adults’ questions challenge
children to think and find out more by encouraging them to speculate and test
ideas through trial and error
• adults model language well,
develop children’s ability to express their ideas and extend their use of new
words
• Identifying what children
can do by themselves and what they can do when supported by a
practitioner.
• Equally important are times
when practitioners leave children alone to explore, make their own discoveries,
solve problems and learn skills through self-initiated play.
• Talking to the children
about what they are learning
• Sharing with parents what
we are teaching the children. In this setting we do this by: verbal handovers,
weekly newsletters, parents evenings, parent meetings, open door policy and
through the online ILD system
•
Linking with other settings that the child attends to share knowledge of the
child
In this the setting we make links with other settings the children
attends by:
Contacting the child’s
previous setting to discuss development
Contacting the setting the
child attends regularly and sharing information.
When possible visiting the
other setting that the child attends.
It is important that
practitioners meet the needs of every child who attends the setting. This may
include:
• Disabled children and those
who have special educational needs
• Boys
• Girls
• Children with starting
points that are significantly below those expected for their age
• Those who are able to
exceed expectations for their age
• Summer born children
• Children from disadvantaged
families and/or backgrounds or vulnerable groups including:
• Funded two year olds
• Looked after children
• Children from minority
ethnic groups
• Children who have English
as an additional language
• Children of service
families
Kind Regards,
Jess, Jamie and the South Hill Team
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