Welcome to the Nursery
Sunshine page
Hello!
Hello Nursery Friends!
We just want to thank you for such a wonderful first half term! It has been so lovely to meet all the children and we are so impressed with how well they have settled in! We also want to thank you grown ups for all your continued support during these tricky times. It is much appreciated!
On this webpage, we will be letting you know about our themes and stories, as well as our nursery rhyme of the week. We will also put on some fun activities that you can do together at home.
Please remember that we are always here to support our families. If you need a longer chat with us, please phone school, or mention it to one of the nursery staff.
We hope you have a lovely half-term holiday. Keep safe and look after yourselves ♥
Miss Rowland, Mrs Marsden and Miss McFall
Personal, Social & Emotional Development
One of our key objectives in Nursery is to learn to play kindly with our friends, sharing, taking turns and building on each others’ play and ideas. Some of the ways we learn this best are through role play and playing with our ‘small world’ toys. Here we learn to take turns playing different characters and to share the toys between us.
We also learn to follow our class rules and to understand why they are important for helping us to learn and make friends.
Our class rules are:
Listen to grown ups and each other
Talk quietly
Walk inside
Be kind
How can you help at home?
Spend some time playing with your child, whether it be role play (e.g. playing mummies and daddies or superheroes) or playing with their toys (e.g. dolls or Paw Patrol figures). Take it in turns to play with the different toys or to play the different characters. Encourage your child to share with you and build on each other’s ideas.
Mrs Walton’s top tips
Hi, My name is Mrs Walton and I am one of the Speech and Language Teaching Assistants here at Abbey Hill. You may have seen me working throughout the Foundation Stage Unit. I specialise in supporting children with language and communnication difficulties, 1-1 or in a small group.
Working closely with Speech and Language Therapists, I have been fortunate to develop my skills over the years and I am now in a position to offer training to teaching staff to further help support children’s communication and language development.
If you need any advice or just a general chat regarding your child’s language and communication development, talk to a member of the FS Staff and they will let me know 😊.
Talking together
No matter how old I am one of the best ways to help my speech and language development is to have some quiet time with me so we can talk, look at books together or sing nursery rhymes. It is always best to make sure the T.V is switched off and there is little background noise.
- I love playing make-believe games and enjoy it the most when you join in too. Make a pretend cup of tea with me or help make dolly better.
- Now my language is developing, it’s ok if I stumble or make mistakes in my talking, sometimes I’m finding the right words to say. Give me lots of time to talk and try not to draw attention to my mistakes.
- I love looking at books, please read to me and encourage me to join in and say some of the key words. It feels good to ‘read’ all by myself.
- I am learning how to say a variety of words through copying. Say the words to me how you would say them e.g. I say “I buyed the book” you say “yes you bought the book”
- I feel great when you are looking at me when I’m talking, it lets me know that what I have to say is really important. This will encourage longer sentences in my talking.
- Give me lots of opportunities for language by giving choices or asking open ended questions e.g. Would you like pizza or fish fingers for tea? My favourite part of the book was where the little girl finds her lost teddy…What was your favourite part?
Challenge!
We challenge you to put on your woolly jumpers and your wellies to go and find all things autumnal! Create a poster or a display of your favourite finds. This is a great way to get talking and learn new vocabulary!
You may find Conkers, Pumpkins, Crunchy leaves and Pinecones. You may also notice new sounds such as a squirrel rustling in the trees, a trickling of water or the whistling of the wind. See what you can discover this Autumn. Have fun!!!
Physical Development
Literacy
Maths
Week 4
This week, our topic is “Ourselves”.
We will be looking at the stories “What Do I Look Like?” and “We Are All Different”.
An important stage in children’s early years is to be able to express how they are feeling (e.g. happy, sad, worried, cross, tired). So we will be talking about our different feelings and looking at matching facial expressions.
We will also be discussing our likes and dislikes, talking to our friends about our favourite foods, animals and things to play.
Finally, we will be exploring what we look like, discussing and counting our different features e.g. eyes, ears, hair. We will be considering whether we all look the same or if we all look a bit different.
Our Story of the Week is: “What Do I Look Like?”
Our Nursery Rhyme of the Week is: Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes
Our Vocabulary of the Week is:
“I feel…”
“I like…”
“I don’t like…”
What can you do at home?
Encourage your child to express how they are feeling, using their words.
Sing Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes together
Count how many arms, legs, fingers and toes you both have.
Week 5
For the remainder of the half term, our topic is “Our Senses”.
This week, we are focusing on what we can hear.
We will be looking at the story “Peace at Last”.
Our Story of the Week is: “Peace at Last”
Our Nursery Rhyme of the Week is: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, Once I Caught a Fish Alive
Our Vocabulary of the Week is:
“I can hear…”
What can you do at home?
Go on a ‘listening walk’ – what can you hear in the house? What can you hear in the garden? Or on your walk to school
Explore how you can change your voice – sing our nursery rhyme of the week loudly / quietly / quickly / slowly. Can you sing in a silly voice like a mouse or a robot?
Look at different musical instruments. What sounds do they make?
Get a ‘drum stick’ (you can use a pencil or a spoon). Tap it on gently on different surfaces (e.g. metal radiator, wooden chair, fabric sofa). What does it sound like? Do the different surfaces sound different or the same?
Week 6
For the remainder of the half term, our topic is “Our Senses”.
This week, we are focusing on what we can see and smell.
We will be looking at the story “Little Red Riding Hood”.
This week we are reading Little Red Riding Hood. We will be looking at the wolf’s body parts and what they help him to do!
His eyes let him see and his nose lets him smell.
We will be conducting experiments to see what happens when we pour water onto a plate of skittles and what happens when we mix various liquids together! We will be using our eyes to look what we can see!
We will also be smelling different ‘smelly pots’, with herbs and spices. We will discuss what they smell like and whether we like them or not. We will then make a tally chart to show how many of us like them and how many don’t.
We will also be making shakers, and experimenting with sound. Can we play our shakers loudly, quietly, quickly, slowly…
Our Story of the Week is: “Little Red Riding Hood”
Our Nursery Rhyme of the Week is: I Hear Thunder
Our Vocabulary of the Week is:
“I can see…”
“I can smell…”
What can you do at home?
Go on a walk outside – what can you see? Look at the changes in the trees? What colour are the leaves? Can you collect any leaves or conkers and take them home? If you have a magnifying glass, use it to see the features.
Hide some foods that your child eats in a pot/box. Get them to close their eyes and smell. Can they recognise what it is? Can they say what they can smell?
Smell some different herbs and spices. What do they smell like? Do they smell nice or not?
Go on a walk outside or in the garden. What can you smell? Smell the different flowers and plants? Are they the same or different?