It’s been a busy week in nursery, in the lead up to Christmas.

• The children started the week (on Monday) with an assembly for family and friends in the main hall, where they shared their learning about Christmas traditions through songs. They sang beautifully and with confidence; we were so very proud of them!
• On Tuesday, many of the children had a Christmas dinner, which they thoroughly enjoyed; this was followed by the opportunity to pull a Christmas cracker (- of course, we couldn’t resist singing the Christmas cracker song one more time too!).
• Each day, the children have been learning how to take part in different party games and have had great fun along the way!
• They have also been getting involved in lots of Christmas craft – pompom trees, snowflakes, paper chains, reindeer hats and Christmas cards have all been crafted. Indeed, it has been very glittery in nursery this week!
• Throughout December, the children have enjoyed opening our story book advent calendar and listening to a variety of Christmas stories. They have also watched ‘Stickman’, as well as ‘The Snowman’.

As this term draws to a close, we would like to thank you for all the lovely cards and treats we have received – we have been so touched by your kindness. We’d also like to wish all of our nursery children and their families a very Happy Christmas; we look forward to seeing you all again in the new year.

From the nursery team

Stick Man by the well-known children’s author, Julia Donaldson, was our focus story this week. Most of the children were familiar with this popular favourite and really enjoyed joining in with the repeated refrains. Stick Man gets lost and ends up in many different predicaments, preventing him getting back to his beloved ‘family tree’, where he lives with his Stick Lady Love and three stick children.

• It has been an assessment week at the end of the half term for our letters and sounds so we have revisited and reviewed all the hard work we have completed so far. It has been wonderful to listen to your children as they identify the sounds learnt so far, blend and read words containing them and recall ‘tricky’ words! They have made lots of progress so far, we are very proud of them!
• Composition of number has continued as our focus during maths this week as we talked more about ‘parts’ and ‘wholes’, we investigated ways to compose and decompose the numbers 4 and 5. We used spatial language to describe shapes and we explained different parts that can make the same whole.

A request:

In the Spring term our topic will be ‘into the garden’ and we will be exploring our outdoor environment. If anyone is a keen gardener and would like to come into school for a visit, we would love to hear from you! Please speak to your class teacher if you would be interested in coming into school to talk gardening with the children. Thank you.

We would like to say a big thank you for all the lovely Christmas cards and treats many of you have brought in for the staff here at school, we have been blown away by your kindness! We hope you have a fantastic and safe break, we look forward to seeing you all again in the new year.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year – the Foundation Stage Team ?

This week we read the story ‘Lost and Found’ by Oliver Jeffers. It is about a boy who finds a penguin on his doorstep. The boy decides the penguin must be lost and tries to return him. So, the boy decides to take the penguin home himself, and they set out in his row boat on a journey to the South Pole.

• In letters and sounds this week we have been practising all the phonemes we have learnt so far and have read a variety of words with a ‘s’ at the end – some that make a ‘sss’ sound and others that make a ‘zzz’ sound e.g. zips, ducks, bags and cups. We have also been learning how to read tricky words such as we, me and be.
• In maths time this week we have been learning about ‘wholes’ and ‘parts’. By investigating our own bodies and familiar toys such as puzzles we have been finding out that whole things are often made up of smaller parts and that a whole is, therefore, bigger than its parts.
• We hope that you managed to see one of our nativity performances this week. We are so proud of your children’s amazing achievements, well done Reception!  

For your information

To access support for phonics videos please go to our Exwick Heights website click on the tab Teaching and Learning, then click on Phonics and Early Reading. Here you will find a link that says ‘click here to visit Little Wandle’s website.’ There are helpful videos to show you how to pronounce the sounds and to sound out words.

Have a super weekend – The Foundation Stage Team ?