Welcome to Nursery! 

The children have been having some great learning experiences in Nursery. Here are some of the fun and exciting things we have been up to in Ladybird and Butterfly Class.

Autumn 2

Communication and Language

In Autumn 2, our topic has been ‘A Taste of the World’. We enjoyed reading the story Lima’s Red Hot Chilli, and we carried out many activities based around the text.  We went on a local trip to Sainsburys to buy our favourite fruit, we then then used the fruit to make some delicious fruit salad. We also did many speaking and listening activities about our favourite fruit and learned many new words to describe them.

The children also enjoyed listening to the story of ‘Handas’s Surprise’. The children enjoyed making their own fruit baskets and painting pictures of their favourite fruits from the story.

The children have really been enjoying Phase 1 speaking and listening activities. This half term, our focus has been instrumental sounds and body percussion. The children have been exploring different musical instruments and differentiating between the different sounds they make. Many children have been playing in the music area and using the instruments to sing along to their favourite songs. In relation to body percussion, the children have been learning to use different parts of their bodies to make sounds, such as hands for clapping and feet for stomping. ‘If you’re happy and you know it’ has been one of key songs with have been singing this half term.

reADING

This half-term, Nursery have enjoyed many reading experiences. We had our first Celebration Day this term with the topic being reading. Both the classrooms and the outdoor areas were setup with fun and engaging ideas related to reading. Parents/Carers were invited in to see how their children learn at school and also gain ideas about activities they can carry out at home with their children.

We also had the opportunity to visit our local library in East Dulwich. The children enjoyed selecting books to bring back to school and also enjoyed having a lovely book read to them by a librarian. 

Physical Development

In Autumn 2, we have continued to develop our gross and fine motor skills. We have enjoyed playing in the outdoor playground. We developed our balancing, climbing and jumping skills whilst moving across different equipment. We also developed our ball skills by learning how to throw and catch a ball to our friends. 

We have been really enjoying messy play and using our hands to feel different textures and this has helped to develop our fine motor skills. For our 'Taste of the World' topic we decorated rice cakes, the children loved decorating the rice cakes using icing and sprinkles. 

PERSONAL, SOCIAL AND EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT

In Autumn 2, we have learnt more about how to be a kind friend. We have come up with lots of ways of how to be a kind friend such as helping our friends when they are hurt, sharing toys, playing with our friends, using kind hands and working together.

As a part of anti-bullying week, we created a kindness ninja that does kind acts for people. The children were also encouraged to carry out kind acts for their peers.

AUTUMN 1

 Communication and Language 

In Autumn term, the children have had lots of exciting opportunities in our provision to develop their communication and language skills. Our home corner allows the children to practise their speaking skills by talking on the old telephones and sharing experiences from their own home life such as making each other meals and sharing the dressing up costumes. 

We have also been learning lots of nursery rhymes and songs including Old McDonald had a Farm, 5 Green Bottles and 5 Currant Buns and the children have loved using props during choosing time to sing along independently as well. This half term we have been learning about ourselves and our families and the children sent in pictures of their families so they could talk about them with the class. We made a family tree with all of the family pictures which the children have been very excited about. They love calling their friends over and talking to them about their families. 

We have also had an amazing opportunity to invite the police, a dentist and a midwife into Nursery to talk to the children about their job roles. The children enjoyed asking lots of questions and using with the equipment and tools the guests bought with them.

We have read some of our core books such as Dear Zoo by Rod Campbell, Oi Frog by Kes Gray and Jim Field, We're Going to find the Monster by Malorie Blackman and Peace and Last by Jill Murphy and the children have enjoyed using the story bags and the different story characters to act out the stories. 

The children have also really enjoyed learning nursery rhymes such as 5 currant buns, Incy Wincy Spider and 5 green bottles. They have been exploring the props and singing along to the rhymes during their play.  

Music

Every Monday and Tuesday, the children are very fortunate to have music lessons with Duncan who teaches them how to sing along to new songs such as Alice the Camel, Walking Through the Jungle and The Biggest Band in the Land. The children really enjoy joining in with the songs and moving their bodies to the beat. 

The children have also been using lots of different instruments to follow different songs and have to learnt to play fast, slowly, quietly and loudly. 

Physical Development

This half term, the children have really enjoyed balancing along the new trim trails and exploring the obstacle courses made up of stepping stones, tyres, A- Frames and balancing benches. This has allowed the children to also develop their turn taking skills by waiting patiently for their turn and making sure everyone can safely move across the equipment.

We have also enjoyed having sessions with Playball where we have been developing ball skills in all the popular sports alongside concentration and listening skills.

The children have also taken part in lots of fine motor activities which allows the children to strengthen their finger muscles ready for writing activities later in the year. The children love manipulating playdough and have enjoyed rolling, pinching, cutting and patting the playdough to make cakes for each other as well as marshmallows for hot chocolates. For our all about me topic, the children used the playdough to make faces and also teeth for our guest dentist to check. 

Personal, Social and Emotional DevelopmenT

The first few weeks in Nursery has involved the children getting to know unfamiliar faces and feeling safe and secure in a new setting. We have been using the visual timetable for children to become familiar with the daily routine and we have played name games to get to know each other in fun ways. We have also learnt some classroom rules which allow us to have positive environment to learn and grow in. 

During play, children are starting to initiate play with others by making food in the mud kitchen, washing toy babies in the water area and even making cups of tea in the home corner.

For our 'All About Me' topic, the children shared pictures of their families and discussed what makes them special.