Welcome to Nursery! 

The first few weeks have been very exciting and the children have all settled well into their new classes. Here are some of the fun and exciting things we have been up to in Ladybird and Butterfly Class.

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.