Welcome to Our Nursery

Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome to the start of a new school year. My name is Mrs Szymczak, and I am delighted to be your child’s class teacher. I will be working closely with Mrs Hopkins and Mrs Decruz to provide a caring, supportive, and stimulating environment in which every child can flourish.

This page will be updated weekly with important notices, information about activities, and news from our nursery. We kindly ask that you check regularly to stay informed.

We are very much looking forward to a successful year ahead, filled with learning, growth, and new opportunities for all our children.

Yours sincerely,
Mrs Szymczak
Class Teacher
(on behalf of the Nursery Team)

Roaring Fun! Learning through The Tiger Who Came to Tea

We read the story The Tiger Who Came to Tea. This week we explored a story about a family who gets a VERY surprising visitor—a tiger! After looking at the book cover and wondering what the story might be about, we talked about how visitors can make a day feel special.

The children joined in with the repeated lines from the story and used big actions to show the tiger knocking, eating, drinking, and Sophie’s surprise.

We worked together on fun activities: creating a special meal for the tiger, counting and comparing fruit plates, sharing ideas like “What would you do if a tiger came to your house?”, and making paper plate tigers.

Learning with the Birthday Monsters

Over the past two weeks, the children have enjoyed lots of exciting learning linked to our celebration theme. We shared the story Birthday Monsters and began by predicting what the book might be about just from looking at the cover. The children came up with brilliant ideas and loved meeting the funny Birthday Monsters in the story. They then drew and described their own monster characters, talking about what they looked like and the things they liked to do.

In maths, we explored the numbers 2 and 3. The children practised counting pairs of objects, sang number songs, and went on a number hunt around the classroom to find the hidden number 2. They also coloured pictures of pairs to help strengthen their early counting skills.
We then moved on to number 3 through fun “Magic Maths” activities such as jumping, clapping, hopping and ordering games. We looked at groups of three using toys and discussed everyday things that come in threes. The children grouped objects into sets of three and counted them carefully.

In art, the children enjoyed celebrating through creativity by making cupcakes and birthday cakes using paint, collage materials and craft resources. They loved decorating their creations with bright colours, sprinkles and imaginative details. They also made their own monster-themed birthday invitations and practised writing their names.

To finish our learning, we went on a nature walk where the children searched for three natural items to collect and use in their artwork.

Friendship week!

This week in the nursery, we celebrated Friendship Week! The children enjoyed talking about what it means to be a good friend and how we can show kindness to one another every day. As a class, we created a beautiful Tree of Kindness, adding heart-shaped leaves with each child’s ideas about friendship. It was wonderful to see the children sharing, caring, and celebrating the special bonds they have with their friends.

Our nursery is full of smiles and kindness, and it is lovely to watch these little friendships grow!

Remembrance Day

Today, the nursery children learnt about Remembrance Day and why it is important. They sang a special song and made beautiful poppy crafts to mark the occasion. At 11 o’clock, we all joined together for a two-minute silence to remember and show our respect.

Continents Day

We had a wonderful time celebrating Continents Day in nursery! The children came dressed in amazing costumes representing their country or culture — they all looked fantastic.

Throughout the day, we learned about the seven continents, sang songs to help us remember their names, and did lots of counting and map-related activities. The children worked together to create a simple world map and enjoyed talking about the different places people live around the world.

It was a fun, colourful day full of learning, creativity, and celebration of our diverse cultures!

Welcome back! A Sparkling Start to the New Term!

Welcome back after the half-term break! It is lovely to see everyone return, refreshed and ready for a busy and exciting term ahead.

This week in nursery, we have been enjoying the story “Sparks in the Sky” as we celebrate Bonfire Night. The children listened carefully to all the different sounds mentioned in the story — the crackle of the bonfire, the bang and whizz of fireworks — and had great fun pretending to be fireworks themselves, making their own sound effects!

For our creative activities, the children made beautiful sparkly name art, writing the first letter of their names on black card and decorating it with glitter. They also enjoyed firework mark-making, experimenting with colour, movement, and sparkle.

The children have also been having lots of fun exploring our new role play area — a birthday party play area! They have loved pretending to plan parties, bake cakes, and celebrate with their friends, developing their imagination and social skills as they play together.

Celebrating Josephine Baker and African Culture

This week, as part of Black History Month, the children learned about Josephine Baker, a brave and talented dancer who believed in fairness and kindness. We read a simple story about her life, talked about her love of dancing and her colourful costumes inspired by African patterns. The children shared how they thought Josephine felt when she danced and what it means to be brave and kind.

They enjoyed drawing and designing their own costumes, learning about patterns by looking at African textiles, and spotting shapes and colours that repeat. They then decorated their own African - style paper plate necklaces using paints and repeating colour patterns.

To end the week, the children had lots of fun dancing and singing to the African song "Kye Kye Kule"!

Black History Month

This week in Nursery, we celebrated Black History Month by learning about Mae Jemison, the first African American woman to travel to space. We read the book "Mae Jemison" from the Little People, Big Dreams series using expressive voices and gestures to bring Mae’s inspiring story to life! The children loved thinking about space and sharing their own dreams.

We created "Dream Clouds" where each child drew themselves in their future dream job – from astronauts to doctors! The children described their dreams using words like “help,” “fly,” and “build.”

We also continued exploring 2D shapes. Through songs, flashcards, and a creative rocket-building activity, we learnt to identify circles, triangles, squares, and rectangles – just like the shapes we saw in Mae’s rocket!

Saint Francis Day Celebration 

Today we celebrated Saint Francis Day in the nursery, and it was a wonderful, fun-filled day for everyone! All the children came dressed in their own clothes – they looked absolutely beautiful.

We talked about St. Francis of Assisi, who loved all of God’s creations – animals, nature, and the earth. Our day was packed with exciting activities that helped the children explore and appreciate the natural world around them.

Nature Walk & Garden Time
We went on a lovely walk around the school garden and playground, looking out for birds, trees, flowers, clouds, and insects. We talked about how “St. Francis loved everything God made – animals, trees, and the sky.” We even collected some leaves and flowers to use in our crafts later on.

Animal-Shaped Biscuits
The children had a great time making their own animal - shaped biscuits. It was a busy and very creative activity – and they smelt and tasted delicious too!

Animal Craft
Using paper plates and leaves collected on our walk, we made simple animal crafts.

Story Time
We shared a simple story about the life of St. Francis. The children learned how he talked to birds, helped a wolf become kind, and showed love to all living things.

It was a truly special day that helped the children connect with nature, learn about kindness, and celebrate the beauty of the world around them – just like St. Francis taught us to do.

Our Homes, Our Families

This week in Nursery, we explored the theme of families through stories, discussions, and creative activities. We read the story "Who’s in My Family?" and looked at each child’s family photo, encouraging them to talk about their family members while learning that all families are different and special.

The children enjoyed creating their own family portraits using natural materials like pebbles and sticks, helping to develop their fine motor skills. We also practised counting how many people live in each child’s home, using numbers to represent family members.

We had lots of lovely conversations about who lives in each child’s house—including parents, siblings, and even pets—and sang songs to help us remember the names and roles of our family members.

Exploring Family and Friends with the Owl Babies

Over the past two weeks, we have been exploring the theme of Family and Friends, with a special focus on the story "Owl Babies" by Martin Waddell. The children loved listening to the story using props, especially joining in with little Bill’s repeated line, “I want my mummy!”

We discussed how the owls might have felt when their mother returned, helping children build empathy and understanding of emotions. They created beautiful owl family pictures using a variety of craft materials and even practiced counting with the owl babies!

In our fine motor area, children “fed” the owls by counting out food items, supporting both number recognition and careful hand-eye coordination.

The children also enjoyed retelling the story through role play and creating their own story maps. They sequenced the events—beginning, middle, and end—developing early storytelling and language skills.

They also were engaged in mark making using sticks and twigs, exploring different textures and patterns with natural materials. This helped develop early writing skills and creativity while connecting with nature.

To extend our learning, we explored sorting and comparing different objects by shape, size, and colour—laying the foundations for early maths skills.

Unique and Loved: Our Journey into RE

This week, we began our RE learning by exploring what makes each of us special and unique. The children took part in a range of activities to explore what makes them special —looking at their height, eye colour, hair, names, likes, and personal strengths.

We talked about how our names are a special gift from our families and how each one of us is unique. Through self-portraits and mirror/iPad observations, the children celebrated their individuality and learned that while we are all different, each of us is precious and loved by God.

We also discussed similarities and differences in our class—how many boys and girls there are, who has long or short hair, and what makes each person special. It was lovely start to our RE learning this year!

Welcome to Nursery – Our First Week!

We have had a wonderful start to the term in Nursery! The children have settled in really well and are already beginning to form lovely relationships with their new friends and familiar adults.

This week, they have been busy exploring the environment both indoors and outdoors – getting to know the different areas, trying out new activities, and learning our daily routines. It has been a joy to see their curiosity, confidence, and independence growing each day.

We are so proud of how well they are adapting to their new setting, and we are looking forward to all the exciting learning and play ahead!