October 2017 Dates for your diary Halloween: Dressing up week beginning 30th October Diwali: Thursday 19th October
General information Ofsted report As you will know from September’s newsletter we were recently visited by Ofsted. The Ofsted report has now been finalised and we are pleased to say that we have got an overall GOOD with OUTSTANDING in personal development, behaviour and welfare. We are really pleased with the result and to have an outstanding in the children's personal development, behaviour and welfare is just wonderful as it shows that they are happy and settled in the nursery, aware of our high behavioural expectations and our nursery values. Due to forest school and our extensive outdoor spaces, children are able to gain a range of experiences in the outdoor environment which contributes to problem solving skills, critical thinking and a connection with the outdoor environment all which were noted in the report . We are very proud of this and feel it is a credit to all the hard work that our staff put in and your wonderful children who attend the nursery with us. Please visit the Worthing College website to read the full report. http://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/3294ba_f22d2e5fb2624275b1c169f304ffe809.pdf?index=true Fundraiser Our lovely practitioner Rhia will be having her hair cut short for the charity ‘Little Princess Trust’. A link to their website is pasted below. A sponsorship form will be on Butterflies door if you would like to sponsor her. http://www.littleprincesses.org.uk/ The Little Princess Trust provides real hair wigs free of charge to children across the UK and Ireland that have sadly lost their own hair due to cancer treatment and other illnesses. 30 Hours Please be aware that you will need to renew you application every three months for the 30 hours free entitlement. You may or may not receive a reminder from HMRC. Training Last month, Denise and Kim attended ‘Serious case review briefing’ training and Donna attended a training course called ‘Consulting children’. Emma attended a child protection refresher course and Sonam, Rachel and Monica all completed their Food Hygiene Level 2.
Tel: 01903 275750 Email: nursery@worthing.ac.uk Sanditon Way, Worthing, West Sussex, BN14 9FD www.worthing.ac.uk
October 2017
General information continued Diwali Festival The nursery will be celebrating Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights,. It is the most popular of all the festivals from South Asia. It is also an occasion for celebration by Jains and Sikhs. The festival of Diwali extends over five days. Because of the lights, fireworks and sweets involved, it's a great favourite with children. The festival celebrates the victory of good over evil, light over darkness and knowledge over ignorance, although the actual legends that go with the festival are different in different parts of India. Are you aware of what your children are watching......... We often come across behaviours and language in our children that are copied from what they see on the television and internet and video games. Sometimes you can put something that you feel is quite harmless on and then walk away not realising that the nature of what was put on changes throughout. This then leads to children role-playing what was seen and heard. Please be mindful of what you put on. A useful website linked to this is: https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0015/7107/managemedia.pdf
Tel: 01903 275750 Email: nursery@worthing.ac.uk Sanditon Way, Worthing, West Sussex, BN14 9FD www.worthing.ac.uk
Little Eggs This month We welcome Isabella and Cohen to Little Eggs this month – we cannot wait to play with you! We would also like to welcome Monica to our team who will be working Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. This month we will be creating some beautiful paintings using Autumn colours for our display. We will also enjoy some Autumn walks out in our buggies! We will be continuing to settle our new babes well and build bonds with them and their parents!
Acknowledgements Well done to all of our new Little Eggs for settling so well!
Other bits and bobs We will be creating some festive Halloween cards during this month. Please feel free to dress your baby in fun Halloween clothes the week of Halloween!
Ideas for home Autumn leaf play– put together a tub of leaves that your child can explore– discovering different textures.
Caterpillars This month We would like to give a warm welcome to Amelia who is starting with us this month– we are so excited to get to know you! We will be looking at Autumn and talking about the noticeable changes we can see around us such as the colour of the leaves. We have already started to collect pine cones, conkers, acorns and leaves for our sensory bin and we will be using these to create art with; including animals we start to see such as spiders, bats and hedgehogs. We invite all children to wear autumnal colours or Halloween costumes on 31st October!
Acknowledgements A BIG thank you to Adam’s mummy Zorina, for being a fantastic parent helper on our beach trip! Please label your child’s clothing with their name. Thank you!
Other bits and bobs Although we can provide splash suits and wellie boots for our excursions on the nature trail and our wet weather play, please could we ask you to pack clothing in your child’s nursery bag for colder weather. Also as we are a free flow nursery, please ensure your child has shoes that are suitable for winter weather.
Ideas for home Take a walk and crunch some leaves. Talk about colour changes, cold breezes and frosty ground. Collect natural materials to make collages or use sticky back plastic to create sun catchers on the window!
Blossom This month Well what amazing children we have in Blossom! They have all settled into their new room really well. The children have enjoyed the new layout and the big garden. They have been engrossed in their play in our home corner, quiet reading area, at our mark making table, understanding the world play, maths and messy tray. The puppets have also been a big hit at circle time, Our key person groups are now in place, which means children will be learning in small groups concentrating on their next steps and their interests. Next month we are excited about going to Forest School which will involve reading a story which we will act out! In October, key workers will be recording observations of WOW moments for each child and this could be in any of the developmental areas (Literacy, Numeracy, Understanding the world, Physical, Communication and Language, Personal, Social and Emotional wellbeing). Autumn is such a fun time to notice the changes in the trees and scenery around us and we are going to have a learning display for the children to engage in. It is a very important time in the children’s development and we aim to improve self-esteem and confidence in providing open ended activities that allow our children to show us the way they learn best and to flourish their full potential.
Other bits and bobs Thank you for all your support in these first few weeks with our new team. Please don’t hesitate to ask us any questions.
Ideas for home Why not go for a lovely country walk and see what your child can tell you about colours, shapes and numbers.
Butterflies This month We will be continuing to look at families and sharing our photos with each other. We will be looking at the different things we can do as we get older and celebrating our own achievements through the ‘I can’ tree. We will also be looking at changes in the environment around us as we enter the Autumn season; collecting leaves and sticks to create a variety of pictures including family trees. We are eagerly awaiting the re-opening of the local park and hope to see the completion during this month. We will be creating a variety of fun Halloween things, especially in our potion lab! Also, we will be focusing on Diwali, the festival of light and learning the story to go with it.
Acknowledgements Thank you to all the parents of the Butterfly children in supporting our new friends through the recent transition to our room. They are all settling in really well!
Other bits and bobs Please check your child’s drawer regularly for art work and letters. Rhia will be having her hair cut for the charity ‘The little Princess’ trust. A link to their website is pasted below. A sponsorship form will be on Butterflies door if you would like to sponsor her. http://www.littleprincesses.org.uk/ The Little Princess Trust provides real hair wigs free of charge to children across the UK and Ireland that have sadly lost their own hair due to cancer treatment and other illnesses.
Ideas for home On a cold wet day, see if your child can draw around all the family members hands and then cut them out and order them to size. On a dry crisp day, go for an Autumn walk exploring the local area, crunching in leaves and colour searching.
Forest School The children and forest school leaders are very excited to be getting back in the forest this month. Blossom children will be reading the following stories and acting them out:
Three Billy Goats Gruff
The Gruffalo
Three Little Pigs
Going on a bear hunt
These stories are known and loved by the children and we will enjoy the experience outside in the natural surroundings. Please make sure your child has long sleeved trousers and tops as well as a coat on for this activity– we will provide welly boots and we also have splash suits available if it gets muddy. Butterflies children will be doing activities in Forest School based around mini beasts. We will be going on bug hunts, restoring our bug hotel, making mini beast houses and having snack on the fire.
Ideas for home Do get out if you can in this beautiful crisp weather and bring in or email us any pictures that you take.