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Newsletter – Autumn term 2024 (first half term).

Posted on: 21st October 2024

Welcome to the start of the new school year and the start of our autumn term.

We would like to welcome all the new parents and children to the Brambles as well as our returning parents and children and hope you all had a great summer holiday. 

Holiday forms have already been sent out for the October half term. Please ensure they are returned to avoid disappointment of not securing a place. 

The menu for the term has also been emailed. Hot lunches are £2.00 or £2.50 if a pudding is included. These can be ordered on the day or in advance. 

Below is the topic each room is exploring this half term and the exciting activities your child/ren may be involved in. If you feel you can help in any way towards the topic/activities please see Linda, Lindsey, Louise or Debbie. 

Field mice room: Pre-school children

The topic is –ALL AROUND US/ ALL ABOUT ME:

Area of learning Week 1

Settling in

Week 2

About me

Week 3

My home

Week 4

Out on a walk – autumn 

Week 5

Harvest

PSED          
Settle in and welcome new children. Establish routines and rules e.g. being kind, etc
Learn morning / carpet songs
Self-register Circle games ie freeze game FIRE DRILL
Discuss and share feelings – what makes us happy/sad…(scribe thoughts)
Caring for our room, tidying away, thinking of others. 
The colour monster book                
Helping each other – ‘Helping’ by Shirley Hughes’ 
Take home margarine tub and find  5 ‘treasures’ in garden or outside   
Talk about family trips and outings ie park, beach, country walk           
Harvest time.
Prepare for harvest and sharing –  ‘little red hen’  
Snack – try and taste different breads e.g. chapatti,     pitta.             
C&L
Name recognition games 
Discuss routines and rules
                    
Discuss skin/hair colour – similarities/differences (all unique and special)
Discuss Colour monster story
Discuss I am special because….
Happy to be me poem – discuss
Share and discuss All about me books
Make little books in shape of a house, who lives in my house?
Shared writing, compose a letter home about a walk next week (request for a margarine tub)
Sounds around the home tape game.
Circle time – discuss treasures.  Listening – identify sounds from walk (see UTW) 
Recognition of names, focus on initial sounds of names. Non-fiction books about Autumn – read ‘Percy the Park Keeper’ stories 
Write shopping lists in role play
Re-tell ‘little red hen’ story, 
Talk about fruit and vegetables the you like/don’t like, read ‘Oliver’s Vegetables’.
  
   
PD
Fine motor skills –   putting on & taking off coats, aa apron
Toilet practice independence
Using knife & fork scuse scissors
Catch a star – lg tweezers to pick up stars in rice
Free draw and write
Pencil control- pattern sheet
Use scissors – cutting playdough and cutting out features to glue onto a face template
Trace over name and sound of the week
Responding to a signal, stopping and starting to music
Fine : dressing dolls
Travel round the room in different ways – use space safely 
Fine : collect small objects on walk
Magnets
fine motor: prepare exotic fruit – wash/chop , etc. kneading and pushing of the bread dough.
Lit         
What sound does your name begin with?
Story – The gingerbread man (name parts of a book)
Share and discuss All about me books
Trace name 
Happy to be me poem
S sound
      A sound
Share “We’re going on a bear hunt”
T sound
I sound
Maths
Song – 10 green bottles (counting & number recognition)
1,2,3 hoop game (collecting 1,2 or 3 objects)
Size sorting bears
Number poem – all about me – counting and number recognition
How many can you hold?
Largest/smallest hand?
How old are you? – counting candles & number recognition
Walk around setting collect shapes, feely bag game.
Make house pictures using cut out shapes.
Shape lotto game.
Make gingerbread men – using numbers   when measuring ingredients
Make sets of treasures, count, and add number cards. Discuss shapes of natural objects found on walk e.g. leaves, stones (smooth, pointed, etc)
Discuss, act out prepositions in story
‘five currant buns’ sing the song, count the buns.
Count pennies to pay for things in role play shop
How many buns can we fit on the round/square tray or in the large/small bag
KUW
Become familiar with routines and simple rules
Take portrait photos – 2 each
Colour sorting bears
Body tracing – label parts of the body (hand, elbow…)
Are you L or R handed?
Happy to be me poem 
Talk about different kinds of homes.  Collect pictures and books about different kinds of homes.  Dolls house play, computer colour house in.
Go for a walk – observe trees, plants, etc, use senses.  Display our treasures on interest table, use magnifiers.
Tape record sounds on walk, wear ‘ears’ to be more aware of sounds in environment
Make bread in small groups 
Observe and discuss changes
Look at wheat, grind your own flour.  Look at different kinds of flour.
Visit St Just church/school to watch reception class at harvest festival
EAD
Play dough – face templates
Paint brick wall and green bottles for display
Sing songs
Draw/Paint self portraits (use mirrors)
Handprints (L if left handed…)
Head and shoulders action song
Recognising and matching sounds of percussion instruments (Listening, Remember)
Free painting using a range of brushes 
Music – listening and following  instructions (sticky kids)
Autumn songs (see black folder)
Decorate GBM
Explore colours, paint with autumn shades.
Close observation drawings of natural treasures.
Learn and sing songs about outdoors/autumn
Act out story
Observational drawings fo interest table – use charcoal, pencils and pastels
Sing harvest songs

 

Area of learning
Week 6
Our basic skills
Shape & colour
Week 7
Our basic skills
Counting & numbers
Week 8
PSED          
Sharing, turn taking in games & when listening to each other                
Play number games cooperatively, help your friends
All about me activities
Staying safe during Halloween and Bonfire night
C&L
Describe m2D shapes – name, number of edges, corners (vocab)
Guess the shape – feely bag
Discuss counting stories- vocab/rhyme
Talk about the sounds the fire works make
Discuss dressing up at Halloween
PD
Use large apparatus to move through, under, etc. – river, grass, cave, etc.
Draw around shapes
Make shapes using playdough sausages
Shape sensory tray ie. circles/spheres-balls, buttons, discs, pompoms..
Cornflour play and coloured ice cubes
Thread correct number of beads onto pipe cleaner flags
Scissors – cut a stick
Sensory writing trays (flour/rice) draw numbers and sounds
Use tweezers to pick up pom- poms (cake cases with numbers on base)
Activities centred around Halloween – spiders webs, carving pumpkins
Lit
Discuss vocab in “The shape of things”
Brown Bear Brown bear story
P sound
N sound
Meg and Mog – Halloween
Maths
Simple repeat patterns
2D & 3D shapes
Find shapes around the room and match
Sort shapes onto a matching shape
Game – I have a square, who has a circle?
Action counting songs
Thread correct number of beads onto pipe cleaner flags
Roller ball numbers  
Number puzzles
Counting bears
Find your partner (numbers on plastic spoons buried in the sand)
Treasure hunt – numbers in the sand – match to number line
KUW
Colour matching games – dominoes…
Autumn leaf colour – matching and sorting
Coloured bears and matching cards
How old are yo? (candles on a cake)
Who is the eldest/youngest? 
EAD
Print with 3D shapes to make 2~D shapes
Create shape person
Mixing colours using hand prints
Making rainbows

Rising threes: 

The topic is All about me with a focus book of The Gruffalo: 

All About Me

Focus book: The Gruffalo

Events:

September:

   6th-Read a book day      8th-International Literacy Day    9th-22nd-Fairtrade Fortnight 9th-Teddy Bear Day 

19th-Talk Like a Pirate Day   27th-National Doodle Day   29th-World Rivers Day   

October:

1st-31st-Black History Month    1st-World Vegetarian Day    2nd-4th-Rosh Hashanah-Jewish New Year Festival   

4th- 10th-World Space Week   6th-Grandparent Day UK    16th- 22nd -Recycle Week  19th- World Singing Day   21th- Trafalgar Day   31st-Halloween

Week One 2nd-6TH 

PSED: Introduce the Colour Monster and create a self-portrait.

C+L: Start the Gruffalo story and introduce Makaton.  6th-Read a book Day-Encourage parents to read a book with their child, sending in photos and their child’s response to the book. 

Physical: Introduce the terms ‘Wake and shake’

Literacy: The children will be able to re-enact the Gruffalo story, through the terms Gruffalo story tray. 8th is International literacy Day. The children will practice mark making in the tuff tray with sticks and shaving foam.

Mathematics: We will begin to focus on the numbers 1,2 and 3, Developing on their counting and number recognition.

Understanding the world: Card board cut outs will be created of the Gruffalo, these will then be used in a shadow show. How shadows are made will be discussed with the children.

Expressive Art and Design: The children will create a paper plate Gruffalo using different shapes-this can also be linked to Mathematics.

Week Two 9th- 13th 

PSED: We will look at and discuss our families. The children will be asked to bring in a picture of their family, as well as create their own family portrait.

C+L: Gruffalo story stones will be introduced, so the children can tell their own story of the Gruffalo. 9th is Teddy Bear day, the children will be encouraged to bring in their favourite bear that will be used in ‘Show and Tell.’

Physical: The children will be assisted in cutting up different materials and creating a meal for a Gruffalo.

Literacy: Children’s name cards will be added to the morning registration to encourage them to recognise their own name.

Mathematics: Using different shapes the children will create different Gruffalo animals. The children will be supported in recognising shapes.

Understanding the World: 9th-22nd is Fairtrade Fortnight. We will discuss fairtrade products and farming.

Expressive Art and Design: Using sticks that the children have collected themselves, they will create a log pile house.

Week Three 16th-20th 

PSED: Introduce The Huge Bag of Worries. The children will have an opportunity to talk to us about any worries they have.

C+L: 19th of September is talk like a pirate day. During the week we will practice talking like Pirates.

Physical: A Gruffalo trail will be made in the garden, where the children will be able to walk through the woods, meeting the different character and climbing through obstacles. Combined in this is a treasure hunt for the children.

Literacy: To celebrate speak like a pirate day, the children will make treasure maps.

Mathematics: The children will be learning measurements to make a Gruffalo crumble.

Understanding the world: The different homes of where woodland animals live will be explored. How do the animals make their homes? Why do they make their home where they are?

Expressive art and design: Paper plate snakes will be made.

 

Week Four 23rd-27th 

PSED: Den building as a group will be done in the garden, to create the homes of animals. The children will look at working as a team and sharing.

C+L: During den building, the children will be encouraged to talk amongst their peers, while working as a team. It will be discussed the benefits of talking about what you are doing and how this promotes good team work.

Physical: The children will create a dance to woodland music.

 Literacy: The 27th is national doodle day. The children throughout the week will create some of their best doodles.

Mathematics: The number 4 will now  be explored. How do we identify the number 4? What makes it unique?

Understanding the world: 29th is world rivers day. The children will explore different rivers around the world.

Expressive Art and Design: The children will create instruments, that can be played along side the woodland music, while they dance.

Week Five 30th-4th

PSED: The 5th is world smile day. We will discuss the things that make us smile and how it is good to make people smile.

C+L: I spy with my little eye, colour game. The children will be encouraged to find different things in the nursery of a certain colour and to bring it back to the adult, so it can be talked about what they have found.

Physical:  The eye spy game will be extended, by the children going to find objects, moving like an animal.

Literacy: Rosh Hashanah pencil control activity worksheet.

Mathematics: The children will work on measuring making Rosh Hashanah honey biscuits.

Understanding the World: 2nd-4th is Rosh Hashanah-Jewish New Year Festival. The children will explore how the celebrate this. 

Expressive Art and Design: Learn a Rosh Hashanah dance.

Week Six 7th-11th

PSED: Introduce nature breathing activity to the children. This can be done in groups or individually.

C+L: The 6th is Grandparent Day. We will talk about our grandparents and what makes them special.

Physical: We are going to be spacemen for the week. The children will practice getting into their space suits and flying to the moon.

Literacy: The children will have a range of space pencil control activities to choose from, they will be supported in learning how to hold the pencil. Cards will be made for grandparents. 

Mathematics: Space Number dough mats will be available, with support the children will use the dough to shape the numbers. Still looking at what makes each number unique.

Understanding the World: the 4th-10th is world space week. We will use the week to explore space.

Expressive Art and Design: The children will make junk model space ships.

Week Seven 14th-18th

PSED: The children will learn turn taking, during our recycling relay race.

C+L: The children will learn The Messy Magpie’s I Recycle song.

Physical: The children will run a recycling relay race. The recycling bins will be set in the garden. The children will take turns in picking up rubbish from a pile and putting it into the correct recycling bin.

Literacy: Peppa pig, pencil control recycling activity. Again the children will be given support in how to hold a pencil.

Mathematics: Earth Day counting game done in small groups, matching the number to the picture.

Understanding the World: We will explore the benefits of recycling and the impact it has on the planet.

Expressive Art and Design: The children will make a recycle monster, using different recyclable materials.

Week Eight 21st-25th

PSED: Introduce balloon breathing activity, to allow the children to self-regulate.

C+L: We will be discussing Trafalgar Day and Admiral Nelson.

Physical: We will be joining the navy and sailing the seas. The children will also be pumpkin carving as a group. The children will talk bout the pumpkin and look at the shapes made. 

Literacy: The Funny Bones books will  be introduced. 

Mathematics: The children will be measuring and pouring and making chemical reactions in a fizzing cauldron.

Understanding the World: We will look at Trafalgar Day and discuss Halloween.

Expressive Art and Design: Skeletons will be created using paper straws.

 

Dormouse room:

We would like to say a big welcome to all the children in the Dormice Room. We are all looking forward to the term ahead. Over the next couple of weeks, we will be focusing on putting foundations and bonds into place with all practitioners and we will be letting all parents know whom your child’s key person will be.

We will be covering the 7 areas of learning within our topic of ‘Autumn’.

Personal, Social & Emotional Development: Our main focus will be to settle all the children returning or joining us for the first time. This will allow the staff and children to have time to get to know each other and for the staff to become accustomed to the children’s personal routines and interests.

Communication & Language: We will be creating autumn treasure baskets with lots of natural treasures for the children to explore and vocabulary to be introduced, playing peek-a-boo with autumn animals and encouraging the children to wave, babble or say ‘hello’ and ‘bye’.

Physical Development: We will be waving coloured scarves/ribbons and watching them move and float around. We will be encouraging the children to use their fine motor skills as they use purple, green & orange balls, passing the ball from one hand to another or using their feet to move them. We will be playing lots of Christmas music for us to move around making a variety of movements.

Literacy: We’ll be singing lots of autumn songs and looking at the ‘That’s not my books’ including that’s not my badger, fox and bat. Celebrating fireworks – we will be creating our own pictures by using our hands, feet or chunky paintbrushes. We will have books with a Halloween theme with puppets, soft toys such as cats, bats and pumpkins.  Together we will sing twinkle twinkle little star under the fairy lights.

Mathematics: There will be a variety of fruits, vegetables of all different shapes and sizes in a treasure basket for them to explore, feel and hold. We will hide a selection of Halloween soft toys under cauldrons for the children to find the hidden objects and then re-hide them.

Understanding the World: We will be going on little autumn walks to collect sticks, leaves. Feel free at home to go on an autumn walk and bring your treasures into us at nursery. We will have a small tray available filled with orange water, apple slices and cinnamon so the children can splash around and explore with their senses.

Expressive art & design: We will be getting messy and exploring a variety of media such as mash potato, cereals, spaghetti, apples, blackberries, pumpkin seeds to feel their different textures. We’ll be dancing with music and instruments celebrating the sparkles and glitter of bonfire night and Christmas along with making lots of crafts for the children to bring home.

___________________________________________

News:

Our next trustees meeting is being held on Monday 11th November @ 1.30pm. This will be @ Brambles. If any parent is interested in joining the trustees, please see Debbie. 

If any parents have changed their address or phone number can you please let the staff know so they can change the admission form to reflect this. If there are, any changes to pickups these will also need to be altered on the forms. 

Brambles has a closed Face Book page – please send a friend request if you are not already a member. If your FB name is unusual please let Debbie know (some parents do not put their name on their account due to the nature of their jobs). Updates for the nursery are posted and may include; upcoming events, requests, photos of trips out, photos of children eating produce from the garden, lunch menus…

We would like to welcome Sinead into the Dormouse room as a new practitioner. We are sure she will quickly settle in to the routines of the room and form great attachments with the children as well as parents. She has taken over from Carol who unfortunately had to leave us in the summer holidays.

We would also like to welcome Kerris to The Brambles team. She joins us an apprentice to complete her Early Years qualification and will be working mainly within the field mouse room. 

 

Hours:

If any parents would like to change their children’s hours and or days for the Autumn term please see Debbie. Please be aware the days are filling up and there is not  a lot of flexibility left – especially in the Dormouse room.

Coffee morning:

Thank you to all the parents and grandparents who made a cake for our coffee at the farmers market on Saturday and visited for coffee/tea and cake. We raised over £200 which the Dormouse room will be spending on new resources.

We hope to run 2 more over the school year to raise funds for the Rising 3’s and Preschool groups.

Library: This will reopen on Thursday 26th September.

The library has been a big hit with the children and it is lovely seeing them eagerly arriving on a Thursday morning wanting to change their books. The library will be open on Monday mornings as well but if you wish to change the books on another day please see Debbie. We are aware there are many children who do not come in on a Monday or Thursday therefore please see Debbie to become part of this great initiative. The books are being well looked after and we appreciate this hugely – additionally we hope it will teach the children to respect and look after nursery’s other books as well as their own books. 

Funding:

The government has introduced new funding from September 2024 for all working parents whose children are aged 9 months +. If your child is, 9 months before the 1st December 2024 and you and your partner both work a minimum of 16 hours/wk you may be eligible for funding. 

Please visit https://cornwall.cloud.servelec-syngery.com/SynergyWeb/ , search for working families funding and complete the forms to see if you are eligible. You should then be given an 11 digit number beginning 500/501 which Debbie will need to validate on the funding portal. Once you have a code you will receive an email every 3 months where you will need to go back to the .gov website and re-validate your details. Please be aware this email can go into your junk mail! If the code is not re-validated it stops and will only reactivate when you reapply. If you have any questions please see Debbie. This needs to be completed as soon as possible to avoid being charged for hours you may have been able to have funded. 

Funding for all 2 year olds (if eligible) began in April 2024 and parents need to visit the following website; https://cornwall.cloud.servelec-syngery.com/SynergyWeb/ to check if they are eligible. If your child turns two by the 31.08.2024 you may be eligible for the new 15 hours of funding being introduced by the Government. If you are eligible, please see Debbie who will have the necessary forms to fill out.

Children who turned 3 by the 31.08.2024 may be eligible for 30 hours of funding per week. If you and your partner both work 16+ hours/wk, you may be eligible. Please visit www.cornwall.gov.uk to check your eligibility. 

Many parents will also be eligible for ‘Childfree Tax Care’ with the government scheme – for children aged up to 11 years. Again, this can be found on the government website and could help towards your childcare costs and it can be used for fees/lunches/snacks….Please look to see if you are eligible – the nursery is registered with the scheme already and you just need to add our name to your account. The government will put 25% of the amount you put in into your account, which you then transfer to Brambles. Please see Debbie or Hanri if you need help with this system. You could receive over £2,000 from the government towards your childcare fees using this method. 

Unfunded week:

The Government funding covers 38 weeks of the year and there are 39 weeks within the 3 terms which leaves 1 week unfunded. This will be the week beginning 16th December. If you are banking hours they can be used for this week.

If you do not bank hours and use all of your hours during the 38 weeks you can either keep your child at home or bring them in and the hours you attend will be charged at £5.75/hour. 

Medication:

The Brambles has an emergency bottle of Calpol for children who may suddenly develop a temperature, whose parents cannot collect them quickly and we feel it is required. If your child is teething or you feel requires a dose of Calpol during the day a bottle must be brought in with them. We are finding when we require ours it is empty due to parents not supplying their own. If they do require Calpol for anything other than teething, it may be they are too poorly for nursery and need to stay home. 

 

Lunches:We discourage juice at lunchtime unless there is a reason – please see Debbie if this is the case. We have a water cooler, which the preschool children are able to freely access and water/milk is provided during snacks and lunch times.

Please cut grapes into QUARTERS – these are one of the biggest choking hazards for children and many parents are not cutting them small enough or at all. There is not always the time for practitioners to cut them for the children and therefore they may not be given during the lunch hour.

Due to a nut allergy within the setting there are to be NO NUTS in packed lunches. We will be changing our policy to reflect this. 

We promote healthy eating and would like parents to support us with this when providing packed lunches. A healthy packed lunch should contain; a sandwich/crackers/wrap, yogurt, packet of crisps, fruit and maybe one biscuit or piece of cake.  We are able to reheat food from yesterdays ‘tea’ or make beans/spaghetti on toast if you would like to provide this in a packed lunch. 

Clothing:

Now the weather is cooler please ensure the children’s rucksacks contain suitable clothing and that children have a fleece/jacket or coat on their peg. We are still utilising the outside areas and the wind can be chilly here at Brambles. Many children prefer their own clothes and are reluctant to wear Brambles items. 

Wet wipes:

Can ALL children who are not in nappies please bring in a named packet of wet wipes to leave in the bathroom. There are times an accident occurs or the children need to clean their faces after lunch and we do not always have wipes available. If we do use Brambles wipes these will be added to your account. 

Late collections:

A reminder to ALL parents that a late collection will result in £50 being billed to your account. If you are going to be late please phone Brambles and let a practitioner know. Late collections impact on practitioners leaving to collect after school club children from school, meeting appointments, collecting their own children  and having the correct ratio of staff in the building. 

Family support:

Jessica Legrys is the Family Support Worker for our area and she is keen to meet with our families to see if there is anything, she can help with. This may be eating, sleeping, behaviour, finances, support…..Please let me know if you would like to speak to her. Drop in sessions are due to be arranged. Her number is 01736 759058 if you would like to speak to her directly. 

INFORMATION FOR THE TERM:

PRE-SCHOOL CHILDREN:

On the 21st October, the children will be visiting the Minack @ 10 am to take part in a Minack Magic Movement drama workshop. We hope to have the school mini buses and will leave Brambles at 9.20 am and return by 12pm for lunch. The workshop is for 90 minutes and parents are welcome to attend with us or watch on the live webcam. 

The team will be starting an Emotion coaching course and you should have received an email with a form to complete if you would NOT like to be included in the evaluation. 

Provisionally the NATIVITY will be held on Tuesday 17th December at the Town Hall. The dress rehearsal will be on Monday 16th December. More details will follow.  

Can all parents please send in a photo of the front of your homes and a family photo (just immediate family).

 

Rising 3’s 

Please can the children bring in their favourite teddy to share with the group.

At bedtime (or during the day) when you are reading a story with your child could you please take a photo and email it to Debbie @ manager@brambles-nursery.org.uk . Within the email could you add any comments your child may have responded with during or at the end of the story. 

On the 19th of September the children may like to dress up as pirates as it is “Talk like a pirate” day and Lindsey and her team will be involved in all things piratey!!!

Dormouse room:

Please can ALL pots, boxes, cups, bottles, lunch bags…..be labelled. At this time when there are lots of new children it can become confusing when there are lots of different belongings and it is not always the same practitioner who sets up for snack/lunches or packs everything up at the end of the day. 

If changing bags/rucksacks and their contents can also be labelled it makes organising and ensuring the right belongings go home with the right owners a lot easier. 

______________________________________________________________________________________

Term dates:

AUTUMN TERM DATES: 02.09.2024 – 20.12.2024

02.09.2024 – 25.10.2024 first half of the autumn term

OCTOBER HALF-TERM: 28.10.2024 – 01.11.2024

PLEASE REMEMBER A PLACE NEEDS TO BE BOOKED FOR THESE 4 WEEKS

FEAST: Monday 4th November BRAMBLES WILL BE CLOSED.

05.11.2024 – 20.12.2024 Second half of the autumn term

UNFUNDED WEEK – 16TH – 20TH December.

 

Thank you.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

 

 

 

 

 

Newsletter – Summer term 2024 (second half term)

Posted on: 25th June 2024

Welcome back form the half term.

Holiday forms have already been sent out for summer club – please ensure you have booked your child in if you require care over the summer holidays

Below is the topic each room is exploring this half term and the exciting activities your child/ren may be involved with. If you feel you can help in any way towards the topic/activities please see LindaLindsey, Louise or Debbie.

Field mice room: Pre-school children

The topic is –holidays. Week 1 –trains , week 2  the travel agents, week 3 – our holidays, week 4 – beach cafe, week 5  sunny days, week 6 – at the beach and week 7 – sports day.

Personal, Social & Emotional DevelopmentTrain journeys the children have been on will be discussed and re-enacted with the train setFeelings will be focused on – the excitement of going on a holiday or visiting a place or relatives. Turn taking will be encouraged as the children set up the role play area as a beach – discussing what they like/dislike to eat and picking up their litter when they leave. Discussions will be held about what to expect on sports day and how others may be feeling
Communication & Language: Stories such as The Train Ride and Mr Archimedes Bath will be read and discussed. Other stories and rhymes around journeys and holidays will be shared. Sports day races will be discussed and the skills required from the children.

Phonic lessons will cover all the sounds and letters of the alphabet.

Physical DevelopmentGames will be played which involve the children listening, following the leader, travelling at different speeds and over/under/around…. obstacles. Roadways and tracks will be created for the trains and cars to be driven around. 

Literacy: Opportunities will be provided for the children to practice their writing skills with menus in the café, taking orders, sending postcards and during the phonic lessons where letter formation will be practised. These skills have developed immensely over the last 2 terms. 

Maths: During the obstacle course positional language will be introduced as the children go over, under, through, around….. the garden. Train carriages will be counted and labelled with the correct number, number games will be played and patterns drawn and copied. 

UTW: Postcards and souvenirs from holidays will be brought in and discussed. The children will be asked to think about the different landscapes they saw on their holiday compared to ours. A travel agents will be set up for the children to role play. 

Expressive arts and design: The children will be encouraged to respond and move to the rhythm, tempo and beats of the music. Instruments will be explored to create the sounds of trains and other vehicles. Patterns will be drawn in chalk outside and items from the beach (shells, seaweed, pebbles..) will be placed on a table and drawn. 

Rising threes:

The topic is HOLIDAYS AND TRAVELLING.

Each Week the children will visit a different country. Week 1 – France, Week 2 – Spain, Week 3 – Switzerland, week 4 – Mexico, week 5 – Greece, week 6 – Australia and week 7 – Italy.

PSED – The children will be involved in games which involve turn taking and teams. The games will be those typically played on holiday – swing ball, skittles, bat and ball games…..

C&L – Each week the children will learn how to say ‘Hello’ and ‘Goodbye’ in the language of the country they are visiting. If you could encourage and practise this at home it would help embed the new vocabulary for them.

PD – The children will be practising for sports day therefore please ensure they are wearing suitable footwear for this. 

Literacy – A focus will be given to their pencil control ready for when they transition into the pre-school room in September. There will be several activities over the weeks to help with this such as mark making in the sand, chalk drawings outside, art activities…..

Maths  As the children visit each country they will make a dish related to the place. They will follow a recipe, weigh out the ingredients, mix and then cook the food before tasting and eating it!! If the children bring home their food please can you take a photo and post it on FB for Lindsey to be able to print and add to their learning journal.  

UTW – The flags from each country will be looked at as well as their culture and traditionsIf anyone has any souvenirs, toys, pictures from these countries they would be willing to share with the children please see Debbie or Lindsey. If you have links to these countries and would be able to come in and talk about them to the children that would be great as well. Again, please speak to Debbie or Lindsey. 

EA&D – using different media the children will create artwork related to the countries as well as preparing for Lafrowda and helping with our structure.  

Dormouse room:

Exploring nature with our senses.

Each area of learning will be tailored to the age and stage of development of each individual child.

Personal, Social & Emotional Development:

Simple songs incorporating parts of the body will be sung, the sense of touch will be explored with massage, listening to the environment whilst lying in the garden and the children will explore how everyone is different. Whilst in the environment the children will explore how insects live and how they would feel in a different scenario, encouragement will be given to the children to help them notice the differences between the insects they find and an insect themed treasure basket will be made. 

Communication & Language:

A nature table will be set up with insects, books, wood, stones, leaves, sticks, pebbles…. for the children to explore and vocabulary to be introduced. Games such as peek a book and I can hear…will be played with the children being encouraged to look for the insect they can hear. I spy with my little eye…will be played in the garden and objects will be hung on the washing line and the children will listen to the sounds they make. 

Physical Development:

Using their hands and different objects the children will form their own band and march around the garden playing softly and loudly! Sensory bags will be made for tummy time or for squishing and squeezing in their hands. Music will be played for the children to move their bodies to – copying the moves modelled by the practitioners.  

Literacy:

The children be added to the water tray alongside some insects for the children to explore. Different sized boxes and containers will be available for the children to build homes for the insects to sort the insects into groups. ‘Artificial mud (cocoa and water) will be made with different lengths of pasta for the children to compare looking for the longest, shortest….Simple patterns of movement will be created when playing Simon says…

Knowledge and Understanding of the World:

The children will use a piece of cooked spaghetti to trail through the mud watching as it slips, slithers and slides around. Whilst in the garden the children will be encouraged to explore the feel of leaves, grass, flowers on their skin as well as exploring their smells. Magnifiers, nets and viewfinders will be available for them to use as they explore the garden on insect hunts.  

Expressive Art and Design:

Musical shakers will be made using different containers and fillings to create different sounds for the band. Butterfly prints will be created by the children , lolly sticks attached and then flown around the garden. A range of drawing materials will be accessible for the children to create their own drawings and support will be given to encourage the children to add more detail and complexity to their drawings. 

The children will be encouraged to point to different parts of their bodies during Simon Says…sensory activities will be provided for the children to take part in exploring messy materials and different textures. The children will have opportunities to draw the insects they find during their exploration of the garden and to create a book they can look at with friends. 

Mathematics:

Measuring spoons and cups will 

News:

Our next trustees meeting is being held on Monday June 10th at 1.30pm. This will be @ Brambles. If any parent is interested in joining the trustees, please see Debbie.

Those unwelcome friends – HEAD LICE – are doing the rounds again so please check your child/s hair and treat accordingly. They do not like citronella or tea tree and sprays of these are available – they are a good deterrent! Long hair tied back or plaited also helps

If any parents have changed their address or phone number can you please let the staff know so they can change the admission form to reflect this. If there are, any changes to pickups these will also need to be altered on the forms. 

Brambles has a closed Face Book page – please send a friend request if you are not already a member. Updates are posted as necessary, photos of trips out, photos of children eating produce from the garden, lunch menus…

Payments – nursery fees:

There are still many outstanding fees which need to be settled as soon as possible. The end of July by the latest. As you are aware we have just replaced the roof at a cost of over £50,000 which the nursery has to pay therefore the outstanding fees would go a long way to cover this amount. We now have a card machine in the office if this makes it easier for parents to pay. Please see Debbie or Hanri if you have any queries and would like to set up a payment plan. 

We do not want to pass these debts to an agency but we will be required to if payments are not made or a payment plan drawn up. Once they go the agency more costs are added

From September if accounts are not settled before the next statements are sent out we may have to stop your child’s place. Due to the government funding initiatives, these places are in great demand. 

Hours:

If any parents would like to change their children’s hours and or days for the Autumn term please see Debbie before the end of June

Summer:

Now the weather is warming up please ensure ALL children have a named bottle of sun cream and a named sunhat in their bag every day. It would be great if they could be left at Brambles for the summer. Please apply cream in the morning before dropping off your child and we will apply it during the day as required. 

Please ensure there are plenty of spare clothes in your child’s bag – we will see a lot of water pay this term and the children love to get wet!!!Please make sure the clothes are suitable for the weather

Summer raffle:

We are now selling squares for our summer raffle @ £2.00 a square. This will be drawn on Friday 19th July. The prize is located in our foyer for you all to see. Please speak to Debbie or Hanri if you would like a square.

Lafrowda:

This year’s theme is ‘Underground’- we have decided we will be archaeologists and have a large skeleton of a dinosaur as our structure. The children and parents can be dressed as dinosaurs or archaeologists. We hope to have ‘fossils’ for the children to carry – this will depend on the artist and the time we have. If we held a workshop would you be interested in helping out? Please see Debbie if you are. All the children are invited to join us – preschool children do not need to be accompanied by a parent but rising 3s and the Dormouse children will. Grown-ups will need to dress up as well!!

Library:

The library has been a big hit with the children and it is lovely seeing them eagerly arriving on a Thursday morning wanting to change their books. The library is now open on Monday mornings as well but if you wish to change the books on another day please see Debbie. We are aware there are many children who do not come in on a Monday or Thursday therefore please see Debbie to become part of this great initiative. The books are being well looked after we appreciate this hugely – additionally we hope it will teach the children to respect and look after nursery’s other books as well as their own books. 

Funding:

If your child is with Lindsey in the Rising 3 area and they turn 3 before September and are not in receipt of the Working Families 2 year funding they will be eligible for 15 universal hours of 3yr funding from the beginning of the Autumn term. Debbie will hand out EY2 forms just before the summer holidays and will then need to see either a passport or birth certificate to validate the children’s details. If parents both work 16 hours or more (or if you are a single parent and working 16 hours or more) you should be eligible for an extended 15 hours. Please visit www.cornwall.gov.uk website, search for 30 hour funding and complete the forms to see if you are eligible. You should then be given an 11 digit number beginning 500/501 which Debbie will need to validate on the funding portal. Once you have a code you will receive an email every 3 months where you will need to go back to the .govwebsite and revalidate your details. Please be aware this email can go into your junk mail! If the code is not revalidated it stops and will only reactivate when you reapply. If you have any questions please see Debbie. This needs to be completed before the end of the term for the code to be validated. 

Funding for all 2 year olds (if eligible) began in April 2024 and parents need to visit the following website; https://cornwall.cloud.servelec-syngery.com/SynergyWeb/ to check if they are eligible. If your child turns two by the 31.08.2024 you may be eligible for the new 15 hours of funding being introduced by the Government. If you are eligible, please see Debbie who will have the necessary forms to fill out.

From September 2024 funding for children from the age of 9 months will be coming into fruition. The funding will start the term after they turn 9 months. Please follow the link above to check if your child is eligible. This check needs to be completed before the end of August. 

Many parents will also be eligible for ‘Child free Tax Care’ with the government scheme – for children aged up to 11 years. Again, this can be found on the government website and could help towards your childcare costs and it can be used for fees/lunches/snacks….Please look to see if you are eligible – the nursery is registered with the scheme already and you just need to add our name to your account.The government will put 25% of the amount you put in into your account, which you then transfer to Brambles. Please see Debbie or Hanri if you need help with this system. You can receive over £2,000 from the government towards your childcare fees using this method. 

Medication:

The Brambles has an emergency bottle of Calpol for children who may suddenly develop a temperature, whose parents cannot collect them quickly and we feel it is required. If your child is teething or you feel requires a dose of Calpol during the day a bottle must be brought in with them. We are finding when we require ours it is empty due to parents not supplying their own. If they do require Calpol for anything other than teething, it may be they are too poorly for nursery and need to stay home. 

Lunches:

We discourage juice at lunchtime unless there is a reason – please see Debbie if this is the caseWe have a water cooler, which the preschool children are able to freely access and water/milk is provided during snacks and lunch times.

Please cut grapes into QUARTERS – these are one of the biggest choking hazards for children. 

Due to a nut allergy within the setting there are to be NO NUTS in packed lunches. We will be changing our policy to reflect this. 

We promote healthy eating and would like parents to support us with this when providing packed lunches. A healthy packed lunch should contain; a sandwich/crackers/wrap, yogurt, packet of crisps, fruit and maybe one biscuit or piece of cake.  We are able to reheat food from yesterdays ‘tea’ or make beans/spaghetti on toast if you would like to provide this in a packed lunch

Photos:

On Thursday 20th June Tempest will be visiting to take the nursery group photo – known as a Vista.

They will be here from 9.30 am. If your child does not normally attend on a Thursday but you would like your child to be in their group photo please see Debbie to arrange a time.

PRE-SCHOOL CHILDREN:

On Friday 12th July at 10.30 am the children will be visiting Benoni Nursing Home to see the residents and take part in a little sports event there. If you are able to help with ratios and walk with us please see Debbie. 

The children have thoroughly enjoyed their French and Spanish lessons this year and if you visit https://www.facebook.com/KidslingoCentralandWestCornwall you will be able to see some of what they have been up to

Rising 3’s and Dormouse room:

The ‘Hello Birds’ production on Tuesday 4th June was a great hit with both staff and children. A great interactive show, which was aimed perfectly for the ages and stages of our children. Thank you to all the parents who came in and supported this. 

Late collections:

A reminder to ALL parents that a late collection will result in £50 being billed to your account. If you are going to be late please phone Brambles and let a practitioner know. Late collections impact on practitioners leaving to collect after school club children from school, meeting appointments, collecting their own children  and having the correct ratio of staff in the building. 

Family support:

Jessica Legrys is the Family Support Worker for our area and she is keen to meet with our families to see if there is anything, she can help with. This may be eating, sleeping, behaviour, finances,support…..Please let me know if you would like to speak to her. Drop in sessions are due to be arranged. Her number is 01736 759058 if you would like to speak to her directly. 

Sports day:

Provisionally Sports day will be Tuesday July 16thI am still waiting for confirmation on this and will send out an email.

The event will be as follows:

10.15–10.30 am Dormouse room

10.45-11 am – Rising 3’s

11.15-12 – Preschool children.

For the preschool children ONLY there will be a BBQ where parents will be able to order and purchase bacon baps for themselves, relatives, friends and children. An email will follow with details. 

Term dates:

15.04.2024 to 19.07.2024

Summer holidays 23rd July – 16th August PLEASE REMEMBER A PLACE NEEDS TO BE BOOKED FOR THESE 4 WEEKS

Bank holidays Monday 6th May and Monday 27th May

Autumn term starts on the 2nd September

Thank you.                                

Newsletter – Summer term 2024 (first half term).

Posted on: 25th June 2024

Welcome back form the half term.

Holiday forms have already been sent out for the May half term and summer club. 

Below is the topic each room is exploring this half term and the exciting activities your child/ren may be involved in. If you feel you can help in any way towards the topic/activities please see LindaLindsey, Louise or Debbie.

Field mice room: Pre-school children

The topic is –growth. Week 1 –butterflies , week 2  seeds/plants, week 3 – tadpoles, week 4 –eggs, week 5  out for a walk, week 6 – The Little Red Hen.

Personal, Social & Emotional DevelopmentWhen the caterpillars arrive the children will study them, watching as they become bigger and bigger and record their growth in their journals. Again, we will incubate and hatch some baby chicks – hoping for less cockerels this year! The children will be discussing the wonder of growing your own food, showing consideration for the natural world, sharing, taking turns and helping each other.

Communication & Language: The story sack of ‘The hungry caterpillar’ will be shared and read giving the children the opportunity to take part and act out the story. The role play area will be set up to represent a garden centre and games such as I spy….played. Who is hiding in the egg? will be played with clues given to the children toguess who is hiding…bird/snake/cow. Simon says will be played where the children will be encouraged to wriggle like a tadpole, grow slowly like a plant. When the book ‘Rosie’s walk’ is read the children will look at prepositions such as under/over/around and re-enact the story when out in the garden.

The children will be learning their songs for the Minack performance.

The sounds for the term will be X Y Qu and then revisiting all the other letters.

Physical DevelopmentUsing gross motor skills, the children will explore different ways of moving; curling up like a caterpillar, stretching like a plant growing towards the sun, floating around like a butterfly. Obstacle courses will be put together in the garden to encourage the children to travel over, under, through and around the obstacles. 

Literacy: Reference books will be looked at to find out about tadpoles and frogs and then an information book will be created. The Ugly duckling book will be shared and then sequenced as well as the stories of Rosie’s walk, Jasper’s beanstalk, The hungry caterpillar and The Tiny Seed. 

Maths: Symmetrical patterned butterflies will be created and displayed. Songs such as 5 little speckled frogs and 5 little ducks will be sung. Number games will be played and different activities involving numbers will be explored.  

UTW: The children will be observing the changes of their caterpillars and then releasing their butterfly into the garden. We have 10 bantam eggs in the incubator and the children are waiting for day 21 (12th May) when the chicks will hopefully hatch. The children will then care for the chicks until they are old enough to enter the coop with our hens. Broad beans will be placed in clear pots with paper towels to allow the children to observe the root growth and these will then be planted in the poly tunnel. The butterflies and frogs will be released into their natural environment. 

Expressive arts and design: The mixing of colours will be explored and then used to create butterfly pictures. Life cycles of the caterpillar, tadpole and chick will be studied through the media of books, photos, puzzles and observations. On their walk the children will look and discover what lives in a wall, hedges….They will also be performing at The Minack theatre to an audience. 

Rising threes:

The topic is Growth.

PSED – the colour monster book will continue to be shared helping the children identify their emotions and helping them manage them and a display created by the children to reflect this. The children will go on a walk and discuss the changes they can see as well as bringing in a teddy from home for a Picnic.

C&L – The stories of; The hungry caterpillar and Jack and the beanstalk will be explored with the children encouraged to retell the story with props and puppets. Vocabulary such as cocoon, chrysalis, metamorphous will be introduced. They will be encouraged to talk about the teddy they have brought in from home and what makes it special.    

PD – A new wake and shake song will be learnt for the term with the children joining in with the actions and movements. Toilet training will be encouraged and parents’ leads followed.

Literacy – The children will focus on the letters of their names and activities participated in to encourage them to begin forming the letters of their name. 

Maths  As the caterpillars emerge into butterflies the children will count them before releasing them into the garden. Seeds will be planted and their growth recorded on charts the children will create. Shapes and numbers will be looked for on a walk the children will participate in.  

UTW – The life cycle of the caterpillar will be discussed as well as Earth day raising the awareness of the environment. Edible flowers and seeds will be sourced and tried by the children and practitioners. 

EA&D – Using finger paints the children will create a caterpillar growth chart, with paper Mache each child will make a cocoon. Sunflowers will be planted and pots individually painted by the children for their seed.  

Dormouse room:

Exploring nature with our senses.

Each area of learning will be tailored to the age and stage of development of each individual child.

Personal, Social & Emotional Development:

Simple songs incorporating parts of the body will be sung, the sense of touch will be explored with massage, listening to the environment whilst lying in the garden and the children will explore how everyone is different. Whilst in the environment the children will explore how insects live and how they would feel in a different scenario, encouragement will be given to the children to help them notice the differences between the insects they find and an insect themed treasure basket will be made. 

Communication & Language:

A nature table will be set up with insects, books, wood, stones, leaves, sticks, pebbles…. for the children to explore and vocabulary to be introduced. Games such as peek a book and I can hear…will be played with the children being encouraged to look for the insect they can hear. I spy with my little eye…will be played in the garden and objects will be hung on the washing line and the children will listen to the sounds they make. 

Physical Development:

Using their hands and different objects the children will form their own band and march around the garden playing softly and loudly! Sensory bags will be made for tummy time or for squishing and squeezing in their hands. Music will be played for the children to move their bodies to – copying the moves modelled by the practitioners.  

Literacy:

The children be added to the water tray alongside some insects for the children to explore. Different sized boxes and containers will be available for the children to build homes for the insects to osrt the insects into groups. ‘Artificial mud (cocoa and water) will be made with different lengths of pasta for the children to compare looking for the longest, shortest….Simple patterns of movement will be created when playing Simon says…

Knowledge and Understanding of the World:

The children will use a piece of cooked spaghetti to trail through the mud watching as it slips, slithers and slides around. Whilst in the garden the children will be encouraged to explore the feel of leaves, grass, flowers on their skin as well as exploring their smells. Magnifiers, nets and viewfinders will be available for them to use as they explore the garden on insect hunts.  

Expressive Art and Design:  Musical shakers will be made using different containers and fillings to create different sounds for the band. Butterfly prints will be created by the children , lolly sticks attached and then flown around the garden. A range of drawing materials will be accessible for the children to create their own drawings and support will be given to encourage the children to add more detail and complexity to their drawings. 

will be encouraged to point to different parts of their bodies during Simon Says…sensory activities will be provided for the children to take part in exploring messy materials and different textures. The children will have opportunities to draw the insects they find during their exploration of the garden and to create a book they can look at with friends. 

Mathematics: Measuring spoons and cups will 

News:

Our next trustees meeting is being held on Monday June 10th at 1.30pm. This will be @ Brambles. If any parent is interested in joining the trustees, please see Debbie.

Those unwelcome friends – HEAD LICE – are doing the rounds again so please check your child/s hair and treat accordingly. They do not like citronella or tea tree and sprays of these are available – they are a good deterrent! Long hair tied back or plaited also helps

If any parents have changed their address or phone number can you please let the staff know so they can change the admission form to reflect this. If there are, any changes to pickups these will also need to be altered on the forms. 

Brambles has a closed Face Book page – please send a friend request if you are not already a member. Updates are posted as necessary, photos of trips out, photos of children eating produce from the garden, lunch menus…

Laura Sedgeman has left us to become a child minder. She will be sorely missed from the Rising 3 room but we all wish her the best in her new endeavour. 

We would like to welcome Carol and Jess to our team. They have joined us as apprentices and have quickly settled into our routine and formed great relationships with the children and practitioners. Carol will be working mainly in the Dormouse room and Jess will mainly be working with the Rising 3’s. 

Hours:

If any parents would like to change their children’s hours and or days for the Autumn term please see Debbie before the end of June

Roof:

As you are aware, the roof is in the process of being replaced – the weather has not helped with this process. We are hoping for some drier weather moving forward so they can finish and the children will be able to use all the gardens again. 

Duck race:

Our annual duck race was a huge success and we raised £734.65 (more has been donated since the FB post). Thank you to everyone who contributed to this event.

Summer raffle:

We are now selling squares for our summer raffle @ £2.00 a square. This will be drawn on Friday 19th July. The prize is located in our foyer for you to see. Please speak to Debbie or Hanri if you would like a square.

Lafrowda:

This year’s theme is ‘Underground’- we are still putting ideas in the pot therefore if any parents have an idea please let us know. All the children are invited to join us – preschool children do not need to be accompanied by a parent. Grown-ups will need to dress up as well!! More details to follow in the next newsletter. 

Library:

The library has been a big hit with the children and it is lovely seeing them eagerly arriving on a Thursday morning wanting to change their books. The library will be open on Monday mornings as well but if youwish to change the books on another day please see Debbie. We are aware there are many children who do not come in on a Monday or Thursday therefore please see Debbie to become part of this great initiative. The books are being well looked after we appreciate this hugely – additionally we hope it will teach the children to respect and look after nursery’s other books as well as their own books. 

Funding:

If your child is with Lindsey in the Rising 3 area and they turn 3 before September and are not in receipt of the Working Families 2 year funding they will be eligible for 15 universal hours of 3yr funding from the beginning of the Autumn term. Debbie will hand out EY2 forms just before the summer holidays and will then need to see either a passport or birth certificate to validate the children’s details. If parents both work 16 hours or more (or if you are a single parent and working 16 hours or more) you should be eligible for an extended 15 hours. Please visit www.cornwall.gov.uk website, search for 30 hour funding and complete the forms to see if you are eligible. You should then be given an 11 digit number beginning 500/501 which Debbie will need to validate on the funding portal. Once you have a code you will receive an email every 3 months where you will need to go back to the .gov website and revalidate your details. Please be aware this email can go into your junk mail! If the code is not revalidated it stops and will only reactivate when you reapply. If you have any questions please see Debbie. This needs to be completed before the end of the term for the code to be validated. 

Funding for all 2 year olds (if eligible) began in April 2024 and parentsneed to visit the following website; https://cornwall.cloud.servelec-syngery.com/SynergyWeb/ to check if they are eligible. If your child turns two by the 31.08.2024 you may be eligible for the new 15 hours of funding being introduced by the Government. If you are eligible, please see Debbie who will have the necessary forms to fill out.

From September 2024 funding for children from the age of 9 months will be coming into fruition. The funding will start the term after they turn 9 months. Please follow the link above to check if your child is eligible. This check needs to be completed before the end of August. 

Many parents will also be eligible for ‘Childfree Tax Care’ with the government scheme – for children aged up to 11 years. Again, this can be found on the government website and could help towards your childcare costs and it can be used for fees/lunches/snacks….Please look to see if you are eligible – the nursery is registered with the scheme already and you just need to add our name to your account.The government will put 25% of the amount you put in into your account, which you then transfer to Brambles. Please see Debbie or Hanri if you need help with this system. You can receive over £2,000 from the government towards your childcare fees using this method. 

Medication:

The Brambles has an emergency bottle of Calpol for children who may suddenly develop a temperature, whose parents cannot collect them quickly and we feel it is required. If your child is teething or you feel requires a dose of Calpol during the day a bottle must be brought in with them. We are finding when we require ours it is empty due to parents not supplying their own. If they do require Calpol for anything other than teething, it may be they are too poorly for nursery and need to stay home. 

Lunches:

We discourage juice at lunchtime unless there is a reason – please see Debbie if this is the caseWe have a water cooler, which the preschool children are able to freely access and water/milk is provided during snacks and lunch times.

Please cut grapes into QUARTERS – these are one of the biggest choking hazards for children. 

Due to a nut allergy within the setting there are to be NO NUTS in packed lunches. We will be changing our policy to reflect this. 

We promote healthy eating and would like parents to support us with this when providing packed lunches. A healthy packed lunch should contain; a sandwich/crackers/wrap, yogurt, packet of crisps, fruit and maybe one biscuit or piece of cake.  We are able to reheat food from yesterdays ‘tea’ or make beans/spaghetti on toast if you would like to provide this in a packed lunch

PRE-SCHOOL CHILDREN:

On Wednesday the 15th May the children will be part of The Little Sing project at The Minack. They are thoroughly enjoying Pat’s visits to Brambles to help them learn their songs.

Details are: Children to arrive at The minack @ 12.30 pm where they will be able to have their lunch and a rehearsal before the show at 1.30 pm. The performance will finish at 2.15 pm where children can be dropped back to Brambles if necessary.

Don’t forget to pre-book your tickets – an email has been sent out by Hanri with the details. 

Leavers teddies – reminder forms need to be returned by Friday 10thMay.

Rising 3’s and Dormouse room:

On the 4th June there will be a production group visiting Brambles with a workshop for the children to become involved in. There will be 2 sessions (1 for each room) and children who do not normally attend will be welcome. More details will be emailed when times have been confirmed. 

The story follows a day in the life of the birds in our gardens. Using sound, smell, colour, texture, small puppets and baby safe props the storyteller introduces the audience to 6 garden birds and the children can help feed the bird puppets, build soft nests and sing the wake up and night time songs.

Late collections:

A reminder to ALL parents that a late collection will result in £50 being billed to your account. If you are going to be late please phone Brambles and let a practitioner know. Late collections impact on practitioners leaving to collect after school club children from school, meeting appointments, collecting their own children  and having the correct ratio of staff in the building. 

Family support:

Jessica Legrys is the Family Support Worker for our area and she is keen to meet with our families to see if there is anything, she can help with. This may be eating, sleeping, behaviour, finances, support…..Please let me know if you would like to speak to her. Drop in sessions are due to be arranged. Her number is 01736 759058 if you would like to speak to her directly. 

Sports day:

Provisionally Sports day will be Tuesday July 16th. I am waiting for confirmation on this and will send out times after half-term. 

Term dates:

15.04.2024 to 19.07.2024

May half term 7th -10th May

Summer holidays 23rd July – 16th August PLEASE REMEMBER A PLACE NEEDS TO BE BOOKED FOR THESE 4 WEEKS

Bank holidays Monday 6th May and Monday 27th May

Autumn term starts on the 2nd September

Thank you.                                                                                                                                                                           

NEWSLETTER – Spring Term 2024 (2nd half term)

Posted on: 4th March 2024

Welcome back form the half term.

Holiday forms have already been sent out for the Easter holiday club.

Below is the topic each room is exploring this half term and the exciting activities your child/ren may be involved in. If you feel you can help in any way towards the topic/activities please see Linda, Lindsey, Louise or Debbie.

Field mice room: Pre-school children

The topic isMachines. Week 1 –in my house , week 2 levers, week 3 – wheels and axles, week 4 – ramps, week 5 pulleys, week 6Easter.

Personal, Social & Emotional Development: Working with equipment the children will be taking turns and sharing and looking at how levers work. They will agree on a set of rules and how they will keep everyone safe whilst playing with the pulleys, building ramps and using wheeled toys.

Communication & Language: Discussions will be held over ‘what does a machine do?’, ‘what machines do we have in our homes?’, ‘what is a lever and what does it do?’, ‘what toys do we play with at home which have wheels and axles?’, ‘where do we see ramps and what can we do with them?’ and with the pulley ‘what happens if you pull first or let it go or…’.

The sounds of the term will be B J Z W V.

Physical Development: Using gross motor skills the children will use the outside bikes/scooters/seesaws, planks and logs to lever equipment around as well as using pulleys to lift objects both inside and outside. Fine motor skills will be enhanced when the children use tweezers and scissors and use the spinner and cogs in play.

Literacy: The initial letter of the machines will be written by the children and then they will compose a sentence for their drawings. Non-fiction books will be looked at and the way they are structured with an index, glossary…We will be reading ‘Roll, Slope and Slide’ and ‘Machine Poems’.

Maths: When using tweezers the children will count the objects they are using, compare weights when using the balance scales and number games will be played and identification of numbers. Mathematical language such as heavy, light, heavier, lighter, longer, shorter……will be used.

UTW: The children will be looking at the machines in their homes and what can they see when out on a walk? Using tubes the children will make cars to demonstrate the movement of an axle on wheels, how does it work and what can it do?

Expressive arts and design: Using construction toys the children will create a pulley system. Roll objects into paint and then roll them down a ramp onto paper to create patterns, create number spinners and paint using wheels!!

Rising threes:

The topic is Little Red Riding Hood.

PSED – sharing and turn taking scenarios will be played out encouraging the children to play games co-operatively.

C&L – Using the story stones the children will be encouraged to re-enact the story/ retell it as they remember it. These will also be placed in the garden for the children to find and use in their story telling. The meaning of Easter will be looked at and discussed by the children and practitioners – new life.

PD – Games such as ‘What’s the time Mr Wolf?’ will be played. Songs will be played for the children to dance to especially at Easter time.

Literacy – There will be a focus on the letters F G H & I. The children will be encouraged to practice their pencil control whilst taking part in activities centred around the book.

Maths Number matching games will be played as well as colour by number activities centred around Red Riding Hood. Additionally, I spy and count activities and matching games will be played.

UTW – Why do we celebrate Easter?

EA&D – Collages of the woods will be created and Red Riding Hood will be painted. Cards will be made for Mother’s day and Easter.

Dormouse room:

Spring Time W/B 19.02.2024

Personal, Social & Emotional Development:

Small world farmyard with straw, grass, tractors and animals – encouraging the children to share and care for the animals. In the garden the tuff spot will be filled with natural resources for the children to explore.

Communication & Language:

Pictures depicting baby animals such as chicks, lambs, kittens, calves will be looked at and a discussion started. Whilst out in the garden the children will be encouraged to talk about the things they can see – birds, grass, leaves, flowers, insects…..The story of Jack and the Beanstalk will be read.

Physical Development:

Utilising their fine motor skills the children will be encouraged to make bird feeders to hang in the garden. Whilst out in the garden weeding activities will take place and then new planting activities will take place.

Literacy:

Picture books of baby animals will be studied as well as Jack and the beanstalk. A garden den will be created with blankets, cushions and books to encourage the children to look at the books and share them with each other. The rhymes/songs; ‘5 little ducks’ and ‘sleeping bunnies’ will be sung along with other favourites.

Mathematics:

Whilst playing with the farm set the children will be encouraged to sort and count the animals into groups. When planting new seeds the children will be hearing language such as ‘full’ or ‘empty’ and counting the seeds as they pot them. Life cycle puzzles will be explored alongside matching and sorting puzzles/games.

Knowledge and Understanding of the World:

Matching games with ‘mummy’ and ‘baby animal’ pictures will be played, sunflower seeds planted, observe a broad bean grow roots, freeze flower petals and water to observe and explore the eggs at Easter to see who/what is hiding inside and then fit them back together.

Expressive Art and Design:

Using puppets as props the children will be encouraged to sing ‘Baa Baa black sheep’, ‘5 little ducks’…., a music area will be set up in the garden for the children to explore sound, construct a beanstalk using their hands/feet and brushes and Easter eggs will be decorated with a variety of colours and materials.

News:

Our next trustees meeting is being held on Monday April 22nd at 1.30 pm. This will be @ Brambles. If any parent is interested in joining the trustees, please see Debbie.

Those unwelcome friends – HEAD LICE – are doing the rounds again so please check your child/s hair and treat accordingly. They do not like citronella or tea tree and sprays of these are available – they are a good deterrent! Long hair tied back or plaited also helps.

If any parents have changed their address or phone number can you please let the staff know so they can change the admission form to reflect this. If there are, any changes to pickups these will also need to be altered on the forms.

Brambles has a closed Face Book page – please send a friend request if you are not already a member. Updates are posted as necessary, photos of trips out, photos of children eating produce from the garden, lunch menus…

Hours:

If any parents would like to change their children’s hours and or days for the summer term please see Debbie before the 8th March. There is little flexibility in either room so please speak to her soon.

Zumba:

The week beginning the 4th March our Zumba session will be Friday 8th instead of Wednesday 6th March due to the careers fayre being held at Cape.

World book day:

World book day is March the 7th!! During the next week all the children will receive a World Book Day voucher and we would love to see the children arrive at Brambles dressed as their favourite book character!! There may even be some staff dressed as a character from their favourite story!!

Roof:

The roof is to be replaced at the end of February beginning of March and I have been assured we will not need to close. The Dormouse garden will be out of bounds for up to a week depending on the weather and the time it takes to put up the scaffolding and take the existing roof off. The existing sedum is to be removed – if there are any parents or friends who could use this please see Debbie.

Duck race:

Our annual duck race will be held in April – provisionally the 21st @ 10.30 am.

Tickets will be handed out shortly and if these can be sold to family and friends it would be greatly appreciated. Once they are sold, they need to be returned to Debbie – before the event preferably although tickets can be bought on the day. There will also be refreshments and bacon baps for sale. Donations of cakes on the day will be gratefully received.

Raffle prizes would be greatly appreciated as well.

Library:

The library has been a big hit with the children and it is lovely seeing them eagerly arriving on a Thursday morning wanting to change their books. Please see Debbie if you wish to change the books on another day for any reason. We are aware there are lots of children who do not come in on a Thursday therefore please see Debbie to become part of this great initiative. The books are being well looked after we appreciate this hugely – additionally we hope it will teach the children to respect and look after nursery’s other books as well as their own books.

Funding:

If your child is with Lindsey in the Rising 3 area and they turn 3 before April they will be eligible for 15 universal hours of 3yr funding from the beginning of the Summer term. Debbie will hand out EY2 forms just before Easter and will then need to see either a passport or birth certificate to validate the children’s details. If parents both work 16 hours or more (or if you are a single parent and working 16 hours or more) you should be eligible for an extended 15 hours. Please visit www.cornwall.gov.uk website, search for 30 hour funding and complete the forms to see if you are eligible. You should then be given an 11 digit number beginning 500/501 which Debbie will need to validate on the funding portal. Once you have a code you will receive an email every 3 months where you will need to go back to the .gov website and revalidate your details. Please be aware this email can go into your junk mail! If the code is not revalidated it stops and will only reactivate when you reapply. If you have any questions please see Debbie. This needs to be completed before the end of the term for the code to be validated.

Funding for all 2 year olds (if eligible) begins in April and parents will need to go to https://cornwall.cloud.servelec-syngery.com/SynergyWeb/ to check. If your child turns two by the 31.03.2024 you may be eligible for the new 15 hours of funding being introduced by the Government. If you are eligible, please see Debbie who will have the necessary forms to fill out.

Many parents will also be eligible for ‘Childfree Tax Care’ with the government scheme – for children aged up to 11 years. Again this is on the government website and could help towards your childcare costs and it can be used for fees/lunches/snacks….Please look to see if you are eligible – the nursery is registered with the scheme already and you just need to add our name to your account. The government will put 25% of the amount you put in into your account which you then transfer to Brambles. Please see Debbie or Hanri if you need help with this system. You can receive over £2,000 from the government towards your childcare fees using this method.

Medication:

The Brambles has an emergency bottle of Calpol for children who may suddenly develop a temperature, whose parents cannot collect them quickly and we feel it is required. If your child is teething or you feel requires a dose of Calpol during the day a bottle must be brought in with them. We are finding when we require ours it is empty due to parents not supplying their own. If they do require Calpol for anything other than teething, it may be they are too poorly for nursery and need to stay home.

Lunches:

We discourage juice at lunchtime unless there is a reason – please see Debbie if this is the case. We have a water cooler, which the preschool children are able to freely access and water/milk is provided during snacks and lunch times.

Please cut grapes into QUARTERS these are one of the biggest choking hazards for children.

Due to a nut allergy within the setting there are to be NO NUTS in packed lunches. We will be changing our policy to reflect this.

We promote healthy eating and would like parents to support us with this when providing packed lunches. A healthy packed lunch should contain; a sandwich/crackers/wrap, yogurt, packet of crisps, fruit and maybe one biscuit or piece of cake. We are able to reheat food from yesterdays ‘tea’ or make beans/spaghetti on toast if you would like to provide this in a packed lunch.

PRE-SCHOOL CHILDREN:

On Monday 26th February the preschool children will be visiting the local fire station.

On Tuesday 5th March at 1.30 pm the children will be joining in the St Piran’s parade. We will meet at the Plein-an-Quarry at 1.20 pm. Any children not in attendance on a Tuesday afternoon are welcome to meet us in the Plein. We will have sashes for the children and ask they wear black trousers or tights. The children have been practising hard so if you see them walking and hopping this will be why!! They may also have been sing the chorus of Trelawney, shouting oggy oggy oggy or saying Cornwall Bys Vyken!

On Monday 25th March the preschool children will be visiting Benoni @ 10.30 am for an egg hunt and to engage in some Easter activities. If any parents would like to join us and walk with the children please see Debbie.

Rising 3’s:

Please could all rising 3’s bring in a drink bottle, which can be left at nursery. These will be filled with cold water for the children to access throughout the day.

Late collections:

A reminder to ALL parents that a late collection will result in £50 being added to your account. If you are going to be late please phone Brambles and let a practitioner know. Late collections impact on practitioners leaving to collect after school club children from school, meeting appointments, collecting their own children and having the correct ratio of staff in the building.

Term dates:

04.01.2024 to 28.03.2024

February half term 12th -16th February

Easter holidays 2nd – 20th April PLEASE REMEMBER A PLACE NEEDS TO BE BOOKED FOR THESE 2 WEEKS

Bank holidays Friday 30th March and Monday 1st April

Summer term starts on the 15th April.

 

Thank you.

Newsletter – Spring Term 2024 – 1st half term

Posted on: 5th February 2024

Welcome back form the Christmas holidays – we hope everyone had a welcome break and the children received all the presents they asked Santa for!

Holiday forms have already been sent out for the February and Easter holiday clubs.

Below is the topic each room is exploring this half-term and the exciting activities your child/ren may be involved in. If you feel you can help in any way towards the topic/activities please see Linda, Lindsey, Louise or Debbie.

Field mice room: Pre-school children

The topic isPeople who help us! Week 1 –Police , week 2 Police, week 3 – Vets, week 4 – Vets, week 5 Fire station, week 6Fire station.

Personal, Social & Emotional Development: The children will work as part of a team taking turns and sharing fairly whilst understanding the need to agree values and codes of behaviour within groups of people for them to work harmoniously. The children will be encouraged to offer ideas and work together to set up the vet’s surgery, fire station….

Communication & Language: Many stories will be shared and read with the children centred on ‘people who help us’ as well as visits by a vet, coastguards, nurse and a visit to the local fire station.

The sounds of the weeks will be D G O U L.

Physical Development: During role play the children will be provided with hoses, ladders and obstacles to enhance their play. They will be encouraged to move their bodies to music, move in different ways to mimic animal movements and move around obstacles using prepositional language to support their understanding of; over/under/through/around….

Literacy: Stories and books depicting the care of animals will be provided alongside opportunities for the children to write letters, draw animals and designing thank you cards for our visitors this term.

Maths: The number 9 will be looked at and how many times it is used to call the emergency services. It will be role played with the children to demonstrate calling 999. Number lines will be constructed, shapes provided for the children to construct their own fire engine and matching games will be played.

UTW: The word ‘uniform’ will be introduced and discussed and the children asked to describe uniforms worn by people who help us – and why we wear uniforms. The children will be encouraged to bring in photos of their pets to display in the vets. When talking about animals’ environments soil, twigs, leaves, straw, sawdust will be provided for the children to create homes for the small world animals.

Expressive arts and design: Using different media the children will create their own animals and these will be displayed for everyone to see. The tune of Here we go round the mulberry bush will be used to sing We are the emergency services, services, services…..The children will be encouraged to make/design badges, walkie-talkies, hats….to use during role play.

Free play: Within the water tray there will be boats and assorted water wheels, fishing games, bubbles, dolls, sponges and equipment for pouring. The sand tray will have dry sand with wheeled toys, jugs and sieves whilst the wet sand will be for imprinting shapes, spades and moulds and then dinosaurs and twigs/pebbles ….will be added.

Rising threes:

The topic is The three little pigs.

PSED – The children will be supported as they settle back into nursery routine after the Christmas holiday and the new children as they discover new areas, routines, practitioners and children. Emotions and managing them will be looked at and the children encouraged to look at the colour monster board. Working together and sharing will be encouraged.

C&L – The Three Little Pigs book will be shared and the children encouraged to make up their own story. A feely box will be made, an object from the story placed inside and the children encouraged to guess what it is. Potty training will be discussed and the children who are just starting this will be encouraged to use the potty/toilet and to ask for the toilet when needed.

PD – A new wake and shake song will be introduced and the children encouraged to join in and take part and games such as ‘what’s the time Mr Wolf?’ will be played. Story stones will be set up in the garden for the children to be able to make up their own story.

Literacy – The letters A B C D and E will be focused on with the children mark making the letter of the week in different media. When making cards they will be encouraged to ‘write’ their names inside.

Maths Questions will be asked about size ‘why are the pigs little?’ ‘is the wolf bigger?’. The number 3 will be mentioned when counting the pigs, the different materials and their houses.

UTW – How do/where do pigs live in real life? The big garden bird watch will be joined with the children looking and counting the birds in our garden. Celebrations around the world will be looked at and Chinese New Year celebrated.

EA&D – A house of straw, sticks and bricks will be made as well as 3 little pigs and a wolf. During the Chinese New Year a dragon will be constructed.

Dormouse room:

Environmental Planning W/B 08.01.2024

Personal, Social & Emotional Development:

Welcoming back all of our current and any new children within the dormice room. For those new children for the first few weeks, we will be supporting them into their new nursery routine and getting to know the staff and their peers. In the room there will be a variety of familiar toys to the children which will help to provide comfort in wanting to explore the room.

Communication & Language:

We will be using language all the time as we explore, play and look at books whilst building & making relationships between staff and peers. We will encourage the children to use sounds and language when they

are communicating with us.

Physical Development:

We will be looking at ways we can all move around when we are out in the garden or when we are inside playing. Encouraging the children to try new things such as climbing up on the climbing frame and using the ride on cars in garden. Alongside this we will be dancing and wriggling around to songs and music.

Literacy:

In the book corner, we will have a variety of books, which we will share together or independently. We be looking at the author Eric Carle’s’ book ‘Brown bear, brown bear’ as this is a real favourite of the children’s.

Mathematics:

Using different construction materials to build towers to encourage use of number language – focusing on numbers 1-5.

Knowledge and Understanding of the World:

Treasure baskets which are full of loose natural objects such as wooden curtain rings, tubes, boxes, pieces of material, small brushes and sponges will be available. They provide opportunities for the children to explore and make connections as they play with this open ended activity.

Expressive Art and Design:

Areas will be set up for free mark making with crayons, pens and paint. Using these pictures, we will turn them into the animals from the book ‘brown bear, brown bear’ to go on the wall as part of our display board.

News:

Our next trustees meeting is being held on Thursday 1st February at 1.30 pm. This will be @ Brambles. If any parent is interested in joining the trustees, please see Debbie.

Those unwelcome friends – HEAD LICE – are doing the rounds again so please check your child/s hair and treat accordingly. They do not like citronella or tea tree and sprays of these are available – they are a good deterrent! Long hair tied back or plaited also helps.

If any parents have changed their address or phone number can you please let the staff know so they can change the admission form to reflect this. If there are, any changes to pickups these will also need to be altered on the forms.

Brambles has a closed Face Book page – please send a friend request if you are not already a member. Updates are posted as necessary, photos of trips out, photos of children eating produce from the garden, lunch menus…

Roof:

We are having to replace the roof this year and we hope the roofing contractors will be able to complete the work without Brambles closing. It may mean the children will not have access to all the gardens when the scaffolding is up and the roofers are working. It is the pitch and flat roof at the back of the nursery and should not affect the entrance. As soon as we have a start date we will let all parents know and if there will be a change to our operations.

Library:

The library has been a big hit with the children and it is lovely seeing them eagerly arriving on a Thursday

morning wanting to change their books. Please see Debbie if you wish to change the books on another day for any reason. We are aware there are lots of children who do not come in on a Thursday therefore please see Debbie to become part of this great initiative. The books are being well looked after we appreciate this hugely – additionally we hope it will teach the children to respect and look after nursery’s other books as well as their own books.

Funding:

If your child is with Lindsey in the Rising 3 area and they turn 3 before April they will be eligible for 15 universal hours of 3 yr funding from the beginning of the Summer term. Debbie will hand out EY2 forms just before Easter and will then need to see either a passport or birth certificate to validate the children’s details. If parents both work 16 hours or more (or if you are a single parent and working 16 hours or more) you should be eligible for an extended 15 hours. Please visit www.cornwall.gov.uk website, search for 30 hour funding and complete the forms to see if you are eligible. You should then be given an 11 digit number beginning 500/501 which Debbie will need to validate on the funding portal. Once you have a code you will receive an email every 3 months where you will need to go back to the .gov website and re-validate your details. Please be aware this email can go into your junk mail! If the code is not re-validated it stops and will only reactivate when you reapply. If you have any questions please see Debbie. This needs to be completed before the end of the term for the code to be validated.

Funding for all 2 year old children (if eligible) begins in April and parents will need to go to https://cornwall.cloud.servelec-syngery.com/SynergyWeb/ to check. If your child turns two by the 31.03.2024 you may be eligible for the new 15 hours of funding being introduced by the Government. If you are eligible, please see Debbie who will have the necessary forms to fill out.

Many parents will also be eligible for ‘Child-free Tax Care’ with the government scheme – for children aged up to 11 years. Again this is on the government website and could help towards your childcare costs and it can be used for fees/lunches/snacks….Please look to see if you are eligible – the nursery is registered with the scheme already and you just need to add our name to your account.

School places: The portal for school places will close on January 15th 2024. Apply online @ www.cornwall.gov.uk/admissions. You will be asked for 3 choices and it is advised you fill out all 3 boxes to ensure you are not given a school not of your choice.

Medication:

The Brambles has an emergency bottle of Calpol for children who may suddenly develop a temperature, whose parents cannot collect them quickly and we feel it is required. If your child is teething or you feel requires a dose of Calpol during the day a bottle must be brought in with them. We are finding when we require ours it is empty due to parents not supplying their own. If they do require Calpol for anything other than teething, it may be they are too poorly for nursery and need to stay home.

Lunches:

We discourage juice at lunchtime unless there is a reason – please see Debbie if this is the case. We have a water cooler, which the preschool children are able to freely access and water/milk is provided during snacks and lunch times.

Please cut grapes into QUARTERS these are one of the biggest choking hazards for children.

Due to a nut allergy within the setting there are to be NO NUTS in packed lunches. We will be changing our policy to reflect this.

We promote healthy eating and would like parents to support us with this when providing packed lunches. A healthy packed lunch should contain; a sandwich/crackers/wrap, yogurt, packet of crisps, fruit and maybe one

biscuit or piece of cake. We are able to reheat food from yesterdays ‘tea’ or make beans/spaghetti on toast if you would like to provide this in a packed lunch.

PRE-SCHOOL CHILDREN:

Please can all preschool children bring or send in a picture of themselves with their pet. If they have no pet but a grandparent does a photo with them would be fine.

Rising 3’s:

Please could all rising 3’s bring in a drink bottle, which can be left at nursery. These will be filled with cold water for the children to access throughout the day.

Term dates:

04.01.2024 to 28.03.2024

February half term 12th -16th February

Easter holidays 2nd – 20th April

Bank holidays Friday 30th March and Monday 1st April

Summer term starts on the 15th April.

Thank you.

AUTUMN TERM 2023 NEWSLETTER – 2nd half

Posted on: 6th December 2023

Welcome back form the October half-term and Feast celebrations.

Below is the topic each room is exploring this half-term and the exciting activities your child/children may be involved in. If you feel you can help in any way towards the topic/activities please see Linda, Lindsey, Louise or Debbie.

Field mice room: Pre-school children

The topic is –Special times! Week 1 –Light up the sky , week 2 – Diwali, week 3 – Special days, week 4 – Hanukkah, week 5 – Christmas advent, week 6 – Christmas story 7 – Christmas.

Personal, Social & Emotional Development: Feelings will be discussed – our feelings for our friends and how we look after our friends. The children will talk about how to stay safe on Bonfire night and what does our family do on this night. The week beginning 13th November the children will be asked to bring in a photo of themselves at a special time such as a wedding, birthday, christening…During Hanukkah they will look at coloured and scented candles and talk about other special times when candles are used. During the Christmas weeks the children will explore the feelings of anticipation, wonder and families as well as thinking of others and the joy of giving and receiving presents. Turn taking games will be played to help the children understand the concept of losing out and not always winning.

Communication & Language: After bonfire night the noises the fireworks make will be described and descriptions given of what they look like. The story of Meg and Mog will be read, the spells chanted, and the story of Rama and Sita will be retold using puppets. Invitations for special times will be written by the children and menus for the Christmas Party. The sounds of the weeks will be C K E H R M D

Physical Development: Whilst listening to Indian music the children will concentrate on motion and stillness. Whilst using the trikes they will navigate obstacles travel in different ways from one place to another as well as joining in with ‘sticky kids’. To hone their fine motor skills the children will use the tongs to move small items such as pom- poms from one container to another and manipulate clay when making their diva lamps.

Literacy: Stories such as Meg and Mog, Rama and Sita and the Christmas story will be read. The children will look at the books seeing where the text is on the page, how English print is read left to right and top to bottom. The children will be shown how sentences start with a capital letter and finish with a full stop. The idea of a word will be explained and it will be pointed out how some words are longer than others and how there is always a space before and after a word.

Maths: Rangoli patterns will be looked at for their symmetry, colours and shapes. Advent calendars will be available with a door opened daily by the children. Shorter/longer, thinner/thicker will be discussed when sorting the candles during Hanukkah. Whilst playing games the children will be asked to count the spots on the dice and begin to recognise the patterns.

UTW: Through different media the children will explore the changes of materials such as what happens to clay as it is manipulated and then left in the air, what happens to candles when lit and then what occurs when the hot wax is put into cold water. Discussions will be held around how candles at one time were the only source of lighting in a home and what would it have been like to live then. Animal habitats will be looked at and how animals keep warm in the winter – especially if they live in the snow.

Expressive arts and design: Using different materials and media firework pictures will be created recreating the fireworks the children may have seen. Diva lamps will be made as well as birthday cards and collages using different media. Nativity rehearsals will begin.

Free play: Within the water tray there will be glitter, clear bowls, bottles and coloured water. Ice cubes and balloons will be added as well as whisks, spoons and bubbles. The sand tray will have dry sand with containers of all sizes and shapes, scales and compare containers. The wet sand will be for mark making, and then shells, pebbles…will be added.

 

Rising threes:

The topic is Percy the park keeper!

PSED: The children will talk about being kind to others and create thank you cards to hand out to the community. Seashells and stones will be painted and displayed in the community for the kindness challenge and Christmas wishes. Christmas cards will be made to send to a friend or neighbour.

C&L: Percy the park keeper books will be read and discussions about looking after animals and their needs will be held. Children in Need will be talked about and the needs of others compared to ours. The children will also look at the story of Rama and Sita and make Diwali lamps.

Lit: The signs of winter will be looked at thorough books and the landscape, invitations made for the café, letters for Santa written and sent and Christmas cards created. Many opportunities will be provided for the children to mark make and hone their pencil control.

Physical: A new wake and shake activity will be introduced and a burpee challenge taken on for Children in Need. Games will be introduced to promote gross physical movement. For fine motor skills the children will thread beads, decorate the Christmas tree and make reindeer food bags using spoons for pouring and measuring.

Maths: A fizzing cauldron will be created using baking soda and food colouring. ‘Hedgehog’ playdough will be in the tuff tray for the children to count the prickles, matching and number activities played as well as experiments held with oil and water.

UTW: The role play area will resembles Percy’s park and the children will look after all of his animals. How other countries celebrate Christmas will be looked at alongside our remembrance day and Children in Need.

EA&D: The children will create a Percy the park keeper autumn display which will then become a winter display with snow – this will be created using the children’s hand prints for the animals and trees. Salt dough reindeer will be made alongside poppies and leaf pictures.

 

Dormouse room:

Expressive art and design – Halloween, Diwali, Bonfire night and Christmas!!

The children will:

Make Halloween cats/bats/spiders and pumpkins

Make Diwali lamps form clay and decorate

Create firework pictures using brightly coloured paint and glitter

Using shaving foam with paint and glitter encourage the children to use their fingers to create fireworks

Make Indian themed Christmas tree decorations for the tree festival at the chapel

Dance around the room to Christmas music

Help to decorate the Christmas tree in the room

Sing Christmas songs using bells and other instruments

Make Christmas crafts to take home – cards and tree decorations

 

News:

Our next trustees meeting is being held on Thursday 16th November at 4 pm. This will be @ Brambles. If any parent is interested in joining the trustees, please see Debbie.

Those unwelcome friends – HEAD LICE – are doing the rounds again so please check your child/s hair and treat accordingly. They do not like citronella or tea tree and sprays of these are available – they are a good deterrent! Long hair tied back or plaited also helps.

If any parents have changed their address or phone number can you please let the staff know so they can change the admission form to reflect this. If there are, any changes to pickups these will also need to be altered on the forms.

Brambles has a closed Face Book page – please send a friend request if you are not already a member. Updates are posted as necessary, photos of trips out, photos of children eating produce from the garden, lunch menus…

Library:

The library has been a big hit with the children and it is lovely seeing them eagerly arriving on a Thursday morning wanting to change their books. Please see Debbie if you wish to change the books on another day for any reason. We are aware there are lots of children who do not come in on a Thursday therefore please see Debbie to become part of this great initiative. The books are being well looked after we appreciate this hugely – additionally we hope it will teach the children to respect and look after nursery’s other books as well as their own books.

I have the second part of my course for this initiative next week and would like to take some feedback with me. If anyone has any photos and comments they are willing to share could you please email me @ manager@brambles-nursery.org.uk I would be very grateful!

Funding:

If your child is with Lindsey in the Rising 3 area and they turn 3 before Christmas they will be eligible for 15 universal hours of 3yr funding from the beginning of the Spring term. Debbie will hand out EY2 forms just before Christmas and will then need to see either a passport or birth certificate to validate the children’s details. If parents both work 16 hours or more (or if you are a single parent and working 16 hours or more) you should be eligible for an extended 15 hours. Please visit www.cornwall.gov.uk website, search for 30 hour funding and complete the forms to see if you are eligible. You should then be given an 11 digit number beginning 500/501 which Debbie will need to validate on the funding portal. Once you have a code you will receive an email every 3 months where you will need to go back to the .gov website and revalidate your details. Please be aware this email can go into your junk mail! If the code is not revalidated it stops and will only reactivate when you reapply. If you have any questions please see Debbie. This needs to be completed before the end of term for the code to be validated to start in January.

Many parents will also be eligible for ‘Childfree Tax Care’ with the government scheme – for children aged up to 11 years. Again this is on the government website and could help towards your childcare costs and it can be used for fees/lunches/snacks….Please look to see if you are eligible – the nursery is registered with the scheme already and you just need to add our name to your account.

School places: The portal for school places will close on January 15th 2024. Apply online @ www.cornwall.gov.uk/admissions. You will be asked for 3 choices and it is advised you fill out all 3 boxes to ensure you are not given a school not of your choice.

Medication:

The Brambles has an emergency bottle of Calpol for children who may suddenly develop a temperature, whose parents cannot collect them quickly and we feel it is required. If your child is teething or you feel requires a dose of Calpol during the day a bottle must be brought in with them. We are finding when we require ours it is empty due to parents not supplying their own. If they do require Calpol for anything other than teething, it may be they are too poorly for nursery and need to stay home.

Lunches:

We discourage juice at lunchtime unless there is a reason – please see Debbie if this is the case. We have a water cooler, which the children are able to freely access and water/milk is provided during snacks and lunch times.

Please cut grapes into QUARTERS – these are one of the biggest choking hazards for children.

Due to a nut allergy within the setting there are to be NO NUTS in packed lunches. We will be changing our policy to reflect this.

We promote healthy eating and would like parents to support us with this when providing packed lunches. A healthy packed lunch should contain; a sandwich/crackers/wrap, yogurt, packet of crisps, fruit and maybe one biscuit or piece of cake.  We are able to reheat food from yesterdays ‘tea’ or make beans/spaghetti on toast if you would like to provide this in a packed lunch.

Christmas Party:

Provisionally this will be Tuesday 19th December 12.30-2pm – we are waiting to see if Father Christmas is able to visit. Once we have heard we can confirm this date and time. All children are welcome but if they do not normally attend on this day they will require an adult to attend with them  – please see Debbie. Brambles will provide the food and we will ask for a parental contribution of £1.00 per child towards the cost.

PRE-SCHOOL CHILDREN ONLY:

Production:

We have been lucky to secure a morning at the Minack theatre on Thursday 23rd November at 10am. We will be leaving nursery at 9.20 am by mini bus. If your child does not normally attend please see Debbie if you would like to join us.

The children will be joining a professionally led drama workshop in conjunction with Made Arts. The workshop will last for 90 mins and the children (and adults) will require warm and waterproof clothes. (If too wet it will take place inside).

The Minack Magic Movement tour will explore the theater with plenty of interaction, play and storytelling. Additionally there will be time for games and noise!!

Birthday pictures:

Please send in a picture of your child celebrating a birthday for the week beginning 13th November. Thank you to parents for the pictures we have already received.

Nativity:

We will shortly be rehearsing for our annual nativity production. This will be held in the town hall on Tuesday 12th December at 10 am. The dress rehearsal will be Monday 11th December at 10 am. (MORE DETAILS WILL FOLLOW NEARER THE TIME).

As soon as we have decided on which role your child will be playing we will send out a letter which will include their words and havethe song words attached. We do have several costumes here at Brambles so please see Debbie before purchasing one.

Friday 17th:

Tempest photographers are in all day if you need to send in a change of clothes (as some children may be dressed as a book character) we can change the children’s clothes. If you would like a slot please speak to Debbie – this is for children who do not normally attend on a Friday. Family slots are available during the afternoon – again please see Debbie. Children already in attendance will have their photo automatically taken during the morning. Parents are then given a ‘proof’ photo which you can order if you wish. There is no obligation to buy the photos.

Children in Need day – we have lots of merchandise on display if anyone requires ‘Pudsey or Blush ears’ or a Pudsey or Blush teddy’. The children are encouraged to dress as their favourite book character.

Christmas Lunch:

Our Christmas lunch will be Wednesday 13th December. If your child normally has a packed lunch but would like to join us for a Christmas lunch instead please see Debbie. Hot lunch is £2.00 and a pudding is 50p.

 

Term dates:

30th October – 19th December

Spring term starts on the 4th January.

AUTUMN TERM 2023 NEWSLETTER – 1st half

Posted on: 6th December 2023

Welcome back form the summer holidays – we all hope you have had a good summer and if you went camping or on holiday didn’t have too much rain!! Judging by our weather so far September is looking to be a warmer month!

Below is the topic each room is exploring this half-term and the exciting activities your child/ren may be involved in. If you feel you can help in any way towards the topic/activities please see Linda, Lindsey, Louise or Debbie.

Holiday club forms are attached to the end of the newsletter.

Field mice room: Pre-school children

The topic is – All around us! Week 1 –settling in , week 2 – our playroom, week 3 – around my home, week 4 – out on a walk, week 5 – around our area, week 6 – Bear hunt and week 7 – Harvest time.

Personal, Social & Emotional Development: The children will be settling into their new area, bonding with their peers and practitioners and getting to know their new key person. They will learn the golden rules and boundaries of their room and become familiar with the new routines. Books such as ‘Helping’ by Shirley Hughes will be looked at and the children encouraged to help and be kind to each other. If there are any keen gardeners (any grandparents?) who would like to come in and work with the children please let us know as they will be working on environments especially in the back garden. Harvest will be prepared for with the story of ‘The little red hen’ and the children will taste and try different breads.

Communication & Language: Phonic lessons will be started where initially they will look at their names and as the weeks progress the letters; SATPIN will be studied and activities centred around them. Sound bags will be made when reading ‘Going on a bear hunt’ and other stories to match characters and items such as; bear, dog, grass…The children will be encouraged to write ‘shopping lists’ for the ‘Little red hen’ and labels for the room.

Physical Development: Gross motor skills will be utilised when playing on the wheeled toys and navigating the road and signs outside. Obstacle courses will be created to re-enact ‘Going on a bear hunt’. They children will travel around the room and garden responding to signals from practitioners and use the apparatus to move under, over, through, around…..Fine motor skills will be required for using the scissors, threading activities, preparing fruit and kneading bread dough.

Literacy: The Gingerbread man and Enormous turnip stories will be read, re-enacted, written about and gingerbread men made.

Maths: Sorting and counting activities will be available, number lines consisting of houses constructed, shapes observed through the environment and ingredients weighed out for Gingerbread men. Number songs and rhymes will be learnt and sung with the children counting 1-10 and down from 10-1.

UTW: Different types of houses/homes will be looked at and the children will be asked for a picture of their house so they can compare who lives in a bungalow, flat, detached house, terraced house…..When out on our walk the children will be encouraged to look at different houses and identify one which looks like theirs. Animal habitats will be discussed and looked for whilst on our walk – rivers, nests….

Expressive arts and design: Self –portraits will be painted and displayed for the children to look at and learn who their peers are. Autumn paint colours will be explored and autumnal pictures created using them. Using a piece of chalk the children will be encouraged to take it for a walk and create patterns on the floor.

Free play: Within the water tray there will be bubbles with warm water, coloured water with clear containers, different sized containers, lux flakes with sponges and whisks, floating letters and funnels and pots. The sand tray will have wet sand with moulds and rakes for patterns, used to make walls with the bricks and trowels, small world creatures and habitats made using twigs and leaves and dry sand with sieves and sand wheels.

 

Rising threes:

The topic is All about me!

PSED: Family photos will be asked for so the children can share them with each other and talk about their families. The ‘Colour Monster’ story will be read, emotions discussed and games played around emotion/feelings.

C&L: The children will spend this half of the term getting to learn who their peers are as well as establishing relationships with their new practitioners. They will discuss their feelings, learn the ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ songs and talk about their own self-care.

Lit: At registration, the children will be encouraged to recognise their name and there will be many opportunities to mark make. The story for the first half of the term will be ‘Funny Bones’.

Physical: Different ways of moving their bodies will be explored, daily ‘wake and shake’ sessions and focus given to learning how to put on their coat and shoes.

Maths: The children will be asked what number house they live at as well as looking for numbers when out and about in their environments. Different shapes will be used to make houses and measuring activities provided such as recipes.

UTW: The role play area will become a doctors surgery, the skeleton will be looked at through pictures and puzzles and the names of some bones learnt through song.

EA&D: Using clay the children will create a self-portrait, using paint a family portrait, a skeleton picture using straws and bake gingerbread men.

 

Dormouse room:

Dormice Room Autumn Term 2023: Part 1

Topic: Nursery Rhymes:  Old Macdonald Farm

Down in the jungle

The wheels on the bus

Heads shoulders knees and toes.

We would like to say a big welcome to all the children in the Dormice Room. We are all looking forward to the term ahead. Over the next couple of weeks, we will be focusing on putting foundations and bonds in place with all practitioners and we will be letting all parents know whom your child’s key person will be.

We will be covering the 7 areas of learning and our topic of ‘Nursery Rhymes’ will be linked to all of those areas.

Personal, Social & Emotional Development: Our main focus will be to settle all the children returning or joining us for the first time. This will allow the staff and children to have time to get to know each other and for staff to become accustomed to their personal routines and interests.

Communication & Language: We will be focusing on singing the above-mentioned rhymes, using actions, props and stories to reinforce our songs. If the children come home, singing please sing with them at meal times, play times or bath time. When singing Head shoulders knees and toes you can reinforce the words by pointing to those body parts.

Physical Development: We will be using many different musical instruments and music will be played while we are moving our bodies around in different ways such as moving our arms up and down or side to side for the wheels on the bus.

Literacy: We will be looking, sharing and reading books relating to farm animals, safari/jungle animals, vehicles and body parts/books about us. We will use props and actions so the children can become involved and join in with familiar words and pictures.

Mathematics: We will be using numbers 1 to 5 as we play and count animals, vehicles, people, fingers and toes.  We will be introducing language such as long, tall, short, big and small into our play – especially when we sing ‘down in the jungle’ as our themed song.

Knowledge & Understanding of the World: We will link our everyday life into our play by playing with the small world toys such as the farmyard, safari park, road map/car garage and dolls so the children can along with practitioners help make connections.

Expressive Art & Design: We will be using many different materials such as paint, gloop, shaving foam, water, flour, pasta, cereals in our play and the children will be encouraged to mark make in a variety of ways by using animals, vehicles or their own hands and feet.

 

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to speak to any of the Dormouse staff.

Staff:

We wish Myha all the best during her 2nd year at Uni and look forward to seeing her again during the holidays where she will be joining the team again for holiday club.

Jacquie has joined us this term and started working in the Fieldmouse room. She will be working with the pre-schoolers on a Tuesday and Friday morning and the rising 3’s on a Wednesday morning.

Hanri will be working on a Thursday helping in the office with admin and as she settles she will be able to help with any queries you may have.

News:

Our next trustees meeting is being held on Thursday 21st September at 9 am. This will be @ Brambles. If any parent is interested in joining the trustees, please see Debbie.

Those unwelcome friends – HEAD LICE – are doing the rounds again so please check your child/s hair and treat accordingly. They do not like citronella or tea tree and sprays of these are available – they are a good deterrent! Long hair tied back or plaited also helps – also with the warmer weather; this will be cooler for children with long hair.

If any parents have changed their address or phone number over the summer can you please let the staff know so they can change the admission form to reflect this. If there are, any changes to pickups these will also did to be altered on the forms.

Brambles has a closed Face Book page – please send a friend request if you are not already a member. Updates are posted as necessary, photos of trips out, photos of children eating produce from the garden, lunch menus…..

Library:

Brambles is setting up their own library system to encourage a long-lasting love with books. Each book is in a labelled bag and as the system evolves puppets and props will be added for some stories. We would like to ask parents to encourage their children to look after our books and pop them back into the bag when not in use. The library will be open on a Thursday morning from 8 am – 9 am, Hanri will be in attendance to help and record any book changes. There are books for all our age ranges and we look forward to hearing all about our books from the children!

Funding:

If your child has joined Lindsey in the Rising 3 area this term they will be eligible for 15 universal hours of 3yr funding from the beginning of the Spring term (or the summer term if their 3rd birthday falls between January and March 2024). Debbie will hand out EY2 forms just before Christmas and will then need to see either a passport or birth certificate to validate the children’s details. If parents both work 16 hours or more (or if you are a single parent and working 16 hours or more) you should be eligible for an extended 15 hours. Please visit www.cornwall.gov.uk website, search for 30 hour funding and complete the forms to see if you are eligible. You should then be given an 11 digit number beginning 500/501 which Debbie will need to validate on the funding portal. Once you have a code you will receive an email every 3 months where you will need to go back to the .gov website and revalidate your details. Please be aware this email can go into your junk mail! If the code is not revalidated it stops and will only reactivate when you reapply. If you have any questions please see Debbie.

Many parents will also be eligible for ‘Childfree Tax care’ with the government scheme – for children aged up to 11 years. Again this is on the government website and could help towards your childcare costs. It can be used for fees/lunches/snacks….Please look to see if you are eligible – the nursery is registered with the scheme already and you just need to add our name to your account.

School places: Parents of our pre-schoolers can now go to the government website and register their children for a school place. This will be open until January and Debbie will remind you again later in the term. You will be asked for 3 choices and it is advised you fill out all 3 boxes to ensure you are not given a school not of your choice.

Medication:

The Brambles has an emergency bottle of Calpol for children who may suddenly develop a temperature, whose parents cannot collect them quickly and we feel it is required. If your child is teething or you feel requires a dose of Calpol during the day a bottle must be brought in with them. We are finding when we require ours it is empty due to parents not supplying their own. If they do require Calpol for anything other than teething, it may be they are too poorly for nursery and need to stay home.

Lunches:

We discourage juice at lunchtime unless there is a reason – please see Debbie if this is the case. We have a water cooler, which the children are able to freely access and water/milk is provided during snacks and lunch times.

Please cut grapes into QUARTERS – these are one of the biggest choking hazards for children.

Due to a nut allergy within the setting there is to be NO NUTS in packed lunches. We will be changing our policy to reflect this.

We promote healthy eating and would like parents to support us with this when providing packed lunches. A healthy packed lunch should contain; a sandwich/crackers/wrap, yogurt, packet of crisps, fruit and maybe one biscuit or piece of cake.  We are able to reheat food from yesterdays ‘tea’ or make beans/spaghetti on toast if you would like to provide this in a packed lunch.

September:

Due to the hot weather can all children have a named sun hat and named bottle of sun cream, kept in their bag and hung on their pegs. A change of clothes will also be necessary as ‘water’ may feature quite a lot this month and the children love to get wet and dirty in the mud kitchen!!!

Can parents please apply sun cream before nursery; practitioners will apply as necessary through the day.

Rising 3’s:

Can parents please send in or email a family picture to manager@brambles-nursery.org.uk

 PRE-SCHOOL CHILDREN ONLY:

Production:

We have been lucky to secure a performance by ‘Arthur’s Club’ which is a story telling production. It will be at St Just Town Hall on Thursday 19th October – times to be confirmed. Practitioners will walk with the children in attendance from Brambles. If there are any preschool children who do not attend on a Thursday they are welcome to join us for the performance. The reception class from the primary school will also be attending.

Autumn walk:

During the week of the 9th October the preschool children will be going on a walk during the morning. If any parents are able to help please see Debbie.

Pictures:

Please send in or email a picture of your house for the topic this term to manager@brambles-nursery.org.uk

Term dates:

4th September – 20th October

Half  term 23rd -27th October (please see holiday form)

30th October – 19th December

Spring term starts on the 4th January.

 

Summer Term 2023 Newsletter – 1st half

Posted on: 24th April 2023

Welcome back to the start of the summer term. Have all the chocolate eggs been consumed?!

Please ensure you look at the term dates and holiday clubs at the end of this letter.

Holiday forms are attached and need to be returned by Friday 5th May.

Below is the topic each room is exploring this half-term and the exciting activities your child/ren may be involved in. If you feel you can help in any way towards the topic/activities please see Linda, Bernadette, Louise or Debbie.

Field mice room: Pre-school children

The topic is – Living things! Week 1 –animals , week 2 – insects, week 3 – birds, week 4 – seeds, week 5 – fruit and veg, week 6 – life cycles.

Personal, Social & Emotional Development: Over the next 6 weeks the children will look at spring animals and how to care for them (hand reared or by a parent). When the caterpillars arrive the children will study them, watching as they become bigger and bigger and record their growth in their journals. Again, we will incubate and hatch some baby chicks – hoping for less cockerels this year! The children will be discussing their favourite fruit and vegetables and trying some of their friend’s favourites.

Communication & Language: using the finger puppets and small world resources the children will be encouraged to retell the story of ‘owl babies’. Learn the rhyme ‘5 fat beans’ and play ‘I went shopping and I bought…’ The letters G/O/U/L/F/B will be looked at and discussed with activities planned around them.

Physical Development: Gross motor skills will include moving in different ways such as a caterpillar, spider, bird, butterfly, frog…Curling up into a little ball before unfurling to become a bird or a flower. Fine motor skills will be developed by using tweezers, cutting fruit and vegetables and planting seeds.

Literacy: Non-fiction books of life cycles will be looked at as well as stories such as ‘Tiny seed’, ‘Owl babies’, ‘Jaspers beanstalk’ and ‘Walking through the jungle’ read and re-enacted with the children. They will be encouraged to anticipate “what might happen next”. They will write their name labels for their sunflower pots and add entries into their learning journals as the caterpillars and chicks grow.

Maths: Sequencing of life cycles and growth will be discussed and observed by the children both through books and real life experience. When planting their seeds the children will count how many seeds there are and how many pots they will need for everyone. As the flowers grow the children will measure them and keep a record to see who’s has grown the tallest? Number rhymes such as ‘5 little ducks’ will be sung and association with numbers 1e. 2 and 2 dots and 2 objects.

UTW: Looking at habitats of insects the children will learn about where insects live and what they eat. Additionally their lifecycles will be studied and seen 1st hand – tadpole – frog, egg – chick and caterpillar – butterfly. The children will plant their own sunflower seed and tend to it for the ½ term.

Expressive arts and design: using different materials the children will be encouraged to make from clay ‘owl babies’ and a nest for them from other materials. The playdough will have glitter/sawdust added for texture and exploration. After examining and tasting the fruits and vegetables the children will create paintings with them. Inspired by their sunflowers the children will be encouraged to paint a replica of Van Goughs ‘Sunflowers’.

Free play: Within the water tray there will be underwater animals and diver, ducks of varying sizes/colours as well as fish/buckets/scoops/tubes…..A role play garden centre will be created where the children will be able to add numbers/prices to forms and labels alongside acting out being the customer/shop assistant and filling out paperwork. Whilst outside the children will explore the garden looking for insects and use our ‘bug watches’ to observe them. The bird feeders and bird bath will be set up and an observation post set up to record which birds visit.

Rising threes:

The topic is Dinosaurs, diggers and dirt!

PSED: Settling in with our new children who have just transitioned from the Dormouse room or just joined the setting. The ‘hello’ song will be learnt alongside the rooms routines such as registration and snack and Field mouse room rules and boundaries.

C&L: The children will be encouraged to talk about the topic and ask questions about dinosaurs – where they lied/what they ate. The children will be asked to bring in a photo of themselves playing outside and these will be transformed into a tree using handprints for the tree.

Lit: Fiction and non-fiction books will be read and story times will occur outside. Mark making will be encouraged in the mud tray alongside bark rubbing and tracing activities.

Phy: Gross physical movement will be encouraged through Yoga and Sticky Kids. Fine motor skills will be encouraged by creating dinosaurs with pasta and playdough, washing the dinosaurs using a toothbrush and making mud pies. .

Maths: Using number blocks the children will be encouraged to measure the dinosaurs and using pre-cut shapes create a dinosaur. In the mud tray, they will create patterns using shells/pebbles/pine cones/flowers and stone towers before counting them to see whose is the tallest.

UTW: Fossils will be created using salt dough and an erupting volcano from papier-mâché. Dinosaurs will be frozen in ice and the children will explore the properties of water as they watch it melt. Whilst out on a nature walk the children will collect different coloured item to study when back at Brambles.

EA&D: Using blocks dipped in paint/hand prints dinosaur pictures will be created and named after the children.

Dormouse room:

Plants and flowers:

Week 1 and 2 – insect hunting, Week 3 and 4 – seeds and plants, Week 5 and 6 – life cycle of a caterpillar

PSED: Together the children will explore the garden looking for insects and playing with the toy insects in the tuff spot tray with soil. When the caterpillars arrive, the children will care for them before releasing the butterflies into the garden. Using leaves to print with the children will construct a climbing wall plant.

C & L: After exploring the garden the children will be encouraged to talk about what they found outside. As they plant cress seeds they will be encouraged to talk about what they are doing and what they can see. The lifecycle of the caterpillar will be discussed.

Physical Development: Whilst in the garden the children will be encouraged to move around imitating an insect – slowly like a snail/quickly like an ant. Whilst listening to music and using scarves the children will be encouraged to move around emulating butterflies.

Lit: The stories of ‘The very busy spider’ and ‘The hungry caterpillar’ will be read and the crochet props from the story books used alongside each story. A cosy den will be made in the garden for the children to utilise whilst sharing stories.

Maths: An insect number line will be made with the children counting the insects in the garden to complete it. When the children are planting their seeds they will be encouraged to use their numbers to count and again when sorting the fruits and vegetables from ‘The hungry caterpillar’ book.

K&UW: Whilst exploring the garden the children will see the habitats of the insects, watch their plants grow and see the changes of the caterpillars as they emerge into butterflies.

EA&D: The children will make their own spiders and webs, caterpillars and butterflies as well as pictures of flowers from collage materials.

 

Staff:

Pam – our cook – has unexpectedly left the nursery but we wish her well in her new role. Mr and Mrs Waters will be filling in until June when Sarah will take over the role of cook again. The children do not seem to mind who cooks their dinners so long as they have a hot meal on the table!!

News:

Our next trustees meeting is being held on Thursday 4th May at 1pm. This will be @ Brambles. If any parent is interested in joining the trustees, please see Debbie.

Thank you to all who helped towards raising over £800 at our duck race on Saturday. This is an incredible figure and is not possible without continued parental support.

If your child has just joined Bernadette and Lindsey in the Rising 3 area they will be eligible for 15 universal hours of funding from the beginning of the autumn term. Debbie will give out EY2 forms just before summer and will then need to see a passport or birth certificate to validate the children’s details. If parents both work 16 hours or more (or if you are a single parent and working 16 hours or more) you should be eligible for an extended 15 hours. Please visit www.cornwall.gov.uk website, search for 30 hour funding and complete the forms to see if you are eligible. You should then be given an 11 digit number beginning 500 which Debbie will need to validate on the funding portal. Once you have a code you will receive an email every 3 months where you need to go back to the .gov website and revalidate your details. Please be aware this email can go into your junk mail! If the code is not revalidated it stops and will only reactivate when you reapply.

Summer:

Now the summer is finally approaching can all children please have a named sun hat and named bottle of sun cream in their bag hung on their pegs. A change of clothes will also be necessary as ‘water’ will feature quite a lot this term and the children love to get wet and dirty in the mud kitchen!!!

Now the warmer weather is approaching the children will spend most of the day outside. If your child is not well enough to be outside, they are not well enough to be at nursery.

Our annual sports day will be held at the end of the term (Tuesday 18th July provisionally). All Dormouse children who are walking will have a small session from 10-10.20 am, Rising 3’s 10.30-11.00 am and pre-school children 11.10 – 11.50 am. There will be a BBQ for pre-school parents (ONLY) and nearer the time a form will be sent out to ascertain numbers.

IF YOUR CHILD IS GOING TO ATTEND THE SPORTS DAY PLEASE LET DEBBIE KNOW SO THE CORRECT AMOUNT OF MEDALS WILL BE ORDERED.

Term dates:

17.04.2023 – 26.05.2023 first half of the term

1st and 8th May are bank holidays and we will be closed.

30th May – 2nd June half term. PLEASE FIND an ATTACHED HOLIDAY FORM

05.05.2023 – 21.07.2023 second half of the term

(17th – 21st July is unfunded).

24th July – 18th August, summer holidays. PLEASE FIND An ATTACHED HOLIDAY FORM

4th September is the start of the autumn term.

Holiday forms to be returned by Friday 5th May.

Thank you.

Holiday club: May 2023

Please ensure these forms are returned by Friday 5th May.

Please tick the requisite box if you know your child will be having a hot lunch during holiday club. This will allow us to have an estimate of lunches to order ingredients for and the dishes being cooked. You will still be able to order a hot lunches on the day if necessary.

Name: __________________________________________

May half – term:

Day

Start time

Finish time

Lunch

Tuesday 30th

Wednesday 31st

Thursday 1st

Friday 2nd

Summer holiday

Day

Start time

Finish time

Lunch

Monday 24th July

Tuesday 25th

Wednesday 26th

Thursday 27th

Friday 28th

Monday 31st

Tuesday 1st

Wednesday 2nd

Thursday 3rd

Friday 4th

Monday 7th

Tuesday 8th

Wednesday 9th

Thursday 10th

Friday 11th

Monday 14th

Tuesday 15th

Wednesday 16th

Thursday 17th

Friday 18th

 

Spring 2023 Newsletter – 2nd half term

Posted on: 24th April 2023

Welcome back to the second half of the Spring term.

Please ensure you look at the term dates and holiday clubs at the end of this letter.

Holiday forms are attached and need to be returned by Friday 3rd March.

Below is the topic each room is exploring this half-term and the exciting activities your child/ren may be involved in. If you feel you can help in any way towards the topic/activities please see Linda, Bernadette, Louise or Debbie.

Field mice room: Pre-school children

The topic is – Toys! week 1 –my teddy , week 2 –St Piran, week 3 – toys with wheels, week 4 – toy animals, week 5 – dinosaurs and week 6 – Easter.

Personal, Social & Emotional Development: Over the next 6 weeks the children will be learning the dance for St Piran’s day and working together in pairs. Discussions will be held about being kind to each other and exchanging of gifts at Easter time. Following on from last term where the children looked at baby photos of themselves and the differences this term they will be looking at animals and how they are different. Elmer the elephant will be discussed, how he is different but still the same and how he may feel being different. The children will be encouraged to try out new activities, concentrate and persevere at them.

Communication & Language: The children will talk about Easter and St Piran and the history behind our celebrations. New words will be introduced such as ‘patron saint’. Letters will be written to Elmer and small world toys incorporated into discussions about everyday situations. The chorus of ‘Trelawney’ will be learnt and ‘Kernow bis Vyken’ (Cornish for Cornwall forever).

The children have been looking and learning their phonics ready for school. They will be looking at C/K, E, H, R, M and D this term – one letter a week except for C & K which are looked at together. If you would like to continue this at home your child will have been discussing and thinking of words which start with the nominated letter, forming the letter in the air before then writing it down several times on a piece of paper. Please be aware if you are left handed and your child is right handed (or vice versa) when it comes to crossing letters such as f/t/x/E/F/A/J/T/X the direction of the letter crossing would be R-L for right hand writers and L-R for left handed writers.

Physical Development: The children have been learning the dance for St Piran’s day and if you would like to practice at home it is a walk of 1 2 3 steps and then a hop (details of the parade are at the end of the letter). Additional gross motor skills will involve moving like animals and across obstacle courses. Fine motor skills will be developed through the formation of letters, threading, small world equipment and constructing with small parts.

Literacy: The story of ‘St Piran’ and ‘The Easter story’ will be read and discussed. The tray game will be played where there are a range of objects and the children find the ones which begin with the particular sound of the week. ‘What’s in the box?’ will be played where a practitioner will describe an object and the children will try to guess what it is.

Maths: During small world play the children will sort objects/animals into sets, count them and then place them into different shaped fields whilst using positional language. During week 2 the children will look at different flags, symmetry and colours and then paint their own. Shapes will be looked at including – oval for Easter and circles during week 3 (wheels).

UTW: By looking at maps of Great Britain the children will chart the travels of St Piran from Ireland – Wales-Cornwall. During week 5 the children will be encouraged to bring in toys they had when they were younger or toys they have now or toys from an older sibling or from a parent. These will then be sequenced into toys I liked as a baby, what I like now and what I may like when I’m older. The remote controlled cars will be explored and the interactive screen utilised using the pre-writing programme.

Expressive arts and design: Using a range of media the children will create a large Elmer, Easter cards and eggs, print circle pictures, flags and puppets.

Free play: Within the water tray there will be assorted boats and water wheels, fishing games and pouring equipment. Whilst the sand tray contains dry sand; wheeled toys, sieves and jugs will be used. When the sand has water added; shells, pebbles twigs and dinosaurs will be added. The role play area will become a toy shop where the children visit and ‘buy’ a toy. A till, money, catalogues, stickers and pencils will be available for the children to incorporate into their play. There will be scented playdough, clay, gloop and other tactile experiences for the children to experience.

Rising threes:

The topic is Spring; week 1 – how we grow, week 2 – baby animals, week 3 – life cycles, week 4 – Plants, week 5 – insects, week 6 – Easter.

PSED: The children will discuss how we grow and the healthy food, exercise and sleep we require to aid this. They will further discuss unhealthy foods and why we should not eat too many of them. The theme of positive behaviour and being kind and helpful to each other will continue through the term.

C&L: ‘5 little speckled frogs’ and ‘Little Arabella Miller’ will be learnt and sung along with ‘5 little pears’. Whilst looking at different insects in the garden the children will discuss why they are good for the eco system. During week 2 they will pair and learn the names of animals – lioness and cub, cow and calf……

Lit: Whilst looking at growing things the children will write labels for parts of a flower and look at how tall Jack’s beanstalk grew. Easter cards will be made and the children to ‘write’ their names.

Phy: To promote fine motor skills the children will manipulate playdough into nests, make clothes peg birds and use these to pick up ‘pipe cleaner ‘worms, complete tracing activities and chop fruit for a fruit salad.

Maths: During cooking activities the children will use scales to weigh out ingredients, count a given amount and sort the vegetables they like into groups.

UTW: The children will take part in a spring walk around the field – ‘what can we see growing’? will be asked. The lifecycle of the chicken will be discussed ready for next term when some eggs will be hatched and they will continue to check the hen coop for eggs. Birds will be made using different media and magnifying glasses used to look for insects in the garden.

EA&D: Using different mediums the children will paint their hands and create chicks, create egg box daffodils, paint flowers using vegetables, create a handprint rainbow and make musical instruments.

Dormouse Room Spring Term Part 2.

Topic: Nursery Rhymes:

5 little ducks /Zooming to the moon & Twinkle twinkle little star /5 Little Men in a flying saucer

5 Little Speckled frogs /5 Little monkeys Hot cross buns & 5 currant buns

 

PSED: For our younger children they will be exploring the nursery rhymes through our treasure baskets which will be filled with objects from each nursery rhyme.

C&L: We will be reading, singing and hearing lots of language as we teach and encourage the children to sing along with us. We will use visual props and aids to help them to learn our new songs.

PD: We will be exploring the different ways we can move around: looking at how to swim as we cross the pond, taking big and slow footsteps as we walk across the moon, moving sideways as we fly through space, how we can hop like a frog and how we can jump up and down on the bed.

Literacy: Each nursery rhyme will have a book related to it which the children can look at individually or we will share as a whole group.

Math: All the nursery rhymes that we will be learning will involve the numbers 1-5. We will be using and repeating them throughout our play, our singing and when communicating. They will be reinforcing them around the environment so the children will feel confident about numbers and use them and number language in their play.

KUW: We will watch some of these rhymes on our big interactive screen and the link will be put on our Brambles Facebook group so you can sing along at home with your child. We will also use this opportunity to look at the celebrations which happen at Easter.

EA&D: We will be supporting and encouraging the children to use their own knowledge of the songs. They will be further encouraged to link this knowledge into the environment around them as they investigate and explore all the activities relating to the nursey rhymes.

 

Staff:

Sarah has taken over the lunches for this term as Pam had a family bereavement. We hope to see Pam again at Easter. Sarah will continue at Brambles after Easter as bank staff.

 

News:

Our next trustees meeting is being held on Monday 6th March at 3pm @ Brambles. If any parent is interested in joining the trustees please see Debbie.

If your child has just joined Bernadette and Lindsey in the Rising 3 area they will be eligible for 15 universal hours of funding from the beginning of the autumn term. Debbie will give out EY2 forms just before the summer holidays and will then need to see a passport or birth certificate to validate the children’s details. If parents both work 16 hours or more (or if you are a single parent and working 16 hours or more) you should be eligible for an extended 15 hours. Please visit www.cornwall.gov.uk website, search for 30 hour funding and complete the forms to see if you are eligible. You should then be given an 11 digit number beginning 500 which Debbie will need to validate on the funding portal. Once you have a code you will receive an email every 3 months where you need to go back to the .gov website and revalidate your details. Please be aware this email can go into your junk mail! If the code is not revalidated it stops and will only reactivate when you reapply.

DUCK RACE:

It is almost time for our annual duck race! This takes place at Kenidjack Valley in the river (about half way down). Duck tickets are attached to this letter- if you could sell them to family and friends it would be appreciated. Once the tickets have been sold please return them with the money to Debbie. If you would like a hard copy of the tickets please see Debbie. If you would like more ducks please print as many sheets as you require or ask Debbie for more. Once all tickets are returned they are placed in a container and then 20 are drawn – these go into race 1. This is continued until all the tickets are used and we have our races. Each race is run and the winner of each race is entered into the final. Winner of race 1 becomes duck 1 in the final…….so all finalists know which duck to watch!

Each race winner has a small prize and the final race has a 1st 2nd and 3rd prize.

There will be teas, cakes, burgers, raffles…..being sold and any donations of cakes or prizes for the raffle will be gratefully received.

The provisional date for this is Sunday 30th April @ 10.30 am.

ST PIRANS PARADE:

The pre-school children will be taking part in the parade on Friday 3rd March. We have been practising our 1 2 3 hop/jump with Marna who has kindly been in and played the music for us. We will be meeting at the Primary school at 1.20 pm. We will be leaving the school at 1.30 pm, parading through the town before finishing in the Plein where we will take part in the singing and have cake!

If you are watching the parade and take any photos of the children please email them to Debbie at manage@brambles-nursery.org.uk so they can be printed and added to the children’s journals. It is not always possible to take photos when you are dancing!!!

If your child does not attend but would like to take part please meet us there. They will need a parent as a partner. Please let Debbie know if you will be joining the parade so extra sashes can be taken along.

Please ensure the children are wearing a suitable coat for the weather.

MINACK TRIP:

The pre-school children have been invited to an educational session at the Minack on Wednesday 8th March. We will be leaving Brambles at 9.00 am and will not be able to wait for any late children. We have been able to hire 1 mini bus which takes 15 children therefore we will need parental help to transport some children and for supervision. If you are able to help with either of these please see Debbie.

If you have training for mini bus driving through the Council please see Debbie!

Please ensure the children have a warm and waterproof coat as well as a hat (maybe gloves?) as the Minack is exposed to the elements and it can be very cold there.

We will be back at Brambles by 12 pm for lunch.

LUNCHES:

If you are providing grapes in your child’s lunch box please ensure they are cut into quarters. Grapes are the 3rd highest choking hazard in young children. I know it can be time consuming but at lunch time practitioners do not have the time to cut up grapes/blueberries … when they may have up to 7 other children to supervise.

Term dates:

03-14.04.2023 Easter holidays but we will be CLOSED on Friday 7th and Mondays 10th for the Easter bank holidays.

PLEASE FIND ATTACHED A HOLIDAY FORM

17.04.2023 is the start of the summer term.

Thank you.

Easter holiday

Day

Start time

Finish time

Lunch

Monday 3rd April

Tuesday 4th

Wednesday 5th

Thursday 6th

Tuesday 11th

Wednesday 12th

Thursday 13th

Friday 14th

 

SPRING TERM 2023

Posted on: 22nd January 2023

Welcome back to the start of the Spring term and the year 2023!

Please ensure you look at the term dates and holiday clubs at the end of this letter.

Holiday forms are attached and need to be returned by Friday 27th January.

Below is the topic each room is exploring this half-term and the exciting activities your child/ren may be involved in. If you feel you can help in any way towards the topic/activities please see Linda, Bernadette, Louise or Debbie.

Field mice room: Pre-school children

The topic is – Oursleves! week 1 –look at me , week 2 – when I was a baby, week 3 – my body, week 4 – Chinese New Year, week 5 – food, week 6 – I can see, week 7 – I can hear and touch.

Personal, Social & Emotional Development: Over the next 7 weeks the children will discuss how everyone is different and look at people from different cultures. They will look at photos of each other as babies and talk about the needs of babies and the difference to their needs now. During food week they will discover foods from different countries and cultures and respect other people’s food choices.

Communication & Language: There will be a sound of the week running throughout the term. Stories about feelings will be shared as well as stories about babies, bodies and food. Visual games such as Kim’s game and lotto will be played as well as listening games where the children will identify sounds from the environment.

Physical Development: Gross motor skills will include playing games such as ‘Simon says’. ‘sticky kids’ skittles, musical bumps/statues, use of outdoor equipment such as hoops/beanbags/balls and the children will then look at the effects of exercise on their bodies. For fine motor skills to be honed the children will dress the baby dolls, draw faces in the sand, thread beads/cards for sequencing and use scissors to cut pictures from magazines.

Literacy: Appointment books/record cards/prescriptions will be made for the children to use during role play along with message pads for the children to record on. A height chart will be made and the children’s height recorded to see who is the tallest/smallest of the group and a child will be drawn around for the children to label the drawing with body parts.

Maths: During the term the children will use counting rhymes with body parts such as ‘one finger, one thumb…’and numbers such as ’10 green bottles’ and ‘5 currant buns’, count their teeth, play dominos, match and count shoes and socks and create a chart according to hair/eye colour. When cooking pizzas the children will sort the toppings before choosing a set amount of toppings for their pizza.

UTW: The children will explore why we clean our teeth and how often this should happen. They will go on a colour walk and play ‘I spy’ and different ingredients (coffee, onion, chocolate…) will be used to fill covered pots for the children to smell and discuss.

Expressive arts and design: Using a collage of materials the children will ‘fill a plate with their favourite foods’, explore mediums such as gloop and jelly, listen to different instruments and match them by sound and look at x-rays and then recreate them using black paper and white straws.

Free play: Within the water tray there will be containers for pouring, blue water with sea creatures, pasta shapes in coloured water and objects to discuss the properties of floating and sinking. Sieves, small shells/stones, scoops, spoons and bowls of different sizes, rakes and combs will be put in the dry sand tray and buckets and spades put in when the sand is wet for the children to explore and create with. Small world scenarios will be set up such as ice/water and sea animals and then materials such as playdough and clay will be available for the children to mould, create and decorate.

Rising threes:

The topic is Winter; week 1 – settling in, week 2 – weather, week 3 – clothes, week 4 – Chinese New Year, week 5 – animals, week 6 – animals.

PSED: Looking at rules and boundaries within the rising 3 area. Promoting positive behaviour, sharing and being kind to our friends.

C&L: The children will be encouraged (and reminded) to use their manners during the day saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ to their peers and practitioners. As the weeks progress the children will hear words related to the topic such as snow, ice, melting, cold, freezing, polar and artic. Additionally how animals in these areas keep warm and what it is like to live where it is icy and snowy. Discussions will be held on how they can keep warm – which clothes to wear, heating and fires. During Chinese New Year different cultures will be looked at and how these are celebrated – we will be celebrating the Chines New Year.

Lit: The stories of ‘Goldilocks and the 3 bears’ and ‘We’re going on a bear hunt’ will be read and discussed. The children will be encouraged to mark make in different mediums such as gloop and shaving foam and begin tracing over lines and shapes.

Phy: Gross physical movement will be encouraged through ‘Baby Yoga’, going on a bear hunt and jumping/running exercises. Fine motor skills will be encouraged by the use of scissors to cut out icicles and lanterns and tweezers for holding cotton wool balls for dipping in paint to form snow.

Maths: At register time the children will be estimating how many rising 3’s are in today and then counting each other to confirm numbers. During baking sessions the children will weigh out their ingredients and count ‘smarties’ for decorating their buns. A height chart will be created looking at who is the tallest and who is the smallest within the group.

UTW: Water will be frozen with twigs, fir cones and pine branches for the children to discuss and play with. Igloos will be constructed from the duplo, the children will role play living in cold areas and wearing the special clothes needed – gloves, hats, scarves, warm jumpers and coats. Role play will include becoming bears and living in a cave.

EA&D: During the beginning of term the children will be involved in lots of creative activities. They will include; symmetry paintings (such as gloves), drip painting icicles on the easel, making lanterns and hand and foot prints to create penguins and other animals/birds.

Dormouse room:

Traditional Stories

W/B 02.01.23 & W/B 09.01.23: The Three little Pigs.

W/B 16.01.23 & W/B 23.01.23: The Gingerbread Man.

W/B 30.01.23 & W/B 06.02.23: Goldilocks & the 3 Bears.

Personal, Social & Emotional Development:

This first part of the term we are going to be focusing on the children returning to nursery after the Christmas break and meeting, settling, and getting to know all our new children who will be starting. We would like to give the children plenty of time and opportunity to explore their environment and to feel happy and confident being there so they can engage and take part in all our activities.

Communication & Language:

To link in with our stories we will be encouraging and supporting the use of the repeated phrases from these well-known books and encouraging the children to join in with the parts that they are learning. In our activities which will be set up around the room we will be using and encourage the children to use those phrases within their own play.

Physical Development:

We will be using some gross and fine motor skills as we make our houses from a variety of construction materials. Using a variety of tools for measuring, mixing, stirring, and rolling while we make our gingerbread men or making our own porridge to eat for snack time.

Literacy:

We will be reading and repeating these stories over this half a term so the children can hear and use some of the repeated phrases such as ‘I’ll huff and I’ll puff, I’ll blow your house down’ or ‘run run as fast as you can’. The children will have the props/resources to accompany the stories so they can use them when we are reading the books in a group time or individually.

Mathematics:

With the children we are going to be use building blocks to build our own houses incorporating some counting skills as we go, focusing on numbers 1-5.

Using some mathematical language such as ‘small’ ‘medium’ ‘large’ from the story of Goldilocks and the 3 Bears.

Knowledge & Understanding the World:

There will be small world areas created such as the farmyard and props/resources from each story which we are reading at the time will be added. Our Dormouse home corner area will be transformed into the 3 Little Pigs houses, then into a kitchen where the little old man and the little old lady make the gingerbread man then into the 3 little bear’s cottage. The children will be able to link their own knowledge and their knowledge of the stories into their play.

Expressive Art & Design:

There will be the opportunity for many creative activities including; glue for the straw and the stick houses and paint for printing with building blocks during the story of The 3 Little Pigs. The children will create their choice of house along with painting their own little pig to go inside.

When reading Goldilocks we will make our own bear ear crowns to wear alongside making our own small, medium and big bears.

 

 

Staff:

We would like to welcome Linda back onto our team in the Field mouse room. Linda is replacing Ali for 3 days a week and many of you will have seen and spoken to her already. Ali has greatly reduced her time at Brambles and will only be in on a Friday afternoon for now. We would also like to welcome Natalie who has come on board this term working with both the pre-school class and the rising 3 group. Maddy is also working this term with both groups and covering any absences, holidays and appointments staff when have. Additionally we have Jo who has joined us as bank staff and she has already been busy covering absences!

Pam has taken over the role of nursery cook from Gaby and the children are still very happy with their lunches and are keen to see her arrive in the morning!

To help out this term with the snack café we welcome Sarah who has been running this on a Monday – Thursday morning working with the children to ensure it continues to run smoothly.

News:

Our next trustees meeting is being held on Monday 23rd January at 3pm. This will be @ Brambles. If any parent is interested in joining the trustees please see Debbie.

As many of you may have seen our 1 and only female chicken laid her first egg last week and Alice kindly shared this on our Facebook page. Alice then added the egg to her moussaka and she says it was delicious!

We will in the summer term be hatching more eggs and hoping to have more than 1 hen but have 3 surplus cockerels at the moment. They are not just your normal run of the mill cockerels either! If you know of anyone who would like a Frizzle, a Cochin or Silver laced Wyandotte to add to their flock please speak to Alice or Debbie.

If your child has just joined Bernadette and Lindsey in the Rising 3 area they will be eligible for 15 universal hours of funding from the beginning of the summer term. Debbie will give out EY2 forms just before Easter and will then need to see a passport or birth certificate to validate the children’s details. If parents both work 16 hours or more (or if you are a single parent and working 16 hours or more) you should be eligible for an extended 15 hours. Please visit www.cornwall.gov.uk website, search for 30 hour funding and complete the forms to see if you are eligible. You should then be given an 11 digit number beginning 500 which Debbie will need to validate on the funding portal. Once you have a code you will receive an email every 3 months where you need to go back to the .gov website and revalidate your details. Please be aware this email can go into your junk mail! If the code is not revalidated it stops and will only reactivate when you reapply.

During our ‘Chinese New Year week’ we hope to welcome Chow Chow from our local Chinese takeaway in. She has visited before and the children have loved seeing their names being created in Chinese letters and making money envelopes with her as well as listening to her read a story in Chinese to them.

Can the pre-school children please bring in or email to Debbie at manager@brambles-nursery.org.uk a baby photo of themselves. These will be displayed and discussed by the children this half-term.

Term dates:

03.01.2023 – 10.02.2023 first half of the term

13-17.02.2023 half term. PLEASE FIND ATTACHED A HOLIDAY FORM

20.02.2023 – 31.03.2023 second half of the term

03-14.04.2023 Easter holidays but we will be CLOSED on Friday 7th and Mondays 10th for the Easter bank holidays. PLEASE FIND ATTACHED A HOLIDAY FORM

17.04.2023 is the start of the summer term.

Holiday forms to be returned by Friday 27th January.

Thank you.

 

Holiday club: February 2023

Please ensure these forms are returned by Friday 27th January.

Please tick the requisite box if you know your child will be having a hot lunch during holiday club. This will allow us to have an estimate of lunches to order ingredients for and the dishes being cooked. You will still be able to order a hot lunches on the day if necessary.

Name: __________________________________________

February half – term:

Day

Start time

Finish time

Lunch

Monday 13th

Tuesday 14th

Wednesday 15th

Thursday 16th

Friday 17th

Easter holiday

Day

Start time

Finish time

Lunch

Monday 3rd April

Tuesday 4th

Wednesday 5th

Thursday 6th

Tuesday 11th

Wednesday 12th

Thursday 13th

Friday 14th