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 Linda, Lindsey, 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.

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

Physical Development: Games 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. 

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.

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…..

UTW – The flags from each country will be looked at as well as their culture and traditions. If 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:

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:

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:

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 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. 

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 16th. I 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.                                

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 Linda, Lindsey, 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.

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 Development: Using 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. 

Rising threes:

The topic is Growth.

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. 

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:

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:

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 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 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.                                                                                                                                                                           

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 13^th 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 16^th 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 15^th 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 19^th 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 23^rd 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 13^th 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 12^th December at 10 am. The dress rehearsal will be Monday 11^th 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 17^th:

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 13^th 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:

30^th October – 19^th December

Spring term starts on the 4^th January.

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 2^nd 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 21^st 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 3^rd 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 9^th 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:

4^th September – 20^th October

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

30^th October – 19^th December

Spring term starts on the 4^th January.

 

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 5^th 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 1^st 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 4^th 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 18^th 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

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

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

05.05.2023 – 21.07.2023 second half of the term

(17^th – 21^st July is unfunded).

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

4^th September is the start of the autumn term.

Holiday forms to be returned by Friday 5^th May.

Thank you.

Holiday club: May 2023

Please ensure these forms are returned by Friday 5^th 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

 

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 3^rd 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 6^th 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 1^st 2^nd and 3^rd 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 30^th April @ 10.30 am.

ST PIRANS PARADE:

The pre-school children will be taking part in the parade on Friday 3^rd 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 8^th 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 3^rd 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 7^th and Mondays 10^th 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

 

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 23^rd 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 7^th and Mondays 10^th 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 27^th January.

Thank you.

 

Holiday club: February 2023

Please ensure these forms are returned by Friday 27^th 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

Newsletter – Autumn 2022 2^nd half of the term.

Welcome back to the second half of the autumn term and the run up to Christmas! There will be many exciting things happening in the coming weeks for the children including our nativity for the pre-school children.

Please ensure you look at the term dates at the end of the letter.

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 Ali, Bernadette, Louise or Debbie.

Field mice room:

The topic is – FOOD! week 1 – Divali, week 2 – bonfire night, week 3 – I like food, week 4 – the café, week 5 – ready steady cook, week 6 – ready for Christmas, week 7 – Christmas.

Personal, Social & Emotional Development: Over the next 7 weeks the children will read the story of Rama and Sita and consider the emotions and moral messages contained within the story. Think about safety for themselves and others during Bonfire night and when watching and holding fireworks. They will discuss their favourite and less favourite foods and a selection of foods will be available for the children to taste. Whilst in ‘the café’ children will be reminded/encouraged to say please and thank you to their ‘waiter/waitress’. Christmas will be discussed, and the children will work together as they prepare for the nativity and making cards and gifts.

Communication & Language: During Diwali the children will hear songs and rhymes from India and learn the story of Rama and Sita. We will be looking at words which describe fireworks and the noises they make. Books such as ‘The Giant Sandwich’ and ‘Sam’s sandwich/pizza’ will be read, and the children’s responses scribed and displayed. Shopping lists and receipts will be in the café for children to use alongside recipe books and discussions on which ingredients are needed for making ‘sweets’. From the stories the children will be encouraged to talk about the sequence of events occurring in them. Rhyming couplets will be made up such as ‘his name is Fred, and he likes bread’. A letter will be sent to Father Christmas and the children asked what they would like for Christmas.

Physical Development: For gross movement within the first week Indian music will be played, and the children encouraged to move/travel in different ways and keeping different parts of their bodies on the ground. Scarves and sparkly resources will be used to make movement with different ways of travelling will be considered, hopping, skipping, jumping…. To promote fine motor skills the children will be involved with chalk marking (fireworks), cutting and sticking, wrapping presents for Santa, stirring and rolling sweets and making sandwiches.

Literacy: Using small world characters the children will be encouraged to retell the story of Rama and Sita. Shopping lists will be written for the cooking activity as well as lists to Santa and cards for Christmas. The children will be encouraged to write their names, cover it in glue and then add glitter for the firework display.

Maths: Rangoli patterns will be made looking at symmetry of shapes and colours. Number rhymes (0-10) will be sung, and number bingo will be played. Edible sparklers and sweets will be made where the children will weigh out their ingredients. Different sized boxes will be wrapped for the grotto and paper chains constructed with the children measuring and comparing them against the area they are going – window, role play…We will also be on a countdown for Christmas!

Expressive arts and design: Diva lamps will be made and lit together at the end of the first week. ‘Henna tattoos’ will be drawn on the children’s hands (using face paint). Black paper, metallic paint, glitter, glue… will be available for the children to create their interpretation of firework night. Patterns will be made using paint and vegetables, pasta tubes decorated for threading, decorations for our Christmas tree at the chapel will be made – Jack and the beanstalk is our theme. The nativity songs and words will be learnt for the nativity.

Free play:

Within the water tray there will be tea sets and bubbles, for washing up, bubbles being blown through straws, clear containers and coloured water, glitter being added ad pasta cooked in coloured water. The role play area will evolve over the term from an Indian café to a restaurant to Santa’s grotto. Encouragement will be given for the children to mark make in several different ways. From writing menus, shopping lists and recipes to drawing Rangoli patterns on their hands. The construction area will be set up with Duplo, Mobilo, train track or wooden bricks for the children to build and create.

Rising threes:

The topic is colour and shape; week 1 – Diwali and Halloween, week 2 – bonfire and fireworks, week 3 – circles, week 4 – winter colours, week 5 – ready for Christmas, week 6 – Christmas and week 7 – party time!

PSED: Looking at Diwali (the festival of light), bonfire night and fireworks, Children in need, giving and receiving presents, the excitement of Christmas and taking turns.

C&L: The children will talk about the changes they can observe when they plant their seeds, the changes in weather as we advance to winter and the birds needing to find food. Christmas stories will be read and the children to write lists and talk about the presents they would like. After Bonfire night the children will be encouraged to talk about the noises and colours they saw in the sky. Remembrance Day will also be discussed with the children and a short film watched from CBeebies.

Lit: The story of Rama and Sita will be read for Diwali, and other stories such as Fireman Sam, The Hungary Caterpillar, Elmer the elephant will be read and discussed.

Phy: To promote gross motor skills the children will be encouraged to take part in Yoga and cardio exercises. To promote fine motor skills the children will have the opportunities of peg boards, playdough, chalks for fireworks, wrapping presents and making polka dot cookies and crowns for children in need.

Maths: Symmetrical patterns will be looked at and created, using different shapes rockets will be constructed and created, using circles caterpillars will be created and trees created using triangles before being decorated.

UTW: The children will study the inside of a pumpkin before taking out the seeds, refilling it with compost and then plant the seeds in the compost. After making ‘breadstick’ fireworks the children will have a ‘campfire’ outside and drink hot chocolate whilst eating their fireworks. The life cycle of the caterpillar will be discussed, and bird feeders made for the garden.

EA&D: Diva lamps will be made using clay and then decorated, using apples and orange paint pumpkins will be created and faces drawn on. Firework pictures using chalk or paint will be created and again using apples and red paint poppies will be made. The mixing of primary colours will be explored, and Elmer elephants created before preparations for Christmas cards and decorations is begun.

Dormouse room:

Autumn Term- Part 2.

W/B: 01.11.2022: Fireworks!!!

Returning from half term, we will start by celebrating Guy Fawkes and Fireworks. The children will be making their own firework displays by using paint and glitter. We will also be making our own rockets from Duplo bricks, and we use lots of numbers for counting down to blast off!!! Additionally, we will be introducing, encouraging the use of some words such as ‘whoosh’ ‘whizz’ ‘bang’ ‘pop’.

W/B 07.11.2022 & 14.11.2022: Jack and the Beanstalk.

Each year we take part in the Christmas tree festival at the Miner’s Chapel in St Just and each year a theme is set. This year the theme is ‘Fairytales’ so we are decorating our tree to the story of Jack and the Beanstalk. We will be introducing the story to the children. They will start to make their own green handprint leaves covering them in green glitter to make the stalk which will be wrapped around the tree going up to the castle at the top. The children will also be making some of the gold coins and golden eggs. When retelling the story, the children will be able to explore the props to the story in the small world tray. This will allow them to re-enact the story and/or makeup their own little story.

W/B 14.11.2022-05.12.2022: Christmas Crafts.

Over this period our little elves will appear in the Dormouse Christmas Grotto ready to start making all of their own crafts for their loved ones to come home with. There will be a variety of activities on the go from using tools for cutting, sticking, handwriting, painting, baking, pom-poms being carefully placed, and glitter being sprinkled everywhere!!!

W/B 12.12.2022: Party Week!!

This last week of our term will involve eating party food, dancing, playing games and celebrating Christmas with the most fun possible. We will be moving and using our own movements to dance to Christmas music and the children being really vocal and learning new Christmas songs.

News:

Laura Jones who was working in the Dormouse room has left Brambles for a TA position at Alverton School – we wish Laura all the best and will still see her around brambles when she picks up her son.

Our AGM is being held on Monday 14^th November here @ Brambles. The time will now be 11.30 am and not 9.30 as stated in the previous letter.

Please remember to return any Tempest pictures online to Tempest before the deadline date to avoid late return postage fees.

Christmas lunch will be Wednesday 7^th December. If any children who would normally have a packed lunch would like to join us for Christmas lunch instead, please see Debbie. A hot lunch will be £2.50 including a pudding.

The nativity will be held at St Just Town Hall (to be confirmed) on Tuesday 13^th December at 10.30 am. The roles and words for the children will be handed out the week commencing 14^th December once we have started rehearsals and seen which children are confident to speak in front of each other and which role they are comfortable with!

End of term is Friday 16^th December. We will have a Christmas party (12 – 2pm) and all children are invited. If your child does not normally attend on a Friday but would like to attend the party, please see Debbie. We may need some parents to stay so ratios are maintained. We are hoping Father Christmas will attend with presents for all! Brambles will supply the food and we ask for a donation from parents towards the cost.

We are open for holiday club for Monday 19^th and Tuesday 20^th December from 8 am – 3 pm. There is NO after school pick-up. There are 5 spaces left for the Monday and 1 space for a 3 year + on the Tuesday – please speak to Debbie if you require a space.

If you are needing to change any hours or days for your children from January, please speak to Debbie before the end of November. January is looking busy for the Dormouse room especially and there may be no room for flexibility.

Spring Term commences Tuesday 3^rd January at 8 am.

Thank you.