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.

Welcome back from the summer holidays and hopefully everyone enjoyed the sunshine we had! Please read through the newsletter to see the exciting things your child/ren will be exploring and leaning this term. There are also some important dates to be noted and holiday forms to be completed if holiday club is required.

The children have all settled back into nursery life and those who transitioned to a new room are doing really well and have settled exceptionally well. The children who joined us in September have also settled well into their new routines and we are

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 or Debbie.

FIELDMICE ROOM: The topic for this half of the term is: all around us and the weeks will be separated into week 1 – settling in, 2 – our playroom, 3 – around my home, 4 – out on a walk, 5 – around our area, 6 – bear hunt and 7 harvest time.

PSED: The children will be encouraged to settle back in and welcome new children into the group. Routines and boundaries will be established and ‘Golden Rules’ discussed and agreed. The children will be asked to consider each other as well as practitioners and be encouraged to help each other and care for the settings toys and equipment. A gardener will be invited in to work with the children planting seeds ready for the poly tunnel.

C&L: At register and snack time the children will be encouraged to begin to recognise their names, write shopping lists in the role play area and sequence their walk by using the photos which will be taken on the walk. Stories such as ‘Percy the Park Keeper, Little Red Hen and We’re going on a bear hunt’ will be read and the children encouraged to act them out as they retell them. From the story Oliver’s vegetables, the children will discuss their favourite vegetables and look at the ones they are not so keen on.

PD: For gross motor skills the children will be encouraged to move around in different ways using the space safely, respond to signals given by a practitioner, use the wheeled toys and follow a trail around the garden. Using their fine motor skills the children will use scissors during junk modelling, cut up fruit, knead bread dough and explore a feely box full of treasure.

Literacy: Using a sound bag the children will be encouraged to sound out the initial letter of an animal – b – badger/ f – fox. Circle games, nursery rhymes and sticky kids will be explored as well as games where the children record and listen to sounds around the room.

Maths: When the children are helping to tidy away, they will be encouraged to count the toys/equipment as it is put away to ensure all the pieces are there. During junk modelling they will look at the shapes they are using and be encouraged to look for shapes which match around the Field mouse room. As they make gingerbread men, they will follow a recipe looking at the amounts of each ingredient required and weigh out accordingly. During the ‘We’re going on a bear hunt’ story the children will talk about prepositions in the story and use a teddy to demonstrate the under, over, through…

UTW: Each day the children will be encouraged to look at the weather and complete the weather chart. On their walk they will be encouraged to observe the different plants and trees they see, and any treasures found will be displayed. Habitats of woodland animals will be discussed and what else may be found in the grass, river, woods, snow…. After reading The Little Red Hen different types of flour will be looked at and the changes of bread will be explored and observed.

EA&D: Using autumn shades the children will explore colours as they paint using leaf cutters. Autumn and Harvest songs will be learnt, self-portraits painted, musical instruments explored, selecting materials for a 3D model and observational pictures drawn to reflect the interest table.

Free Play: In the water tray the children will experience bubbles, warm water, coloured water and containers, filling and emptying different sized containers, floating letters and fishing for magnetic/numbered fish. In the sand tray there will be leaves/twigs/woodland animals to make habitats, wet sand to use rakes forming patterns and shapes to make sand moulds and when the sand is dry’ sieves, sand wheels, spoons and ladles will be added. For role play there will be a bakery shop, tent/caravan, fruit and vegetable shop and road safety will be role played outside. The children will be encouraged to mark make during role play and fill out little story books when retelling the stories, they have heard. Vegetables will be used to print with, and rubbings made using the wax crayons. Using clay and play dough the children will manipulate the materials into shapes and add natural objects collected from their walk into their creations.

RISING THREE’S: AUTUMN

Week 1 – settling in, 2 – weather, 3 – twigs, 4 – autumn animals, 5 – leaves, acorns and conkers, 6 – family trips, 7 – Harvest

PSED: The children will settle in, establish routines, learn new rules and boundaries and meet new friends.

C&L: Stories such as ‘Stick Man’, ‘Bear Hunt’ and ‘Little Red Hen’ will be read and the children will talk about their holidays, weather and the clothes we need for sun, rain, snow….

PD: Using the media of dough the children will make hedgehog shaped bread, after their walk they will make blackberry and apple crumble, they will work towards putting on their own coats and using leaves construct a garland.

Literacy: The children will be looking at books all about autumn, mark making in the gloop tray and mud painting. In the sand tray there will be twigs to mark make with and leaves with initial letters on of the children’s names.

Maths: The properties of apples/twigs/leaves/pinecones will be observed to see if they sink or float. After painting pasta, the children will thread a necklace counting how many pieces they have, prepositions will be explored, and items measured to see which is the longest/shortest.

UTW: The children will be encouraged to bring in autumn treasures and talk about where they found them. Animal habitats will be explored, and pumpkins used to carve and grow seeds from.

EA&D: After collecting leaves and twigs the children will be encouraged to make ‘stick men’, print using leaves, make an autumn tree using handprints and make some bark rubbings using the trees in our garden.

DORMOUSE ROOM: The topic is autumn

Up until Christmas the children will be covering a variety of activities which are associated with autumn. They will fit into the 7 areas of learning allowing the children to explore, investigate and continue to grow their own knowledge and character.

We feel it is important to the children and us to reconnect after the summer break but also with making new connections and bonds with our new children who have joined the nursery. Our focus in achieving this will be looking at and using activities based on the Personal, Social and Emotional Development part of the EYFS.

Each week we will cover something new and will celebrate festivals such as Halloween, Divali, Bonfire night and Christmas. However, if the children find a new interest and lead us down a different path, we will follow their lead and explore they we go and scaffold from there.

We will be looking at autumn a little closer within our own environment, what is around us as we are out walking looking for blackberries, picking apples from our tree in the garden so the children can make a crumble. We will also be collecting sticks and leaves for the children to create artwork using these materials.

We will be celebrating Halloween by creating our own pumpkin patch and the children will be very much involved with this. It will begin with the children being out in the garden digging up the mud in the flower beds and planting and placing pumpkins all around. Additionally, there will be the opportunity to get in a sticky mess with jelly, painting their own pumpkin patches and making handprint spiders.

Before the October half term, the children will be exploring ‘Diwali’ the festival of lights and making little clay, tea light holders as well as trying some Indian style foods.

For bonfire night the children will make their own firework paintings along with moving and dancing to music whilst pretending to be fireworks. Lots of ‘WHOOSH’ ‘POP and ‘BANGS’ are going to be happening!

For the last few weeks of term, the children will be covering everything involved with Christmas – from creating their own grotto/workshop, writing letters to Father Christmas, wrapping presents to create their own crafts for parents. Most importantly is having the children fully submerged into the magic and excitement of Christmas!

TERM DATES:

First half autumn term 2022 – Monday 5^th September – Friday 21^st October.

Second half – Tuesday 1^st November – Friday 16^th December.

We will be closed Monday 31^st October for FEAST.

Half term – Monday 24^th October to Friday 28^th October (Holiday form attached if required).

We may open Monday 19^th and Tuesday 20^th December but there will be limited spaces. The opening times will be 8 am to 3pm with no after school club. If you would like a space, please fill out the holiday form and return ASAP.

BRAMBLES TRUSTEE:

We are looking for a parent to join our board of trustees. They meet once every half term (this relates to 5 or 6 times a year) at Brambles on a Monday morning for 1-2 hours. If you are interested, please let Debbie know.

PACKED LUNCHES:

Due to the shape and size grapes are a choking hazard for young children. If grapes are part of your child’s lunch box please ensure they are cut in half length ways or ideally into quarters.

SCHOOL PLACES:

Children born between September 2018 and August 2019 will be eligible for a school place from September 2023. There is a poster on the door with information or a leaflet is available if required – please ask a member of staff. Parents need to visit www.cornwall.gov.uk/admissions to access the online application system. Where it asks for 3 schools please fill in all 3 spaces with your choices. The deadline for applications is January 15^th, 2023.

FUNDING:

If your child is turning 3 this term, they are eligible for funding therefore please see Debbie for a funding form. All children the term after their third birthday is entitled to 15 free universal hours. If you are a single parent and working 16+ hours a week you may be entitled to an extra 15 extended hours. Parents who are both working 16+ hours a week are also entitled to these extended hours. To attain the extended hours, you as parents will need to go to www.cornwall.gov.uk and apply for 30-hour childcare. You will be given a 11-digit code beginning 500… Every 3 months you will then be sent an email to update your details for the code to continue. Please check your junk file as this is where they tend to go! This code needs to be applied for before the end of the term they will be turning 3 and you are able to apply a month or so before your child’s 3^rd birthday. Once you have the form and have completed it, please return it to Debbie along with your child’s passport/birth certificate for proof of ID. Until the ID has been provided Debbie cannot apply for your child’s funding.

If children are only eligible for the universal funding of 15 hours a funding form is still required and proof of ID (see above).

FOCUS:

The main focus this term will be feelings and emotions. How we manage them and how they impact on our friendships. The colour monster is a tool we use, and the children seem to engage well with the stories and the colour monsters themselves. Additionally, the children will be learning our rules and boundaries, the expectations anticipated of them within their new groups and from the practitioners themselves.

ZUMBA:

This has recommenced in the sports hall on a Wednesday morning from 10.00 -11.30 am. The children aged 2 years and above from the Dormouse room and the rising 3’s attend from 10-10.30 am (cost £1.00) and the pre-school children attend 10.30 – 11.30 am (cost £1.50). The pre-school children are adjusting well from the half hour lesson they had before the summer holidays to the full hour they are now experiencing! Jo is running these classes and the children all love participating. If your child does not attend on a Wednesday but would like to join these sessions, please see Debbie.

FACEBOOK: Brambles Nursery

Please keep an eye out for updates from Alice on our chickens, they are growing and very happy in their new home in our back garden. If you are not a member of our Facebook page, please send a request so you can be kept up to date with Bramble’s life.

PAPER:

If anyone has any odd/spare rolls of wallpaper, they no longer require we would be very grateful of them. If anyone has contacts who can source scrap paper, we would be really thankful as we use a huge amount each term!

STAFF:

We are always looking for bank staff and at the moment we would like to extend our team here at Brambles. We are currently looking for a level 3 practitioner and have a part time and full-time position available. If any parent is interested or know someone who may be please see Debbie.

Thank you.

Dear parents,

Welcome back from the summer holidays we hope everyone had a good break and enjoyed the warm weather (when the sun decided to make an appearance!).

FIELDMICE ROOM: The topic for the 1^st half of the term is: ALL AROUND US.

PSED: A big focus will be on settling in, looking at our emotions, learning and establishing The Brambles routines and rules and sharing with our friends. The story of ‘Helping’ will be shared, the children will be encouraged to tidy away after playing and the room will be organised with symbols to depict areas within the room. The story of ‘The Little Red Hen’ will be read with a focus on trying different types of bread.

C&L: Books about starting pre-school will be shared with the children to help them adjust to the change in their life. Letters will be focused on and especially the initial letter of their name. The book ‘Going on a Bear hunt’ will be shared and the children will be encouraged to act out the story, predict the ending and join in with the rhymes. The children will be asked to retell the story of ‘The Little Red Hen’ and write lists for making bread. Games aiming at initial letter sounds will be played.

PD: Skills such as taking off and putting on coats and wellies will be given time to develop and then the children will be encouraged to ‘dress’ themselves. ZUMBA sessions will begin and the children will focus on team building activities, listening and responding to signals such as to when to stop, go…Different ways of moving; under, over, through and around will be looked at.

Literacy: Stories such as ‘The Gingerbread Man’, ‘The Enormous Turnip’ and ‘We’re going on a Bear Hunt’ will be shared, the children will re-enact the story as it is being read. Other stories such as ‘Percy the park keeper’ and ‘Oliver’s vegetables’ will be shared as well. Focus will be on letter sounds and a sound bag will be developed focused on the stories – b for badger, bear, bread…

Maths: Shapes within the environment will be looked at, sorted and discussed with junk models being made. Natural objects will be collected on walks and their shapes discussed. Number lines, numbers in the café, number rhymes and songs will be focused on.

UTW: The different home the children live in will be explored along with environments and who works/lives there. The children will go for a walk observing the trees and plans around them and an interest table set up of the ‘treasures’ they find for discussion. The children will bake some bread, discussing the changes it goes through and celebrate Harvest Festival.

EA&D: The ‘hello’ and ‘goodbye’ song will be learnt as well as songs/rhymes around autumn, harvest and the outdoors. The children will be encouraged to make observational drawings of their interest table, paint self-portraits, make and decorate gingerbread men and make a pair of binoculars to explore their environment.

Free Play: water, sand, role-play, writing, physical activities and construction will provide other opportunities for learning. Natural objects will be used in play, the role play will be a fruit and vegetable shop with real fruits and vegetables as well as printing and painting with fruits and vegetables. Little animal homes/environments will be made using natural objects such as leaves, twigs, moss….

RISING THREE’S:

Emma’s group will be following the same topic but her learning will be adapted for the age and development of her children.

PSED: The children will be settling in and establishing routines and golden rules. Talking about outings the children have experienced with their families

C&L: Initial letter recognition, listen to sounds, reading ‘Rosie’s walk’ and ‘We’re going on a bear hunt’, sequencing and discussing their walk they took.

Literacy: mark making with different materials, stories centred on going to nursery, reading the story of ‘The gingerbread man’, ‘The little red hen’ and singing autumn songs.

PD: moving to the sticky kids CD, going on a walk to collect treasures and use their senses to observe the changing season, making a pumpkin patch.

Maths: during their play the children will be sorting, counting, sequencing, using shapes and observing numbers and shapes within their environment.

UTW: looking at the weather, parents to please bring in a photo of their home alongside a list of who lives there, looking at animal habitats and making bread.

EA&D: musical instruments, leaf rubbings, pumpkin apple printing, chalking and collage.

DORMOUSE ROOM: The topic is AUTUMN

PSED: the children will be settling in and reconnecting/making relationships with their friends/peers and the practitioners. Learning the routines and golden rules of the room.

C&L: Practitioners will be narrating the routine of the day and giving the children plenty of time to know when activities are changing and what is about to occur in their routine. Action rhymes and songs will be sung including; ‘down in the jungle’, ‘elephants have wrinkles’, and ‘Old Macdonald’. Exploration trays will be set up and practitioners will encourage conversation adding new words as appropriate.

PD: dancing and moving to music, mark making with different media, making bread, using their fine motor skills to pick the fruit in the garden or out on their walk.

Literacy: sharing and looking at books, incorporating props and puppets in the book corner, large mark making activities, treasure baskets filled with natural objects such as flowers…

Maths: sequencing groups of objects, looking at differing sizes of pots and containers – which is the biggest/smallest/longest?… – using mathematical language such as; full, empty…

UTW: treasure baskets with fruit and vegetables, looking at insects and their habitats, making a pumpkin patch, using natural resources in the small world areas such as straw, wooden logs, oats, grass, flowers, leaves…

EA&D: making mandala patterns with print pens, using different media to paint with and creating collages and woodland animals.

If parents feel they can contribute at all to any of the topics please speak to a member of staff.

CHILDREN:

Please can the children each have a bag on their peg containing spare clothes which are weather appropriate. This bag can stay on their peg for the week or until it requires replenishing. If you find any ‘Brambles’ clothes at home please can they be brought back as our stocks are very low. We have wet weather clothing and wellies for all the children when we experience wet play ensuring the children have dry coats to wear home.

STAFF:

We are delighted to announce that Laura had a baby boy, Louie, in the summer and we look forward to her return in 2022.

We are delighted to welcome Linda – who I am sure many of you will have met – to our team. She will be working with Emma in the Field mice Room on a Monday, with the rising 3’s, and in the Dormice Room on a Friday with the under 3’s.

Myha – a student from Penwith College – has returned this term to gain experience for her Level 3 childcare qualification and will be with us on Wednesday’s and Friday’s. We are due to have another student – Natasha – start next week gaining expereince towards her qualification as well.

EVENTS:

We are planning to hold parents evenings at the end of November where parents can book a slot to speak to their child/ren’s key person to discuss their progress, ask any questions or raise any concerns – these dates to be confirmed.

Our Nativity for the pre-school children only will take place in December. Dates to be set after half-term.

ZUMBA:

The zumba sessions have been going really well. The pre-school children have an hour with Jo on a Wednesday morning on the school field and then the oldest 12 of the next school year have half an hour. Once the weather turns wet we will be back in the sports hall and all the children from the DR will experience the session. As it is on the school field, which is open, we do not fancy chasing the little ones who once they see an open space think ‘whehey’ and run!!!

FACEBOOK:

Many of you will be aware we have a closed Facebook page where we post updates and reminders for parents. Sometimes photos of the children involved in events or engaged in activities may be posted. If you are not a member please send a request to join and if you do not use Facebook please let Debbie know so the reminders can be emailed or sent to your phone.

TERM DATES:

06.09.2021-22.10.2021 first half of the term 25.10.2021-29.10.2021 October half-term holiday club

01.11.2021 We will be closed for FEAST Monday.

02.11.2021-17.12.2021 second half of the autumn term.

20.12.2021-23.12.2021 and 29.12.2021-30.12.2021 Christmas holiday club

Spring term commences Tuesday 4^th January 2022.

Holiday forms are attached – please ensure they are returned by Friday 8^th October 2021.

FUNDING:

The government fund 15/30 hours a week for 38 weeks of the year therefore this year funding will stop on the 22^nd July unless you have hours banked to take you through summer club. Please speak to Debbie if you have any questions on banked hours or wish to know how many hours you have banked. Unfunded children may still attend during holiday club but the hours will be charged at £4.50/hour.

DROP OFF AND PICK UP:

Thank you for your continued support during these times and we are hoping our current procedure for this is convenient for all. On arrival please ring the relevant doorbell (they are located to the left of the main door and now have signage above) unless staff are already showing children in. On collection of your child you are welcome to come into the setting to aid with the collection of bags, coats and lunch boxes and be able to talk to the practitioners if necessary.

When exiting through the gate into the carpark please ensure the gate has closed behind you to ensure the safety of our children.

Please avoid parking outside of our exit gate as it is not a designated car parking space and causes obstructions for parents leaving.

LUNCH AND SNACKS:

We are now providing snacks for the children and the FR children are loving the café where they can help themselves, self-serving their snack and drink.

Hot lunches are going well and the children are clearing their plates. We have had children ask their parents to stay for longer so they too can have a school lunch. Hot lunches are £2.00 and £2.50 with a pudding and Kate emails out the menu a week prior. When we have established the foods the children love we will set a rolling 3 week menu. This will be emailed out to all.

Please remember to QUARTER GRAPES and cut large blueberries etc in half to avoid large circle shaped foods and small oesophagus’s (food pipes) when preparing lunches.. We will continue to provide milk or water as a drink.

MATHS FOCUS:

Again this term we are focusing on maths. Maths is an important learning skill for all children and we use it at some level during our thought processes throughout the day. It is not just about numeracy but also understanding and using shapes and measures, developing spatial awareness as well as problem solving. It helps children create, describe and recognise patterns which is an essential skill for early problem solving.

LANGUAGE:

Due to the pandemic there is a concern around children’s speech and language therefore we will ensure our rooms and environments are language rich with lots of visuals as well as the children hearing lots of language and being encouraged to engage in conversation, stories and song.

We hope everyone is keeping safe and well during these times and if there is anything we can do to help please speak to a member of staff.

Kind regards – The Brambles Nursery team.