Cranborne Primary School
Welcome to our Nursery webpage...We have had the busiest term, but we are heading into the final stretch!..Please remember to check back regularly for updates on what is happening in Nursery...
Welcome to the Cranborne Nursery Class Webpage. This is where we will be sharing useful information and reminders, alongside, updates on the children's upcoming and previous learning experiences with us.
We know that starting school can be a stressful experience for some, which is why we are always here to help everyone settle into our routines. We also understand that you may have lots of questions during the first few weeks (and across the year), so please ask one of us if there is anything you don't understand or just need a bit more information about.
Our Routines:
- We open our doors at 8.45am and encourage you to leave your child at the door, so they can independently put their coats and bags away before settling themselves at a busy fingers activity that will be set out.
- We go to the library on a Friday morning - please send them in with a book bag to take their library book home.
- Our PE day is Wednesday morning - your child does not need a school PE kit, however you can send them in wearing trainers (velcro please) and joggers/leggings that day.
- Also a reminder that toys from home should not be sent into school.
A few other reminders:
*Please send in a named water bottle daily for your child too.
*Please make sure your child is in labelled school uniform.
*Please send your child in with a named book bag - especially on a Fridays for library.
Meet the Nursery Team
Mrs Mottram (Class Teacher): smottram@cranborne.herts.sch.uk
Mrs White (EYP): cwhite@cranborne.herts.sch.uk
Miss Jennings (TA): ljennings@cranborne.herts.sch.uk
Mrs Waterhouse (LSA)
We are here to help you all. If you need anything or have any questions - no matter how trivial they may seem to you - we are always available to talk.
Our Learning
Below you can see our half-term Overview, but please bear in mind this can change as we follow the children's interests and current events that may occur.
Each week we will be posting pictures and updates on your children's learning experiences and time in nursery, so please remember to check back regularly.
Nursery Curriculum Overview AutumnTerm 2 - 2024
What have we been up to?
December 9th - 19th 2024
The last 2 weeks have been so much fun!
We have been counting, recognising and matching numbers, we read the Christmas story, we've had lots of fun finding out what our class elf, Bouncy has been getting up to, enjoying our Christmas role play area in class, and, talking about being kind and how to be a good friend.
Of course the highlight of last week was rehearsing and then performing our amazing Nursery Rhyme Nativity to you all!
This week we had the CHristmas Fayre, a visit form Santa and our Christmas dinner! So much fun and excitement!
December 2nd - 6th 2024
This week was spent watching a pantomime, visiting the church, rehearsing our Nursery Rhyme Nativity and lots of other activities!
We started the week, finding our very own elf in class!
Then we continued our topic on People Who Help Us, looking lastly at the people within our school that help us each day, whether it is the teachers and TAs, office staff, kitchen and lunch staff or site team, we talked about how everyone that works in a scholl is there to help the children.
On Wednesday we went to the church for a Crib Service, where we learnt about the Christmas Story, and helped to make the crib scene.
We were very excited to watch the Christmas Pantomime with Sparkle and Tinsel the elves on Thursday!
More rehearsals of our own Nativity went on throughout the week.
Our maths was a recap on the work we have done previously on patterns and shapes, reminding ourselves of the vocabulary that we use in maths when describing shapes.
November 18th - 29th 2024
Another busy 2 weeks!
We have been continuing our work on People who help us, looking at 2 of the emergency services, The Fire Brigade and Police Force. We had a visit form PC Sophie and her colleagues. They brought their car, which we were allowed to explore, and told us all about the job they do to help us.
We have spent time across the 2 weeks thinking about ourselves - what we are good at, and what makes us special.
In Maths we have been making numberlines, ordering numbers, counting and matching amounts.
Our phonics focus has been a mixture of oral sound discrimination, body percussion activities and making sound effects.
We have also been rehearsing for our Nursery Rhyme Nativity!
November 4th - 15th 2024
The start of this half-term has been busy but fun!
We started off looking at the festival of Diwali, and talked about how light is used and why. Then we made our own Diva lamps out of clay using the pinch pot method. We will be decorating them next week.
We then looked at the bonfire night celebration, and in PE we became fireworks, using dance moves to show how fireworks move across the sky.
We made breadstick sparklers to finish off the week.
The following week we started to think about our mini-topic of People Who Help Us - this week we looked at doctors and vets, talking about how they help us. We talked about how to look after animals, and how we can keep ourselves healthy in lots of different ways. We even made our own fruit kebabs!
In maths we focused on counting; Counting to a specific number, counting out amounts and practising our 1-1 correspondence.
In Phonics we looked at the body percussion element, using our bodies to make different sounds, and then using these to create and follow patterns.
October 21st - 25th 2024
We have had another very busy, but fantastic week. We have continued to look at Autumn, and have been on an Autumn walk around the school grounds, looking at all the different trees with have and how their leaves are changing.
We read 'Leaf Man' as a starting point this week, and spent time making some 'leafy' pictures.
In Phonics this week we have been listening to sounds at the start of words, making body sounds and writing in the air.
In Maths we have been looking at and talking about 2-D shapes.
We also had some more surprise visitors this week;
- Grace, one of the teachers at the Royal Veterinary College came to see us with 3 of the student vets. They brought lots of resources with them to teach us about what a vet does. It was so much fun!
October 14th - 18th 2024
We have had a very busy, but fantastic week, looking at all things 'Autumn'.
We read 'We're Going on a Leaf Hunt' as a starting point, and spent time talking about, looking at and exploring some of the lovely autumn leaves, seeds, conkers etc. that you ave brought in.
We used magnifying glasses to look really closely at the leaves, and have been using some vocabulary linked to the way the leaves look and feel.
As always, we have enjoyed some listening games in Phonics. We have been using our arms, shoulders, and wrists to make shapes and lines in the air to help with our letter fromation later on.
In Maths we have been counting out a specific amount of objects to a friend (or one of our adults in class), making sure we count slowly and carefully.
We also had a few surprise visitors this week;
- Russell the Dentist came in to tell us how we can keep our teeth clean and healthy, through brushing twice a day and eating the right foods.
- The Fire Brigade came to tell us how we can stay safe, and what to do if we ever see a fire. We also got to climb into the fire engine, and Mrs Mottram had fun dressing-up in one of the fire fightrer's uniforms!
- Finally Specsavers Opticians came to tell us all about eye health, and what an optician does for their job.
October 7th - 11th 2024
We have had a really 'SOUPER' week in class. We have spent a lot of our time thinking and talking about Harvest festival and how we are fortunate to have all that we do, when some do not.
We read 'Oliver's Vegetables' as a starting point, and spent time talking about, looking at and exploring all the different vegetables he found in his Grandpa's garden.
We used magnifying glasses to look really closely at the vegetables, and even used some to paint with (beetroot and carrots). We have also been printing with some of them.
We have also enjoyed some different listening games in Phonics, where we have listened to sounds around the home, and out and about, seeing if we can identify them. We are all getting good at this!
In Maths we have been looking at patterns, and trying to copy some and make our own. One of our favourite ways to make patterns is using our bodies; e.g. 2 claps and and stamp, 2 claps and a stamp, 2 claps and a stamp...etc...
September 23rd - October 4th 2024
We have had a really great couple of weeks in class. We have spent a lot of our time thinking and talking about our feelings, emotions and actions.
We read The Colour Monster as a starting point, and spent the first week looking at our emotions. We talked about how we feel when happy, sad, cross/angry, worried or scared, excited and loved. We also thought about how we can feel more than one emotion at a time, for example, we can feel excited and worried together. The children looked at colours to represent their feelings and emotions, and most can use the toy colour monsters to show us how they are feeling when the words aren't quite there.
Following on from this we started to think about how the things we do can affect other people's feelings, we looked at how we can be kind to one another. The children were amazing when talking about what they could do to show this. We then made a colaborative class 'Kindness Tree' to help remind us of positive ways we can help and influence others.
We have also enjoyed some listening games in Phonics, where we are trying to see if we can tell what the sounds being played are.
In Maths we have been counting together, using different actions to help us, but also listening to a series of sounds, or wathcing a series of actions and counting them.
September 16th-20th 2024
This week has been busy! We have been painting our self-portraits! We looked at the book, 'My Nose, Your Nose' and talked about all the things that are both the same and different about us all.
Then we spent time with a friend looking at ourselves in mirrors, and talking about what we looked like.
We have also spent a time this week playing counting games, looking at numbers around us and counting out a specific number of objects when asked.
We have also had lots of fun in PE moving around in different ways, we used different sized steps and strides and even moved in the way that different animals moved. We learnt how to play a new listening game too, called 'Traffic Lights'.
September 9th-13th 2024
We have spent the week getting to know each other.
It has been lovely taking the time to talk to and play with your children as the team get to know the children, and the children get to know all of us.
The class have spent lots of time getting to know our rules and routines, learning how we use different areas within our classroom and the outside environment.
We have spent time sharing stories and starting to look at all yout 'All About Me' books and posters.
On Wednesday we had our first PE session in the hall, where we moved around like different animals and then played some listening games and circle games.
On Friday we went to the library and had a story before we chose our own books to take home for the week, we can't wait to go again next Friday!
September 2nd-6th 2024
We had a really lovely week last week, visiting you at home and then welcoming you into school for your settling in sessions.
Next week will be spent spending time getting to know each other. We will be looking at and sharing your 'All About Me' books and posters across the week. Alongside this we will be talking to the children about our rules and expectations and introducing all the different learning areas across our room and outside.
The Learning Environment in Cranborne Early Years Foundation Stage
In the Early Years at Cranborne we strive to create an environment that promotes a sense of curiosity, awe and wonder in the children.
An environment that also enables plenty of opportunities for them to self-select and demonstrate the characteristics of effective learning, and where the children can practise, consolidate and rehearse taught skills.
We aim to provide the children with areas that are accessible to them and are organised in a way to promote independence and purposeful play.
The seven areas of learning are as follows:
Communication and Language*
Physical Development*
Personal, Social and Emotional Development*
Literacy
Maths
Knowledge and Understanding of the World
Expressive Arts and Design
*Prime Areas of Learning
Below you can see some pictures and a video tour of the Nursery classroom.
Key Dates for Spring Term 2024
- Thursday 19th December - last day of term finish at 1.15pm
- Monday 6th January - First day back after Christmas.
- Wednesday 15th January - Parent -Teacher Consultations - 4.30pm-7.30pm
- Thursday 16th January - Parent -Teacher Consultations - 3.45pm-6.30pm
- Friday 14th February - Finish for half-term (normal time)
- Monday 17th - 21st February - half-term - No children in school
Link to the school calendar
Link to the school term dates
Do you need weekend inspiration?
Hertfordshire are partners in a great tool for parents. A list of 50 fun things to do with your child before they turn 5. There are lots of great ideas to do as a family or with friends. Maybe you can try some over the half-term? If you do, don't forget to take photos and upload them to Evidence Me. That way we can ask your childrne to tell us all about the fun they have had.
You can download it as an app, or use the web based version, either way it is a great resource for ideas of fun activities to do together.
Please see the link here: https://hertfordshire.50thingstodo.org/app/os#!/welcome for the web based version, or the document below for the app information.
Have fun!
Thank you to everyone that came to the information meeting. Below you can find the slides that I went through with you.
Please do not hesitate to ask any questions.
Nursery Parent Information Meeting
Thank you to all the parents that made it to our New Parents Meeting on Thursday 6th June.
Below is a copy of the slides that we talked through.
New Parent Meeting June 6th 2024
Supporting Maths at home.
Below are some links to sites that give examples of how to support maths at home. There is also a document to show some ideas for how you can support the different areas of the EYFS maths curriculum at home, and when out and about with your child.
Snow Day Ideas...
There are lots of different things you can do on a snow day. Below is a list of just a few.
1 Build a snowman - Don't forget they will need eys, nose, mouth, arms...what will you use?
2 Make patterns in the snow - this will help with mark making and writing skills.
3 Make a snow castle (just like a sand castle but colder!) and decorate it.
4 Make footprints with family and compare the sizes of your shoes and boots. Who has the smallest? The biggest? The middle sized? (can you find any footprints from birds or animals?)
5 Investigate melting! Find some containers to put snow in and put them in different places, inside, outside, wrapped up outside. Which melts the fastest? slowest? What happens when snow melts?
6 Find some snowflakes - can you find 2 the same?
7 Make some snowflakes - here is a simple tutorial How to make a simple snowflake
8 Describe the snow - What does it feel like?
9 Make some hot chocolate with a grown-up - What do you have to do? Can you describe the steps to someone so they could do the same?
10 HAVE FUN!
Whatever you do in the snow today, we would love to see pictures! Please upload any to Evidence Me and we can look at them together when we are back in class.