Weekly Updates
Weekly class updates and activities to support learning can now be found on the Class Dojo page.
Week commencing 30.01.23
Another great week in Chestnut and we are approaching the end of this half term already!
Our book of the week this week was 'Ten Terrible Dinosaurs'! The children have loved this story and are getting much quicker at 'finger numbers' to 10. Keep working on this at home too!
In phonics we have continued with Phase 1 Aspect 3- Body percussion. The children have loved playing 'Noisy Neighbour' this week and are recognising and distinguishing sounds much quicker.
Have a great weekend!
Miss Mason
Week Commencing 23.01.23
We have had a very exciting week in nursery! Our book of the week was Supertato! The children have loved this book and have really enjoyed all the mischief that the Evil Pea has got up to! On Wednesday and Thursday when the children came in the Evil Pea had captured all the vegetables and Supertato! The children spent the morning creating WANTED posters for the Evil Pea and displayed them around the school!
In phonics we have been working on Phase 1 Aspect 3- Body percussion
The purpose of Aspect 3 is:
To discriminate sound – body percussion
To develop awareness of sounds and rhythms
To distinguish between sounds and to remember patterns of sound
To talk about sounds we make with our bodies and what the sounds mean
Have a great weekend everyone and watch out for the Evil Pea!
Miss Mason
Week commencing 16.01.23
This week our book of the week is 'The rainbow fish'. The children love this story and is a nursery favourite! The children understand how sharing is an important part of the story and how we can use that message during our nursery day.
In phonics this week we have continued with Phase 1 Aspect 2- The children have been tuning into instrumental sounds and enjoyed a range of games including Grandmother's footsteps!
Have a lovely weekend everyone!
Miss Mason
Week commencing 09.01.23
Our first full week of the new year is complete! Well done Chestnut, I am so proud of how quickly you have all settled in after the Christmas break! Also well done to our new starters who have all settled in and been so brave during their first week of nursery! The new children have had a lovely warm welcome from our class and have already made some great friendships!
This week our book of the week was 'The runaway pea'. This is one of our class favourites! The children have loved reading this story as a class this week.
In phonics we have been focusing on Phase 1 Aspect 2- Instrumental sounds. This aspect aims to develop children's awareness of sounds made by various instruments and noise makers. The children have enjoyed exploring the instruments and the sounds they make.
Have a lovely weekend everyone.
Miss Mason
Week commencing 12.12.22
Hello Chestnut! I am so proud of you all for completing the very first term! What a wonderful and busy term we have had! We have had so much fun this term and we have finished it off with lots of Christmas craziness! On Thursday we enjoyed our Christmas party, we had so much fun dancing and eating lots of yummy treats! Thank you to everyone who contributed food for the party we really appreciate your ongoing support.
Thank you for all of our lovely Christmas cards and gifts, we are so thankful. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and I hope Father Christmas brings you lots of presents!
Miss Mason
Week commencing 05.12.22
We have continued lots of Christmas fun this week. Our book of the week was 'The first Christmas', a book based on the Nativity story. The children are beginning to understand why Christians celebrate Christmas and can name the people discussed in the nativity story.
We are preparing for the final week of term, lots of Christmas fun will be happening next week! We have Elf Day on Tuesday and our Christmas party on Thursday! It is also Christmas jumper day on Friday!
Have a lovely weekend everyone!
Miss Mason
Week Commencing 28.11.22
Our book of the week this week was 'Stick Man'. The children have loved this story this week and are beginning to develop an understanding of the changes that occur in the season winter.
On Thursday we began the Christmas celebrations by decorating our classroom and our class tree. The children also brought in decorations for the main school tree! If your child does not attend a Thursday but has made a decoration please bring it and we can add it to the tree next week!
Have a great weekend everyone! Please share on Tapestry any Christmas activities, elf fun or photos of your Christmas trees!
Miss Mason
Week Commencing 21.11.22
This week our book of the week was 'Owl's Winter Rescue'. We discussed how we are beginning to see seasonal changes that tell us we are coming into winter. In the story mouse is sleeping, we talked about how some animals hibernate in the winter. We decided to explore this further and create our own places for a bear, mouse and hedgehog to hibernate!
In phonics we have continued Phase 1 Aspect 1 with some animal sounds bingo! The children have loved learning how to play bingo and showed great listening skills!
Have a great weekend everyone!
Miss Mason
Week commencing 14.11.22
We have had a week full of learning this week! Our book of the week was 'We're going on a bear hunt'. The children have loved every activity we have completed this week. All of the children are able to retell the story independently!
As part of our learning we went on our very own bear hunt in the outdoor area! We started by going through the long wavy grass, then we went through the river, next we went through the thick mud, then through the forest and finally through the snowstorm before arriving at the cave! Inside the cave we found a bear!
Have a great weekend!
Miss Mason
Week commencing 07.11.22
This week in Chestnut we have enjoyed learning about the festival of light, Diwali! We have learnt all about rangoli rice patterns, mendi and divas! We have had a go at creating our own diva lights and rangoli rice patterns and even got a chance to have a mendi pattern painted on our hands!
Our book of the week this week was 'The best Diwali ever'. The children enjoyed reading this story learning about how Hindu children celebrate the festival of light!
In phonics this week we have continued Phase 1 Aspect 1. The children are beginning to tune into environmental sounds. We enjoyed listening to a range of sounds including a helicopter, fireworks, a motorcycle and thunder!
Have a great weekend everyone!
Miss Mason
Week Commencing 31.10.22
Well done everyone for completing a great first week back, the children have settled back in really quickly after half term. I have loved hearing all the fun everyone got up to over their week off! Thank you to everyone who managed to find the time to upload some photos to Tapestry, we love to see your photos!
This week the children have enjoyed exploring ideas around bonfire night, exploring making marks in different ways.
In phonics we have started Phase 1 Aspect 1- General Sound Discrimination, Environmental Sounds. The main purpose of Phase 1 Phonics is to allow children to develop their ability to tune into sounds. This allows children to develop listening skills and their awareness of sounds. This week we went on a 'listening walk' to allow children to listen to the sounds around school.
Have a great weekend everyone!
Miss Mason
Week Commencing 17.10.22
I can't believe it is the end of our first half term! Well done nursery you have worked so hard during the first half term of the year!
Our book of the week this week was 'Pumpkin Soup'. The children have really enjoyed this story this week and have loved creating their own soup! Some children started to write their own recipes too!
Have a lovely half term everyone! Please upload photos to Tapestry so Mrs Fell and I can see all the wonderful things you get up to!
Miss Mason
Week Commencing 10.10.2022
We have had a very exciting week in nursery! In our outdoor area this week we have had our very own pumpkin patch! The children have really enjoyed exploring the area this week and discussing their experiences of pumpkin patches!
We also had a wonderful visit from some police officers on Tuesday! The children got the chance to sit in the back of a police van and even got to try on some of the uniform!
Our book of the week this week was 'The Squirrels who squabbled' . The children enjoyed listening to Cyril and Bruces adventure and were able to discuss how sharing is the best option.
Week commencing 03.10.22
We have had a lovely week in Chestnut! The children have a strong interest in planting and seeds after exploring some sunflower heads this week. We have decided that next week we will enjoy some planting activities next week to help us develop an understanding of the life cycle of plants and vegetables.
Our book of the week this week was 'The LEAF THIEF'. The children enjoyed predicting who the leaf thief was and enjoyed following the squirrels adventure.
Have a great weekend everyone!
Miss Mason
Week commencing 26.09.22
Well done Chestnut class on another great week! Mrs Fell and Mr Lynn have really enjoyed exploring Autumn with you this week!
Our book of the week this week was 'Leaf Trouble'. The children have really enjoyed reading this story and going on their own leaf adventures!
We have explored all things Autumn looking at conkers and learning how leaves change colour and fall down during this season.
Have a great weekend everyone!
Miss Mason
Being independent: Independence skills are a key area of development across the EYFS and is something we focus on daily. Please continue to practice the following at home:
- taking off and putting on coats
- putting on shoes (no laces if possible!)
- going to the toilet independently
- getting changed independently
- washing hands independently
- turning clothes from inside out
- eating using a fork or spoon
Thank you!
Week Commencing 19.09.22
Hello! We have enjoyed another great week of learning and exploring in Chestnut class!
Our Book of the week this week was 'Sharing a shell'. We have explored what it means to share and how we can apply this into our classroom environment.
The children have enjoyed taking home a reading book to share with an adult this week. All of the children in Chestnut are beginning to develop a love of reading.
I will be away Monday-Wednesday on the year 5 and 6 residential trip. Mr Lynn and Mrs Fell will be here to help you learn all about Autumn!
Enjoy your weekend! Miss Mason
Week Commencing 12.09.22
We have had another fabulous week in nursery! On Tuesday we enjoyed celebrating Roald Dahl Day! The children enjoyed making Charlie and the Chocolate Factory crispy buns!
Our Book of the week this week is 'Colour Monster'. The children have really enjoyed this story this week, exploring the different colours and feelings.
Next week your child will receive a book bag which they will be using to bring home a school library book each session. Story time is essential for young children's development and helps to encourage a love of reading from a young age. Enjoy sharing our school books each night with your child and return them once you have read them.
Enjoy your weekend! Miss Mason
Week commencing 05.09.22
Well done Nursery for completing your first week! I have been so impressed with how quickly you have all settled in this week. The returning children have been very helpful in making all of our new children feel welcomed.
We have enjoyed lots of exploring the new classroom environment and settling in.
This week we have enjoyed 'getting busy' with all the new resources and spending time forming friendships. We have looked at some new stories and learnt some new nursery rhymes. Lots of children have enjoyed painting and drawing indoors this week as well as well as doing lots of gross motor activities outdoors!
Have a lovely weekend everyone!
Miss Mason
