Arkle Class 2017-2018
5 July 2018
This week has been a very busy and exciting week in Nursery!
First we returned to school after the weekend to find that all ten of our caterpillars had successfully turned into butterflies. We looked after the butterflies for a few days before releasing them, the children were a little sad to say goodbye but they said they would keep an eye out for them flying around outside.
On Wednesday we had our Sports Day events, all the children had a go at a running race and a hurdle race. We were very proud of all the children for giving it a go and trying their best. They were also very brave to run just as well in front of an audience.
21 June 2018
Food Tasting
As we have been reading the story of 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' we thought it would be a good idea to try some of the things the Hungry Caterpillar ate. We wrote a list of the different foods that we needed so Miss Mollart wouldn't forget anything at the supermarket. The children were very good at trying the different foods and they even encouraged each other to give it a go. We tried swiss cheese, pickles, cherry pie, salami, plums and watermelon. The watermelon and salami was the most popular but we also had a few children that loved the pickles.
11 June 2018
A Special Delivery
Today was a very exciting day in Nursery as we have received a package in the post. We couldn't wait to see what was inside! We opened the box to find two small containers with some tiny caterpillars wriggling inside. The children had a closer look and tried to count how many there were, which is very tricky when they keep moving. We talked about what we might think will happen to the caterpillars and what we might need to do to look after them. We can't wait to watch them grow over the next couple of weeks.
17 May 2018
Taking Risks
This week the children have enjoyed building a range of different obstacle courses using some of the loose parts we have collected. Once the children were confident at going around the obstacle course we made it more tricky. Some children loved the challenge and others needed a little more encouragement. The children looked out for each other and offered support to their friends and even made sure the equipment was safe to use.
We are always on the look out for equipment we can use in our outdoor area. We are currently looking for planks we could walk across and pieces of plastic tubes and guttering.
3 May 2018
Making Ramps
This term our topic is wheels and we have been reading some books about vehicles and journeys. We have had a go at making different vehicles from junk, learnt how to draw a car and used various construction equipment to build a vehicle. But this week's most popular activity was making ramps for objects to travel down or along, seeing how fast they travelled and how far they could go.
19 April 2018
Summer Term
The Summer term has arrived and finally we saw a little bit of sun this week, the children have definitely made the most of the nice weather and explored outside at every possible opportunity. They have made dens, obstacle courses and particular enjoyed playing in the water.
We have also welcomed a few new faces in Nursery this week and the older children have loved showing the new children the ropes, they have made fantastic role models.
23 March 2018
Sports Relief
Just like the bigger children in school, the nursery children took part in a sponsored run to raise money for 'Sports Relief.' They did a fantastic job of encouraging each other and they all really enjoyed themselves.
8 March 2018
World Book Day
Today we finally managed to celebrate World Book Day in school. We realise that not everyone managed to make it into school due to the weather, so if you would like us to see you in your costumes you could share your photos on Tapestry.
22 February 2018
We have been looking at how to use the interactive whiteboard in Nursery to play different games. We have learnt how to drag objects around the board by using our fingers or a pointer. We know that some of the children will probably use a range of ICT equipment at home, such as an iPad, tablet, camera etc. We would love to know what equipment they can use at home so please feel free to tell us all about it on Tapestry.
08 February 2018
Ice
The children have had lots of fun exploring the ice both inside and outside over the last few weeks. We have discussed how ice is made and experimented with lots of different ways to make it melt.
25 January 2018
Ice Lollies
This week the children had lots of fun making their own ice lollies. We mixed some angel delight mix with some milk and whisked it together. The children had to carefully scoop the mixture into an ice cube tray and then we placed them in the freezer. The children had to wait patiently until the next day to eat them, they were delicious!
11 January 2018
The children have quickly settled back into Nursery life and they have been very good at making the new children feel welcome.
Lost and Found
This week we have been reading a story called 'Lost and Found'. We have been looking at unfamiliar words from the book and thinking about what they mean. We have been discussing what 'lonely', 'disappointed' and 'delighted' means.
The children have loved reading the story and have had a go at retelling the story themselves and even acted out the story with some props.
14 December 2017
Christmas
The last two weeks have been very busy in Nursery and the children have had lots of fun trying new and different experiences. We have had our Christmas Dinner, Christmas Shenanigans, Christmas Jumper Day and of course the opportunity to visit the Winter Fair.
The children are ready for a well earned rest and I know how excited they are to have a visit from a man in a red suit!
We hope you all have a fantastic Christmas and we look forward to seeing you and hearing about all your adventures in the new Year.
1 December 2017
Special visitors
This week Rhianne from SMJ Falconry very kindly came to visit nursery with four of their owls. The children listened very carefully to the information that Rhianne gave them and they asked some fantastic questions. The children were very eager to have a turn at holding Midge (the smallest owl) and they loved watching Dusty (the biggest owl) fly.
16 November 2017
Anti-Bullying Week
This week has been anti-bullying week and in nursery we have been thinking about how to be a good friend. We talked about how it is important to be kind to each other and the children decided that they needed to share with their friends, take turns with the toys and help each other out.
Throughout this week and next week we will be handing out special stickers to the children we see being a good friend. We also hope to hand out some special 'Friendship Champion' certificates.
3 November 2017
Drawing Club
This week in Nursery we have started a drawing club. Everyone in Nursery will have a go at drawing something different every two weeks. The aim of the club is to give the children confidence in their drawing ability, improve concentration, develop their pencil control, improve listening skills and to model the thinking process required when drawing.
This week we had a go at drawing a witch. The children had to listen carefully to the instructions so they knew what to draw and where. All the children were happy to have a go at drawing a witch and they were very pleased with their pictures.
19 October 2017
Emergency!
Over the last couple of weeks we have been discussing emergencies after the children heard a siren whilst we were sitting on the carpet. The children were curious to know what it might be. Was it a fire engine? Or a police car? Had there been an accident? Or were they chasing some robbers?
We have talked about Police Officers, Fire Fighters and Paramedics and the different vehicles they use. We also talked about the different jobs they do and the type of emergencies each person attends.
The children have loved looking at different books to find out information, making up stories in the small world area and acting out emergencies with their friends.
9 October 2017
Making friends
Over the last few weeks we have seen how well the children are getting along with each other. We have been encouraging the children to speak to each other and carefully listen to what their friends are saying.
We have enjoyed working together to fix the bikes outside in our garage. Taking on the role of different people and explaining to each other what we need help with.
Some children have enjoyed going to lots of different destinations on the Home corner 'bus'.
And others have encouraged each other to give new activities a go!
We have been very busy in Nursery and we hope you are enjoying looking at Tapestry together with your children. We would love to hear what the children tell you! (You could always add a comment on an observation to let us know).
22 September 2017
New School Year
We would like to welcome all our new children and families to the Valley View Community.
We are really pleased with how the children are settling into Nursery and adapting to the new routines. We understand that for some children starting Nursery is a huge step but we are really proud of how they have begun their journey.
Our first big challenge has been learning to be independent: finding where we hang our coats, where we keep our pumps and how to put them on, which carton is our milk and helping to look after our classroom.
10 July 2017
Butterflies
We have been looking after ten caterpillars in Nursery over the last couple of weeks and we have loved watching them transform into butterflies.
30 June 2017
The Very Hungry Caterpillar
We have been reading the story of 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' this week. We decided to try some of the food that the Hungry Caterpillar ate.
We tried watermelon
and salami.
All the children tried both the watermelon and the salami, most of them said they would like to have them again.
We will continue to encourage the children to give new and different food a try and I'm sure the children try lots of new things at home too. We would love to see some photos of the children trying new foods at home. You could share them with us via Tapestry!
16 June 2017
We have been preparing for Sports Day this week.
Our first job was to master staying in our lanes whilst running.
Then we gave the hurdles a go.
The children are getting very excited and can't wait for you to come and cheer them on.
18 May 2017
As part of our 'Wheels' topic we have been testing things to see if they roll. We measured which objects rolled the furthest and which objects were the fastest.
We made ramps of different heights to see what difference it made to the speed and distance of the objects.
The children wanted to see if they could program the BeeBots to travel down the ramps too.
11 May 2017
Magic Train Ride
In Nursery this week we have been reading a story called 'Magic Train Ride'. The children have loved acting out and retelling the story. They have talking about where they would like the Magic Train to stop if they were on it.
They used the large wooden bricks to make a train.
Some children made tickets and had a go at writing their name.
30 March 2017
Science Week
To celebrate science week we carried out an experiment in Nursery.
We placed some white flowers in four different bottles. Each one had a different coloured water inside. The children watched to see what happened to the flowers.
The next day the children were surprised to see that the flowers had started to change colour.
The flowers in the pink and blue water were the ones that changed colour the most.
We also showed the children how they could make their own rocket using a balloon, a straw and some string. We talked about how we could make it go faster and travel further.
10 March 2017
Growth Mindset Challenge
The Nursery children have been given a challenge to help them develop their growth mindset. The children have to attempt to make a house of cards and over the next few weeks they will try to improve their skills. We have been encouraging the children to have a go, keep trying and choose ways to do things (The children know all about this language). You are more than welcome to share pictures on Tapestry of both children and adults giving the challenge a go!
2 March 2017
World Book Day
The children looked fantastic in their costumes for World Book Day and they loved talking about their favourite stories with their friends. We were very lucky to have a lady from Pyjama Drama come in to school and tell us the story of 'The Tiger Who Came to Tea.' The children played instruments, sang songs and even did some acting to make the story come to life.
10 February 2017
The children love to dance with Maximo. They have to listen carefully to the instructions and try to stay in time to the music. It is a great way for the children to get active and develop their gross motor control. They also enjoy saying goodbye to Maximo in Spanish.
26 January 2017
This week we have been reading the story of 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears'. The childrenhave enjoyed making and tasting their own porridge with Mrs Nicholson.
We have also been teaching the children how to draw a bear using simple circles and lines. They have a done a fantastic job!
11 January 2017
Happy New Year to you all! We had our Nursery Curriculum Evening tonight. Parents and Carers were invited to look around the classroom and have a play, as well as hearing about what and how we teach. If you were unable to make it, you will find a link below to the presentations we shared. If you would like further information, please let us know.
Personal, Social & Emotional Development and Maths
Communication & Language and Physical Development
15 December 2016
Today we had Christmas dinner in Nursery. Lots of our children who don't usually stay for lunch were invited, and we had a lovely time. Mrs Ryan, our school cook was very busy with all her helpers and treated us to turkey (or veggie loaf), stuffing, Yorkshire puds, brussel sprouts, carrots, roast and mashed potatoes. We had Christmas tree ice creams and Christmas pudding for dessert. Yum!
2 December 2016
Our Nursery children have had some very special visitors this week. A falconer brought in some owls to show the children. The children listened as the man showed them the owls and talked about their similarities and differences. Some of the children asked questions about the owls. The children were all very brave and put on a special leather glove and held the small owl. We were shown a pellet that the owl had earlier regurgitated. The children looked through a magnifying box at the contents. We could see a very small scull and some other bones. Miss Mollart in particular was very excited about the owl pellet!