A very special visitor...

We had a very special visitor at Gleadless Primary School today...

Father Christmas!

The children were very pleased to see him. He read us a few stories and, in return, we sang him some songs.

Happily, we were all on the 'Good list'.

Each child received a small present from him to keep them going until the 25th.

Father Christmas took the time to ask each child what else they would like on the big day. Almost all the children said they wanted a scooter!

Even the staff enjoyed the visit!

You will all be thrilled to know that Santa has promised the children everything they have asked for!

Stay and Play

If you are an F1 parent, please put a star against the 14th February in your new diaries! We are planning to host a 'Stay and Play' session for you and your child. This will be an ideal opportunity to come in and see what your child gets up to on a typical day in nursery.

We will have lots of creative activities on the go for you to do with your child and take home as a special memento. It is anticipated that this will also be followed with the chance to have a coffee and chat with the staff about your child's progress. Their record books will be out to view and add to.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Parties!

Don't forget that it is the FS1 and 2 Christmas party on Wednesday 19th December. You should have received a letter asking for donations towards the party food. Please see you child's teacher if this is not the case.

There will be 2 separate parties - one in the morning, and another in the afternoon. FS2 will participate in party games on both occasions. The party food will be shared amongst all the children in the class so everyone will be able to choose from a wide selection.

Lots of fun events are planned, and we may even get a visit from a very special person!

Playdough

A great big THANK YOU to all the parents and carers that came to the christmas fayre and supported our foundation stage by either playing one of our games or purchasing playdough. All monies raised from this go directly towards supporting your child's education.

If you were unable to get to the fayre and you would like to purchase some playdough, we will be selling some next week and at other stages throughout the year. Ask staff for details.

Threading skills

We have been working to improve our hand/eye coordination by threading multigrain hoops onto strawberry laces!

Working on our basic skills is even better when the end result is edible!

Delicious!

I thought you would like to see the photos, as not many of these necklaces made it home!

Why not try these at home? Breakfast has never been so much fun!

Goldilocks

We have also been learning the story of Goldilocks and the 3 Bears. We thoroughly enjoyed making and eating porridge!

Yum yum!

Sorry!

Sorry if you were wanting to look through past posts as some of the pictures are now missing. This is because I have reached my storage limit for photographs on this blog and have therefore had to delete some.

However, I will endeavour to delete the oldest photos first which will hopefully mean that present pictures will be on for the longest time possible.

Divali

 Here is just a small snapshot of the learning that has taken place so far this half term...

We have been learning all about Divali.

The coconut barfi was delicious!

Christmas fayre

Don't forget to join us this Friday 30th November for our Christmas Fayre!

There will be lots of bargains to be had ahead of the festive season. Each year group will be hosting games, prizes and also selling goodies. The Fayre is being hosted in the Frith Road hall in conjunction with Friends of Hollinsend.

Please pop in and have a look after school. The fayre will run until 6pm. See you there!

Outdoor before and after

The staff were very busy on Thursday making major changes to our Foundation Stage outdoor area. Here are some pictures of before and after...

 
 The area of the yard just outside nursery used to be quite sparse...
 
 

 

 

 
However, with freshly painted lines and new role play equipment, the area is proving much more popular..

 

 

We have also added a 'mark-making' area where children can be creative on a large scale. Here you can see some shower curtains that we will be able to paint on.

 



 
A variety of mark making equipment will be readily available on a daily basis so that the children can be much more independent with their choices.

The gazebo has lost its appeal over time.

 
Now it has become a cosy corner for the children to enjoy some quiet time, perhaps reading and sharing a book with a friend.

A very kind dad donated some tyres for the children to play with.

 
Some of these tyres have been placed around the mark-making area, and are all ready to be turned into fairy gardens by the children.

Other tyres have been used to create a 'physical' area where the children can play safely with bikes and sport equipment.

 

A very caring uncle donated some tractor tyres. The children were intrigued by these...

 
And they have now become areas for digging in. Such fun!

 

A minibeast area was created by two fantastic parent helpers during the half term break. We are looking forward to having little visitors staying here over the coming months.

A wonderful music area has been created using donations of pans etc. These make a fantastic noise!
 

 

A den building area has appeared, much to the delight of the children!

 

We will also be 'tinkering' on our new tinkering table, with wood and tools, under the careful supervision of the adults.

Our performance area was looking a bit boring...

Look at it now!

 

 

And finally, the area I think we are especially pleased with is our 'outdoor classroom'. This area used to act as storage for bikes etc. Now, however, it has been turned into an area that can be used whatever the weather. Not even torrential rain will prevent us going outside!

 

As always, we will be using the outdoor throughout the whole year. For this reason it is vital that you send your child in warm clothing.
 As a famous Mr Fiennes once said...
 "There is no such thing as bad weather, only inappropriate clothing!"

We are very grateful to all the parents/carers/aunts/uncles/grandparents etc that donated items towards this project. If you have anything that you think may also be of use, please pass on to any member of staff.

We are especially looking for:

• Cushions/bean bags/duvets etc for the cosy area
• Synthetic flowers/gnomes/pebbles/large stones for the fairy gardens
• Dressing up outfits/hats/props for the performance area
• Pots/pans/brassware etc for the music area
• Pieces of wood/guttering/pipes for the tinkering and construcion areas
• Brushes/rollers/buckets/paint pots etc for the mark making areas
• Clothes horses/blankets/curtains for the den making area

Thank you for your super support!