Ducklings Nursery: 2 years 4 months - 4 years

Spring 1 2020

As we come to the end of another busy term, here's a chance to take a look back on all the fun and exciting learning opportunities the children in Ducklings have been taking part through all areas of the EYFS. They have loved learning about People Who Help Us and have shared their thoughts and ideas enthusiastically during circle time activities as well as acting out the things they have learnt as well as their own experiences through role-play and small world play. 

The children are developing a real love of books and join in with repeated refrains as well as using the illustrations to talk about the story. It has been lovely to find them not only enjoying listening to stories when listening to an adult, but also taking time to look at books independently. We are certainly developing a group of real 'book worms'!

They have enjoyed playing with shapes during maths activities and are beginning to be able to name some 2D shapes as well as compare them to familiar objects in the environment. Their number recognition is really coming along too and they are enjoying grouping, counting, sorting, identifying how many objects in a set and even using their fingers to represent numbers.

Crafts and messy play activities are proving to be a big hit and they have produced some beautiful artwork as well as exploring different textures and sensory experiences.

Fine motor skills are developing through 'busy fingers' activies and opportunities for mark making, while the cold weather has not deterred the children from having lots of fun in the garden. Friendships are blossoming during games of 'hide and seek', 'what's the time Mr Wolf?' and 'the Big Bad Wolf'. They are also developing their gross motor skills with lots of running, jumping, climbing, crawling, balancing etc.

Ducklings have been a real joy to be around, always happy and eager to share their experiences, they make us laugh and smile every day and we can't wait to do it all again next term with more new and exciting learning opportunities!

Mrs Jordan and the Nursery Team

Thursday 28th November - Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert

The children have really enjoyed listening to the story of 'Leaf Man'. They listened so carefully and were fascinated by the illustrations and how all of the animals were made from Autumn leaves. This promoted a fantastic discussion about Autumn, as well as what they could see in the pictures. As a follow up activity, they were excited about creating their very own 'Leaf Man' picture, referring to the pictures in the book for inspiration. They used glue, leaves, twigs and googly eyes to create their own representation of the character in the book, talking and describing the adventures that their 'Leaf Man' would get up to as they worked.

Tuesday 5th November: Bonfire Night & Fireworks! 

The children have been really eager to share their experiences of the firework displays they have been to over the weekend. They listened really carefully to their friends as they they shared what they had seen and were really enthusiastic when it came to their turn to describe the colours, shapes, sounds and smells associated with fireworks and bonfires. The children were very keen and excited to create representations of their experiences and did this through dance, music, craft and mark making activities. 

Autumn 2, 2019.

First day of a new term and Ducklings have hit the ground running with the introduction of our new topic, 'Seasons, Festivals and Celebrations'. The children have been learning all about Diwali and joined the rest of the school for assembly where they sat beautifully and listened to the story of Rama and Sita. We then wFirst day of a new term and Ducklings have hit the ground running with the introduction of our new topic,atched 'My First Festivals' all about Diwali. They children found out about the customs and traditions associated with Diwali before deciding which ones they would like to recreate. The overwhelming favourites were traditional Diwali dancing involving scarves, using mark making and scissor control to make lanterns, using cotton buds to create mehndi designs, colouring rangoli patterns and making and decorating their own diva lamps using clay! What a fun packed, creative and busy day! 

Ducklings have made a fantastic start to the year and we are all thoroughly enjoying getting to know each other even better through our topic ‘Marvellous Me’. Activities have been focused around the children’s current interests and have provided lots of opportunities for sharing thoughts and ideas through Small World and Role Play. The children have been able to tell us how old they are and select the correct numeral to represent this, as well as make marks to represent the number. They have also been identifying the first letter of their name and created some beautiful collages as a result. They used mirrors to look at themselves and talk about what makes them similar and unique from their friends, before going on to paint some amazing self-portraits!

We have made the most of the outdoors, using the play equipment to explore different ways to move our bodies and the effects that physical activity has on us. We also talked about the local area and have been exploring Haynes with trips to the park and woods.

The children have found all the mini-beasts in the garden a real thrill and have been taking care of a family of snails by feeding then and making sure they have enough leaves and sticks to “keep them warm and cosy!” They were also delighted to find pears growing on the trees in the garden and after tasting them, decided they were the “best pears ever!”

The children have settled in really well and been a real pleasure to be around, the Nursery has been filled with fun and laughter. We are very much looking forward to supporting their learning and watching them grow and develop over the coming year!

Mrs Jordan and the Nursery Team.

World Book Day & Bedtime Stories Day

        (7th & 8th March 2019).

Spring 1, 2019.

Happy New Year to you all and we hope that you have had a fantastic festive break! We are very happy to welcome some new children into our class, they have settled in really well and have made a fantastic start at Haynes. This is also true for our two new staff members, Mrs Atkin and Miss Brownlee, the children have been wonderful and made this transition very easy for everyone, I am so proud of them all! 

We are now only a couple of weeks into the Spring Term and though our topic ‘Exploring’, we have kept ourselves extremely busy! We have discovered different methods for melting ice, ways of improving our fine motor skills through ‘busy fingers’ activities, moving in different ways and managing our own risks. We have been turn taking and managing our own feelings and behaviours, exploring different textures through messy play, counting and measuring objects as well as developing our own preferences and interests and sharing them with our friends through play.

With such a wonderful start to the year, I cannot wait for the rest of the Spring Term and all the exciting things we have planned based on the children’s current interests!