Recent News
Please come along and join us for our fayre day on Saturday 22nd April 2023
19.04.2023 - We are over joyed with the amount of new families joining us this term, please get in touch to discuss spaces for
all rooms, where a member of the team will be happy to assist you.
10.02.2023 - We have spaces available in our baby room we care for children of 6 weeks upto 24 month, in our 0-2 room, please contact for further details.
We currently have spaces in our 2s and 3s room should you wish to enquire, one of our team will be happy to support you and hopefully welcome you into our nursery family. We offer the 15 hours and 30 hours as well as paid places.
Parents/Carers school applications will open on Monday 5th September 2022 and will close January 15th 2023 to apply please visit www.durham.gov.uk/schooladmissions
Reminder to all parents nursery will be closed Monday September 5th 2022 for a
training day and we will
re-open Tuesday 6th September 2022 to all children and afterschool club
Spring Newsletter March 2022
Dear All,
We are settling in nicely to our spring term here at nursery, we have had some new children and families join the setting in all three rooms and our baby room seems the most popular this term. I would like to take this opportunity to welcome them into our nursery family and hope that they enjoy their time here with us. We are overwhelmed with the amount of interest shown in our nursery and it is safe to say that numbers are officially booming, with this we are having to set up a waiting list with children to start until at least September.
We always love to see the little ones dressed up in uniform, it is not compulsory to wear uniform for nursery however if you would like to purchase any please see a member of staff for a form. Please be mindful when bringing pack lunches to have a variety of foods, to many sugary products will be noted.
Staffing – Leadership and management
In February Lynn sadly made the decision to leave the nursery as manager, it was a decision she didn’t make lightly however it was her time to move into a different chapter of her life, you will all be pleased to know Lynn is a director for the company and will still play a part in the nursery. Following this I am delighted to inform you that I took over the role of manager it is a personal achievement for myself as starting the nursery as an apprentice no way did, I dream I would reach the top, this has all been made possible by the amazing team and parents I have had the pleasure of working beside along the years. I have a great passion for the setting and its children, and I intend to develop nursery further in the future with the assistance of the wonderful staff and families we have. I look forward to this new opportunity and to share the journey with many more families.
You may have noticed the other changes around the nursery we sadly said goodbye to Gemma also, after 7 years with us Gemma had the opportunity to pursue a teaching career which is something she always wanted to do, Gemma will be a big miss to the nursery and I’m sure you will join me in wishing her the best of luck in her new chapter, with that we have welcomed two new staff members to our team Nicole Dunning and Jodie Simpson, Nicole was a parent of the nursery and has always shared a passion for childcare this showing in the amazing work she has done in raising her own girls, Nicole is part of the education room and will be working alongside Kate to get trained up to how we work, Nicole is very much looking forward to taking on her own key family and I’m sure she will implement some amazing activities.
Jodie has joined us as Nursery Deputy and Two-year room lead, she has had 15 years’ experience within childcare and is very passionate within her job roles, Jodie has lots of fresh ideas to bring to the setting and cant wait to start meeting you all and making those special bonds.
Learning and development
Throughout this term in the baby room there has been a high interest in the schema of posting children have looked for every opportunity to post objects resulting in a posting station been set up to support this interest. Chinese New Year sparked lots of new learning opportunities filling and emptying of pots and pans and of course we couldn’t celebrate Chinese New Year without tasting some yummy food from the culture. There has also been a spark of interest within media and materials children have been able to use their senses to explore flour and rice they all showed interest in the way it sounded and watched in awe as the rice flowed through practitioners’ hands. The interest in stories and rhymes has blossomed within the room those children who can join in and sing have been doing so beautifully and for our younger babies they have very much shown their understanding through actions and reaching out for staff’s hands at certain points. Wow how amazing are all you babies!
The two-year room has been very focused on stories and rhymes to help develop communication and language skills the staff have been implementing stories and props for the children to explore both adult and child led activities. The stories the children have enjoyed this month have been “3 little pigs” and “The gingerbread man” this led to the interest of exploring media and materials by designing their very own gingerbread man the children showed great control in gluing and sticking their chosen work of art. This room has worked particularly closely with parents this term, sending home beat baby for children to show us all the interests they have at home, all children will have the opportunity to spend some time with beat baby so please don’t worry if your child hasn’t brought this home yet. Going forward to support communication and literacy development the 2s room will be starting a lending library where each week your child will go home with a book bag and will share a story at home.
This term the education room have had an interest in all kinds of learning opportunities colour exploration has been part of this, the children have their own little station where they can bring out their inner Picasso and can explore all kinds of media and materials. There has been a focus on our outdoor provision with our little learners turning into little gardeners, children explored the world around them by planting and looking closely at seeds and how we plant them. World book day hit the education room with a boom turning them all into fabulous characters this was an opportunity for the children to show us their own interests and for some of our quiter children it was an opportunity to come out of their shell. A big interest has been schematic play covering all kinds of areas through den making, turning objects upside down and wanting to transport objects, particularly the sand. Since implementing the indoor sandpit this has enhanced mathematical developmental children have had the opportunity to explore different weights and watched how it balanced on the different scales.
Reminders
As we enjoy lots of outdoor fun can I please remind children should come to nursery appropriately dressed. We do have waterproof clothing but appreciate children to bring in their own wellies from home. It would be great if you could also ensure their name is somewhere visible on all garments as it is very easy for things to become misplaced/mixed up. As the weather improves, we would also ask that you provide your child with adequate sun protection (Cap / Hat & sunscreen). Please can you ensure your child brings a bag equipped with a change of clothing particularly socks!!
Please remember that mobile phones are not to be used within the nursery
Projects going on in nursery
We feel very lucky that we have been selected to participate in some local and national projects and studies, taking part will enable us to continually reflect on our provision and teaching and learning to ensure we are delivering the highest quality childcare and education.
We are currently on a waiting list to join the “Henry” programme promoting healthy eating and exercise within our little learners
Dates for your diary:
* Friday 18th March Red nose day
*Monday 25th April – Nursery Closed (Staff training)
*Funded children and Term Time only children break up for Easter on Friday 8th April 2022
Children return after Easter Tuesday 26th April 2022
* Good Friday 15th April 2022 / Easter Monday 18th April 2022 NURSERY CLOSED
Dates/events to be confirmed:
• Opportunity to speak with key person
We love to see what you have been doing at home. Photos are always valued and feed into your children’s learning giving many opportunities to link experiences. If you feel time is a problem, feel free to email the photos straight from your phone and we can print them off to share. nursery@whcnltd.com
Each day is a photo day with a special memory. We will update our Facebook page as often as possible to help keep you update with what children are up to here at Wheatley Hill Community Nursery. Always remember learning journals can be seen or taken home to share and your child’s key person is always willing to share information or share special moments of your children.
Special message from Kayley – Kayley would like to make you all aware that she is going to be a mammy for the first time, she is looking forward to welcoming her special son/daughter into the world and cant wait to be a mammy to her very own, I’m sure you will all join me in congratulating herself and her partner. Congratulations!!
With this Kayley will be going off on maternity but information regarding this will follow in due course, any concerns or queries please feel free to contact me
Special message from me – I would just like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your continued support and kind words towards myself stepping up into the new role, you are all amazing families, and I am proud to work alongside you all, rest assured you have an amazing team of girls who care for your children, and we thank you for putting your trust in our hands.
Thank you for your continued support.
Chloe on behalf of the team
September 2022 School place application
Follow the link to apply.
https://www.durham.gov.uk/schooladmissions
Autumn Term Newsletter September 2021
Welcome to the Autumn Term.
We have many new children joining us this term in all three rooms. The rooms are all fresh after a deep clean with lots of new resources to promote interests and learning. The children will return on 2nd September and new children will have settling in sessions planned in. I can assure you all children will settle in extremely well with the support of the staff and will be able to explore the environment with confidence. I would like to take this opportunity to welcome them into our nursery family and hope that they enjoy their time here with us.
Uniform is not compulsory, but we are overwhelmed with the amount of interest children and families have shown. Previously many children have attended in uniform and look very smart from such a young age giving them a sense of belonging and protecting own clothing.
Order forms are available if you wish to purchase any uniform for your children. If you require any further information, please do not hesitate to speak to a member of staff. All our children are very proud to show their uniform as well as looking so smart.
Staffing
As you may know we said our goodbyes to Shanice in July wishing her the very best in her new journey. Kayley was successful and will now be lead of the twos. Kayley has been with us for many years and always puts the child at the centre of her approach. I would like to take this time to congratulate her and wish her every success in her new role.
Natalie started with us a year ago as a temporary member of staff to help and support bubbles while completing her level 3 qualification. I would like to thank her for everything she has done starting out in strange times and a big congratulations at securing a full-time post as well as completing her course.
We also welcome back Sarah after returning from maternity leave.
Please see attached staffing structure and roles.
Parent/ carer Questionnaire
Firstly, a big thank you to everyone that returned the parent/carer questionnaire back in March 2021. We were exceptionally delighted with the number of responses this year.
Questionnaires help us to gather parents/carers thoughts ensuring everybody feels welcome and we are delivering high quality childcare.
Recommendations are made from this which will be addressed at a team meeting and will be incorporated into our nursery action plan for September 2021.
In summary parents/carers are incredibly happy with our service and always open and honest which makes it easier to deal with any matter may they arise.
On reflection points to take forward
• Continue to provide high quality care.
• Continue to have strong professional relationships with parents/carers and understand their worries giving support when needed.
• Continue to provide a warm stimulating environment.
• Continue with Facebook posts, Newsletters, parents’ evenings and create a parent notice board to display information.
• Create a Key person leaflet/booklet to hand to new children or when children are transitioning to another room.
• Reassure families about learning and development more regularly and ensure all parents/carers take up a meeting appointment at the end of terms in line with children’s assessments.
As we were faced with the coronavirus pandemic, I did take into consideration some things were a little different so would also like to thank you for returning the additional questionnaire.
From the feedback it was lovely to reflect back and see how well we done and what we have achieved in this last year. Although families were not coming into the setting, they still feel very welcome and able to discuss any matters. I feel keeping families up to date with reasons why we made changes really helped. To support this further we had an additional consent form and leaflet around our covid procedures. Facebook posts were unbelievably valuable. Keeping in contact with parents through Facebook, email and phone calls kept the relationship between nursery and home strong.
On reflection points to take forward
• Continue to be flexible.
• Follow government guidelines
• Continue to do what we doing
• Support families
• Trust what we are doing is right for us and make changes when needed.
Our next questionnaire will be sent out in March 2022.
Children’s learning
From September 2021 we will be using the new early years foundation stage (EYFS) framework which was published on the 31 March 2021 and should be used by all Ofsted registered early years providers in England from September 2021. Development Matters is the new non-statutory curriculum guidance for the new EYFS framework that everyone can use from September 2021.
The changes to the EYFS statutory framework are being made to:
• improve outcomes at age 5, particularly in early language and literacy
• reduce workload such as unnecessary paperwork, so you can spend more time with the children in your care
Please find more parent/carer friendly information attached.
Sharing of room 2s and 3 year olds
From Monday 6th September we will be using the three year old room on a Monday all day and from 4pm every night for our two year olds. This was our previous agreement with Durham County Council before covid and bubbles were required.
I can assure you all that this works very well, and it is an opportunity for the two year olds to build confidence in the big room working towards smooth transitions. The threes also enjoy this to help care for the younger children and an opportunity to see siblings.
If you have any worries or concerns, please do not hesitate to speak with me or a member of the team.
Out of school club
From Monday 6th September we are pleased to welcome back some out of school families. As we start to lift our restrictions, we want to ensure we do this safely. School picks will only be available from Wheatley Hill Primary school and St Godrics. We will continue to review this and hopefully offer more local schools soon.
COVID-19
We have had a very strange few months with many changes along the way, however staff have worked tersely to ensure your children can attend a safe, secure and familiar environment where they can continue to reach their full potential while having lots of fun.
Staff will continue to use lateral flow tests twice a week.
New entrance
As we move on to try and have a little normality but continue to stay safe we are going to trial a new entrance. This will mean ALL families will enter through the side gate on the right side of the building (3 year room) and wait in your child’s area of the garden until a member of staff the opens door. All parents/carers MUST then leave through the two year old gate. This is to provide a one-way system.
The gate will only be open at designated times 8.45am and 9.15am, 11.50am and 12.00 pm, 2.45pm and 3.15. If you arrive between the designated times, then you must continue to ring the bell on the front window where a member of staff will bring your child to you.
Staff will greet your child at the start of their session times.
This is only a trail but hopefully it is a way of moving forward and safer for the children than waiting in the car park as I understand it is very busy at times.
Isolation changes
From Monday 16 August, people who are double jabbed or aged under 18 will no longer be legally required to self-isolate if they are identified as a close contact of a positive COVID-19 case. The change was announced last month, as part of step 4 of the government’s COVID-19 roadmap. With 75% of people having received both doses of the vaccine.
As of Monday, double-jabbed individuals and under 18s who are identified as close contacts by NHS Test and Trace will be advised to take a PCR test as soon as possible to check if they have the virus and for variants of concern. You can order a PCR home test online or by calling 119, or going to a test site.
If you have any symptoms of coronavirus, you MUST self-isolate and take a PCR as soon as possible.
You can find more information on the government website. https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus
We have had many Challenges along the way. Sadly, some children have had many interruptions to their nursery attendance due to government guidelines, isolating letters and families doing the best possible to protect their loved ones. You should be proud of yourself as well as yours little ones at how well you have done through such uncertain times.
Learning and development
Baby Room
Throughout this term within the baby room we have enjoyed participating in sensory experiences using our senses to explore, discover and investigate through a variety of different opportunities. Curiosity, determination and willingness to engage in these activities has enabled the babies to flourish in confidence around media, materials and textures.
Physical development has been a big focus within our learning environment, the babies have relished the experiences to challenge their physical skills on climbing equipment, obstacles and going for walks out within the local community. It has enabled the babies to build resilience, take controlled risks and thrive within their physical abilities.
We have had an amazing term within our learning environment and look forward to welcoming lots of new families into our room for another wonderfully busy baby room.
TWOS Room
Last term the two-year-olds enjoyed lots of opportunities to develop their physical skills and explore the outdoor world.
It was lovely to see them build up resilience and confidence while having the opportunity to take risks. Using a wooden ladder, the children used co-ordination and were successfully able to climb to the top and work out how they would get back down. Some children went a little further by climbing the ladder and working out how they would be able to reach an object above them.
The natural world around us brought so many learning experiences from bird watching, bug hunting and planting our own flowers and plants. The children learnt about caring for other things such as feeding the birds and watering the plants. The children took a particular interest in sound and movement as the listened for the birds and observed many bugs.
Large scale water play was an experience the children loved. They particularly showed interest in muddy puddles and enjoyed the sensory experience of exploring with their feet.
Mark making is always a favorite as the child like to see cause and effect. Using a range of media throughout the term the children were able to use different strokes, see patterns and create their own master piece. This learning opportunity supported fine motor development which will support early writing.
EDUCATION room
Last term the education room had a term filled with fun, excitement, and opportunities to develop children’s awareness of understanding the world. We found that the current pandemic has had a huge impact upon children’s learning, limiting experiences. Therefore, we introduced some nature into our curriculum. Our ‘Growing Garden’ and ‘Caterpillar Life cycle’ sparked of an interest and developed the children’s understanding of the world around them. They were intrigued and fascinated at the transformations observed on a daily/weekly basis.
We finished of the term with our annual Graduation, although we had to make changes in line with government guidelines, we ensured the children had the most magical last day of term. We wish them the very best of luck in their new adventure at school.
September 2021 – Gemma, Kate, Chloe and Sarah are delighted to welcome our new cohort of children and look forward to supporting their early education journey.
Holiday care
It has been a pleasure to see the out of school children return after such a long time away. We have welcomed old and new faces back to our setting and we have engaged in lots of fun filled activities.
Throughout the 6 weeks we have explored all kinds of arts and crafts, from making robots, to designing our very own Mr and Mrs potato heads, the children got their chefs hats on and made some delicious cakes and pitta pizzas, and we had lots of outdoor fun designing and completing obstacle courses.
Of course, the 6 weeks wouldn't be complete without a party, lots of dancing and prices to win, and the biggest price of all was seeing the smiles on the children's faces, enjoying being able to socialise and play after such uncertain times.
We look forward to welcoming after school back in September and look forward to the October holidays.
Reminders
• Please could you make sure your child is dressed appropriate for the weather and spare clothes are provided.
• Outdoor footwear (wellies)
• Please ensure your child is provided with the correct essentials for nursery. Nappies, Wipes
• Only attend nursery if you are not displaying any symptoms of coronavirus.
• Please arrive and collect your children at the correct Start/ finish times.
• Please park in a designated space when you come to drop off or collect children.
Dates for your diary:
• October holidays 25th October 2021
• Return to nursery Tuesday 4th January 2022
• Inset training day September 1st 2021 and January 2022
Dates/events to be confirmed:
• Parent’s meeting – This is a chance to catch up with your child’s key person to celebrate success and support each other to ensure your child is receiving the best care and learning. Date to be confirmed November 2021.
• Halloween party
• Christmas party
• Christmas Holidays
We love to see what you have been doing at home. Photos are always valued and feed into your children’s learning giving many opportunities to link experiences. If you feel time is a problem, feel free to email the photos straight from your phone and we can print them off to share. nursery@whcnltd.com
Thank you for your continued support.
From
Lynn on behalf of the team
Each day is a photo day with a special memory. We will update our Facebook page as often as possible to help keep you update with what children are up to here at Wheatley Hill Community Nursery. Always remember learning journals can be seen or taken home to share and your child’s key person is always willing to share information or share special moments about your children.
"Inspiring and sharing children’s awe and wonder through cultivating playful opportunities”.
Welcome
We are excited to welcome back our nursery children and see some new faces as they start their journey with us this week.
We promise to make them feel welcome and give them the best opportunities while supporting them to achieve their full potential.
We understand its hard to leave your little ones on their first day but please feel reassured they will have an amazing experience. Do not hesitate if you wish to contact us to see how they getting on. Staff will be more than happy to speak with you.
We would also like to wish the children starting school the very best in your next chapter. You know you are all amazing so hold your head up high and you will go far. Xx
Spring Term Newsletter March 2021
Welcome to the Spring term.
We have had many new children join us this term in all 3 rooms. The children have settled into nursery extremely well and have started to explore the environment with confidence. I would like to take this opportunity to welcome them into our nursery family and hope that they enjoy their time here with us.
We have had a very strange few months with many changes along the way, however staff have worked tersely to ensure your children can attend a safe, secure and familiar environment where they can continue to reach their full potential while having lots of fun.
Uniform is not compulsory, but we are overwhelmed with the amount of interest children and families have shown. Previously many children have attended in uniform and look very smart from such a young age giving them a sense of belonging and protecting own clothing.
Order forms are available if you wish to purchase any uniform for your children. If you require any further information, please do not hesitate to speak to a member of staff. All our children are very proud to show their uniform as well as looking so smart.
COVID-19
Can you believe we are now in March which marks one whole year from when our first lockdown was announced and unaware of what the future was to hold for us all.
From returning to nursery on the 24th June we have crossed many challenges along the way. Sadly, some children have had many interruptions to their nursery attendance due to government guidelines, isolating letters and families doing the best possible to protect their loved ones.
As a nursery we are so proud at how well all the children have responded in such unpredictable times. It is lovey to see how much they have grown and achieved but most of all we have missed their beautiful smiles and big personalities.
We have found that the children are so happy and excited to see their friends they have become a little overwhelmed at times. Although they are so young it is so difficult for them to understand that they can safely come to nursery, but they still can not visit family members or go to different places at weekends.
As parents/ carers you should all be so proud at how you have managed this last year and how your children have continued to develop.
While welcoming children back we have mainly focused on personal, social and emotional development. From this it has been amazing to see the confidence in the children as they explore the environment with interest.
When engaging with parents we feel that some children have really missed the opportunity to be physical with not exploring the wider community or a place of interest such as parks etc during lockdown. Please feel assured that we will provide opportunities to allow children to move freely and develop an understanding of the world around us building knowledge on risk averse society.
Internet safety – We are aware that some children are playing inappropriate games and apps on their electronics at home. I understand how difficult it currently is when trying to manage children and workloads, but it is very important that you ensure your child’s safety when online. The content on some apps has age restrictions so please make sure you check your child device.
The Internet can be very misleading, and the adverts can be extremely dangerous.
We will be sending out some information around keeping your child safe while online but if you would like any support please speak with a member of staff who will be always happy to help.
Unfortunately, at the moment we are still unable to offer out of school and holiday care due to government guidelines. We are hoping that for the summer holidays we will be able to support you all as best as possible and open our days for holiday club for school aged children. I will keep updated of any changes.
Parents/carers evening are due at the end of this month. This is where we celebrate all success and support each other to ensure your child is receiving the best care and learning. Staff will be in touch soon to make an appointment for a phone call meeting or through Microsoft teams.
We are currently working on graduation for our school leavers. We hope to provide you with more information in our summer newsletter.
Transitions of rooms – Unfortunately due to keeping our bubbles as safe as possible we are unable to do room visits with the children. Please be assured that we are doing everything possible to transition ensuring your child has a smooth transition with little disruption. Although children cannot cross bubbles, key workers can when needed. This means your child’s new key person can build up a relationship along the way to prepare also their old key person can check in for reassurance. At the stage of transition, we do what is best for each individual child.
School places – In April children who are ready to start school in September 2021 should receive confirmation of which school has been chosen. We will work with you to collect information so that we can support your children on their next chapter. We are hoping to work alongside schools and maybe plan in some virtual pass overs so children can meet their teacher in their safe environment.
I would like to thank you all for your support as we work through these difficult times together. I am incredibly grateful of your cooperation and understanding of the measures we have set in place to keep our families safe.
Learning and development
Baby Room
Over the past few weeks our babies have thoroughly enjoyed exploring the great outdoors. Investigations in mud, water and paint have promoted confidence, sensory skills and curiosity.
The babies have loved challenging their physical skills climbing on the tree stumps and tyres taking controlled risks and building resilience. Using chalks to mark make was another big focus outdoors, the babies thoroughly enjoyed making their own little creations on the pavement.
Messy and creative play is extremely important for a child's development. It provides our babies with an exciting tactile and sensory experience that inspires their curiosity, allowing them to explore the world around them and which enhances learning, language and develops understanding
TWOS Room
It has been a pleasure to watch the children settle into nursery with ease. They have all been so eager to explore and investigate while building strong relationships with their peers.
Over the past few weeks the children have been taking part in many mark making opportunities with different approaches, from painting indoor/outdoors, chalks, playdough and flour.
The children particularly enjoyed the painting experience outdoors, mixing their own powder paints gave them the opportunity to observe the powder change to liquid.
During outdoors play the children were using their physical and mark making skills the children where able to reach up high to make marks, although some children where frustrated the public couldn’t reach up higher.
This was soon resolved when they collected a crate to climb on to, what great problem solving skills. The children then took it in turn to access, well done to our terrific twos for sharing with their friends.
A water play experience started as the children cleaned our cars and bikes, this was a child led experience and practitioners added more resources and some mathematical language such as ‘reach up high, more water’,’1,2,3 go’ to enrich their learning experience.
EDUCATION room
Observational Drawing
The children have developed and shared many interests from home recently. These have then been followed through at nursery within our education room.
We thought we would enhance these interests whilst providing some ‘undercover’ learning opportunities.
We did this by allowing the children to incorporate their interests within physical and imaginative experiences.
The children made their own choices of what resources they wanted to use to carry out some observational drawing. The children in the education room have loved nothing more than developing their physical abilities using their own individual interests, especially outdoors.
They have developed many skills from balancing, coordination, mathematical concepts as well as learning all about safe choices.
We have also created our very own hardware store at nursery which provides the children with opportunities to build, construct, take risks and role play.
Reminders
•
Please could you make sure your child is dressed appropriate for the weather and spare clothes are provided.
• Please ensure your child is provided with the correct essentials for nursery. Nappies, Wipes
• Only attend nursery if you or your family are not displaying any symptoms of coronavirus.
• Please arrive and collect your children at the correct Start/ finish times.
• Please park in a designated space when you come to drop off or collect children.
Dates for your diary:
• Easter half term – Term time Children brake up on 26th March for 2 weeks.
• Bank holidays – Good Friday April 2nd, Easter Monday 5th April.
Dates/events to be confirmed:
• Parent’s meeting – This is a chance to catch up with your child’s key person to celebrate success and support each other to ensure your child is receiving the best care and learning. Due to covid this will be done by appointments over the phone on the teams app. Week commencing 26.04.2021
We love to see what you have been doing at home. Photos are always valued and feed into your children’s learning giving many opportunities to link experiences. If you feel time is a problem, feel free to email the photos straight from your phone and we can print them off to share. nursery@whcnltd.com
Thank you for your continued support.
From
Lynn on behalf of the team
Each day is a photo day with a special memory. We will update our Facebook page as often as possible to help keep you update with what children are up to here at Wheatley Hill Community Nursery. Always remember learning journals can be seen or taken home to share and your child’s key person is always willing to share information or share special moments about your children.
Autumn Term Newsletter 2019
Welcome to the Autumn term.
We have had some new children join us this term in all 3 rooms. The children have settled into nursery very well and have started to explore the environment with confidence. I would like to take this opportunity to welcome them into our nursery family and hope that they enjoy their time here with us.
As we are approaching the change in weather can we ask that all children come to nursery with a coat, hat, scarf, gloves and wellies so that they can access outdoor provision in all weathers. It would be great if you could also ensure their name is somewhere visible on all garments as it is very easy for things to become misplaced/mixed up.
This term is always so exciting as we explore Halloween, harvest festival, bonfire and our all-time favourite, Christmas festivities.
We are delighted that we now have our website up and running. We will try to keep it up to date with news and events coming up and share exciting moments we have in nursery.
Uniform is not compulsory, but we are overwhelmed with the amount of interest children and families have shown. Previously many children have attended in uniform and look very smart from such a young age giving them a sense of belonging and protecting own clothing.
Order forms are available if you wish to purchase any uniform for your children. If you require any further information, please do not hesitate to speak to a member of staff. All our children are very proud to show their uniform as well as looking so smart.
It is with great sadness that we announce that Rachelle our three-year room practitioner is ending her journey here with us after an amazing 9 years to further progress her careers. Rachelle’s last working day will be Friday 4th October and their disruption to her key family as they have started their transition to new key family. Rachelle will be a big miss to us all and I am sure you will join me in wishing her the very best of luck in the future.
Learning and development
Baby Room
Stories songs and rhymes have been a big focus in our baby room this term. The babies have loved joining together at group times to sit and read through our favourite books listening with interest and sharing the experience. The introduction of our song bag has been very popular also; the babies love the anticipation of what’s inside the bag and are beginning to identify the song from the props. Stories, songs and rhymes have had a positive outlook on children’s development whilst also enhancing imagination and curiosity. We have noticed the babies’ confidence thriving throughout these activities and it is such a lovely experience to sit back and observe the continuous smiles, giggles and joyous outbursts.
Outdoor exploration has been another big focus in our room; the babies love to be out in the garden and community in all weathers, whether it be splashing in a paddling pool, jumping in muddy puddles in the rain or challenging their physical skills at the local park our babies will always be seen smiling and relishing these opportunities.
All our babies have developed a huge interest in role play more recently, we incorporated a role play area into the environment and all of the babies have spent time exploring in here with the baby dolls, feeding them, carrying out care routines and showing a willingness to help staff with the younger babies in the environment. It has been wonderful to watch their imagination ignite and implement this in their play. We certainly do have the most loving, caring little babies within our learning environment.
Twos room
New term brings new terrific twos into our nursery environment. It is such a pleasure to see how they have taken to nursery with support and how others have transitioned with ease from the baby room. The children are now settled and have started to build relationships with their peers and discover interests of their own after exploring the environment.
Our focus this term is speech and language. To support this, we have introduced a story of the month. Each day/week we will add something new to the story either props, adventure or new experiences but the main outcome will be repetition so children can build and extend language and repeat in their own play. The story for September was ‘Baby shoe’. The children seem to have achieved so much from this book and have displayed so much interest in it. The story has led into many fun filled activities which each and every one of the children have taken learning from. Some of the activities included animal hunts, local walks, sensory trays, song time, role play and amazing imagination in the small world all of which led from the children’s interests.
The children have shown an interest in threading while enhancing their fine motor development. The children have used many skills to thread a variety of ways. This interest followed on through mark making opportunities and developing their use of scissors.
A BIG thank you to parents for participating in home learning opportunities and reading with your children. We also love hearing all about the life at home and looking at the photos you send in. ‘Where home comes to nursery’. This is a fantastic way to build your children’s confidence and try to allow us to follow your interests from home.
Threes room
A new cohort of three-year olds means new ideas, interests and evolving characteristics. This year we aim to educate our children upon topics of interests, routines, seasons, emotions and opportunities to support and encourage developmental milestones. The experiences and activities we have planned will evolve around ‘cultural capital’, therefore preparing the children for their futures as well as supporting ‘school readiness’.
We have already kicked off the term with our ‘story of the month’ “we’re going on a bear hunt” which the children have engaged enthusiastically in and are currently planning their very own bear hunt within the community.
Throughout free play, imaginations are running wild as new learning takes place and relationships begin to blossom, from princess castles, to dragons dens the children are enjoying using their ideas to create structures in groups and engage in open discussions.
We have also begun to focus on shapes within the environment, starting of baking cookies and loose parts art. Observational drawing have also captured children spiritual understanding, whilst developing fine motor skills and memory.
Outdoor explorers
Continues to be a success with real life experiences, creating challenge and managing own risks.
Our outdoor explorer sessions are now back in full swing and what a beautiful season to start a new adventure!
Through our first session it was lovely to see the awe and wonder the children experienced, exploring in the great wide open. Walking through the tall grass, finding fir cones and leaves on the ground, the children took it upon themselves to gather some natural resources.
Allowing children access to the outdoors sparks their exploration skills and their understanding of the world around them and from this the learning opportunities are endless........
“Remember to let children be free; encourage them; let them run outside when it’s raining; let them remove their shoes when they find a puddle of water and, when the grass of the meadows is damp with dew, let them run and trample on it with their bare feet. “ Dr Maria Montessori
This is exploration at its best!
Out of school/ Holiday care
After school club is going well and we have had a lot of children join our service, and some who have transitioned to school.
The children have enjoyed decorating and baking cookies while building an awareness about ‘Genes for Jeans’ which we recently took part in. children were highly motivated to help support the event and loved decorating their own jeans in various art.
Sports has continued to be a big interest with crazy golf and bowling being a game they all enjoyed.
Very soon are the October half term holidays where there will be much more fun filled activities to be had. I would be very grateful if you could complete a booking form asap to help with my planning and guarantee a place.
Reminders
• Please could you make sure your child is dressed appropriate for the weather and spare clothes are provided.
• New contact forms – Not all have been returned therefore another copy will be giving out for children who still require up to date information. This is very important so please return as soon as possible.
• Please remember that mobile phones are not to be used within the nursery rooms. If you are seen using your phone in the rooms, you will be asked to leave.
• We appreciate unwanted clothing for child. This helps us to keep the children dry and allow messy learning opportunities.
Dates for your diary:
• October half term holidays – Monday 28th October 2019 for 1 week.
• Halloween 31st October 2019 – We will celebrate Halloween on this day in nursery for any children wishing to dress up.
• Bonfire night Tuesday 5th November 2019 – We will provide safety awareness on this day and explore colours and sound.
• Children in need 16th November 2019
• Friday 13th December 2019 – Christmas jumper day and Christmas dinner.
• Christmas party – Friday 20th December 1.00 till 3.30pm (Morning session only). All childcare invited and must be collected by 3.30 pm)
• Friday 20th December 2019 – Break up for Christmas.
• Childcare opens back up Thursday 02nd January 2020
• Funded children return Monday 06th January 2020
Dates/events to be confirmed:
• Parents meeting – A chance to catch up with your child’s key person to celebrate achievements and address improvements.
• Children’s photographer in nursery November
We love to see what you have been doing at home. Photos are always valued and feed into your children’s learning giving many opportunities to link experiences. If you feel time is a problem, feel free to email the photos straight from your phone and we can print them off to share. nursery@whcnltd.com
Thank you for your continued support.
From
Lynn on behalf of the team
Each day is a photo day with a special memory. We will update our Facebook page as often as possible to help keep you update with what children are up to here at Wheatley Hill Community Nursery. Always remember learning journals can be seen or taken home to share and your child’s key person is always willing to share information or share special moments about your children.
Summer Term 2019
In May 2019 Lynn and Louise were delighted to celebrate the Durham baby room project - "Pedagogies of care" to represent our nursery.
We are so proud of how the project has impacted on our practitioners knowledge and understanding enabling them to continuously reflect giving our babies the best start in life. A special thank to our fantastic parents for allowing this to happen with their consent and also our amazing practitioners.
Gemma Turner our Deputy Manager and Three Year Room Lead has successfully completed an Early Years Senco Award - Well Done!!
21st July - This was a really emotional day. We said our goodbyes and wished our pre-school children good luck as they prepare for their journey into school life. Some of these children and their families have been with us from the very beginning, this always makes it extra hard. We wish you and your children the very best of luck in everything they do. 💕
In July the children also went on trips, the Babies went to Tweddle Farm and the Two and Three Year Old children went to Adventure Valley.......... visit our gallery to see what fun they all had!
The Nursery has an Ofsted rating of Good and we received some excellent feedback from our recent Ofsted inspection in March 2019.
The full inspection can be found by clicking the download button below.
