Rockets Nursery Class
Welcome parents and children to Rockets Nursery at Athelney Primary School
Meet the Nursery staff.......
Mrs McAuliffe is Mrs Hull is the Nursery Mrs Waring is the Federation
the Nursery Teacher. Nurse. Nursery Phase Leader.
Please feel free to talk to any member of staff in the Nursery if you have any questions or concerns.
Please read the document below that explains how to apply for your children to begin in Reception in September 2017. If you have any questions or queries, please do speak to a member to the Nursery team who will be more than happy to help.
Mrs Waring, the Nursery Phase Leader is currently booking appointments to work through the online application form with parents. If you feel you would like an appointment, please do let Mrs Waring know.
You can click on the link below which will take you to the Lewisham website for Primary applications.
Remember, the deadline for applications is 15th January 2017.
Applying for Reception for September 2017
Important information to remember:
Session times:
AM session: 8.45am - 11.45am
PM session: 12.30pm - 3.30pm
Please make sure your child has a spare bag of clothes that can be left in the Nursery, just incase they get wet or dirty whilst they are learning! Please put this in a bag, with your child's name clearly marked and leave it on your child's peg.
As it is now getting colder and the children use the outside area on a daily basis, please ensure your child has a warm coat, gloves and a hat all of which are clearly marked with your child's name! Can you please supply your child with a pair of welly boots which can be left in the Nursery for use outside.
We have had new families join us from September and the children have been busy settling in. They have tried very hard to get to know the new routines, all of the new staff and they have been making new friends!
The children have been concentrating on making relationships, their behaviour and managing their feelings. They have played games with their friends, learnt how to take turns and share and have tried hard to make sure they are following the rules within Nursery.
They have used a variety of tools and resources to practice their fine motor skills - play-dough, threading beads, brushes and sand and tweezers. The children have used the outside area and the large playground space to run, negotiate space, change direction, climb and balance.
Everyday the children have been practising their language skills by joining in with songs and stories, talking to adults, speaking to their friends, using the small world resources and commenting on what they see and do.
If you have any questions about the Early Years Curriculum and what the children will be covering whist they are in Nursery, please come and speak to a member of the Nursery staff.
We are always grateful for donations of flour and salt in the Nursery so that we can provide play-dough inside and outside for the children. If you would like to donate these items, please bring them in and give them to one of the Nursery staff. Many thanks in advance!
We are delighted to be offering parents the opportunity to purchase festive cards made by your children. We are using the company ‘Art Projects For Schools’.
By now you should have received your child’s art work. Please have a look at it and decide if you would like it to be made up in to a festive card or gift tags. You can a variety of messages in the card, they do not necessarily need to be connected to Christmas.
If you have decided that you would like cards / gift tags made up, please complete the relevant sections of the order form, enclosed with your child’s picture and return it to school by TUESDAY 15th NOVEMBER.
Here are some photographs of what the children have been busy doing in Nursery this week. They have been using the Magnetico to make and build models along with investigating the magic of magnets! Raheem lined up all of the cars he was playing with and counted them all, pointing to each one as he said a number name! Well done Raheem! The children have also been using the role play area to re-enact familiar real life situations and learn how to play with their friends, engage in conversation and share!
Nursery Sweet Tombola
The Christmas Fayre is fast approaching and we would really appreciate your help getting items together for the Nursery stall. We have decided to run a 'Sweet Tombola' and we are asking for donations of sweets to include in it. For example, a multi pack of Twirls, Twix, Mars, Flake etc. Come along on WEDNESDAY 7TH DECEMBER and visit the Nursery stall along with many more stalls, games and Santa's Grotto!
Thank you in advance for any donations!
Parents / Carers,
You are welcome to come and view your child's Learning Journal every Thursday at 11.20am (for morning children) and 3.15pm (for afternoon children). It is an excellent opportunity to see what activities your child has been participating in and talk to your child about what they have enjoyed doing at Nursery.
There is no need to book an appointment - just pop in! We look forward to seeing you!
HOME OBSERVATIONS
One of the ways in which your child is assessed in Nursery is through collecting evidence of things they have said or done. These are put into a ‘learning journal’, which is simply a scrapbook of your child’s achievements. Throughout Nursery this is used to work out your child’s learning and their next steps. As part of this, we would like parental input in the learning journals – this means we can know what you can see your child doing at home! Parental input is vital as it can demonstrate skills that, for whatever reason, might not have been observed at school.
What do I need to do?
If you catch your child doing something ‘noteworthy’, jot it down on one of the ‘did you know’ slips and give it to a member of the nursery staff team. This will then be added to your child’s learning journal.
How many should I do?
There is no limit – obviously the more the merrier, but there is no pressure to do loads. If you run out of slips just ask for more!
Examples of observations
- With some help, Jamie brushed his teeth by himself this morning
- Lizzie chose to water the plants this morning, selecting the equipment on her own
- Because you are doing a topic on transport, Daniel pointed to pictures of transport in the story I was reading to him!
- We went to Leeds Castle. Lydia had a great time trying on all the suits of armour and showed Grandad the pictures!
- Frankie tidied her toys away at bedtime (understanding codes of behaviour)
- Ruby and Layla spent hours recreating the pantomime we went to see
- Jack and Becky sit holding hands and move backwards and forwards to the song Row, row, row your boat
- Jay spent 15 minutes ‘reading’ his book by looking at the pictures and turning the pages, knowing which way up the book went
- Jo-Jo put her toys from biggest to smallest
- Darren made a picture using shapes
- Stu spent ages pouring water from one cup to another in the bath
- Chloe climbed up climbing frame and slid down the slide
- Pete recognised the McDonalds writing on the happy meal.
Other ideas
Taking turns and sharing fairly and playing with others
Linking sounds to letters, naming the letters of the alphabet, hearing and saying sounds in words, blending sounds in words, reading simple words
Any mark making – with pens, chalk, pencils, paint etc
Counting, recognising numbers, knowing more and less, sharing out, identifying shapes or patterns, responding to position (using under, over, in, out, between)
Any craft or creativity – dances, art, modelling, building, games, songs, play.
Exploring colour, sound or texture
Any experience with technology such as laptops, phones, cameras and computer games.
We appreciate your support with this and look forward to reading all the things they get up to at home!
Here is an example of the sheet you can use at home to write down any observations of your child: