Welcome to our April Newsletter

We would like to remind parents that the Pre-School Centre will close for Easter at 5.30pm on Wednesday 5th April and will re-open on Thursday 13th April.

Easter Fun with the Parent and Carers Network

Join us between the 27th of March and the 6th of April 2023 for a fun-filled Easter hunt around all the family friendly spots on campus!

 Starting from the Children’s section of the Library, find all the hidden pictures of Easter eggs on campus and don’t forget to write down the letter on each one to make your Easter word or phrase. Return your completed sheet to the Library reception desk to claim your prize!

Shared Book Reading Research Study

We have been asked to share the information below by a PhD student requesting that participants contact her if they are able to help with her research. For further information and appointments please contact: l.diprossimo@lancaster.ac.uk

DID YOU KNOW THAT SHARED BOOK READING IS A PRIMARY DRIVER OF CHILDREN'S LANGUAGE AND LITERACY DEVELOPMENT?

The Reading Medium and Meaning (READ2ME) study is part of a broader research program looking at early language development in the digital age. Help us better understand children's engagement and learning from print and digital books.

4 to 5-year-olds and their primary caregivers are invited to take part in shared book-reading activities. This will involve one or two visits to our child-friendly research labs at Lancaster University.

Days and times are flexible and we always try our best to accommodate your preference. Saturdays are popular, but we also do slots during the week that can fit around (pre)school schedule to suit you and your child.

Staff Changes

We would like to wish Kirsty and Kasia good luck and best wishes in their new ventures.

We are looking forward to welcoming back Hannan, Becky and Charlotte as they return from maternity leave over the next couple of months.

We would like to congratulate Gemma and her husband on the birth of their beautiful little boy Luca.

We would like to welcome Yvonne to the Senior Admin Team as a Senior Early Years Practitioner. 

Senior Early Years Practitioners have responsibility for the following areas: 

Kathy  0-2 years 

Yvonne  2-3 years 

Emma 3-4 years

Appropriate Outdoor Clothing

Can we please ask parents to provide appropriate coats etc. for when the children are going out on walks or playing outside.

SWAN Fundraising Concert

The children from Pre-School 1 were delighted to join the fundraising concert held on 9th March by the Southern Women Academics Network (SWAN). Their goal is to make academia a viable career choice for women from developing countries by increasing their participation.

It was a joyful event and the children thoroughly enjoyed taking part, there was lots of clapping, rhythmic tapping and dancing. The other members of the audience were delighted to see the enthusiasm and exuberance of our children. 

If you would like to learn more and see a clip of the concert please click on the link below.

Holi

The children in Pre-School 3 had a great time celebrating Holi the Festival of Colours. They recreated the famous scenes from around the world where crowds of festival goers throw coloured powder into the air in a celebration of joy and happiness.

We heard reports of many multi coloured baths that evening, apparently it got everywhere!

Baby Room

World Book Day

In the Baby Room we enjoyed celebrating World Book Day. We shared a range of books together and we all dressed as our favourite book character. The babies really enjoy exploring the ‘that’s not my…' books as they are interactive with different textures to look at and feel. 

We have also been visiting the Rainbow Room now that the babies are settled and happy within the Baby Room, introducing them to some new experiences, enjoying the sensory experience of watching lights and bubbles. 

Crèche 1

Sensory Exploration

This term, Crèche 1 have been focusing on sensory play and the many ways this can be explored in our environment.

‘The Colour Monster’ Sensory Bottles

We have enjoyed reading the story ‘The Colour Monster’. This story is an emotion story which categorises feelings into colours. The sensory bottles represent the feelings of the colour monster. The children have been able to self-regulate using the sensory bottles and they have also enjoyed seeing the bright colours and hearing the sound of the bottles shaking.

Our Herb Garden

We have also enhanced our sensory area by adding a Herb Garden. The Herb Garden has enabled the children to develop the senses of touch, see and smell. The children have enjoyed smelling the different herbs with curiosity and engagement. The herbs will be changed on a regular basis to expand the children’s experiences.

Fruit Printing

The children have been using different fruit and vegetables in a variety of different ways. The children enjoyed feeling and smelling them, and enjoyed their different textures and smells. To enhance this activity further we then printed the different shapes onto the paper which the children enjoyed, they were able to concentrate for short periods of time whilst focused and engaged in this sensory activity.

Crèche 2

Exploring Nature

In Crèche 2 we have been encouraging the use of natural resources in our malleable play. 

To do this we took the children on walks to help us gather leaves and sticks. This assists the children in developing their understanding of the world around them. Starting conversations as we walk around the environment, pointing out key features and familiar landmarks. 

The children have been enjoying getting out in all weathers to explore different sensations, having fun splashing in puddles and the few flakes of snow that appeared.

Nursery 1

Working on Independence

Over the past few weeks, the children in Nursery 1 have enjoyed expressing their own interests and doing things independently. We have been working on helping with dressing, focusing on putting on our own coats and cutting up our own fruit at snack time using safety knifes. 

We also had a brilliant time celebrating ‘bring a box activity week’ where we took part in a number of activities to encourage imaginative play and curiosity, along with developing communication and language skills through activities involving some of the children’s favourite books:

We’re going on a Bear Hunt, The Colour Monster, The Animal Boogie, Stomp Dinosaur Stomp, The Rainbow Fish and Elmer.

Nursery 2

Exploring the Forest

In Nursery 2 we have been continuing to develop our understanding of the world around us by noticing details in our environment. We have been exploring in the forest and observing the birds that live in the trees, watching them feed from the bird feeders we made.

We have used binoculars to watch them. Matching the pictures of those we have seen, thinking about what their nests might look like. We then made our own nests out of playdough and twigs.

If you spot any birds in the garden or when out on a walk you can use the link below to help identify them.

Pre-School 1

Learning Through Play

In Pre-School 1 we have been continuing our journey of learning, slowly and steadily progressing towards school readiness. Our focus has been on mathematics, incorporating the children’s learning into their play.

A good example of this has been our paper plane throwing contest. Using the same plane design, two tape measures and a seven-metre roll of paper the children threw, recorded the distance and remarked on the results.

This activity targeted multiple areas of development, fine motor skills with a tripod grasp (throwing the plane), using language of distance and recording (communication and language with mathematics) and celebrating the results (Personal Social and emotional). 

Furthermore, we have been building on the children’s sense of space and coordination by using boxes, during box week, to build a variety of structures from forts to slides and cars to buildings. The children helped to create and maintain these structures, enveloping these enhancements into their play. I’m sure that you will all agree box week as been a huge success, demonstrating that children do not necessarily need the biggest and most recent toy, but the box it came in will always be popular.

Pre-School 2

Exploring Seasons

In Pre-School 2 this term we have been doing lots of physical play.  As the weather has been improving, we have spent a lot of time in the forest and in the big garden having fun on the trim trail. This helps build the children’s confidence to climb and their ability to ask for help when it is needed.

The children have been creating their own obstacle courses by using crates, wooden planks, tyres and wooden blocks, learning to help each other and use their own imagination.

We will continue to build upon the children’s confidence in the outdoors and their physical development over the next few months by continuing with the trim trail and introducing the Barefoot walk.

Pre-School 3

Loose Part Art

Art and loose parts play open up a whole set of learning and play experiences for little learners, given the time, space and opportunity to explore loose parts, they naturally lean toward intentional and meaningful creations.

Art with young children is often divided into two categories: “projects” and “process art.” There are benefits to both. Projects encourage following directions, spatial awareness, fine motor development, problem solving skills and more. Process art encourages many of these skills while fostering independence and creativity.

Pre-School 3 have been exploring their own imaginations and thought processes to be creative, focusing for long periods of time. The children took pride in their creations they produced. We will be looking at finding larger pieces to use, making and producing more art together. 

We’re All Unknown Inventors

If human activity were limited to reproduction of the old, then the human being would be a creature oriented only to the past and would only be able to adapt to the future to the extent that it reproduced the past. It is precisely human creative activity that makes the human being a creature oriented toward the future, creating the future and thus altering his own present. - Lev Vygotsky.

Upcoming Events

King’s Coronation Party

We will be hosting a Coronation Party on Thursday the 4th of May. Celebrations will take place throughout the day with a Fish and Chip lunch for the children and various celebratory activities within the rooms.

Families are invited to a garden party (weather permitting) at the
Pre-School Centre from 4pm until 6pm. An invite will be sent out in due course, so please look out for it. Parents will be asked to confirm attendance via the invitation for catering purposes.

The Pre-School Centre will be closed on Monday the 8th of May for the King’s Coronation Bank Holiday.

Reminders

Main Door Access

Can we please ask ALL parents to ensure that when accessing the Pre-School Centre they use their access cards/fobs. We are experiencing a high volume of disruption due to the doorbell being used so frequently. 

If any parents have either lost their door access card/fob please ensure that you inform the office so that a replacement can be purchased for £5.00.

Any Library cards that have been replaced will need to be activated on our system.

Early Years Funding

A reminder to parents who are eligible for Early Years Funding, that the funding for the spring term ends 31st March. Funding is applicable for the period 15th May until 25th August 2023, for Summer term.

Parents who pay for their childcare via monthly invoices, note that there is no funding deducted after or prior to the above dates.

Contact details

Please remember to provide us with any new contact details, you can do this via the Parent zone app or by calling/advising the office.

Pre-School Website and Newsfeed

We would like to remind parents that you can access regularly updated information from our website and on our Twitter feed.