Welcome to our class page!

Teacher: Mrs Colman
Teaching assistants: Miss Bailey, Miss Taylor and Miss Higgins
Children: currently 30 children split over 15 and 30 hours

Home Learning

Home learning has now moved to the 'Home Learning' section on the CHILDREN yellow book link on the website homepage. 

Hello nursery!

It is Mrs Colman here, myself, Miss Bailey, Miss Taylor and Miss Higgins are missing you lots!

We can’t wait to hear what you have been getting up to at home!

I will keep posting different ideas on here to help! Please do not feel like you have to work your way through this list, it is not necessary, but a couple of activities each day may help bring a little bit of nursery into your home!

Don’t forget to add any photos or comments to our Facebook page so I can keep up to date with you too!

x

Literacy - Writing Ideas

Another area of the Early Years Curriculum is Literacy and within that reading and writing.

In nursery, most of the time writing isn’t ‘typically’ what you would think. It is all about starting to make marks to communicate meaning. Some children may be beginning to make marks to represent their name, which is amazing, but it is not an expectation - do not worry if your child isn't at this stage yet!

Pre-school children are only just establishing their dominant hand and pencil grip before strengthening their fine motor muscles to enable them to begin to write. Below are some ideas to support this from home:
 

• Finger rhymes – we always start our phonics sessions naming our fingers and singing a finger rhyme:

• Squiggle whilst you Wiggle – this is done daily in nursery and the children love it! It focuses on gross motor movements with material in each hand (you could use material or a pair of socks) and then focuses down, repeating this movement with paper and pens all to your favourite song! So far we have done these moves (if you search it on YouTube there are lots of examples!):
  Up and down and side to side
  Circles – round and round, smaller and then bigger
  Rainbow – over in a rainbow shape and then an upside down rainbow
   
• Playdough – manipulating the dough in different ways will help to strengthen those finger and wrist muscles. Dough disco can help with this!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTW7b8JfFX4 – link to an example dough disco and Squiggle!
 

• Fine motor painting. You could use your fingers or cotton buds.
   
• Pegging out the washing. Gripping and squeezing the pegs and then using hand eye coordination to put it onto the line.
   
• Threading pasta onto string to make jewellery (I know it is high in demand at the moment…) or you could use cheerios onto spaghetti strands.
   
• Using cutlery independently at meal times
   
• Building, balancing and joining construction
   
• Using different media to make marks – paints, chalks, water and paintbrushes outdoors, mud and water, making marks in sprinkled flour – your choice!
   
• Making marks to represent meaning – this could be your name, words around the house, drawing pictures and giving different parts a meaning – anything!

Enjoy and stay safe!

x

Mathematics – Number Ideas

Good morning all!

It's Mrs Colman here, hope you have settled into our new 'normal' for now and keeping yourselves busy! I hope yto help today with ideas focusing on another area of the Early Years Foundation Stage! I am going to be talking about 'number' and how you can complete some fun activities at home.

We have been using Ten Town in nursery to help us learn about numbers up to 10. Here are some activity suggestions to support this:

• Number rhymes. These are some of nursery’s favourites:
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_lgJgBbqWE
  https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/nursery-rhymes-counting-songs/zn67kmn
   
• Or how about some traditional rhymes such as ‘1, 2, 3, 4, 5 once I caught a fish alive’, ‘5 little monkeys jumping on the bed’ or ‘5 little ducks went swimming one day’?
   
• Ten Town guides – they explain each character, the story behind them and the number formation rhyme
  King One - https://www.tentown.co.uk/_images/_materials/50-Guide%20to%20King%20One.pdf
  Tommy Two - https://www.tentown.co.uk/_images/_materials/53-Guide%20to%20Tommy%20Two.pdf
  Thelma Three - https://www.tentown.co.uk/_images/_materials/75-New%20Thelma%20Three%20Introduction.pdf
  Freddie Four - https://www.tentown.co.uk/_images/_materials/96-Guide%20to%20Freddie%20Four.pdf
  Fiona Five - https://www.tentown.co.uk/_images/_materials/108-Guide%20to%20Fiona%20Five.pdf
   
• Rote count different things around the house or in the garden – count the stairs each time you go up or down them, count how many birds you can see outside or cars you see parked, help set the table for tea and count out the right amount of plates and cups. Can you make some marks to record this amount?
   
• Watch some numberblock clips to help learn about the different numbers -
  https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/b08bzfnh/numberblocks
• Incorporate counting into your exercises – can you do 10 star jumps? Can you pat your head 10 times? Can you stomp your feet 10 times? Make sure you give each one a number!
   
• Make rainbow paper chains (or any paper chains) to decorate your window with! Roll a dice and count out some paper strips in the given number, repeat this and count out different coloured paper strips – join them altogether and count the total!
   
• Play a board game with your family. Roll the dice and count how many spaces you need to move.
   
• Use your blocks or toys to count out a given amount. Can you make two groups that have the same number? Now can you make a group that has one more? Which group has less? Can you make them the same again?
   
• Can you represent the different numbers? It could be by making marks with paper and pen or grouping different numbers of objects.

I hope this has helped!

I look forward to seeing what you have been getting up to over on the blog!

x

Good morning Polar Bears!

Myself, Miss Bailey, Miss Taylor and Miss Higgins have decided to set you all a challenge!

Below, I have posted '100 Things to Do Indoors'. We challenge you (and your family if they want to get involved!) to choose at least one activity to complete in your house or garden this week! When you have completed it, please add it do the Polar Bear blog so we can see them all!

We have all been busy, I will add some photos of what we have been doing below! 

Miss Taylor:

29. Colour in a colouring book 

I found a really old colouring book in my desk at home and tried really hard to stay in the lines. It's taken me ages so far but I like the colours in her hair! What have you been colouring in?

44. Play a board game. 

This one is quite tricky for someone who lives alone! Luckily I found a board game you can play without anyone else! It made me jump when it buzzed. I think I need more practise at this skill! 

What skills could you practise on your own? I'd love to see them when we are back in nursery.

Miss Bailey:

89&90. Sing and dance in the shower.

I do this all the time! My shower is really posh and has a radio built into it, so I always listen to music while I'm in there. You know me, I cant listen to music and not have a boogie and a sing along!

Why not have a try yourself. See what you can use as a microphone (I use a shampoo bottle!)

But be very careful, showers can get slippery, so make sure you've got a grown up with you!

17. Wear an adults shoes.

Well, I am an adult, so this was a bit tricky for me. But I found my daddy's slippers so I decided to wear these instead. His feet are much bigger than mine, so I felt a bit like I was wearing a giant's slippers!

This gave me an idea. 

I decided to do giant footsteps around my garden. It was really fun!

Can you wear a grown up's shoes (make sure you ask them first!) and see if you can do giant footsteps too? How many other ways can you think of walking around?

Miss Higgins:

31. Have a pamper day.

I love to wear a face mask and get cosy just before bedtime. Here I am in my favourite face mask and comfy pyjamas to make me feel good about myself just before bedtime!

Mrs Colman:

12. Have a birthday party for a pet or cuddly toy.

Here I am with my puppy, Rolo, and his favourite toys. We all had a drink of water, I had a biscuit and Rolo had some of his doggy treats! I was a challenge to get Rolo to sit but, as you can see, he is quite the poser!

Why don't you see if you can have a tea party at home?
Make a list of your favourite foods and anything else you would need for the tea party!

Can you help make the sandwiches with your favourite filling? You could even make some cakes!
Bring your toys to your tea party too! Make sure you count out the plates and cups to make sure there is enough for everyone!

Enjoy x

We can't wait to see your activities!

x

There are some amazing ideas on here for you too:

https://abcdoes.com/home-learning/

xxx

Personal, social and emotional ideas.

Well my Polar Bears...we are into our third week of no nursery!
I miss all your little faces lots! I have loved seeing photos of you on our school Facebook page and I hope you have enjoyed my stories!
I hope to be in touch with you more when our blog is up and running.

Now more than ever, looking after ourselves and our mind-set is really important!
We need a clear routine with boundaries in place, especially at this confusing time, to help us feel secure and safe. The Personal, Social and Emotional strand of the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum (which includes areas with skills needed to form social relationships, build up confidence and manage behaviour) is a strand which can be, and probably already is, easily incorporated into your daily routine to help with this.

Here are some ideas to help:
 

• Have a listening minute. In nursery we do this during some circle times to bring our focus back. This may be helpful before you complete an activity together. We play a chime, close our eyes and complete ‘rainbow breaths’ (touching our nose to breath in and then putting our hand in front of our mouths to breathe out) until we can no long hear the chime. I have found this video clip which might be helpful in doing this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZME0JKiweL4
   
• Again, as mentioned in my Physical Development ideas, Cosmic Yoga is helpful in bringing back focus.
   
• Designate a time to have, as we would call it in nursery, ‘circle time’. Encourage your child to bring something to the ‘circle’ to talk about. Maybe it has a story behind it? Maybe it is their favourite toy? Why have they chosen it? What makes it special? Can they describe it? If there is two of you in your ‘circle’, or more, can you child listen to what others have said? Can they build on or comment on what they have said? Can they wait their turn? If you want to go ‘full nursery mode’, sing our ‘circle song’ when making your circle and you could even begin it with the ‘hello song’ (I will post these below).

‘Make a circle, make a circle
Big and round, big and round
All join hands together, all join hands together
Now sit down, now sit down’

‘Hello, how are you?

Hello, how are you?
Hello, how are you?

How are you today?
I’m fine, how about you?
I’m fine, how about you?
I’m fine, how about you?
How about you today?’
 

• Say something kind or do something kind for someone. Even giving each other a smile or sharing our toys could make someone happy. Can you help the people in your house do some jobs, maybe tidying up your toys, helping with making the tea or washing up the pots?
   
• Play a board game with your family – this will focus on listening and taking turns.
   
• Think about what makes you special? What makes you unique? What are you really, really good at? You might be amazing at drawing pictures, or dancing or singing, even building towers or putting your own coat on! You could present a ‘show’ for the people in your house to show them this special talent! And for those that can’t be there to watch it, ask someone to film it and send it to them to put a smile on their face! Equally, what do you want to get better at – practise makes perfect so use a little bit of time each day to get better at this!
   
• Talk about things that you are grateful for, what has made you happy whilst spending time at home? What has been your favourite activity? Can you make a picture for someone you aren’t able to see right now ready to give to them later? Equally, discuss things that might make them feel sad or angry and why this is.
   
• Make ‘Worry Dolls’ to talk about how you are feeling - simply decorate a stick by painting it or wrapping string around it to make it your own!
   
• Draw a picture to say thank you to others. Lots of people have been creating rainbows and putting them in their windows and this has even extended to teddy bears. Can you go on a walk and try and spot these? Or, if someone is walking near your house can you give them a wave or a smile to say hello from your window?
   
• Explore different music on Youtube, how does it make you feel? Can you make different faces to represent this feeling? Can you find some music to represent different moods? Can you add movement to this music? Find your happy song! This is Mrs Colman’s:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ru0K8uYEZWw&list=PLW9z2i0xwq0F3-8LieqflLLWLWZQgvhEX

Hope to see you all soon!

Mrs Colman xx

Easter Egg Competition!

To help celebrate Easter time, Harrowgate Hill Primary School are running an Easter egg decorating competition!

There is a £10 Amazon voucher prize for first place in each year group, so be as creative, whacky and as crazy as you can!

Please email entries to admin@harrowgatehillpri.darlington.sch.uk with 'Easter Egg Competition' as the subject or upload your entry onto the school Facebook page.
Don't forget to include your name and that you are a Polar Bear!

The competition will be judged on Monday the 13th of April - so you have until then to get messy!

I will be keeping my eyes out for your entries, I always love seeing what you have come up with!

Good luck!

xxx

The World Ideas

How lovely has the weather been over the weekend?! Hope all my Polar Bears are enjoying it and staying safe on this Monday afternoon! I have been outside enjoying my garden today, hope you have too! I even got the paddling pool out for my puppy yesterday - he wasn't very keen mind you!

As we are slowly starting to see some signs of Spring, I thought I would give you some ideas for the strand The World today.

• Go for a Spring walk and look for the signs of Spring. Compare this to the other seasons. Can you take a Spring selfie or collect some Spring items?
   
• Explore your own garden at home – you could go for a ‘bug hunt’ (be very careful not to hurt the little creatures!), make windmills using paper or kites using plastic bags, make windchimes using noisy items from around the house or make and blow bubbles using washing up liquid.
   
• Collect some natural items from outside and create a ‘frozen nature sculpture’ - put them into a cup, fill with water and pop it in your freezer.
   
• Create a representation of something you have observed – this could be a daffodil from your Spring walk, your house whilst sitting outside, a bird or a bug you found in your garden or other things around you.
   
• Have a look at some animals in Edinburgh zoo – if you time it right you can watch the zoo keepers feeding them! Compare and contrast them. Talk about what they look like, what they eat and their habitats. Do some research on your favourite animal using google.

https://www.edinburghzoo.org.uk/webcams/
 

• Visit the National Trust website for some ideas – adapt some of the activities and complete them in your garden or during your daily exercise.
   
• Use Google Maps to look at the world around you which you might not be able to get out and see at the minute! Children love navigating their way around the streets of Darlington, looking at their own houses, at school, people walking in the street, making observations on how things have changed. This might be especially helpful now that we are staying indoors more. Have a go and see what you can find, here is the ‘street view’ of Harrowgate Hill Primary School to get you started: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@54.5457141,-1.5568787,3a,75y,206.46h,90t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s33rPONiKAMoabq0G1_JuEw!2e0!6s%2F%2Fgeo2.ggpht.com%2Fcbk%3Fpanoid%3D33rPONiKAMoabq0G1_JuEw%26output%3Dthumbnail%26cb_client%3Dsearch.revgeo_and_fetch.gps%26thumb%3D2%26w%3D96%26h%3D64%26yaw%3D206.46335%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i13312!8i6656
   
• Can you make your own map of the route you went on your walk today? What did you see? What colours did you see? Did you spot any rainbows – how many? What could you hear? Was there any smells?

Missing you all lots!

Here is another photo of Rolo exploring the paddling pool yesterday (he would not put his paws in it, but he really wanted the ball! In the end, he showed his dislike by popping it).

People and Communities Ideas

Good morning my Polar Bears!
 

I had a very busy day yesterday! My puppy, Rolo (as lots of you will know), can be a little tinker sometimes…

Yesterday, as I was getting ready to go into school, I thought he had eaten the key for my window. I rang the vet who told me to take him straight down and they gave him a special injection to make him feel better. After all of that, I don’t think he did eat the key, but that is a whole different story….

Anyway, I missed you all lots in school today! My busy morning got me thinking about how I can help you at home and give you some ideas, if you need them.

I decided to focus on the strand People and Communities within the area Understanding the World, as this is all about understanding different occupations, family, friends and ourselves – which really helped me this morning!
 

• Think about the jobs different people do and what skills they will need. What will they need to be really good at? What are you really good at? Maybe you could pretend to be a superhero and your special power could be your amazing skill!
   
• Research different occupations – what did the vet need to know to help Rolo? Have you ever been to the doctors or the dentist? What is their job? Do they wear a uniform? How do they make you feel?
   
• Have a look at some animals in Edinburgh zoo – if you time it right you can watch the zoo keepers feeding them! How is this job different to others?

https://www.edinburghzoo.org.uk/webcams/
 

• Talk about a special time at home or in nursery that you can remember. Describe it to your family, you could even draw a picture of it!
   
• Look at photographs and memories and talk about them. Do you all look the same? How are you different? Maybe use them to make a scrapbook to remember different memories or different people!
   
• Create role play situations – maybe you miss being able to go to the shop so why not collect some items out of your cupboards and make your own shop? You could sell food, clothes or even your toys!
   
• Talk about the traditions that you may have in your house - maybe you celebrate Christmas by having Christmas eve boxes, or have a cheeky elf that always visits you. Maybe you decorate the tree a certain way or have certain family members you always visit. You might give out Easter eggs or do an Easter egg hunt each year. Or maybe you celebrate your birthday a certain way?
   
• Extend this, and think about traditons around the world. They might celebrate differently? Or eat different foods? Or wear different clothes? We have recently learnt about Chinese New Year and how this differed from out New Year celebrations.
   

Hope this helps!
 

Before I go, here is a photo of Rolo feeling very sad after his trip to the vets….

Stay safe!

x

Rainbows...

Hello Polar Bears!

You might have listened to my ‘Mix it Up’ story already (if not, head over to the Video Resource Centre under the Children tab)! It had lots of different colours in and you used your magic to help them to change!

We have been busy making a giant rainbow in school which is now displayed at the front of the office, if you are passing look out for it! Why don't you make a rainbow to display for others to see whilst they are on a walk?

Don’t forget to post it to our Harrowgate Hill Primary School Facebook page, maybe comment on my story telling, so I can see it too!

You could make your rainbow by using:

• Paints on paper or directly onto the window
• Coloured pencils or crayons
• Different coloured toys, clothing or objects from around the house
• Natural objects found in the garden – can you find all the colours?
• Collage
• Chalks on the path in the garden
• Fruit kebabs or fruit and vegetables on a meal (of course, this can’t be displayed!)

Here is another colour mixing story which I like:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fF_CAsEEF4I

You could also sing this well-known nursery rhyme which is a firm favourite in nursery:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/nursery-rhymes-i-can-sing-a-rainbow/zn3tqp3

I can’t wait to see them all!

Nursery from Home

Here is a poem written by our one and only....Miss Bailey!!
(I think she is trying to give Julia Donaldson a run for her money, I am sure you will agree!)

Read it allowed with your family and talk about what it means. Why don't you see if you can complete some of the activites together? Can you spot the rhyming words? Have you got other books in the house with rhyming words in that you can share, or perhaps you can sing your favourite nursery rhyme? Can you clap along to the beat of the poem? Or think of some more rhyming words to create your own verse?

We hope you enjoy it, we miss you all!

xx

Nursery from Home
Hello there nursery children!
How are you today?
Your teachers are all missing you,
We want to watch you play!

We wonder if you can make us smile
We've set a little task.
It will only last a little while,
But can you do just like we ask?

Can you count from one to ten?
Can you dance and smile and sing?
What if you could make a den?
But be sure you all fit in!

What if you could draw a picture?
Can you build the tallest towers?
Or in the garden, make a muddy mixture
And discover brand new flowers!

Could you try to write your name?
We bet that you'll be great!
What about playing an outside game?
Just dont go past your gate!

We can't wait to hear what you've been up to
And hope your having fun.
We also think your grownups would love it,
If you tidy up once you're done!
Written by,
Miss Bailey.

Physical Development Ideas

Today, I am going to give you some physical development ideas! This is one of the 17 areas of the Early Years Curriculum.

 I got up this morning and I went for a run to make sure I was still exercising! My photos is below, so you know I am telling the truth (you can all hold me accountable!)

Why don’t you follow and try one of these ideas, get your family involved too!!
 

• Try and exercise clip on Youtube. Here is the link to the Joe Wicks one -
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rz0go1pTda8
   
• In nursery, we always do a ‘Wake Up’ routine to get us ready for the day. Here are two of our favourites, see if you can get your grown-ups to join in –

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gUbdNbu6ak
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwT5oX_mqS0
 

• After our lunch, or at different points in the day, we do have some quiet time. Sometimes we complete a ‘Cosmic Yoga’ routine (please be aware, some are trickier than others) or other times we sit and listen to some relaxing music. Here are some links that we use –

https://www.youtube.com/user/CosmicKidsYoga

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpGydp1hEwE (we like looking for the different sea creatures on this one!)

• We are outside lots in nursery, so go for a walk or run outside in the garden. See if you can think of some different ways of moving about - can you do some giant steps? Can you walk like a fairy? Can you sneak really quietly? Can you move like a lion?
  Getting some fresh air will really help.
   
• Linking in with our writing development, we complete ‘Squiggle while you Wiggle’ daily. We have done three moves so far – up and down, circles and rainbows. You will need some material, one piece in each hand (a pair of socks will do for this) and then some paper and two pens to mark with. Here is a link to ‘up and down’ –

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptFAL-eSvxU
 

• Please explain to your child that it is normal to feel tired, hot and out of breath (as you can all see from my photo!). Many children question this when exercising. This will help them to have an understanding of how their body works. If they show an interest in this, you could extend their learning further. 
   
• Set a dance alarm - on your phone or tablet why not set an alarm to go off every hour? When you hear this alarm, play your favourite song and get moving!
   
• Otis Mabuse from Strictly Come Dancing is going live on Facebook, Instagram and Youtube each day with some themed dances - see if you can learn some new moves!
  

Hope this keeps you going for a little while and helps to bring nursery into your home!

Speak to you soon, stay safe! xxx

Handwashing

Handwashing has been a very important part of the nursery day recently. We have been regularly washing our hands using soap and water and singing whilst we are doing so. We have talked about germs what they are. Mrs Colman dipped her hand in glitter and walked all around nursery, showing us all just how fast germs can spread!

Forest Garden

We are very lucky to have Forest Garden on our school site. Nursery have enjoyed exploring it this week. We have observed lots of children managing their own risks, growing in confidence in their own ability, helping and supporting each other and showing amazing gross motor skills! There has been lots of jumping, landing safely, negotiating space and climbing happening to strengthen up those muscles for our physical development!

Numberblocks

We have been very interested in numberblocks recently and it has really helped with our number sessions. We have enjoyed printing with cubes, arranging them to create our own numberblock representations and collaging the numberblocks too!

Here is the link to watch some of the short episodes at home:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/b08bzfnh/numberblocks

World Book Day

Today was a very cosy World Book Day and we all enjoyed a day in our pyjamas! We shared books throughout the day and talked about our favourites. We were also lucky enough to have Year 6 join us on the afternoon to share stories with us, we sat very quietly and listened carefully.

Birds

In line with ‘RSPB Big Garden Bird Watch’ we have been learning about birds in nursery this week. We followed instructions to create our own bird feeders using lard and bird seed, we created our own representations of birds from observations in the garden and books and we collected sticks, leaves and feathers to create our very own birds nest outdoors. We also extended this, and learnt about other animals which hatch out of an egg just like a bird!

Here is the link if you would like to find out more:

https://www.rspb.org.uk/about-the-rspb/about-us/media-centre/press-releases/big-garden-birdwatch-2020/

Fitness Week
 

This week was Fitness Week. We talked about the importance of staying fit and healthy and thought of different ways we could do this. We joined in with the whole school run around the playground and completed our own exercises in nursery!

Chinese New Year
 

This week, nursery have enjoyed learning about different traditions focusing on Chinese New Year. We have talked about Chinese food, created our own Chinese flags using the lucky colour, created our own Chinese lanterns and watched clips of the Chinese celebrations! We all decorated a paper plate to create our very own nursery Chinese dragon, and enjoyed copying dragon dancing to Chinese music.

Christmas Performance

We were AMAZING at performing our special Christmas nursery rhymes to our grown-ups over the last two days. We all tried really hard to sing the words and complete the actions.

Well done everyone, we hope you enjoyed the show!

Kindness Elves

Father Christmas sent us very special elves this year. They were called Kindness Elves and they were sent to us to help us complete acts of kindness in the lead up to the big day! Some of these included smiling at everyone you see, giving our friends a compliment, make Christmas cards for our loved ones and make decorations for the classroom.

We tried very hard with all the challenges set and were very sad to see the Kindness Elves go, but before they left they gave us a treat of a Polar Express Day! We hope to see them again next year!

Christmas Fayre
 

As always, Mrs Abbott gave nursery a £30.00 budget to spend to make some Christmas crafts to sell at the fayre. We decided to make hot chocolate reindeer cones, reindeer food, Christmas tree playdough and decorate some Christmas themed cakes. All of our creations required us to follow instructions carefully and use lots of maths skills such as counting and measuring.

Christmas Jumper Day

Today we celebrated Christmas Jumper Day to raise money for Save the Children. They Kindness Elves sent us a special challenge – to decorate Mrs Colman, Miss Bailey and Miss Higgins Christmas tops! We had lots of fun arranging, sticking and creating different bits to add on.

I think you will agree, they look fantastic!

Superheroes
 

We have been interested in superheroes this week. We have talked about superheroes special powers and what we thought our special power would be and something we were really good at! We also made superhero capes from bin liners and used our scissor skills to make masks.
 

Just look at our superhero poses!

Nursery Rhyme Week

This week we have been celebrating World Nursery Rhyme Week! Nursery rhymes are really important for our early communication, language and literacy development!

Each day we have learnt the words and some actions to five new nursery rhymes and completed some activities around each rhyme. 

Some of the rhymes we learnt this week were:

Incy wincy spider

Baa, baa black sheep

Down in the jungle,
Two little dickie birds

Row, row, row your boat

If you would like some more information on this, please visit:

https://www.worldnurseryrhymeweek.com/

We had lots of fun!
See if we can sing you one of our rhymes?

Exploring Instrumental Sounds

We have been focusing on aspect 2 of phase 1 phonics this week which is all about instrumental sounds. This led us on to be really interested in creating and performing our own shows. 

It all started on Tuesday, when in phonics we created our own shakers using different dried materials. We talked about the types of noises the different materials made and compared them. We really enjoyed taking our shakers outside onto the stage and using them to perform alongside music on the stage.

Later in the week we explored the different types of sounds we could create with our instruments, we practised stopping and playing when asked and playing our instruments loud and quiet. 

This then developed into groups of children creating their own stage area in the classroom using chairs and creating their own show using their own acts. We had jokes, dancing, singing - our talents are endless!

Children in Need

Today nursery celebrated Children in Need.

To begin our day, we joined in with Joe Wicks 'Big Morning Move'. We enjoyed copying the different moves to wake us up ready for a busy day!

We came into nursery in our own clothes and brought our teddies along with us! We cared for the teddies all day and enjoyed showing them the toys in nursery and our routine.

We then used charcoal to create representations of our teddies. We explored the different marks we could make using it as well as how we could use our finger to smudge it to make our picture textured.

We had lots of fun and we hope our teddies did too!

2D Shape

We have been learning all about 2D shapes in nursery this half term! We have learnt some new mathematical vocabulary such as:

square, triangle, rectangle, circle, side, corner, flat 

We have had lots of shape activities out in the nursery provision from creating 2D shape pictures, printing with 2D shapes and sorting the shapes into different categories. We even went on a shape hunt around school as part of our Maths focus!

Remembrance Day

We have been interest in poppies in nursery following on from poppies being sold around school. We talked about what these poppies represent and watched a short clip to help us understand what happened a long time ago.

Poppies clip:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02qvbd9

Some children took a further interest in this and chose to watch the Sunday memorial, we spoke a lot about the soldiers we could see, the uniform they had on and the medals they had been awarded.  

Some children chose to make their own poppies using loose parts or using collage materials. 

Bonfire Night

We have been very excited about Bonfire Night in nursery!

We listened carefully to the story of Guy Fawkes and what he had planned to do a long time ago.

We enjoyed discussing the firework displays we had seen during circle time and the sounds we could hear. We reminded each other of the rules and how to stay safe around fireworks. 

Some of us enjoyed creating our very own representations of the fireworks we had seen using chalks and paints after watching some firework displays on the whiteboard. 

Nursery's Halloween Party!

Nursery had their very own Halloween Party today!

We dressed up and visited the different classrooms around school to 'trick or treat'.

They were very kind to us and thankfully only offered us a 'treat'!

Throughout the week we have been very busy using our counting skills to make magic potions, our creative skills to create our own pumpkin faces using paints, our health and self care skills to create monster biscuits and our exploratory skills to help the adults carve spooky faces into pumpkins and apples!

Autumn

Autumn is such a busy time of year in nursery! There are so many changes to observe outdoors! The weather gets colder and the leaves begin to change on the trees. The children were very interested in bringing into nursery all the amazing natural materials they found on their way to school. From this, we decided to explore what these materials were and why they were on the floor.

We enjoyed going on a Autumn walk, making and exploring Autumn jelly, creating Autumn pictures using Autumnal colours and creating representations of 'spikey' objects using clay. 

In the lead up to Halloween we have been very busy using our counting skills to make magic potions, our creative skills to create our own pumpkin faces using paints, our health and self care skills to create monster biscuits and our exploratory skills to help the adults carve spooky faces into pumpkins and apples!

Our Senses

As part of getting to know each other in nursery, we have decided to explore our own bodies and our senses. We have completed lots of activities around our five senses and discussed our own likes and dislikes. 

Some of the activities we have enjoyed are:
 

A listening walk - we used our scissor skills to cut our some giant ears to create our 'listening ears'. We then wore these around school on a hunt for sounds. We talked about how we had to be very quiet to help our listening ears work. We then tried to identify the sounds we could hear!

A sensory trial - we took off our socks and shoes and went outside to feel different textures using our skin. We talked about the textures we liked and disliked and used some amazing vocabulary to describe them!

Taste Test - we had five different tastes to try and compared in our groups to who liked and disliked them. 

Outdoors

Look at all the fun we have been having in our new outdoor area!

The children have settled in well to the nursery routine and enjoy free flow each day!

Nursery Provision

Here are some examples of the activities we have out in nursery each day! The nursery classroom is split into different areas which link to the Early Years Foundation Stage Curriculum. These change as the children's interests do, and we cater the provision depending on their own individual interests and development. 

Our first week!

We have been very busy this week settling into nursery, learning the rules and routines and making lots of new friends! We are looking forward to continuing next week!

We are very excited to be starting the journey together in Harrowgate Hill Primary School!

Each day will be different in nursery depending on children's interests - we can't wait to see where this year will take us!

There will be lots of learning, exploring, questioning and of course fun!! Keep checking back to see what we have been getting up to....