Newsletters
7th January 2021
Happy New Year, thank you for your patience this week as we readjust again to a new lockdown. We thought you would like to know what we will be focusing on for the next half term:
“Winter and Music” is our next theme. Over, the coming weeks we will be looking at a variety of science activities to explore such as snow and ice. Lots of craft and tactile opportunities along with a big focus on maths. We will be making different instruments with the children, talking about how sounds can be made, dancing and moving to music.
To really help bring this project to life it would be great for the children to see some more unusual instruments and to hear some of them being played. Normally parents would be able to come in and share their talents with the children. However, this year any budding musicians, could film themselves and email this in and we would love to share this with the children. The children will love it and think you are wonderful. We are hoping to share these during week commencing 1st February, so get practising.
Again, in normal times we would have loved to invite you in for a maths workshop so you could gain some ideas of how to support maths at home. This is something we have done before, so have a great booklet of ideas and we are hoping to film the staff at a few activities that you could try at home. We will load the video onto the Learning Journal system from week commencing the 25th January.
This is a great time to be outside and looking after the birds by making bird feeders and putting out seeds, we will be doing some of this at Pre-School and hope to join in the “Big garden bird count on the 29th January for the RSPB. You can sign up as a family and take part from the 29th - 31st of January, if you go online at:
Taking Part in Big Garden Birdwatch - RSPB
You can download a pack online or have one sent in the post if you sign up soon.
Here are a few of the things we will be getting up to each week:
Week 1 5th – 8th JanuaryWe will be settling in our new starters and hearing all the children’s Christmas stories. Together we are going to be completing lots of snowy crafts and tactile experiments.
Week 2 11th - 15th JanuaryBig box building, to make snow men as part of our winter role-play.
The children will be making Vegetable soup Tuesday morning to try at snack time.
Lots of ice experiments watching things change states.
Feeding the birds and making bird feeders.
Week 3 18th - 22nd January
The children will be involved in Ice and winter activities, making ice ornaments outside.
Looking at robins, and making marshmallow igloo’s together
Week 4 25th – 29th January
Each day we will be looking at a different Nursery Rhymes or Number Rhymes, and activities will be based around this.
The Maths workshop will be available for all families on the learning journal and a copy of our maths booklet will be emailed out so you have ideas to look at together at home.
RSPB – National big garden bird watch will be taking place
Week 5 1st - 5th FebruaryWe will be making our own instruments - shakers, using reclaimed items.
Sharing parents musical videos from home.
Week 6 8th - 12th FebruaryThis will be a very creative week as we look at the Chinese New Year celebrations, try different food, listen to Chinese music as well as music from around the world. The children will be busy creating artwork together.
We have given you a few ideas of what we might do over the next few weeks, but we would love your ideas, and the children’s too. So, if you can think of an activity, song, story, anything that might work around our theme of “Winter and Music” or Chinese New Year please write them down below and hand in to a member of staff and we will hopefully include them in our plans.
Parents ideas:
Children’s Ideas:
We may be due some snow over the coming weeks, if we do have some heavy snow and the primary school John of Rolleston closes Pre-School will be closed as well. John of Rolleston will advertise this on Radio Derby and their school website and we will post on our website, so if there has been reasonable snowfall check these before traveling.
Do you have any unwanted / duplicate Christmas gifts? If so, the committee could use them at future events for raffle prizes, so please bring them into Pre-School.
As ever we are always looking for items for tactile projects. Due to the COVID situation we have to only use these types of materials once and then throw them away at the moment to minimise risk. However, they are activities that children love: Flour, Pasta, Spaghetti, Rice, Cornflour, Salt, Jelly, Sugar, Lentils – would be very welcome.
Thanks as always for all your support
Lolene Poxon
Pre-school Manager
Happy New Year, thank you for your patience this week as we readjust again to a new lockdown. We thought you would like to know what we will be focusing on for the next half term:
“Winter and Music” is our next theme. Over, the coming weeks we will be looking at a variety of science activities to explore such as snow and ice. Lots of craft and tactile opportunities along with a big focus on maths. We will be making different instruments with the children, talking about how sounds can be made, dancing and moving to music.
To really help bring this project to life it would be great for the children to see some more unusual instruments and to hear some of them being played. Normally parents would be able to come in and share their talents with the children. However, this year any budding musicians, could film themselves and email this in and we would love to share this with the children. The children will love it and think you are wonderful. We are hoping to share these during week commencing 1st February, so get practising.
Again, in normal times we would have loved to invite you in for a maths workshop so you could gain some ideas of how to support maths at home. This is something we have done before, so have a great booklet of ideas and we are hoping to film the staff at a few activities that you could try at home. We will load the video onto the Learning Journal system from week commencing the 25th January.
This is a great time to be outside and looking after the birds by making bird feeders and putting out seeds, we will be doing some of this at Pre-School and hope to join in the “Big garden bird count on the 29th January for the RSPB. You can sign up as a family and take part from the 29th - 31st of January, if you go online at:
Taking Part in Big Garden Birdwatch - RSPB
You can download a pack online or have one sent in the post if you sign up soon.
Here are a few of the things we will be getting up to each week:
Week 1 5th – 8th JanuaryWe will be settling in our new starters and hearing all the children’s Christmas stories. Together we are going to be completing lots of snowy crafts and tactile experiments.
Week 2 11th - 15th JanuaryBig box building, to make snow men as part of our winter role-play.
The children will be making Vegetable soup Tuesday morning to try at snack time.
Lots of ice experiments watching things change states.
Feeding the birds and making bird feeders.
Week 3 18th - 22nd January
The children will be involved in Ice and winter activities, making ice ornaments outside.
Looking at robins, and making marshmallow igloo’s together
Week 4 25th – 29th January
Each day we will be looking at a different Nursery Rhymes or Number Rhymes, and activities will be based around this.
The Maths workshop will be available for all families on the learning journal and a copy of our maths booklet will be emailed out so you have ideas to look at together at home.
RSPB – National big garden bird watch will be taking place
Week 5 1st - 5th FebruaryWe will be making our own instruments - shakers, using reclaimed items.
Sharing parents musical videos from home.
Week 6 8th - 12th FebruaryThis will be a very creative week as we look at the Chinese New Year celebrations, try different food, listen to Chinese music as well as music from around the world. The children will be busy creating artwork together.
We have given you a few ideas of what we might do over the next few weeks, but we would love your ideas, and the children’s too. So, if you can think of an activity, song, story, anything that might work around our theme of “Winter and Music” or Chinese New Year please write them down below and hand in to a member of staff and we will hopefully include them in our plans.
Parents ideas:
Children’s Ideas:
We may be due some snow over the coming weeks, if we do have some heavy snow and the primary school John of Rolleston closes Pre-School will be closed as well. John of Rolleston will advertise this on Radio Derby and their school website and we will post on our website, so if there has been reasonable snowfall check these before traveling.
Do you have any unwanted / duplicate Christmas gifts? If so, the committee could use them at future events for raffle prizes, so please bring them into Pre-School.
As ever we are always looking for items for tactile projects. Due to the COVID situation we have to only use these types of materials once and then throw them away at the moment to minimise risk. However, they are activities that children love: Flour, Pasta, Spaghetti, Rice, Cornflour, Salt, Jelly, Sugar, Lentils – would be very welcome.
Thanks as always for all your support
Lolene Poxon
Pre-school Manager
