November – December 2019 Newsletter.
Over the last half term the children have settled in well, and are creating their own little friendship groups. It’s been lovely to get to know the children and seeing their unique characters shining through.
We have now introduced morning circle, where the children are encouraged to self-register by finding their own names and posting them in the post-box. At this morning circle we will be reading out the ‘WOW stars’ from home. These wow stars are to celebrate the achievements the children accomplice at home. This can be anything from eating all their dinner, staying in their own bed all night or learning to ride their bike. The wow star board is located on the shed, please fill out a post-it star and stick it on the board.
This half term’s circle time focus, will be exploring different emotions and encouraging the children to make good choices about the things they do.
We will also be focusing on encouraging the children to be more independent with their hand washing, we have noticed that some children are struggling to pull up their sleeves before washing their hands. Please could you ensure the t-shirts and jumpers are easy for them to roll up and down.
We are fully aware that sometimes children have accidents, get wet or messy during play and whilst we have spare clothes, we cannot guarantee to have clothes to fit every child! Therefore, please could bring in a named bag (small) with a full change of clothes just in case. We strongly advise that everything you bring in is named, including coats, shoes, lunch boxes and bags etc.
Please remember when packing your child’s lunch box (if applicable) that we are a NUT AND CONFECTIONARY FREE ZONE!! Please can you ensure your child has a drink in their lunch and at least 1 piece of fruit. At pre-school we encourage all children to eat healthily and make good choices, however we have noticed that some lunches do not have fruit in. If you would like any advice on what to put into your child’s lunch box then please see a member of staff.
We would also like to ask if you could discourage your child from bringing in ‘toys from home’, as we would hate for them to get lost, and cause your child to become upset. We will have designated times throughout the year to allow your child to ‘Show and tell’ which we will inform you beforehand.
Facebook – We have a closed group page called ‘Parents of Little Dolphins’ where we upload the newsletter, special activities, tips and committee news – please add us to see all the latest news.
Tapestry – we hope you are enjoying the observations that have been published on Tapestry, giving you an insight into what your children are getting up to at pre-school. We try to publish once a week and aim to do 1 observation per child… sometime this is not always possible, but we will publish them as soon as we can. If you have any questions or experience any problems with logging in to tapestry please speak to Anne-Marie or Amy.
What we are planning on exploring this half term:
Topic: Exploring Light and Dark / Christmas Fun.
Week 1: 4th – 8th November – Firework.
- Firework pictures
- Talking about fire safety
- Practising the fire drill
- Exploring different emotions and taking photos of them.
- Song: 10 little fireworks
- Story: Fireman Sam stories
Week 2: 11th – 15th November – Being bright.
- Children in Need – All week wear something ‘spotty’ for Pudsey!
- Be bright be seen (road safety)
- Exploring the dark den with torches, glow sticks and fairy lights
- Reflections – exploring shadows
- Remote control cars
- Song: Traffic light song
- Story: Owl babies
Week 3: 18th – 22nd November – Day and Night.
- Day and Night pictures
- Don’t be afraid of the dark!
- Exploring the light box
- Glow in the dark pictures
- Song: Two little stars
- Story: The owl who was afraid of the dark
Week 4: 25th – 29th November – It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…
- Christmas tree decorations
- Decorating the room ready for Christmas
- Writing a letter to Santa
- Hanging up our stockings (fine motor skill activity)
- Song: Who is coming on Christmas Eve?
- Story: Stickman
Weeks 5 & 6: 2nd – 13th December – Glitter, glitter everywhere… Christmas craft explosion!
- Making Christmas cards
- Making calendars
- Christmas treat decorations
- Glitter cones
- Christmas cooking
- Song: A selection of Christmas songs
- Story: A selection of Christmas stories.
Week 7: 16th – 19th December – Santa Claus is coming to town (soon!!).
- A week full of fun, laughter and games.
- Song: When Santa got stuck up the chimney
- Story: The Christmas Tree Wish
Important dates:
Pre-School party – Thursday 19th December – More details to follow.
Last day of term: Thursday 19th December.
Christmas Holidays: Friday 20th December – Sunday 5th January.
First day of term: Monday 6th January 2020.