Nursery 2023-2024

Nursery Class Teacher

Miss Betsy Broad

Early Years Practitioner

Mrs Bev Charge

A warm welcome to Nursery. This page is full of information to help you. Please find below our termly overview to help you support your child at home, and our class timetable to see what we get up to each day.

Important information

- The majority of your child’s learning will be posted on tapestry, where you will see individual observations of your child. There will also be weekly posts here, on our class page, sharing with you what we have been up to each week.

- We recommend your child brings a bag of spare clothes into Nursery each day. This will live on their pegs in the cloakroom.

- PE is once a week and the children will not need a PE kit for this session.

- Please ensure your child has a named puddle suit and welly boots in school. These are kept on the racks just outside our classrooms. 
 

Any questions please do not hesitate to ask to arrange a meeting with Miss Broad or post your questions on Tapestry.

Week Beginning 15.04.24
This week the children have loved our new role play area - a doctors surgery. They have played lots of different roles such as doctor, patient and receptionist. 

Week Beginning 25.03.24
Thank you to all who came to our Easter stay and play. It was lovely to see the children showing you around their classroom and enjoying learning alongside their grownups. 

Week Beginning 18.03.24
This week in Nursery, the children have started a new theme of 'Easter'. The children have completed lots of learning linking to this theme. On the creative table the children have been using paints to paint a range of Easter pictures. Some children chose to paint chicks, they thought carefully about the different parts of the chick and about what colours they would need.
   

Week Beginning 11.03.24
During CIL, the children have been carefully observing our daffodils growing. They have used their observational skills to paint the daffodils using the correct colours and focussing on the different parts of the flower. 

Week Beginning 04.03.24
During CIL, the children loved the opportunity to make Mother’s Day cards. The children took their cards home to give to their Mummy’s on Sunday. We discussed different things we might do to say a big thank you to our grown ups for all the fantastic things they do for us.

Week Beginning 26.02.24
Our current theme is ‘space’ linking to our current core text, ‘Aliens Love Underpants’. We have been using different 2D shapes to make rockets. The children thought carefully about which shapes could be the different parts of the rocket.

Week Beginning 12.02.24
Continuing our learning on Chinese New Year, the children thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to try and taste some Chinese food linked to our learning on Chinese New Year. The children tried some egg fried rice, basmati rice and prawn crackers. Their was mixed reviews on the soy sauce but most children were happy to try something new.

Week Beginning 05.02.24
Our current theme is ‘Chinese New Year’ and the children have been exploring this celebration in a variety of ways. In our indoor tuff tray, the children have been spooning, pouring and feeling rice. Some children even practised using chop sticks!

Week Beginning 29.01.24
This week we have been doing lots of learning about jungle animals to link to our current non-fiction core text, ‘hang on, monkey’. During CIL, lots of the children have been choosing to learn on our creative table where they were creating binoculars to use in the jungle. We were discussing different animal we might see through our binoculars. 

Week Beginning 22.01.24
This week the children have been enjoying our new role play area, the hot chocolate cafe. They have been making tea, coffee and hot chocolate as well as serving customers pastries and cake. We also have cleaning facilities to keep the tables and floors clean between customers. 

Week Beginning 15.01.24
This week the children been learning all about feelings, linked to our current core text, Meesha Makes Friends. We have discussed times when we have felt happy, sad, angry and excited and what these feelings look like on our faces.

Week Beginning 08.01.24
This week the children explored a range of resources on the creative table. They used rollers, fingers, cotton buds, lego and cotton reels to see how effective they were at mixing the paint. 

Week Beginning 11.12.23
This week the children enjoyed their stay and play, where they learned alongside their grown-ups . They explored a range of winter themed learning activities as well as performed some Christmas songs to their grown-ups. Have a lovely Christmas everybody!

Week Beginning 04.12.23
In PE learning, the children explored different movements around the hall. They used a range of animals to inspire them. They used lots of different muscles to move in so many different ways. Well done everyone🌟

Week Beginning 27.11.23

This week the children have enjoyed using a range of resources to mark make in the snow. They have learnt all about winter and snowy weather. They have made marks using paintbrushes, sticks and their finger.

Week Beginning 20.11.23

On Thursday we took part in some house activities. We began by learning all about the house system in our school and finding out which colour house we are part of. Our house captains decided that our house activity would be themed around the importance of recycling. We got into our house teams and planted seeds using toilet roll tubes. The children thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to learn a little differently. 

Week Beginning 13.11.23

This week our theme has been woodland animals. The children have been using the paint to create a range of woodland animals on the page. They have used a lots of colours and thought about the features of the animal they are painting. 

Week Beginning 6.11.23

This week our theme has been rememberance Sunday. We have discussed why we may wear poppies and the importance of remembering the soldiers that have fought in wars. We discussed the colours we can see in the poppy. We began by using a range of resources to paint the poppies and then painted poppies independently using paintbrushes.

Week Beginning 30.11.23

This week our theme is fireworks. We have thought about all of the colours and sounds we experience when watching fireworks. In one of our outside tuff trays the children were using the fingers to make marks in the sand. They had cards to copy and provide inspiration for how they’d make fireworks in the sand.

Week Beginning 16.10.23

Over the last two weeks Nursery have been learning all about autumn. We have thought about autumnal colours and what happens to the weather during autumn.We went on an autumn walk around our school grounds and collected lots of natural resources. We then used these to make some artwork. Lots of children chose to make faces but some made spirals and wiggly lines. Have a look below to see what we created.

Week Beginning 09.10.23

Each week the children go into the big hall for their PE lesson. Over the last few weeks they have practiced moving around the room in a variety of ways to warm up our bodies. We then discuss how quickly our heart is beating and feel it in our chest. This week we have learnt some more fundamental skills, including balancing a beanbag or a quoit on our heads and rolling a ball around the hall. There was a particular focus on ensuring the ball wasn’t bouncing.

Week Beginning 02.10.23

This week we have completed lots of learning based on our core text, Goldilocks and the Three Bears. We have explored so,e new mathematical vocabulary, big, medium and small. The children sorted lots of objects based on their size. 

Week Beginning 25.09.23

This week we had two fantastic cross curricular days themed all around the circus. We had an exciting visit from some real circus performers. The children took part in a fantastic workshop where they were able to try some circus skills. The children behaved fantastically for our visitor and showed lots of perseverance when learning new skills. We had lots of fun!

Week Beginning 18.09.23

This week we have continued to explore our ‘All about me’ topic using the ‘Super duper you’ book. We have decorated hands in our creative area, thought about who lives in our home, discussed how old we are and made friendship bracelets in our our outdoor tuff spot. 

Week Beginning 11.09.23

This week on our creative table we have been using paint, glitter and glue to decorate stars. Lots of the children enjoyed being creative and focussed hard to stay in the lines. These stars are now displayed in our reading area to create a beautiful starry night.  

Nursery 2022-2023 

Nursery Teacher

Miss Anna Owen

Early Years Practitioners

Mrs Bev Charge

Mrs Stacey Mason

Welcome to Nursery!

Welcome video and PowerPoint below 

Welcome to early years PowerPoint 

Nursery 2022 - 2023

A warm welcome to Nursery. We are so excited for the year ahead and look forward to getting to know your children.

Important information

PE is twice a week and the children will not need a PE kit for this session.

Any questions please do not hesitate to ask to arrange a meeting with Miss Owen or post your questions on Tapestry.

Curriculum Coverage

This term we are in our last half term of nursery before our big move to reception! We will be focusing on 3 texts which are Click, Clack, Moo the Cows That Type, Oliver's Fruit Salad and Dinosaur Roar! We will focus on writing our names with correct letter formation, starting to orally blend words in phonics whilst consolidating SATPIN sounds that we have learnt. We will also be ensuring our counting to 10 is accurate and we are able to subitise simple amounts as well as talk confidently about sizes of objects. We will be encouraging the children to be independent in all areas of self care and within their friendships too. 

W.B 10.07.2023

This week the children got to meet their new teachers in reception. Some of the children went to their new schools and enjoyed telling us about the fun they had and their new teachers names. Some of the children who are staying at Round Diamond went into Morris or Renoir class for an hour. Following their move up hour, they drew portraits of their new teachers and chatted about their favourite parts such as 'going outside with other children' and 'exploring the new room.' 

Next week we will be enjoying our final week together before the children finish for Summer holidays at 2pm. 

W.B 03.07.2023

This week the children have started their new learning about dinosaurs with their book of the week Dinosaur Roar! The children looked at photos of old landscapes and new landscapes and talked about what they noticed. They looked at the man made features and decided that these must be new and the other landscapes which included no man made features were older. 

Next week the children will continue their learning about dinosaurs.

W.B 26.06.2023

This week the children have loved trying some fruits. They tried kiwi fruits, pineapple, mango and lemon. They all had a go and it was wonderful seeing some of the children who sometimes find new things challenging trying the fruits. They used words such as sour, juicy, hard, soft and sweet to describe the fruits. 

W.B 19.06.2023

This week we have started a new book called 'Oliver's Fruits'. We linked this story to another text called 'Handa's Surprise' which is based in Ghana. As part of our learning we learnt some West African dance moves and practised these moves also using instruments along to the music that we could hear. 

Next week we are going to be trying some fruits as part of our learning about healthy eating. 

W.b 12.06.2023

This week we have been using positional language. We had a farm animal and had to move it around the farm in different ways including in the mud, on top of the barn, under the hay and inside the stable. The children then had a go at using the language to describe where they were going to put their animal next.

Next week we will start our new book of the week called Oliver’s fruits. The children will explore tally charts and also West African dance as they make the link to the story of Handa’s surprise. 

W.B 05.06.2023

This week we have had a focus on phonics learning and exploring letters from our name. Some of our activities this week included writing letters on the playground, creating play dough letters from our name and exploring s,a,t,p,i,n on our ‘type writers’. 
 

Next week we will explore learning linked to our book of the week click, clack, moo and use positional language. 

W.B 22.05.2023

This week we have continued our learning on toys. In our maths learning we have been exploring repeating patterns. Some of the children created repeating patterns with children such as tights, socks, tights, socks and others created their own patterns using different coloured pens and pencils.

We have enjoyed another fantastic half term and look forward to welcoming the children back for Summer 2 term on Tuesday 6th June. 

W.B 15.05.2023

This week we explored buying toys from our toy shop! The children had cubes and had a look at the price tags on the toys. They had to tell the adults what they could buy with the cubes they had and also showed the amount of cubes they would need for the toys they liked the look of. 
Next week we will be finishing the half term with our toy topic and creating our beautiful class display! 

W.B 08.05.2023 

This week the children have been continued their learning with 'The London Noisy Bus'. The week started with a celebration of the King's Coronation where the children painted special stones to create an Early Year's sculpture outside.

They also sorted pictures of Stevenage and London using their knowledge of important places! 

Next week we will start a new story called 'Brave Enough for Two' which is all about friendship, bravery and toys.

Reminder - class photos are next week on Tuesday 16th May.

W.B 01.05.2023

This week we have started our book of the week The Noisy London Bus. The children have been learning about different types of buses and some of the main features of London.

As part of our maths learning we pretended we were on a bus, some children got on then some got off! We kept checking how many seats we had on our bus and could show it on our fingers too.

next week we are exploring jobs in London! 

W.B 24.04.2023

This week we have continued our learning on Superworm.

The children asked their friends what their favourite minibeast was, once their friend replied they marked it down onto their sheet using their super pincer grip.

We also looked at non-fiction books and labelled the different parts of the book. We labelled a photo, the front cover and the pages inside.

Next week we will start our two week topic on the London Noisy Book and learn all about London. 

W.B 17.04.2023

This week we have completed PE on the all weather pitch. This is a new area for us to learn in and we were very sensible as we explored the different resources. We practised listening to instructions and moving in different ways through the obstacles.

In our circle time learning we discussed making kind choices and thinking about how others feel. We shared different scenarios that the children acted out and had to decide how the people in the scenario would feel. 

Next week we will continue our learning on friendships but also be thinking about minibeasts in our book of the week, Superworm. 

W.B 27.03.2023

As we approach the end of Spring term we have continued to learn about Easter and have started to delve deeper into phase 2 phonics as we get ready for Summer term.

We made Easter cards by collaging onto card using little pieces of Easter paper. We had to carefully make sure the colourful side was facing upwards to show a pattern.

We have also been starting to explore segmenting and blending within our phonics groups. We have been listening to the sounds and blending them. Next term we will start looking at what the sounds look like as letters.

Next term we will also be starting a new book called 'Superworm' where we will be thinking about friendship, exploring sizes and learning about mini beasts. 

Thank you for all of your ongoing support this term,

The Nursery Team 

W.B 27.03.2023

This week the children have been exploring all things Easter! 
We particularly enjoyed having our parents in for an Easter stay and play on Friday. 
Thank you to all of you who came. 

next week we will be learning the Easter story and practising writing our names. 

W.B 20.03.2023

This week the children have been practising writing their names for their Easter cards. They used their name tags to help them form the letters and some children even tried to be independent in their learning!

Next week we are excited to be having our families in for the Easter stay and play and exploring lots of Easter activities. 

W.B 13.03.2023

This week we have continued our learning on Jack and the Beanstalk.

The children loved having their parents in for parent's open day and had fun learning how to grow seeds with their adults.

We thought about how a seed grows and learnt words such as roots, stem and leaves.

Next week we move into our Easter learning.

Reminder!

Our Easter stay and play is on Friday 24th March

9.15 for Morning nursery

2.15 for Afternoon nursery 

W.B 06.03.2023

This week the children have been starting their new book of the week which is Jack and the Beanstalk. 
They explored size language as they ordered and measured beanstalks with their friends. They learnt the language shorter and taller, shortest and tallest. Within other group learning they have been ordering images from the story to help with their retelling and comprehension skills. 
Next week they will be planting their own seeds and learning about days of the week. 

W.B 27.02.2023

This week we have been learning about shape. We have been creating our own planets using circles and also feeding some shape aliens by feeding them the shapes they love to eat! We were thinking about the properties that the different shapes have to help us. 
 

next week we will be reading our new book of Jack and the Beanstalk where we will be exploring length and learning about the life cycle of a bean! 

W.B 20.02.2023

This week we have started our new topic of space! We started by reading our book Look Up!

We also enjoyed some pancake day yumminess by trying pancakes. We thoughts about the different textures and tastes we were experiencing and enjoyed eating alongside our friends.

Next week we will continue our learning on space and we also have our PJ day on Friday! Please remember to send your child into school wearing pyjamas.

W.B 06.02.2023

This week we have been exploring our final week of monkeys and our exciting cross curricular day learning too! As part of our literacy learning we practised writing our names by going over each letter in our names. 

Have a wonderful half term and we will see you back in school on Monday 20th February.

W.B 30.01.2023

Within our adult led learning this week we have been thinking about the words ‘more and less’. The children had a card which they shared with a friend. They looked at the card and decided if their side had more or less. They used language such as more, less, most, least, bigger and smaller. 
 

next week we will be taking part in cross curricular days and exploring maths!
 

Remember on Friday the 10th February we are dressing in the colour of a number block!
 

W.B 23.01.23
 

This week the children have been learning all about Chinese New Year. They have eaten some Chinese food, played in the role play Chinese restaurant, learnt about the story of lunar new year and explored colours and patterns. 
 

Next week will start our two week focus on the non-fiction book ‘hang on, monkey!’ 

W.B 16.01.2023

This week we have been making the most of the icy weather to support our learning. We have been getting out into the ice and exploring the changes that happen when we expose the ice to sunlight, warm water and different tools. We have been using magnifying glasses to look at the intricate patterns the ice can make and have even been mark making in the ice!

Next week we will be learning all about Chinese New Year!

W.B 09.01.2023

This week we have been reading the story of Meesha Makes Friends. It’s a book all about friendship. One of the activities we completed in small groups was sorting the good and not good choices to be a good friend. The children had two pictures each to sort in their groups.

next week we will be completing lots of creative learning such as making a friendship potion! 

W.c 12.12.2022

This week we enjoyed a snowy day at home on Monday. Throughout the rest of the week we practised singing our song for the Christmas production and have learnt some dance moves too! We also had fun making reindeer food. We had to put two scoops into our bags and make a special Christmas wish! Next week we will be enjoying the last few days of autumn term with some Christmas learning and fun. 

Learning update for school closure due to snow 
As you all know school is closed today due to the weather.

Our learning this week is all about the Christmas story. You can share this with your children if you like 

https://youtu.be/FrTFAZPQxpE

You could also explore counting games on this website as we have been exploring counting to 10

https://www.topmarks.co.uk/maths-games/5-7-years/counting

Other activity ideas include:
- exploring the snow! 
- making snow angels 
- making snow balls 
- practise writing your name in the snow 
- sharing a favourite book

I have also attached 4 documents below this post which link to some of our learning this week.

This is all optional and as a support if you needed some ideas for today. 
Have a safe and fun day ❄️ 

Thank you,
The nursery team 
 

W.B 05.12.22

This week we have immersed ourselves in practising our Christmas production and taking part in exciting activities such as making Christmas calendars and meeting Santa. We have learnt new songs for our production and have learnt about how to sing as part of a group whilst using actions and staying in time to the music.

W.C 28.11.2022

This week we have been reading our book of the week 'Stick Man.' The children used their fine motor and creative skills to make a scarf for Stick Man. They thought about the materials they were using and about how they would wind the material around the stick, like a scarf.

Next week we will be learning about Christmas including the Christmas story.

W.C 21.11.2022

This week we have continued our learning about the woods. We have made our own music whilst thinking about a journey through the woods. We also enjoyed sorting images of seasonal objects into the correct season. We listened to the seasons song and then worked as a team to sort all of the pictures.

next week we will be starting our new book of ‘Stick Man’ and learning about the winter.

W.C 14.11.2022

This week we have started a new book all about the woods. We have thought about the different things we see and hear in the woods as well as what we might feel!

In our child initiated learning time we have been looking at different woodland animals and had a go at drawing them too.

We have thought about how important is it to look after the environment so went on a litter pick of the school grounds.

Next week we will be thinking about the seasons as Autumn starts to turn to Winter.

w.c 07.11.2022
 

This week we have explored our special letters from our name. We looked at our initial letter and matched it to the initial letter we could see on our name card.

For some maths learning we counted 5 poppies and some children had a go at counting 10!

next week we will be learning about woodland creatures and looking after the environment. 
 

W.C 31.10.2022

This week we have learning about bonfire night.

We completed a senses lesson where we learnt about the 5 senses. We listened to a special senses song that you can find below to play to your children; the children should be able to join in!

We thought that we would be able to see bright colours, hear the bangs and pops, smell the tasty food and feel the soft gloves we might wear!

We even had a taste of some popcorn to see how our tongues can taste different flavours!

Next week we will be learning about remembrance day.

W.B 17.10.2022

This week we have enjoyed learning about space in our cross curricular days. 
The children loved going inside the planetarium and had a look at the stars and moon! They even learnt how the moon gets its craters. 
When we return back to school we will be learning all about bonfire night. 
 

thank you for your continued support this half term.

the nursery team 

W.B 10.10.2022

This week we have started the story of 'We're going on a Pumpkin Hunt.' We have been exploring all things Autumnal including pumpkins, leaves and spiders!

The children enjoyed looking for different coloured leaves and found 2 leaves each and then some were challenged to find 3.

We also had a look at our super new display which is situation by the year 6 classrooms.

Next week we will be continuing with our learning on Autumn and also learning about Diwali on Friday.

Please remember Nursery is closed for parent consultations on Wednesday the 19th of October.

Thank you for your ongoing support,

Miss Owen 

W.B 03.10.2022

This week the children have been enjoying some PE in the hall. The children have PE twice a week with Ms Hall and get to enjoy a range of games and activities which develop their physical development, team work and listening skills.

We also explored plenty of maths skills by counting scoops and stirs as we made porridge and had a go at using number fans!

next week we will be starting our book of the week ‘We’re Going on a Pumpkin Hunt.’ 
 

Thank you for your continued support

Miss Owen

W.B 26.09.2022 

This week we have started our new book of the week Goldilocks. 
The children have explored words linked to size such as small, medium and large. The children helped sort a range of objects and discussed the items using the correct language. 
We have also been answering questions about our homes and practising our listening skills by listening to others too.

Next week we will be thinking about instructions and making our own porridge following them! 
 

thank you for your continued support,

Miss Owen 

W.B 19.09.2022

This week we have been continuing to build upon our independence and learning new routines.

We thought about our homes and family members and drew them onto the templates using our best mark making skills.

We completed some maths learning by looking at 5 houses, counting them and seeing if we could find the number to go on the door! The children were super at their counting and have been trying so hard to stay focused during their learning.

Next week we will be reading the story of Goldilocks and learning about different sizes.

Thank you for your continued support,

Miss Owen 

W.B 12.09.2022

This week we have continued to settle the children into their new routines and encouraging that important independence. 

In our learning we have been completing circle time to ensure we are building upon our patience and listening skills. We also had a go at looking in the mirror to see what was super special about us!

Next week we will be learning how to change our shoes and counting to 5!

Thank you for your ongoing support,

Miss Owen

W.B 05.09.2022

This week the children have been settling into Nursery. They have completed settling in days with adults and alone and have done brilliantly. We have started to learn routines such as lining up at the door, sitting for the register, finding our pegs for our bags and using the toilet independently. 

We look forward to next week where we will be reading our book of the week 'Super Duper You!' and completing lots of friendship activities so that the children can start building positive relationships with their new friends.

A reminder to bring in a puddle suit and welly boots if you haven't done so already so that the children can enjoy the outside area come rain or shine!

Thank you for your support,

Miss Owen 

Nursery 2021 - 2022

W.B 18.07.2022

What a year it has been! Thank you so much to all of the parents for their continued support throughout the year. Your children have been a pleasure to teach and are certainly ready to take those first steps into reception in September. 
 

Have a safe and fun Summer! 
the nursery team 

W.B 04.07.2022
This week we have been completing activities all about growing up as we think about moving into Reception.

The children had to order the life cycle of a human and used their super team work skills to get the learning done with a friend.

next week we will be completing some more transitional activities to prepare us for reception.

thank you for your ongoing support,

the nursery team 

27.06.2022

We started the week with our introduction into the cross curricular days with a visit from Wild Science where we met a range of exciting creatures. 

Linked to the creature we met we completed some maths problem solving!

The children had different animals who ate certain amounts of food. We joined different groups of animals together to find the total amount of food the animals needed.

next week we will be thinking about moving into reception and completing some transition activities.

thank you for your ongoing support.

the nursery team 

W.B 20.06.22
 

This week we have been thinking lots about geography and history.

We looked at old photos of Stevenage and thought about how it has changed over time.

We also thought about seasons and the weather we have in the UK.

During our maths learning we completed a class tally chart and then during CIL the children could choose to ask their friends independently.

next week we have our cross curricular days all about tropical animals.

thank you for your ongoing support,

the nursery team 

W.B 13.06.2022

This week the children have continued their learning about the world. They have learnt about caring for the environment and learnt about recycling and caring for living things.

The children enjoyed the hot weather but put all of their sun safety tips into practise to keep themselves safe and cool.

Next week we will be looking at pictures of Stevenage from the past to explore how the world can change over time.

Thank you for your ongoing support,

Miss Owen 

W.B 06.06.2022

This week the children have explored all things linked to our wonderful world! We have thought about how to keep safe in the sunshine as the weather turns hotter and also thought about how we can look after the environment.

On Friday we enjoyed the NSPCC charity day and visited the year 6 playground playing games and doing activities. 

Next week we will be thinking about recycling and ways we can reduce and reuse.

Thank you for your ongoing support,

the nursery team 

W.B 23.05.2022

This week we have been learning all about the Queen’s jubilee! We have made crowns, made invitations and even had a go at making our own Union flag. 🇬🇧 We have also completed our whole class display which you can see all of our learning from throughout this half term on living things. 

We hope that you have a wonderful half term and we will see you back in school on Tuesday the 7th of June.

the nursery team 

W.B 16.05.2022

The children have been completing learning linked to the story of Monkey Puzzle. The children have been matching animals and their young in groups and also learning their names.

In preparation for reception the children have been practising writing their names independently and have been encouraged to write them on their pieces of learning.

Next week we will be celebrating all things Queen Jubilee!

Thank you,

The Nursery Team 

W.B 09.05.2022

This week we have been continuing our learning about growing and thinking about animals. 
We linked our learning to phonics and labelled some animals with their initial sounds. We thought about the s, a and t sounds that we have learnt to help us.

Next week we will be continuing our learning about growing.

thank you for your ongoing support

the nursery team 

W.B 02.05.2022

This week our focus has been all about shape!

We went on shape hunts, explored new 3D shapes and we even made shape pictures using a range of common shapes.

In music we used the instruments and thought about how we could make the instruments create fast rhythms and slow rhythms.

Next week we will be learning about some different animals and learning about non fiction books.

 Thank you for your ongoing support,

the nursery team 

W.B 25.04.2022

This week we have been exploring our topic of growing and learning about length in maths.

We have planted our own cress and will explore how it grows over time.

In maths we were thinking about length and how we would find out how tall the sunflowers were. We measured them using blocks and used super team work to get the job done! 
 

Next week we will be having a shape focus week and exploring lots of shape learning.

thank you for your continued support, 

the nursery team 

W.B 18.04.2022

Welcome back! We hope you had a restful Easter holidays. In these first three days back at school we have been focusing on our new topic of 'Growing and Living Things.' 

The children have adored explored the outside area in the sunshine, we have focused particularly in the living things in our outdoor area such as mini beasts and the flowers. 

We have also thought about counting total amounts of objects and how this makes a larger amount.

Next week we will be learning about growing and planting seeds.

Thank you for your ongoing support,

the nursery team 

W.B 28.03.2022

This week we have been learning all about Easter. We have made Easter eggs, Easter nests and learnt about the origin of Easter, comparing it to other celebrations we have learnt about throughout the year.

There is also a maths teaching clip for you to view below as an insight into how maths is taught in nursery.

thank you for your ongoing support, have a wonderful Easter and we will see you back in school on Wednesday 20th of April.

the nursery team 

W.B 21.03.2022

This week in nursery we have been thinking about feelings. We explored the ‘feelings monsters’ and spoke about why we feel different feelings and how it’s ok to feel these ways.

We also took the time to explore nature in the outside area through nature hunts and making natural perfumes with the resources we have outside. 
 

thank you for your ongoing support,

the nursery team 

W.B 14.03.2022

Within our CIL learning we have been exploring books including the different parts of the book. We have learnt the words character, front cover and pages. 
We have been encouraging the children to look at books in the reading area and create their own books in the writing area.

next week we will explore all things Mother’s Day! 
 

thanks for your ongoing support,

the nursery team 
 

W.B 07.03.2022

This week in our learning we have been exploring using colours for a purpose. We painted some beautiful daffodils thinking about the different parts of the flower and what we would need to paint them accurately. The skills we needed to use included selecting the correct tools for a purpose and learning how to carefully apply paint to a brush.

Next week we will be learning about Holi, St Patrick's Day and raising awareness for comic relief!

Please remember that Friday the 18th is wear red day and a £2 donation.

Thank you for your ongoing support,

The Nursery team 

W.B 28.02.2022

This week we learnt about pancake day! We tried pancakes with sugar and lemon and gave our opinions on the flavours and textures we experienced. We also played some pancake music playing different instruments for different parts of the process including rainsticks, claves, egg shakers and bells! We had to learn how to play each instrument and had to learn to play as part of a group.

Thank you for your ongoing support,

The Nursery Team 

W.B 21.02.2022

This week we have been immersing ourselves in the new topic of pirates and explorers.

We have loved drawing our own maps and adding features to our maps such as volcanoes and mountains.

We also learnt about repeating patterns, we continued a repeating pattern and the following day created our own repeating patterns using two colours. As a challenge some children chose to use 3 colours in their pattern. 
 

Next week we will be learning about pancake day and even trying some pancakes! 
 

thank you for your ongoing support,

the nursery team 

W.B 07.02.2022

This week we have been exploring celebrations and focused on Valentine's day as it is coming up next week. The children explored making love hearts for others and practised their cutting skills to cut out the love heart before writing a special message on it!

Children also independently explored the skill of subitising as we had starting to learn about this last week so it was fantastic to see so many of the children use what they had learnt and put it into practise. 

We hope you have a fantastic half term!

When we are back we will be exploring our new topic of pirates and explorers!

Thank you for your ongoing support,

The Nursery Team 

W.B 30.01.2022

This week we have been subtising! This means when we look at an amount and we know what it is, our brain is able to know that 4 dots is 4 without counting.

We also celebrated Chinese New Year with some fantastic artefacts as well as making our own beautiful music using untuned instruments.
 

thank you for your ongoing support,

the nursery team 

W.B 24.01.2022

This week we have been learning about people who help us. We have created pictures of vehicles linked to the emergency services, thinking specifically about the colour choices we need to use.

We also spoke about the lolly pop people and their role in Great Ashby. We created our own maps as well as looking at a map of Round Diamond and the surrounded features to see if we could talk about a route we could take from school to Budgens. 
 

Next week our learning will be focused on Chinese New Year.

thank you for your ongoing support.

the nursery team 

W.B 17.01.2022

This week we have been thinking about the language we use in maths. We have explored longer and shorter as well as medium. We have also been thinking about different ways to show a range of numbers and produced this beautiful display in our classroom!

Next week we will be learning about people who help us and learning about roles in the community.

thank you for your ongoing support,

the nursery team 

6th and 7th of January

The first two days of learning have been focused on settling the children back in after their Christmas break and also learning some life skills!

The whole school took part in life skills and nursery explored this throughout their CIL and adult led inputs.

We completed a litter pick in the outdoor area to learn about the importance of looking after the environment. During CIL we learnt about safely cutting food, writing our names and caring for animals. 
 

thank you for your continued support,

the nursery team

W.B. 13.12.21

Enjoy our super Christmas performances! We have completed plenty of Christmas activities and are excited to show you our singing.

We hope you all have a fantastic Christmas and super new year. 
Please remember the last day of term is Tuesday 21st December and we will be back on Thursday 6th January. 
 

Thank you, 

the nursery team 

https://youtu.be/ICFV510YB1s

https://youtu.be/YvaZqQj9GYE

https://youtu.be/29jwOv0MODI

https://youtu.be/ow6MGppoUis

https://youtu.be/V03NNTNrcK0

W.B 06.12.2021
This week within our learning we thought about Christmas around the world. We listened to the story of a festive feast and thought about traditions that other countries have at Christmas time!

We also thoroughly enjoyed Christmas jumper day and used our super pencil grip to design our own Christmas jumpers which showed off the different patterns we know such as zig zags, stripes and dots!

Next week we will be reading the Christmas story and completing a variety of design and technology and art activities to develop these skills whilst learning about Christmas. 
 

thank you for your ongoing support,

the nursery team 

WB 29.11.2021

This week our learning has linked to the story of ‘The not so perfect penguin’. We have learnt about different places in the world including Antarctica, the United Kingdom and we even looked at some of the flags that are special to our class. We looked at maps and thought about what the different colours of the map mean.

Next week we will be thinking about the count down to Christmas and learning about Christmas in other countries!

Don’t forget Christmas jumper day on Friday 10th!
 

thank you for your continued support,

the nursery team 

WB 22.11.2021 

This week we were recorded to show our love of reading! Miss Owen read a story and you can find the links below to watch our super story time of Hippo Has a Hat!

  Nursery AM reading link  https://youtu.be/E7EGbLkRPrE

Nursery PM reading link 
https://youtu.be/cowe903lJQk

W.B 15.11.2021 

This week the children have been thinking all about rhythm and rhyme. 
We listened to a story all about being different but each of us are so special just the way we are!

We thought about how amazing our bodies are and how we can make body percussion with them. The children had a go at making their own piece of body percussion.

We also explored the rhyme in the story and the children had a go at saying a range of rhyming pairs that were written down for them.

Next week we will explore different shapes and sizes.

please remember now it is getting colder that your child may need a woolly hat and gloves. 

thank you for your ongoing support,

the nursery team 

W.B 08.11.2021

This week we have been learning all about humans and animals. We thought about the life cycle of a human and even had a go at ordering the cycle as well as learnt the vocabulary of human, baby, toddler, teenager, adult and elderly.

We also learnt about the importance of Remembrance Day and completed a range of activities linked to this as a way of remembering all of the people who lost their lives during the War.

Next week we will be continuing our learning about humans, thinking about how we are all different and unique. 

Thank you for your ongoing support,

The Nursery Team 

W.B 02.11.2021

This week our learning has focused all around celebrations. We spent some time discussing Halloween and the ways that children celebrated this during half term. In morning nursery we celebrated Dia de los Muertos for a little girl who celebrates this, we learnt about her Mexican heritage and where Mexico is on the map. 
 

Nursery also learnt about Diwali and made beautiful Rangoli patterns as well as learnt about the story of Rama and Sita. On Friday we learnt about bonfire night and got ourselves ready for the weekend of fireworks!

thank you for your ongoing support,

the nursery team 

W.B 18.10.2021 

This week we have been thinking lots about Autumn and the changes we see. As part of this learning we went on a leaf hunt and tried to find a range of colours as we explored the outdoor area with a friend.

We have been excited for the half term after a super first half term at school! We are so proud of how the children have settled in and we look forward to an amazing second Autumn term.

thank you as always for your ongoing support.

the nursery team 

W.b 11.10.2021

This week the children have been reading the story of the smartest giant in town. They have created plenty of beautiful art for our display including painting a giant and learning about mixing white into paint to make a lighter shade. 
 

The children also learnt how to show different amounts on their fingers. They were learning we can represent numbers in lots of ways! 
Please remember next week we have parent consultations using google meet.

thank you for your ongoing support,

the nursery team 

W.B 04.10.2021

This the children have been learning about the story ‘Hedgehugs’.

They explored mixing paint to see what happens, they explored different textures and what these felt like. They learnt the language spiky, rough, smooth, fluffy and prickly.

Next week the children will be continuing their learning about different celebrations and extending their learning on shape and number.

Thank you for your ongoing support,

the nursery team 

W.B 27.09.2021

This week the children have completed learning linked to the story of The Smartest Giant in Town.

We practised counting the different amounts of clothing and animals from the story, we also thought about the different patterns we could make on some socks just like the diamond socks in the story. 

Next week we will be basing all of our learning on ‘Hedgehugs’. We will be exploring textures and making our own hedgehogs!

Please remember we have our school photos on Friday 8th.

Thank you for your ongoing support,

The Nursery Team 

W.B 20.09.2021

This week the children have continued to learn about themselves. They have continued learning their new routines and enjoyed consolidating their friendships.

We explored our names and how special all of the letters are! The children looked at the letters they recognised and enjoyed saying the names of some of the letters. We also shared our lovely collages and they are now on display for the children to see! 

Next week we will be basing all of our learning on ‘The Smartest Giant in Town.’

Thank you for your ongoing support,

The Nursery Team 

W.B 13.09.2021 

This week the children have continued learning about life in nursery and have taken further steps to becoming independent such as putting on their puddle suits and welly boots by themselves!
Next week we will be thinking about the seasons and changes that we see throughout the year. 
One of our adult led activities included making a shape house. The children had the opportunity to talk about their families and home life whilst identifying the shapes they were using.
We will also be starting rolling snack which is where the children help themselves to snack throughout their nursery session.

thank you for your ongoing support,

the nursery team 

W.B 06.09.2021

This week we have explored the rules of the classroom. We have had plenty of opportunities to make new friends through circle times as well as through our child initiated play. 
All children developed their independence when learning how to find their Wellington boots and change their schools for outdoor learning. 
The children have also experienced music and PE which they were fantastic in.

Next week we will learn some new routines within nursery such as busy fingers activities and self registration.

thank you for your ongoing support,

The Nursery team 

W.B 30.08.2021

What a fantastic first couple of days the children have had in Nursery!

They have settled brilliantly and we are so proud of how independent they have been.

Some reminders for you:

- Please ensure your child is in full uniform every day for school

- Please ensure you have brought in wellington boots and a puddle suit to keep in school

- Please remember to let the class teacher or the office know if anyone different is picking your child up

Thank you for your support,

Miss Owen

Mrs Underhill

Miss Palmer 

2020-2021

W/c 12.06.2021

This week we have continued our transition activities in preparation for reception. We consolidated some of our maths skills including counting amounts of objects and matching to the correct numeral.

The children also ensured they were familiar with all of the letters in their name and decorated them using butterfly colours.

Parental reminder 

A parent mail was sent out with guidance on how to download your child’s journal, please do this should you wish by the end of term.

Another parent mail went out with information on our teddy bears picnic on Wednesday 21st July. 
 

thank you for your ongoing support as always,

the nursery team 

W.C 05.07.2021

This week we have been focusing on transition. The children have been learning about the changes of the world and in particular the changes of a butterfly. They learnt about the life cycle and ordered the images, they also learnt that even though the caterpillar was very scared to change it was exciting too! This led onto our move up day where the children spent some time in their new classrooms, they showed resilience and eagerness as they explored their new rooms and met their new teachers! On Friday we had our RE afternoon where the children learnt about the religion of Humanism. We compared this to different religions we knew and learnt about the 10 commitments.

Next week we will continue our transitional learning and thinking about being in reception!

thank you,

nursery team 

W/c 21.06.2021

This week we have been learning all about capacity! The children have learnt about the word capacity and that it means how much something holds.

We also spent plenty of time in the water area exploring the different containers and vocabulary such as full, empty and half full.

The children are starting to talk more about going into reception so we took some time getting into groups of our new classes to see which friends would be in each class to reassure the children. 
Next week we will be learning about positional language and some more transitional activities linked to reception. 
 

Thank you for your ongoing support,

the nursery team 

W.c 14.06.21

This week the children have been learning all about keeping our planet safe! The children have learnt about being responsible for their own litter and trying hard to recycle when they can. 
We also started our group reading sessions which we will complete every week. This is the opportunity for the children to share their reading book as a group and focus on the questions using the pictures to help. 
 

next week we will be learning all about matching numeral to quantity and exploring ways to create texture.

thank you for your ongoing support,

the nursery team 

w.c 07.06.2021
 

Welcome back! We hope you had a wonderful half term break. This week we have been reflecting on the Spring term and learning about the new season of Summer and the safety we need to take when outside in the hot sunshine! 
We discussed the importance of wearing sun cream, a sun hat, sun glasses and we even went outside to find shade! We also discussed the language of length and height and ordered items by length developing our space and measures.

Next week we will be learning about safety measures further and also looking after the environment.

thank you for your ongoing support,

nursery team 

W/c 17.05.2021

This week the children have enjoyed learning all about animals through information books.

They have learnt about information books being used to find out facts about animals and also had a go at drawing their own animals by using the correct colours and a defining feature of that animal.

We have been thinking about initial sounds in phonics and have enjoyed matching animals to their habitats.

REMINDER

next week the last day of half term will be Wednesday 26th May.

thank you for your ongoing support,

nursery team 

w/c 10/05/21

This week the children have learnt all about the Islamic celebration of Eid. The children have explored special places of worship, special items and special symbols. They also had the opportunity to reflect on their prior learning linked to Diwali and Easter and made links between different religions.

Next week we will be exploring non-fiction books and exploring our phonics is greater depth!

Thank you for your ongoing support,

The Nursery Team 

w/c 03.05.21

This week the children have learnt all about shapes! We had a review about the 2d shapes we knew and learnt some new 3D shapes too.

We completed a range of activities such as making shape monsters, shape pictures and building using shapes.

The children discussed the properties of shapes and recognised them in the classroom. 

Next week we will be learning about the Islamic celebration of Eid. 

Thank you for your ongoing support,

The Nursery Team 

w/c 26/04/2021

This week the children have continued their learning about growing and has a special two days of cross curricular learning too! 

The children were immersed in the world of theatre and had a go at some acting out of the story of the Lion King. They watched parts of the production and had a go at acting out a short scene too.

The children also learnt about herbivores, carnivores and omnivores, extending their vocabulary and learnt new animals such as warthog and meerkat!

Thank you for your ongoing support,

The Nursery Team 

w/c 19.04.21

This week the children have continued to learn about changing and growing.

They have helped plant cress seeds as we have been observing how these have changed over the week. 

We have also completed some beautiful creative learning and made 3 different flowers; a daisy, a rose and a daffodil. 

On Friday we learnt all about St George’s day. Thank you for your ongoing support.

The nursery team 

w/c 12.04.2021

This week the children have been introduced to their new topic of growing and changing.

They have adored explored the outdoor area, finding different creatures and features of Spring and planting their own flowers.

In maths the children learnt about sharing an amount into two equal groups and talking about why it needs to be fair.

The children have also loved learning about living and non living beings and completed an activity where they needed to sort them into the correct groups.

Next week we will be learning about growing plants. Thank you for your ongoing support.

The nursery team 

w/c 15.03.2021

This week we have been learning all about Easter.

We have learnt about what Easter means to Christians and made our own eggs!

We also completed a science investigation linked to sinking and floating.

The children are going to continue learning about Easter next week 

REMINDER

School finishes at 2:00pm on Friday 26.03.2021 and it is non-uniform and wear a hat day!

See below a lovely song about sinking and floating to listen to together. 

W/c 08.03.2021

We have had a fantastic first week back in nursery. The children have gotten back into their routines and have loved seeing each other after so long apart.

We have been learning about Mother’s Day this week and the children have some lovely things to give to their mummies on Sunday! 
 

please remember to bring back your child’s wellies and puddle suit if you haven’t already.
 

Thank you for your ongoing support.

the nursery team

W/c 01.03.2021

What an 8 weeks we have had! We have come to the end of online learning and I am so proud of how the children have coped. 
They never fail to impress me and surprise me at their resilience. 
I hope you have been able to find some joy in learning from home and I cannot wait to see you all on Monday.

Remember timings are as normal;

AM nursery 8:30-11:30

PM nursery 12:30-3:30

If you are new to Round Diamond you will have received an email explaining your children will do an hour settling on the Monday and Tuesday and then in full time to give them some time to settle. 
 

Thank you for all of your ongoing support! 
I have attached a story that was shared during online learning linked to transition incase you missed it!

W/c 22.02.2021

This week we have been discussing our new topic of pirates and adventures! We listened to a fun pirate song which you can find below and some children had a go at making their own pirate ships! 
 

Some cheeky pirates pinched some letters from my picture and the children helped me find the initial sound! 
 

Next week we will be exploring world book day on Thursday 5th March and the children will be wearing costumes of their favourite book character for the day!

thank you for your ongoing support,

Miss Owen

w/c 08.02.2021

I can't believe we have done a whole half term of online learning! I am so proud of you all.

This week we have enjoyed exploring 3 different events that happen each year; Valentine's day, Pancake day and Chinese New Year.

The children loved learning about halving and sharing and also learnt the ways we can halve our toys as well!

We listened to the story of Chinese New Year and even had a go at speaking Chinese!

Have a wonderful half term and I will see you back online on 22.02.2021.

Thank you,

Miss Owen 

w/c 01.02.2021

We have been exploring pattern and shape this week online and have consolidated our knowledge of circles, ovals, triangles, squares and rectangles! The children enjoyed continuing repeating patterns and also had a go at sorting some objects into their shape categories.

During CIL we thought about things we loved and drew them in a bucket to show what we carry around with us that makes us happy. 

We focused on out S, A, T and P sounds and also learnt the new sound I.

Thank you for your ongoing support,

Miss Owen 

w/c 25.01.2021

This week we have been having lots of fun with our online learning! We have been exploring numerals and different sizes. The children sorted their toys and household objects into length and learnt the golden rule of measuring from the base of each object. 

In phonics we learnt the P sound and recapped our learning of S and A and T.

W/c 18.01.2021

This week the children have continued their online learning with thinking about people who help us - superheroes in the community! 
They drew pictures of people who help them at home and also thought about the equipment that particular occupations use and matched these up.

During CIL the children held tea parties, dressed up as their favourite superheroes and made wanted posters!

w/c 11.01.2021

This week the children have continued their learning on superheroes. They had great fun rescuing their toys from the ice by exploring different ways the ice could be melted! They also practise some patterns and creative learning by designing their own superhero masks!

w/c 04.01.2021 

What a start to the year! As always, thank you so much for your ongoing support and flexibility during these uncertain times.

The children kick started their online learning with some super counting and number recognition. They had the opportunity to practise their super cutting skills and were engaged in story time every day as well as show and tell! 

w/c 14th December - 18th December

We have enjoyed plenty of Christmas festivities this week including learning about the Christmas story, Christmas dancing and of course the Christmas party!

The children have done extremely well this term and we are so proud of how they have settled into life at Round Diamond. We look forward to seeing you all on the 5th January.

Have a fantastic Christmas and a Happy New Year! 

Thank you for your continued support this year,

Stay safe,

The Nursery Team 

w/c 7th December - 11th December 

This week the children have been getting really excited for Christmas! We have been exploring shape this week and discussing their properties, we even went on a shape hunt! The children have enjoyed drawing self-portraits and drawing the objects they would like for Christmas too. All of the children adored Christmas jumper day and the Santa dash!

Thank you for your ongoing support,

The Nursery Team 

w/c 23rd November - 27th November

This week our learning has been based around the story 'Monkey Puzzle' by Julia Donaldson. The children have enjoyed matching pictures of mother and offspring during adult learning and loved looking at their baby photos too.

The children were able to discuss the changes they could see between being a baby and being a child in Nursery and used language such as 'older, bigger, walking, talking, feeding'.

Next week our learning will be all about the story 'The Grunt and the Grouch' by Tracey Corderoy and Lee Wildish.

Thank you for your ongoing support,

The Nursery Team 

w/c 16th November - 20th November

This week in nursery we have been reading the story of 'A Squash and a Squeeze' by Julia Donaldson. We have practised re-telling parts of the story and even had a go at making our own houses to fit the farm animals in!

On Wednesday we discussed the 5 senses and smelt some different items. We decided whether we liked them or not and then put a tick or a cross on our sheet to show which ones we liked and ones we didn't.

We have also started to listen to the phonics song which I have attached below for you to have a listen to.

Please remember our home learning of bringing in a baby photo or posting it to Tapestry is due in on Monday.

Thank you for your ongoing support,

The Nursery Team 

w/c 09 - 13 November 

This week Nursery have been learning all about the Hindu festival of Diwali. We have read the story of Rama and Sita and have taken part in a range of activities linked to Diwali such as mehndi patterns, rangoli patterns and we have also created our own rangoli patterns whilst learning about shapes.

On Friday we had a Diwali celebration where we listened to traditional Indian music, had a special sweet treat and completed some more Diwali themed activities. 

Below are some photos from the week and the story of Rama and Sita if you would like to share it with your child again.

Thank you for your ongoing support,

The Nursery Team 

w/c 2nd November - 6th November 

Welcome back! We hope you had a restful half term. This week we have been completing lots of learning on mark making!

We have mark made using a range of resources such as chalks, felt tips and have even used our fingers in water! The children have been practising using a pincer grip and have been using this language throughout their mark making learning.

Next week we will be exploring and celebrating the Hindu festival of lights - Diwali. 

REMINDER - you can now apply for a reception place for 2021. This needs to be done via the Herts County website. 

Please see leaflet attached for more information. 

Thank you for your ongoing support,

The Nursery Team 

W/C 19th - 23rd October 

This week in Nursery we have been reading ‘Aliens love Underpants’. We looked at our class timeline and discussed some of the exciting things we might be doing in half term holidays too and discussed things we enjoy. 
During the week we also discussed patterns and how we could make our own patterns on pants! We talked about spots, zig zags, lines, waves and many more before having our own go! 
 

We hope you have a wonderful half term and look forward to seeing you all again on Monday 2nd November. 

Thank you for all of your on-going support,

The Nursery Team 

w/c 12th October - 16th October

This week we have been learning all about keeping healthy.

We have learnt about keep our teeth healthy as well as our bodies and even how to keep our minds healthy.

We sorted foods into healthy and unhealthy and discussed the importance of a balanced diet. 

The children loved listening to the relaxing music below and did some lovely mindful colouring whilst focusing on their breathing.

We look forward to speaking to you online next Tuesday and Thursday for parents evening.

Thank you,

The Nursery Team 

W/C 5th October

This week in nursery we have been learning about Autumn and all of the changes we see such as leaves and animals hibernating. 

In maths we explored the numbers 0-5 and practiced our super counting skills as well as seeing if we could recognise some numbers to 5. 

The children have enjoyed playing in the rain in their puddle suits and exploring the changes in weather too. 

We had our photos taken on Friday and your child will have a photo slip in their book bag, please use this to log in and see your child's school photos as they will not have a proof sent home. 

Thank you for all of your on-going support,

The Nursery Team 

W/C 28th September 

This week in Nursery we have been practicing our pencil grip when holding our pens to draw our family members in houses. We have also been learning to count to 10 and even had a go at counting out some groups of objects 0-5. We have really enjoyed learning the days of the week song which you can see in the video posted below the photos. Have a go at home too! 

Thank you for all of your on-going support,

The Nursery Team 

W/C 21st September 

This week in Nursery we have been learning how to be independent! We have been exploring the classroom and finding the resources when we want to use them. We also learnt how to put on our puddle suits. This was a challenging activity but we all persevered and were so proud of how well we did. 

A reminder: If you have not provided your child with wellies please do so and pop them on the welly rack outside the Nursery. Puddle suits are also fabulous as they protect the children's uniforms and it means they can in amongst the mud and rain during child initiated learning. We do have some spare waterproof trousers if this is not possible. 

Thank you for all of your on-going support,

The Nursery Team 

W/C 14th September

This week in Nursery we have been learning new routines and getting to know each other. We have been focusing on following Round Diamond rules and learning how to explore in our new environment.

The children have been loving our brain breaks of 'shake your sillies out' and have also enjoyed music lessons and PE lessons too!

Thank you for all of your on-gonig support,

The Nursery Team 

 A Very Big Welcome to Nursery 2019- 2020!

Welcome to Nursery!

https://www.foundationyears.org.uk/files/2015/03/4Children_ParentsGuide_2015_WEB.pdf 

Information on how to support your child's development in the Early Years can be found in the document linked above 

Important Days

Our PE days for both morning and afternoon Nursery are Thursdays and Fridays. PE is taught by our PE coaches Mr Stephenson  and Mr Wickens. Children do not need a PE kit for these sessions.

Both classes will also have a music lesson with our specialist music teacher, Mr Meek, every Wednesday. 

Home learning w/c 20.07.2020

We hope you are still enjoying your home learning, thank you for all of the wonderful learning you have posted onto Tapestry, it is wonderful to see.

Below you can find the learning for the week commencing 20.07.2020. 

Enjoy the learning and we hope you have a lovely summer.

Miss Owen and Mrs Underhill 

Home learning w/c 13.07.2020

We hope you are still enjoying your home learning, thank you for all of the wonderful learning you have posted onto Tapestry, it is wonderful to see.

Below you can find the learning for the week commencing 13.07.2020. 

Enjoy the learning,

Hopefully see you all soon.

Miss Owen and Mrs Underhill 

Home learning w/c 06.07.2020

We hope you are still enjoying your home learning, thank you for all of the wonderful learning you have posted onto Tapestry, it is wonderful to see.

Below you can find the learning for the week commencing 06.07.2020. 

Enjoy the learning,

Hopefully see you all soon.

Miss Owen and Mrs Underhill 

Home learning w/c 29.06.2020

We hope you are still enjoying your home learning, thank you for all of the wonderful learning you have posted onto Tapestry, it is wonderful to see.

Below you can find the learning for the week commencing 29.06.2020. 

Enjoy the learning,

Hopefully see you all soon.

Miss Owen and Mrs Underhill 

Home learning w/c 22.06.2020

We hope you are still enjoying your home learning, thank you for all of the wonderful learning you have posted onto Tapestry, it is wonderful to see.

Below you can find the learning for the week commencing 22.06.2020 and the two youtube videos you will need. 

Enjoy the learning,

Hopefully see you all soon.

Miss Owen and Mrs Underhill 

Home learning w/c 15.06.2020

Attached below is the learning for this week. This is the link for the bbciplayer version of the story-

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/p0102qfj/room-on-the-broom

Hope you enjoy!

Hopefully see you all soon.

Miss Owen and Mrs Underhill 

Home learning w/c 08.06.2020

Attached below is the home learning and a story which the learning is based around.

I hope you are all still keeping safe and happy during this time.

Thank you,

Miss Owen and Mrs Underhill

Home learning w/c/ 01.06.2020

Hello everyone! Hope you had a lovely half term enjoying the sunshine.

Attached below is the learning for this week.

Any questions please email me at aowen@rounddiamond.herts.sch.uk

Thank you,

Miss Owen and Mrs Underhill

Happy half term nursery 

Home learning - Summer 1 term w/c 18th May 

Attached below is new activities for week commencing 18th May.

Please enjoy completing these with your child.

We hope you are all keeping safe and healthy and enjoying the sunshine. 

Thank you for your ongoing support, any queries please email at aowen@rounddiamond.herts.sch.uk 

Miss Owen and Mrs Underhill 

Home learning - Summer 1 term w/c 11th May 

It was lovely having a catch up will all of you last week, I thoroughly enjoyed hearing about all your fantastic home learning at home and the progress your children have been making in independence such as getting changed on their own and riding bikes without stabilisers! 

Below is the week's activities, as always I have left prior week's on incase you have missed any and want to complete. 

I have updated learning in blue. 

Thank you for your ongoing support, any queries please email at aowen@rounddiamond.herts.sch.uk 

Miss Owen and Mrs Underhill 

Home learning - Summer 1 term w/c 4th May

Attached below is the updated activity board. As before, I have kept the original activities just incase you didn't manage to complete them or this is the first time you are accessing the plan. I have added updates in purple for you to explore.

Any  resources needed are available below. 

Please continue to post your lovely home learning onto Tapestry, it is lovely to see the children and what they have been up to.

Thank you for your ongoing support, any queries please email at aowen@rounddiamond.herts.sch.uk 

Miss Owen and Mrs Underhill 

Home learning - Summer 1 term w/c 27th April 

Attached below is an updated overview of learning. As it was a broad array on activities to begin with, I have added a few more in red to most areas of learning if you wish for a few extras!

Any  resources needed are available below. 

We hope you are keeping safe and healthy and happy!

Thank you for your ongoing support, any queries please email at aowen@rounddiamond.herts.sch.uk 

Miss Owen and Mrs Underhill 

Home learning - Summer 1 term

Attached below is an overview of some Early Years Nursery activities for you to complete at home with your child.

Documents have been saved below for certain areas of learning, where necessary, with sheets or photos for your guidance. Not all of the activities need sheets as we have tried to ensure the activities will keep the children engaged and active during their learning at home. 

We hope you find this useful and enjoy the activities. We will continue to post challenges on Tapestry; our last baking and rainbow challenges had roughly 30 children from the EYFS taking part and we are sure your children loved seeing their friends' learning at home so please continue to join in with the Tapestry challenges as well as the Facebook challenges.

We hope you are keeping safe and healthy and happy!

Thank you for your ongoing support, any queiries please email at aowen@rounddiamond.herts.sch.uk 

Miss Owen and Mrs Underhill 

Easter Holidays

We hope you have had an enjoyable couple of weeks learning from home and have found the activities useful. Thank you for updating Tapestry with your lovely photos of your rainbow challenges and baking challenges.

There are a few Spring time craft and baking activities posted below if you wish to be creative during the Easter holidays.

We hope to see you soon and hope you are all keeping well.

Miss Owen and Mrs Underhill 

Update 27th March 2020

Hello to children and parents, Mrs Underhill and I am missing you all!

I hope you are staying healthy and happy during this confusing time.

If you haven't already, please check in on Tapestry. The EYFS team have been uploading challenges and reposting photos and challenges your friends in Nursery and Reception and have been taking part in while at home so that we can keep communication and learning going throughout the next couple of weeks.

These include baking challenges and rainbow challenges.

Thank you for your ongoing support,

Any questions please email aowen@rounddiamond.herts.sch.uk and I will be happy to get back to you. 

Miss Owen and the EYFS team 

School Closure 

Attached you will find an assortment of activities should you wish to complete with your children at home. There are also links to videos and songs that the children have been enjoying whilst in nursery.

There is also a link to twinkl.co.uk which is a resource bank filled with interactive games, videos, stories and printable resources. Parents are being granted free access during this uncertain time. For a free log in use www.twinkl.co.uk/offer and use the code PARENTSTWINKLHELPS 

There is also free access to phonicsplay which is another great resource with phonics games for free access;

username: march20

password: home 

If you have any questions regarding this learning please email aowen@rounddiamond.herts.sch.uk

Thank you for your ongoing support, as always,

Miss Owen, Mrs Underhill and Mrs Mason 

Week beginning 16th - 20th March  

This week we have been thinking about Mother's Day and St Patrick's Day.

We have explored activities around both of these events. We have talked about what makes our Mummies so special and also made some special vouchers for them to open on Mother's Day along with a special card. 

We also listened to some Irish folk music and tried our hand at Irish dancing! 

Thank you got your ongoing support,

Miss Owen and Mrs Underhil

Week beginning 9th March - 13th March

This week we have continued our topic of Pirates and Adventures. We have learnt a new song called 'I'm a pirate!' and discussed the new start of Spring.

We also celebrated the festival of Holi on Tuesday where the children got to explore colour mixing and powder paints with water outside.

Next week it's our stay and play on Tuesday 17th at 8:30 - 9:30 for morning nursery and 2:30-3:30 for afternoon nursery, we look forward to seeing you there!

Thank you got your ongoing support,

Miss Owen and Mrs Underhill 

Week beginning 2nd - 6th March

This week we have been continuing our topic of pirates.

The children listened to the story of 'Jake's First Day' and loved making their own bridges to get away from crocodiles just like in the story.

They enjoyed using their team work skills and their physical development skills to negotiate the space and the different levels of the obstacle course.

Thank you got your ongoing support,

Miss Owen and Mrs Underhil

Week beginning 24th - 28th February 
 

This week we have been exploring different colours and patterns. 
We have been reading the story of ‘Pirates love Underpants’ and we have drawn our choice of patterns onto pairs of pants.
We discussed range of patterns and then drew them onto the pants.

We also explored messy play on the table and discussed the changes in colour.

We have our Easter stay and play on the 17th of March

AM nursery 8:30-9:30

PM nursery 2:30-3:30

Where you will get the opportunity to spend time with your child completing spring time activities.

Thank you got your ongoing support,

Miss Owen and Mrs Underhill

Week beginning 10th - 14th February 

This week we have been discussing Valentine's day and exploring activities surrounding this topic.

We have practiced counting and matching to numerals, made valentine's cards, drawn pictures of people we love and had a circle time where we discussed the importance of showing love.

The children have thoroughly enjoyed talking about their family members and showing kind and caring behaviour to their friends. 

We have had a wonderful half term with the new members of our class and can't believe we are already halfway through the academic year!

Enjoy the half term with your child and we will see you back in school on the 24th February.

Thank you got your ongoing support,

Miss Owen and Mrs Underhill

Week beginning 3rd - 7th February 

This week we have been developing our counting skills.

We have been exploring counting groups of objects and matching them to familiar numerals (0-5). 

We have also been sharing out amounts too, making sure that the total we have at the end is the same to make it fair. 

Next week we will be learning all about Valentine's Day <3 

Thank you got your ongoing support,

Miss Owen and Mrs Underhil

Week beginning 27th January - 31st January 

This week we have been learning about people who help us.

We have been counting different amounts of people who help us and forming the numbers with help. We have also been helping to collage emergency vehicles and painting our own pictures of people who help us. We have also had a circle time about staying healthy so we do not get poorly tummies and discussed the importance of washing hands and exercising.

The children are looking forward to thinking about what makes them super next week.

Thank you for all of the fabulous home learning the children have enjoyed sharing this and a video is on Tapestry for you to see your child talking about their learning with a friend.

Thank you got your ongoing support,

Miss Owen and Mrs Underhill

Week beginning 20th - 24th January 

This week we have been learning all about Chinese New Year.

We have been exploring the story of Chinese New Year, learning about the animals included in the story, painting our favourite animals from the story, retelling the story and even having a go at dancing to some music using a Chinese lion and some shakers that we made using milk bottles and rice!

It has been a very creative week indeed and we look forward to continuing our 'Superheroes' topic next week.

Thank you got your ongoing support,

Miss Owen and Mrs Underhil

Week beginning 13th January - 17th January 

This week we have been exploring lots of shapes!

We have looked at shapes in pictures and books as well as in our indoor and outdoor environment. We have spoken about the properties the shapes have and how we can tell them apart. After this we had a go at making our own shape pictures using paper and pens.

We have also been thinking about our favourite books in the reading area and sorted them so they are more manageable to explore during our child initiated learning time.

Next week we will be learning all about Chinese New Year and thinking about celebrations we have experienced in our lives.

Thank you got your ongoing support,

Miss Owen and Mrs Underhill

Week beginning 6th January - 10th January

Welcome back!

We hope you had a fantastic Christmas.

We are excited to start our new topic of 'Superheroes' and will be developing to the following skills throughout the term;

- adapting behaviour to new changes

-exploring shape

-developing phonics skills

-developing independent learners

As some of you may be aware we will have new starters beginning this week therefore we hope you will wish all new children and parents a warm welcome to Round Diamond as they settle into their new routines.

Thank you got your ongoing support,

Miss Owen and Mrs Underhill

Week beginning 16th December - 20th December

This week we have taken part in lots of fun Christmas craft as well as performing our songs in the Early Year's Christmas production.

We enjoyed wearing our Christmas jumpers to perform and have enjoyed making reindeer food and cards for the Christmas period.

Thank you for your ongoing support, we hope you have a lovely 2 week break and a wonderful New Year.

See you on Tuesday 7th January,

Miss Owen and Mrs Underhill

Week beginning 9th December - 13th December

This week we have been extremely busy bunnies preparing for our Christmas play.

We have learnt 7 songs with actions and are excited to share these with you all on Monday and Tuesday.

We have had a special visitor in our classroom since the 1st of December - Rupert the elf! He has been causing mischief and entertaining the children.

We have also been using our craft skills to make Christmas cards and our literacy skills as we discussed the Christmas story and our favourite parts.

On Friday, Santa visited us and we were allowed to wear Christmas jumpers which made us all smile

We look forward to seeing you on Monday 16th or Tuesday 17th.

Thank you for your ongoing support,

Miss Owen and Mrs Underhill 

Week beginning 2nd December - 6th December 

This week we had our fantastic stay and play session.

Thank you so much to all of the grown ups who attended and helped make the sessions so magical and special for the children. 

Please remember next week is our Christmas jumper day on Friday 13th December.

Next week we will be continuing to learn our Christmas songs for the production in preparation for our show.

Thank you got your ongoing support,

Miss Owen and Mrs Underhil

Week beginning 18th - 22nd November

This week we have been thinking about how to be independent within our school day. We went through the steps of how to successfully put on our coats and have been practising this all week! We used a poster with each step on to help us complete this challenge and have been trying so hard all week!

We also discussed different emotions we can feel and all the children recognised emotions in the traditional tales we have been reading such as happiness, sadness, fear and anger. We talked about how it is ok to feel different emotions and when we might feel this way. 

We look forward to seeing you on the 4th of December for our stay and play session.

Thank you,

Miss Owen and Mrs Underhill

Week beginning 11th November - 15th November

Throughout this week we have been learning about phonics, making porridge, size ordering and thinking about stranger danger!

The children have shown levels of engagement with their new skill of phonics and it has been lovely to see them exploring the classroom for 's' objects.

On Monday we made porridge (just to look at!) and were able to follow instructions in picture form. We really enjoyed discussing size words we could use to describe the three bears bowls, chairs and beds and were introduced to the word 'medium' to talk about size.

Thank you for the fantastic response to the home learning so far, we cannot wait to find out all of the children's favourite home books.

Miss Owen and Mrs Underhill

Week beginning 4th November - 8th November

Welcome back!

We hope you had a restful and fun half term holiday.

This week we have been settling the children back into school life and discussing our holiday news.

We also went on our beautiful Autumn walk; the children were beautifully behaved and we had a great turn out of parents, grandparents, aunties and uncles so thank you!

Reminders for upcoming dates

Christmas stay and play Wednesday December 4th

AM nursery - 8:30-9:30

PM nursery - 12:30 - 1:30

Christmas performance

AM nursery - Tuesday 17th December at 2:15

PM nursery - Monday 16th December at 9:30

Thank you,

Miss Owen and Mrs Underhill

Week beginning 21st October - 25th October

During our learning this week we have been retelling the story of 'The Tiger who came to Tea'. We have also been painting plates of our favourite foods that we would present to the tiger if he came to our house!

On Tuesday and Wednesday we enjoyed meeting with parents and carers to share your child's successes and next steps; thank you for all of your ongoing support.

Thank you,

Miss Owen and Mrs Underhill

Week beginning 14th October - 18th October

This week we have been learning all about numicon!

Numicon is a fantastic resource for teaching children about counting, matching and sorting.

We gave the children the opportunity to explore numicon in a variety of ways including playdough printing, paint printing and using tweezers and marbles.

We also took part in a pretend tea party following our story 'The Tiger who came to Tea.' This was a fantastic opportunity to practise our speaking and listening skills.

We also took a trip to see our beautiful disply; we were so proud of our learning!

Thank you to all the parents who responded to the Tapestry questionnaire;

We had lots of responses and questions about what can be added from home.

We encourage you to post anything your child could share and talk about with the class. The children love sharing their learning with their friends and it is a fantastic way of developing their self confidence as they share their home experiences. There is no limit to how much you upload and we look forward to seeing what your children have been getting up to at home.

Thank you,

Miss Owen and Mrs Underhill

Week beginning 7th October - 11th October

Throughout this week we have been reading the story of 'Hedgehugs' ; a story about two hedgehogs who cannot cuddle because of their prickles! They eventually realise that they can use socks to cover their spikes and have a lovely cuddle!

The children have completed a range of activities this week including decorating socks with spotty patterns, matching socks, using paint to decorate a big hedgehog, mark making hedgehogs and practising cutting skills by snipping spikes into their own hedgehogs.

All children enjoyed the story and could talk about the characters and their favourite parts.

Please ensure you have booked your parent consultation appointment online for the 22nd or 23rd of October.

Have a lovely weekend!

Miss Owen and Mrs Underhill

Week beginning 30th September - 4th October

This week we have been exploring different sizes and enjoyed ordering characters from the story of Percy the Park Keeper. 

We had to use our cutting skills to cut out each character and then ordered them using the language of small, medium and big. We also enjoyed an Autumn leaf hunt, collecting a range of leaves with our friends!

We continue to learn our new routines and are becoming really speedy at tidying up and washing our hands for snack!

Thank you for your ongoing support,

Miss Owen and Mrs Underhill 

Week beginning 23rd September - 28th September

The children have loved exploring the outside area this week. They have been independently learning to put on their welly boots and all in one suits and have persevered even when it has been challenging!

Within our adult inputs we have been learning about the numbers 1,2 and 3 and have practised forming them and recognising these numbers.

We enjoyed a getting to know you activity where we asked each other questions about our favourite things so that we can continue to bond with our new friends.

Please continue to practise shoe and coat changing as much as possible at home, thank you

Miss Owen and Mrs Underhill

Week beginning 16th September - 20th September 

During this week we have been exploring pattern and shape. The children discussed different lines we could make and they all had a go at completing some of their own independently.

We have been excited to go to PE this week and had some fun in the hall playing group games!

Lots of new friendships are forming in Nursery and it is so lovely to see the children growing in confidence as they settle into Round Diamond School. We are very proud of them.

A reminder that books are changed on Tuesdays and Fridays 

Thank you for your ongoing support,

Miss Owen and Mrs Underhill