Orange day tomorrow Wednesday 28th November.

Wear your orange clothes.

Children In Need Grand Total

Thank you to all our families who supported us with our fundraising for Children In Need. We combined our monies raised with our sister sites at St Marys College and Wensley Fold CC. The grand total collected was £344.85

Bedtime Routines

Now is a good time to establish an appropriate bedtime routine for your child that will support them ready for strting school.

Typical sleep at this age

Between ages 2 and 4, kids need about 10 to 14 hours of sleep per day.  Most children this age go to bed between 7:30 and 9 p.m. and wake up between 6:30 and 8 a.m.

What you can do to help your child establish good sleep habits
If your preschooler has trouble falling asleep or wakes up frequently (and even if he doesn't), these techniques will help him get a better night's rest:

• Pick – and stick to – a set bedtime. Make sure it allows your child to get the full amount of sleep they need. Bedtime might need to be 7:30 or 8 p.m. in order for them get enough sleep. A regular bedtime helps their internal clock stay on track and makes it easier to fall asleep easily and quickly. Staying up too late or going to bed at a different time each night can make your preschooler overtired – which, paradoxically, makes it harder for them to settle down and get to sleep.
• Develop a consistent bedtime routine. Establish a nightly routine that includes three or four soothing activities, such as taking a bath, changing into pjyamas, and reading stories. The bedtime ritual should be the same every night, so your child can anticipate each activity.

If your child tends to stall when getting ready for bed, make a preferred activity (such as reading a favorite book or singing a special song) the last thing on the agenda before lights out.  If you find your routine dragging on longer than it should, take steps to trim it back: A couple of stories are fine, but not chapter after chapter of her favorite book.

Also steer the routine in one direction – to bed. If you bring your child upstairs for a bath, for instance, don't bring her back downstairs to say goodnight to the family pet when she's done. Instead, head to the bedroom for pajamas and storytime.

Move them into a big bed and praise her for staying in it. 
Once they're using their big bed, be sure to praise your preschooler when they stays in it at bedtime and overnight.
If your preschooler starts getting up more often once they graduate to a big bed, tuck them back in and say goodnight.

Give him an extra goodnight kiss or tuck-in. It's okay to promise your child one more goodnight kiss after you've tucked them in the first time. Tell them you'll be back to check on them in a few minutes. Chances are, they will be fast asleep by the time you return.

Potential pitfalls

It's normal for children to make good progress with better sleep routines and then seem to regress. Be patient and, most importantly, consistent. Stick to your plan and focus on the big picture to ride out temporary setbacks.

It's common for kids this age to drag their feet and find a million excuses why they can't go to bed yet. Try to prevent problems by anticipating and managing your child's bedtime requests beforehand. And remember that realistically, most preschoolers don't run happily to bed every night, so be prepared for a few struggles.

Bedtime Stories

Reading is one of the most important communication tools that we have available to us and is fundamental in establishing essential pathways in the brain in early learners.
Not only does it further basic speech and reading skills but it has been shown to promote better communication skills which are essential at any stage in your child’s life, whether this is making friends in the playground or reading aloud in class.
Through continuing with a story on a daily basis, bedtime reading with your child can have a fantastic effect on enhancing your child’s attention span. In this way they can concentrate for longer in school, bettering their education overall. Following a story can also improve their use of logic, as they think of ways in which their favourite characters can overcome the obstacles that are facing them.

Macmillan Thank You

We have received our thank you certificate from Macmillan for the money we raised from our coffee morning. Thank you once again for all your support.

Home Reading

We believe that it is very important for children in the Foundation Stage to develop a love of books and enthusiasm for promoting their reading skills to enable them to gain knowledge and enjoyment from reading. As a parent you are their first teacher and can play a vital role in the partnership between home and nursery by supporting your child’s learning.

The children in the Foundation Stage class are exposed to a ‘print-rich’ environment of signs, labels, books, key words, displays and role play areas that give opportunities for 'reading', all of which the children are encouraged to notice. There is a book area of picture books, or ‘real’ books which the children can enjoy sharing and listening to during story time. In this way children’s enjoyment and a sense of purpose for reading is fostered.
‘Parents and carers….involvement in developing reading through providing a wide range of experiences and a language-rich environment is vital’ National Literacy Association 2010.

We hope that you will be able to help your child with their reading at home through a number of activities. It is important that your child enjoys reading with you and that it is not a chore. There are many activities that you can do together to help them. Try and use a variety throughout the week. The skills that they are developing are as follows:

Reading Skills to Develop (taken from the Early Years Foundation Stage practise guidance arranged in developmental order from 30 months to the Early Learning Goals)

 Listen to and join in with stories and poems
 Begin to be aware of the way stories are structured
 Suggest how the story might end
 Show interest in illustrations and print in books and print in the environment
 Handle books carefully
 Know information can be relayed in the form of print
 Hold books the correct way up and turn pages
 Understand the concept of a word
 Explore and experiment with sounds, words and texts
 Retell narratives in the correct sequence, drawing on language patterns of stories
 Know that print carries meaning and, in English, is read from left to right and top to bottom


Remeberance Day

Our full day children visited the Cenotaph on Friday 9th November to take our poppies that we made in nursery. The children learnt what a poppy is called and why we wear our poppies to remember those who fought for our freedom.

October Atendance

Congratulations to all our children who attended every session in October. We are looking to raise levels of attendance for all our pre-school children in order for them to achieve as much as possible before they start school.

Sleepover day

The children brought all the skills they learnt together and role played all the bedtime routines we had learnt about over the week. E.Y.P. talked through routines from washing our hands before tea to finally getting into bed. Then they snuggled up for their sleepover sharing stories. with the E.Y.P. The role play also extended to outdoors, where children wanted to continue their role play bedtime.

Thank you to all those who made a £1.00 donation for Children In Need, we raised a total of £33.75. This total will be added to our sister sites at St Mary's College and St Marys @ Wensley Fold. Watch out on the blog for our grand total.

 

 

Children In Need Pudsey Sleepover

We had an amazing week preparing for our Children In Need Pudsey Sleepover. We incorporated some bedtime routine activities to promote good habits with children and talk about the importance of them. The activities also supported school readiness and some next steps which came from parents. Thank you to all our parents who supported us, bringing in resources throughout the week.

Monday - Teeth Cleaning

E.Y.P.'s supported children with good tooth brushing techniques, talking about top and bottom and behind teeth, encouraging them to spit the toothpaste out rather than swallowing it. E.Y.P.'s also talked about teeth cleaning at story time, reminding children when they should brush their teeth and that they need to let their parents help them in order to clean them thoroughly.

 

Tuesday - Toast and Milk supper

 

The children had wholemeal toast and milk for their snack. E.Y.P's talked to them about healthy sacks, especially for bedime.

 

 

Wednesday - Bedtime Stories

 

The children were invited to share their own bedtime stories with an E.Y.P. They were encourgaed to talk about the story themselves first, talking about the characters or what happened in the story or simply what was happening in the picture on the page.

 

 

 

Thursday - Pjyama Practise

 

The children practised getting undressed and dressed into their pjyamas. This is a very important skill to develop for school readiness as children will need to independently get ready for pe. Please continue to your child with these self help skills at home, encouraging them to do as much as possible for themselves and giving them plenty of time to try.