Hand, Foot and Mouth

We have had some cases of Hand, Foot and Mouth in nursery. Please see the below advice about it. Any further questions please speak to Amanda.

Hand, foot and mouth disease is a common infection that causes mouth ulcers and spots on the hands and feet.

It's most common in young children – particularly those under 10 – but can affect older children and adults as well.

Hand, foot and mouth disease can be unpleasant, but it will usually clear up by itself within 7 to 10 days. You can normally look after yourself or your child at home.

The infection is not related to foot and mouth disease, which affects cattle, sheep and pigs.

Symptoms of hand, foot and mouth disease

The symptoms of hand, foot and mouth disease usually develop between three and five days after being exposed to the infection.

The first symptoms may include:

• a high temperature (fever), usually around 38-39C (100.4-102.2F)
• a general sense of feeling unwell
• loss of appetite
• coughing
• abdominal (tummy) pain
• a sore throat and mouth 

Mouth ulcers

After one or two days, red spots appear on the tongue and inside the mouth.

These quickly develop into larger yellow-grey mouth ulcers with red edges.

The ulcers can be painful and make eating, drinking and swallowing difficult. They should pass within a week.

 

 

Spotty rash and blisters

Soon after the mouth ulcers appear, you'll probably notice a rash made up of small, raised red spots on the skin.

These typically develop on the fingers, the backs or palms of the hand, the soles of the feet, and occasionally on the buttocks and groin.

The spots may then turn into small blisters with a grey centre.

 

 

The spots and blisters can sometimes be itchy or uncomfortable and typically last up to 10 days.

 

What to do if you or your child has hand, foot and mouth disease

If you have hand, foot and mouth disease, the best thing to do is to stay at home until you're feeling better. There's no cure for it, so you have to let it run its course.
To help ease your or your child's symptoms:

• drink plenty of fluids to avoid dehydration – water or milk are ideal; it may help to give a baby smaller but more frequent bottle or breast milk feeds
• eat soft foods such as mashed potatoes, yoghurt and soups if eating and swallowing is uncomfortable – avoid hot, acidic or spicy foods and drinks
• take over-the-counter painkillers, such as paracetamol or ibuprofen, to ease a sore throat and fever – aspirin shouldn't be given to children under the age of 16; paracetamol is best if you're pregnant
• try gargling with warm, salty water to relieve discomfort from mouth ulcers – it's important not to swallow the mixture, so this isn't recommended for young children
• alternatively, use mouth gels, rinses or sprays for mouth ulcers – these are available from pharmacies, but aren't routinely recommended, and some aren't suitable for young children; ask your pharmacist for advice and make sure you read the instructions first

Children don't need to stay off school or nursery if they have hand, foot and mouth disease. Adults don't need to stay away from work.

When to get medical advice

You don't usually need medical attention if you think you or your child has hand, foot and mouth disease. The infection will usually pass in 7 to 10 days, and there isn't much your doctor can do.
Antibiotics won't help as hand, foot and mouth disease is caused by a virus.
If you're unsure whether you or your child has hand, foot and mouth disease, you can call NHS 111 or your GP for advice.
You should also get medical advice if:

• your child is unable or unwilling to drink any fluids
• your child has signs of dehydration, such as unresponsiveness, passing small amounts of urine or no urine at all, or cold hands and feet
• your child develops fits (seizures), confusion, weakness or a loss of consciousness
• your child is under three months old and has a temperature of 38C (101F) or above, or is between three and six months old and has a temperature of 39C (102F) or above
• the skin becomes very painful, red, swollen and hot, or there's a discharge of pus
• the symptoms are getting worse or haven't improved after 7 to 10 days

 

 

 

Maths at home

Parents can support children with their mathematical development at home. There are plenty of fun ways to learn maths.

It is important when teaching children maths to start with the basics. Children need to learn the value of numbers, learning that 2 is 2 things such as our feet or our hands and that 5 is 5 chairs or 5 sweets. You can then explore that further, comparing the quantities of different groups of objects, talking about more and less. Doing this with every day objects can strengthen children's knowledge.

Comparing how many carrots mummy has on her plate to how many your child has can work maths and counting into every day activities. Children can then learn what happens when something is added or taken away.

Try counting a variety of things such as jumps, steps, claps, seats on the bus etc so that children learn that it's not just objects that can be counted.

All these basics should come before learning numerals. A number 5 is just a picture if you don't understand what it represents. That it means 5 toys or 5 people. Children also need to understand that 5 can be 3 cars and 2 cars. It can be 4 socks and 1 sock. This gives children some solid understanding of numbers before they begin to associate numerals with them.

Here are some ideas of fun activities you can try at home to support children with their mathematical development at home:

 

Choose a favourite toy. Can you put ‘Spiderman’ under your bed, can you put ‘Spiderman’ on the box (use positional language in, on, under, next to, behind, in front)

 

Set up a shop. Make price tags for the items for sale (1p - 5p). Use pennies to buy the toys

Comparing quantities. eg use farm animals, make 2 fields of animals, which field has more animals? Can you make the fields have the same number of animals?

 

Count the stairs as you go up to bed

Make a height chart. Measure all members of the family. Use language such as tall, short.

Go shopping, give your child a shopping list eg 3 apples, 2 pears, 5 yoghurts  (you may need pictures on the list too)

Cooking / baking together - measure out the ingredients, count spoonful's.

 

Share stories that relate to maths ie Kippers Toy Box, The Great Pet Sale, The Door Bell Rang

 

Collect some sticks, stones, shells - can you make a pattern

 

Label boxes 1,2,3,4,5 - Can you put the correct number of objects in the box ie 3 spoons in box 3

 

Go on a number hunt. Look for and talk about numbers in the environment ie door numbers, car registration plates, shops, clocks, signs etc

 

 

If you would like a leaflet of Maths ideas that you can tick off as you go, please see Amanda.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Achievement Certificates

At the start of the term many of our children began their potty training journey. They have practised really hard and can use the toilets at nursery with minimal adult support. This is a fantastic achievement ready for them starting school. We are very proud of them.

Jack Frost brings the Ice

We took full advantage of the bad weather the other day and took our pre-school children to explore the ice that had formed on the field. Practitioners talked to the children about the frost that covered the grass and they found a puddle where ice had formed a think layer over the top. Practitioners used descriptive language and encouraged children to talk about what they could see. They used the wheelbarrow to carry some of the ice back to nursery to put in our water tray and observe what happened over time.

Advent

We have begun the countdown to Christmas. We have created an advent calendar display. Each day we reveal a new picture to talk about and also reinforce numbers and shapes with children.

November Attendance

Congratulations on our children who attended every day during November. Well done.

Child Lead Interest - Supermarkets

We have a few children who like filling bags and baskets up with items and carrying them around. They also enjoy role play activities. To develop this interest further we developed a supermarket and took on the different roles of the customer and the cashier. They chose different products to buy, using real life packaging. To enhance the activity further we introduced shopping lists to the children. They were encouraged to buy specific items, following their list, doing good looking, talking about packaging and size language. We then introduced money so children had to use the correct number of coins for each item, talking about more and less, comparing groups and counting 1;1. The role play also provided lots of new language for children and encouraged them to work with one another, building relationships.