January 2024 at Atworth!
Welcome back! We know it’s been a while.. but we hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and New Year! Here is everything we have been up to over January, and a few things we have up and coming this side of 2024!
Burns night!
We got stuck in to celebrating burns night on 25th January. All of the rooms had a wonderful day of crafts and food tasting whilst talking about burns night and what it stands for. We learned that burns night is a Scottish tradition to celebrate the poet Robert Burns. One of his most famous poems is called ‘address to haggis’! Toddlers made blue playdough to re-create the Scottish flag, Pre-School painted their very own tartan pictures whilst listening to the sound of bag pipes! And babies chomped away on their haggis which they really enjoyed!
Babies!
The babies have been exploring the story of ‘The Tiger who Came to Tea’ this month. They had their very own tea party in the baby room where they shared items of food with eachother, and carefully mixed and cooked their different ingredients. They even had a special visit from the tiger who came to tea himself.. who really did come to the tea party! Despite the tiger being bigger than the babies, they welcomed him with open arms!
Toddlers!
Toddlers have been really exploring the dinosaurs this month which seems to be a common interest across the age group! They have been talking about the different names of dinosaurs and where they live. The toddlers created a home out of playdough and collected some sticks and other natural resources from the garden to make sure they had something to eat, and places to hide!
Pre-School
Pre-School have been getting very hands on with their activities so far this year! They explored painting using forks and toothbrushes. They dotted and dragged the utensils across the paper to see what different marks they could make. The Pre-Schoolers have also been getting our tables nice and grubby! They used their fingers to swirl patterns in paint on to the table and pushed their paper on to the top to see what would happen… they sure do know how to make a mess!
Updates and reminders
We have a new member of staff on the block! As you all know, our admin Kathryn has moved on to a new role in central bookings. This means we have a new admin assistant, Kerry! Kerry is learning the ropes being the scenes at the moment but it won’t be long until you see an e-mail pop through from her or meet her at the door!
We would like to inform you that Ellie has made the decision not to return to us after her maternity leave. Both Ellie and little Harley are doing really well and are going to spend a bit more quality time together!
We kindly ask that you name as many items of your little one’s belongings as possible. This includes their clothes and water bottles. We try our utmost to make sure that belongings make their way back to the right child, however we cannot always remember which blue top belongs to who! When items are named, it makes it much easier for us to return them to their rightful owner!
A polite reminder that our nursery sessions run from 8.00 until 6.00. These are the times that our wonderful team start and finish for the day. We are seeing an increasing number of parents arriving before 8am making it tricky for some of our staff to make their way in to the car park and set up ready for the day. We are also seeing an increase in parents picking up at 6pm. If you require a detailed handover of your child’s day we do ask that you collect before 6pm to allow the team time to chat to you before they finish at 6. We do offer an early drop off at 7.30 for a small fee so please do get in touch if you feel this would benefit you.
Toys toys toys.. along with items of clothing, toys can quite easily be misplaced in a nursery full of them! We do encourage that all toys other than comforters needed for sleep time are left at home. If toys come in to the nursery, we cannot guarantee that they will not get lost or broken.
Upcoming dates and events
Friday 2nd February: Wear red day for the British Heart Foundation
Tuesday 13th February: Pancake day
Friday 9th February: Last day of term for term time only children
Monday 19th February: First day back after half term for term time only children
Wednesday 14th February: Valentines day
Thursday 7th March: World book day
We also have Mothers Day on the horizon on 10th March so keep your eyes peeled for this one!
Nursery kit list
New here?! Let us give you some pointers of what to pop in your nursery bag!
spare changes of clothes including socks/vests
weather appropriate outdoor wear - at the moment an all in one waterproof and wellies and really helpful along with a warm hat and gloves/mittens
a water bottle
comforters for sleep
nappy cream if your little one is still in nappies
suncream in the summer months with a sun hat
Childrens mental health week
We will be supporting children’s mental health week from 5th-11th February! This years theme is ‘my voice matters’ to empower, equip and give a voice to every child in the UK. This is about empowering children and young people by providing them with the tools they need to express themselves. The aim is for all children to be able to say and believe ‘my voice matters’. Feeling empowered can have a positive impact on wellbeing - children and young people who feel that their voices are heard can make a difference have a better sense of community and self-esteem.
During the week we will be..
Monday - Wear whatever makes you feel like you! Whether this be a superhero outfit or your pyjamas!
Tuesday - We will be heading out and about to take in the fresh air which is known to reduce anxiety and build a connection to nature
Wednesday - We will be putting the spotlight on sign language and learning some key signs for everyday communication
Thursday - We will be expressing ourselves through song and dance
Friday - We will be taking part in expressive art so please come to nursery wearing something you don’t mind getting messy.. as the paint may be flying!
If you would like to read up on this a bit more at home, please find a helpful link below.
Fancy a winter warmer!?
As you know, we really pride ourselves on our fresh menu’s here at Snapdragons and we love to extend this out to you at home! If you fancy giving it a go, below you will find a link to our recipe for our spiced root vegetable and lentil soup with wholemeal scones! If you have a go at this recipe please send us some pics!
