Welcome

Welcome to Katrina and Carolyne. Katrina is our new lunch cover and will be based in our baby rooms she has worked in nurseries and schools before and has children of her own. Carolyne will be helping to support a child in our baby room, she has experience in a local school and has most recently been a 1:1 carer. Please make them both feel welcome and say a big hello when you get a chance!

We also now have our twitter page up and running again and our staff can update this throughout the day to let you know what your children are getting up to - please give us a follow on @shiresnap.

UNICEF - Rights Respecting:

The article of the week last week was about the role of the parents and carers in the upbringing of children. Article 5 and 18 discuss the importance of parental guidance, the evolving capacities within children, and the state capacities too. Within nursery this month we will be discussing at circle time all the things that parents and carers do for their children. We will also encourage the children to utilise their home corners to try and role play being parents with our teddies and dollies.

Things you could do at home?

Your child ask your child to write a thank you card to one of their parents or carers (we can include grandparents). See what meanings they give to the marks they make.
You could discuss things we are grateful for before we go to sleep.

Dates for the diary:

2nd April - First day of Ramadan
16th April - First day of Passover
17th April - Easter Sunday
18th April - Easter Monday: We would love to welcome the children to dress up in their spring outfits. We will also be engaging in our own unique Easter Egg Hunt.
23rd April - Last Day of Passover
22nd April - St George’s Day celebrations: We are inviting children to dress up in their own white and red outfits ready for a day of story telling and role playing. Weather dependent, children will also be having a tea party in the garden.
23rd April - St George’s Day.
28th April - Yom Hashoah: Otherwise known as International Holocaust Remembrance Day we will be promoting Articles 2, 19, 37 and 38 of the UNCRC. Article 2 is The convention applies to every child without discrimination. Article 19 is Protection from violence, abuse and neglect, Article 37 is no child should be tortured and Article 38 is no child under the age of 15 should join the army and should be protected in war. Yom Hashoah is a recognised national holiday in Israel therefore we will be tasting some Israeli food as well as holding a 2 minute bell ring at 10am.
28th April - Laylatul Qadr: Also known as the Night of Power we will be embracing this by taking part in some calming activities such as yoga and meditation.

Special events this Month:

Red Nose Day and Holi:

We have celebrated Red Nose Day and Holi all in one day. The children (and staff) all enjoyed coming to nursery in their pyjamas, and preschool thoroughly enjoyed experimenting with coloured sand for Holi.

Mothers Day afternoon tea:

It was so lovely inviting some of you back in to celebrate Mothers Day with us last week! We are so excited for all the other events we can celebrate with you across the rest of the year, so keep your eyes peeled because we have some great things planned!

What have we done this month?

Babies:

Babies have had a busy month like always! They have enjoyed exploring their new books and have had great fun getting messy in the water, playdough and shaving foam. Babies have also been looking at simple positional language such as behind, next to and under, you can see their experimenting of this with the many tunnels in their room.

Toddlers:

Toddlers have been making the most of the lovely weather with a trip to the local charity shop and park. We love getting out into the local community and hope with the weather getting better we can do this more often. Toddlers have also enjoyed creating some pictures with paint and blowing through straws, we are always thinking of new and inventive ways to get children mark making.