Our school community came together yesterday to celebrate Eid.
All week children have been sharing talk about their Eid celebrations with their families: recalling "waking up early and having a bath", "I wore special new clothes", "Spiderman", families shared food and some children went to the mosque. For our school celebration, children made decorations for their classrooms. Children wore their special party clothes (with school shoes so they could still climb in the garden!) They created their own Eid cards with drawings and some children wrote words to share with loved ones. Children danced and sang, they laughed and hugged. We enjoyed party food together. Here are a few photographs and there may be more in your child's Special Book. Thank you to our school community for coming together and spreading love, peace and joy. We wish this for the whole world. As we have been looking for signs of spring around the nursery garden, we have been also learning about Easter.
Children have observed the spring shoots appearing, the power of the rain and sunshine and have plated seeds in the garden. Some children were able to share what they knew about Easter - they recalled some people exchange Easter Eggs. Eggs are a sign of new life and Christians around the world remember the story of Jesus rising to new life on Easter Sunday. Children showed great concentration and perseverance as well as independence as they created their own Easter Baskets. They also followed recipes and were made chocolate nest cakes to take home. Today was the Easter Egg hunt in the garden: I hope the Easter Bunny left some eggs for everyone! The children always persevere and show real excitement during this event. Happy Easter if you are celebrating Easter. Many of you are observing Ramadan at the moment. Eid Mubarak when it arrives. We will be celebrating with an Eid party on Thursday 18 April. Children may come in their Eid and party clothes. At Children's House we know how curious children are about the world around them.
We recognise that children arrive at school with lots of knowledge and understanding of their worlds. During Science Week we make sure children are supported in exploring a range of experiments to spark a joy in learning. We introduce children to specific vocabulary such as 'experiment' 'reaction' 'change' 'predict' 'observe' 'texture'. We use special equipment for our experiments such as pipettes, science lab coats and other ingredients. Children are encouraged to join in and follow the instructions, with as many hands on elements as possible. Children are encouraged to observe what happens and share their responses. Skittle Experiment We explored the Skittles Experiment, where water is dropped onto the sweets to observe the reaction of the water and the coating whereby the colour dissolves and mixes, creating a rainbow effect. Ice Cream Experiment Some children became scientists and wore lab coats to cause a chemical reaction and create ice cream. 1) For this you put ice and rock salt in a bag and then inside that bag you place a sealed bag of milk and some sugar. 2) Then you shake it vigorously and it creates ice cream in the inner bag! Children were amazed and so joyful. Many children sustained concentration for long periods of time and were very engaged throughout. Even in the garden, children watched reactions of bubbles in puddles and gathered rain water, measuring it. Erupting Volcano Experiment Children looked at information books and print outs about volcanoes. The learned some specific vocabulary such as 'lava' 'molten lava' 'crater' and 'ash'. The first volcano was caused by a chemical reaction between vinegar and bicarbonate of soda. The next volcano was one that wouldn't leave a vinegar smell in the sandpit: children worked collaboratively to create a volcano in the sand. Next they inserted an empty milk bottle and put some liquid hand soap inside. Then children filled jugs with water and poured it from a height into the soapy mil bottle: the chemical reaction caused soapy bubbles to pour out of the bottle. Children showed joy and awe at the results and sustained interest. Fizzy Fountain As a healthy school we do not have fizzy drinks or sweets in school apart from during Science Week! The two year olds were so excited with their chemical reaction and mini explosion in the garden. Ruheda added Mento Mints to a bottle of Cola and the Cola bubbled up and fizzed, shooting out of the spout! Children laughed and observed so closely. Mind you, it really worries me what that does to our teeth and bodies if we ingest them! Do you want to carefully try some kitchen science at home? Click and investigate together at home. At Children's House Nursery School there is an established warm relationship with the local community.
Being 100 years old, we have been in the heart of Bow, working alongside our families for many generations. Over the past few months, we have seen the community pull together in support of people who need our help thousands of miles away. This week we celebrated World Book Day and International Women's Day by inviting families in to read and have fun together. All children joined in and created flower bouquets, planted seeds, enjoyed bedtime stories, decorated biscuits and the adults enjoyed sack races in the garden. We also finished our most recent Early Words Together course, delivered by a wonderful group of new, powerful volunteers and attended by a committed group of parents. Thank you all. If you are interested in volunteering or joining the next Early Words Together course with your child in the summer term, please speak to Guthsna. The joy in sharing learning in a space with others is so valuable: connection to our communities is vital in life. Children's House really is a special place. Ramadan Mubarak to our families who are observing the Holy Month. At Children's House we welcomed the Year of the Dragon. One of our lovely parents who is from China and her Taiwanese friend came to share music, craft, dance and a story with the children.
The children had been supported in understanding the celebration that millions of people all over the world take part in for Lunar New Year. They had been learning about traditions such a money wallets, the importance of the colour red and lion dances in the garden with some beautiful, traditional Chinese resources. When Candy came in to join us, she brought some beautiful books: the children listened and shared them with her, finding out lots of information. The children listened to how Lunar New Year is celebrated by many people: the food, gifts and customs. Afterwards, they handled some special resources: fabric and a beautiful lion dance costume. Children listened to music and responded, dancing inside and throughout the garden. Children sustained interest and worked together with their friends to take part joyfully. We learned how to say "Gong Hei Fat Choi" which means wishing you prosperity. The Year of the Dragon brings power, strength, good luck and wisdom which we wish for the whole world. What celebrations do you and your family and friends take part in? Birthdays, Eid, Anniversaries, a baby's birth, Christmas or Easter? Talk with your child about how you celebrate: do you share special food, music, wear special clothes or exchange gifts? At Children's House Nursery School we know the importance of children exploring sensory experiences. It can have a huge impact on wellbeing, self regulation and developing language and vocabulary.
Our children in Red Building have been exploring shaving foam this week: they have been encouraged to explore it using their hands, feel it, smell it, see what happens when they mix it. Children have had time to respond, alongside adults who are using language and facial expressions to encourage children to express themselves. Over time, children have become more confident in accessing the resource, smiling, shrieking and using some key words. foam soft smooth mix zig zag circle It is also wonderful for strengthening little hands and muscle development. Why don't you try this at home? Maybe you could make rubbery goop using this recipe - click here! We have been focussing on sharing traditional tales across the nursery over the past few weeks: stories such as Goldilocks and The Three Bears, The Three Little Pigs and Jack and the Beanstalk.
Children have been supported to: Develop listening and attention; Explore story resources and sensory experiences linked to the tales; Begin to use story language; Learn new vocabulary; Use talk to express themselves; Use language linked to size; Use props to retell stories; Begin to create narratives in play; To build collaboratively with their friends; Use their creations imaginatively; Tell their own stories. Children listened to a range of stories over the week, they responded and explored props related to the stories. They spent long periods of time building together in the garden and playing imaginatively with their creations: buses, planes, spaceships, houses... They made and ate porridge for breakfast, snack and lunch! The cleaners worked very hard to clear up all the oats! Do you have any favourite stories you share at home? Let your key worker know and remember you can borrow books from school! How lucky are we to have a real life construction site almost of top of our school? Well most of the time we don't feel quite so lucky! It can be busy, noisy, dusty and doesn't look very beautiful...yet!
We know Stroudley Walk has needed regeneration for many. many years. It was not a place we felt proud of: often we did not feel safe there so we are optimistic that the works will have such a benefit to our community. We want to feel proud to live, study and work in Bow. . We have a good relationship with the contractors at McAleer & Rushe and are working together with them to ensure we can work side by side and care for each other during this building project. Working in harmony with others is so essential. They invited staff to visit the building site one evening after work: we signed in and were taken upstairs into one of the offices and Leanne and Ben talked us through the plans. We asked questions about the project and were all excited to see green spaces and small parks and seated areas for residents. We heard about the development and saw images of what it will look like. We got to go out onto a viewing platform and see the site working away. We have been thinking about how we can work with our children in developing an understanding of our local environment. Over coming months we will be doing local walks, traffic surveys, litter picking and encouraging all of you to walk, cycle and scoot to school. There is too much traffic on our school road and sometimes pedestrians and drivers do not look our for each other. We need to be considerate and think of each other in our daily lives, finding little moments of joy as we get through each day. We are looking forward to continue working alongside McAleer & Rushe as the project continues until November 2025. Staff said: "I really enjoyed our visit to Stroudley Walk Construction Site. I was born and brought up in the area so it was wonderful to see the redevelopment plan and share the news with friends and family. R=The drone shots and time lapse videos were brilliant. Cannot wait to see the final changes!" "It was interesting to see the site because we got inside information about the facilities that will be here for local people." "It was so interesting and enabled us to see the plans for the buildings going up next to our nursery. It was helpful to know what shops and facilities will be added for the locals." "The visit was so informative about how our area is being developed. It was useful to see the facilities for residents and visually get a feel for how the area will look." "Thank you for making us so welcome. We cannot believe how quickly the buildings are going up around us!" Click here to see details of the development. During the recent new year cold snap, children have been developing an understanding of freezing and melting.
At first staff froze trays of water which the children used their senses to explore: they touched, smelt and some children tasted! Vocabulary to describe the ice was introduced: cold, freezing, chilly, icy, frosty, hard, smooth. Children also used tools to break it down. We observed changes to the ice during the session and noticed that was becoming slippery and turning to water. Children were introduced to the concept of melting. Over coming days, children developed an understanding of freezing by selecting their own small container and placing an object inside (maybe a small world animal or some glitter). They added water and placed in the freezer overnight. They were amazed the next day to discover their water had turned to ice. Do you have a freezer? Can you explore freezing some water with your child? Maybe when you have an ice lolly in the warmer weather you can talk about the changes that happen to the lolly as it gets warm. Look out for icy puddles in coming weeks before the days get warmer. As we prepare for the Christmas break, we have been keeping spirits high in school with singing festive songs - we are sure you have been hearing them at home!
Children have been making Christmas decorations using recyclable materials. We think carefully about the environment and try to reuse things and use scraps of tinsel as treasure. Children have been sharing Christmas books and some children have listened to the story of the Nativity. There are lots of props for children to use in their story telling. There has been lots of festive mark making, with children drawing and writing as well as lots of one-handed tool use with scissors and glue. The children helped to decorate the classrooms and the festive cheer is truly keeping everyone going! The Red Building Christmas Parties are on Tuesday 19 December and Red Building children finish that day. Main Building have their parties on Wednesday 20th and all children come to school in the morning 9am-12pm. We are hoping Father Christmas may visit both days! We wish you, your families and the whole world peace and love for the festivities and into 2024. |
Our BlogThe blog is updated regularly with a range of learning from across our wonderful school. All the rich learning experiences the children have been involved in will be in their Special Books so please do borrow those regularly. Archives
March 2024
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