The sun shone again for our annual Children's House Sport's Day.
The children came to school in their Sport's Day t-shirts and were ready for action. Staff had worked hard with children supporting their physical skills all week (and for the past year). Children enjoyed taking part in lots of races and cheering on their friends: from the egg and spoon to targets with beanbags, to long jump, to pass the ball, to hopping and jumping races. We know in the world today we need to stick together and unite as a TEAM. Our Children's House Team is the best and we cheered for EVERYONE TOGETHER! PS. If you are watching the football - COME ON ENGLAND! Summer term is always an interesting one: as so many of our friends are ready to go to primary school, we find they are beginning to use all the knowledge and skills they have learned over the year.
Staff always find ways to encourage children and support them to make meaningful marks. Having reflected on our 100th birthday party at the weekend and our chicks that visited, children have been writing cards. Children were supported to share their talk, their ideas and thoughts. We made thank you cards for Tesco, Old Palace Primary School and our mystery bear. Some children used their knowledge of phonics to write words. Others drew pictures and some made other marks. See if you can find meaningful ways for children to make marks at home: shopping lists, menus, family members and celebration banners! Saturday 29 June 2024 saw us celebrate our one hundredth year - yes, Children's House Nursery School is 100 years old.
Set up in 1923 by sisters Doris and Muriel Lester to serve the families and children of Bow. "Nothing is too good for the children of Bow!" said Doris Lester 100 years ago and we still believe that. The whole community came out in force to celebrate: pupils past and present, families past and present, governors, staff from over the years and even the sunshine kept us warm. Kindness, joy, food, stories, games and love flowed and we are so grateful to each and every one of you. Please enjoy the photographs below to give you a flavour of our centenary celebrations. A special thank you for donations of food, tables, displays, cards and messages, time and skills to: Kingsley Hall, Old Palace Primary School, Sharon & Margaret and the tapestry group, One Nation, extended family members and Zuhra from G4S! We know the Lester sisters would be proud of the impact their school still has on the children and families of Bow in 2024. Thank you for supporting us each and every day and for your generosity too. Here's to another 100 years - Happy Birthday to us. If you have any photographs you took on Saturday, or any from across the years, please email them to Becky [email protected] We love families to spend time in school and learn alongside the children: it helps to build trust and foster warm relationships when families feel welcome in school.
Today we invited dads, uncles, cousins, grandads (and mums of course) to come and take part in some fun activities: There was biscuit decorating - making choices and using one handed tools; Card making - again, one handed tools and mark making; Planting seeds - engaging with the natural world, using tools, sustaining concentration; Races in the garden - developing gross motor skills, having fun. Thank you all for joining in and being part of our wonderful community - together, we are stronger. We have long understood that Children's House Nursery School is at the centre of the local community: that is because YOU, our lovely families are so supportive and join in the life of the school.
As our school celebrates its 100th year (1923-2023) here in Bow, we wanted to create new memories for our school community. Last week the children really made us proud: their behaviour as they took part in the 100 Metre Sponsored Walk was INCREDIBLE! The main building children walked with staff and some wonderful volunteers to the local football pitch which Darren had decorated with bunting. Children were so sensible and careful crossing the road and navigating the outside world. Staff made the event so much fun: some children had pom poms, others had made posters, others cheered "Go, go go!" for their friends. And guess what? They walked much further than 100 metres - some of them walked 700 metres! Our wonderful Red Building friends walked, ran, skipped and jumped up and down the playground in school and they also certainly managed more than 200 metres each. The sponsorship money you raised will be used for resources for the children in school (books and creative resources) and a proportion will go towards our fun day celebration to which you are all invited on Saturday 29 June 10am-1pm here at Children's House! Sabiya and I counted the pounds and pennies and you helped to raise a whopping £993.53! That is incredible! Thank you for joining in and giving - we appreciate each and every one of you. As part of our healthy lives work we have been supporting children with healthy eating, planting and growing and physical skills: such as climbing, balancing, jumping from height, dancing, stretching, cycling, walking and running.
We are also asking families to help us keep the road outside clear and safe for our children.
Some children have talked about this, sharing their ideas. They also made posters, drawing and writing some words to help us all remember. Please help keep everyone safe and care for our world. Children at Children's House are encouraged to develop skills and confidence in building and making every day.
They have opportunities to build, design and create in the construction area in class and the garden as well as using recycled modelling materials in class each day. Children are supported to use one handed tools such as scissors, mark marking equipment, sellotape, glue and masking tape to join recyclable materials. Recently there has been much interest in our neighbours McAleer-Rushe at the construction site and children were encouraged to observe the vehicles we could see next door. We also used books and photographs from our visitors to look at different vehicles. Children learned new vocabulary such as 'palette jack', 'bulldozer', and 'excavator' as they looked at the photographs. Children spent sustained periods building with intention, returning to and playing with their models over time. It engaged large groups of children and motivated some to build creatively. As you pass the construction site, look in through the gate and say "Hello" to the workers and look at the progress they are making. Children were supported in further developing understanding of counting with one to one correspondence, mark making their numbers and comparing them.
Firstly, children helped to create a bowling alley in the garden: problem solving collaboratively with the blocks. They also created skittles using large plastic blocks. They took it in turns to bowl the ball and knock over skittles. Children worked together (excitedly) to count the skittles and mark make how many they had knocked down. They were introduced to tallying numbers as they counted. Children were so motivated to have a go and showed real joy in their achievements. Some children were able to write the numeral to match the tally, others needed a little help. Another group created their own pouches to go gathering in the garden. They problem solved how to create their pouch and then used number cards to pick how many objects they were going to gather. Sticks, stones, feathers and other small items were gathered and then counted and compared to the numerals. This learning will continue next week to consolidate the learning with some calculation for children who are ready: comparing and combining groups of number. At Children's House we work closely with our local community: we want our children and families to feel proud of our community and part of it. Our new neighbours are McAleer Rushe who are developing Stroudley Walk.
Leanne, from McAleer-Rushe, came to spend time with the children this week. Children have been interested in construction: they have been supported to build with a purpose, developing a narrative, collaborating with their peers and talking about their creations. As we can see the site cranes from our garden and classrooms and hear the construction, children have been part of the journey of the development so we invited lovely Leanne. To further support children's understanding of the local environment, Leanne brough lots of large photographs of machinery which has been used on site. Children were excited and some knew the names of the vehicles: excavator, dump truck, digger, crane, lorry. Many children were able to identify the machinery and use the vocabulary in their play. Children learned about different colour hard hats - did you know yellow is for labourer, black for supervisor, white for site manager, green for health and safety, orange for signaller and blue is for everyone else. Children are going for local walks next week to think about our local area, what they like about it and how we can look after it. You and your family can do your bit: Please do not drive to school - walk, scoot or cycle. Help to pick up rubbish if you see it. Be kind to your neighbours. As part of our continued school development at Children's House, we have been looking at children's physical development.
We know brain development has a fundamental impact on learning and central to brain development, is our whole body. Over recent years we have introduced and implemented the teaching of cycling using balance bikes and 2 wheeler bikes. Over the holidays we had some new climbing equipment delivered and fitted ready for the children's return to nursery. We wanted to expose children to:
We did not impose rules on the use of the area, but wanted to observe how the children used it. Children were excited and explored together in small groups. Two year olds came over from their garden and enjoyed exploring the tunnel, hill and climbing logs (we will get some landscaping for the Two Year Olds as well once the building site work has finished.) We are looking forward to seeing physical outcomes for children improving and the impact this will have on learning longer term. Remember to take your child out regularly, walking, cycling or scooting. Visit our wonderful local parks and encourage them to play on climbing equipment. Physical development is linked to cognitive development and this affects your child's future. |
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
July 2024
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