Dear Father Christmas

This week in Nursery we are reading a story called Dear Father Christmas written by Jeanne Willis. This story is about a little girl who writes a letter to Father Christmas. She asks for some very different presents, such as a spray to keep the scary monsters away and special snow to make her snowman come to life!

We will be making our Christmas decorations and calendars ready for the end of term. On Wednesday we will be having a dress rehearsal for our Christmas play next week. Please remember that the play will involve everyone in Nursery on Wednesday morning and we will be closed for the afternoon session on Wednesday, 11th December.

We will be going outside this week to have a Winter Picnic. We will have hot food and hot chocolate to drink, as well as talking about ways to keep warm in the cold weather.

Ways to help at home this week

Continue practising our Christmas songs for the play. If you need another copy of the song words, please see a member of staff.

Christmas Cards

Our Christmas post box will be in the Nursery from this week. A list of Nursery children is available in the Nursery porch if you need it for sending cards.

Christmas Lunch

Christmas lunch in school is on Monday, 16th December. If your child does not normally stay for lunch or attends Nursery in the second half of the week we would like to invite them to join us for lunch on that day. A school Christmas lunch will cost £1.80. If you would like your child to come to Nursery for their Christmas lunch, please fill in the form available from the Nursery and return it by next Wednesday so that we can confirm numbers with the kitchen staff.

What's coming up next week?

Wednesday, 11th December at 9.30am
Christmas Play for ALL NURSERY CHILDREN. Children need to be in Nursery for 8.45am as normal. Parents, grandparents and other family members/friends are invited! Please note Nursery is CLOSED for the AFTERNOON session.

The Elf on the Shelf & The Nativity Play

Last week we had a special visitor in Nursery. A little elf from the North Pole arrived to watch us in Nursery and report back to Santa about our behaviour. The first day he was in Nursery he sat on the windowsill very nicely all day. However, when we came in on Tuesday he had cut down some of our rockets from the washing line! On Wednesday he had eaten a biscuit from the cupboard and drank our milk! On Thursday he was sitting on the Christmas tree and on Friday he put toilet roll all over the Nursery! We think we should be reporting back to Santa about HIS behaviour!

This week in Nursery we will be reading a story by Mick Inkpen and Nick Butterworth, called The Nativity Play. We will be practising for our play during the week too. We will also be making special reindeer biscuits ready to take home at the end of term. We will use the story to learn about the story of Christmas and who all the characters were.

Ways to help at home this week

Practise our Christmas play songs at home.

What's coming up next week?

Wednesday, 4th December
Dress Rehearsal for our Christmas Play

Christmas Craft Evening 5.00-6.00pm

Thursday, 5th December
Christmas Fair 2.30-4.30pm

Friday, 6th December
Christingle Service 2.15pm

Request...
I have recently updated the Nursery section of the school website. Please have a look at it and let me know if there is anything else you would need to know as a parent choosing a Nursery for your child. Thank you! http://www.collierley.durham.sch.uk/ournursery/

Getting ready for Christmas...

The past week in Nursery has seen a few changes to the layout of the room. We have a new present wrapping area so that we can give Santa and his elves a helping hand with all those presents they need to wrap before Christmas Eve. We have also made a change to the writing area. It now has a writing wall (we will be stressing that this is the ONLY wall the children should be writing on and that Santa will be watching!!!) and lots of letter writing materials for writing our letters to Santa.

There will be another update on the blog through the week with information about our activities and ways to help at home this week. In the meantime, don't forget our Parent Squiggle Sessions on Wednesday this week at 9.00am or 2.30pm depending when your child attends Nursery. We will be doing another evening Squiggle session for parents in the Spring Term for anyone who is unable to attend this time.

Stick Man

This week we're reading Stick Man by Julia Donaldson. The story is about Stick Man who lives in the family tree with his Stick Lady Love and their three stick children. One day Stick Man goes for a jog and ends up going on a long adventure. He is eventually rescued by a very important person...

We will be using the outdoor area a lot this week for our daily maths challenges. We will be counting out sticks and other natural objects. Another Stick Man will be visiting the Nursery this week and we will take him on a few adventures around the school grounds. We will talk about the adventures he has when we go back to the Nursery, answering who, what, where, why, when and how questions. Everyone will help to draw out the adventures he has around school too. We will be talking about what makes us special and unique.

There will be Christmas cake mix to explore in our malleable area, doilies for printing and painting with, straws to make "sticky" pictures, glittery water in the water tray and soap flakes in another tray.

Ways to help at home this week

Talk to your child about their family tree. Who is in your family? What do they do? How are they similar/different to each other?

Next week we will be writing letters to Santa. Talk about what your child might want for Christmas and what they might leave out for Santa on Christmas Eve.

What's coming up next week?

We will be having a Parents' Squiggle Session on Wednesday, 20th November at 9.00am and 2.30pm. If you are unable to attend but would like to, please be aware that we will be having another Squiggle session in the Spring Term one evening after school.

Wish Tree

Can you donate any of the following items to Nursery?

• box of tissues
• cheap shaving foam
• baby wipes

Children in Need

We will be donating the money from next week's non uniform day to Children in Need. If you would like to donate more than the usual 50p you are welcome to do so.

Children can wear Pudsey ears, etc. to Nursery on Wednesday or Friday next week if they wish.

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!

Thank you to everyone who contributed to our Halloween fundraising activities. We raised an amazing £408!!! The money will be put towards new furniture for the Nursery.

Christmas Is Coming!!!

Our theme for this half term is Christmas & Winter. We are starting the theme by looking at the story of The Gruffalo's Child by Julia Donaldson. We will be playing parachute games in the big hall, involving lots of teamwork. Everyone will use the digital cameras and iPads to take photographs. We will be using the overhead projector to explore shadows, as well as investigating the changes in the weather outdoors. We will use black pens, crayons and paint to make some cave paintings like the ones in the Gruffalo's cave. In our brand new floor books we will be drawing and writing about the things we are scared of. We will also talk about who our families are and what they do. We have some games to play in the outdoor area, including What's the Time, Baby Gruffalo? We will also make homes for the animals in the story outside and talk about hibernation and habitats.

Ways to help at home this week

Talk about how warm or cold it is outside this week and whether or not you need a coat to go outdoors.
Go outdoors as it is beginning to get dark and ask your child to listen to the sounds they can hear. Are there any sounds that are different to the ones you hear when it is light?

What's coming up next week?

We are welcoming more new starters to Nursery next week.

Children in Need... details to follow as soon as they are confirmed!