“Today is a great day to grow” – Welcome to Autumn in nursery at Heyes Lane Primary School. Starting nursery is an exciting time for children (and their grown-ups too) but we recognize that it can also be a big change. Our mission for this term is to ensure that our little learners have a positive transition so that they are ready to learn! At the beginning of their journey, nursery children will become familiar with their teachers, their classrooms, our Heyes Lane rules and their daily routine. We learn all about the Colour Monster and his ability to change colour depending on his mood. Through the story and its colourful illustrations, the children learn about the different emotions and begin to understand that just like the forever changing Colour monster our feelings come and go. As the term progresses, it’s time to sparkle and shine! The children will focus on their families and what makes them unique. As the seasons change children will look for seasonal changes and learn about the different celebrations that happen at this time of year.

At the beginning of this term nursery children will learn ‘how to catch a rainbow’. We explore the colourful world around us and the children will learn how to sort and mix colours. Our next topic will be ‘Somewhere over the rainbow’, where we become Explorers! We learn about the beauty of nature and learn about different lifecycles of animals. We will also explore the world around us and our school environment. We will learn where Nursery is at Heyes Lane! As we ‘spring’ into a new season the children look for signs of seasonal change and we will go on a seasonal walk to observe the changes all around us. We will become gardeners and scientists as we plant our very own flowers. We will care and look after the flowers giving them what they need to flourish and grow.

‘Twinkle, twinkle little star’ – At the beginning of Summer term, we enter a world of song! Children will learn a variety of nursery rhymes to help with their phonological awareness to help them get ready to embark into reception. “I wonder what you are?” A policeman, a teacher or maybe a nurse? We explore people who help us and the different occupations that help our communities. From the city and the suburbs and over to the farm! We will also look at what happens at night time and what happens in the day time! We will explore shadows and how they are affected by day time and night time! We will learn all about farms and we will learn about the different animals we might find there! “Please Miss I want some more!” The children will continue their learning through food, glorious food. Children will travel around the world learning about different countries and their cuisines! As we tease our tastebuds we learn about the importance of healthy eating and begin to understand where our food comes from. To round up our year we will focus on the transition to Reception and we will think about the similarities and differences we might experience!

In Nursery, we are continually making observations and informal assessments of the children to inform our future planning and ensure that progress is being made.  At the end of each term all children’s assessments are entered into INSIGHT, our online data tracking system, which allows us to track the progress of pupils across the year, this will inform our future planning to ensure that all children continue to make progress. 

We love to read in Nursery, and picking up a book to share is a highlight of our day!  Apart from the planned story sessions each day, adults are often found in our Reading area, surrounded by small groups of children who all love listening to stories.  Within each area of provision, there are opportunities to engage with different types of books and explore different themes and stories.  There are ‘breakout’ reading areas in our outdoor area, to allow children to enjoy books wherever they feel most comfortable.

In the Spring term the children will begin to bring home an emergent reading bookto share with you  each week which will help to develop their knowledge of how books work and develop their comprehension skills.

If you don’t already have a story as part of your child’s bedtime routine, now is a good time to introduce this – what better way to end the day than snuggled up sharing a story together!

In Nursery, we teach the children how to listen to sounds, remember them and discriminate between them.  Throughout the year we work on listening and attention skills, keeping a steady beat, clapping rhythms, identifying rhyme and being able to hear sounds within words.  Our phonics sessions are practical, active and fun.  By the end of the year we will be consolidating the skills needed to orally blend and segment simple words, thus giving your children the foundations needed for continuing their phonics learning in Reception.

Communication and Language is one of our prime areas for learning in Nursery and one of the most important things that you can do to help your child succeed in Nursery is talk to them…talk about everything you can see around you, introduce new vocabulary related to their interests and share books together, talking about what they can see in the pictures and what they have heard as you read. 

During the Nursery year, we will also send our Home Learning Bags home with your child.  These bags have been created to support children with their acquisition of core physical development, phonic and maths skills.  We would ask that you devote a short period of time, without any background distractions such as mobile phones and TVs, to completing the activities within the bags with your child.  If you have any questions about any of the activities please speak to a member of the nursery staff.