Nursery News
Caterpillar to beautiful butterfly
11 Jun 13
There has been lots of excitement at Harlequin over the past few days as some of the nursery caterpillars have emerged from their cocoons into beautiful painted lady butterflies.
The children, staff and parents were excited to set all five of our butterflies free on Friday evening and a lucky few even had the chance to hold and observe them before they flew away in our
Victory for the early years sector
07 Jun 13
A big thank you to those parents who signed the petition demanding the Government rethink plans to change staffing ratios. Nick Clegg announced today that this would no longer be happening.
There has been a lot of coverage in press and on TV and we have provided a link below to what I consider to be a fairly reasoned response. Asking staff, no matter how well qualified,
Going on a bear hunt
03 Jun 13
This afternoon the pre-school children at Holly Bank went on a bear hunt in Clayton Fields behind the nursery.
We’re going on a bear hunt, We’re going to catch a big one, What a beautiful day! We’re not scared.
Uh oh, grass long wavy grass. We can’t go over it, we can’t go
“Again” “Again ”
26 May 13
In celebration of Children’s Book Week 13th -19th May Oakwood House held a book themed Stay and Play for all the children and families.
Along side this toddlers and pre-school children focus on a new book each month at the nursery “Book of the Month”. One of the main advantages of repeatedly reading the same book to young children is that
Story time with Puppets
24 May 13
Story time with puppets at Portland
Daisy led a story time with her friends in Bluebells today and superbly narrated the story of the '3 Little Pigs'using the puppet theatre and puppets as props. She was highly descriptive in her story telling skills, using intonation adapting her voice, rhythm and phrasing to describe the story to her captivated audience and reduce her proud staff to
Anayah’s Caribbean Carnival
23 May 13
The children at Portland House experienced a very special Stay and Play. Anaayah's family all came down to the nursery to join in our very own Caribbean Carnival. Anayah's Mummy and Daddy, Grandma, Auntie and siblings all came along to join in the fun.
Everyone joined in to dance, there was a game of Limbo, food tasting, hair braiding and we all came together to
Birds nesting at Harlequin
22 May 13
We are really lucky to have Blue Tits nesting in our nursery garden. At the beginning of Spring we set up a special nesting box with a hidden live webcam inside it so the children can watch from a screen inside the nursery. This has been an amazing experience for the children as they have been able to watch Mrs Bird (named by the children) keep her eggs warm ,
Eureka!
20 May 13
A group of Pre-school children from Harlequin have recently enjoyed an exciting trip to Eureka to experieince their new 'All about me' exhibition. We explored our senses, measured and weighed ourselves and had lots of fun with all the different activities available (although the train ride there was just as exciting!!)
'All About Me is a really clever new gallery because it’s been designed
Pre-loved donations
07 May 13
The nurseries recently asked parents to donate any pre-loved baby equipment such as cots, moses baskets, prams, car seats and stair gates for a special collection for the local charity Talkthru.
The charity would like to thank all the families that donated items to their baby equipment project, all of which will go to families who are experiencing financial hardship. Several items have gone out to clients
Out and about at Oakwood
26 Apr 13
Take a look at what the Oakwood children have been up to over the last couple of months.