HARLEQUIN PARENT NEWSLETTER SPRING TERM 2026

Spring in nursery is an exciting time where children can explore the changing world around them. As the weather becomes warmer, children can notice flowers beginning to bloom, trees growing new leaves, and animals becoming more active. Practitioners can support learning through outdoor play, nature walks, and creative activities such as planting seeds, painting flowers, or making spring-themed crafts. These experiences help children develop curiosity about nature, build language skills as they talk about what they see, and encourage a love for the outdoors

Over the next term, the children at Harlequin will be exploring Spring and the vast changes in the spring season. We will look closely at new growth and life as we start to welcome some of the many insects that return with the warmer temperatures. 

The garden has begun to bloom with buds on the trees and spring daffodils peeking their way through, ready to flower. We have planted some new seeds and bulbs in our planters outdoors which will soon begin to turn into plants, flowers and vegetables. 

We recently hosted an afternoon tea for Mother’s Day and it is was so lovely to see lots of you there both new and existing parents. There was lots of yummy food including homemade scones with jam and cream! 

Diary Dates

School Applications for Sept 2026 

Parents will find out which primary school has offered their child a place for September 2026 on Thursday 16 April. Once you receive your child’s school place allocation confirmation offer please can you inform your child’s key person so we can send plan their school transition accordingly.

Stay and Play

We look forward to you seeing you at our monthly Stay and Play's which give you an opportunity to join in with your child's activities, talk to staff and meet other parents.

Wednesday 29th April – International Dance Day ( 4.30pm-5.30pm)

Nursery Closure Dates

Staff Training Day – please note that ALL nurseries will be closed for our staff training day on Friday 24th April.

Friday 3rd April and Monday 6th April – Easter Bank Holiday

(Nurseries reopen on Tuesday 7th April 2026)

Monday 4th May –Early May Bank Holiday

Monday 25th May –Spring Bank Holiday

Monday 24th August –Summer Bank Holiday

Staff News

We welcomed Imogen to our toddler room at the end of 2025, she has settled in wonderfully and is making brilliant bonds with all the children in the room. 

We welcome Ana and Nafisa to our toddler room team this month. Nafisa is a level 3 practitioner with a wealth of knowledge working at Portland House across all age groups and Ana joins us from Mini Musica and has a vast array of experience working with toddlers. Ana and Nafisa will be covering Maria’s maternity leave over the next year with Ana working on Monday/Friday and Nafisa working Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday. 

Project Update

Think Equal – All our settings have recently taken part in training for the Think Equal programme. This is a 30 week programme aimed at our preschool children and across the 30 weeks, it teaches children about empathy, resilience, acceptance and tolerance of others. The programme has a lesson plan and some very lovely books which are specific to the programme. So far the feedback from our staff team has been very positive! 

Eco Schools – All our nurseries are working hard towards our annual Eco Schools award. The accreditation changed last year and is more specifically aimed at those in Early Years which means that this year the resources and activity ideas are better suited to most of the children within our settings whereas in previous years, it has been aimed solely at all children in education. 

We have begun some really exciting lessons with the children and have been teaching them about lots of different areas such as Transport, Waste and Healthy Living. Our submission for the award will be at the end of this academic year in July and we will receive our certificate and feedback shortly after which we will share with you.

We will be looking mostly at healthy living at Harlequin this year as we are planting lots of new vegetables in our garden and will be creating our own herb garden as well. The children will have the opportunity to watch the vegetables grow then hopefully taste the end product. 

Learning focus at the moment

Babies

We have lots of new friends to welcome into the baby room in the coming months so our focus will be to help them settle into nursery and bond with their key person. There will be lots of sensory experiences for the children over the coming weeks from messy play in our tough trays to using our new sensory tent and light up toys. Some of our older babies will be transitioning to Toddlers over the coming month and will be visiting and joining in with the older group. 

Toddlers

Over the coming term, the toddlers will begin to look at life cycles and how different animals change from eggs or larvae into different species. They are all very interested in mini beasts and will be spending lots of time outside in the forest and the mud kitchen. The older toddlers will begin their moves to preschool in the next few months so they will prepare for the transition by looking at recognizing the first letter of their names and working on their fine motor skills to help make mark for early writing.

 Preschool 

During the spring term, preschool will find out where our school leavers are going to primary school and begin to prepare for this big transition. This is a big change for children and we will be supporting them and their families up until they leave us. 

Preschool’s focus for the spring term will be people in our community and new life. They will be learning about different occupations and ways of life but also about changes which occur during spring such as baby animals being born, flowers blossoming and new leaves appearing back on the trees. Preschool will be spending lots more time outside in the garden and the forest area now that it is beginning to warm up and we have some drier weather. The pond will be a big focus for this term, we will be draining and refilling it to hopefully encourage some new friends to hop in and join us. 

Community Library

Our community library has reopened after a cold and wet winter with some new books in there. We encourage you to continue to access the library and we would love for you to share your bedtime story pictures with us via Parent zone. 

Further information

Mobile Phones

Please can I remind parents that the use of mobile phones on nursery premises is strictly prohibited, you must not take any photographs or videos at nursery or at any nursery events. Using your mobile phone breaks the statutory welfare requirements and is also a breach of safeguarding policies to which we must adhere.

Lost and Found Property

We kindly request your cooperation in labelling your child's belongings, including shoes, clothes, hats and other personal items. Clear labelling with your child's name will help ensure that everything is returned to its rightful owner. This simple step will save time and minimise any potential mix-ups. Please check the Lost and Found property boxes periodically to retrieve any misplaced items.

Spring Outdoor Clothing

During the chillier months, please ensure your child has suitable clothing to participate comfortably in all aspects of outdoor play that are all clearly labelled with their name and that can be kept at nursery.

We would kindly request that you bring a warm fleece to wear under the outdoor coats and a pair wellingtons for participating in outdoor play. 

 Late Collection

Please be reminded of our late collection policy, if you arrive after your child’s session end time then a late collection fee will apply. The fee is £6 per 15 min period and applies immediately after the session end time. Staffing is planned according to the children’s session times and we must ensure we are adhering to legal ratios at all times and to ensure that staff are able to go home on time at the end of their shifts.

 Nursery Fee Payment Reminder

Just a reminder that all payments must reach our bank account before the 1st of each month this includes all childcare vouchers, Tax Free Childcare Payments and Bank Transfers. Any parents paying by SLC with need to pay their monthly top up amount by 1st also. Please note that payments usually take 3-4 business days to reach our account.

Any payments received after 1st of the month will incur a £25 late payment charge and continued failure to pay will be charged at a daily rate of 8% of the outstanding  balance.

Nursery News 

Please keep a look out at our regular posts and pictures on the nursery website.