OAKWOOD HOUSE PARENT NEWSLETTER AUTUMN TERM 2025

Welcome to our Autumn newsletter. We would like to welcome all the families that have joined us for the term, we hope you are settling in well and it’s been wonderful to meet you. As the leaves fall from the trees and the nights begin to get darker the natural world offers us unlimited amount of learning opportunities in which the staff skilfully turn into teaching moments through play. With lots of Autumnal activities happening around the nursery we can’t wait to continue to see what learning experience the children get up to whilst exploring the forest

Diary Dates

Parents Christmas Craft Evening (at Portland House) Monday 8th December – Join us for some festive crafts as parents join together for this social event including wreath making. Limited spaces available, please email to check availability.

Children’s Christmas party (at Playworld) Sunday 7th December – join us for our children’s Christmas party at Playworld, Marsh from 9:45-11:15am. Please email confirmation of attendance.

Christmas Jumper week Monday 8th December – Friday 12th December – we invite all children to come to Nursery in their Christmas jumpers with a suggested donation of £2 for charity.

Christmas dinner day Friday 19th December – children will enjoy a special Christmas dinner for lunch.

Christmas Closure – Nursery will close for Christmas on Wednesday 24th December 2025 and will re open on Friday 2nd January 2026

December Stay and Plays

Babies – Tuesday 16th December, 3:30-430pm

Toddlers – Thursday 18th December, 4:00-5:00pm

Preschool – Thursday 18th December, 2:00-3:00pm (carols around the camp fire)

A reminder that our British Hearts Foundation donation bin will be available at all Stay and Plays for any donations you wish to make.

Staff News

In September we said a sad farewell to Helen, from preschool, as she decided it was time to retire. I’m sure you will all agree that Helen was a lovely addition to the preschool team and will be missed by the staff, children and parents.

Susie, from toddlers, has now started her maternity in anticipation for the arrival of her baby. We wish her the best of luck and cannot wait to meet her baby.

We are pleased to say that both Codi, from toddlers and Leah from preschool, have come to the end of their apprenticeship contract with us however they have both been successful in securing a permanent position here at Oakwood and will continue working with the children in their respective rooms, please join us in congratulating them if you see them around the nursery.

Learning focus at the moment

The babies have spent lots of time outside exploring the fallen leaves in garden. We have also taken the leaves inside to further explore through texture trays as well as using them in creative activities such as making hedgehogs and decorating our own leaves. Our babies have also explored different textures during outdoor play my mixing clay, mud and water together to form new textures to play with and develop their inquisitive nature in relation to sensory play.

Our toddlers have been on a sensory exploration through Autumn, focusing on the sights, smells and textures of the season. we have been exploring pumpkins, leaves and smells associated with Autumn such as cinnamon. The children have been using their sense to build on their experiences of Autumn, looking closely at natural resources found in the forest and smells through tactile sensory trays which encouraged the children to explore shapes, colours and textures. We can’t wait to continue exploring the season as we continue to explore pumpkins whilst getting creative. 

The preschool children started the term learning about themselves, with so many unique personalities at Oakwood we took the opportunity to celebrate and teach children about their differences and similarities to each other. The children participated in many activities which incorporated looking at their physical identity whether it was looking in a mirror to identify our facial features and then creating self portraits or creating our own clay faces out in the forest. Recently we shifted our focus to maths and began foraging in the forest for autumn resources that we could use to identify shapes, sizes, quantities and colours as we collected leaves, concurs, twigs and other natural resources to make caterpillars, wind charms and so much more.

Forest school activities for home

This time of year offers lots of forest school activities as the natural environment gives us plenty of materials to utilise in our learning. An easy and fun activity to do at home with the children is leaf rubbing. Simply take the children out to a leafy area and forage for leaves fallen to the ground. Then place the leaves underneath some paper and use crayons to rub over the top. This will leave the pattern of the leaf on the paper. To extend your child’s learning talk about shapes, sizes, colours and different types of leaves. 

Project Update

After the success of Oakwood House achieving the Eco Schools ‘Green Flag Award’, with Distinction for 2024-2025, we are pleased to announce that we will be once again participating in the award for this academic year. This award focuses on the children learning about the natural environment and ways we can help support and preserve the environment through biodiversity, renewable energy, sustainability, waste and so much more.

We will also be renewing our Soil association ‘Food for Life award’, focusing on the children’s learning about healthy eating and activities support their development and understanding of sustainable food sources and the importance of a balance diet with regular exercise. Children will be participating in an array of activities exploring food, from planting vegetables, harvesting fruit and participating in cooking activities in our science kitchen, it is sure to expand the learning experience your children’s has at Oakwood House. 

At Portland nurseries we are committed to supporting the health and wellbeing of all children. As part of this commitment we will be taking part in the NDNA ‘start life well award’. An award which focuses on the support given to children and families through wellbeing activities and supporting the emotional and physical wellbeing of the children in our care. We already provide a wide range of wellbeing support to children, however by taking part in this project we will be able to increase the understanding of children’s wellbeing and offer more support throughout your child’s early years.

Safeguarding

At Portland Nurseries, the safety and well-being of the children in our care is our highest priority. As part of our commitment to providing a safe environment for your child, we would like to remind all parents and carers about the importance of using the correct car seat during car journeys to and from nursery.  

As you may be aware, UK law requires that children use an appropriate car seat or booster seat until they are 12 years old or reach a height of 135 cm. Car seats are designed to protect children from injury in the event of an accident and ensuring that your child is securely fastened in the correct car seat is crucial for their safety.

We kindly ask that all parents and carers ensure they are using the appropriate car seat for their child’s age, weight, and height when picking up or dropping off at the nursery. This is not only for your child's safety but also to comply with the law.

To help provide more information on this important subject, please go to Choosing & Using | Child Car Seats or read the leaflet attached, that explains the different types of car seats available and guidelines on how to choose the right one for your child.

Book recommendations

Ten little leaves

A rhyming book which follows the tune of 5 little ducks but brings the magic of Autumn to life. The book offers many opportunities to spark an interest in Autumn whilst developing early maths and communication and language skills for Toddlers and Preschool children. 

The jolly Christmas postman

Follow the journey of the jolly postman as he makes special Christmas deliveries to some of your beloved fairy tale friends. This book interactive book has lots of activities for the children and parents to enjoy from recipes to jigsaws and letters to read. It’s the perfect mix of celebrating Christmas and extending your children’s learning through fun activities.

Preparing for school

It has come to that time of year where our parents in the preschool room will be thinking about which schools they will be applying for. Thank you to those who joined us for our school transition evening, we hope you found the information useful and the evening gave you an insight into how we will support your child during their journey to starting their next chapter in their learning. 

Important dates for school applications

School applications open 1st September 2025

School applications close 15th January 2026

School allocation day 16th April 2026

Further information

Now that the season has changed please can you check your child’s wellies as they may need some new ones.

A polite reminder that payments are due on the 1st of each calendar month.

If any of your personal details change i.e address, phone number etc please let us know so we can update your records.

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.