PORTLAND HOUSE PARENT NEWSLETTER SPRING TERM 2025

We are excited to explore the upcoming spring season and are all looking forward to spending time immersed in exciting outdoor adventures in our wonderful nursery gardens and will be noticing the changes in nature around us.

Spring is truly a magical time with new beginnings providing a wonderful opportunity for developing curiosity to observe life cycles, explore burst of new life as new shoots begin to sprout from the soil, flowers start to bloom, birds begin to return from warmer climates and we can listen to their cheerful melodies as they build their nest to prepare for starting their family cycles. 

There are early indications of warmer weather ahead as the days become longer and we can enjoy the sunshine. Paying attention to such things when spring arrives can teach children a great deal about the world around them, nature, and the impact of the various seasons.

As there is still a chill in the air we are still currently wrapping up warm and cosy, can I please remind parents to continue to bring a fleece for your child to keep at nursery to wear under their nursery outdoor clothing and ensure all items of their clothing are labelled clearly with their name.

Don't forget our regular Stay and Play's which give you an opportunity to join in with your child's activities, talk to staff and meet other parents I look forward to meeting all the new families that have joined us. 

Diary Dates

School Applications for Sept 2025 – Parents will find out which primary school has offered their child a place for September 2025 on Wednesday 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.

Staff Training Day – please note that All nurseries will be closed for staff training day on Friday 4th April.

Red Nose Day – We will be joining in this year’s Red Nose Day fundraising event on Friday 21th March 2025, raising some smiles and money for this great cause. Everyone is invited to wear a splash of red or just a Red Nose for a donation of £2.  Raffle tickets will also be on sale for £1.00 a ticket and will be available to buy in the run up to the event.

This year we will be exploring the “red” theme and enjoying some fun-filled activities both in and outdoors and getting creative in the kitchen.  Families will also have an opportunity to purchase some of the children’s home-baked culinary delights on the day.

If you are not in nursery on Friday 21st March, we would still love for our children and parents to join in the fun at home.  We would also be delighted to see your photos if you could please upload them onto Parent Zone.  

Stay and Play events

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.

Thursday 17th April – Toddlers (9.30-10.30am)

Monday 31st April – Preschool  (9.30-10.30am) 

Thursday 10th April Monday 20th  – Babies (9.30-11.00am)

Nursery Closure Dates

Friday 4th April – Staff Training Day 

Friday 18th April and Monday 21st April – Easter Bank Holiday

(Nurseries reopens on Tuesday 22nd April 2025)

Monday 5th May –Early May Bank Holiday

Monday 26th May –Spring Bank Holiday

Monday 25th August –Summer Bank Holiday

Upcoming Events

Monday 24th – Friday 28th March – Mother’s Day activities.

• Discussions around families and people that are special to us.
• Children will be creating a variety of spring themed artwork.

Parents will have opportunity to attend fundraising Stay and Plays during this week. 

Monday 31st March – Eid celebrations 

The children will be learning about Eid and participating in a variety of activities. If any parents would be interested in coming to talk to the children about their special celebrations please speak to your key person to arrange.

Tuesday 1st April-April Fool’s Day

• Let’s get “silly”.
• Clowns, jokes,  - Key groups to play harmless little tricks on staff members of other key groups in preschool and toddlers.

Circle times on what is funny and what is hurtful. 

Wednesday 2nd April – International Children's Book Day

Bring your child’s favourite book into nursery to share a story time .

If any parents would be interested in coming to read to the children please speak to your key person to arrange.

Friday 4th April – National Walk to Work Day

We will be promoting a walking to nursery, park and stride day and enjoying stories around travel and transport.

Friday 11th April – Big Wind Day

We will be making windy day resources, carrying out experiments and measuring wind using a wind speed chart. (copies of the Windspeed charts will be available in the nursery entrances)

Monday 14th – Thursday 17th April- Easter Activities

Tuesday 22nd April – Earth Day

We will be planning activities that link with project themed activities.

With a Focus on developing climate change gardens, and link to our Eco Schools projects. 

If any Green fingered parents would like to be involved in the project's please speak to your child’s key person

Wednesday 23rd April – St Georges Day

We will be learning about English history, St George & the Dragon and various dragon crafts.

Friday 25th April – World Penguin Day

Penguin cooking club, penguin ice skating small world, black and white day

Conservation- climate change -ice caps – freezing toys in ice

Tuesday 29th April – International Dance Day

We will be enjoying dancing to a wide range of music and will be moving and grooving everywhere including Dancing outside!

If any parents would like to come along and enjoy a dance session, please speak to your child’s key person to arrange.

Learning Focus for this term

The Early Signs of Spring:

• Blossoming Flowers: One of the first signs of spring is the appearance of colourful flowers. We will keep an eye out for daffodils, crocus, tulips, cherry blossoms, and many more as they start to bloom and paint the world with their vibrant hues and seeing what plants we can grow from seeds, cuttings and bulbs.
• Singing Birds: we will listen closely, to see if we can hear the distinctive songs of robins, sparrows, and finches and plan to construct our own bird nests and habitats.
• Buzzing Bees and Butterflies: As the flowers bloom, they attract busy bees and fluttering butterflies. We will be learning how these important pollinators play a crucial role in helping plants reproduce. As they flit from flower to flower, collecting nectar and pollen.
• Greening of Trees: as we look around, we will notice the budding leaves on trees starting to unfurl. Spring brings new growth, transforming bare branches into lush green canopies. It's a sign that life is returning to the sleeping land and we will be engaging in activities using natural materials, growing our own plants and food giving us the opportunity for scientific experiments and measuring growth.
• Baby Animals: Spring is a time of birth and renewal we will be learning about the many different life cycles. Keep an eye out for baby animals like ducklings, lambs, and bunnies as they make their debut in the world as you go on your walks and family outdoor adventures.
• Rain Showers: Spring often brings showers that help nourish the earth and support new plant growth. We will also be embracing any rainy days, measuring the water and splashing in the puddles is an absolute favourite. We will be making our own watering cans from recycled materials and using collected rainwater for our grow beds.
• Longer Days: Have you noticed that the days are getting longer? That's because spring marks the time when the Earth's axis tilts closer to the sun, giving us more daylight to enjoy outdoor adventures. We will be exploring shadows from the sun and comparing temperatures.

 If you have any questions about the activities we are doing or would like any additional information please do not hesitate to contact your key person via the parents zone app who will be more than happy to assist with information regarding the activities your child has been doing.

Preschool

This term, preschool will be looking at the changes around us and how we can actively help nurture nature within our environments. Firstly we will be identifying changes we experience from the transition of winter to spring and will be looking at the different animals associate with this marvellous season and have planned an exciting visit from some chicks and hens. We will also be looking at the different plants and becoming familiar with the plant lifecycles as well as learning about various other life cycles too. We will be identifying different animals and learning how we can care and nurture them and the environment around us. Finally we will be spending quality time investigating the preschool garden and woodland areas to educate ourselves on the different animals and minibeasts and their habitats. 

Toddlers

Over the Spring term in the toddler room we have currently been celebrating British Science week by taking part in in a variety of different experiments to aid in developing children's critical thinking and problem solving. We made our own volcano watching the volcanic reaction happen, learning about colouring mixing, made our own patterns in milk solutions and explored how to make our own bubbles. Over the coming spring term we are going to be focusing our attention on the outdoor environment learning all about growing and planting. The children will have the opportunity to take part in planting seeds and watching them grow, learning about the cycle of plants and what they need to make them big and strong. We hope to grow carrots, spring onions, tomatoes and flowers. We will be setting the children an at home challenge to grow their own sunflower from seeds, we will send out more information on our challenge over the coming weeks.

Babies 1

During the month of March we have been learning about colours. We have been enjoying lots of sensory activity such as lights, rainbow fabrics and parachute games. We have also been exploring colours in our natural environment, doing planting activity, using flowers during play and also looking at baby animals in books such as chick's and bunnies as we enter into spring.

Babies 2

Over the past few month's we have been doing lots of sensory activities with the babies using sand, water, bubbles and playdough. We had a lovely stay and play where we did some yoga stretches and looked at lots of lights. The babies enjoyed blowing bubbles, looking at the torch light and throwing the flashing balls. As we enter into Spring we will be exploring how the environment outdoors is changing and what colours we can see. We will be looking at the flowers in the garden planting some seeds and enjoying exciting Easter activities.

Project Update

Eco Schools – All our nurseries are working hard towards our annual Eco Schools award. The accreditation has recently changed and this year 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 Energy, Water, Global Citizenship and lots more. 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. 

Start Life Well – We are about to take on a new accreditation, the Start Life Well award which focuses on physical activity and nutrition in our settings. Each nursery will be assessing all areas of physical activity and nutrition before deciding on an area to improve upon. This may be improving gross motor activities indoors and outdoors or looking at staff physical activity. Each setting will choose something different following an assessment which will enable us to share best practice and ideas across the group.

SuperKind – This is another new project for us this year. The aim of this one is to bring social action and active citizenship into the classrooms through different topics and kind actions. Each child will be tasked with doing one kind action per year which can be done through a range of different activities whether that is by collecting litter, visiting a care home, donating to a food bank and many more. We will keep you updated with our progress as the project is rolled out. 

Staff News

Congratulations to Louise who will be starting her maternity leave on Friday 21st March in preparation for the arrival of her very own baby girl. We are very much looking forward to meeting her new baby and enjoying a cuddle when she has become a mum and comes to visit us.

We welcome Kate who has started her apprentice journey at Portland house and is currently enjoying her experiences working across the 2 baby rooms and toddlers. We also will be welcoming Millie who start on Monday 26th March on her apprenticeship and will be joining the preschool team. Both Kate and Millie are looking forward to meeting you and working with the children.

Sadly, we say goodbye to Katie from the Toddler team whom has left for pastures new as a Tui holiday rep in Turkey. Although we will miss her tremendously, we are excited to hear all about her adventures. 

Further Information

Toilet Training Survey

Please see the Guardian Survey Bog standard? Study seeks most effective toilet training methods | Parents and parenting | The Guardian

and the Parent Survey Make Science Happen! - Big Toilet Project

This is on reducing plastic nappy waste, with a focus on the environment. 

Early years food choking hazards

Please find latest advice from the Food Standards Agency here: https://www.food.gov.uk/sites/default/files/media/document/Early%20Years%20Choking%20Hazards%20Table_English.pdf PowerPoint Presentation (food.gov.uk)

This includes the latest information that popcorn is not suitable for under 5-year-olds.

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 of wellingtons for participating in outdoor play. 

Nursery Fee Payment Reminder

Quite a few payments are coming in after 1st of the month. 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 £20 late payment charge and continued failure to pay will be charged at a daily rate of 8% of the outstanding balance.