PORTLAND HOUSE PARENT NEWSLETTER SUMMER TERM 2026

Welcome to our Summer term Newsletter. 

As we reach the end of another wonderful nursery year, we wanted to take a moment to reflect on all the fun, learning and special memories we have shared together.

Summer has brought lots of opportunities for the children to explore, discover and enjoy the world around them. We have been making the most of the sunshine with outdoor water play, messy play, exploring nature, gardening, creative activities, sand play, music and dancing, as well as lots of opportunities for imaginative play with our friends. It has been lovely to see the children’s confidence grow as they try new things, develop new skills and, most importantly, have fun along the way.

We have also been enjoying those simple summer moments that the children love so much such as splashing in water during the heat wave, searching for bugs, watching things grow, creating masterpieces and enjoying stories together in the sunshine.

A Very Special Farewell

Sadly it is fast approaching  that time of year where we say goodbye to our preschool children who are flying the nest and starting their new adventure at school in September; we hope that you all keep in touch and feel welcome to come and visit. 

We are incredibly proud of each and every one of you. Watching you grow from little ones into confident, curious and independent children has been such a privilege. You have filled our nursery with laughter, energy, kindness and so many precious memories.

For some of our families, this really does feel like the end of an era. Some children have been part of our nursery family for over a decade, and we have had the joy of watching them grow, learn and flourish. Saying goodbye is never easy, but we are so excited to see where their next adventure takes them.

To our preschoolers: keep being curious, keep smiling and never stop exploring. We know you are going to be amazing at school! 

We would also like to extend a very warm welcome to our new families who are joining us. We are so excited to have you as part of our nursery family and are really looking forward to getting to know you and your children . We can’t wait to meet you at our upcoming events and share in the fun and learning together.

Here’s to a summer filled with sunshine, laughter, friendship and memories to treasure — and to all the exciting adventures still to come. 💕

We would like to say a big Thank you to the parents that have given their time over the last term to come in and share their skills, job roles with the children at focused learning group times, this experience has been invaluable to their learning, if any other parents would like to arrange to come in to share their interests, hobbies, talk about their job role or just to do an activity or read a story to the children, please speak to a staff member we would love to arrange a date with you. 

Diary Dates

Important dates in preschool: 

07/09/26: Parents evening – 6.00-7.15pm Parents evening for the parents of children who were non-school leavers in 2026.

21/09/26 : Stay and Play  4.00-5.00pm - This stay and play will explore the all about me topic and different activities we offer for the children to explore and get to know themselves and their friends. 

12/10/26 : Transition Parents evening- For parents of our new preschoolers 6.15-7.15pm

Stay and Play dates for rooms to follow.

Nursery closures

** Wednesday 14th October – Staff training Day

Friday 25th December 2026 – Friday 1st January 2027 (Christmas Closure)

The nursery will reopen Monday 4th January 2027.

Charity Event

Wednesday 14th September National Teddy bear day  

Bring your favourite teddy to nursery, teddy bears picnic with story and songs, we will count sort, measure our teddy bears. £2.00 donation for our nominated charity (Details to follow)

18th September – International pirate Day (on 19th)

We will be  hosting a variety of activities such as treasure hunts. Making pirate attire, sea shanty songs. Dress up as a pirate, for the children across all rooms to participate in. Donations welcome.

Friday 30th October  –Black and orange theme.

We will be organising pumpkin crafts seasonal songs and games with lots of sensory play activities to enjoy. £2.00 donation for fancy dress :

Monday 10th – Friday 14th November -Nursery Rhymes week

Sponsored sing along - Details to follow closer to the time of the event. 

(Dates to be confirmed for each room)

Monday 14th – Thursday 24th  December – Festive Jumpers and celebrations.

Children to wear festive jumpers and enjoy a themed celebration of activities, crafts, songs etc.

Full details to follow.

Staff News

We also have some staff updates to share.

We are saying a fond goodbye and sending our very best wishes to Sabrina, who is leaving us to pursue an exciting career change. We wish her every success and happiness in this exciting new chapter.

We are also saying goodbye to Alannah, who will be working closer to home as her daily commute has been a long one. We thank her for all her hard work and wish her every happiness and success in her new role.

At the same time, we are delighted to congratulate Mandeep on the arrival of her beautiful baby boy—such wonderful news! We wish Mandeep and her family every happiness as they enjoy this special time together.

We would also like to congratulate Mariam on successfully passing her Level 5 qualification. This is a fantastic achievement, and we are so pleased to celebrate her hard work and dedication. Congratulations, Mariam!

Welcome! 

A warm welcome also goes to Hajrah, who is starting her apprenticeship journey with us. We are excited to support her as she begins this new chapter in her early years career.

Over the coming weeks, we will be welcoming and training a number of new apprentices and staff members as part of our induction and training programme. As part of their onboarding, they will begin their journey at Portland before moving on to their permanent nursery sites within our group. You may therefore notice some new faces around the setting over the coming weeks. We are delighted to welcome them and look forward to supporting them as they begin their careers with us.

Project Update

We are also very proud to share that we have completed our Eco Schools Award. The children and preschool council have been undertaking a range of activities as part of their project work, helping to care for and learn more about our environment. They have shown fantastic enthusiasm and responsibility throughout. 

Preschool councillors have replenished the community library with new books. Please feel welcome to borrow one to read at home. A polite reminder to return books once finished so others can enjoy them too.

Learning focus at the moment

Over the coming Sumer term we will be focusing on a variety of activities that focus on investigating changes in nature and life cycles. The children were thrilled to have the opportunity to observe the life cycle of the butterfly and watch the process of change for this and took great delight in releasing them into the nursery garden. 

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

On the run up to summer the children have been participating in many of activities involving the change of season. The children have been creative making their own flower pictures using different tools and materials. They have also been looking at their letter sounds and trying really hard with their letter formations. In STEAM, the children have been exploring magnets and identifying magnetic things around us. Most importantly, the children have been engaging in circle times and activities to promote their independence and school readiness. The children have loved talking about their new schools and learning more about the years to come. With the weather being much sunnier, the preschoolers have spent lots of time outside. We have been watching our plants grow and have now been lucky enough to harvest them! The children were searching through our plants to harvest things they think are grown and played with leftover leaves and soil in our mud kitchen. Finally, we have watched our stick insects continue to grow, Preschool have helped Kirsty clean out their home, feed them and watched them gain lots of baby stick insects. 

Summer in Preschool we are saying goodbye to our school leavers of 2026. We have watched the children learn and grow into independent young children all ready for school. We are so proud of everything they have achieved and we congratulate them on the next step of their journey. Thank-you to all the children and parents who have support them throughout this process. Over summer the children will be involved in many summer activities involving: chalk, water play, sand play and new activities like archery! Next term we welcome lots of new preschoolers for the new academic year. We will be participating in many activities which explore the topic 'all about me'. This is where we can learn all about the preschoolers and they can learn lot about themselves too! In phonics the children will be learning about their environmental sounds, using our listening ears to identify the sounds around us. The children will be developing their fine motor skills through cutting and weaving activities as well as pushing their numeracy through counting. to have an explore of the rooms and experience some of the activities the children do within their day. Have a talk with staff within the preschool room and gain more of an understanding of what to expect within the next year. 

07/09/26: Parents evening - Parents evening for the parents of children who were non-school leavers (Selective invite)

Toddlers

Over the summer months the Poppy room children have spent lots of time exploring outdoors. They have particularly enjoyed playing with bubbles blowing them and making their own bubbles. We used a variety of objects to blow into including bobbins, sieves and wooden curtain rings to make different sized bubbles. Sometimes we made our own bubble mixture experimenting with mixing the water and bubble bath, but we did also use already made bubble mixture to see which made more bubbles. The children enjoyed using the bubble wands to blow bubbles for their friends to catch, chasing them as they blew round the garden. The children also really enjoyed just playing in the water with the bubbles mixing it up to create lots of bubbles which they then used in different ways to have lots of fun, like making handprints, blowing them at each other and of course making Santa beards.

Babies

This term the babies have enjoyed exploring all the joys of summer. Some of our older babies enjoyed a sunny afternoon trip to the park, which was great fun and gave them a wonderful chance to build those gross motor and climbing skills. We have all had lots of fun exploring shaving foam 'Ice creams' in the mud kitchen, using fine motor skills to add 'mud sprinkles' and scoop the 'ice cream' into the cones ad tubs. The babies have also enjoyed lots of water play and ice play during the heat waves as fun ways to keep cool in the heat of the day. We have a fun beach party Stay and Play planned for Tuesday 18th August and hope lots of parents will be able to attend.

Fun Club

Over the summer holidays Fun Club are getting enjoy a range of different activities from cooking their own tea to dance workshops and learning the alphabet in BSL! They are also getting to go on lots of fun trips to the local community including the library, Bowling and mini golf. The children love getting to go on the bus during trips and getting out and about. This summer we also have the Huddersfield Giants coming to play football and rugby with the children. The children have loved getting to play all the different mini games and learn some new skills.

Staff Training Days

At Portland nurseries we believe that for us to provide your children with the best possible experiences whilst in our care it is mandatory to keep staff training up to date and refreshed regularly. With this, we hold two training days a year where we close the nursery to allow us the time to ensure knowledge and skills are up to date with current practice guidelines. Our 2026 training days will be: Wednesday 14th October .

We appreciate your cooperation and understanding when it comes to closing the nursery for our staff training days.

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.

Autumn Clothing

As the weather gets cooler over the next term 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 wellingtons, hats, scarves and gloves for participating in outdoor play.