Weekly Update

Session 25-26

Update 20.04.26

Spring time!

We have certainly benefitted from the lovely weather this week! Our nursery garden has been exceptionally busy and our children have engaged in lots of lovely activities including nature spotting; outdoor painting, obstacle courses and sensory activities.

The fairy garden continues to capture their imaginations. The children were disappointed to see that some of the fairy doors had fallen off! This led to us pondering, "How will the fairies get home?" After much discussion, we decided to create a chant to welcome the fairies back and write them a letter. The children generated lots of interesting questions to help us learn more about the fairies!

St Patrick's Day Parade

We had lots of fun celebrating St Patrick's Day this week. Michelle was in her element, arriving at school dressed as a leprechaun. You can imagine the excitement this created for our children. They got to experience Irish dancing and folktales. We also took part in our very own St Patrick's Day parade, with emerald sticks, which we created by putting our weaving skills to the test.

Update 13.03.26

Scottish Wildlife Trust

As part of our recent partnership with the Scottish Wildlife Trust, we have been loving the outdoors! We have been outside in all weathers, watching the change in seasons as buds and flowers slowly start to appear. Children have been particularly engaged in looking at the sky above us - watching it change from cloudy to sunny (often in one day!) and even spotting some birds flying past. We are also delighted to announce that we have been featured in the Scottish Wildlife Trust's magazine - Wildlife Watch! This is an amazing opportunity for our nursery to be featured on a national scale. We will have copies available to view in nursery soon.

Learning focus

Over the past few weeks, our learning focus has been sorting and grouping. The children have been exploring different ways to organise objects by looking closely at their similarities and differences. Through a range of hands-on activities, they have been sorting items by colour, shape, and size, as well as creating their own groups based on what they notice. These activities have helped the children develop important skills such as recognising patterns, comparing objects and encouraging critical thinking as they explain their choices and ideas.

Sorting and grouping can be easily explored at home too. Simple activities like sorting toys, socks or snacks by colour, size or type can help reinforce these skills in a fun and meaningful way.

We have also been exploring different types of texts, learning about the difference between fiction and non-fiction books. The children have enjoyed listening to a variety of stories and information books, talking about what they have noticed. Together, we discussed how fiction books tell imaginative stories, while non-fiction books help us learn facts and information about the world around us.

Spare Clothing

If your child has needed a change throughout the day, and perhaps has borrowed some of our spare clothes in the nursery, we would kindly request that these are returned: our stocks of spare socks is really running low! We would also welcome any donations if you are having a bit of a spring clean.

Update 06.03.2026

Parents' Night - Pre-schoolers and Deferrals

Sign-up sheets for the upcoming parents' night will be available at the front door all next week for those of you who would like to make an appointment.

Julie will be doing the appointments for Owls, Hedgehogs and Squirrels; Claire will have spaces for Badgers, Foxes and Rabbits groups. To ensure every parent who would like an appointment is able to book one, slots will be limited to 10 minutes.

Loose Parts

As always, we welcome donations of any 'bits and bobs' from home that could enhance our play - buttons, random keys, even hair rollers! Currently, Michelle is trying to develop some of our outdoor space and would specifically welcome donations of any old pots and pans, off-cuts of wood, old toy musical instruments - anything that might be durable enough to survive the micro-climate that is Maidenhill.

Stay and Play

We have had a busy week with lots of Stay and Play sessions. We extend our thanks to all those who were able to join us. We are very privileged to spend our days with your lovely children and we hope you enjoyed the opportunity to step into their world of play and learning.

Holi

This week, children had opportunities to explore colour as part of the celebration of Holi. We also had discussions about positive and negative choices, which we related to our nursery charter. We hope all our families who celebrate Holi have had a joyous celebration.

Fairy Garden

It has been a very exciting time in the nursery garden. We seem to have night time visitors who have been leaving us secret messages! The children received a letter from the fairies and have been working hard to create a beautiful garden for them. They have been discussing all the things the fairies may need to keep them entertained and proceeded to build them a slide, reading area, swimming pool, flower garden and swing. This has captured their imaginative skills and given them a wonderful context for their learning.

Finally, just a gentle reminder that a successful day in nursery is typically a messy one- between paint, mud, sand, water and maybe even our delicious lunches and snack, chances are our clothes might get a bit messy. Please do not feel as though children need to attend nursery wearing their best clothes - something that they and you are happy to get mucky and is easy to pop in the washing machine is ideal.

Update 27.02.26

Stay and Play

We are very much looking forward to welcoming you into the nursery next week for Stay and Play. We would like to use it as an opportunity to showcase the great learning which takes place outdoors, as well as indoors. Many of our children love exploring our nursery garden and embrace all it has to offer come rain, hail or shine! However, many of our children can be reluctant to go outdoors in the inclement weather. Research continues to show that spending time outdoors has a positive impact on mental health, boosts immune systems, reduces the spread of infection and encourages children to be more respectful of their environment/living things as they grow up. We believe it is our duty to encourage positive relationships and mind-sets with outdoor learning and we need your help! Here are some things you can do:

- Come to Stay and Play prepared to go outside.

- Where possible, ensure your child has appropriate puddle suit, wellies, hats, gloves, scarves etc.

- Pack a changes of clothes in your child’s bag, in case they are wet from their play. This helps to ensure they remain comfortable and avoids creating negative experiences with outdoor play.

- Encourage them to go out to play!

We are also looking to enhance our outdoor space and will be seeking your ideas during Stay and Play. We have already been gathering ideas from the children. Their ideas include a cosy reading area outside, music garden and animal barn – watch this space.... In the first instance, if you have any outdoor cushions and/or blankets which are no longer of use to you, we would very much appreciate donations.

On a final note, we respectfully ask that you refrain from using mobile phones during Stay and Play. We have a strict, ‘no mobile phones on the playroom floor policy’. This helps to ensure we are not breaching any GDPR rules.

Thank you for your continued support.

Data Collection

This week as part of our intentional planning, we have been focusing on data collection - bringing together both literacy and numeracy. Our children have been very interested in collecting opinions from their peers in a survey. After someone kindly donated a huge carboard box to us, we walked around the nursery and conducted a survery on what we would like to turn it into. Linking to our space interest - we decided on a rocket! We have also been filling out a pictogram based on our eye colour. This is linked to our health and wellbeing focus of diversity and how we are all different.

Update 20.02.26

Stay and Play wb 02.03.26

The weather may be a bit wet, but that is just an excuse to splash in puddles and mix up some mud pies! In Maidenhill we believe there is no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing. In a bid to try and encourage our children to get out to play and splash about, we are going to have an outdoor learning focus for Stay and Play sessions - be sure to come prepared for all weathers!

Space Exploration

Over the past couple of weeks, our children have been extremely engaged in learning about outer space. They have explored the planets within our solar system; learning their names and key facts about them. They have also developed their creative and fine motor skills to make the planets. This started with detailed drawings and progressed into junk modelling activities. The children's interests then led them to build rocket ships using large blocks and KAPLA.

Thank you to all the parents who have shared how this learning has sparked conversations at home.

The children are not satisfied with their current work as the dwarf planets are not represented! After much thought and consideration they have planned to create them next week using paper mache. Debbie will be very busy!

Diversity

The children have had opportunities to celebrate and explore Chinese New Year and Ramadan. This has sparked conversations about diversity and what makes us unique! This is a concept we will be exploring over the next couple of weeks. As part of this learning journey, we will be asking the children to share something significant to them during group time. This could be a song, talent or treasured item. It would be wonderful if it could be linked in some way to them as an individual, as opposed to just a favourite toy! Perhaps you could begin to have conversations with your child about their culture/heritage and help them choose something to share. It may even be a phrase in a different language, if you are a multi-lingual household.

Update 06.02.26

Toys from Home

Could we kindly ask that we try and discourage children from bringing in toys/ objects from home- we have all been there trying to find the favourite car that has been in every nook and cranny of our nursery. For everyone's peace of mind, it may be best to keep our precious toys safe at home rather than run the risk of it being forever lost somewhere in our playroom.

Stay and Play

Week beginning March 2nd will be our stay and play sessions. Sign-up sheets should be available next week at the nursery door.

Money, money, money!

This week in nursery, our numeracy focus has been centred around money. There have been a large variety of learning experiences on offer, introducing children to the different types of money and the concept of exchanging. Some examples of our fantastic learning include:

Creating their own money out of loose parts
Looking at the values of coins and notes - playing matching games
Discussions around different ways we can pay for things
Creating an outdoor shop where gems are exchanged for treasures!

Doctor role-play

Recently, inspired by the children, our home corner has been transformed into a doctor's surgery! We have been learning all about how our body works and what we need to do to keep it safe. The children have been fascinated by the equipment that doctors use, such as a stethoscope, and have been role-playing extensively with this. They have been using their counting skills to see how many patients are in the waiting room and some of our children have helped to create signs for the surgery too. We certainly have a few budding experts in the medical field on our hands!

Update 30.01.26

Vision Screening

The NHS will be visiting us on Monday and Tuesday of next week to conduct vision screening for our preschool pupils. Please ensure you have returned the form to our school office if you wish your child to be screened.

Literacy focus!

We decided it was time to give our literacy area a refresh. We worked collaboratively with the children and redesigned the space. The children wanted to move our library and change the way we store our mark materials. Well done to all those involved, it has sparked lots of interest!

Themes emerging from this area include environmental issues. This has led to the children rescuing the animals from litter, exploring the text ‘Someone Swallowed Stanley’ and creating their own characters from recycled materials.

Perhaps you could link into this at home by thinking about different creative ways to reuse your waste.

Fairy Garden

Our nursery garden is also undergoing a transformation. The children received a letter from a fairy this week! You can imagine the excitement when we were asked by the fairies to create a garden for them. The children proceeded to make a list of resources and began to gather things they needed. Perhaps you could help us, help the fairies? If you have any of the following items, we would be very grateful:

Pinecones; sticks; pebbles; stones; leaves and solar powered twinkly lights

Maybe a nature walk will be on the agenda for our Maidenhill families this weekend.

Update 23.01.26

This week at nursery, following on from our fantastic landmark creation, we have been so interested in the wider world around us. We all gathered together on Friday for a 'showcase' from the children who had been involved in creating the landmarks. This was wonderful to see our children share their learning and inspire their peers.

Looking at the wider world, a lot of children have been loving learning about space and the planets. Children have developed their mark making skills by drawing the planets and placing them in order. Some quotes include "Do you know that the sun is a star and not a planet?" and "Venus is the warmest planet." We have been designing our own rockets and talking about how we would get to the moon. We now have many budding astronauts and astronomers!

Sparked by our discussions about the world around us, children have been very interested in recycling and keeping our oceans free from plastic. We have enjoyed reading the book 'Someone Swallowed Stanley' - a story about what pollution does to our oceans and how we can help. The children have been learning the importance of putting our litter in a bin and have enjoyed identifying objects that we can reuse and recycle, helping our planet.

We are excited to see where this learning develops!

Update 16.1.26

It has been lovely to return to nursery after the Christmas break. We hope all our families had a happy and restful time. Since coming back, we have welcomed some new children to our nursery. They are settling well and it has been lovely to see our children make new friends. We couldn't be more proud of some of out older children who have made an extra effort to make our newcomers feel settled. Below, you will see some of the learning themes which are emerging.

Ice, Ice, Ice!

The weather has created the perfect backdrop for lots of scientific learning experiences. We explored the various states of water, during water and ice play. The children demonstrated a good understanding of the process of freezing/melting. They even set up their own experiments which led to us excavating animals and dinosaurs. The children also explored different qualities of ice, where they explore the concepts of weight and mass. They tried a range of utensils to break up the ice, recognising that if the ice was thinner, it would break more easily. They also recognised that warm water would melt the ice.

Through water play, they have explored floating and sinking. This is a lovely spark which will lead to some buoyancy experiments next week.

The World

The children have been keen to share their experiences from their holiday. This has involved sharing tales of travel which led to exploring the atlas. The children were captivated by landmarks and put their creative skills to the test by recreating landmarks in our junk modelling area. During this process, they worked collaboratively to make their ideas come to life. They also developed their fine motor skills while drawing, cutting, folding and weaving. Our creations include the Eiffel Tower, skyscrapers and the London Bridge. Through discussions, the children have also been various aspects of different cultures. Perhaps you could continue these celebrations at home...? We are always keen to celebrate diversity!

Update 18.12.25

Nursery Festivities

This week at nursery, the children have been enjoying a variety of festive experiences. They have been writing Christmas cards for their friends and family, creating paper chains for our party decorations and making wonderful clay ornaments which they then painted! All of these activities have been enhancing our imagination, problem solving and fine motor skills.

Nursery Party

We had a wonderful time at our nursery party on the 15th of December. The children had a fun-filled time taking part in a range of party activities. They used their cooking skills to create a festive biscuit which they then enjoyed. We also practiced our weaving skills by creating a personal Christmas decoration with wool and paper. Dancing was also on the cards with some music and traditional party games. We even had a visit from a special guest - Mrs Claus! She very kindly gave all the children a lovely Christmas gift. Thank you for joining us.

Scottish Wildlife Trust - ' Maidenhill Nursery Wildlife Watch'

We are very excited to announce that we have recently partnered up with the Scottish Wildlife Trust to become a 'Wildlife Watch' group. This will already enhance our strong connection to the outdoors as we will take part in different nature activities to help us get closer to the wildlife in our area. The Scottish Wildlife Trust have very kindly sent us new resources such as bug pots and nature spotting guides which we are so excited to use. We will have more information in the new year for ways for our families and wider community to get involved - watch this space!

Thank you!

We would like to wish all of our families a wonderful and restful festive period. We will see you all in 2026!

04.12.25 - The Post Office

This week, we followed the children's interests which led to the creation of a post office. The children used their creative skills to create a post box and then enjoyed mark making whilst writing letters to Santa. Throughout the week, they have enjoyed role playing in the post office which has involved creating tickets, weighing parcels and paying for items. The children have had lots of opportunities to develop their talking and listening skills, whilst exploring mathematical concepts throughout this experience. Here are some of the learning highlights:

"That parcel will cost more because it is heavier"
"We need tickets for each parcel."
"That present is going far. It might not get there for Christmas."
"Come and get your ice cream. The post office should sell ice cream too."

Nativity

We are so proud of all our children for their participation in the Nativity. This is a lovely Christmas tradition and we think they did a wonderful job, retelling the Christmas story. Performing in front of an audience takes a lot of confidence, particularly at their young age. We couldn't be more proud.

Numeracy

This week, our intentional planning involved 'subitising'. This is the recognition of quantities, without counting. The children had a wide range of opportunities, using a variety of materials to refine this skill. This led to discussions about how to make different amounts, with one child exclaiming "Let's do plus!" So that is exactly what we did. It is so heart-warming to work with such enthusiastic children. Some learning highlights:

"That's six, I know because it is three and three."
"I have made a funny six. It looks different."
"Six and one is seven."
"I want ten. I only have eight - I need two more."

Mini Master Chef

All our children have opportuities to take part in Mini Master Chef. This is where they get hands on experiences of cooking and baking. Most recently they have made coloured bread, biscuits and scones. During these activities, they learn about food hygiene, use sequential language and develop their fine motor skills. Most importantly, they get to take home yummy treats! A big thank you to Sophie Sinead who provide these experiences.

Update 04.12.25

Learning Update

It is a very busy time of year for our children! We have been working hard with our talking and listening skills in our nativity rehearsals. We certainly have lots of budding actors!

Again, a small reminder of our nativity details:

When - Thursday 11th December

9.45am for Rabbits, Foxes and Hedgehogs
2.00pm for Badgers, Squirrels and Owls

Where - Gym Hall

Please note, that your tickets will be honoured for the show your child is in, even if you have already purchased tickets for a different performance.

If you have already bought tickets, these will be available from your child's key worker at pick up and drop off. Spare tickets can be purchased from our school office - £4 per ticket (cash please!)

As well as all the transferrable skills gained through the nativity process, we also have been focusing on stories and understanding a text. The children have enjoyed looking at lots of different books while recalling the main events and characters. For our numeracy focus, we have been learning about subitising - the skill of showing a quantity of an amount without having to count. Children have been enjoying playing dice games and using loose parts to represent lots of different numbers!

Update 28.11.25

Stay and Play

Last week we enjoyed welcoming many parents and carers into our nursery for Stay and Play. It is always such a lovely opportunity to invite you into the wonderful world of nursery! The children loved sharing their experiences with you. Thank you for getting ‘stuck in.’ Many of you ended up with lots of children who were keen to play with you. We are also very grateful for the feedback which many of you were able to leave. It helps us to identify what is going well and gives us ideas for next steps.

Learning Update

As you will be aware, we have been exploring direction and positional language. This has resulted in lots of exploration of maps. The children have been extremely engaged and have enjoyed looking for specific countries in the atlas and sharing their experiences of travel. This has linked beautifully to the learning in the Home Corner. Whilst reviewing their family photographs, the children realised that there are differences and similarities amongst all families. This has led to a focus on diversity and a celebration of our uniqueness. The children are now exploring music from across the globe and sharing phrases in different languages. It would be a great opportunity for you to engage in discussions with the children about their own culture, heritage and countries they have visited. Many of our children have also enjoyed following directions to find desired objects. Perhaps this is something you could try at home.

The children have also been learning about the 'initial sounds' in words. They have had lots of opportunities to identify the initial sound of their own name, as well as in lots of other words. This has led to a lot of our children proudly telling people that 'A' is their letter.

You could continue to develop this learning at home by playing I-Spy and encouraging the children to think about the initial sounds in the names of family members.

Nativity Update

Our Nativity rehearsals are in full swing. The children have really impressed us with their ability to follow instructions and remember what to do/where to go, during rehearsals.

When - Thursday 11th December

9.45am for Rabbits, Foxes and Hedgehogs
2.00pm for Badgers, Squirrels and Owls

Where - Gym Hall

Please note, that your tickets will be honoured for the show your child is in, even if you have already purchased tickets for a different performance.

All parents/carers should purchase tickets initially through ParentPay. This is limited initially to two tickets per child. This will close on Sunday 30th November. Thereafter, spare tickets can be purchased from our school office - £4 per ticket (cash please!)

On the day of the performance, your child should attend nursery as normal. Costumes will be provided by the nursery team. However, if your child is a sheep or an angel it would be appreciated if they could where a white T-shirt/top and light coloured leggings/trousers. If you are unsure of your child's role, please just ask their key worker at pick-up or drop-off. If your child does not attend nursery on the day of the performance, please bring them to nursery, at least 15 minutes before the performance starts. We can't wait for the big performance!

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