Dear Parents
Christmas started in earnest at Fairstead House this afternoon with the first of our two Nursery nativity plays. The children looked enchanting, sang beautifully and nearly all of the children looked as if they were having a wonderful time! It was delightful seeing how the children have progressed since we began our Nursery nativities three years ago. A number of little ones who were overcome by stage fright last year excelled this afternoon! I am looking forward to a repeat performance tomorrow afternoon.
May I politely remind all parents of children in Ponies 1 and 2 that your child should come to Fairstead House Nursery wearing a Nursery uniform coat. Hats, scarves and gloves, if worn, should also be in the uniform green. Thank you.
Foals 1
The babies are slowly getting ready for Christmas. We have been enjoying getting messy with the paints and practising our fine motor and mark making skills to create our Christmas folders.
Foals 2
We have been working on our fine motor skills, focusing mainly on using our pincer grip. The children did this in a variety of ways, but peeling their bananas at snack was one of their favourites.
We have been very busy doing our Christmas crafts, creating and decorating our salt dough ornaments ready to take home to give to our parents as Christmas presents made with love and a lot of fun!
Finally we have been busy practising in readiness for our Christmas performance.
Yearlings
In Yearlings we have had lots of fun with the parachute! The children enjoy playing various different games such as hiding under it and spotting the different colours. We have also paid our respects to all the soldiers who kept us safe in the war, we made some poppies and Mrs Melen also played the Last Post on the trumpet for us.
Ponies 1
Ponies 1 have been exploring their new role play area, ‘The Post Office’.
They have really enjoyed taking part in lots of mark making activities, writing letters and cards and preparing to send a Christmas card home.
They have also been wrapping parcels and using them to stack, build and create various spaces with them.
Ponies 2
Ponies 2 have been super busy getting ready for our Nativity performances. There has been lots of singing and learning of the actions. After a wonderful rehearsal in front of the school, we are all ready and excited! We look forward to seeing you all and hope that you enjoy the performances.
After reading a book about rain, we have been starting to learn about the water cycle. By squirting water onto the window we watched the tiny droplets of water join together and create larger droplets. Then, when they got too heavy, we watched as they ran down the window like rain. Miss Alleyne also demonstrated the water cycle using a kettle, some water and a cold plate. The children learnt that when heated by the sun (kettle) the water changes to vapour and rises up high into the cold sky. When the vapour makes contact with the sky (cold plate) it turns the vapour back to droplets. We were all very excited to make it ‘rain’ inside the classroom.
Our hospital has been very busy with lots of poorly patients being seen. The children are enjoying being able to role play doctors, nurses, and patients. There have even been some animals visiting the hospital in need of emergency treatment.
The children have also been learning about where some of their favourite vegetables come from in our Harvest Time sensory tray. The children have been learning about sorting and grouping the vegetables in different ways as they harvested and planted vegetables in the field with the help of the farmers and the tractors. We have been talking about how the vegetables grow, and then how they arrive in the shops for us to buy.
Christmas Opening Hours
Fairstead House School term ends on Friday 13th December and we return to school on Monday 6th January. If you have a child who attends the Nursery on a term time only basis and you would like to book sessions in the Nursery during the school Christmas holidays, please let Mrs Lucie Melen know as soon as possible. Thank you.
Just a reminder that the Nursery will close at 6.00pm on Monday 23rd December and re-open on Thursday 2nd January. In future, however, I am delighted to announce that the Nursery will be open until 3.30pm on Christmas Eve.
Contact over the Holidays
Please note that the School Office will be closed from 13th December until 6th January. If you need to report a child’s absence or have any other queries, please contact the Nursery directly. If you have a query relating to your Nursery invoice, please e-mail Tamsind Duffety-Fuller on accounts@fairsteadhouse.co.uk Please be aware that, as the school is closed, there might be a short delay before you receive a response. Thank you.
My colleagues in the Nursery and I send you our best wishes for a wonderful Christmas break with your families and friends,
Lynda Brereton