Class Teacher:  Mrs Kay

Teaching Assistant:  Mrs Harrison

Teaching Assistant:  Mrs Monaghan

Additional Support Teaching Assistant: Mrs Holland

Additional Support Teaching Assistant: Miss Herd

Lunch time supervisor: Miss Tweed

Welcome to the class blog for the Monkshouse Minis nursery class! Here you will find a snapshot of some of the wonderful learning that has occurred each week. Parents will be able to see posts in greater detail and with more photos by logging in to their personal Tapestry account. 

Term 5

This term is called All Creatures Great and Small and much of our learning will be themed around various creatures, life cycles and habitats. We will also find out about plants and what they need to grow.

In maths we are comparing groups quantities and saying which is more or less. We are consolidating our number knowledge with lots of number and counting based games and working on recognising the numerals up to 10. In phonics we will be meeting a puppet called Mike. Mike is a robot and he will help the children to identify the different sounds they can hear in words. We will play phonics games that continue to support our understanding of rhyme and alliteration. 

We are already looking forward to the middle of this term when we celebrate the King's coronation.

Celebrating the King's Coronation - Week 3

This week we have been learning all about the coronation of King Charles III and Queen Camilla that is happening this weekend!

The children celebrated in style with bouncy castle fun and an ice-cream as well as having coronation quiche as an extra snack! In line with the King's wishes to think of others and charities, the Monkshouse Minis had a collection for the local foodbank. Well done everyone and thank you very much for your generosity. 

This week we read The King's Coronation by Campbell Books. We found out about the ceremony, the special clothes King Charles will wear, including his crown, and the way he would travel to the ceremony. We had a great week making our own crowns and Union Flag decorations for the day, painting portraits of King Charles and we also had a castle building challenge which involved a lot of physical skill, creativity and team work. 

Term 5 Week 2

We are continuing to be inspired by the wonderful  books about minibeasts and other different animals. This week we have themed our learning around two great books by Julia Donaldson, 'What The Ladybird Heard' and 'What The Ladybird Heard Next'. The children started acting the story out in the role play area so we made masks and had a go at doing the whole story as a class! Great creativity, confidence and language skills shone through during this activity.

Week 1

Welcome back! It has been a lovely week with the children very happy to be back with their friends and excited about the learning ahead of us. We started off our learning about different creatures with the wonderful story The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. The children enjoyed joining in with the words and some actions! We found out about the different fruits mentioned in the story and looked at some real fruits. The children used their super fine motor skills to use knives to cut the fruit to make a very tasty fresh, fruit salad. The Crunching Munching Caterpillar by Sheridan Cane and Jack Tickle was another lovely story about the life cycle of a caterpillar. We have placed an order with Devon Butterflies to have some caterpillar larvae so that we can look after them and watch the process of a caterpillar turning into a butterfly. 

On Wednesday, Miss Haines brought in her pet stick-insects to show us! The children learned how to handle them carefully and about the food they eat.

Term 4

Term 4 is called Friendships and Adventures and we are going to be looking at some of the wonderful books written by Oliver Jeffers. The children will learn about far away places on Earth as well as in our solar system and consider the possibilities of what lies beyond! All the time we focus on developing strong personal and social skills, self confidence and determination. We have an ethos that promotes creativity, independence and having a go, even when things might be challenging. Our nursery class children are having a fantastic adventure on their learning journey.

The End of Term 4

Term 4, Friendships and Adventures, has certainly lived up to it's theme. The children are showing us how they are really becoming school ready, they are confident communicators, able to build relationships, becoming independent in their self-care and choices and have developed a deep level of curiosity and determination to find out more. We have really enjoyed reading the books about the boy and his friend the penguin by Oliver Jeffers. The children have described him as a "brilliant author!" As we watched the relationship between the boy and the penguin grow and change, we have reflected on how we have grown and changed and how our friendships have grown too. We have talked about what makes us special and our amazing talents and friendly characteristics. 

The term ended with our annual Easter Tea and a short performance of songs that we have enjoyed learning this term. The children baked the cakes for the tea and enjoyed sharing them with their parents. 

We hope you all have a lovely Easter break.

World Book Day

On Thursday the children were invited to come to nursery dressed as a favourite book character or with funky hair to support the school's theme on diversity. Lots of children took part in this or in the competitions: photo of them reading in an unusual place and a character paper plate craft challenge. Well done to everyone who took part! 

The day was a great success, Supertato visited the children and read the story Supertato to them! Mrs Smith came to visit the nursery and read them a story about a kind lion and the day ended with parents coming in to read with their child. During the day the children had access to a range of enhanced reading activities and activities themed around some favourite books, including making a Supertato and leek soup! 

Weeks 1 and 2

We kickstarted the term sharing the books How to Catch a Star  and  Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers. They are about a boy's search for a friend and the discovery that true friends may not be what you first imagine them to be. We have explored different shapes and textures, made our own boats and learnt about penguins and where they live. 

Term 3

Happy New Year! Term 3 has got off to a fantastic start with the children settling back in very quickly, enjoying being back with their friends and excited to get out and explore the environment. We have been digging in the outdoor area and discovered some worms, just in time for one of our Super Stories this term, Superworm by Julia Donaldson. This term we will be theming some of our learning around Superheroes and Super Stories. We will be finding out about real superheroes in our local community as well as some significant real superheroes both from the past and present. We will be sharing some traditional tales both in books and through storytelling around National Storytelling Week and are looking forward to holding our annual Bedtime Story Evening. 

Nee naw nee naw! Emergency services coming through!

This week we have been fortunate to welcome some real-life community superheroes into the nursery. We have had a visit from the fire brigade and a nurse and are looking forward to a visit from some postal workers and Border Force. The children have been eager to find out more about how these people help us and others in the community. We have learnt about some famous, real-life superheroes including Rosa Parks, Max Woosey, Sir Captain Tom Moore and the Lionesses including Chloe Kelly and Beth Mead. We have been inspired to go for a walk around the school grounds, try out a tent and have a go at some sports in the school sports hall. We have enjoyed reading Zog and Zog and the Flying Doctors by Julia Donaldson. Our role play areas, both inside and out have been a hive of activity with lots of discussion about the roles of different people who help us in the community. 

Week 1

Term 2

This term has whizzed by! The children's confidence and communication skills have soared and there are smiles to be found around every corner. Through our theme we have been busy exploring different celebrations including Diwali, Thanks Giving and Christmas. We have done lots of baking, learnt about different traditions that some of our friends have and have made lots of festive crafts. The Christmas performance and family craft morning was a huge success with joy being shared amongst us all. Term ended with a Christmas party. The nursery staff would like to wish you all a very happy Christmas time. 

The Monkshouse Minis have loved the beginning of their forest adventures! Every Wednesday we go out to the school woodland area to explore the natural world around us. The children have loved adding leaves and twigs to their mud kitchen recipes, building dens with logs and tarpaulins and role playing with fairy wings. In the nursery setting we have been finding out more about ourselves and where we live. The children have retold the story of The Three Little Pigs, adding extra characters to live with the pigs! 

Term two has started with a whizz, pop, bang! Inspired by Hallowe'en and witches potions and Bonfire Night, the children have been exploring colour, sounds and enchanting language. The children have been sorting ingredients and mixing them together, creating wierd and wonderful spells that did everything from turn their friends into animals to make the recipient have hiccups! We role played with pumpkins, baked pumpkin cakes and had a go at making some tasty, edible sparklers. It really has been an engaging, fantastic first week back.

Cohort 2022-2023

Term 1

All the staff are incredibly proud of all the new Monkshouse Minis. Everyone has settled in to nursery life wonderfully and already new friendships are being formed and there are smiles and giggles around every corner. The children are really enjoying exploring our fabulous setting, working together and sharing the things they have discovered. 

This week we have enjoyed reading the book The Colour Monster, and talking about different feelings as well as different colours. We celebrated Harvest by exploring locally grown fruits and vegetables, including some from our own nursery garden! The children made a delicious vegetable soup and a very tasty fruit crumble, cutting the produce themselves and mixing the ingredients together.