Spring Term 2023

This term we will be welcoming new families to George Tomlinson and helping our new children to settle. Our older children will be excellent role models, showing them how to play and follow routines.

Our older children will be learning to recognise their name on their new name card, without the support of their photograph. We will be supporting children by giving them a small amount to choose from or a model of their name so they can find the same one. They have plenty of opportunities throughout the session to find their name which will help them to write and make marks to represent their name on their creations. 

We will continue with our nursery library - please bring books back to be changed on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Books should be changed at least weekly.

We will be learning about the life cycle of a butterfly later in the term. We will be getting some caterpillar eggs, this  will give us the opportunity to watch them grow and change. We will be making observational drawings and using other media to represent the caterpillars and butterflies. 

We will continue with our phase 1 phonics - Singing rhymes and songs, playing listening games, exploring musical instruments - keeping the beat and tapping out a rhythm. We will also be introducing initial sounds - this will be done through songs and play. 

We will also begin blending and segmenting words, again this will be done through play and the children's interests e.g. can you find me a l-ea-f =leaf   get your c-oa-t = coat.

During  'Star of the Day' we will now be writing children's names on the board saying initial sounds. 

We will be learning new number songs to encourage number recognition, counting accurately, subtracting and adding. This will also be taught through children's individual interests e.g. counting how many playdough cakes have been made, how many will we have left if we eat 1? How many will we have if we make 1 more? We will be exploring shapes and going on shape hunts through the school. We count how many letters children have in their name when we write the names of our 'stars' at 'Star of the Day' time. 

We will continue with our focus children - please see information from the Autumn term on how we do this.

We ask for a £10 contribution to our nursery fund, this enables us to buy food for our snack table, playdough and other learning resources. This is a termly contribution e.g. January - April. Your donations are much appreciated and we thank you in advance for this term.

Our Nursery times are:

Morning sessions - 8:30 - 11:30am

Afternoon sessions - 12:30 - 3:30pm

Full Time - 8.30 - 3.30 

30 hour code - 8.30 - 3.30 x 4 days + 8.30 - 11.30 on a day that is convenient to you. This is equal to 31 hours.

If you would like to do 5 full days the cost of this is £25 for the extra session.

Autumn Term 2022

This term nursery children will be focusing on settling into their new setting, making positive relationships with other children and their teacher and key adults in school, learning routines and becoming confident with speaking. They will  be beginning to make their own choices about their learning and where it takes place and becoming more independent with their self-care e.g. going to the toilet and washing their hands.

We will be learning lots of new rhymes and action songs which is a very important part of children's pre-reading skills. Singing also promotes language & communication and develops concentration and attention.

We will be celebrating Black History Month and preparing for Christmas during the second half of the term.

We celebrate children's learning by doing 'Star of the Day' at the end of the sessions. This promotes positive behaviour and self-esteem. Children come to the front and listen to the teacher telling them why they are their star, they find their big star, receive a star sticker and take a certificate home to share with their family. 'Star of the Day' is awarded for many things including, being happy and busy, going to the toilet, using words, being a kind and helpful, to name few! 

Nursery Library

Once all the children are in and settled we will be launching our library. Children will be able to choose a book to take home to share with you. Please read with your child everyday as this is an important stage in developing their reading skills. Encourage your child to talk about the pictures and what they can see. Ask questions or make comments yourself e.g. "I wonder what the weather is like in this picture?" "It must be hot because that girl is wearing a t-shirt and sandals." This will encourage children to think beyond what they can see.  

Please bring books back on Monday, Wednesday OR Friday.

George Tomlinson bookbags are available, these are very hard wearing and will see your child through to Reception and beyond. Please see the uniform page on our website.

Focus Children

When your child is a 'focus child' you will be given a form that asks if you have anything significant coming up or that has happened recently. Also any comments, questions or concerns you may have, You will also be asked to email some photographs that have been taken over the weekend or very recently for the children to share with the class. The children will then stick these into their special book and a teacher will scribe what they say about their picture. The children LOVE to do this! 

Nursery Fund

We ask for a contribution of £10 per term (3 times per year). This goes towards buying food for our snack table, playdough ingredients, messy play and creative resources. We also use this fund to buy Christmas presents  that Santa gives out.

Your payment can be made through Parentpay or cash in a named envelope that can be given to a member of the nursery team. We thank you in advance for this.  

Children's well-being

Your child needs to bring a water bottle everyday, this needs to have their name on it as there are often identical bottles. If your child is staying for lunch, they will need to bring a healthy packed lunch. Hot food can be brought in a thermos flask. Please note, we are a nut free school. 

Please put your child's name on all items of clothing, including shoes. Children take off their shoes to wear welly boots and we have shoes which are the same. Having their name inside helps the shoes go on the correct feet! Thank you. We have lots of water play during our day, therefore please bring a bag of spare clothes (this doesn't need to be uniform), this can stay at nursery.  

At George Tomlinson Nursery we follow Development Matters, which is the curriculum guidance for the Early Years Foundation Stage. This guidance focuses not only on what children learn but how they learn. As a setting we provide children with opportunities to become independent thinkers and learners and the resources to enable them to drive their own learning through our continuous provision. 

The learning areas are:

• Communication & Language
• Personal, Social & Emotional Development
• Physical Development
• Literacy
• Mathematics
• Understanding the World
• Expressive Arts & Design